45. Plague moon (Part 2)
The combined force barrelled through hordes of the undead things before the fog finally parted and they could see what the bonfire was. The twisted wreck of a luxury skiff, the once sleek and reflective hull was now twisted and half sunk in the swamp with several parts of it burning and surrounded by the bodies of its small crew. Amongst the wreckage there were two survivors though.
The owner of the skiff, the lady Petronella, sat on a twisted piece of the hull as she pressed a rebreather to her face, she had clearly been injured in the crash. Her bodyguard, Maggard, stood in the swamp, his golden armour was covered in dents and scratches some from the crash but most from the horde of undead he fought against alone. The bodyguard moved like a whirlwind with a sword in one hand and a pistol in another, every swing of his blade connected with at least one of the undead and his pistol shot at any that managed to sneak past him and approach his charge. Despite the clear skill he was demonstrating Maggard was being pushed back and would soon be overwhelmed.
Horus wasted no time and charged in to the fray, carving a path through the undead. The area was quickly cleared and the rest of the marines slowly filed in as the landing force regrouped. A perimeter was quickly established and the undead things kept at bay, the marines took the reprieve to assess their casualties and tend to their wounded as well as establish communication with the army units on the world.
The mortal units had fared worse against the undead than the marines and had been forced to hunker down and go on the defensive. The undead had retreated for now but no one knew if or when they would be back or where they had gone so the mortal units were stuck where they were. Horus, his mournival, Ovis, his captains and Erebus gathered to discuss the next action.
"We have to abandon the mortals" Erebus voiced his opinion, "We are too close to Temba to go back for them and risk running in to those things"
"We can't do that!" Loken objected, "This landing has been a disaster from beginning to end, we should secure an exit for the mortal men and then us marines can go and find Temba"
"We'd have to slog through this swamp and fight the walking dead again" Abaddon argued against his brother
"We can't just abandon them"
"We won't" Horus reassured Loken, "The marines of the 11th are most effective against them, we should send a company back to secure an extraction point of the mortal forces, they're of no use anyway"
"That would leave us exposed" Erebus argued
"We are much more capable than they are, we'll be fine" Horus turned to his brother
"I'll send the 2nd company and call in some thunderhawks to take them back to orbit" Ovis volunteered his forces
"Good, we can also have them take Petronella and her bodyguard back to the Vengeful spirit"
"No!" Petronella limped up to the gathering supported by her bodyguard, "I came to document the Warmaster delivering a traitor to justice, I said I was ready to face the fires of war, well I have already withstood fires and I am ready for the war, I will not be retreating"
Horus could see the determination in her eyes, "We might run in to those things again"
"I feel certain you are more capable than my bodyguard"
Horus still seemed reluctant to allow her to stay, "Let her stay" Atris came to her defence, "I'll even carry her on my back, that will keep the undead at bay"
"We'd protect her from one danger and exposer her to an even greater one" Asla made a snide comment
"Fine, it is your job after all" Horus relented, "Ovis can you spare any men to escort them"
"My daughter will be more than capable of keeping the lady safe although I'm sure her bodyguard is capable of taking care of himself"
"Good, get the wounded patched up and we'll move out in 5 minutes"
The landing force set out again through the dense and uneven swamp, Petronella clung to the back of the primarch's daughter and was carried through the tough terrain while Maggard, quite impressively, managed to keep up with the superhumans.
They force marched for about a kilometre until the thick fog suddenly stopped, as if walking in to the next room the marines found themselves out of the mist and before them was the source of the vox signal. Temba's flagship, the Glory of Terra.
The great battleship lay smashed in the mud, its keel had been snapped in two and its hull torn open in several dozen places while in others it had caved in completely. The ship had clearly crashed decades ago as it had clearly sunk in to the mud over time with moss and vines growing over the entire structure. The only part of the structure still in anything close to good shape was the bridge, still standing tall over the ship although the moss had climbed high enough to claim it as well.
