AN: Here we are! After this, we've got one more chapter left of the Prologue! Meaning we're almost at the main story. Hope you all enjoy, and I'm sorry if it's sad ;-;
The moment Lucian was pulled through the door by Not-Vanella, the inky blackness was swept away.
Lucian inhaled sharply and loudly, the caressing warmth mixed with the pleasurable cold of where he had been now no longer present.
He had escaped the realm of dualities.
Darkness did remain to his open and aware eyes, but it was the black of a starless night sky.
His movements were jerky and weak as he pulled himself from the strange ground he rested upon.
Torches, the size of a fully grown man, were hoisted far in the air. These beacons of light towered above Lucian, barely illuminating the sky or the ground.
It was enough to allow the boy to inspect himself.
He was clad in armor.
A vicious encasement of metal, segmented only to allow his limbs enough free range of movement. Nearly every point and edge was bladed or sharpened.
Hugging someone would shred them into pieces.
Reaching up to his head, the unfamiliar weight of a helmet rested atop his skull, sitting so naturally, a part of Lucian wondered why he never possessed such an item.
"Because you are a farmer, Mortal. Only a warrior knows the blessed feeling of his armour"
The deep voice emanated from the darkened beyond, the shadows which the torches could not touch.
Lucian's hasty step away from the voice nearly caused him to tumble down, his foot stepping on the suddenly crunchy and somewhat yielding terrain. Steadying himself the boy looked down-
"What…" he whispered.
And saw the ground itself was composed of bones. Hundreds of thousands of bones.
Looking in every direction, his head darting around fervently, Lucian could see the remains of human and inhuman. The untold dead stretched out as far as the eye could see. He stood atop a sea of death, a countless number.
The sight only managed to draw a silent gasp from Lucian, but a deep chuckle from the voice in the darkness.
"Your fear betrays you" Lucian swung himself toward the voice, the deepest darkness of the space around him.
The voice continued to taunt him.
"I always thought better of your misbegotten ilk. I suppose you are the weakest of the lot, the runt of the litter"
A set of eyes, large and glowing, pierced through the veil of shadow.
"Weakling"
They were eyes of anger, and insurmountable rage.
In their presence, Lucian in fact stood tall, his back straightening in abject defiance. Who was this voice to judge him?
The torches flickered.
Who was this unknown being that labeled him as such?
Power seeped into the sources of red light.
What right did it have?
The darkness crept back as the light encroached upon it, revealing a tremendous pile of skulls.
A pile which climbed into the thickest of the shadows.
Lucian could make out two very large feet however, booted in blackened brass armor. Whatever this being was, it sat, comfortable and seemingly bored.
So Lucian spoke out to it, the first words that came to mind.
"Show yourself"
The being did not respond.
"Show yourself!" Lucian called out, louder, "reveal yourself to me!"
The feet shifted, but ultimately did not move.
Anger, white hot and directionless, suffused Lucian's entire body. Then a great roar that came from a very primal place within himself exploded outward.
"Show yourself!"
The torches blazed brightly now, and the shadows skittered back up the pile of skulls.
And what Lucian saw… was a throne.
Made of skulls. Humans. Aliens. Orks. Some had symbols carved onto their smooth bone. Other's were twisted and morphed, impossible to gaze upon for more than a few seconds.
The figure which occupied this throne? The armored behemoth now revealed up until its waist…
It let out a deep chuckle. A gauntleted hand moved from where it rested, caressing the blade that stretched across the being's lap.
Lucian did not notice the sword though.
His eyes did not shift from the red ones, the face and form of the being still hidden from him in shadow.
"I expect great things, Mortal..."
And the bones beneath Lucians feet began to part.
He did not have the time to even shout out in surprise as the sea of the dead swallowed him whole.
"Great things…"
Ostus Barrow was still alive.
He knew this because his lungs drew breath, his eyes remained open, and his body convulsed in the echoes in pain.
His once powerful body couldn't remove itself from where it lay staked down. Thick steel spikes had been hammered through his hands and feet, keeping him in place.
It would take a ludicrous amount of strength to escape such a situation. A strength he did not possess.
Not to mention fighting through the untold number of hooded figures.
From what Ostus could see, being painfully trapped to the earth of the cleared field, the cultists were arrayed in a large circle around a central point.
Swells of groups protruded out, a singular member far ahead of his heretical comrades. All of them were directed toward the old stone table that lay just before Ostus' head.
The raised platform presented the wrist and ankle bound body of Lucian.
Ostus had heard the sound of a vehicle approaching.
Chatter and exclamations had sounded out.
He had hoped it was the Guard, finally coming to rescue him and the other innocents staked to the floor. Ostus couldn't see all of them, but he could make out the pained groaning of at least seven other people.
His thoughts had drifted from the hopeful suggestion of freedom to a deeper worry and fear.
If it had been an Imperial presence, he had expected Lasfire and explosions.
Instead, parts of the crowd he could observe to his right had parted, allowing a tall figure with a limb body in its hands to approach the stone altar.
By the time they were only a handful of feet away, Ostus's bleary gaze could make out who it was, being carried by these monstrosities.
Lucian, stripped of his shirt.
"Let him go!" he tried to roar, but it came out weak and raspy. The figure carrying young Lucian ignored him, placing the still boy upon the raised altar.
One of the cloaked bastards did reply to his outcry. The Foreman was kicked in the kick, sending blood and some of his teeth shooting from his mouth.
His vision was jarred, his head swimming, but Ostus still managed to hear whispered words and silky tones.
He dared not focus on the words, lest his mind have all sanity driven from it.
This cloaked witch must have said something of heretical importance. In the moment her words concluded, symbols of an unspeakable language glowed in purple light across the stone structure.
And as they did, Lucian began to convulse and thrash, fighting his restraints.
The witch rejoined her coven.
For a few disgustingly quiet minutes the traitors stood there, quiet.
Then the chanting began. Soft and focused, it built from somewhere far beyond Ostus's sight, eventually making its way to the center of the circle.
And a horrid thought entered Ostus Barrow's mind.
He may be alive for now, bleeding and injured as he was…
But looking at the situation around him…
Things weren't looking good.
