Locum Ignotum Chapter 23

Bylan coughed, over and over, trying to clear his throat. His augmetic lungs burned, sending tendrils of fire into his chest. He wasn't quite sure how metal and plastek could hurt but they were managing it regardless. It was painful and aggravating but those implants had unexpectedly saved his life. One second the Command Squad had been in the thick of the fight, battling for their lives and the next thick clouds of cloying poison had erupted out of nowhere. The Daemons had dissolved in the acidic soup and the Astartes had collapsed helplessly.

At Bylan's feet the Command Squad were strewn about, sinking into unconsciousness as the foul gas did its work. Only Bylan's augmetic lungs had spared him but he was aghast nonetheless, seeing such proud warriors laid low. Then he saw Captain Toran, keeled over and passed out in the mud, his precious relic blade inches from his hand.

Bylan's hearts leapt into his mouth and he sheathed his blade as he dashed over crying, "+Apothecary, Apothecary!+" There was no response to his cries, merely the poison swirling all around. He rushed to the Captain's side and knelt by him, keeping the Standard aloft with one hand. He was relieved to see that Toran still breathed but he was totally unconscious; there was no telling how long for.

Bylan sensed a swirl of movement behind him and leapt to his feet but was surprised when he saw the unmistakable sight of Arvael approaching. The Librarian looked deathly pale but he was conscious and moving. His body surrounded by a shimmering Kine shield, keeping the poison at bay as he stumbled over.

Bylan saw the Librarian looked dazed but had not the time to let him recover and called, "+Arvael, what's happening?+"

"I was too slow," Arvael said, "I should have seen it coming."

Bylan shook his head and said, "+The Captain is down, we have to evacuate him+"

"We can't," Arvael said grimly, "We are losing this battle, if we fall back the Company dies."

"+We have to save the Captain!+" Bylan barked.

Arvael glanced to the side and stated, "No time, here they come again."

Bylan saw the poison cloud was dissipating, revealing the gibbering horde of Daemons beyond. They were a nightmare of fangs and claws and evilly grinning faces, all gathering for the final blow. Bylan drew his combat blade as the mist cleared and said, "+No one touches the Captain+"

The first Daemon came at them, a female with giant scissor claws for hands. It blurred towards them with a gleeful cry and Bylan lifted his blade to intercept it. At the last moment the Daemon staggered, its eyes glazing over and Bylan struck, spearing it through the heart. The Daemon collapsed without so much as a hiss but the next one was already coming at him, with a barbed whip in hand. Bylan countered with the haft of the Standard, letting the whip coil around it and the Daemon froze with an expression of horror. The Standard Bearer didn't hesitate but struck low, tearing out its guts and leaving it to collapse to the ground.

To his side Arvael was swinging his Force-Morningstar, the crystal head glowing with psychic might. Any Daemon it touched exploded into ash, his otherworldly power abhorrent to them at a fundamental level. The pair were slaughtering droves but they were surrounded by an endless field of Daemons, clawed nightmares hissing and darting at them with deadly intent. Bylan knew that they were outnumbered and outmatched and yet the Daemons didn't seem able to land a fatal blow. Whenever they came close they would stumble or pause, repelled by something he could not discern.

Bylan parried a blow from a fiend with too many elbows and he cried, "+What's happening to them?+"

Arvael smashed a bestial Daemon steed down, breaking its spine as he yelled, "I don't know, somethings working against them, disrupting their focus."

Bylan speared his opponent in the eye and then caught a fierce blow on his pauldron, he swept about with his blade as he yelled, "+What causing it?+"

Arvael threw his hand forward with his palm open and a wave of telekinetic power bowled over a dozen Daemons as he cried, "What part of I don't know did you not understand? You're not a pariah, I would sense that. The only other possible answer would be a nexus point of positive belief, a fulcrum upon which faith turns but I don't recall seeing any Cathedrals nearby."

Bylan felt his world shift around him as the realisation hit hard, he knew what was happening, he knew what was going on here. He drew in a breath as he fought off a fiend with tentacles for arms and cried, "+Its the Standard!+"

Arvael battered a Daemon shaped like a chariot down as he cried, "What?"

Bylan yelled, "+You said it had to be a nexus of belief, it must be the banner!+"

Arvael cried, "That's insane!"

Bylan took a blow that rung his helm hard but still shouted, "+You haven't been with the Company long but the Standard is a focus for our Brother's faith. They believe in its sanctity, they believe that as long as it flies that they can't be beaten+"

Arvael swung his weapon and blew apart Bylan's foe as he cried, "We're half in the Warp, thoughts and beliefs are real here. The Daemons are ideas made corporeal but they are still made of emotions, belief is real to them, more real than Bolters or blades."

Bylan faced off against a female-like Daemon with immense fangs for teeth and called, "+Great, how does that help us?+

Arvael called back, "You have to take the standard into the middle of the horde, expose its heart to the nexus!"

Bylan was aghast and cried, "+I can't leave the Captain!+"

Arvael growled, "It's the Captain or the Company, make your choice."

Time froze for an instant as Bylan faced a choice he never thought he would have to make. His hearts were torn in two, on one side his loyalty to Captain Toran on the other his duty as Company Ancient. He was sworn to carry the Standard into the heart of the fray, to fly it high and inspire the whole Company to greatness. He had a chance to turn this battle around but it would mean leaving Toran defenceless, leaving the man to whom he owed everything.