"Throne…" Torgaddon looked over the ship in disbelief
"How did this happen?" Aximan wondered
"Is this Temba's flagship?" Loken asked
"Yes" Ovis answered instantly, "This is unmistakably the Glory of Terra"
"Would he even still be alive, would anyone?" Torgaddon asked as he looked at the twisted wreck
"Someone had to activate the signal we've been hearing" Abaddon argued
"It could be automated, sending out a dead madman's words for decades" Torgaddon sounded more like he hoped he was right then he believed he was right
"We didn't hear it from orbit, it only started when we entered the atmosphere" Loken dashed his brother's hopes, "Temba, or at least someone, lives and they're in there"
"Then the only course of action is to go in and root them out" Horus was clearly eager to punish Temba for his insolence and the dishonour his treachery brought
"I would suggest we tag this entire area, get to a safe distance and flatten it from orbit" Ovis gave his idea of how to proceed
"Well you would think that" Horus dismissed his brother, "We need to be sure Temba is here and that he is dealt with"
Loken stepped forward, "Lord Ovis' suggestion is wise, this is clearly a trap and one we can easily avoid"
"I cannot just let Temba insult both me and my father and get away with it" Horus drew close to his son, "He'll look me in the eyes and answer for his insolence before I kill him"
"His reasons don't matter, let's just kill him and be done with it doesn't matter if he meets his end by your blade or a macro cannon shell from your ship" Ovis argued with his brother
Horus stared down his brother, "Temba insulted my honour not yours besides I am the Warmaster here and I say we go forward"
The Warmaster was about to advance on the ship when his brother grabbed his arm and stopped him, "I'm not your mournival, you can't just ignore me, Loken is right this is clearly a trap weather it is just for you or both of us I don't know but we should proceed with some caution"
"Why would Temba be setting traps for you?" Horus looked at his brother suspiciously, Ovis opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it, "What aren't you telling me?"
Ovis let go of his brother's arm, "Nothing, it's just that this moon has been forcing me to expend a considerable amount of energy, my abilities have weakened somewhat, just seemed suspicious to me that is all"
Horus could tell that was only a half truth but he accepted it, "Fine, we can have the titans soften it up a bit and then we can find whatever is left of Temba"
"I can accept that"
The primarchs and their marines took a few paces back as the towering titans moved in to position like lumbering giants. The titans braced themselves and at the command of the Warmaster they unleashed all their cannons and a flurry of missiles. The Glory of Terra was mercilessly pounded as new holes were torn in its hull and fires burned throughout the ship, black smoke billowing out of the ships new wounds.
Horus advanced in to the shadow of the now even more wrecked ship, getting in would be no trouble for the marines as the newly blown open holes had spilled out wreckage and trash, forming an easily climbable ramp.
"I believe Ovis' 1st company should form the vanguard, we want to keep any dead things in there dead" Horus looked to his brother who only nodded, "Sedirae will join them, Moy will be with me and my brother, Erebus will take his Word bearers around the ship and enter from the other side"
The two Luna wolves captains in question were clearly happy about their assignments, each having a small celebration before Horus continued.
"Abaddon will take up the right and Aximand the left each of you will take a company of the 11th while Torgaddon and Loken take up the rear and secure a route out with Asla and her men"
Everyone confirmed their orders and got to preparing themselves. Luc Sedirae and Atris were the first up the rubble ramp, racing each other up, leading their men in to the dark ship. Abaddon and Aximand led their men around the sides of the ship to find ways in. as soon as all the advanced companies had plunged in to the dark smoke filled ship Horus himself started up the ramp, his brother right behind him, the two strode up the ramp with little trouble and were the first to plunge in to the ship with Moy and his men just behind.
Loken and Torgaddon, as well as their companies, were left in the stagnant swamp with little to do but stand guard as they waited, they interspersed the few 11th legionaries that had been left with them to protect against more of the undead.
"I guess we've been left behind" Torgaddon joked as he approached Loken
The captain stood in the swamp and looked out in to the fog but there was little to see even if he could see through it, "I suppose we have"
"I agree with you, this is a trap but when our father has his sights on a course of action it is nearly impossible to change his mind"
"I know that now, I just hope he doesn't do anything reckless"
"Our commander isn't so easily defeated" Torgaddon reassured his brother
"I hope so" Loken turned to look at the ship with a grim look under his helmet, "It's just that you don't set a trap for someone unless you're sure you can kill them when the time comes"
"Are you two sulking about being left behind?" Asla approached the two with Petronella on her back
"Aren't you?" Torgaddon asked, "We've been left here with nothing to do while everyone else gets all the glory"
"I'm almost 200 years old, I have had plenty of glory in my time"
Loken smirked, "I'd like to he…"
The Luna wolf stopped as he felt a large tremor in the ground, he looked up to the ship as he heard the rusted structure groan and pull itself free of the mud, rolling like a whale breaching the ocean. Loken and all the marines present took a knee and placed their hands over the back of their heads, bracing themselves for the shockwave to come. It hit them like a truck and even the superhumans couldn't keep their footing, being thrown like leaves in the wind. Loken pulled himself out of the water he's been thrown in to and saw the ship had completely flipped over. He barely had time to come to terms with what happened when he saw shambling figures making their way through the fog.
