Hey all.
Just beaten my deadline at gt this chapter out. I had a lot going on on my end and more and more ideas just kept popping up. i also had to a lot of rewriting when it came to describing the Karak. I used the sizes of ships from the AVP, Homeworld, Halo and WH40k universes for references on sizes and thus determining the best and most plausible dimensions, while still adding it's own flair. also the scenes that will play out is inspired by a certain game series where you have to... rip the enemies limb from limb.
Also, it is the dead line for the little competition to get a character added into the story. And hopefully it'll get some of you understanding the difficulty of writing a good story. Don't disappoint me.
But any, in this chapter Alaric and co are just about prepared to leave this planet behind. But, for Alaric, there was one thing left to do and none on the Karak is going to like it.
Chapter 31 Eye of the storm.
On the ice world's surface, the storm had died down once again, leaving an eerie calm amongst the snow fallen crags. The sun, obscured by the hazy sky, was leaving it's peak and was ready to cast the planet into cold darkness once again. The mountain that evoked an ancient bird loomed overhead the tunnel from which the survivors of the colony had ventured down, never to emerge. Snow drifts continued to shrink and rise with the wind, giving the notion of a white ocean with islands of dark imposing rock.
Everything on the surface was still and unmoving. As if in a deep sleep from which the planet would never wake up.
That was when a low rumbling was heard. The beginning of an earthquake to put it lightly. The base of the mountain then started to vibrate, the looser snow kicking up into dust and the more packed snow starting to crumble. The edges of the tunnel crumbling down in showers of snow and ice that quickly gave way to a torrent that swiftly caused the tunnel to collapse, removing all trace of it. Then the snow started to rise, growing into a large hill. Massive hunks of rock and ice were now starting to sprout out like newly budding plants. The hill was stretching for kilometres and was now rapidly reaching upwards. On one end of the long growing hill, a great curving statue of metal pushed out from the snow like some metallic flower budding on the first day of spring. On the other end, something akin to a heavily fortified bunker, of which one side was crystal clear, rose from the snow. The snow now began to fall down and the boulders were swept with them, pouring downwards in great torrents.
When the snow thinned out, the entombed ship fully emerged.
The Karak, at two kilometres, four hundred metres wide and half a kilometre high at it's tallest point was truly awe-inspiring. Ascetically, it had combinations of human, dwarven and ancient yautja design. The overall shape was like that of an ancient greek trireme, most notably of all the prow. Like the ancient ships themselves, it had a large ram of metal, an elaborate crest that curved upwards and a pair of intricately decorated jewelled eyes that gave the triremes that characteristic aura of fear.
The main body of the ship, bevelled at the edges and shaped in a cruciform layout with the sides bevelling out into trapezoid wings, was not unlike that on a modern ship, divided into multiple decks and sectors such as cargo bays, hangers and the like. The geometrical decoration of the dwarves was in it's design and retained that sculpted look. Runic emblems of Khazdryn faces, venerating their ancestors, and runic symbols lined the hull, combined with the interlacing geometric patterns commonly found in ancient greek art and architecture.
On the top of the hull was an arrangement of large twin barrelled cannon batteries housed in trapezoid turrets, numbering six such emplacements in a progressively elevated arrangement that allowed all turrets to fire forwards. Two turrets near the bow, positioned on both sides of the Karak's trireme crest. Two turrets side by side on both port and starboard sides at the half point of the Karak's length with an interval of three hundred meters between them. There were six cannon batteries on the bottom in the same arrangement and all over the ship at strategic points were smaller turrets, both conventional quad barrelled patterns and also some with vented barrels that looked like energy weapons of a kind. The wings had massive turrets on the top and bottom planes, of a different variant then the ones on the top and bottom as distinguished by their vented barrels, and pointing forward were a network array of what could be described as missile batteries.
The rear of the ship, larger then midsection, had a quad arrangement of engine thrusters. The top and bottom were trapezoid and the two on the left and right were angular crescents that linked all the thrusters into a narrow octagon. Positioned around the main thrusters were secondary thrusters, no doubt for a little extra power and also what appeared to be positionable armoured flaps which could be use for increased thrust or as air brakes.
And the bridge, much like on the triremes of ancient Greece, was at the back of the main body of the ship giving those there an unopposed view of the entire front of the ship. A semicircle arrangement of angular, rune-inscribed pylons served as antenna. On top of the bridge, like a standard, was the Rune carved in stone and decorated with precious metals. In fact the same run was engraved, to a lesser extent, on the Karak's sides like conventional identification markings.
Suffice to say, the humans and lone yautja on the bridge were speechless. The dwarves on the other hand were looking on with pride and with a few cheers.
"Well, we have made a successful launch." Jari praised, leaning back in his chair in accomplishment. "All that's missing is a good ale."
"Glad to see our engineering hasn't lost it's touch." Varlin praised, smoking his pipe. "Bring us round."
The Karak veered around as they continued to rise into the air. Now, the Karak was facing the mountain which was now larger when the snow surrounding the base had been sifted out. The Karak had actually been in front of the mountain, rather inside the mountain as the Archangels had first thought. The ship had actually been resting in a notable dip at the base of the mountain, only to be buried by a deluge at some point that effectively made the Karak part of the mountain itself.
Varlin held his pipe from his mouth as he surveyed the mountain's notable beak.
"That hole is still there." Varlin pointed out with his pipe. "Just as we left it."
That comment caused a pertinent question to emerge.
"Left it?" Andrzej questioned. "You were the ones who made that void in the mountain?"
Stonefather Kazrik turned to the captain.
"Well, between being boarded by the Xel'khala or getting buried alive, we chose the latter." Kazrik explained. "Still, we Khazdryn survived that and more. Being born from a mountain has its benefits."
"The Xel'khala never bother checking for bodies if there's hard work involved." Treval yelled from below. "No wonder they were always skint!"
Hicks walked up to the canopy, next to Jari and his co-pilots, holding onto the railing and looked out at the vast size of the Karak. He started to make rapid calculations in his head, his eyes darting around wildly, regarding the size comparisons of human ships.
"A real beauty, isn't it?" Jari beamed.
Hicks didn't listen as he calculated the tonnage, including the size of the main guns, and the number was exponentially high. High enough that is made his head spin.
He turned to Varlin.
"How in the hell is a ship this size able to take off?" he asked. "This is bigger then anything that could land or take off on a planet."
It was true.
Regarding that the standard Conestoga-class frigates of the Corps weighed seventy-eight thousand tonnes, there was no way that one could be built on a planet and then launched into space, although they are capable of entering a planetary atmosphere and holding altitude if the need rises. The amount of fuel and energy needed to take off on their own power would be astronomical. Most human ships of that size had to be built in space-docks and most M-class series spacecraft, such as the infamous USCSS Nostromo, have struggles launching from a planet with a lower gravity then that of Earth.
"It's all quite simple really." Varlin explained. "You know how the same ends of two magnets can naturally repel each other? Well, its really just a matter of matching the gravity of a planet's poles with another magnetic field and, like a hammer on a nail, you hover. Though it never hurts to have conventional thrusters just in case."
Hicks ran that through his head, recalling theoretical hypothesis throughout history that hinted various means to achieve control over gravity. But most of the resulting technology created were merely methods of beating gravity, not actually controlling it. The closest, and some would say paradoxical, attempt was artificial gravity for space craft to ward off the degenerative effects of zero gravity.
But even if the technology was developed, how could it be powered?
"But how in the hell do you get the energy to counter a planet's gravity." he questioned. "No VTOL thrusters we have can even come close to lifting something like this."
Varlin winked and tapped his nose with his pipe.
"That's a trade secret, laddie." Varlin hinted.
Valrin popped his pipe back in his mouth.
"Now, lets get off this planet." Varlin declared. "We have much to plan if we're taking the fight back to the Xel'khala."
There were shouts of agreement from the dwarves, accompanied by agreement from the Archangels and nodding by Kra'vyx They, and indeed everyone else, were more then happy to leave this accursed frozen rock behind.
Alaric, on the other hand from his silence, was not.
"No, there's something we have to do first." Alaric said.
"That's right." Andrzej agreed. "We need to get the colonists back to Federation space."
"Not that." Alaric corrected.
They were interrupted at that point when one of the dwarves on the bridge called out for their attention.
