Chapter 5: Search
Firedude: Chapter five up and ready for your viewing pleasure. Sorry it took a bit, school and what not.
Tikigod784: Yeah, they seem the most obvious don't they? But you'd be surprised how far the taint of chaos can push into innocent minds.
Disclaimer: I do not own Negima! or any of its characters. Neither do I own the War hammer 40,000 franchise or any of its characters.
Firedude: Here it is! Please read and review.
February 29th 2008. Garage A, Mahora Academy.
Andruu sat silently in the corner with his head hung and his armor off. There was silence throughout the base as everyone sat around doing nothing. All necessary work was complete and they could not go out in search of the artifacts or chaos, because they had no leads. Finally, Andruu could no longer take the boredom and called out. "So…bored!" Octavion let out a bit of an irritated sigh and replied, "Well what are we supposed to do corporal? There's nothing to do to pass the time…" He looked over to Tigurius and said, "Actually… I have an idea. Tigurius, give us some knowledge, eh?" Agemman scolded Octavion. "That is no way to request the enlightenment of a librarian… but, there is nothing else to do. Do you know of anything you could tell us Tigurius?" Andruu thought of something and called out, "I got it…" He jumped to his feet and continued, "Tigurius how did the chaos forces get on Terra?" Tigurius sat there for a bit, solemnly before saying, "Fine, I shall enlighten you."
"The chaos forces had developed a device that was able to cloak the chaos taint from planetary sensors. They simply attached this to a small shuttle with a powerful chaos entity in it and sent it straight down into emperor's palace. It crashed right outside his throne room, just as the chaos forces had planned. The small shuttle opened and the daemon emerged. It immediately charged into the throne room, but was met head on by the Legio Custodes, the emperor's personal guards. Unfortunately, this was a new breed of daemon that had never been seen before. It had the ability to utterly dominate the mind of any creature it looked into its eyes. It was even able to turn the Legio, the most loyal and fortified of the imperium's marines against one another. When the fight had ended, the monster still stood with several of the Legio still standing alongside the monster. The daemon sent the remaining Legio to destroy the controls for the automated defenses to the palace as it moved towards the thrown."
"The personal psykers of the emperor knew they could not stand up to the beast, so they sent as much power into the emperor's body as they could. Doing this killed them, but it allowed the emperor to become temporarily revived. He rose and slayed the monster almost instantly, but it was too late. The turned Legio had destroyed the controls and the palace was now vulnerable. A massive strike force of chaos troops immediately flew towards Terra and swarmed towards the palace. Only so many marine chapters could be amassed to Terra in this much time. The Ultramarines, Space Wolves, Blood Ravens, White Scars and Imperial Fist chapters could only be brought to defend. Although it seemed as though it would be enough, the chaos forces eventually broke through with the help of that daemon…"
"The one who was summoned from the artifacts?" Questioned Angelos from behind his curtain from where he listened. "Correct… and I think you all know what happened after that…" They stayed silent a little bit after that until Agemman stood up and said, "And now it's our duty to change the future and make sure that our battle-brothers win that battle! So no more sitting around!" Angelos poked his head out from behind the white curtain and called, "What can we do though? It's not exactly like we can just go walking around out there." Agemman nodded a little and replied, "I know, but not if we take our armor off." The marines all looked at each other a little bit skeptical of the idea. "We'd be vulnerable if we get ambushed by chaos forces." Agemman sighed but replied, "I know, but we'll never get anything done if we just sit here waiting. Angelos, we're going to go search for the others"
Tigurius nodded and stood up. "I may not be able to take off my psyker's hood, but I suppose if I'm careful, I can sneak out of here without getting too many stares." Octavion raised an eyebrow at him. "Where are you going to go?" Tigurius pointed upward and said, "If I remember correctly from research, Mahora is host to this period's largest library, Library Island. I'm sure in the depths of it, I may find a book on the sorcery of this time period, and it may have an easier way of opening the warp in there. Cassius, do I have your aid brother-Chaplain?" Cassius nodded and removed his helmet, revealing an aging face with bright, white hair with matching beard. "I'm at the ready, brother-Librarian." Agemman emerged from his armor suit, a plain, dark blue shirt with gray sweats. "There, that looks a little bit more ordinary for this time period, correct?" Angelos emerged from his armor with an identical outfit. Angelos pulled his helmet off, revealing his crew cut blonde hair.
Tigurius had emerged from his armor as well, save for the cables still hooked to his skull, extended to the contraption on his back. Unlike the others, he had on a dark blue robe underneath his armor. Cassius walked over with the same outfit, save it was black. He looked back to Octavion and saw he was still in his armor. "Brother-Octavion, do you not join us?" he shook his head and sat down in a nearby chair. "No, I'm going to hold down the fort, besides unlike you guys I don't look ordinary in public." He said as he tapped his armor covered mouth. Andruu then walked over and asked, "What about me?" Agemman looked over to him and said, "Well, your physical implants haven't activated yet have they?" Andruu frowned and replied, "No, they won't become active for another couple months." Agemman let out a grunt of amusement and said, "Then you should go train. I saw they have some athletic grounds around to the side of the school."
