AN: So this one's a little shorter than usual. Hope that doesn't take away from anything. I've been trying really hard to remain with the meat of the story, and less trying to bog y'all down with all the flashy flex writing. Hopefully keeping closer to the story will help me get these chapters out faster.
More at the bottom.
Enjoy.
"So we're setting an ambush?"
Vownus nodded at Lucian's question, the boy deftly attempting to step into the plan once more. And knowing this, Vownus faced the youth with a harsh stare.
"Seraphis, Aethod and myself will be sufficient enough to destroy the War boss"
"But-"
"No" Kaede waved a hand at the youth, already preempting the disagreement "I'm not going to let that happen. Whatever it is you think you'll be able to bring to the table… I can't trust it"
"You're a fool" Lucian calmly reiterated, "my Father-"
"Your Father" Vownus tartly began, "regardless of what he has tasked you to do, I doubt you'd have his blessing to utilize the sorcery of a traitor. A traitor that betrayed Him, amongst a myriad of other significant transgressions. What Magnus the Red has taught you cannot be brought to bear without serious consideration, let alone ever, Lucian"
The youth boiled over.
"That's why you won't let me help?! I have the power to win this war, Vownus! I can destroy the Warboss! I can save Balor! Why do you deny it!?"
"I deny the enemy, Lucian" Vownus fiercely asserted, "I will not let their twisted machinations envelope you, as they have so many others"
"Machinations? My Brother has given me knowledge, Vownus. Freely given for whatever purpose, but-"
"Nothing is free, Lucian!" Kaede snapped, the very air itself pulsing with his fury "nothing! There is always a catch! Always!"
His rage bought him some respite from the boy's golden clad prodding.
The Inquisitor stifled the furious nature of his tone, but only barely. Still simmering with anger at the boy's lack of understanding, Vownus continued on, his tone condensing down into a tough lecture.
"No gift is free. Not from a Warp entity. And rest assured your 'Brother' certainly exists among such vile creatures" Kaede's gaze wandered off into the empty air, his mind thinking upon the nature of Lucian's Brother.
"Magnus the Red serves a Master far more dangerous than you can currently comprehend, Lucian. He has given himself to the ruinous powers, willingly, and is at the beck and call of his Master. Every decision and choice he has made, every word he has given to you, every lesson that was imparted…. It all serves the intricate machinations of the designs of the Archenemy"
Lucian barked out an exasperated reply.
"And how exactly does learning serve the will of the Archenemy? While I am blessed-" Vownus took note of the snide and revolted annunciation, "-with my powers, I'm not stupid enough to remain ignorant of them. Knowing what I'm capable of, and being competent could be the difference between the life and death of millions!"
"Your nature I do not doubt, but Sorcery can lead to dark places, Lucian. You're dipping your toes into an abyss, careless of whatever you may attract. Surely you must know this… having witnessed all you have, after Chaos ripped up Helios, can you still remain willingly blind to the truth?"
Lucian's resolve hardened as he stubbornly replied, his voice muted "I want to help"
"Then listen to what I'm telling you, kiddo!" Kaede belted, "if I was sure you could do this, I'm certain you could have knocked every Ork ship from Orbit, and I'd have been glad to watch it all go down"
Vownus' voice softened.
"But I'm not sure. There is more than a reasonable doubt… and the Imperium can't afford to risk losing you, Lucian"
The youth seemed stunned.
For a moment he couldn't even reply to the tranquill honesty that radiated from Vownus. The Witch Hunter was being honest with the boy, as he had promised to be.
Lucian's mouth mumbled confused words.
"But my gifts…"
Vownus' stomach sank.
It was one word, only one, that his mind immediately coiled around.
"What do you mean by gifts"
Lucian's jaw slowly closed, his face slowly paling.
"I've… I've been given gifts…"
"What the fuck do you mean by given gifts?"
Lucian clamped shut, his expression straining.
"Lucian" Vownus dangerously spoke his name, slowly coming to stand before him "who… or what… has given you gifts?"
Lucian's voice was a whisper, his eyes traveling to the floor before him.
The boy was terrified.
"... the Emperor… My Father made a deal. To… when he created me, he needed to make a deal that-"
Vownus cut right to it.
"Who did He make a deal with"
And Lucian looked the Inquisitor in the eye, his voice as quiet as dust floating through the air, a whisper to Vownus's ears.
But he heard it.
"Chaos"
…
"No"
Vownus couldn't believe it. He knew the shock was spreading through his body, but his attention could only remain on the youth.
His mouth did the work for him.
"That's not possible"
Lucian held his gaze, "I was told this by Malcador, the Sigillite…. When he saved me from the Realm of the Blood God. After I… after I blew up the factory, I was taken to a horrible place… I was given a gift…"
"What gift"
Lucian honestly shrugged, "I don't know"
Vownus didn't have time for this.
This was a turn of events he had not expected. Knowledge that shook at his very understandings of-
"Then you sit tight. Remain with the Guard. Once the War Boss is dead we'll sort this out, but until then you're not to use the Warp at all. Am I clear?"