"Thane, sensors are picking up a signature." The dwarf called out. "Its a storm. Category five."
"Show me." Varlin ordered.
A holographic screen blipped into view on the bridges canopy. It was a topographical map of the surrounding area, their position was indicated by a runic representation of the Karak. The map zoomed out, bringing up more of the planet's surface and showing a bright blip. The map zoomed in on it and it's location was, rather ominously, the mountain chain that the colony and prison temple was located under.
"It's concentrated at the prison." the dwarf added. "And its growing."
"Well, that'll help keeping that abomination locked up." Jari joked.
This served to add more urgency to Alaric's demands. And Aegis could sense it as he hopped onto Alaric's shoulder.
"We have to go back." he said again. "We have to kill it."
The Archangels voiced their objections to that. And they had every reason too. Kazrik turned to Alaric when he heard the last words. He sensed that Alaric knew something.
"No way we're going back, Alaric." Andrzej said. "Those bugs nearly had us just trying to get away from there in the first place."
Varlin swivelled in his chair to them, his pipe in his mouth. The word had caught his attention.
"Bugs?" he asked, smoke seeping from his beard as suspicion started to set as a brow raised. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
The Archangels looked at each other. They had let slip their knowledge of Xenomorphs earlier to Kila, who had taken it well. But that was the variety that humanity was used to fighting, not the sort that required ancient technology and weapons to combat.
How would the dwarves react to this?
"Bugs." Hicks said, surprised that the thane of all people did not know of the most dangerous lifeform in the galaxy. "Xenomorphs. You know, sharp talons, heads like a shield, inner jaws that can punch through a skull."
Varlin nibbled on his pipe in thought, going over the description in his head, before his eyes widened. He coughed on his pipe in shock and it popped out of his mouth.
"The prison was opened?!" Varlin exclaimed, catching it in his beard. "You opened the prison?!"
The dwarves on the deck, aside from Kazrik, took this sudden realisation rather loudly and objectionably vivid. The stonefather was oddly calm among the commotion.
"You set the Primarch loose!" Jari questioned.
"You fucking idiots!" Treval could be heard from below.
Other dwarves were cursing in Khazdryn, no doubt venting about the idiocy of man. The Archangels were not going to take the fall so easily, considering everything they had been through. Kra'vyx in the meantime had edged closer to Alaric's throne. While he couldn't speak English, he did get an understanding of it. Enough so that he could tell that things were getting heated.
"We didn't open anything!" Andrzej defensively explained. "The first we heard of them was being ambushed as soon as we made planetfall."
That excuse didn't prove satisfactory to the dwarf lord.
"If you'd remembered your history, you would've stayed far away from this world!" Varlin fumed.
"Seeing how this ship was under ice for thousands of years, that puts humanity in antiquity." Hicks clarified to their defence, gesturing his hand around. "How could we have come to this planet if we were still using bronze weapons!?"
"By my beard, you manlings didn't bother to record anything we taught you?!" Varlin ranted.
Alaric was certain that more then words were going to be exchanged as the arguing got louder and more explicit. Kra'vyx was thinking the same thing as he clicked his mandibles nervously. The young yautja was sure that the dwarf was going to turn on him next after finishing off the humans.
Alaric had to stop the bickering before blood was drawn.
Stonefather Kazrik, for reasons of his own, silenced the bridge by stamping his staff's pommel hard into the deck, a bright flash erupting upon impact and sparks flying through the air. Varlin jumped in his seat, almost losing his pipe again as all the other dwarves went silent. The Archangels, their training kicking in, dived for cover behind the closest seats in reach. Kra'vyx ducked behind Alaric's throne as Aegis jumped in place.
But his interruption worked and everyone had stopped arguing.
The priest surveyed everyone on the bridge in turn, his brows furrowed with disgust at what he just witnessed. He grunted in dissatisfaction as the Archangels picked themselves up.
"Shame on all of you." he scolded. "Is this how you would act? In front of the descendant of our closest ally and friend? Squabbling like vultures over the corpse of blame?"
Varlin stuck his pipe back into his beard holster to prevent losing it again.
"Stonefather, with due respect, we have a serious problem on our hands..." Varlin spoke up.
Kazrik gave the thane a glare, his silver eyes flickering, that made the noble shrink back into his seat as the stonefather approached him. The priest was towering over Varlin as he leered over him.
"I am perfectly aware of that, considering the uproar." Kazrik indicated, before changing his course towards Alaric. "But what proof do we have that the manlings opened the prison in the first place? The prison can only be opened by one of the Blood. " he then pointed his staff right at Alaric's eyes barely an inch away. "And none of them have the eyes, bar Alaric, do they?" he clarified, indicating with his staff before lowering it.
He was right in that regard. None of the humans or even the initiates had the same eyes as Alaric. And Alaric knew what the Stonefather was talking about. Thought the same was not said for the humans or Kra'vyx.
"Alaric, what does he mean by your eyes?" Andrzej asked
"Long story." Alaric curtly answered, avoiding the question.
Kazrik gestured to Alaric, looking at everyone as he did so.
"Lets hear what our lord has to say." Kazrik proposed. "We have yet to hear his say on this matter."
Alaric shifted in his throne as everyone watched him. He could get seriously uncomfortable when people stare at him, not that it was a personal affront. Rather, he just didn't like being the centre of attention.
"They're telling the truth." Alaric confirmed bluntly. "They didn't open the prison. And even if they did find it, we know well enough about xenomorphs to not tamper with it. Nearly losing Earth to their descendants is reason enough."
"Descendants?" Kazrik said before a memory surfaced. "Ah, yes. I remember now, the Ossians' next step after the Primarchs. A 'cheaper' variant so to speak."
"They invaded your homeworld after all?" Varlin asked.
"Welcomed with open arms by religious fanatics actually." Alaric clarified. "Took five years fighting and razing half the planet to finally get rid of them. But, the bright side is that humanity is more or less united now."
The dwarves were somewhat surprised by that piece of information about Humanity's unity. Back in ancient times, humans were busy fighting wars with each other over various reasons such as territory, resources or over petty matters such as race. But then they figured that things would have changed over the last two thousand years if mankind was able to develop space travel.
But most concerning was the thought of humans actively worshipping the xenomorphs. That brought up many... disturbing thoughts of previous engagements.
"If you didn't open the prison, who'd... " Varlin started before he realised that there would be only one group who would possibly even know of the Primarch in this day and age. "The Xel'khala. They must have had some of the Blood, even after all this time."
"Courtesy of those hunters, yes." Andrzej rapidly confirmed, though not about the blood. "Part of the reason why we came to this barren rock in the first place. The mining colony was attacked by bugs and we answered the distress call to investigate, getting trapped here in the process. Alaric and his hunter rookies arrived a week after we did. Next thing we know, we get attacked by hunters we did not recognise. So, by process of elimination, and experience fighting them, we determined that they had to have opened the temple."
Alaric at that point remembered seeing something back in the prison temple. When he passed through the webbed doors of the Primarch's chamber, he did notice through the webbing a dark green stain on what he thought was a hand print like that on Gri'nyr's sarcophagus. At the time, he thought that maybe it was a remnant of the battle. But, the stain suggested that the blood wasn't shed from a wound, rather it was deposited onto the print.
"I remember." Alaric murmured softly. "There was blood on the door."
"What, my lord?" Kazrik asked, whose ears caught the whisper.
Alaric shook his head to the stonefather's question.
"Nothing." Alaric said. "Just remembered something."
He looked to Varlin.
"This infestation was a ploy to kill me and wipe out any evidence. Mal'kah basically spelt it out." Alaric stated. "But fat chance of that working for them."
The dwarves looked at each other in both shock and disbelief. Considering that by now, the dwarves have now seen the initiates' trophies. But, considering the heads got incinerated when the transport they were in blew up, the dwarves passed them off as merely fossils of interest from the battle millennia ago. But now, they were told that the prison had indeed been opened by the Xel'khala. Or, at least, yautja who had a knowledge about this world.
"I thought that's what those youngling hunters had with them." A dwarf said in realisation.
"And you lot managed to kill the Primarch's kin?" Varlin asked, in mixture of surprise and scepticism as he picked up his pipe from his beard. "With your level of technology?" he continued, bringing it to his mouth.
