Chapter 2
Geron kept pace with the Captain as he walked through the ship toward the bridge. The Apothecary's leg muscles burned. He had been on his feet for what would be a long time, even to an Astartes.
But, if the Captain wished it, he would stay on his feet for as long as was needed. The Captain reached the large brass doors to the bridge and pressed a rune on the edge of the portal. A second later, the quiet of the corridor was replaced with the low murmur of the bridge's servitors.
The Captain and the Apothecary stepped through and the first officer turned to greet them. He nodded and said, "Captain." He noticed the Apothecary as if for the first time, "Geron."
A spike of anger rose, then fell immediately. He knew the contempt his brother held for him well. He had been in nearly the same position only a few decades before. He dismissed it as just another mine being laid far down his path.
There would be a time to address it, but certainly not now.
"We shall soon be able to reap absolute destruction on the Tyranid hive fleet."
"How long now?" The Captain looked at the spiraling colors of the warp.
"Imminent, lord. We should make the transition in a few minutes."
The Captain continued to stare into the empyrean as he nodded. Geron stood off to his side and stared with him. It was beautiful and deadly all at the same time. And that was exactly why he hated it. The warp hid the daemons in its spirals, and if one were to find its way aboard this ship, it could wreak untold damage before they could even mount a half-hearted defense.
Which was why there was nothing half-hearted about the Adeptus Astartes. He was snapped from his thoughts when he realized that the Captain had turned his head and said something to him.
"What did you say, sir?"
"I asked if the warp calls to you, as it does me every time I look at it."
Geron thought about his answer for a moment, then said, "Yes, it does, Captain. But I have the ability to resist the false maiden's call."
Araclese turned back to the viewer, his face a mask, as always.
Geron stopped trying to read the man's mind at that, and his gaze drifted back towards the warp. Nearly as soon as he looked at the viewer, the warp spirals dissipated and revealed a brownish grey planet.
"Scanners have detected several small craft just off our prow, Captain!"
"Activate void shields and hold weapons on standby. What are they?"
"Eldar escort craft. They are holding where they are-"
"Sir! A communication coming from one of the Eldar craft! Text only."
"Put it on my data-slate."
Araclese looked down at his slate and text scrolled across it. He looked back up in a snarl at the communications officer.
"Translate it first, damned fool!"
The communications officer immediately tapped a few runes and resent the data.
Araclese looked again as text scrolled across the slate in a form he could read.
"You will not set foot upon our world, humans. If you have come to exterminate us, you will find only oblivion for yourselves. Leave before our mercy dwindles."
The Captain looked up from his slate to Keridan.
"No one threatens the Adeptus Astartes."
Keridan looked to the gun servitors and said, "Open fire."
Lances shot forth from the Reaping Talon's guns, torpedoes following them shortly. The Eldar craft moved far faster than anything the Marines aboard the strike cruiser had ever dealt with, quickly opening up with their guns and circling around to flank them.
"Side batteries, open fire!"
The guns tracked the frigates as they made their way around, then fired their lances. Again, the Eldar frigates moved far faster than any lance could travel and they returned fire. The bridge shook as the xeno lances struck the void sheilds.
"Keep them at our fore! Fire everything we have!"
The Reaping Talon twisted in space as it attempted to keep most of the frigates in front of it. Torpedoes launched from the forward bays and tracked their targets. Lances recharged and fired again and impacted against the Eldar's own shields with the torpedoes. The bridge shook again as the Talon was hit in it's aft section.
Several of the lances and a few of the torpedoes made it through the closest frigates shields and tore huge rents in the hull. It began to slow and list onto the side.
"Don't let the beast lie." Araclese breathed. Lance fire soon engulfed the wounded frigate as the Talon continued to follow another with it's fore guns. More lances struck against the aft portion and Geron had to grip a rail to stay upright. Keridan was thrown from the command pulpit down to the deck. The Captain simply stayed where he was as if he was lashed to the deck with magclamps.
Keridan quickly regained his footing and stepped back onto the pulpit.
Araclese was beginning to realize the mistake they had made by letting even one of the frigates behind them.
"What of our aft guns? Can they fire?"
Keridan glanced down at the screen on the cogitator and shook his head with a grim expression. "They have taken the most beating, sir. They are inoperable."
"Kill that last frigate in front of us, then shunt all power to the aft void shields. And get those damned guns running, if you can!"
Lances fired and torpedoes left contrails that quickly dissipated in the vacuum as they chased after the last frigate. Several lances impacted against its shields, but the torpedoes overshot and went past, exploding uselessly and giving more of an outline to the frigate.
"Aft void shields failing!" An explosion shook the bridge to punctuate his sentence.
"The aft guns have been hit! There is no way we will be hitting them while they're behind us."
Araclese shouted incoherently and made indents of his gauntlets on the railing. "Destroy that one, then use the attitude thrusters to flip us around!"
"Firing!"
More prow lances boiled through space toward the lone frigate in their way. They impacted against the frigate's failing void shields and ripped into the wraith-bone armor, destroying entire decks in one passing.
"Kill it before it fires again!" The captain was nearly ripping the railing from its stanchions. In response the Talon twisted to present its port broadside weaponry, and the guns opened fire. Few torpedoes streaked away from the cruiser, but the amount of lances and cannon fire was a satisfying offset.
The eldar frigate was wreathed in fire as the cannon shots and lances boiled away all that was left of the outer hull and ripped out the inner decking. There would be no saving the frigate, as it was already dead.