As hurricane Lucian swept toward him from across the battlefield, Vownus realized that he either wasn't a very clear person… or the boy just couldn't fucking listen to him. He just couldn't obey him.
His attempt to follow the injured and retreating War Boss had halted abruptly when a spike of Warp power both vaste and terrifying erupted nearby.
Vownus had turned his head to observe the sudden maelstrom, even as it began to cleave its way across the battlefield.
The winds of the warp were bubbling with a frothing madness. It seemed as if the air itself was electrified with the promise of death.
Dark shapes and thoughts began crawling through the air, their forms coalescing into familiar but deadly apparitions.
Daemons.
Servants of Khorne.
They hadn't broken through yet, but throughout all the bloodshed and madness, Vownus could see the first inklings of a Warp invasion.
And Lucian was at the epicenter.
No.
He was the epicenter.
A soon to be gaping hole between the very fabric of reality itself if he was not dealt with.
.Vownus! Lucian is-!.
Kaede did his best to reply to Aethod as he cut his way toward the heaviest of battling, the source of the possessed rampage and Warp fluctuations.
Lucian had to be saved…
Or stopped.
The Witch Hunter knew what he might have to do..
.Get out of here Aethod!.
.But the boy-.
Kaede opened the throats of two Orks before slicing another into small chunks. His Psychic Blades were not dulled… in fact the onslaught of prevalent Warp energies seemed to be supercharging his combat abilities.
.Lucian is my concern, Aethod. Get the Astral Knights out of here. Fall back to the inner city.
.Vownus, that is-.
.That's an order, Librarian!.
As Aethod's presence subsided, Vownus began to blink his way through the surging tide of Greenskins, each jostling their way towards Vownus's goal.
And when he arrived…
The truest spike of panic he had ever experienced flooded his mind.
Kaede ducked beneath the wave of slicing energy, his extra senses able to discern the deadly burst of energy a moment before it impacted against him.
All around him, Orks were cleaved into pieces, the invisible slash gouging deep into their numbers.
Around the now bloodied fields Vownus alone stood up.
His eyes were granted a brief moment to watch as Lucian continued his slaughter. Kaede's gaze was brought to the weapon in the bloodsoaked youth's hand, the pulsating source of crippling Warp madness.
The blade was beyond Vownus's comprehension. It cleaved through armor, flesh and bone without care or concern to the former or later. A peerless tool of the Warp in the hands of Lucian. Vownus didn't know exactly what weapon it was, however he knew without a doubt why Lucian had gotten ahold of it.
'Khorne's Gift'
This sword was what lashed out the waves of slicing energy, the same Wave's that Kaede's instincts had screamed at him to avoid at all costs.
He saw how with each thunderclap that followed Lucian's sword swing, tens if not hundreds of Orks were ripped in two.
There were enough of the green bastards that it really didn't matter, and Lucian was constantly being swamped by the Xenos.
But the youth, cackling with glee, sadness, terror and joy… he didn't care.
Every beast that stepped up to him was struck down, a violent death the only reward for each and every Greenskin that tried to duel with him.
Kaede only observed this for a few moments or so. Some unseen lull occurred for only a moment, and the boy was left without something to kill for only a few seconds.
In a heartbeat, the youth's eyes snapped to him.
Vownus barely blinked away in time, the space he was forced to suddenly vacate turning into a gigantic hole not even a second later.
Kaede swept back from the lightning fast downward swing the boy had attempted to deliver. His eyes were wide with shock as he stared at the youth that had lunged at him.
Lucian's body had covered forty meters in an instant…
It wasn't a Gate of Infinity that the youth had used either.
…no human can move that fast. Even enhanced ones couldn't-
Manic blue eyes settled upon him once more.
Kaede was forced to blink away again, narrowly dodging either damage or death. If his sense was warning him to avoid the attacks, then his relative Invulnerability was in question.
But beyond the mystical nature of the blade, Kaede figured that the sword must be accelerating the boy's physical capabilities.
And up close Vownus could also confirm that the sword was also affecting the boy's mental capabilities. His face was a rictus of shifting emotions, a madened wash of feeling that never quite settled.
The golden glow that the Inquisitor had grown accustomed to had dimmed.
He wasn't gone.
Not yet.
But he was teetering on the edge of oblivion.
In that instant, Vownus knew he had to try and save him.
As the blade was pulled from the ground it had shattered, Vownus attempted to yell out toward the youth he was dancing around.
"Lucian! It's me, Vownus! You need to snap out of it kiddo! We-"
"COWARD!"
Lucian's scream wasn't his own. Other voices had joined with him, the cry coming from the lips of not just one soul, but an amalgamation of many.
He was slipping.
Ork's came screaming toward the both of them a heartbeat later, and Kaede was forced to fight another battle for a few moments.
The sound barrier snapped as Khorne's gift whirled through the air. Body after body began to rack up against one another, an endless tide of death slowly being churned out by the boy.
Vownus's training kicked in.
'Circle. Observe. Find an opening'
And so he dashed off.
The youth was focused on killing, yet still capable of detecting him as a threat.
Kaede figured he could pull back for a moment to evaluate his options.