He was of course referring to the swords on the Archangels' backs. The words 'shoddy' and 'dull' had been uttered more then once whenever a dwarf saw them. And the Archangels had to agree with them, considering how useless the blades were during the ambush against the xenomorphs' hardened carapace. And the bolt-guns were cited as 'inefficient' for their size, one dwarf saying that bolts that size should have blown massive holes instead of acting like over-elaborate nail-guns.
"Barely." Sergei admitted. "Fucking things just kept getting harder to kill. We were damn lucky to be breathing hours ago when they ambushed us."
"Well, Alaric did most of the work." Andrzej pointed out. "Thanks to his armour and weapons."
"Yep, literally torn them to shreds." Karl added. "And rendered a big fuck into dust."
Varlin checked his pipe, noticed it was running low, likely from nearly throwing it before from Kazrik's thumping and stuffed more tobacco into it. He looked to Kazrik before the priest nodded. Varlin looked back to the Archangels.
"Explain everything up till now, and make it concise." he said, lifting his pipe to his mouth and lighting it.
Varlin nibbled on his pipe as he and Kazrik processed what the humans were telling them. The Archangels explained in depth everything that had happened up until finding the Karak. They detailed the ferocity of the attacks on the colony, with the emphasis on capturing high ranking victims. They also gave light on how the xenomorph's were able to counter their attempts at survival, both physically and mentally. Varlin recognised this particular trait as he heard how projectiles merely bounced off. They also detailed Alaric's involvement after the ambush, his supposed death and his intervention when death was certain.
The scene of when Kenneth was... cleansed by Alaric added considerable weight to their story when Varlin confirmed their findings, though admittedly he was surprised that Alaric was able to pull that risky ritual off. Kazrik stepped in as soon as they reached the point of finding the Karak, approaching Alaric in his throne. While hearing about survival was enough to pass the time, the stonefather had a more pressing matter to illustrate.
"My lord, is the Primarch still contained, so to speak?" he asked.
Alaric shifted in his throne. He hadn't been able to get that experience out of his head. He had been able to ignore it but the whispers still echoed in his head whenever it was quiet.
"It was still in it's cocoon last I saw it and it didn't ambush us on the way here." Alaric answered.
Kazrik stepped back a pace as his eyes went wide.
"You saw it in person?" he asked in shock, like he wasn't expecting Alaric to be alive if he had.
Alaric took note of the stonefather's reaction. Considering the 'effect ' the Primarch had on him when he was close to it, Alaric had reason to believe that it was detrimental to his health.
"After I had unintentionally fell into the prison wrestling a blood crazed yautja, yes." Alaric clarified, gesturing to the Aegis on his shoulder. "Aegis led me out, getting this amour along the way. And... I've seen what they did to the colonists."
Kazrik bowed his head at the mention.
Varlin, who had been keeping an ear on them while simultaneously listening to the Archangels, nodded as he decided their next move.
"If it's still at the prison, that means the wards are still active." Varlin deduced. "It would have sent its kin to do it's bidding."
He pulled his pipe from his mouth.
"We may have a chance to shut it in again." Varln concluded, pointing to Alaric. "We can get you, Kazrik and a team in to seal the prison."
"You're certain that plan would work?" Alaric asked.
"Not certain about anything, but we have no choice now." Varlin clarified, "But, thanks to you, at least we won't have it's kin to worry about."
This sealed the deal now. They would not be leaving the planet just yet and the Archangels had by now grudgingly admitted it.
"If we're serious about taken this thing down, we're going to need some serious firepower." Andrzej said.
There were murmurs of agreement from the squad. If they were heading to battle once more, they would need more then just peashooters and cutlery.
"Don't worry about that." Varlin assured "We've got plenty of it. Our forges are already hard at work. Though I have to ask: Do you manlings understand the magnitude of the task at hand?"
Sergei pointed at his bandaged torso. Despite overcoming the worst of his injuries, he was still far from comfortable.
"We, especially me, already had the worst day of our lives." Sergei pointed out "No huge bug's gonna make it any worse."
"Zaitsez, you're not going anywhere in your condition." Andrzej reminded before he stepped towards Varlin. "Thane, our orders are to protect the surviving colonists and extract them from the planet." he stated before he looked to his squad. "And, given the circumstances, this ship is our best bet to do that. But, if there's a battle ahead, you're going to need all hands on station."
Varlin nodded in acknowledgement at the captain's pledge.
"If that's the case, lets get to it."Varlin declared.
The thane turned to Jari.
"Jari, set a course for the prison." he ordered. "Full speed."
"At once, Thane." Jari acknowledged before pulling on a lever and pushing another.
There was a faint rumble throughout the ship, followed by a muffled roar of the thrusters and there was a faint lurch as everyone felt the ship move. The Karak veered round in the right direction and with a more vocal rumble throughout the ship, the main engine drives powered up and everyone could feel the ship starting to move forward. Slowly, the Karak built up momentum and within a few minutes they were going at a dependable speed.
Varlin went about updating the rest of the ship on their current course and the oncoming battle ahead. He made clear orders that all combat personnel to get to their stations and prepare.
Alaric took this moment to quickly explain things to Kra'vyx. While Kra'vyx was apprehensive about going back to the colony, he was assured that he would not have to come with him. Alaric made light of his promise to Ja'anya to keep Kra'vyx and his friends safe. But, Kra'vyx was reluctant to let Alaric go on his own, even with the dwarves and his squad accompanying him.
Alaric was adamant about his decision and he made that very clear to Kra'vyx, highlighting that he very nearly lost him during that ambush. Kra'vyx could only agree to Alaric's request, with a sincere nod, and he walked off.
Kazrik, at that point walked up to Alaric, face to face, to ask a very serious question. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one, most of all Varlin, was eavesdropping.
"Did the primarch cause anything... unusual when you saw it?" Kazrik whispered, dreaded apprehension lacing his voice.
Alaric looked to him as Aegis hopped closer. He then pointed to his eyes.
"Does crying blood count?" Alaric sardonically replied.
Kazrik's beard notably drooped at that confirmation.
"That's what I feared." he softly warned.
The Karak, maintaining a high altitude, rumbled over the craggy mountains, bleak hillocks and frozen tundras on the planet's surface, casting a looming shadow on the white landscape. The roar of its engines blotted out the rumbling of the storm the ship was drifting towards, outmatched only by the sound of thunder cracking from the maelstrom ahead.
As the ship drifted, it passed over the ruins of the convoy in the valley where the supposed last stand was held. The dwarves pulled up a projection on the main canopy and they saw close up the devastation that was slowly being rubbed out. The blackened wrecks had long been bleached white and the fires smothered by the snowfall and the bodies of both man and xenomorph had been buried under mounds, leaving only faint outlines as to their final resting place. And the valley which Alaric had forged when he saved them had now cooled completely, leaving a shining surface that stood out in the bleak surroundings.
The Archangels held their heads down and helmets off in respect for the deceased as they passed.
Soon, they reached visual range and everyone on the bridge saw the mountain that had even now became more ominous.
"Look at that." Jari said, pointing a finger. "Quite a storm brewing over there."
In the distance, roughly thirty to forty kilometres away, they could see the edges of a storm. Sensors blipped as readouts projected on the canopy and on crew holo-screens. Gale force winds were now starting to gently rock the ship as Jari and his copilots rode it out.
"Looks about the same as when we first landed on this rock." Hicks said, still at the balcony.
The Archangels were having doubts of being able to navigate that. Or at least anything made by humanity that could have a hope of navigating these kind of storms. The fact that they had landed on this planet during a relatively calm period was difficult enough. The dropship nearly froze even with its arctic configuration when nearly going into a storm during the drop.
"You think this is viable, Thane?" Andrzej asked in valid concern, "Looks pretty serious over there."
Varlin looked at the storm with a raised brow, nibbling his pipe in thought be fore he shook his head dismissively.
"Looks rough, but our ships can easily handle that." Varlin assured. "Living on a mountain helps."
He reached to his control pad and pressed the intercom.
"Warriors, assemble to your dropships." he ordered. "The operation will commence in ten minutes."
He pivoted in his seat to Alaric.
"Much will depend on speed and, need I say, courage." he explained. "Good thing they had a fill at the tavern on the way here."
The mention of battle ready soldiers going into battle inebriated caused concern for the medically trained.
"Is that wise?" Sarah asked.
