Kane: Just you wait, heh...
Cegroach: Well I see your point, and I can fix some of those issues, but the main one you're talking about will take some time. I wanted this to be kind of a slightly humorous story as well, so I didn't dig in super deep to the lore, analysis, and didn't make the chaos marine super hardcore either. Sorry to disappoint you man, but thanks for taking the time to inform me to help improve.
Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero, Warhammer 40,000, or anything related or pertaining to those universes.
Chapter 4: Maim, Kill, Burn
The run had only taken him maybe 20 minutes at his typical jogging speed, and now a massive manor could be seen at a distance through the brush. The Count left all of his lights on, making it an easy target that could be seen for miles away in the darkness. Obviously, he didn't expect to be attacked, or maybe he thought he was secure inside the gates?
There were bound to be tons of guards patrolling the perimeters for someone as high up as him, a messenger from the palace as Guiche had explained. Glacius activated night vision mode on his helmet, scanning the nearby terrain for patrols that could be a problem. His Auto-senses began picking up the patrols and tagging them as foe through the IFF system. Mages, warriors, and even guard dogs were roving around the perimeter, ready to deter any poor peasant that got too close.
This attack would serve many purposes. Not only would it rescue his friend, but it would strike fear deep into the heart of the country. A place this heavily defended, falling in one night? The messenger of the capital, slaughtered by the hands of something so unholy?
And who knew what was inside? Maybe there was a forge to allow the construction of weapons, or a library with rows and rows of critical knowledge.
However, the best part…would simply be the thrill of killing. Glacius hadn't killed a single living thing since he arrived. Sure, he fought Guiche's brass golems, but that wasn't enough. He needed to hear the true din of a real battle; the sounds of his opponents dying before him, their final prayers to their false gods. Their blood splattered acr-
Whoa. He was starting to sound like those barbaric Khorne Berserkers. Eh, well that wasn't a bad thing really. He was built for war, and as long as he kept his loyalty to the Changer of Ways, a little slaughter here and there would be fine.
His Auto-sense picked up more patrols, and he had at least a dozen groups of four or more tagged before a voice broke his concentration.
"Yo partner! We gonna get em' or what?"
Glacius blinked. Was he really losing his sanity now? According to his enhanced hearing…his freakin chainsword said that!
"Wha? What the heck?" he stated as he picked up his chainsword, eyeing it suspiciously. No, he wasn't going insane, as he saw part of the hilt moving as a voice came from the blade.
"What are we waiting for partner? C'mon!" it exclaimed.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. What are you? Some kind of daemon possessing my weapon? The machine spirit itself!? Explain!" Glacius demanded.
"Well, I'm technically a spirit, my name is Derflinger, and I am the aid of Gandalfr, the weapon of choice!" It exclaimed with pride.
"Who the frak is Gandalfr?" Glacius asked with withering patience.
"You of course."
"What? No! I am Glacius, servant of Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways!" the chaos marine stated angrily. "Who is this Gandalfr? "
"Sigh, let me explain…you-"
"Bah, we don't have time for explanations right now. Now is the time to kill. Just keep it down," Glacius interrupted as we went back to scanning the area.
"Sure thing," Derf stated quietly. He was curious about his new master, who was much different than the original Gandalfr in almost every way, especially in attitude. He would stay quiet and observe his master further.
After another 10 minutes, Glacius was satisfied with his recon. It was time to move in on the manor and begin the assault. The mission parameters he set for himself were pretty simple: Get Siesta out. Kill the Count and takeover the facility. Everyone else was expendable.
Inside the Manor…
"How is the work? Have you gotten used to it?" Count Mott asked in a sly accent, sitting down across from his newest maid, Siesta.
"Yes, for the most part…" was all she said in a soft, defeated voice. She didn't want to be here at all. Her home and her friends were all back at the Academy.
"I see, I see. Well, don't overexert yourself too much," he said as he stood and walked up behind Siesta, placing a rugged hand on her shoulder which made her jump a bit.
"Uh, yes sir…"
"My dear," count Mott began, "I'm sure you must realize by now that I didn't hire you merely to perform household chores…my Siesta…" The Count leaned his head in on her shoulder as he whispered the last phrase, making Siesta feel rather uncomfortable.
"Sir, sir…please…" she pleaded. She wanted to go home. This was not the life for her. She began to pray silently in the back of her mind for someone to come to her rescue; a hero. But if she was thinking of a hero, why did that chaos marine's face pop in her mind?
Outer perimeter...
