Venenum Filios Chapter 11

In the darkness of space something moved, unseen and undetected. There were no tell-tale energy traces, no stray emissions, the stars did not even so much as twinkle at its passing but pass it did. It was the Shadow of the Emperor and it was drifting towards Trux, veiled behind Reflex shields of its own.

The Shadow was the product of an earlier age, one where science and invention were not considered Heresy and its stealth technology vastly outstripped the feeble efforts of its loyalist counterpart. It moved with total confidence in its camouflage, utterly certain that it would go undetected. Ahead of it lay Trux, the feral planet blissfully unaware of the monster sinking into orbit. There were no auspex arrays to scan for intruders, no defence stations to blow trespassers away but still the Shadow maintained its stealth. The crew of this ship did not believe in taking chances and would never discard any advantage, no matter how redundant it was.

Standing within its amphitheatre sized bridge were the leaders of the Chaos Marines: Beta, his cell and the various champions of the squads. They were pacing between the bridge control pits, where mutant crew struggled to maintain the vast ship's systems. Over their heads was projected a Hololithic image of the planet below, ringed by runic screed that laid out details of the target and its defences.

Beta was stood proudly upon the command dais, gripping the rail and watching the Hololith, drinking in every detail and pondering the implications. His musing was interrupted by the voice of Anurax who spat, "What a dump, a wretched swamp with a tiny population. No defences to speak of, we could overrun this world in a day."

Zhumo countered with, "There's nothing worth conquering here, barely enough spoils and slaves here to make it worth invading. I doubt any of the wretches below would survive the ascension process to become cannon fodder in our ranks.

However Talgor said, "Conquest is conquest, we are the greatest power here, we should take this world for ourselves."

Beta heard the words, they were pompous and overbearing, exactly what one would expect from a former Ultramarine. Talgor appeared to be under the impression that this warband was some form of conquering army, not the flimsy coalition of pirates, raiders and opportunists that it really was. Beta's suspicions stirred, Talgor wasn't stupid and it sounded more like he was playing a rehearsed part. Beta was convinced that this treacherous dog was scheming against him.

Zhumo seemed willing to argue the point and said, "I don't waste my time with dregs, why should I spend my efforts for such small reward?"

Talgor turned to him, the Chaos runes on his armour glaring in the wan light as he declared, "We are the lords of the galaxy, it is our destiny to take whatever we want, for the Gods of Chaos."

"Gods of Chaos," Zhumo sneered, "A pox on Chaos, I only fight for them when they promise me a reward. You sound like one of Lorgar's zealots, screaming about destiny."

It seemed there was yet a trace of the XIIIth within Talgor for he bristled at the comparison to the detested Word Bearers. Everybody present had bargained with Chaos at one time or another but that was merely to serve their own purposes. All of them held the Word Bearers in contempt for their subservience and grovelling to the powers of the Warp, their desperate need for approval and validation from some superior being.

Talgor's hand went to his gladius and he snarled, "Do not speak to me thus."

Zhumo lumbered about on his talons and his jump pack hummed with power as he growled, "Do not test me child; I fought the First Legion at Tsagualsa ten millennia before you were born."

Beta was enjoying this conflict, it was good to see his underlings at each other's throats, the more they fought the less chance of them uniting against him. Still there had to be limits as to how far he would let them stray. He slammed his staff down upon the dais and the three-headed serpent on top spat blue flames as he expressed his ire, "Stay your blades!"

Silence fell as all eyes turned to him and he continued, "Do not forget why we are here, the Storm Herald's ship we are following. This world is nothing compared to the Bio-weapon, tracking its progress is all that matters. That is our sole focus now, leave this worthless world be. We can always conquer it later, once we are done."

Zhumo asked, "If this world is so worthless then why did the Storm Heralds run here?"

"Why indeed," mused Beta, "There is nothing obvious here to help them, no Genators, no laboratories, no unique biology to provide a cure. Yet they sailed their ship here as fast as they could, what could they possibly want with this world… we need to know."

From a sensorium pit the voice of Epsilon arose, calling, "About that… it was just one ship wasn't it?"

Beta frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Epsilon called out, "Passive auspex is picking up an anomalous mass shadow, a ship hiding in low orbit. It's small, no bigger than an escort frigate."

Beta asked, "Have the Storm Heralds seen it?"

Epsilon replied, "No, it may not have Reflex Shields but it's doing its best not to draw any attention. We can only see it because of our superior surveyor systems."

"Mysteries upon mysteries," mused Beta, "Are they here for a rendezvous or are they enemies? Have the Storm Heralds come for aid or are they here to fight one last battle, for the sake of their precious honour."

Talgor declared, "Let us find out, you should take your forces to the planet and capture the Storm Heralds. Let the Bio-weapon rot them apart in some lab if you can't be bothered to kill them yourself. Meanwhile I will take my squads and overrun those ships, capture them for the cause."

It sounded like a good plan but Beta wasn't fooled. There was no way he was going down to some random planet and leaving Talgor in orbit. The turncoat would steal Beta's flagship out from under him the second his back was turned, then probably present him with an orbital bombardment as a parting gift. Beta knew that he would do the exact same thing if the situation was reversed.