Karl, who was with Sergei next to Varlin, laughed raucously at that question of drunkenness affecting combat performance.
"Look at me and Sergei. We're still standing and we get hammered first chance we're off duty." Karl joked.
Sergei voiced his agreement to that, remarking that one time he had to snipe Xeno Extremists with a bad hangover. In his opinion, it gave the extremists a fighting chance. But then, just charging in a straight line towards them in a zealot rush rendered that chance into a moot one.
"If you can't fight the enemy drunk, why bother fighting at all?" Varlin asked with a hint of unconcerned mirth. "Besides, Lysandros and Cyrus will be joining you."
"Yes, we came across them training on the way here." Alaric said. "Lysandros I can count on, but I'm not sure about Cryus."
Alaric was of course referring to Cyrus' training from his grandfather and the amount of times he had met the floor. He had the impression that Cyrus had yet to be sent into a proper battle.
"Now, now. The lad is young but his grandfather sees potential in him." Varlin assured. "I'm sure your father was the same teaching you."
Alaric went silent at the mention of the father he never knew. Varlin paused puffing his pipe when he saw Alaric's fist clench. Kazrik gently tapped his staff on the decking to emphasise the thane's mistake. The Archangels went silent too as this was one thing that they try not to talk about.
"My apologies." Varlin humbly apologised before he noticed the sound of clanging metal. "Ah, here he is now!" he called, pointing with his pipe.
Everyone looked to where the thane was pointing and they saw another dwarf walking, or more accurately stomping like a wrecking ball, onto the bridge. This dwarf, with a black greying beard that was neatly braided into one long braid and festooned with a dazzling array of decorated scale plating, was dressed in a thick vest and a kilt, large armoured gloves and a thick leather apron with an array of smithy tools in pockets and loops. On his balding brow was a pair of smithing goggles and his eyes were strange in that, evidently heterochromia, the left was golden amber and the right was iron grey. He also had an intricate network of linear runic tattoos that ran down his arms, representing symbols of the smith. The most startling thing about the dwarf was that his left leg below the knee was replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis, heavily armoured from the sound of it, and he had a notable, though one would say deliberately exaggerated, limp.
In his left hand, acting like a walking stick, was a large rune decorated smithing hammer. His right hand was resting on his belt.
"Forgemaster Horgrym Hammerfoot." Varlin greeted as the dwarf approached them with a notable clang on the deck.
"Thane." The forgemaster grunted in greeting before seeing Alaric in the throne. "My lord." he greeted, thumping his chest rather audibly in a salute. "You look smart in that armour, if I do say so myself." he praised.
Alaric nodded to the dwarf in greeting.
"Is it finished?" Varlin asked.
"Yes, just finished." Horgrym confirmed with a nod that make his beard jingle. "For manling work, surprisingly decent by any standard. Modular too."
The forgemaster reached into his apron and pulled out the item in question, wrapped in a polishing cloth. He limped to Alaric and held out the bundle to him. Alaric took the bundle and the edges felt immediately familiar. It was Razeal. And as Alaric unwrapped it, everyone saw Razeal had undergone a substantial upgrade. The desert eagle handgun, with the slide open, was now superbly polished to a brilliant shine and the slide and barrel was decorated with runic patterns. The scales on the grip, bearing the former owner's name, had been retained, albeit restored and repainted. Every conceivable detail on the firearm had been enhanced to a level that Alaric had seldom seen.
It was as perfect as the day Alaric had... inherited it.
The Archangels were very much impressed with the dwarf's handiwork.
"That is some damn fine polishing." Andrzej said in amazement.
Despite the stringent regimen involved in maintaining their swords and other equipment, this level of polish was an entirely new grade. There was not a scratch or blemish in sight.
"Took a bit of elbow grease, but what's life without a challenge?" Horgrym said with a jest before gesturing to his back "Though I reckon your swords could do with a good going over."
Alaric extracted the magazine and he saw that it had been fully loaded with fresh rounds and the bullets, the same calibre as what had previously been used, had the same runic patterns as gauss ammunition.
"Same calibre as before." Horgrymm clarified. "Just added a bit more punch to it's design. Also utilising electromagnetic current to load and fire, so expect the slide to be fully functional as normal. Perfect if you have to used gunpowder in a pinch."
In other words, Razeal had been converted from a gas operated firearm into a hybrid kinetic gauss pistol.
Alaric inserted the magazine back and flicked the slide release. The slide snapped shut, loading the first round and Razeal immediately powered up, select parts of the runic decoration lighting up.
"That is now guaranteed to punch holes through heavy armour, no questions asked." Horgrym assured. "If you want, I got some custom rounds to try out."
Alaric was at a loss for words, which didn't happen very often. But his eyes betrayed the truth as his thumb rubbed over the name engraved on it's grip.
In his eyes was the flicker of remembrance of the one person Alaric considered a father.
'I... I don't know what to say." Alaric managed to speak.
And Kazrik picked up on it.
"The Khazdryn have a saying." Kazrik recalled. "'The Ancestors are remembered by the gifts left to their descendants.' This is Razeal's gift to you."
The mood was then killed with a notable clang as Horgrym stamped his metal foot. Some of the Archangels jumped at the sound.
"If we're done, I'll head back to the forge." Horgrym bluntly stated, bowing to everyone before clanging his way off. "I got a vat of bronze on the boil for my apprentices to cast."
For a race that utilised highly advanced technology, the mention of bronze was something of a step backwards.
"You still use bronze weapons?" Hicks asked in disbelief from what he just heard. "What I was yelling earlier?"
"As a wise smith once said: Iron decays but bronze lasts forever!" Horgrym called out with a raised fist as he left the bridge, the door shutting behind him.
The smith was correct in that regard. Bronze, because of its copper content, is highly resistant to corrosion, unlike iron and steel which rusts into misshapen lumps or stains if the soil is acidic. Once the surface oxidises, the rest of the metal was protected. Indeed, some bronze blades that date back thousands of years were still as sharp as the day they were buried and even statues that had been on the bottom of the sea still retained all their details.
And the dwarves held homage to that ancient alloy, and its many variants, as it is the first that an aspiring smith must master. And bronze casting was considered an enjoyable past time for dwarves of all ages. Suffice to say, bronze that the dwarves use could more then stand up to the test of time.
Alaric flicked the safety on Razeal, the pistol powered down and he holstered it in it's chest holster. Varlin put a hand into a pocket and pulled out an intricate pocket watch. He flicked open the winged hammer embossed lid and looked at the time. Despite the advent of advanced technology, the watch still utilised old fashioned cogs and springs.
"It's almost time."Varlin said, watching the hands move.
A holographic screen projected in front of Varlin. It was a female dwarf on the other side, her hair was jet black with streaks of red and her eyes were just as dark. She was wearing a uniform along with a combination of a holographic interface and comms over her left eye and ear.
Evidently, as shown by her surroundings, she was posted in radar ops, or the dwarven equivalent of it. There was a central holographic array and a dwarf seated in a throne that was supported by an articulated arm from the ceiling, was revolving around a projection of the planet. The dwarf was plotting out something on the planet using a pair of glowing gauntlets.
"Valandys, report." Varlin commanded, putting the watch back in his pocket.
" Thane, long range scanners are indicating that the storms are moving." Valandys reported. "They're appear to be congregating at the mountain's peak."
"We can see that." Varlin pointed out with his pipe. "Hard not to notice the thunder and winds."
"You don't understand Thane, wind direction is towards us." Valandys clarified.
A topographic image projected on a new screen on the canopy, detailing the storm's current movements and the weather patterns of the planet. While the winds were blowing towards them, the storm clouds were moving towards the mountain.
"See, the clouds are not drifting with the wind." Valandys pointed. "They're drifting against it."
Varlin looked closer at the screen, nibbling his pipe in thought as he watched the clouds drift against the airflow.
Jari, his sharper eyes giving an edge, confirmed Valandys' report as he saw the edge of the storm in the distance.
"Thane, She's right. The storms are indeed moving towards that position." Jari called out.
Varlin looked up to the pilot.
"What do you mean moving?" he asked.
"See for yourself." Jari said, pointing out of the canopy as the Karak drifted closer into view.
