Venenum Filios Chapter 18
The jungle was close and cloying, a humid mix of sap, mould and crushed insects. Everywhere green leaves cast dappled shadows onto the ground, creating a strobing effect as one walked by. The air hung heavily in the lungs, thick and hot, rich in oxygen but stifling in humidity. It was primitive, feral, the most savage aspect of nature run amok and it spoke to the most barbaric parts of the soul.
It was in this world of primal shadows that the Chaos Sorcerer Beta was walking, striding confidently forward in his sealed power armour. He looked proud and imperious, a regal picture of poise and control, but inside he was fuming. He had brought a selection of his underlings down to this pathetic planet's surface, using his sorcery to create a Warp Gate so as to avoid detection.
They had arrived in the middle of this endless jungle, a few miles from the location of the Imperial lapdogs. It should have been an easy matter for them to sneak up on their enemies but this blasted jungle seemed to be teeming with predators. The Chaos Marines had been under constant attack since they had set foot here, beset every step of the way by giant beasts.
They had been stalked by huge arachnids, rushed by six-legged grox with three horns, felines with fangs as long as swords and avians with beaks that could punch through ceramite. Naturally they had dealt with all these threats swiftly, no animal was a match for Transhumans who commonly fought with and against Daemons, but it had made their progress irritating and slow.
Beta glanced over and saw Gamma standing over the cooling body of some form of millipede, as longer than a Rhino tank and nearly as round. It was laying in the mulch of the jungle floor, still twitching as the Chaos Marine ripped his axe out of its carapace head. Gamma was wearing his full armour, sealed against the environment as a precaution, the loyalist lapdogs were infected with the Bio-weapon and the warrior had no intention of being exposed to it.
As Beta strode up to him Gamma snarled, "Accursed jungle, does it ever stop attacking us?"
Beta replied, "Warp take this misbegotten planet, it's a worthless mud pit."
Gamma shook purple ichor off his axe and asked, "Where has Zhumo disappeared to?"
Beta replied, "He spied a small human village a few miles away and he led his Raptor cult off to pillage it."
Gamma sounded surprised as he responded, "You let him go?"
Beta responded nonchalantly, "Zhumo is an ambitious one but he is content with his own amusements. As long as he gets a steady supply of victims to slaughter and loot to steal he is no threat to our rule. Letting him off the leash, for now, will keep him in line later."
Gamma nodded in understanding, not needing any further explanation. No matter where they came from or what their origin all Chaos Marines were ultimately concerned with themselves. They lived for reward, whether it be material spoils and slaves or Daemonic patronage and Warp boons. So long as a leader kept the rewards coming they were usually safe from their own followers, but woe betide the Lord who was too stingy with the spoils.
Beta had watched the rise and fall of countless would-be tyrants and been responsible for more than his fair share of them. Habrael Gorsch, Master Korswan, Vorshaan the Dusk Prince, Indrago Theed, all self-proclaimed Lords who had made the mistake of turning their backs on the Sorcerer. Unlike them Beta was not about to let another steal his position, not even the Harrowmaster would take his power away from him.
Beta's thoughts were interrupted as Anurax stomped past, his wide feet crushing the vegetation as he passed by. He was followed by squads of his lackeys, more than a few of which were showing signs of the Obliterator virus. They drooled and snarled, spat on the ground and cursed loudly as they marched along.
Beta sighed, the mind was often the first thing to go among Chaos Marines, doubly so for Obliterators. Anurax was already a blunt tool but he was growing worse day by day and the looks he gave Beta practically screamed murderous intent. Beta wasn't concerned though, Anurax was a known threat, one he could handle. What would be far more dangerous would be if one of his lesser lackeys started getting ideas above their station. An old-hand like Anurax could be predicted and blocked, novices had an annoying tendency to innovate. That was why the Sorcerer had left Anurax alive, to be a sharp example to any other would be usurpers.
Above their heads was a sudden rush of movement, a flurry of wings and stick-like legs. Beta had a brief impression of insectile bodies the size of canines, all snapping mandibles, bulging facetted eyes and sharp proboscises. Then the canopy was ripped apart by a storm of assault cannon shots and burning promethium flames. Anurax bellowed with laughter as he tore the canopy apart, chasing fleeing insects with outrageous amounts of firepower from his ever shifting arms.
"Warp hells could he possibly make any more noise?" Gamma muttered, "That fool will give away our position."
It was significant that Gamma, a hardly subtle warrior himself thought this way and Beta wholeheartedly agreed, "We can't sneak up on the Imperial lapdogs like this, we need to rethink."
From the back Talgor stepped up and said, "Let me scout ahead, see what we can find." Beta eyed him warily but it was a good suggestion but he wondered what was in it for Talgor. He examined the idea from all aspects but couldn't see an obvious trap, Talgor couldn't leave the planet without Beta opening a Warp Gate. Beta nodded in agreement and watched Talgor sprint away, with a couple of his own squad in tow.
Beta drew in a breath and said, "Talgor worries me."