"This doesn't look good" Caius muttered, lowering the Magnoculars from his eyes.
An hour and a half ago, they had pursued the Heretic's Taurox into the outer ring of the city. After losing them for a bit, Lynwood managed to spot them speeding out into the fields of Helios.
Whatever destination they were taking the boy too, it was in the outer communities. The farmers.
A few ambushes had waited for them, but a healthy application of bolter fire or the treads of the decently armored Taurox they drove in served them well.
Then they had reached the first of the farming communities.
Even from far away, they could tell its fate.
The bright lights upon the Horizon had turned out to be, as they had assumed, the burning homes of those that toiled the fields.
Hanging upon sign posts, which scattered among the fields and roads of the outer communities, were bodies.
Men mostly.
"This cult… how did it spread so far?" Caius had asked.
Lynwood didn't have an answer for that. He supposed the Inquisitor might, but they likely would never learn of it.
A sight passed them, nearly stopping them in their tracks.
The large tree was ablaze. It's leaving and branches engulfed in flame. Smoke rose toward the horizon.
But it was not the tree that drew their attention.
Merely what the large fire illuminated.
Both fixed their eyes upon the body of a naked girl, her head bowed forward with her arms strung up above her. Long hair covered the front of her body... and the star of Chaos which had been carved there.
Lynwood had prayed while Caius exclaimed hatred and spite.
They drove through two more communities in similar conditions.
Lynwood had his eyes peeled, looking off into the horizon for any sign of activity or movement.
Caius had moved to the mid cabin of the Taurox, popping the hatch on its roof to clamber up top and make use of a pair of Magnoculars he had located.
Sure enough, the younger Arbite managed to spot their quarry after a few slow pans across the plains.
"How many?" Lynwood bit back from the ground next to the vehicle, arming himself with as much ordinance as he could carry without affecting his pace.
He preferred to prepare himself for battle outside of the confined space of the Taurox, letting the wind of the night caress what skin he had left.
"Thousand… give or take" Caius' mouth felt dry even as the words left them.
The two of them… armed as they were, against a thousand cultists.
"Weapons?" Lynwood demanded, wondering the kind of arsenal they'd be up against.
Caius pulled the Magnoculars up again.
"I can see Lasrifles… Laspistols… and enough sharp things to sponsor an Ork invasion" Caius looked down at his colleague.
Lynwood was considering the situation, and Caius would defer to his judgement.
The older Enforcer glanced between the city upon the horizon, and then back toward the far off cult gathering.
After a moment or two of silent contemplation, Lynwood spoke.
"It is our duty to the people of Helios, and to the Emperor of Mankind, to stop these traitors, before they succeed in their nefarious purpose"
Caius blinked, taking a good amount of time to process those words.
Lynwood wasn't done though.
He turned to face Caius now, his visage so solemn and at peace, the younger Arbite felt a breath of air leave him without voluntary permission.
Lynwood smiled as he spoke
"The Imperium is built upon the blood of Martyrs my friend" Lynwood's smile remained, even as he faced their target once more, "We shall ride in with the Righteous Fury of the Emperor upon our backs. We shall retrieve the child, and return him to the Inquisitor-"
Lynwood retrieved all the essential weapons from the ground around him, most notably all the grenades and explosive charges that the Taurox had carried.
He moved to the side hatch, ready to enter the vehicle.
"We shall do this Caius Helix, or-"
"Or we shall die trying"
Lynwood locked eyes with Caius, whose usual layer of apathy was gone. Determination and force grizzled his features. A will steeled like iron.
Lynwood imagined that he would have made an excellent Marshal one day.
Instead he offered, "that's the spirit my friend"
Caius smirked ducking down from the roof and collecting the grenades that Lynwood began to hand to him.
"So what's the plan?" Caius differed to the elder still.
Lynwood did not miss the chance to snark at his friend.
"Tell me. What part of Righteous Fury did you not understand?"
Caius briefly rubbed his eyes with one hand as he stacked grenades on his belt. Like Lynwood, he now wore enough explosives to level an enemy's fortified position… or interrupt a devious Chaos Cult in the middle of a very dangerous ritual.
Caius couldn't help but chuckle though.
"Of all the days for you to develop a sense of humour"
Lynwood smiled one last time, the expression very welcome on his normally passive face, before pure professionalism set in.
They had a job to do. A very dangerous job which might claim both of their lives.
"First we contact the Inquisitor, inform him of where we are and what we've found. Should we fail..." the rest of that sentence remained unfinished.
It didn't need to be.
"Our first target is their Tauroxes. Then we thin out the crowd. I'll make a run for the boy while you guarantee me a clear passage from the roof"
"Lasrifle it is then" Caius nodded, retrieving the stated weapon.
Lynwood was already moving back to the driver's cabin of their trusty Taurox.
"Been awhile since I've used one of these" Caius murmured to himself, placing the rifle to his side as he reached for the Vox caster.
The Arbites' admittedly small fortress sanctuary had finally been reclaimed by Imperial forces.
What remained of the crazed cult members were battling the ever encroaching PDF. Their stragglers banded together and made themselves to be one hell of a nuisance.
The assault wave of Tempestus Scions and the Valkyries they flew in on crushed this nuisance.
These were the forces of the Inquisition, raining glorious Hellfire upon the now broken lines of the Heretic.
The Arbites and the PDF now had access to the more extensive part of their armory again
The Scions were already moving onto their next set of Orders. As the PDF Captains and leadership ordered a restocking of ammunition, and re-coordinated their battle plans, the Scions were moving. Reforming silently into different squads and units, the helmeted storm troopers began to disperse out into the city. Chasing survivors of the cult, or tracking pretargeted locations.
Many would die on this night. The cleansing fire of the Emperor had arrived. Fear was set to spread to everyone.
Spires burned. Lasfire flashed out between the streets and Hab-blocks.
Then the Vox announcement rang loud and clear.
"Loyal men and women of Helios" the Scions continued to advance. Valkyries began roaming the skies, searching for targets high and low among the many spires of Helios' capital city.
All across the Central Hive district, fighting had spread to nearly every level.
Many men and women in the PDF turned their heads around and about, attempting to locate the speaker.