Andruu scratched the side of his head, a bit unsure. "Well… alright, but-." The four of them got on the elevator as Agemman called over to Andruu, "Don't worry, I spoke to the dean. He said it's alright, so go ahead!" Andruu sighed as he walked forward to join them on the elevator. But... it's a girls' academy.
Library Island, Mahora Academy.
Tigurius and Cassius stood together in the front area of Library Island, just staring at all the levels and the hundreds of books all around. "I must say Tigurius, this is quite amazing." He nodded in agreement and answered, "Indeed, not even the chapter archives are this grand in size…" A meek girl with purple hair stood behind the counter nearby, stamping book as another with long, blue hair and two braids in front. "Hey Nodoka, I've got another stack of books for you." Nodoka smiled at her and replied, "Oh, thank you Yue." Yue noticed she seemed to be acting a little odd. "Is something wrong Nodoka?" She made a bit of an uneasy expression as she replied, "Well, it's just that…" She looked over to the Librarian and Chaplain who stood silently gaping at the vast collection of knowledge. "Those two came in a little while ago, and they seem a little odd…"
Yue looked over to them and replied, "They do seem strange… especially the one with all the cods coming out of his head. I'll go talk to them." She finished as she walked off towards the two. "Uh! But Yue!" Nodoka's call went unheard as Yue continued towards them. "Hello, welcome to Library Island, can I help you?" She said with a smile, trying to seem hospitable. Tigurius heard the voice to his side and looked down to see Yue there. "And who are you to offer assistance to us?" Yue felt a little confused, not knowing how it wasn't obvious, but replied anyway. "Um… I'm a librarian sir." Tigurius smiled lightly and said, "Ah, a fellow librarian. I applaud you for guarding such a vast collection of knowledge." Now Yue felt really dumbfounded and confused. Cassius tapped Tigurius on the shoulder and whispered, "Tigurius, librarians in this time period are much different from our time." Now it was Tigurius' turn to feel puzzled. "She's not a guardian of these books?" Cassius thought it over a little before replying, "Well she does, but more of a guide and overseer not a warrior actually protecting them." Tigurius looked at Cassius and said, "Well that's strange, then who fights to defend this knowledge if this place is laid siege to?" Cassius just shrugged, not knowing how to reply. Yue cleared her throat, catching their attention once more.
"So, is there anything I can help you two with?" Tigurius suddenly remembered why they were there. "Ah yes! I require all the information you have on your time period's sorcery." Yue's eyes opened in shock. "Why would you need information like that?" Tigurius was about to reply, but Cassius feared that Tigurius would give them away so he quickly cut him off, "We are just interested in the field. It does sound ridiculous though doesn't it, men our age interested in something as childish as magic huh?" Yue gave him a bit of a suspicious look before turning towards the library. "Right… it's this way." She said as she led them towards the books. As they walked Tigurius whispered, "Why'd you stop me?" Cassius sighed and replied, "Magic is still a secret during this time period Tigurius, we must tread lightly…"
After getting to the section of the library, they began to vigorously scan the shelves for any books on sorcery. By the time they were done, they had only gotten around six books. "This is clearly not enough…" Tigurius said looking at the books. "It would be disgraceful for us to return with such a small sum..." Cassius said in a disappointed tone. Yue thought it over for a minute. I have no idea who these guys are… but I'm pretty sure they know about sorcery... "Well… there may be another place." Yue said, gaining the attention of the two. "It's going to be a bit of a journey though." Tigurius nodded and replied, "No knowledge is acquired without being sought out." She looked back to the counter and called, "Hey Nodoka! I'm going to need some help out!" She nodded timidly and slowly came over to join them. "Uh, Yue, are you sure they're safe to be around…?" Yue nodded and replied, "They seem suspicious, but I don't think they mean harm." Nodoka looked at the two again and then nodded timidly. "A-Alright then…" Yue and Nodoka led the two towards a huge set of door down a flight of steps. They flung them open to reveal an even bigger section of the library with plants even growing out of some parts of the walls. "A-Amazing!" Cassius stuttered out at the sight. Nodoka leaned over to Yue and whispered, "Are you sure this is alright?" Yue nodded and said, "Yeah… what these two need is the depths of the library."
Forest, Mahora Academy.