The inside of the Glory of Terra looked as bad as the outside, the halls were dark and twisted, bulkheads had been twisted free and lay rusting in pools of brackish water while a black fungal slime covered the walls. Horus led the force from the front, forging on forward as quickly as he could, eager to take the traitor's head.
"This is 100% a trap" Ovis walked along side his brother, kicking some of the random objects or rubble littering the floor
"It really doesn't matter anymore, we're here and we very well couldn't let the traitor go unpunished for his crimes"
"I'm more concerned about what the actual trap is"
Horus paused his march for a moment and looked at his brother, "You believed this planet was a trap for you as well, as if something else is at play, why?"
"This planet has been forcing me to use up my power, there is a lot of warp power to burn away but no souls to consume and that has just gotten worse now we're near the heart of the power on this moon, just seems like the perfect combination to weaken my powers but I'll be able to recover once I get off this moon"
Horus really didn't believe his brother was telling him everything, "Temba couldn't do this, I think his death will end this spell and whatever is happening on this moon but there is a greater power at play and I think you know what it is"
Ovis considered what his brother had said for a moment before sighing and staring him directly in the eyes, "I want you to know that everything I'm about to tell you is true, no matter how crazy it might sound to you or whatever beliefs of yours it goes against"
Horus could see his brother was being serious, "I understand, what is going on here?"
"The truth of all this and of the universe is th…" Ovis stopped as he heard the ships superstructure start to groan
The world around the two suddenly flipped and they were thrown about, Ovis managed to grab hold of Horus as everything around them was thrown about and even they struggled to find footing. They were hit by flying debris and the marines with them were flung in all directions. The ship eventually settled again and Horus found himself stuck on the jagged end of a broken strut, the force of the collapsing ship forcing it through his armoured shoulder. He pulled himself free and felt the wound instantly close and start healing itself.
Horus took in his surroundings and instantly saw his brother next to him, laying with a similar strut sticking in to his neck.
"Ovis!" Horus rushed to his brother's side but he saw no blood
"What" he groaned as he sat up and Horus could see the jagged piece of steel hadn't even punctured his coat
"How?"
"My coat leather is impenetrable although I did break my collar bone" Ovis quickly set the mentioned bone before standing and taking stock
The two were alone, the marines that were with them had been flung in to corridors and through bulkheads that had now collapsed.
"Verulam!" Horus called for his captain only to get no answer, he reached for the vox around his collar but found it smashed, "My vox is destroyed, you?"
Ovis looked in to the collar of his coat and found his vox also shattered, "Mine too"
Horus let out a huff of frustration as he retrieved his sword from where it had fallen, "I'll cut that bastard limb from limb" Horus let out some of his frustration, swinging at a slime covered wall and cutting through it like paper
"I'll help you, let's get to the bridge and end this quickly" Ovis rolled his shoulders as he looked at one of the only passages still open, a bulk head hanging above them that would lead them to the bridge
"What happened to being my restraint?"
"That was before that bastard made me trudge through a swamp that smells worse than Mortarion and then dropped a ship on me, now he's pissed us both off"
"Good, we can take turns but I'm going first" Horus easily hauled himself up to the bulk head and Ovis followed
The two climbed through the hallway until they reached the central spire of the ship and walking up along it, Horus navigating the labyrinthine network meant to confuse boarders using the memory of his single visit to the ship decades ago. The metal of the ship became even more twisted and rusted as they closed in on the bridge, the fungal slime that covered the walls making the air thick with infectious spores. It seemed like the ship was pointing the way to Temba, to the heart of the corruption.