Beta shook his head and said, "No, what we need now is subtly, not brute force. A small task force will suffice, I can get us down to the planet quietly and then we can observe the Storm Heralds from the shadows. If they indeed have some scheme in the work we can attack and capture it, see exactly what they are planning."

Zhumo nodded at the plan but the huge fleshmetal sculpture that was Anurax growled, "Damn sneaking about, I want to kill something!"

Beta sighed; the supposed Alpha Legionnaire was devolving into a brute savage, loosing all subtly and skill. The insanity of the Obliterator virus was consuming his mind; soon he wouldn't even be able to speak.

The Sorcerer put him in his place saying, "Try to use that bit of gristle between your ears. The Bio-weapon will make us supreme among the stars, what is a drop of bloodshed compared to that. The Harrowmaster wants proof that the weapon works and so do I."

Anurax growled ferociously, his exposed face filled with rage as he spat, "I don't give a damn what you want."

As he spoke his hands writhed and bulged obscenely. Flesh and metal twisted to form multi-barrelled weapons, a pair of assault cannons, protruding from the Obliterator's arms. A mad look glinted in Anurax's eyes as he bellowed, "You are too weak to lead us."

From the side Gamma stepped forward, double-headed axe raised but Beta waved him back. This was a personal challenge and he had to meet it himself, one could not lead a Chaos warband without demonstrating one's superiority from time to time. If he did not beat Anurax himself the other champions would be after his head. The Obliterator dwarfed him in height and bulk, but Beta was faster and had eldritch powers the brute could never anticipate, he was confident that he could take this swine.

Beta gripped his staff in two hands and opened his mind to the power of the Warp as he said, "Are you challenging me for leadership?"

Anurax cried, "I will take your head, you worthless…"

Before he had even finished the sentence Beta was motion, hurling himself to one side. Anurax blinked in confusion and let rip with his guns, chewing up the command dais in a blitzkrieg of rounds but Beta had already relocated off the dais. He weaved past the storm of shells and came in from the side, spawning a lance of blue flame from the tip of his staff with a single thought. He dashed in from the side of Anurax and swept his weapon across the Obliterator's flank with one hand while making a complicated gesture with the other. Fleshmetal parted and oily blood flowed, causing Anurax to scream in rage. The Obliterator lumbered about and tried to target the Sorcerer but Beta was already withdrawing.

Fat rounds chased Beta as he fell back, catching him in a hurricane of firepower that rang off his armour as stray rounds blew screaming mutant crew apart. The Sorcerer responded by crying a word that was already old when the galaxy was young and the rounds transmuted in mid-air, turning into black beetles that flittered away in all directions. Anurax snarled in frustration and sucked the barrels back into his arms, then two far wider barrels emerged, the unmistakable nozzles of Plasma Cannons.

Anurax grinned but his triumph turned to horror as unexpectedly another barrel protruded, then another and another. Stubbers, flamers, knives, lascannons , meltas, bolters and Grav-guns, all poking out of every inch of him but not by his will. Anurax fell to his knees as he lost control of his limbs, his body turning into a pincushion of barrels. Thick metallic tendrils burrowed through his face like worms, consuming the meat and replacing it with metal. Anurax shook and howled as his body ran amok, turning into a helpless pile of twisted fleshmetal.

"What is this?" Anurax screamed, aghast at the transformation.

Beta stood over him saying, "I laid a curse upon the Obliterator Virus in your flesh, accelerating its progress. See your future Anurax, this is where you were always heading. I can reverse the curse... if I so choose."

"Do it," pleaded Anurax desperately.

Beta sneered, "First you must yield to me."

Anurax looked at Beta with pure hatred but slowly and with great reluctance, he spat out, "I yield."

Beta looked at him for a moment emphasising that he held the Obliterator's life in his hands but then he made a complicated gesture and said, "Glad that's settled."

Swiftly Anurax's flesh returned to normal, the Daemonic virus being driven into abeyance. He slowly stood up, glaring in hatred and Beta knew that word of this would soon reach the Harrowmaster. Good, Beta thought, let that smug autocrat hear that he was firmly in control of his own ship.

The other Champions had fallen back, watching the duel play out, clearly waiting to see who would win. Beta faced them and saw from their stances that his rule was safe, for the moment. He declared, "Get your forces together, three squads for each of you. Gamma and I will lead you to the surface, while Delta and Epsilon keep on eye on the situation up here."

Beta enjoyed the look of realisation creep over their faces that he was dividing their forces. With them on the surface and the bulk of their followers up here, they would be unable to make a move against him. They reluctantly nodded and trooped off the bridge, Anurax going last, stomping loudly to signal his anger at his defeat.

Epsilon watched them go then said, "Anurax won't forget that, his rage will grow and grow."

"I want him angry," Beta declared, "A rival filled with choler makes mistakes."

Then Beta said, "While we're below you two keep a sharp eye out, I wouldn't put it past that lot to try to steal the Shadow anyway. Gamma you're coming with me and for your own sake keep your void-seals intact; the last thing you want is to be exposed to the Bio-weapon."