Johnston was tired of walking. His legs were weakened from the circular march that he had been following all day. A mage was with him, she was kind of cute too, but she didn't talk much, as he had tried to start a conversation repeatedly. Man, these twelve hour shifts were killer! Was Count Mott out of his mind?
Eh, he had no place asking that. He was just a guard after all, and the money was good. He sent most of his payment straight to his wife and kids every time he received a check. God, he missed them so much…the laughter of his daughter and son, the warmth of his lovable wife. He only wished for…
The guard was so deep in thought, so exhausted from the day that he didn't hear the rustling in the bushes above him. By the time he looked up, it was too late as his eyes grew wide in their final moments.
Glacius dropped from the tree and slammed down on one of the guards, crushing him to a bloody pulp underneath his boots. The woman with him, a mage, was too slow to react, as his hand enveloped her tiny frame and squeezed down hard, crushing bones and organs alike. The only noise from the brief skirmish was the sound of her coughing up her guts slowly. Glacius didn't even bother hiding the bodies, as it took up time and he simply didn't care.
That was too easy…
Glacius continued his march forward. Another patrol soon awaited him, this one much larger than the last. There were no mages however, so caution needed for dealing with long range attacks was simply tossed out. Glacius smiled beneath his helmet.
The guards were not even patrolling really, just standing around smokin' and jokin' to themselves. Suddenly, heavy footsteps began approaching, and they all instantly went alert, weapons drawn and at the ready. The captain signaled for two of the men to advance forward, quietly, towards the bushes where the footsteps came from. There wasn't much light to go off of other than the lamps that they brought with them. The group watched closely as the two men disappeared from the light as they edged closer to the bush.
And then it began.
The noise was deafening as the chainsword sped up from a halt, the teeth grinding against each other; demanding blood.
"What the hell!?"
"ARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHLLLLLGGUUP!" the first scream became gurgled as the man's lungs became nothing but tattered meat and blood. The other scout didn't even have time to cry out.
"To arms!" the Captain shouted loud enough for his men to hear him over the weapon that was still screaming for violence. Or so he thought, as no one got up to charge with him. He turned around to repeat the order.
"I SAID, GET UP N-HURP!" The captain was cut off as he felt a horrible, burning pain in his chest and was lifted off the ground. He looked down to see a massive, metallic sword-like thing sticking out of his ribs, the edges of it blurry as they spun about at high speed. That was where the noise originated from, and his final moments would not be in peace as long as it was turned on, wrecking his ears and causing them to bleed out. Eh, it was over for him anyway as he was flung off the blade and into the dirt. His final glimpse of life was of his men cowering away from some kind of war-golem thing, spikes coming off of its shoulders and made of complete steel. Then the lamps that his men carried went out, drowning them in shadows.
Glacius charged forward towards the gaggle that had been blinded without their lamps. The cacophony of battle returned to him: the screams of the dying and the cries of the frightened. It pleased him to no end to hear these songs of war.
His first swing didn't sever the man in half completely; only rip out his guts and leave them splattered on the faces of his friends. He cried out in prayers to his mother as his ruined body collapsed to the ground. Glacius took a second swing, hitting three of them at once. Normally he was used to fighting hardened xenos that would take a few hits to bring down, such as the stubborn Orks. But the men he was up against had armor that was weaker than even the Imperial Guard's, allowing his chainsword to simply cleave right through them with practically no resistance. The extra power that seemed to be centered on his left hand also provided a significant boost.
"Scream for me worms! SCREAM!" Glacius shouted in bloodlust. The men were already obeying his commands as they cowered before him and clutched their wounded. They couldn't see, therefore they couldn't fight.
"W-We SURRENDER!" one of the men cried out.
"SURRENDER IS NOT AN OPTION!" Glacius screamed back, his chainsword sawing the guard down the center. The other guards began to sprint off at top speed, but in the darkness they couldn't see where they were running. The only illumination was from the lights of Count Mott's manor, so those that weren't blinded by the flailing gore ran over there. The heavy footsteps were right behind them.
"What is the meaning of this?" the Captain of another patrol said as a man stumbled into him. "You dare lay hands upon Captain Halervan, noble of…"
"Help MEEEE!" the man screamed as he grabbed on to the Captain's leg, staining the rich material with blood and dark gore.
"Wh-Whha!?" the Captain stammered as he saw the man's ruined face, a section of it looking like it had been cut off with the sharpest blade on the continent. He turned pale, but quickly gulped down the rising bile in his throat. Something was out there that wanted his blood and the Count's, and he had to stop it here or else it would succeed.