The storms were centred on the mountains that the colony and the prison was located. Massive flashes of lightning and bellowing roars of thunder could be seen and heard. But what was most out of place, or was indeed disturbing, was that the lightning was in varying shades of eldritch green and purple. And they did not shoot down from the sky but from the mountain itself. Dark clouds that gathered at the mountain's peak swirled like some ungodly whirlpool bleeding in from another reality.
Kazrik stepped forward as he saw the clouds circle the mountain. His silver eyes flickered with a fiery orange and the ornamentation of his staff started to glow as if the metal was heating up in a forge.
"That's not just any storm." Kazrik warned with contained fear. "Its an Aethyreal storm."
Glowing fractures could be seen snaking their way from the central mountain's peak to the base. The fissures were glowing with purple light, the edges starting to break off and levitate into the swirling clouds as more lightning arced around.
"Is that lightning coming out the mountain?!" Sergei asked, eyes wide.
"The better question is: Were we in an active but gravity-defying volcano?" Hicks corrected.
He was of course referring to static electricity caused by ash and rock particles when a volcano erupts. But this mountain wasn't erupting in any fashion to warrant such a reaction.
Yet.
More intense cracks of thunder erupted from the mountain and larger chunks of rock and ice started to tear off from it's surface, wreathed in purple energy as they rose into the force winds, now orbiting the mountain like a geological orrery. The hammer on Kazrik's staff started to react to this by embers forming around the head. The embers then turned to dancing flames, arcing across the runes decorating Kazrik's staff and coursing over his armoured hand.
For Varlin, this was a sign of certain and, shall we say, cataclysmic doom.
"Get the phase-shields up." Varlin ordered as the cracks of thunder became almost deafening and more rapid. "She's gonna blow!"
Everyone on the bridge braced themselves as the sky's drone became one long roar.
At that moment, with one final almighty crack of thunder, things took an extreme turn for the worse.
The mountain imploded in on itself in a symphony of fracturing rock and ice with purple lightning erupting from within the mountain itself. The light show filled up the whole sky before sending out a blinding shock wave that could be seen in the snowstorms. The sphere of pressure surged out impossibly far, enough so that when the wave reached the ship, it lurched backwards sharply as the wave roared deafeningly past. Anyone who was not in a seat was rocked from their feet and hit the deck hard. Those in their seats were wrenched back into their seats like they had just blasted into space on a rocket, their holoscreens tearing up and shutting down. Even Alaric in his amour felt it as he was forced back into the throne as Aegis was almost wrenched off his perch, spreading his wings for balance. Kra'vyx held his head as he landed hard into the deck on his shoulder.
Kazrik on the other hand rode out the shock wave like a rock, holding his staff for support while everyone was bouncing around a ball in a pinball machine. What was notable was that when the shockwave hit the ship, his crown glowed and an faint sphere formed around the priest for a split second. Like the shockwave had been diverted around him.
After a few seconds of confused recovery, everyone was getting back on their feet or up straight in their seats. But, whether or not anyone had their hearing in check was up to debate.
"My fucking ears!" Karl strained as his head rang.
Most of the Archangels suffered from a bout of tinnitus, shaking their heads and slapping their ears to get their hearing back. Kra'vyx and some dwarves not quick enough to cover their ears had the same reaction. Alaric himself had it too, though he was able to shrug it off quickly. Kra'vyx held his head and his eyes were clenched shut as he fumbled to his knees.
Alaric looked with concern.
"You alright, Kra'vyx?" he asked.
Kra'vyx could only nod as he got back to his feet, grabbing onto Alaric's throne for support. Aegis hopped to the side as Kra'vyx shook his head.
"Now I know what Ja'anya was dealing with." he said, referring to Ja'anya's previous experience with volcanoes.
The Archangels got to their feet in varying degrees of recovery.
"I read about Krakatoa, but to be near it!"Mac exclaimed.
"Is my brain leaking from my ears?" Sergei asked Sarah, looking at his hands for blood.
Hicks stood up, pinching his nose and blowing his ears.
"Fuck Krakatoa, was that a nuke in there?" Hick corrected.
Regardless, whether or not there was something akin to a nuclear device inside the mountain, there was a sudden hail of impromptu meteors to navigate through. Massive boulders of rock and ragged shards of ice, wreathed with residual energy, were flying in all directions and they were right in the thick of it of this ensuing rock storm as boulders the size of houses roared towards them.
One boulder soared over the Karak, everyone watching it's arc as another boulder flew over at a steeper angle.
Andrzej yelled in polish as he saw another boulder hurtle past with precious inches to spare and that was enough incentive to take action.
"Incoming!" Jari yelled, pulling his goggles over his eyes. "Here's where the fun begins!"
Varlin hit the main alarm switch on his chair's control pad. The long droning of a horn reverberated throughout the ship, the universal sign of imminent danger.
"Evasive manoeuvres!" Varlin yelled."Gunners, fire at will!"
"With pleasure!" Treval yelled from below.
The cannon emplacements on the Karak, pivoted and the barrels aimed towards the oncoming shower of geological death.
"Hold on!" Jari yelled, reaching for his sticks.
Jari and his co-pilots pulled onto their sticks in unison and the ship veered up.
The Archangels ran up to the front railing, partly for support and partly for the best seats for the show, while Kra'vyx quickly held fast to Alaric's throne.
Jari and his co-pilots worked hard to guide the ship through the rock storm, evading the impromptu meteors as best as they could. The sound of straining metal was heard as boulders the size of vehicles to large bunker complexes glanced off the hull and the thunderous boom as they impacted the planet's surface. Despite the size of the Karak, it was proving to be more manoeuvrable then one would expect from a ship that size. Booster thrusters located on strategic points of the hull allowed the ship to execute tighter turns then one would think possible.
Even so, it required flawless co-ordination to pull off. Both for the pilots and for the engineers with the ships engines. Krags could be heard over the intercom, relaying Jari's instructions for more power to specific thrusters.
The largest chunks of rock and ice were shot down with precision from the Karak's cannon emplacements, the electromagnetic weaponry reducing them into clouds of dust and snow in a display reminiscent of celebratory fireworks. The smaller quad turrets shot down the smaller faster lumps of rock that the cannons could not track. The smaller turrets with vented barrels shot out short wave pulse beams of blue energy while the larger turrets on the wings shot continuous beams not unlike a massive laser of some sort, slicing through the rocks like a hot knife through butter.
However, given the sheer amount of flying rubble to contend with, there were some that slipped through the field of fire.
"Brace yourselves!" Treval yelled from his console below. "Gatecrashers!"
Thunderous crashes were heard as the ship was pummelled in the ensuring shower of destruction. Bright flashes and flickering lights erupted from the hull as the phase-shields absorbed the brunt of the impacts, the boulders fracturing on impact, but there was still enough kinetic force delivered into the hull to make the ship lurch and shake. Those standing were nearly knocked off their feet as they grabbed harder onto their supports. The boulders that were streaming straight for the bridge were priority targets, point defence weaponry around the bridge pounding them into gravel that peppered the canopy.
And also flying among the debris in the sky were the large hulks of mine haulers, trucks and drilling rigs. Each of the vehicles simply collapsed and imploded in showers of blue sparks as they hit the Karak's shielded hull. One drill came perilously close to striking the canopy but fell short, exploding with a bright flash just below the bridge and a shower of twisted metal.
"Sacre blue!" Sarah exclaimed in her native tongue.
"Are we a dartboard, all of a sudden?!" Karl yelled.
While the Archangels were hanging on for dear life with wide eyes and linguistic exclamations, Kra'vyx on the other hand looked like he was enjoying himself. He was pointing out at the light shows erupting around them and laughing. Alaric was strangely calm as he watched the display of firepower the Karak was producing.
The dwarves were not at all bothered, barring the ones who had to navigate the storm and fire the weapons. Kazrik was riding out the storm like an oak tree in a gale and Varlin had his legs casually crossed.
"Don't worry." Varlin assured, casually smoking his pipe. "This is nothing compared to an actual meteor shower."
Another violent lurch, complete with a flaming fireball and thick black smoke, made him almost lose his pipe. Peeled metal panels screeched across the canopy, one of which had the unmistakable symbol of highly flammable substances.
"And that was a fuel tanker!" Sergei pointed out as the metal screeched loudly off the canopy.
A holoscreen popped up from Varlin's seat and the imposing visage of Igneous was projected. There were also screams and curses coming from the colonists in the background as the humans were being tossed around like bean bags.