Safely within his Taurox, Ahmazzi addressed the loyal defenders of the city.
Vox casters mounted to buildings, even the ones used to announce prayers from the Ecclesiarchy, had been temporarily adjusted to deliver the Daemonhunters message across all of the city.
To every home, every street, every hive block and spire, the word of the Inquisition would be heard.
"This is Inquisitor Ahmazzi. Steel yourselves to the task at hand my Brothers and Sisters. The Archenemy has struck us a devastating blow. Do not be brought low by your fear! Stand and fight! Fight for your friends! Fight for your family! Fight for your children, fight for one another! Loyal citizens of Helios, I call upon you to fight for the Imperium! Fight for He who sits upon His throne of Terra! For the Emperor!"
Ahmazzi clicked off of the Vox caster.
The speech, given by an old man in a small vehicle with his incredulous aide staring at him, would go down in Helios' history.
Ahmazzi knew how to rally a force. In that moment, every loyal inhabitant of the Hive found their courage, no matter how deep it had been buried.
Many would die tonight.
But the Traitors would be no more.
"My Lord Inquisitor"
The Daemon hunter replied to the driver, the one who spoke to the back cabin of his Taurox, "Yes Coltus"
"I am receiving a transmission from two Arbities, ones that claim to be under your command my Lord"
"Patch them through!" Ahmazzi hastily ordered.
He needed to know where they were, and what was happening.
The boy.
If they had not found the boy he feared saving the city would be all for naught.
His Vox line crackled for a moment.
"Inquisitor, this is Lynwood Deculus"
"Have you found the boy Arbite?" Ahmazzi demanded.
"Indeed my Lord. As well as some kind of Chaos ritual being conducted" Denex took in a sharp breath at the words.
"The boy is at the center of it. He appears to be alive for now"
"But free from the taint of the warp?" Denex muttered, but Ahmazzi silenced him with a hand, thinking on his response.
"Arbites, what I am about to ask of you is no small task-"
He was interrupted by another voice on the other end of the Vox
"If your about to tell us to disrupt this ritual, attempt to rescue the boy, kill as many of the cultists as possible, or all three of those things-"
This was Caius Helix speaking so disrespectfully, the younger Arbite.
"-we're way ahead of you my Lord"
There was a slight scuffling noise and what sounded like a bodily strike.
The voice on the other end changed.
"My Lord" Lynwood had returned to the Vox link, "We shall slow them however we can, but the odds are not in our favour. This ritual is located outside of the city, within the rural farming communities. I am sending you the approximate location now"
The coordinates were transmitted within the next second.
Ahmazzi sent them to the driver, but continued to speak with the Arbites.
"You are a credit to the Emperor and His Imperium, Enforcers. Your commitment to your duty is noted. All of Helios will know of your deeds"
Silence.
"Thank you my Lord"
And that was the last thing Lynwood said, before cutting the connection.
Ahmazzi switched his link to the pilot of his Taurox.
"I needed four Valkyries here ten minutes ago, Coltus. Contact the Scion commander, I need him and three of his best squads to escort us to the transmitted location"
"By your will" the driver affirmed.
Ahmazzi and Denex stood as one, quickly leaving the interior of the Taurox.
The city could handle itself now.
The real mission was out in the Fields.
When Lucian finally felt like he had stopped falling, he opened his eyes.
The sight which beset him was, if it needed to be described in only one word, confusing.
He stood on the tip of a white stone staircase, the very top of it in fact, and spread out before him, arranged in various orientations and directions… were other staircases.
Each one connected to another, regardless of gravity allowing such a path to be traveled. The entirely white structure of it all completely boggled the youth's mind.
'Where am I?'
Lucian scratched the back of his head, scrunching his eyes as he looked up, down, left and right.
'What... is the purpose of such a place?'
First Not-Vanella, then the world of bones… and now the super confusing strange directionally nonsensical Labyrinth.
The entire visible space glowed an ethereal blue, granting enough light to see far into the distance of twisting paths and winding roads.
The sky was visible, a twisting mass of blue and purple swirls, coiling and rolling upon themselves.
Lucian had never seen such a sky before.
Carefully shuffling to the edge of this Labyrinth, the gaping chasm of darkness that greeted him made him nervously step back.
His instinctual curiosity had driven him forward, but his fear of this wild unknown had driven him back.
This strange world held no noise beyond his own breathing.
So, he did the most natural thing he could think of.
He introduced sound into the silence.
"Hello?"
Lucian didn't know what he was expecting. Some kind of response? A strange figure to make itself present to him?
Whatever strange location or dream this was, the boy hoped it would make about as much sense as the others.
However all he was met by was the reverberating echo of his question, blossoming outward into the quiet, uncountable labyrinth of reality defying staircases.
Lucian shoulders slumped, ever so slightly.
Perhaps…
Perhaps he was supposed to find a way out of here?
With nothing else to really go on, he found the nearest staircase going up and proceeded to climb it.
'Get to the top' he thought to himself, 'maybe I could find a clear sightline, just like Old Man Crannog's tree!'
One at the top of this first selected set of stairs, he was presented with a fork in the road.
Two oddly dark corridors, leading in two different directions. The corridors themselves were shrouded in darkness, but Lucian could see the light at the end of each passageway.
But which one to choose. He could not see around or above the passages only that the one on the left ended in a staircase directed up.
So Lucian picked left.
While traversing through the darkness, he decided to try calling out, one more time. Maybe the echo of his voice in the tunnel would help?
...even if this place seemed completely uninhabited.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Even though his voice carried considerably further than before, there was no reply or response.
Just silence.
Lucian frowned. He quickened his pace, steadily approaching the end of the tunnel. Coming out the other end, he looked up the stairs and-
Lucian snapped his head upward, taking notice of something extremely disturbing.
Between the gaps of the Labrythin's structure, the swirls of purple and blue that made up the sky were gone. Rolling waves and turbulent streams of the misty colors were no longer there. Instead, the inky blackness he had seen beneath him had swallowed the sky.
Quickly moving to the edge of his plateau, Lucian looked down to see the…
The…
'What in the name of the Emperor is going on' the Youth thought.