The occasional echo of bolter rounds or the reverberated reeve of a chainsword told them that the marines were still alive somewhere on the ship but it was impossible to tell where they were. A new sound soon joined the others, it was the low moaning of those suffering from disease and the slow shuffling of their feet. The sound came from just beyond a bulk head half torn from its hinges and held half open by its severely warped frame.
Wet green hands with long pus yellow nails curled around the edge of the half open door and tore it free with surprising ease. The hall beyond the bulk head was filled with a horde of shambling cyclopean creatures. Guts covered in green yellow puss spilled from their bloated stomachs as maggots feasted just beneath the skin of their anorexic arms and shoulders, a single yellow horn grew from their forehead right above a single bloodshot and cataracted eye, swarms of flies buzzed around the abominations as they shambled forward. Behind them they dragged twisted and rusted blades that dripped with infectious ooze.
"This is definitely the heart of the corruption" Ovis commented
"Then let's cut it out" Horus launched himself at the horde
With a single swing he cut half a dozen of the things in two, the abominations exploding in a shower of rotten flesh and puss that coated the walls. Ovis soon joined his brother, flame spewing from the palm of his armoured arm as he slashed at the things with his sabre.
"What are these things?" Horus wondered as he kicked one and it exploded like an over filled balloon
"Things of the warp" Ovis answered as he burned a dozen more
"Shouldn't your presence destroy them"
"I told you my power is nearly exhausted and they're much stronger here at the source, my presence just about weakens them"
The brothers fought back to back as they tried to force their way to the bridge but soon found themselves surrounded by an enemy that seemed to have multiplied. Ovis dug down to the last reserves of strength he had in him and let it out. Horus watched as the army of rotten monsters were literally burnt away, like leaves in an inferno, he could even feel his brother's powers singe the edges of his own soul.
The corridor was clear of the monsters and even the flies and spores that had hung thick in the air were gone. Ovis fell to one knee as he caught his breath, his face pale and energy obviously spent.
Horus looked toward the bridge before turning to his brother and checking on him, "Stay here, I'll finish this myself"
"No" Ovis used his blade to push himself to his feet and stand, "I'll see this to the end with you"
"You've used your power too much, you need to get off this moon as soon as you can"
"The two us will end this much quicker" Ovis made his way towards the bridge, now quite obviously slower
The two pushed on through the multiple blast doors that protected the bridge, the air once again becoming thick with spores and infection as the slime on the wall become thicker and the degradation of the ship became worse. They stepped in to the bridge and found it in an absolute state.
Yellow water fell like rain from above and pooled in to thick puddles filled with algae and the bloated bodies of the bridge crew while the large viewports of the bridge were overgrown and blacked out by bacterial slime and colonies of maggots feasting on it. The regal banners that once hung from the rafters were now tattered and eaten through. The bridge consoles were smashed and broken, the wires torn free and rewired in to a great machine that hung above them, the source of the vox signal.
"Nurgh-leth, Nurgh-leth, Nurgh-leth" a whisper repeated the damn name over and over, Horus thought it was an echo from a broken vox at first but he soon realised it was coming from in front of the command throne
Horus approached the rusted throne, fungal growths growing out of it and bursting with thick slime, he turned the corner and saw a lump of flesh on the floor in front of the throne. It took him a moment to realise it was Temba, the once loyal and noble man was now a bloated mass of flesh, fat ticks that looked like cancerous growths suckled between the folds of his fat, his once pristine and immaculate uniform had been torn and shredded by his extreme growth. His fat belly was grey and the skin stretched beyond its limit, tears opening in several places, on his chest was a large and infected wound that housed and fed plump maggots. In the mist of all this decay and ruin, standing out like a sour thumb, was an unblemished blade that shone like a diamond in Temba's right hand.
Horus looked at the sickening sight in disbelief, wondering how such a noble and steadfast man could be reduced to such a state, his eyes moved further down to the thing Temba sat over. It was a figure in the white and grey of his legion, their neck had been completely twisted around so while their body was facing Horus their face wasn't although he didn't need to see their face. The markings on the pauldrons easily identified the marine as the captain of the 19th company, Verulam Moy.