"Thane, these manlings are getting hysterical." Igneous pointed out. "Have you blown up another mountain?"
He then looked down-left off screen, appeared to shake his leg and looked up with an annoyed grimace on his stony features.
"I've got children hugging me like I'm a stuffed toy!" he complained.
Evidently, seeing that he was unaffected by the rocking and lurching, he was being used as a guardrail to hang on to by the colonists.
"Not now, Igneous!" Varlin said, keeping his pipe in his mouth with clenched teeth. "We've got a sudden meteor shower to navigate."
At that point, with another violent and thunderous lurch, Fel'tak came clanging into frame. Amusingly, the cauldron that had held their food allocation had somehow got lodged on his head, muffling his curses as he tried to get it off. Mal'fax and Ly'enta tumbled after Fel'tak, using his bulk to shield her from the impacts. Kila was seen rushing after them, precariously keeping her balance as the Karak continued to buck and lurch.
Kra'vyx couldn't help but laugh at Fel'tak's predicament.
"Meteors?" Igneous asked, as a child now climbed onto his shoulders, hauling himself up by using Igneous' head as a perch. "From what?"
Varlin ceased the hololink, not having time to give the complaining golem an answer, just in time for a big surprise.
Big being a loose term when they noticed the dim light of the setting sun was suddenly blotted out and they were cast in shadow.
"Oh shit!" Hicks yelled in shock, pointing a finger. "Look!"
Hurtling towards them, lightning wreathing it's bulk, was the largest irregular slab of rock the storm had produced, kilometres wide and nearly as thick. It was like some angry god had ripped up an entire tectonic plate from the planet's crust and hurled it at them. At the velocity it was travelling, there wasn't any way they could pilot the ship around it in time. And as it tumbled, they could see an arterial network of pipes embedded in the rock.
"Pierdolić , that's part of the refinery!" Andrzej yelled in realisation.
In fact, as the tectonic slab tumbled more, parts of the refinery were shown to have been torn with it. They could make whole rooms and industrial sectors as the slab came full face to them. These were falling apart and scattering through the air as centrifugal force tore them from their fittings.
Jari's eyes darted around for a way past the tumbling geological slab and shook his head.
"We can't go round. So, we'll go through!" Jari yelled. "Punch a hole!"
"With pleasure!" Treval yelled from below. "Arming the lances. Full power!"
The prow of the Karak started to glow as energy streams and particles of light started to surge towards it cascading over the Karak's hull. Ports located on the bow, conveniently residing in the jewelled eyes glowed and discharges of energy flashed and electrostatic charges sparked. If one were in ancient times, one could easily mistake the ship as an actual monster. Holographic symbols lit up on the canopy, indicating the charging weapons.
While it may be taking seconds for these weapons to charge, to everyone on the bridge, watching the tectonic slab hurtle towards them, it was taking an eternity. Some of the Archangels were already bracing themselves for the inevitable collision, praying in their native tongues. Kra'vyx doing likewise.
Alaric was still calm.
The symbols blipped out and were replaced with a cross-hair for the lances.
"Phase-lances ready." Varlin said, turning to Alaric. "My lord, you have shot." he turned forward. Jari, line us up!"
Alaric looked to the right armrest on the throne and he saw a hand print pad with an array of buttons had formed. He placed his hand on it, heard as his armoured hand interfaced with it and a holographic display projected around his head that followed his movements. He locked on to what was detected as a fault line in the slab of rock in the centre.
Jari veered the ship in line and, when the sights lined up, Alaric fired.
With a mighty crack of energy, twin beams of blinding light shot out from the prow's eyes. The phase-beams,lightning arcing off them, roared through the air while atomising any boulders in their path. These were not like the plasma weaponry that yautja use, but it was like a highly advanced particle cannon that could harness light itself, giving the energy physical form. The plasmacasters, not they could be called that now, on Alaric's armour most likely utilised the same technology.
How the phase-lances operated is much like using a magnifying glass and the sun. Creating a concentrated beam of particles that can burn through targets. And the beam can be adjusted to any size, either for maximum area of effect or for pinpoint precision.
Even though humanity had developed particle weaponry, the Karak's weaponry hands down far exceeded anything human ships could develop. And also the fact that current particle weaponry was used only to disable ships by knocking out their electronics like a concentrated EMP.
The beams hit the titanic slab of rock in a bright flash, fracturing rock and evaporating metal. The bright flash was continuous surging conflagration, making it impossible to tell if the lances were punching through. But, the shards of rock chipping off the impact zone and metal turning into vapour was giving them an idea of the damage the beams was inflicting.
The lances ceased firing after seven long seconds, the beams fading out, and everyone saw a massive hole where the lances hit, smoothed and glowing. Big enough for the Karak to slip through.
"We're going in!" Jari yelled as the hole rapidly approached.
Kra'vyx in a sudden and understandable shift of mood had now gone from enjoying himself to being scared shitless as held tighter on Alaric's command throne. The Archangels got their heads down as darkness fell upon them.
The ship had entered the tunnel forged by the phase-lances, blasted clean by the beams of energy. As the tectonic slab continued to slowly tumble through the rock storm, Jari and his pilots worked hard to follow it's movements.
Seconds after entering the tunnel, the smoothness was supplemented with irregular organic flowing. The beams acted much like a river in carving out a tunnel for the Karak. And in these fissures were the remains of pipes that once funnelled the waste smog from the refinery and the natural channels they filled.
"This slab's thicker then we thought." Jari called out, looking at the gyroscope display on his console. "Hang on!" he yelled, pushing down on his sticks as his co-pilots did the same.
Everyone felt the ship tilting upwards as Jari followed the slab's arc.
Despite the ship basically starting to go vertical, no one was feeling gravity pulling them down. The Karak's gravity systems were keeping them more or less stable. Even so, everyone was holding on tighter as they could feel the g-forces setting in. Kra'vyx was feeling it as he pulled closer to Alaric's throne. Aegis hopped down onto Alaric's lap, nesting himself under an arm as Alaric rested a hand on him for security.
Kazrik on the other hand was riding it without showing any signs of exertion.
"Looks like we blasted through to a natural fissure." Jari called out. "Getting tight!"
There was a loud screech of metal as the Karak scraped against the tunnel walls. Sparks were seen flaring out from the prow's ram as its scraped along the stone. And the prow's crest was starting to dig into the tunnel ceiling, ripping stone and metal out in chunks.
"You're a bit close, Jari!" Varlin scolded.
Jari looked back over his shoulder confidently.
"Just a minor scuff!" Jari called out, turning forward when a loud metallic screech was heard.
"The senior engineers are going to be grumbling for days after this." Varlin muttered.
More sparks were now erupting from the sides as the tunnel was getting tighter. Loud straining of metal was heard as the wings of the Karak began to dig into the rock walls, ripping great chunks of rock, ice and metal.
Despite all this punishment, the shielded hull showed no signs of imploding from the pressure, not even the turrets on the wings were being torn from their emplacements. Unlike the tunnel that the Karak was ploughing through.
"This is nuts!" Karl yelled, as a large boulder was smashed below the bridge.
"If one of our ships tried this, it'd be ripped open!" Hicks commented.
"This is nothing." Jari assured.
There was a sudden lurch followed by another as everyone felt the Karak veer as it followed the tunnel. It was then followed by the loud screeching crunch of metal and everyone on the bridged saw a mass of curved metal wall panels explode in front of them.
They had smashed through into one of the main chimneys of the refinery. Now, they had a sure way out. In fact, Jari's trained eyes could make out in the distance.
"Nearly through!" Jari yelled.
However, as they got closer there was a problem.
"Look!" Andzrej pointed out with a finger.
Up ahead was the exit hole, lined with piping from the refinery. But what was most striking about it was that it was only several meters wide. It was designed to channel smoke and smog, not a starship over a kilometre long.
"That's a bit too tight!" Hicks pointed out.
"This is going to be end badly." Sergei said with dread, reaching for his flask and holding to his mouth before realisation set in. "Der'mo! I already drank all of it." he cursed tossing it over his shoulder with a clang.
The dwarves however had a solution to this impeding obstacle. A rather direct solution.
"RAMMING SPEED!" Varlin ordered.