Below him, was the sky he had stared up to before. The swirls and tumbles of a kaleidoscope of blues and purples, now composed the…
The world had flipped itself, while he was in the tunnel.
Lucian concluded that it should flip itself back then if he retraced his steps.
Turning around, he had every intention of stepping back the way he had come.
...only to be met with a solid white stone wall in place of the recently traveled passageway.
However, the stone was not smooth and bare like the rest of this accursed place.
Words decorated the center of the blockage's surface.
'It Belongs to you, but everyone uses it'
Lucian frowned.
This was a riddle. He was being presented with a riddle?
"Why?" Was all he could say. What was the point of this?
The youth huffed, and turned away toward the staircase. He didn't have time for such things, he needed a way-
Instead of a staircase leading upward, another wall greeted him.
Upon its surface;
'It Belongs to you, but everyone uses it'
"W-what" he muttered, quickly spinning to the left to see.
A white stone wall bearing the riddle blocked the edge of his plateau, sending Lucian into a spin the other way.
Another wall.
He looked up.
'It Belongs to you, but everyone uses it'
Lucian was trapped.
He was trapped within a box, presumably forced to answer this puzzle. So the boy, somewhat panicked, attempted to answer.
"Umm… my hands?" he said aloud, slowly turning in every direction to see if the walls would disappear.
"For work, I cut the fields, I help Ostus and everyone else" he attempted to justify it.
There was no change.
Before he could speak again, Lucian nearly jumped out of his skin as a skittering noise sounded beyond his walled cage.
Moving closer to the one he heard it from, Lucian placed his ear against the stone, listening intently.
It was a scratching sound of… something sharp against the stone.
There was something out there.
He stepped back from the stone wall, looking upon the riddle once more.
"My uh… my…" the scratching sound increased.
Claws.
Claws on stone By the sound of it, whatever was outside his trap was trying a bit harder to get in.
"Shit" Lucian cursed, grabbing his head in frustration.
He couldn't think of it.
What was his, but everyone else's as well. What belonged to him, but all his friends and family used? What did he own, that…
The scratching stopped as Lucian opened his eyes, a possible answer in his mind. It was silly of him not to have thought of this in the first place.
After all, it made sense.
In a convoluted sort of way.
"My name?"
Something that everyone else used, but was his and his alone.
Lucian.
As he blinked, the youth nearly toppled over in surprise. One second the walls had been there, the next second they were… somewhat gone.
Instead of staircases and passageways, the walls had opened up to reveal a… a maze.
Looking up, Lucian recoiled slightly.
Above him was… a maze, reflected down above him. He could also see himself, looking down at him in utter confusion.
...a mirror.
The sky was mirroring him.
… this was what the boy thought, until his mirrored self waved at him with a smile.
Heart pounding, Lucian looked away, instead focusing on what was around him.
There were many directions he could move in, five walled passageways, leading to other branches and directions that…
Swallowing the fair amount of fear that had built in him, Lucian took a step forward.
The small object that he kicked rattled across the ground, immediately drawing a small squeak of fear and his sudden attention.
The innocent little cube lay motionless against one of the two pillars of the many paths and options before Lucian.
Curious.
The boy approached the box, crouching down before it.
Tentatively, he grabbed it, lifting it slowly in order to inspect it.
When the voice spoke, it spoke from everywhere. From within his head, the walls and the endless paths before him, the hissing noise could not be ignored.
"Ennnjooooyyyy myyy giiifftt"
The box exploded, drawing a scream from the boy. From it's shattered remains, hundreds of tendrils exploded out, finding parts of his arms, torso, legs and face to attach themselves to.
Lucian could only scream in horror as they slipped into his skin, breaking away from the remains of the box to slither into him.
He clawed at his skin, frantically trying to scrape away the thin string like horrors of blue and purple that burrowed into him.
And then the wave of light arrived.
Blinding and benevolent were the only words to describe the bright explosion.
The screech of a monster echoed out, even as the horrid sight of the Maze was consumed by the blazing sun that had appeared.
And the voice, which heralded it's arrival "YOU SHALL NOT HAVE HIM!"
At the last possible second, Lynwood gunned it forward, charging at their first objective: The other two Tauroxes.
He had dimmed every possible light on the vehicle, creeping closer in the blackened light until he was within 200 meters of the gathered cultists.
Then he had floored it, praying to the Machine spirit of their noble transport for as much speed as possible.
The engine answered his prayers, growing like it had never before.
The Arbites charged forward.
Above him, half exposed out of the roof hatch of their vehicle, Caius bellowed their war cry, tossing krak grenades and firing his Lasrifle as soon as he was within range for all three.
"For the Emperor!"
Their rampaging vehicle drew the attention of the cultists, even as deep into the heretical chant as they were. A surprising number of them managed to get their ranged weapons to bear.
Caius did not flinch as Lasfire buffeted the vehicle, bolts of red scarlet flying over his head.
"DIE HERETICS!" he screamed, Lynwood joining his roar with a yell. Their Taurox was not stopping.
Like ants the Cultists began to scatter, realising these crazed and lone Imperials planned to just simply drive through them.
And in their hectic scramble to avoid the coming fury of the Arbites, many failed to actually get out of the way.
The vehicle slammed into the panicked crowd, its occupant upon the top dispensing lasfire and grenades.
Their sudden arrival managed to draw many cultists from their chanting, but some remained.
The ritual could not be interrupted.
Caius took aim at one such cultist, a cloaked figure standing nearly 40 meters away, head bowed and ignoring the carnage that had arrived.
"Traitor scum!"
Even moving as fast as they were, the Las bolt flew straight and true, catching the figure in the side of the head.
Caius was already tossing more grenades out into the swarming crowds of traitors, firing his weapon indiscriminately.
In grand explosions, pieces of cultists were sent flying in blossoms of fire and death. The treads of the Taroux sucked bodies beneath it, mulching them in its stampede toward the enemy's vehicles.
They were fast approaching the parked Taruox's, the ones which some of the cultist traitors were attempting to enter and utilise. Their heathen comrades were still firing upon the Imperial attackers, while more and more of them were being eaten up by the treads of the Arbites vehicle.
It was a slaughter.
Through all the chaos, the now sudden explosions, Lynwood's order could be heard from the cabin below.