"Temba… no, monster!" Horus advanced on the bloated thing
Temba turned to him, the once handsome features of Temba now bloated and covered in puss filled warts, "No not monster, Temba" his voice was wet and strained but the self-satisfaction and pride in his voice still came through
"You are not Temba, you are a warp corrupted thing that has taken and twisted his body" Horus raised his sword, "And I'll kill you for that"
Temba let out a wet laugh, "No I am Temba, Temba reborn and made greater by powers beyond your understanding"
"I understand enough!" Horus stepped towards Temba, raising his blade to strike him down
"You understand nothing, not the warp, not the truth of the universe" the last phrase gave Horus pause, the same words his brother used before the ship up turned itself
"Don't listen to him, let's just finish this" Ovis came up beside Horus, "He only lies"
Temba quickly turned his head towards Ovis, the action being accompanied by a sick crunch from his neck, "I do not lie, I only tell the truth, you have been shrouded from the truth since birth you wouldn't know it if it was right before you" Temba smiled, showing off two rows of black and yellow teeth, "Or maybe you do know the truth and still reject it but you cannot reject it forever, you cannot stand against the gods even now they move towards claiming you as well"
"I only reject corruption and I'll reject it until my last breath"
"You reject power!" Temba turned back to Horus, "But you can accept it, accept the powers of the warp and be reborn as the master of the galaxy or reject it and end up like your son here"
Horus' rage boiled over and he leapt at Temba, "Die abomination!" he cried as he thrust his sword through the thick layers of fat and in to Temba's heart
Temba let out another wet gurgling laugh, "The faithful of Nurgh-leth can never die" he rose up, untroubled by the blade inside him, "A shame you reject him but you will accept the truth, I'll ensure it"
Horus pulled his sword free, black blood and thick globs of yellow puss leaking from the new wound, stepping back in surprise. Temba brought the rippling blade he held to his pale blue lips and whispered in to it.
"The Warmaster, Horus" a twisted smile played on his lips
Temba's blade speared towards Horus at unnatural speed, he would have been struck had Ovis' blade not intercepted it allowing Horus to move around and strike from the side. Temba moved with blinding speed, throwing Ovis off him and blocking Horus' strike. The bloated monster moved with speed that should have been impossible as it fended off attacks from two primarchs although it wasn't fast enough to stop them from getting several slashes in and even cutting open his gut, spilling his rotten and gangrenous intestines, but Temba seemed unbothered by such deadly wounds.
"Do you not want power?" Temba questioned, "I know you do, your ambition burns like the sun and you aspire to greater hights, that is what I offer you, what Nurgh-leth offers you"
Horus readied his blade, "If accepting means becoming like you then I don't even need to think about it"
"Accepting means becoming greater than me" Temba struck out again
His body twisted and turned in unnatural ways, unconcerned about breaking his own bones and joints, the blade was a blur even to Horus' super human sight. Ovis blocked while he struck and he blocked while Ovis struck but no wound was mortal or even crippling, Temba fought on spilling blood from a hundred wounds.
Horus blocked a strike and Ovis moved in to strike but before he could Temba burst one of the puss filled growth covering his body, flinging blood and puss in to the primarch's eyes and forcing him back. He pushed Horus back like it was nothing and instantly launched himself forward to strike again.
Horus thrust his blade at the fat monster and struck through his neck and in to his chest but Temba kept pushing forward, his blade heading for Horus' heart. Time seemed to slow he knew he couldn't pull out his blade in time to block and he couldn't sidestep it either, he would be impaled.
Ovis wiped the blood from his eyes and the moment he saw the scene in front of him, his brother helpless to stop himself from being impaled, he was transported back to the day his father died. He moved without thinking at all, he remembered not being able to reach him in time and pushed his beleaguered body even faster. Mere seconds before the tip of Temba's blade could scratch Horus' armour Ovis shoulder checked his brother, shoving him out of the way. The blade tore through his coat and the chainmail he wore under it, biting in to the flesh of his shoulder and coming out the other side.
Intense pain filled Ovis' body as the wound went deeper than his flesh but he ignored in and grabbed Temba's fat head with his gauntleted hand, "Die you fat bastard" he focused his power as he activated the flamer in his palm and a blazing inferno of black flames quickly consumed Temba
The burning bloated Temba screamed as he stumbled back, Horus' blade stuck in his neck and his own pristine blade still stuck in Ovis' shoulder, the black flames seeming to be the only thing that hurt him, "You have to accept the truth, Nurgh-leth will give you power, Nurgh-leth will give you eternal life, Nurgh-leth will give you the galaxy"
Horus grabbed his blade hilt that stuck out of the stinking rotting pyre that was Temba, "And I'll give you peace Temba"
Horus tore his blade free, coming loose coated in Temba's black blood and burning promethium, the golden blade burned with black fire as he drew it out and then he swung it, cutting Temba's heat off in a single swift strike. Temba's headless body fell to the deck and continued to burn as Horus went to his brother. Ovis knelt, bent over in pain, as he pulled the blade free and threw it aside.