Jari and his co-pilots initiated the procedure, pushing and pulling levers and pressing buttons. And their ministrations were having an immediate effect as surge of power. The Karak's speed abruptly increased, the amount of sparks and flying rubble was becoming blinding. A shimmering field of energy began to course and arc over the Karak's hull as the phase-sheilds went into overdrive.
"Kamikaze run more like!" Hicks yelled.
Alaric, in stark contrast from his squad, was casually rapping his fingers on the throne's armrest. It looked he was casually waiting for the inevitable. It would appear that he had full faith in the Karak.
Mac dumped his helmet on the floor before reaching for a pocket on his fatigues. He then, in a very ironic fashion, pulled out a white headband with kanji writing on it and a red sun emblem. He began to tie it around his head.
Andrzej saw this and smirked.
"Very appropriate, Kyonaki." Andrzej remarked. "Political correctness aside, of course."
Mac turned to the captain.
"If I'm going to die, I might as well enjoy myself." Mac said, drawing his sword with a flourish.
The ram on the prow began to glow. In the same manner as the phase-lances had done with energy channelling to the prow. The phase-shields were now creating a cascading slipstream The hole was getting closer and in a few moments they were going to impact.
Alaric looked to everyone with a smirk as they were reaching the end of their grinding run. The Archangels looked back and they nodded. As Mac said, if they're going to die then they might as well die with a laugh.
"Hands off!" they yelled, raising their arms up.
And at that point, they made contact with an ear shattering crash.
Despite the conclusion they were to be imploded into oblivion, the Karak burst out the other side in a massive eruption of sparks, streams of phase-energy and flying rock. All of its bulk erupted out of the rock face, tearing great chunks from the tumbling slab. Massive plumes of energised flame erupted form the engine's thrusters like a missile leaving it's pod, trailing dust and twisted metal in its wake.
Putting their hands in the air proved to be an unwise move as the impact caused the Archangels to be hurled off their feet on impact. They hurriedly grabbed onto the railing before they were flung over it. Sergei, Karl and Hicks however flipped over the railing and were left hanging on like sloths caught in a storm. Alaric, however, was 'attached' to his throne and wasn't sent flying unlike his squad.
The titanic slab of rock began to break apart as it's structure finally gave out after the Karak rammed it's way out, crumbling into two halves as massive fractures snaked across their surfaces and smaller chunks began fracturing off.
A few tense seconds passed before massive and cataclysmic sounding crash was heard as the tectonic slabs impacted the surface, sending up plumes of snow and dust into the air. A bright flash filled the air, followed by another shock wave that shook the Karak, rocking everyone about in their seats. While all the smaller boulders made a minimal impact, that slab caused something akin to the extinction event that wiped out Earth's dinosaurs, on a much smaller scale to occur as massive amounts of snow, steam and pulverised rock struck the Karak.
Everyone held on for their lives, holding their breaths for the worst to come, as the turbulence was the most severe yet as the erupting blast surged past them. The Karak was engulfed in the most violent arctic eruption the storm had yet produced, similar to an Atmospheric Processor going into meltdown. A last roll of the dice for nature to destroy the Karak.
It was only after the Karak stopped shaking after ten long seconds that everyone could start breathing again, their adrenaline drying up and could focus on their present position.
The Karak was now nearly vertical when leaving the slab. And the fact that no one was sliding down on the deck was disorientating. Kazrik for one was still standing in his spot and none of the impacts and shock waves had done anything to dislodge him. At best, if one had sharp enough eyes, Kazrik had admittedly shifted by a few millimetres.
The whole bridge was silent as everyone was processing what they had just been through.
The silence was then broken by the sound of Alaric tapping his fingers on his throne's armrest.
"Is the ride over?" Alaric asked, making light of the situation. "Fancy a second run?"
Some of the Archangels laughed at Alaric's joke and a few dwarves joined in when they got it.
"Praise the Ancestors." Varlin sighed.
The Archangels began laughing when they realised that they had just cheated death yet again as they hauled themselves up.
"Glad that's over." Andrzej said, wiping his forehead.
"What a rush!" Sergei yelled.
Jari watched them, while shaking his head.
"I have no idea why you manlings did that." he said with a smirk. "Do you do that all the time?"
"Only if we're going out in flames." Hicks said.
Karl heaved himself up, holding his mouth as his cheeks were bulging. Once he was on his feet, he gulped and then retched. Evidently, he had nearly, and literally, lost his breakfast. Hicks heaved himself up, giving the Norwegian a pat on the back.
Unfortunately, in this case, Karl was never one to let things go to waste.
"Hold on." Jari called out, pushing his sticks forward. "Levelling out now."
The Karak levelled itself out as the last of the falling rocks hurtled past or bounced harmlessly off the hull and everyone could see the destruction for themselves. Were once there was a monolithic mountain chain reaching high into the clouds, there was nothing left but a vast ocean of broken stone and ice as far as the eye could see with only the odd half-pulverised mountain standing tall like islands. Streams of vapour seethed from the rapidly cooling rubble and, here and there, were warped metal panels and the twisted chassis of vehicles. What was left of the colony was now nothing but a literal smattering of debris.
"Jævla helvete, the mountains just vanished!" Karl said, in stunned shock.
"And took the colony and refinery with it." Andrzej added.
Mac pulled the headband off his brow.
"Guess I didn't need this after all." he muttered, stuffing it back into his pocket and looking down from the railing.
His helmet had bounced down the ledge during the breakout and so he gone about retrieving it, going down a conveniently place ladder.
Alaric leant over to his right as Aegis hopped onto his shoulder and looked behind his throne.
"Kra'vyx, you can come out now." he said.
Kra'vyx sheepishly stepped out from where he was hiding behind the throne.
"Well, that was fun." Jari said, sitting back in his seat. "Now I need some ale."
He tapped a button on his armrest and, rather conveniently, a compact stein of the beverage popped out from the armrest. He picked it up, popped the lid and took a long draft. His co-pilots did the same with their own.
Karl, seeing something to wash his mouth out, walked over and grabbed Jari's stein before taking a good swig to get the taste of bile out of his mouth. He swished and swallowed, satisfied that he now had ale instead of half-digested oats on his tongue. Karl gave it back to Jari and gave the pilot a pat on the back.
"Good stuff." Karl thanked before walking off.
Jari, his beard cringing at the though of spittle in his brew, looked at his stein, peering hard for any backwash before shrugging and downing the whole thing.
The Karak, after everything the ship had gone through, look no worse for wear. Even the crest was undamaged, despite the forces inflicted on it's structure. It wasn't even slightly out of line. The faint flickering of the phase-shields was seen. Evidently, the whole ordeal pushed the energy barrier to it's limit.
"Jari, bring us down." Varlin ordered. "Maintain a steady altitude. Circle the area."
Jari dutifully brought the Karak down to a lesser height of around three hundred feet so that they could scout out the area. The cannon emplacements and turrets on the bottom of the Karak began a slow patrol of the rubble plain. While this was going on, Valrin checked in with the rest of the ship.
"Status report." Varlin called out. "Have we sustained damage?"
"The hull is undamaged. Phase-shields are down, undergoing recharging." a dwarf called out, projecting screens onto the main canopy. "Engines are overheating by twenty percent. Engineering is venting heat now."
There was the roar of gushing steam as a thick cloud gushed out of vents around the thrusters of the Karak, momentarily obscuring the bridge in an artificial cloud. Mac came up the ladder at that point with his helmet, now more dented then ever.
Varlin pressed his intercom.
"Bardin, what is the status of the Karak's weaponry?" he queried.
"Turrets are still in one piece. Weapon systems are still operational." Bardin relayed over the comms.
"As always!" Treval yelled from below.
It was evident Treval preferred shouting then using his comms.
"What about the phase-lances?" Varlin questioned, concerned about the state of their most powerful weapon. "Can we still fire them?"
"The phase-lances are fine, but charging is going to take time." Bardin explained. "We'll keep you posted when they're at minimum charge."
Varlin nodded before punching some buttons on his seats control pad. Holoscreens flickered into life on the main canopy, projecting Medical and Radar Ops. Valandys was readjusting her seat while the dwarf on the holograph's seat precariously hanging by a safety harness and was now hauling himself back into it. Maja on the other hand looked like she had been caught in a storm as her medical goggles were lopsided across her face of which she quickly realigned.