"MELTA!"
The younger Arbite was ready.
"Yes sir!" Caius smirked with glee, pulling one of the deadly grenades from the pouch above his ass.
As they came within a few meters of the first vehicle, Caius let the first grenade soar through the air. It landed atop the cultist Taurox, rolling for a moment before laying flat on the top.
An excellent throw.
The cultists attempted to clamber up their vehicle, trying to reach the grenade before it was too late.
Except it was too late. The Melta's grenades subatomic reaction had already reached critical mass before even one of them got a hand on it.
A violent, twisting, and expansive wave of heat blasted outward. The Taurox was reduced to slag, melting away the top half of it. The cultists that had surrounded it? Their bodies were consumed by the wave of heat, some of them closest to the epicenter exploding in an instant cook wave of thermal energy.
It only took a second longer for the engine of the enemy Taurox to react to this sudden source of explosive force. The vehicle detonated, sending cultists indiscriminately flying. Some were missing limbs, now scorched by the sudden explosion, while others hit the ground dazed or dead.
It was complete chaos.
The blast however, while not damaging the charging Imperial Taurox, did however shake it slightly, which threw off Caius's considerably skilled aim.
The slight bump knocked him upward, causing him to let loose the second Melta charge a second too early.
"SHIT!" Caius snarled, recovering and continuing his fire.
As fate would have it, while the thrown Melta charge did not land atop the other Chaos controlled Taurox, it landed on the ground, rolling under the vehicle.
The cultists that had seen the death of their first commandeered transport failed to account for this change of throw, meaning the two that stood ready to catch the charge atop the Taurox were completely useless.
The explosive had rolled to a stop beneath them, rather than the expected target.
Caius and Lynwood had already blown past the vehicle, making their way into the center of the cultists' little circle.
Behind them, their handiwork appeared.
In a second wave of fire, the armored vehicle was unable to resist that blast that came from below it.
Caius instinctively covered his eyes as the much larger blast blossomed out.
"Superb throw!" Lynwood commented upward, grinding their vehicle to a stop beside the altar that the boy lay upon.
"Uh… yes!" Caius confirmed. Exactly as he had planned. Launching what little ordinance he had left at the slowly recovering cult members, he shouted down at Lynwood "now get that boy old man!"
The surviving cultists would be upon them in seconds.
Lynwood burst from the Taurox's main cabin, Bolt pistol raised in his bionic arm, fury splashed across his face.
His robotic eye seemingly glowed brighter than it usually did. As he leapt to the earth, his boot crushed the skull of a shell shocked and recovering cult member.
Uncaring of the filth beneath him, Lynwood snarled aloud.
"I am NOT. OLD!"
Caius laughed brazenly at the war cry.
Out into the hellscape Lynwood charged, firing at the closest targets he could spot, taking a moment to hurl the grenade in his left hand as far as he could.
The altar of Daemonic glowing stone was only a few meters from him.
His eyes still managed to catch sight of what he and Caius had accomplished.
They had turned the cults gathering into an active warzone. Blast holes now scattered the space. Corpses and pieces of human remains and entrails joined the blood soaked earth. The howls and cries of the dead or dying joined the fires. Two burning wrecks of once proud Imperial vehicles.
Lynwood's pistol spit more explosive tipped death, cutting down another three cultists which had the gall to rush at him.
The ones with weapons were still focused on the eagerly firing and shouting Caius.
"COME AND GET ME YOU HERETIC FILTH!"
In but a few short steps, Lynwood reached the boy.
He didn't even hesitate to reach forth and grab the young lad with his free hand.
He would save him, or he would die trying.
Time was of the essence.
All across the ship, the all clear was being given.
Small teams were scouring every corner for Daemonic presences, but the mass of the incursion had been dealt with.
The Tempests Advance would be within real space within the hour.
"You'll be pleased to know this Astartes" Vownus Kaede smiled as he approached the Emperor's finest warriors, "that the only casualty was Trooper Millock Brander's pride"
His fellow Psyker, the Librarian Aethod, looked positively perplexed.
"His Pride, my Lord Inquisitor?" the Astartes asked, confused.
They were gathered around what remained of the dead Daemons. The battle for the Mediace of the Tempests Advance had been a decisive victory. Six veteran Astartes were more than a match for a horde of eager Daemons it seemed.
Vownus looked upon the dead Daemon remains for a moment longer before replying to the great soldier.
"A wounded occupant of the Medicae" Vownus sheathed his sword as he explained, "the brave trooper decided his force needed him. He stood up quite quickly, and then fainted due to blood loss from our previous battle"
A crackle of vox drew everyone's attention to the right.
The silent member of the squad, Dominius, seemed to abashedly turn away. Vownus now recognised the noise to have been a snort of humour.
"And the guardsman, he is alright?" the now unhelmeted Captain, Germael, asked. His helm had been clipped to his belt as he inspected his blade.
Dominius' chortle had drawn the Captain from his equipment inspections, and then into the conversation the Inquisitor was attempting to have.
"Nothing but a bruised ego Captain" Vownus assured, a slight twist in his expression as he studied the Captain's face.
It took a moment for Germael to understand the Inquisitor's gaze. A look that was being mimicked by his battle brothers, helmeted or otherwise.
They wanted to know why he, one of the Adeptus Astartes, was so worried for a mere mortal.
Germael's face hardened as he explained.
"He fought beside myself on Gryphonne II, interceding a strike meant for myself"
"During the Siege" Sergeant Raduriel uttered, his helmet tilted down in apparent memory "I remember him now, he quite foolishly tackled the heretic with the Melta Charge"
Germael rounded on his Sergeant so swiftly, Vownus took a hesitant step back.
While the Astral Knights were Space Marines, and quite amicable when you all agreed on the same topic… their atypical way of dealing with disagreements was… well, dangerous.
"A brave act" Germael's voice actively asked Raduriel to doubt him, "which resulted in a near mortal wound"
The crazed bomber had stabbed the trooper. Vownus remembered that too. And even though he refused to say it aloud, he agreed with Raduriel. There were easier ways of dealing with a charging Kamakazi.
