Tergum Cultro Chapter 12

The nave of the shrine was finally silent, the vox casters had broken off the walls and the toppled servitors twitched as their rudimentary logic engines struggled to grasp the concept of standing up. The stillness was absolute and the weak lumen orbs only filled the space with a velvety twilight. At one end were piles of stones, spilling out of the entrance to the sanctum in jagged heaps. The serenity of the nave was broken by a sudden eruption of flame and thunder as the piles of rocks exploded upwards. Boulders were hurled with startling force to smash into the walls, cracking their facades. One boulder arced upward then inevitably downwards to impact upon a twitching servitor, splattering blood and engine oils in a disgusting circle around the site. A thick wave of dust rolled across the nave, cutting the thin light into distinct beams that shimmered like water over a large crater blown into the heap of rubble. Glimpses of movement could be seen in the depths of the crater and then came a form, crawling hand over hand out of a hole at the bottom.

Sergeant Toran pulled his body up into the light and the thick dust covering his face making him look like a wraith, especially with his augmetic eye glowing a ferocious red. He dragged himself out of the hole with his armour spewing streams of grit from the exhaust vents on his backpack. Finally he rolled over and lay sucking in air, feeling something floating inside his chest where nothing should be. All he wanted to do was lay still and feel the hot burn as his gene-forged body pieced itself back together, but he forced himself to his feet and gathered his strength. His brothers were still in jeopardy and what was mere pain compared to that.

Wearily he threw himself at the heaps of stonework to begin digging furiously towards his brothers. He lifted great slabs of rock and threw them heedlessly over his shoulder, not caring where they came down. On and on he went like an industrial digger, but it was frustrating work, he had to move debris from the top of the pile first lest he destabilise the entire mass and crush everyone yet buried. On and on he persisted knowing every stone he lifted was one less pressing down on the squad. After a few minutes digging he heard a faint knocking sound, he moved towards it and pulled aside a slab to reveal a small cavity containing the shape of Daite.

"Give me your hand!" shouted Toran as he reached down into the hole as they grasped wrist to wrist then heaved him up into the light. Daite slapped Toran's pauldron with his palm in gratitude but wasted no more time before diving in and assisting Toran to dig. They ploughed into the debris and their armour's artificial fibre bundles whirred as they lifted stones the size of grown men and hurled them away. A few minutes later they unearthed Halis who shook ash from his eyelenses as they dug out his arms and legs. Swiftly he was freed and without a word joined the excavation, pulling aside drifts of rubble with his gauntlets. A minute later Persion and Ophelion were found wedged between two rocks, they pulled the brothers free one at time and laid them out. Persion was quickly back on his feet whereas Ophelion was breathing but not responsive.

Toran ordered "Daite check him out, Persion take his place on the line." Soon after that they had found Jediah who came out of the ground in a squeal of ceramite on rocks. His ruptured breastplate had been sharpened by the passage of protruding rocks and now his chest more resembled a collection of knife points than a plate of armour. Lastly they uncovered Novak who was still clinging to his broken rapier, they pulled him free and found his armour was surprisingly intact underneath a thick layer of ash.

Novak knocked ash from helm and asked, "Is that everyone?"

"No," replied Toran eyeing the hefty keystone, "Furion is still under there."

Together they approached the Keystone and it was even bigger than Toran had thought. He was amazed that Furion had been able to hold it, let alone the weight pressing down on it from above. While everybody else cleared the debris from the top Toran knelt down at the bottom and cried out, "Furion! Furion hold on, we are coming for you!"

Halis stated with concern, "Sergeant, we need to move this quickly."

Toran joined the squad standing around the edge of the key stone and said "As one... Heave!"

With five Space Marines lifting the stone came away easily, revealing the broken and incoherent form of Furion underneath. His battleplate was a wreck, the thick reinforced plates smashed, the helm was buckled and around his limbs the ceramite had splintered. Yet despite all that it had held, the nigh mythical Mark III 'Iron armour' withstanding forces that would have pulverised any lesser model of plate. Daite ran over and knelt down to plug his auspex scanner into an armour interface, he was no apothecary but he was the best they had. Toran looked on worriedly as Daite assessed readouts from the spirits of Furion's armour while the rest of the squad tried to distract themselves by inspecting their weapons and clearing the debris from their bolters.

After a minute Daite sat back up and said, "Furion is alive, don't ask me how but he is alive."

"He is just too stubborn to die," Toran breathed full of relief and pride, for there could be no doubt that Furion had saved them all with his epic feat.

"Stubborn or not he is in no condition to be moved and neither is Ophelion," said Daite, "They need the ministrations of an Apothecary, sooner rather than later."

"Then you stay here with them until help comes," said Toran, "Persion head to the surface, contact the Chapter and get an Apothecary down here straight away."

"You are ordering me to run?" snarled Persion, "I want to be there when you gut that bitch Canesh."

Toran replied, "Brother you are the only one with a Vox array capable of reaching the surface, think of your squad mate's lives before your need for vengeance."

Persion was not happy but could not defy an order so snarled, "Very well but when you catch her make sure to give Canesh a bad death: make it slow and painful."

Toran was concerned by the relish in his brother voice and replied, "I thought you did not hold with cruelty."

"For her i'll make an exception," Persion snarled, "She deserves to suffer for what she has done!"

Despite everything they had been through Toran was disquieted by the eager tone in Persion's voice. He normally did not advocate such bloodlust and the thought put Toran on edge. He sternly stated, "We are Storm Heralds, when we strike we do so cleanly, we do not sully ourselves with torture and sadism."

Behind them Halis snorted, "Nobody ever criticises Jediah for enjoying his work."

"Jediah is not the Sergeant," replied Toran, "I am and I will not dishonour a proud legacy stretching back to the Age of Apostacy. If you disagree ask yourself this: What would Furion say?"

Persion glowered but begrudgingly admitted, "He would say Duty must always come first..."

Toran nodded approvingly and said "Good, then get to it and one more thing, do not mention the Inquisitor or the Magos to anybody."

Persion cocked his head quizzically and said, "Why shouldn't I?"

Toran answered, "Do you really think it is a good idea to accuse an Inquisitor of Heresy without irrefutable proof?"

"Well when you put it like that I see your point," replied Persion, "As you order so shall it be. Just make sure Canesh is dead."

Then he turned and jogged into the darkness beyond the shrine. Toran watched him go then checked his weapons and said, "Novak, Jediah, Halis you are coming with me, we have the Emperor's Justice to dispense."