"Status." Varlin asked.
"The manlings were thankfully secure before the turbulence started." Maja reported, before she gave a sigh of displeasure "Which is more then I can say for anything else." she added, gesturing behind her.
The medbay looked like it had taken the brunt of the storm considering the amount of mess being cleared up. Instruments and various medical supplies were scattered around the whole bay and dwarf orderlies were cleaning up. The wounded colonists and marines in the beds, all of whom were strapped in, groaned from being bounced around. One technician had the unenviable task of cleaning up another bout of nausea induced mess.
"Amusingly, Lysandros and Cyrus had been sparring during the whole ordeal." Maja added. "Lysandros called the turbulence no excuse to stop."
Alaric could agree to that. He never stopped for anything when he trained either. He recalled the time when he was younger that, after fracturing both his legs after a misjudged jump, he continued on the course until he finished, despite the considerable pain he was in. He did spend the rest of the week recovering though.
"Any more wounded brought in?" Varlin asked
"Thankfully none." Maja praised before she made an exception. "Although, from what I heard from Kila, one of the yautja seems to have got his head stuck in a cauldron."
Muffled yells were heard as Fel'tak was brought into view by Igneous, holding said cauldron up and the initiate's thrashing form with it. The metal pot was doing well in muffling the swearing and foul mouth rhetoric that the initiate was spouting as his legs swung around for purchase. Mal'fax and Ly'enta was with them as well, sporting some minor bruising, as Igneous looked at them with his usual grimace.
"The shit I have to put up with." he groaned, grabbing the flailing yautja with his free hand. "First being used as an anchor and now this."
"Igneous, wait until I get the lubricant!" Maja ordered, rushing off to the nearest cabinet.
"There's no time for lubricant!" Igneous decreed.
"There's always time for lubricant!" Fel'tak yelled, from inside his cauldron.
The screen shut off as Fel'tak gave off a loud yell as he felt Igneous bang against the cauldron making it ring like a bell and the golem's griping. Kra'vyx at that point gave out stifled giggles he had been holding in when he saw Fel'tak hanging around.
Alaric looked at the initiate.
"Does Fel'tak ever shut up?" he asked.
Varlin turned to Valandys.
"Valandys, what about on your side." Varlin asked.
The dwarf in the seat had now got back in was now started to revolve around the holographic planet.
"The storm's gone. And the mountain is no more." Valandys reported. "So, our topography is now skewed. Thane, what about the Primarch?"
"Well, from the looks of it, It's dug its own grave." Varlin said, pointing at the devastation with his pipe.
Kazrik at that point held his head. He grumbled in perceived discomfort as he notably bowed over, holding onto his staff for support. Alaric too held a hand to his brow as he felt a faint but ominously familiar throbbing emerge. Kazrik looked to Varlin and he noticed Alaric undergoing the same discomfort he was and, much to his confirmation, he could feel another person suffering.
Kazrik could then hear a feminine voice in his head, whispering a dire warning. From someone who was intrinsically part of the ship.
It is coming.
Alaric and Kazrik locked eyes for a moment and they both nodded.
"Thane." Kazrik called.
Varlin pivoted to the priest.
"What is it?" Varlin asked
Kazrik looked at his staff and he saw that the decorations were still glowing, ebbing with light that was slowly getting brighter. What was most disturbing was that after the storm ended, the glowing hadn't subsided. And this was catching everyone's attention, consider why the staff was glowing in the first place.
"We can feel it." the stonefather warned. "It's here."
A red flashing symbol, accompanied by shrill bleeping was projected on Valandys' screen and the dwarf in the chair called out in Khazdryn, waving his gauntlets on the planet's holographic surface highlighting an area. Valandys looked on her own terminal and here eyes went wide.
"Thane, Ori has detected an energy signature." Valandys reported.
"What?" Varlin said
A screen blipped onto the canopy, showing a map of their immediate area. The surroundings, a vast rocky ocean tens of kilometres in size, took a moment for everyone to get their bearings but once they did, Kazrik and Alaric felt a notable chill. The flashing blip was located where the prison was.
The holoscreens on the bridge started to flicker and tear up. The main canopy, terminals, everything. This was another sign that the Archangels were familiar with. When Kenneth was cleansed and their gear blew up.
"..Ane. Can you..." Valandys could be heard, trying to get through the static. "Thane... athy... off sca..." Vlandys tried to say before she as cut off.
Every screen at that point tore apart and shut down in a display of flickering fragments. The dwarves were quick to resort to a back up operating system. Some thing that was more familiar to the humans.
"Its a good thing we still use analogue." Jari praised as conventional monitors flared into life.
"Thane, we have geological activity down on the surface." a dwarf called out.
"Bring us out." Varlin ordered. "Get us to the edge. We're not getting caught in another blast."
Kazrik rushed to the balcony as Jari veered the Karak back to the edges of the geological ocean and gained a higher alltitude. Kazrik peered down, looking for something as his silver eyes flickered. He then pointed his staff to the centre of the rubble as he finally sensed the focal point of this
"There." he pointed out
The sea of rubble was starting to shift, rumbling like an aftershock was occurring. Flashes of purple lightning and green fire began to flicker from cracks in the rubble ocean. Then, in an ominous fashion, the lighter hunks of rubble and debris started to levitate into the air.
Kazrik held his staff closer, the decorations of which were now glowing more intensely. The diamond on his brow started to glow as well.
"The titan awakens." Kazrik warned.
The rubble now started to rise upwards, creating orbits of crumbling rock, warped metal and shards of ice. Then, like icebergs being pulled from the ocean, large stone blocks were emerging from the rubble. And these blocks were not natural as their perfect edging showed. And some blocks were marked with curved and linear symbols and some even had the remnants of sculptures.
It was parts of the prison-temple. Or what was left of it.
"Khazdryk's beard!" Varlin cursed. "The prison!"
Kazrik could make out nine large pillars being pulled into the air, each were inscribed with runes and symbols that looked... burned out of the stone. In fact, each rune was smoking black-tinged purple smoke. And a few had been blown apart by some force, showing a myriad of crystalline structures within the stone. Crystal's burned into many brittle fragments that collapsed into sparkling dust.
"The wards are destroyed." Kazrik said. "Overpowered."
From the ashes of the once mighty mountain, a titanic figure encrusted with ice emerged, trailing snow, rock and dust behind it. A massive shield-like crest, dozens of metres across and lined with up-sweeping spikes, crowned a gargantuan head that surfaced the rubble. Spines that would be at home on a prehistoric predator protruded from the back, coupled with three pairs of chitinous wings that could have spanned the entire mountain chain. Despite the monstrous size, the body was incredibly refined and smooth as it stepped out from the rubble. Its body retained the bio-mechanical ascetic that all xenomorphs had, but this was more perfect and refined compared to the ones fought so far.
The orbiting rubble continued to arc and circle around as the leviathan brought a leg out of the rubble. Rubble and debris prated like water as it waded through, standing up and bringing it's other leg up. A massive segmented tail, ending with with blades like a five pronged trident, swayed out of the rubble.
When it had fully emerged, almost as tall as the mountains it had destroyed, it's six wings unfurled and spread out, trailing ice and casting a shadow that covered the ship. It stood to full height, blotting out the setting sun and created a demonic silhouette with a glowing halo. The call it gave out was a roar that got right down to the heart as a faint aura of purple flames ignited on it's glowing form, evaporating the ice in a gush of steam.
Like the soul-shard that Alaric had pulled out of Kenneth.
And to those who heard the roar, it reached not the physical heart but the very soul. And it was certain that everyone on the ship felt it.
This xenomorph was truly... godlike.
Everyone on the bridge was, to put it simply, terrified. Kazrik were praying a litany in Khazdryn, Kra'vyx was starting to get tremors while the Archangels could only gawk at the sight of the biggest Xenomorph that they, or even the whole of humanity, has ever witnessed.
"Oh my god." Andrzej gasped.
"Must not fear, fear is the mind-killer." Hicks repeated over and over.
"We're gonna need a bigger gun." Sergei predicted, semi-quoting a famous movie line.
Alaric, who had seen this monstrous behemoth in person from his time in the hive, kept a cool head, even as the whispers started to re-emerge in the back of his head, and simply pointed with a finger.
"THAT is the primarch." Alaric revealed.