Bylan looked about and saw the squads of Third Company being overrun, their line bending backwards as the pressure of the Daemons overwhelmed them. The Predators and other tanks were beset by monstrous fiends, many of them already wreaked and smoking. The battle had already turned against them and Bylan knew that Third Company was facing defeat.

Bylan was torn by indecision but then he looked up at the banner, the Standard that had been borne by so many honoured Brothers before him. How could he dare to do less than them. Bylan's jaw clenched and his grip tightened on the haft, then he took a step forward and another. He opened his vox to the Company frequency and cried, "+All squads rally to me, follow the Standard, follow the Banner up the centre!+"

Bylan threw himself forward, holding the Standard high. Arvael followed him swinging his Force-Morningstar wide to destroy any Daemon that came close. Bylan held the haft an iron grip as he barrelled forward, chopping left and right with his combat blade. Before him Daemons paused, looking dazed and confused as he approached, letting him cut them down.

The mass of Daemons closed ranks and presented a solid wall of immaterial flesh but Bylan gritted his teeth and pressed on, barrelling into them. He lashed out at the overwhelming numbers and cut down many but no matter how many he slew more pressed in. Even in their confused state they boxed him in on all sides, pinning him in and clawing at his armour. He saw a Daemon with a lamprey mouth and spiders for hands come at him and knew he could not block it in time. Death stared him in the face but he refused to blink.

One second before it could strike another force intervened. A roaring chainsword suddenly burst from its chest, tearing it apart in a spray of gore. Bylan blinked as the Daemon fell apart, revealing a blue-clad warrior behind it. It was Sergeant Matheus, rallying to the Standard Bearer's call and he wasn't alone.

Bylan's hearts soared as he saw more Brothers closing in around him, Assault Marines, Tacticals, Devastators and Sergeants. All trace of squad formation was gone but they closed ranks around the Standard Bearer, forming a solid knot of resistance. A ring of blue Ceramite surrounded Bylan and he gripped the Standard in both hands, lifting it high as he cried, "+Forward Brothers!+"

As one the Storm Heralds heaved, hacking and slashing at any Daemon in reach. The effect of the banner slowed the immaterial horrors, letting the Astartes cut them down with ease. Step by step they advanced, more Brothers joining them second by second, the whole Company massed into one glorious charge.

Bylan saw that they were making their way into the heart of the horde and for a moment he thought that they could turn the tide. But then he spied a massive wave of ethereal creatures approaching, an overwhelming tide of Daemon barrelling forward. Their numbers were so tightly packed they looked like one single entity and even united Third Company couldn't stand against that. Arvael cried, "The nexus isn't enough, we need more!"

Bylan gritted his teeth knowing the Librarian was right, they couldn't hold against that. But there was one thing he knew these Brothers held dearer than life itself, one thought that fired their souls like none other. Bylan drew in a breath and then shouted loudly for all to hear, "+Brothers, lift your voices, let them hear who comes for them: Primarch's Own… Primarch's Own!+"

As one every Space Marines cried aloud, "Primarch's Own!"

The cry rang forth and it invoked in every heart the fierce pride and indomitable spirit of the Storm Heralds. All their ideals and aspirations were wrapped up in that cry, in their spiritual connection to their gene-father. Above all Third Company believed in Roboute Guilliman, they believed that so long as his spirit was with them then they could not be defeated. It was more than a dream, it was purest faith.

The Daemons physically staggered as the wave of emotion washed over them, the pure belief hitting them like a tsunami. Against any other foe this would have been folly, in any other place it would have been useless, but these Daemons were ideas made flesh, currently saturated in raw Warp power. Concepts and belief were real to them, faith a power more potent than an artillery barrage. Their spiritual essence was formed of perversion and corruption but this was purity itself.

They shook with a terrible palsy and convulsed in fits, many froze up or shrank back, their existence disrupted by a spiritual force that was a complete contrast to their own. As one, Third Company roared, seeing their foes' debilitation and they responded with full fury. Bylan saw his Brothers throw themselves into the melee, hacking and slashing with furious zeal. Daemons fell before them like wheat before a scythe and he was at the front of the charge. For a moment he understood the tenants of the Adepta Sororitas, their assertions about the power of faith itself.

He ran as fast as he could into the heart of the foe, carrying the Standard at the very point of the spear. Never before had he led a charge himself, never had he known how magnificent it could be. The power of the charge bowled the Daemons over and they were cut down left and right. A few Chaos Marines tried to resist but they were overwhelmed by numbers, torn apart in a frenzy of righteous bloodletting. Nothing could hold before the Storm Heralds and as one they ripped the Daemons to shreds. Bylan cried aloud as he felt the rush of victory surge through him and knew that this was the turn of the tide.

Victory was close at hand and yet the enemy was not finished yet.

From ahead came a terrible screech and a monstrous clamour as something huge approached. Bylan's eyes went wide as he saw an abomination approaching, half-machine, half-Daemon. It was huge, it was a nightmare brought to life and it was not daunted by the faith of the Storm Heralds: a Soul-grinder.

Bylan paused for an instant as he saw the monster closing but then there was heavy footfall from behind and he heard the booming of Honourable Ajax's voice cry, "STAND BACK BROTHERS, THIS ONE IS MINE!"