A wretched smile split the captain's features as he watched secondary explosions cause more damage, then smiled even wider as the three torpedoes hit home. After that explosion, Araclese could only pick out small flashes of the dark bone-armor.
"Activating thrusters and turning us around, Captain." The central viewer panned away from the flashing remains. The hull creaked around them as it was strained by its own inertia. Geron spared a glance toward the captain, and his mouth was turned down in a scowl.
When Geron's gaze travelled back to the viewer, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the last eldar frigate as it sped out of the cruiser's sights.
"Can we get any guns on them?" Araclese looked over to Keridan as he read from the data slate.
"Only our torpedoes, but they have yet to be reloaded."
"Get them loaded, then! We don't have much more time!" Spittle flew from the captain's mouth. He relaxed his grip on the railing again before he ripped it free. His rage seethed below the surface, and it took a conscious effort for Araclese to calm himself down.
"Fire when ready." He stepped back from the railing and sat down into the command throne. "And get a blasted viewer on them."
The main view screen flicked and showed the frigate. The blunt nose neatly cut its way through the space in front of it, the wings stretching and convulsing with every meter it moved.
The Captain gripped the arms of the throne as a series of detonations rocked the cruiser. He stared at the view screen, his face once again its usual mask. There wasn't anything more he could do to kill the eldar wretches, besides ordering the crew to fire the torpedoes, and there was no use in letting his anger get the better of him.
Keridan turned to him and said, "Torpedo tubes are loaded, sir."
"Fire." He felt slight crumps through the command throne as the torpedoes were released into the void, and they immediately came into view on the screen, then just as quickly vanished as they tracked after the single remaining eldar frigate.
The bridge shook even more as the eldar frigate fired a final salvo against the Reaping Talon's void shields. A calm swept over Araclese, his movements becoming deliberate and slow, just as the rest of the bridge seemed to have become. He stood and looked around the bridge. He felt the energy of the serfs and the Space Marines, but did not feel it course through him as it did them. It was as though a protective bubble had been thrown between him and them, stopping all flow of energy other than light.
He looked at his gauntlets and then lifted his head to the view screen. He was filled with something that he had never even thought of before. A longing for an end. He wanted to be done with war. To be done with fighting. To be done with dying. He knew this could not be, but he couldn't help but long to be finished with his duty.
He stopped himself. This was not a Space Marine's way of thinking. He looked out at the void again and he was filled with resolve. He could now feel the energy coursing through himself, branching out and enveloping the others as well. The longing for an end went away, washed away by his faith in the Emperor's purpose.
There would be no more room for doubt or thoughts of dying in his mind. He purged it all, using mind calming and controlling techniques taught to him by one of the greatest men in history. Chaplain Aurek had been his last true friend in the world, and he missed his guiding counsel dearly. There would never be another man like him in the future of the Blood Angels. Or at least in the future of the Captain.
His mind snapped back to the now and he watched as several torpedoes connected a trail of exhaust between the Strike Cruiser and the eldar frigate. Blossoms of fire erupted against the weakened shields and the hull. The frigate slowed and secondary explosions shot holes through the decking.
"End their torment."
The Strike Cruiser twisted so the prow faced the dying eldar frigate. Lance fire erupted from the batteries and ripped even more holes through the ship, leaving very little debris.
"Make way for the--"
"Incoming ships from the warp! Imperial Navy signatures!"
"Show me."
The screen flickered and showed a rent in the warp, an entire fleet of ships shooting away from it as though in fear of its power.
"Hail them."
"This is Admiral Garend of the Imperial Navy. We recieved a message from a Commander Jorrar that you might require assistance in your fight, Captain Araclese."
The Admiral's gaunt face replaced view of space. The Captain smiled faintly, "You just missed a bit of fun with the Eldar, Admiral. Hope you're ready to deal with a splinter from a Hive Fleet."
"Aye, we are. It isn't everyday that an Inquisitor asks us to aid an assault by the Adeptus Astartes, Captain."
"We'll head into the system now, and see what kind of capabilities they have. Hopefully we will be able to catch them while they are unprepared."
"Aye. Will you require any tech-adepts to aid in repairs?"
"Yes, thank you. We will need to have our guns fully operational to fight these beasts."
"If you would like, the Inquisitor and I will take a shuttle to you to develop a battle plan."
Araclese smiled again and said, "I'll see you when you arrive, Admiral."
The screen flickered back to the view of the fleet and he wathed as they drew themselves into a formation and began to move deeper into the system towards the Reaping Talon, which was slowly venting small amounts of crystalized atmosphere from the rear quarters. Araclese looked around the bridge at the serfs and Battle-Brothers.
"I might be glad that they didn't arrive until after we finished off the last eldar cruiser," Araclese said to the crew, then added, "And I think we really didn't need their help with the Hive Fleet." The serfs looked around at him, shocked until they saw the smile that was on his face, and they too shared a moment of happiness.
"Status on the void shields."
"The fore shields are nearly fully charged, and the aft shields are at half capacity. We will need some time to recharge them."
"The hull breeches in the aft section are being patched, and soon we will be able to take the Hive Fleet on, sir."
"Good. Prepare an honour guard in the launch bay and wait for the Admiral's and Inquisitor's arrival."
He stood and moved toward the hatch as Keridan said, "At once, Captain."
Araclese left the bridge and made his way towards the launch bay. He might actually have fun killing the Tyranids.