"I'll be fine" Ovis reassure him but the primarch looked terrible, pale and sweaty as well as completely out of energy, "The corruption is gone, the spell will undo itself soon"
Horus helped Ovis stand, "Let's get out of here"
Outside the ship the situation was dire, the shambling hordes of undead had returned and the nature of the 11th had a noticeably lessened effect on them. Bolters barked for hours as the slow advance of the undead pushed them back, the perimeter they established slowly shrinking as more of the animated corpses gathered and even those who had been felled by a bolter shot stood back up.
Loken quickly realised that only head shots put their enemy down for good but that information did little, even with every shot striking a head or two more and more of the undead gathered. Loken ejected a spend magazine and slammed a new one home before resuming his firing, he did this again and again and again until he reached for a new magazine and found there wasn't one. The Luna wolf drew his chain blade and threw himself at the closest undead, cutting it in two with a single swing.
The marines soon completely ran out of ammunition and had to switch to melee weapons, many drawing swords or combat knives and others resorting to bludgeoning the enemy with their bolters and fist. The pressure still continued to mount even with the titans stepping in to the horde to crush them underfoot.
Loken cut through the neck of one undead as he kicked another in the stomach, his armoured foot exploding the bloated belly and covering him in black blood and green flesh, the undead he had his foot in grabbed him by the ankle and with its unnatural strength stopped him from pulling out. He turned to see another undead lunging at him with its mouth wide open, he was about to raise his sword to defend when then head of the undead burst in a dazzling explosion. He didn't waste this reprieve and cut the head from the undead holding his ankle.
Loken looked behind him to his saviour. Asla fired off twin plasma pistols at the horde, next to her was the golden armoured Maggad who swung his blade at any undead that came close, the two stayed close to the cowering form of Petronella, she had no weapons and no way to protect herself from the shambling horde and so could only cower behind others.
The daughter of the primarch was ferocious as she blasted the undead to charred flesh, she let out a high pitched war cry that would have struck fear in to a living enemy and did seem to discombobulate the undead but only for a moment. The marines were continually pushed back towards the ship and eventually forced to retreat up the makeshift ramp. Loken watched his brothers and even marines of the 11th get overwhelmed by the undead horde, dragged to the ground before being lost in a tangled mess of limbs, more than once had he grabbed a brother only for his strength to prove less than the rotting muscles of his enemy.
They were at the very top of the ramp and would soon be forced inside the ship, some men had lost their weapons and were now just punching at the mass in front of them but the horde would simply grab the thrown limbs and try to suck the marine in. An undead grabbed Loken's arm and another launched itself at his chest, grabbing hold and biting at his visor, he fell back as more arms grabbed his legs and pulled him down the ramp. He kicked and punched, his sword lost to the horde, throwing off as many undead as he could but more just took their place.
He felt them holding him down and fighting against him, the weight of them crushing him, and then suddenly the pressure was gone. Loken easily tore himself free from under a pile of corpses and they were just that, corpses. Their enemy now lay lifeless around the swamp, the force that had animated them now gone.
"What happened?" Loken questioned as he found his sword amongst the corpses
"The corruption that held this moon is gone" Asla declared
"How can you tell?" Torgaddon asked
"Well for one the undead are now dead again"
"Despite that, destroy as many heads as you can" Loken ordered his men to crush as many head as they could in case the unnatural power returned
Erebus was the first to return and soon the other companies that had gone in to the ship came back, all with similar stories of being scattered and forced to fight against the undead in isolated pockets until they just fell down dead again.
"So what do we do now?" Loken wondered
"I'm going back in to find my father" Atris declared
"I'm with you" Abaddon backed him up
Loken wanted to protest, to say that they should wait for the primarchs here but he had known both Abaddon and Atris long enough to know no words would sway them, not on this matter.