"A foolish act. You were incredibly capable of simply kicking that charging lunatic"
Before Germael could respond, Vownus decided he needed to step in. His Inquisitor voice, all serious and official, colored his words.
"Captain. Sergeant" the two of them turned to look down upon Vownus, understanding they were being spoken to by the commanding officer
"If you are to settle your grievances with one another, I request you do this out of sight of my troops. Morale is a tricky thing to manage, and if the Astartes are suspected of infighting, I do not wish to think how this would trouble the Guardsmen"
They did not reply immediately.
Vownus' scowl remained.
It was Germael who broke the silence.
"By your leave, Lord Inquisitor"
In the next second, he and Raduriel were stomping away, disappearing out of sight in a few moments.
Vownus sighed in mild relief, removing his pointy hat to brush at his sweat soaked hair, "the rest of you are dismissed as well"
Dominius left immediately, following quietly in the direction his Captain and Sergeant had gone. Vownus allowed the silent and stoic Astartes to rarely address him.
He had heard the stories. Aethod had told him what Dominius had endured for his Chapter.
Tiberec and Rhamine passed the Inquisitor side by side with one another, both of them also repeating their Captain's word.
"By your leave, my Lord Inquisitor"
Vownus nodded at them both jokingly saying, "please make sure they don't kill each other you two, I really wouldn't want to deal with an angry Thade at this time"
Vownus wasn't sure which one laughed, but one of them did.
They were gone soon after, leaving him with Aethod.
The larger being stepped alongside the Inquisitor, who's hat proudly found itself upon his head again.
"Your Chapter confuses me"
Aethod chuckled, "I can only imagine. We are not the first Asartes you have crossed paths with"
Vownus nodded, his eyes moving to the Medicae structure.
Guardsmen were slowly stepping out of the building, one or two at a time. Their movements were tired and worn, but not truly crumpled or exhausted.
It had been a stressful trip through the warp.
Some waved his way, while others stared at the unmasked Aethod with wide eyes.
"No" Vownus answered, even though Aethod knew this already, "but you are the first Librarian I've ever met"
Aethod smiled mirthlessly.
"Psykers are feared and reviled all across the Imperium, Inquisitor Kaede. Most Chapters despise the existence of even their own Psykers" Silver eyes glanced down at the man in question, "you know this"
Vownus grunted, but said nothing.
Aethod turned to look at the Guardsmen. He could hear the orders being barked at them by Commissars and their Officers. They were returning to their bunks, ready for the return to realspace and the likelihood of another deployment.
A large gauntleted hand rested comfortingly on the smaller Psyker's shoulders.
"This is not their fault Vownus. It is better for man to fear the warp, and all its aspects, than to embrace it so willingly"
Vownus sighed tiredly, failing to argue against the logic of the much older warrior.
Aethod was an incredibly cheerful man, even if somewhat of an outcast among his Brothers.
Dominius was arguably his closest friend, and the two hardly ever talked outside of combat.
All of them were an odd bunch, Vownus knew this. From the small duels they constantly held with one another over literally anything, which was apparently in keeping with their Chapters traditions, Vownus knew they'd bring nothing but entertainment and complications to his life.
"If I may ask my Lord" Aethod began, his hand leaving Vownus's shoulder just a moment before he spoke, "what awaits us upon Helios?"
Kaede barked out a laugh, following quickly with his summarized expectations, "at best, a Witch that is completely out of a control"
Having suitably explained the situation for the time being, Vownus started to walk away. He had a Captain to bother.
"And at worst, My Lord?"
Vownus stopped, turning to face Aethod.
The two held one another's gaze. They did not attempt to skim each other's minds, merely seeing how much respect one was willing to give to the other.
"At worst… the most powerful mortal Psyker in the Imperium"
Vownus didn't indulge himself with Aethod's expression, the wide eyed look of disbelief was unbefitting for a Space Marine.
After all, as skeptical as his statement seemed…
Vownus had never been more serious in his entire life.
Even though the light was bright, it was not painful. Even though Lucian screwed his eyes shut, he did not recoil.
Even though he no longer stood upon solid ground, he did not flail.
If there was one thing that this strange bright light communicated to him, it was that everything was alright.
Everything was fine.
"AH!" Lynwood hissed, his hand burning in pain the instant contact with the boy's form.
Instinctively, the Arbite withdrew his scalded flesh, taking a moment to shoot at the traitors that slinked toward him.
Young Lucian writhed upon the altar, almost as if pure electricity was dancing across his nervous system, his spine arching high into the air as he fought against his bonds.
"Hurry up!" Caius howled down at Lynwood.
The younger Arbite was running out of grenades. Which was a very bad thing, considering the shell shocked cult was slowly but surely reforming after the initial shock and awe.
They would soon be upon them.
Lynwood steeled himself as the boy's fit seemed to settle down. He could see the veins of the child, now swollen and protruding against his skin.
...this was a possession, if Lynwood had any guesses.
Not on his watch.
Not after all this effort.
"By the Emperor's will boy, you are coming with us!" he reached forward again.
His hand touched Lucian.
And then his world changed. The light receded to a comfortable distance, and Lucian opened his eyes to a sight he was quite familiar with.
The endless golden fields of wheat and grain, the crops of Helios, stretched out far and wide before him.
Spinning on his feet, the boy looked in every direction.
The light of the sun revealed the glorious golden canes in every direction, the length of which only met Lucian's chest.
He couldn't see the Hive City, or its outskirts. For that, the boy was thankful. He always thought they were such a drag on the beautiful view of his world.
But… he also couldn't see his home as well.
That wasn't so good.
He frowned slightly, wondering what it was he was meant to do here. Or what nasty trial would come next.
Instead, a voice came from behind him.
"Lucian?"
He stood stock still.
He knew that voice.
So dear to his heart and comforting for his soul, he never thought he'd hear that voice again.
So with an abrupt turn, he was overjoyed at the sight which greeted him.
Standing among the gently swaying fields, was Alena.
His mother. Dressed in a beautiful white robe, her hair flowing freely in the light wind of the great plains of Helios.
And Lucian didn't even hesitate.
In a mad dash toward the smiling woman, he collided with her waist, his hands wrapping tightly around her.