Agemman and Angelos wandered through the forest on the edge of the Mahora campus. "Remind me again why we're here sir?" Angelos questioned as another branch smacked him in the face. "When we all arrived through the warp, it dropped us here in this forest for whatever reason… I suspect that our other allies were probably dropped here too…" As they continued up along through the forest, Agemman suddenly stopped and signaled for Angelos to stop too. "What is it sir?" He scolded him and replied, "Shhh!" He appeared to be listening intently for something. "Do you hear that…?" Agemman asked looking around a bit more. "…No sir, I hear nothing." Agemman looked back to him and replied, "That's just it, you could hear the all the sounds of the forest a couple seconds ago, but now it stopped…"
They stood still a bit longer, when suddenly a gun shot sounded and a bullet struck the tree next to Agemman. Several cultists emerged from the trees, brimming with grins. "Captain Agemman… we've been searching for you!" The cultist in the front of the group said with a sadistic smile. Angelos and Agemman stood their ground in a fighting stance. "How many do you count?" Agemman whispered. "Uh, eight… no nine." Agemman smiled slightly and replied, "Well, this is the risk we took coming out here. But there is no retreat in the Ultramarines chapter, Courage and honor!" He cried before both him and Angelos dove for cover. The cultists started blasting the trees, trying to score a lucky shot.
Agemman managed to grab hold of a large rock and chucked it at the head of one of the cultists. The force of the throw caused the rock to split his head open and he fell back unconscious. Caught off guard by the sight of their defeated ally, they did not see Angelos sneak up from behind with a broken off piece of branch. As they all opened fired on Agemman out of rage, Angelos managed to grab hold of a cultist from behind. Before he could even scream, he speared his neck with the piece of wood. The cultist dropped dead and one turned to shoot Angelos. Angelos had no time to dive back for cover and the cultist was about to shoot. Suddenly, a pistol round came from out in the forest, blowing the cultist's hand off. He screamed out in pain, but was silenced soon after by a second round to the head. The marines and the cultists turned to see someone else standing on a nearby ridge. He wore blue power armor like the other marines, except his helmet was red. He also had several mechanical arms coming out of his back with various drills and wrenches attached to the ends of them. He carried a bolter pistol in one hand and a large pole axe in the other.
"Another one! Kill them all!" A cultist shouted, not seeing the shadow in the tree behind him. Something flew out of it and landed behind him. Before he was able to turn around fully to see him, a heavy metal claw smashed him away. The creature was completely made out of metal with a robe on over it. The metal was a peach shade, made to look like flesh, similar to Chachamaru. It had a metal claw for one hand and large machinegun mounted on his other shoulder in place of his arm. He proceeded to open fire on the cultists with it, killing them all easily, without hitting their allies. When they were finally dead, the marine with the ax jumped down from his perch and took off his helmet, revealing a short, brown Mohawk. "Captain Agemman, techmarine Jonas and servitor Yaven reporting for duty."
The robot walked over and bowed slightly. "What is your will?" Agemman smiled and said, "Excellent, our squad is almost completed now. We only have two missing now…" Jonas put on a bit of a sullen expression and replied, "Actually, this is it…" Agemman gave his a puzzled look and replied, "What do you mean?" Jonas seemed a little uneasy as he spoke, "Well, if you've united everyone else save for two. We met up with them. Terminator Gallenus and Lieutenant Ferrox…" Angelos smiled slightly and said, "Great! Take us to them!" Jonas put on a serious expression and replied, "That's just it, when we arrived here, a massive group of chaos forces ambushed us. Gallenus took them on and yelled for us to run. There were way too many of them so we had no choice. We haven't seen him since."
Agemman's eyes widened and answered quickly, "And what of Ferrox!?" Jonas' eyes drifted towards his feet as he continued, "As we were retreating, he was caught in the path of an enemy grenade. We did the best we could to stabilize him, but I fear it's not enough…" Angelos jumped forward at the finish of the sentence. "Wait, he's still alive!?" Jonas nodded. "For now at least, yes." Angelos practically yelled in his face. "We need to go get him then! I'm an apothecary, if we take him back to the base now we may be in time! Take us to him" Jonas blinked, caught off guard by the information. "A-Alright!"
Athletic Grounds, Mahora Academy.
Andruu stood off to the side of the athletic grounds just looking at all the girls and various recreational areas there were. He looked at the track, the basketball courts and soccer field and watched them for a bit. That looked like good training... then again. He looked over towards the building and saw a sign near the door that listed things inside. It read, Gym, Training Room, Kendo Club and Indoor swimming. Andruu looked between the building and the fields and sighed. "What am I supposed to do!?" He muttered to himself in frustration.
Firedude: I know it seemed like a lousy ending, but let me explain! I had several ideas on where to make the story go from here, so I figured the readers could point the story in which ever direction they want. I will have other times in the story with decisions like this, but I figured it'd be good to start off with one that would not have a major impact on the story line. The story will be impacted by this, trust me, but just not in a very huge way. So here are the choices on where Andruu can go…
a. Track
b. Basketball Court
c. Soccer fields
d. Gym
e. Training Room
f. Kendo Club
g. Pool
Firedude: Please tell me if you don't like the idea, but I thought it would be good. The story is more interactive for the readers, and its less decision making for me :D. Anyway, please include the answer in your review.