More screams from the nearby forest continued to unsettle him and his unit. He had a number of mages though, so he felt like he could take it on.
Glacius was upset. None of these weaklings were worthy challenges for a servant of Tzeentch, as they all just cried and ran.
"Where is the challenge!? ARRGHH!"
Suddenly, as if to answer his question, multiple fireballs erupted from the direction of the manor, and if it wasn't for his superior agility he would have been burned alive. The forest around him wasn't so lucky however, as it burst into flames and the trees themselves began collapsing rapidly. Glacius began sprinting towards the origin of the spells, as more fireballs were flying at him. He had to duck, roll, and jump over many before he reached the clearing were a group of twenty guards awaited him, about five of them wielding wands.
"Surrender or be blasted asunder, enemy of Tristain!" the man in the center shouted, obviously the leader of the group.
Glacius didn't need to say anything. The screaming of his chainsword spoke for him. The men made their own battle cries as they charged at him in rage over their fallen brothers, who were now being cremated in the burning forest.
The first man lost three of his four limbs, and was now just a useless stump on the ground who begged for mercy. Glacius didn't bother with him anymore; the cries were music to his ears. The next man was cleanly decapitated, his head bouncing near the Captain who was shouting orders to the mages. Glacius continued hacking his opponents apart, until he heard a familiar voice yell to him.
"Yo partner! Watch the mages!" Derf yelled above the cacophony of battle. Glacius grabbed a living guard just in time to use as a shield against the combined fire blasts of five mages. The man was seared almost instantly, and the force of the blast nearly knocked Glacius over completely. He tossed the scorched corpse into another man, the impact breaking his brittle bones.
"Thanks!" Glacius shouted. Maybe he could trust Derf after all, but he had to take out the mages first, as they were clearly the biggest threat. The other men were just fodder to try and slow him down. Before the mages could do anything else, the chaos marine was upon them. They were completely shocked at how quick the massive war machine moved, and didn't even have time for final prayers.
Glacius' spun around in a huge 360, cutting down all five mages and a few of the other guards who were following too closely. Glacius turned to see the rest of the group start to break up and run, their will and morale broken before him. But there was nowhere to run, as the flames began consuming the entire forest. There was only one way out: forward to the manor.
At the manor…
Count Mott was ecstatic now. He had forced Siesta to his bed chambers and was plotting all of the things he would do to her…or have her do to him. She was still in that new red and black maid outfit he made her wear, which had a very low cut just for his amusement.
"Sir, I…" Siesta tried to plead.
"Oh, quiet now. We're going to play a little game, yes?" Count Mott whispered in her ear while he grabbed her in certain places.
Siesta wished she had the strength to stand up for herself. The strength to say no to this perverted nobleman who used his rank and power to take her for himself. The strength of someone…like Glacius…
"N-no!" she stammered, frightened about what was about to happen to her body. It would leave her traumatized for sure. She tried to push him off, tried to fight back. But it was to no avail, as he was simply just stronger than her, a simple peasant. She began to cry and turn numb slowly but surely. Her reality was falling apart around her, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
"H-help…" she muttered in a weak voice, praying that anyone, anything, would answer her call.
And it did.
The door burst open as Captain Halervan kicked them apart, blood running down his clothes. He was holding his stomach that was spilling out warm blood on the fancy carpeting of the Count's bedchambers.
"WHAT IS THIS!? WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" Count Mott yelled at the top of his lungs, his face slightly red at being caught in the act. The Captain didn't bat an eyelash or stutter once in his response.
"Sir! We need to evacuate you! Something is coming, and it has slaughtered most of the patrols! Your life is in danger!" he shouted back.
"Could it be…" Siesta muttered to herself.
"Grrr, I'm busy damnit! Can't this wait!?" the count exclaimed.
The Captain stared at him hard. Was he fekkin' crazy? Did he not see all this blood? "Perhaps you should come see for yourself," he said. Count Mott growled in defeat, the Captain obviously wasn't going anywhere. He grabbed Siesta and dragged her with him forcefully as well, making her cry out in pain.
The Count continued following the Captain out to the balcony, keeping a mental note to dock his pay for spilling blood all over the carpet. This was probably just some kind of accident, or some lone thief trying to get in. Hey, there was that thief that he had just reported about to the academy, the one that targeted nobles with magic right? The ideas were running through his head. But the reality was far, far worse. His eyes widened in terror at the sight below him.