She met his collision, hugging the boy to her welcoming form.
"Mom" he whispered out, trickles of tears leaking from his eyes.
"Oh Lucian" Alena said, and just hearing the smile on her face caused the young boy to bury his face further into her stomach, his hands desperately grasping at the material she wore.
He would not let go of her.
He would not lose her.
Not again.
A gentle hand patted his back as he wept silently.
"There there" she whispered to him, the only being in the serene peace of the plains, "there there"
Eventually his tears came under control, and sniffling only slightly, Lucian pulled his head away from her.
Just seeing her face was enough to cause a few more drops to leak from his eyes, but the boy offered her the brightest smile.
Lucian was lost for words for only a few moments. Where his young mind failed him, his heart finally decided on the truth.
"I missed you" he hiccuped slightly.
Alena crouched down, her smile still adorning her face.
A hand came up to wipe at his face, slowly removing the streaks of salty liquid. Bashfully, Lucian turned his head, also attempting to remove the evidence of his tears.
"My sweet boy" Alena finally said, "I miss you too"
More composed than he was before, Lucian finally settled on one question out of the thousand he had.
"Can we go home now?"
Alena's laugh was almost musical, but she shook her head sadly.
Lucian's frown was soft, his voice quiet and concerned, "why not?"
Alena's smile shifted into a grin, the likes of which brightened Lucian's dower mood.
"Because, you little rascal, there's still so much for you to do"
Lucian was taken aback.
"So much?"
Alena nodded in agreement, repeating the words back to him with happy affirmation.
"So much"
"What about you?"
The question caused a change in Alena's expression. A slight downturn in her smile, the further softening of her eyes.
She did not answer the question though, instead saying;
"You are destined to do great things one day, Lucian. Great things. The whole of mankind relies upon you"
Lucian, having not received his answer, persisted.
"But what about you?"
Alena sighed sadly, her thumb brushing upon the boy's cheek.
"I remember the moment you were born" she slowly stood as she spoke, offering a hand to the young lad. Lucian took it, his eyes only fixed upon her.
"You were so small. I could hold you with one arm. Watching you grow, smile, laugh and play… I realised that even as it was my duty to raise you" they walked slowly through swaying fields, "you were my Son. My precious little boy. I was the one that picked your name... did you know that?"
Lucian shook his head as his mother smiled, her eyes fixed to the horizon, obviously thinking of memories long past.
"I never did get to tell you" she remarked, her joy slowly leaving her face.
Eventually they stopped walking in the endless field, and Alena gently slipped her hand out of Lucians much smaller one.
"Mom?" he asked worriedly. He tried to move toward her but found that he couldn't. His legs felt… bound.
She turned down to look at him, her eyes glistening with tears.
The light behind her, what Lucian had believed to be was the sun, started to glow with intensity.
"Every day, every moment, that I got to spend with you was a blessing my son" she stepped away from him, slowly moving backward toward the light.
"Mother!" Lucian called out, "come back!"
"You have a good heart Lucian" a few tears began to roll down her face, "I believe in you to use it well"
"Please!" Lucian cried out, struggling forward, trying to reach her. His hands would not move from behind his back, "I can't lose you again!"
And as the sun grew in strength and power, the all encompassing light engulfed Alena Inalique.
But her voice rung out one last time, even as her body faded away into the light.
"I love you"
As Lynwood touched the boy, the child's eyes snapped open, a cry tearing itself from his throat.
"Mom!"
Blinking away his momentary surprise and understanding his hand was unscathed at his second attempt, the Arbite shifted his grip, and tore the boy from the Altar. In a single movement, the boy was hoisted over his shoulder.
Lynwood immediately turned about, sprinting back toward the Taurox.
The Arbite couldn't make out the child's babbles, but as the boy was obviously shocked at his sudden and current predicament, Lynwood ignored the words.
He instead focused on the wave of cultists charging toward him.
Their cries and shouts a cacophony of Heretical noise to his ears.
One call above others got his attention.
A shout that actually caused him to growl. His ears were bleeding. The words were nonsensical, probably a cursed language of some kind.
A Sorcerer.
He spotted the figure, glaring intensely at the Taurox.
A hand was raised at their vehicle.
Even as his Bolter was raised in the direction of the hooded bastard, he shouted to his friend, "Caius! Jump!"
The other Arbite, not having sensed or heard the potential danger, did not see the Sorcerer that Lynwood aimed at.
However, his excessively loud warning jolted Caius' senses.
The man pulled himself from the Taurox without hesitation, leaping away from the vehicle. As gravity took over and the man tumbled toward the ground, he would never be able to appreciate how cleanly he had just dodged death.
The thick bolt of warp lighting arced through the air, slicing into the vehicle and finding its engine in the process.
The blast knocked Caius even further through the air. Slapping against the ground, the younger Arbite rolled across the battle stricken earth until he came to a complete stop. Only a few feet away from Lynwood and the boy.
The Sorcerer tracked the man-
Only to see the lined up barrel of a bolter pointed straight at his hooded visage.
Lynwood grinned savagely as his weapon discharged. The Sorcerer's cowled head disappeared in a puff of blood and visceral material.
The other cultits were already moving however. With the destruction of the vehicle and the fortified position it offered, they had grown emboldened.
"Get up!" Lynwood snapped at his disoriented friend, who had just barely managed to sit up.
Caius stumbled once more, but found himself on his feet.
His rifle, lost somewhere in his hasty escape, was quickly replaced by a Las pistol in each hand.
Lynwood watched in mild discomfort as the remaining cultists, still a very considerable number, began to surround them.
The large mass of cloaked heads and covered figures brandished their weapons with cruelty.
None of them shot at the two Arbites anymore.
Lynwood realised that this was probably due to them needing the kid in one piece.
And so, before they inevitably charged forward, Lynwood pulled the kid from his shoulder, dumped him on the ground, and pointed his Bolter at him.
The boy was still rattled, his eyes seeking out some kind of sense of where he was. Disoriented and confused… not the best way to die.
But not the worst.
"May the Emperor take this poor soul into his warm embrace" Lynwood spoke aloud, revealing his intention to all at large.
The crowd shifted, and a shrill voice screamed out, "WAIT!"