"Ok, let's make this quick so we can leave this damn moon"
"Good" Atris turned to his sister, "I assume you'll be staying here"
"I still have to look after the little princess" Asla nodded towards Petronella, sitting next to her bodyguard near the opening to the ship, "Besides I'd rather spend time with that bodyguard than you"
Atris chuckled, "You'd rather spend time with anyone that wasn't me"
"Well you got me there"
"Can't say I feel any different sister"
"Sharing feelings, that proves we are twins" the two laughed together, "Find him fast so we can get off this cursed moon quickly"
"Will do"
Asla watched her brother and the mounival captains dive back in to the ship, she directed the men left to burn the bodies of the undead as she went and took a seat on the ramp, laying back and letting out a sigh. The fog was finally dispersing and the sun was coming out, she basked in it and thought back to her home, her thoughts were soon cut short when a shadow cast itself over her. Asla opened her eyes to see Petronella standing over her.
"I just wanted to thank you for protecting me" Asla stayed by her side the entire battle, standing between her and the undead
"My father asked me to do it so I did, no need to thank me but Maggard" Petronella looked back at her bodyguard, taking a well deserved rest, she hadn't considered thanking him, "If you don't want to, I can think of a few ways I can thank him for you"
"Maggard, really?" Petronella looked at Asla in surprise
"Oh don't tell me you haven't done it or at least thought about it, what else are bodyguards for?"
"I am a lady of house Carpinus, it wouldn't be right"
"And I'm a princess but I fucked all my bodyguards, it was the only reason I hired them and for many it was the only reason they applied"
The two women laughed together as the stress and terror of the last few hours left Petronella but her laughter soon faded and Petronella looked back in to the dark ship with unease, "They'll be fine" Asla reassured her
"How can you be sure? Those things you faced were relentless and even the strength of the astartes couldn't stop them, maybe something worse is inside"
"I've seen my father get thrown out in to the void and the most that did was piss him off, I don't know how the Emperor made my father and uncles but they aren't easy to kill"
"I suppose you know them better than I do"
"Well if you ever want any embarrassing stories about my father I have plenty" Asla chuckled, "Now if you aren't interested in your bodyguard then what about the other remembrancers?"
"No, they're all drunk idiots"
"That's just how I like my men"
The two spoke until they heard the captains returning, they looked to the dark hole as they saw several marines exit. The marines were in a circle and carrying something between them, it took everyone watching only a moment to realise it was a body.
"Throne!" Petronella rushed to the marines as she tried to get a look, "Is that…"
"I am here Lady Vivar" Horus exited the ship, his armour was dented and scratched but otherwise he looked perfectly fine
Ovis came out behind his brother, supported by his son, and looked much worse, he didn't have any visible wounds and despite not wearing armour his clothes didn't seem to be cut anywhere but his face had lost much of its colour and he was moving sluggishly.
"Father!" Asla immediately went to her father's side
"I'll be fine" Ovis pulled himself up to his full height in an effort to project power and health, "Let's just get off this cursed moon"
Petronella looked up at the Warmaster, "If the two of you are fine then whose body is that?"
"Verulam Moy, captain of the 19th company, he fell in the line of duty and will be honoured for his sacrifice"
"Did Temba do this, did he kill Captain Moy?" she asked
"I'm not sure if it was Temba, it was his body but I don't think it was his soul, I think Eugen Temba died long before we ever looked towards Davin"
"What do you mean?"
Horus contemplated her question for a moment before answering, "I'm not sure but he had speed and power that he shouldn't have, he almost killed me"
"Impossible!" Petronella was shocked at the Warmaster's admission, "I doubt there is anything in the galaxy that could best you in battle much less a regular man"
Horus chuckled, "The galaxy and universe is bigger than any of us can comprehend, if it wasn't for my brother Temba would have torn out my hearts"
"Then you should find a way to thank me" Ovis moved over to his brother
Horus chuckled, "I'll get you a drink for your trouble"
Ovis smiled, "you'll have to do mo…more… th…." Ovis' smile fell as he swayed on the spot
"Ovis" Hors stepped towards his brother
Ovis' eyes rolled back and he toppled over, falling in a manner similar to the Glory of Terra. Horus was under his brother in an instant, catching him and gently lowering him to the ground.
"Ovis!" Horus called out his name
"Father!" Atris dropped to his knees next to his father as other marines looked on in shock
Next time: Traitor's poison