The whole. Freakin. Forest. The whole friggin thing was on fire, smoke completely blocking out the moonlit clouds. Even the outer walls were covered in blaze, the stone underneath melting under the sheer heat of magic-induced flames.
"What HAPPENED!?" he screamed at the Captain. Suddenly, a huge crashing sound could be heard, followed by the screams of more men. Count Mott looked down to see what it was at the gate, as that was where the sound came from. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"THAT happened. Sir," The Captain stated. "Now, you need to get out of here, we will buy you time!" and with that he was off to the gate.
Count Mott stared in disbelief at the hulking figure that was walking through the front gate that it simply tore apart with its armored hands. The figure was massive, easily at least 8 feet tall and covered head to toe in plating. It looked like a scene from hell, as the fires blazed directly behind him, casting his titanic shadow across the manor. Burning guards ran out of the conflagration behind him, only to fall over as their critical organs cooked under the temperature. The ones that still had lungs screamed in agony. The ones that still had limbs tried to crawl to safety, their flesh singed off. Broken corpses were in a trail behind the monstrosity; along with missing limbs and piles of gore.
"Captain!" Count Mott yelled as he turned back inside. He had seen enough.
"Yes?" the Captain stated as he turned around to his master's voice.
"Bring back all of the patrols! We will make a stand inside the manor!"
The Captain marched up and grabbed Count Mott by the collar, slamming him against the wall in anger. He had enough of this palace-appointed bs.
"Don't you get it!? All the patrols are DEAD! They either got hacked up or burned ALIVE!" the Captain screamed in his face. He then sighed and released his master, who was surprised by how he dared to shout at him like that. "The house guards are all that is left. I'll bring them to the front," the Captain finished in a soft voice. He turned away and limped towards the stairs to hold off the beast.
Glacius was jogging forward now, the manor only about a hundred meters away now. His Auto-senses were now able to immediately identify a mage and mark them out so he knew who to target first. He wouldn't underestimate them again, as his left shoulder had been scorched by a glancing blow. There was no damage to the armor, but he was sure his skin underneath could use some healing, as it felt raw underneath and hurt a little. (Which probably meant it was reaaaally bad, Space Marines don't feel tiny cuts ya know)
Suddenly, the manor doors burst open and almost thirty guards came out, ten of them wielding wands. Glacius had them locked on and was ready, but before he could engage a new figure emerged from the door. This man was dressed in elaborate clothing, clearly meaning he was no basic guard. It had to be Count Mott. As Glacius zoomed in with his helmet's optics, he could see Siesta being gripped by the man.
"What do you want!?" Count Mott demanded. Glacius could sense the small amount of fear in his voice. He smiled at that, and turned his vox speakers up to maximum volume for full effect.
"YOU!" he roared in his most hateful voice ever with the most volume possible from his massive lungs. The sound waves could be felt by the guards and the manor itself even shook a bit from the volume. It seemed to have the intended effect, as his hearing picked up the sounds of Count Mott crapping his pants.
Before the Count even realized he soiled his designer pants, Glacius was on the move, the chainsword spinning at max power. The mages began readying spells themselves as Count Mott ran back into the manor, dragging Siesta with him.
"Aim….FIRE!" the Captain screamed, his voice weakened by the loss of blood. The mages unleashed a combined force of different elements: fire, earth, water, and wind. Glacius was taken back a bit by the massive spell force about to obliterate him. He was in the open, and there was nowhere to dodge.
"Oh f-"
"Hold me up partner!" Derf yelled to Glacius. Not having many other options, the Chaos Marine obliged.
And was completely surprised. The spells broke around his chainsword, shattering the ground around him with such force that it began to sunder under the powerful effects. Glacius would celebrate the victory later however, as the mages were readying another assault. He sprinted at maximum speed across the open field, the ground still breaking under him like an earthquake.
"Wha? No! NO!" the Captain screamed. "Kill him! STOP HIM!"
But it was too late. The Chaos Marine was upon them now, and the mages lost their focus from the screams of the guards in front of them. Glacius didn't even bother with them, as he continued his charge towards the mages, trampling and crushing the guards in front of him to ruin. The mages wailed and tried desperately to cast weak but quick spells that would stop the marine, but the onslaught continued. These spells ended up damaging fellow guards however, as most of them completely missed and hit the allies, roasting them alive, piercing them with rocks and ice or throwing them off with wind. The spells were too weak against Glacius however, as the few that did hit bounced off his armor.