An odd silence buffeted the two factions, the surrounded Imperials, and the hesitant Chaos followers.
This was all the chance Lynwood would get.
Looking down to Lucian, he made his final decision. The cultists would not allow him or Caius to escape. The Lord Inquisitor had not arrived yet.
But Lynwood knew the boy to be integral to whatever Chaos had planned. So if he wished to thwart the cult before they watched him and Caius, he had only one option.
"I grant you the Emperor's mercy" his finger inched toward the trigger of his bolter.
The barrel was still pointed at the head of the child.
Lucian, Lynwood remembered. His name was Lucian.
"KILL THEM!" the voice wailed frantically.
The cultists charged forward, and Caius and Lynwood, standing side by side, realised that this would be their death.
They would face it proudly.
And then...
It happened.
"My Lord Inquisitor" the Valkyrie pilot spoke to the combat cabin of his vessel, but he addressed his leader first and foremost, "we are arriving at the target location. It looks like a warzone down their My Lord"
Ahmazzi replied frantically. Well, as frantically as one of his stature could allow, "what can you see Garridus, tell me the details"
The pilot was silent for a moment, and Ahmazzi could imagine the man scanning the destination carefully.
"There are many dead. The ground is littered with bodies. I see three destroyed vehicles, Imperial Tauroxes, there are no obvious survivors"
Ahmazzi bowed his head while Denex blew out a sigh of relief.
For the Psyker, the little monster was dead. For the Inquisitor, two brave souls had been consigned to the Emp-
"Belay that!" the pilot's voice shot on, "three figures, two men and a child. The two men appear to be attending to someone on the ground. The child is away from them. I'm sorry my lord, I cannot see clearly from this range"
Ahmazzi breathed a potential sigh of relief. If those two were the Arbites, they had accomplished the impossible.
Denex, however, closed his eyes and opened his mind.
Even as Ahmazzi ordered their vessels to land immediately, the Psyker was looking into the warp.
It was indeed the child that was down there, as well as the Imperial Enforcers, Caius Helix and Lynwood Deculus…
But he felt the stain of power, the shuddering waves of the Immaterium that had just ceased frothing from this very location.
Whatever had happened here… only bad things could come from this.
Ostus Barrow was dying.
He knew it. The two Imperials that had come to save the boy knew it. They all knew it.
Except young Lucian. The tired and quiet child sat next to Ostus' bleeding and broken body. The boy was shooting a drowsy glare at the large Imperial men over his huddled knees.
Men that were far too scared of the boy to approach him.
After… it had happened, the men had gone around looking for survivors. The only ones still breathing after the hurricane tore through the wretched space seemed to be them and Ostus.
...who wasn't long for the living.
The man had the stakes removed from his hands, and he sat up as comfortably as he could.
While he would have preferred to move from the heretic piece of rock that Lucian had lain upon, he did not have the strength to stand, let alone be carried.
He couldn't feel his legs anymore.
Everything hurt.
As the Arbites walked away in silence, quietly studying the other seven individuals staked to the ground, Ostus let out a gurling wet cough, drawing Lucians attention.
"Lucian my boy" he grumbled, and the boy, although tired and worried, stood.
His bonds had been cut thus allowing him free motion. Using that freed movement he stepped toward Ostus, hushing him.
"Save your strength" Lucian mumbled, his gaze naturally drawn to Ostus's bloodied and bruised face, "help is coming"
Ostus didn't have the strength to disagree with the boy verbally.
He just shook his head slowly.
"Come on you tough bastard" Lucian hissed, his eyes misty but steady. In that moment, the last Barrow had to admire the young boy. A youth his age, so exposed to the horrors of war and death, so exposed to the destruction that surrounded him.
Ostus didn't have the slightest clue as to why Lucian had been taken by the cult… but seeing what the boy had done to them, he could guess.
Fear, however, was the furthest thing from the Foreman's mind at this moment.
He took a shuddering breath in.
His tongue and mouth managed to create words, even as his mind slowly grew dark.
"Shouldn't… swear" he tried to chortle, his words so weak and wet with blood.
Lucian's head came to rest on the large man's broken and bleeding shoulder, and only Ostus heard the words that came from his mouth.
"Don't leave me… not you too..."
With what little strength he had left, Ostus lifted his good hand and right arm, bringing it to rest on the back of the boy's head, an effort made to give as affectionate a pat as he could.
"S'all right" he slurred, "I'll b'fine"
He did manage a bit of a laugh at that, even as Lucian looked up at him, horrified at the attempt of humour.
It took a monumental effort to look Lucian in the eye.
"Good lad" Ostus mumbled, his eyes fluttering as his hand dropped to Lucian's shoulder "chin up… do yer… do... yer mum proud"
The man began to lurch forward slowly, breaking his gaze on the boy. His once mighty strength was leaving him.
"Do me a favour… lad?" he grumbled. He closed his eyes, even as the light began to approach him. Way too bright. How was a man supposed to get some shut eye with all this light?
"Anything" Lucian stammered, "just stay"
Ostus's hand slipped away from Lucian's shoulder.
"I'm taking… a nap"
"Ostus!"
"Wake me… for… my shift"
His chest rose once more. The sound of roaring engines was distant to his ear.
"...don't… wanna be… late..."
The man's head slumped forward. He did not fall back, or aside. He remained seated, his head bowed like a man in prayer.
His chest fell, for the last time.
Lucian released him, falling back onto his rear, sitting in the dirt as he stared up at the great man he would have called Father one day.
The older Arbite had watched the entire exchange in silence as the younger attended to the girl they had found.
She would live. Just. The arriving Valkyries would see to that.
But Ostus?
He went to the place where all his Father, and his Fathers Father had gone.
Ostus Barrow, a brave and loyal man, a hero in his own right... died in peace.
AN: I'm sorry this took so long to pump out compared to the others. As the story goes further from a concept, and expands out into the 40k universe, I've got a lot of fact checking and lore reading to do. Warhammer is hella expansive lol.
May the Emperor smile upon those who review, because I'm all the more enthused to continue this thanks to you guys.
I hope you've enjoyed it so far, because there is so much more to come.
Take care y'all
-Freedom.