Gamma sounded confused as he said, "He's hardly a threat."
"Not an obvious one but never underestimate the subtle knife," Beta replied, "I know what all the others want, their ambitions are self-evident to me but Talgor hides his desires well. What is he after, what is his goal and how does it align with ours?"
"You're overthinking this," Gamma growled, "Talgor comes from the Ultramarines; you couldn't get more straight-laced than that. Despite everything since he still walks about with a stick up his rear, maybe the only danger here is the ones you create yourself."
Beta blinked at that, he had not considered the possibility that he was being paranoid, that his lackeys might not be plotting against him. Could it be, he wondered, was he growing overly suspicious and jumping at shadows?
For a moment he dared to examine his memories of the loyalist forces he had infiltrated over the centuries. He had seen the bonds that held them together, the honour, trust and loyalty that made them a single unit, made them more than the sum of their parts.
For an instant he imagined what it would be like to lead such warriors, a band of Brothers where each man fought for those around him. A world where one did not have to watch ones' own comrades for treachery and constantly scheme to eliminate them first.
It was a nice fantasy, but only a fantasy.
Beta shook off the daft notion; the forces of Chaos had long since abandoned such petty morals and the Alpha Legion had never really been strong proponents of such ideals in the first place. Beyond one's own squad, fealty and loyalty were laughable notions and even within that tight band one must always keep an eye open. A trusting Chaos Marine was soon a dead Chaos Marine. Beta would not be foolish enough to turn his back on any save his closest cell-Brothers and he only trusted them because he knew that they relied upon his power and experience.
Beta broke off his line of thought as he heard the scream of jump-pack engines and the canopy bring tore to shreds as the forms of Zhumo and his squads fell from the sky. They hit the ground hard and threw up sprays of mulch, their talons digging hard into the ground. Beta waited a moment then asked, "So, how was the hunting?"
Zhumo held up a bundle of severed heads by their hair, still dripping blood from the stumps of the necks and declared, "Poor spoils but there were enough chattels to amuse us for a few minutes. There were some big lizards too, they were fun to disembowel. You should have come."
"Alas I hadn't the time," Beta replied, "Its all work, work, work."
Zhumo looked about and said, "Why have we stopped?"
From the jungle a voice spat, "Because we don't want to tip off the Throne-worshippers that we are here."
Beta saw Talgor emerging from the jungle, his armour smeared with mud and sap. It had only been a few minutes but he was back already, Beta's estimation of his skills went up a notch, as did his wariness of the threat he represented. Outwardly Beta said, "What did you see?"
Talgor reported, "The Storm Heralds are digging about in the ruins of some crater, they are sweeping it from end to end. Their patrols are Codex-perfect, we weren't able to capture a sentry without alerting them but from what I could see they are trying to find a way underground. Whatever they want is under that crater."
"Maelstrom take the underground," grumbled Zhumo, disliking the prospect of tight constricting spaces.
Gamma spoke over him saying, "Can we approach undetected?"
Talgor answered, "Not with the noise some of us are making."
Anurax snarled at the sly insult and his hands writhed as they began to form barrels but Beta held up a hand and said, "Then we must consider alternatives, let me look where others can't see."
Beta nodded to Gamma, who gripped his axe firmly in case somebody tried something. Then the Sorcerer closed his eyes and let slip his senses, with the merest morsel of Warp energy he stretched out his perceptions, extending long tendrils of awareness. To his spiritual senses his mind resembled some vast hydra, many heads extending out from a single mass, each with its own set of eyes.
It was a heady sensation, he felt so light and free, unburdened by corporeal matter or the drag of time itself. Always there was the temptation to not return to his flesh but he had to resist it, he was Beta, master of his own destiny and if he dwelled too long he risked drawing the notice of ravenous Neverborn predators.
The world fell away before Beta becoming a ghostly shimmering fog, matter being as much an impediment to his spirit as mist was to his body. He effortlessly plunged his mind under the ground, pushing his tendrils of awareness deep into the dirt. Life teemed in the soil, trillions of microbes, insects, worms and vermin living out tiny lives, it was fascinating but not why he was here. He passed deeper and then he found a vast network of tunnels and caverns, some natural but many more artificially created. These were filled with debris and many had caved-in but many more were still intact.
He sensed movement in those depths and scented rich life-blood, evidence that some foes were already below. It was the work of a moment to chart the network of tunnels, tracking them away from the crater, running mile after mile deeper into the jungle and then he saw it. A single entrance to the underground world that had been overlooked, far from the crater's edge and positioned so the loyalists would never find it.
Beta snapped back to his body in an instant and saw that nobody had so much as moved. His scrying had taken less time than required to draw a single breath. Beta swallowed as he felt the weight of his bones settle down on his spirit, and fought off the tantalising urge to slip away from his body and live forever as a spirit.
He shoved the impulse back behind a locked door in his mind and declared loudly, "There is another way underground. We shall take it and prepare an ambush below. Make ready for war, soon we shall taste battle and you shall reap the rewards of victory."