The entire group didn't last more than a few more seconds as Glacius tore them to shreds. He proceeded inside the manor, which was deathly quiet now since almost everyone was dead. The only sound was the roaring flames outside that were getting closer and closer. He needed to finish this…and fast.
He walked around with his sword held up, ready to combat any foes that popped out of nowhere. He then entered a large hall, grandiose statues and paintings on the walls. At the back of it was a stairwell…and behold! There was Count Mott…with Siesta's arm gripped in one hand…and…a staff in the other!? Uh-oh.
Count Mott didn't even bother giving a big monologue to the twisted marine. A creature like that…only one thang' to do…kill on sight! A massive fist made of water rose out from a nearby pot and slammed into Glacius before he could react, knocking him off his feet.
Glacius was stunned for a few seconds, but quickly rose up and dusted himself off, ready for the next assault. This time, thousands of ice shards flew at him at supersonic speeds, all aimed at the purpose of tearing him apart. He used his chainsword to deflect the attacks rapidly, the runes on his left hand burning brightly beneath the blood-stained armor.
Count Mott had both hands on his staff as he summoned more and more ice crystals. As long as the treacherous beast was busy blocking them, he could slowly inch out with Siesta in his grasp.
Wait.
Where the hell was Siesta?
Before he could look around, a sharp pain spiked in his shoulder and he dropped to the ground in pain, blood spurting from the new wound.
"Arggh!" he screamed, looking at his shoulder to see a large kitchen knife jutting out of it. Siesta was standing there, a surprising look of determination on her face.
"Y-You dare strike a noble!? You b***h!" he shouted. He reached for the staff that he had dropped, but was too slow. The time that Siesta had bought Glacius was more than enough though, as he hurled the chainsword at his target with pinpoint precision.
When Count Mott grabbed the staff, he swung it in anger to knock Siesta over before she could cause any more mischief. But before he could turn back around to face the dark one, the chainsword hit him. It didn't cut clean through to Glacius' surprise, but instead carried him across the room and pinned him to the wall, the teeth still roaring as it slowly grinded into his entrails, spilling them across the entire room.
Glacius marched up slowly to the man who let out bloodcurdling cries of pain as the chainsword was still running. He noticed that Siesta had fallen unconscious from being knocked over and hitting her head on a piece of stone. Eh, she probably wouldn't wanna see this anyway.
The chaos marine was now face to face with the Count, who was still letting out cries. He was fading quickly though, as chainsword wounds generally didn't give the maimed much time left. Glacius wanted to draw out his death even further, so he turned the chainsword off, but left it in him so he didn't lose too much blood.
Count Mott was barely conscious. His nerves were bombarding him with signals of pain, telling him that every single organ in his body was failing rapidly. If his eyes were working properly, it meant the steel machine was right in his face; the red lenses glaring straight into his soul. The being suddenly shot out a gauntlet to where his coat pocket was and ripped something out.
"Is this the order for that young girl over there to serve as your 'mistress'?" the being said, hissing the last word vehemently as he gestured towards Siesta.
"Y-Y-ggrgrrlle….y-yes," the noble managed to stammer, blood fountaining from his mouth and spilling all over him.
"Heh, doesn't look like it to me…" the giant said as he tore it apart.
"F-Fu-Fuc-" the Count stammered.
"You're quite a vile one aren't you? Chaos could make good use of your soul," Glacius then said. He had never used a warp spell before; hell, he didn't even know if it would work here. But he had been reading the book that he got from his world every night, and he was pretty sure he could drain the soul of Count Mott into his weapon. What was the worst that could happen? He ripped his sword out of the Count and began.
Glacius spoke words that I wouldn't be able to write out if I tried. Like really. But it seemed to be working so far, as Glacius could see the purple, ethereal energy of the soul flowing from the ruined body and into his blade. The body turned grey and withered while the blood flow stopped and turned into dust. It was soon complete, and Derf further confirmed that.
"Partner, if you could hear the things this guy is saying, oh man!" the chainsword exclaimed. Glacius smiled.
"Hehe, Derf, you proved yourself to be a worthy ally tonight," Glacius stated as he went over to Siesta's unconscious body to retrieve her. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, careful not to puncture her on the spikes.
"Aww thanks. But this place is about to burn down man, I suggest we scram!"
"Good idea. We will hold off discussions for now," the chaos marine stated as he sprinted towards the exit, fire engulfing the manor from above.
To be continued…
Things are starting to get interesting eh? Stay tuned for MOAR!