The Inquisitor kept blinking between the mass of Ork's, using their numbers as a natural shield from the possessed boy's line of sight. By the time an Ork noticed the presence of the Witch Hunter, the man had already blinked away.
He didn't need to engage them right now, rather keeping his immediate yet speckled attention focused toward Lucian.
Lucian's psychotic intentions returned to the Greenskins, slaughter and death seemingly taking up his primary concern. But Vownus was wary. The youth had responded to his presence viciously and immediately, attempting to cut him down with a speed and swiftness he was not currently utilizing.
Although seemingly crazed, the youth had the ability to distinguish greater threats and deal with them accordingly.
Kaede was certain that the boy was waiting for him to surface again.
But what to do then…
He needed-
As Vownus blinked to his next location, a large hand connected with his shoulder.
Kaede nearly jumped out of his skin, the monotone and cold voice of a peculiar individual breaking through his senses a second later.
"At ease, Inquisitor"
Rooted in reality, Kaede recognised as Ork's swarmed around the two of them, their figures barely brushing past them as they charged toward the killing frenzy that was Lucian. Kaede looked around, his eyes wide and owlish.
It was Mordo.
This-
What-
But-
"How are you doing this?" his mouth managed.
The Orks seemed to slip by them without concern or notice, each and every one of them seemingly blind to their very real presence amongst their number.
What is this?!
Some kind of Warp ability, certainly, but…
"Now is not the time. How do we stop the boy?"
Vownus looked up to the red eyed helm of the unknown Astartes, every hair on the back of his neck prickled as he considered the being before him.
"You're a Warp entity"
"Focus, Inquisitor. I will reveal all once Lucian is safe"
Vownus didn't know if he could trust Mordo. But right now, he didn't really have much of a choice.
"That might not be possible"
The Inquisitor looked toward the still blood crazed youth. Cracks were beginning to form in the air, blossoms of Warp currents hurtling out and striking out and instantly killing random Orks.
"We must stop the possession, or the Orks will become the least of our concerns"
"We can stop it" Kaede affirmed, his eyes still on Lucian, "I just can't guarantee Lucian's safety"
"Then we shall do what we must"
"Yeah" Vownus rolled his shoulders, "right. First things first, we try to get that sword away from him. It seems to be source of the Daemonic energy, so once its separated from him then maybe that'll sort him out"
"And if it doesn't?"
Kaede met Mordo's red gaze, "if that doesn't work, we're going to have to kill him"
Emerging from the barren corridor with the Cannonness Perceptor beside her, Vanella was treated to a small foyer preempting the Inquisitor's chambers.
Her step slowed as she passed beneath an archway constructed of parchment prayers arranged across its towering arc.
As if an invisible wall had passed her, the sounds of the room preempted her sight. Before she could make sense of the space, her ears were given drifts of sorrowful note, a shrill sadness produced by an instrument Vanella had never laid eyes upon.
She only briefly looked at the tapestries, towering bookshelves and worshipful art that dominated the circular chamber, instead having her eyes follow her ears to the center of this room.
Beside a desk dotted with sagged and aged candles, stood the Inquisitor.
It had to be Rykehuss.
But without his crimson and black power armor, for a moment Vanella had not been sure. Being the only occupant in the room, no matter the fact he was now clothed in a simple gray set of garbs… this was Rykehuss.
And he was playing this sorrowful instrument, his eyes shut and face relaxed as the cascade of bitterly tragic music flowed into the once empty room.
Vanella didn't know what to do, what to say, or how to even act.
In fact, the Inquisitor hadn't seemingly even noticed the two intruders of his space.
"My Lord Inquisitor"
The music sharply ended.
Rykehuss's eyes snapped open.
"Canoness Perceptor" he cooly announced, taking the short bow he held in one hand, and the small wooden body in another, Rykehuss gave the Sister of Battle his full attention.
"You are late"
"We are" she bowed forward, "our guest was in the midst of prayer"
Rykehuss's face twitched, but no sneer erupted across his features. He simply said "I see"
The man placed his instrument upon the table, before replacing the item with a small book he held by his side.
"You are dismissed, Cannoness"
"My Lord-"
"Einar will return her to her chambers, Cannoness. You are dismissed"
The Sister of Battle didn't hesitate again, "yes my Lord" and departed in a hasty yet mechanically forced march.
This left Vanella and the Inquisitor alone.
It was a question from Rykehuss that broke the now frigid silence.
"Tell me, Vanella Castelius, do you know what a Psyker is?"
For a moment, Vanella had lost her voice. The sudden question pierced through the silence taking her aback.
She found her words a heartbeat of silence later as Rykehuss blankly observed her in the echoing quiet.
"No my Lord"
"They are abhuman" his declaration was filled with a vicious spite, a coiling of anger that resonated with every syllable.
"Mutants. Monstrous deviations of humanity that exist in the shadows all across Imperial society"
"I.. I see my Lord" Vanella nervously bit out, the rising anger in the man across from her in the cluttered room putting her on edge.
"No!" he roared out in abject denial, before suddenly turning rigid.
Rykehuss's gaze lost its venom.
"You do not"
His gaze lost its focus as he toyed with the book in his hands, idly flipping over its smooth black and compact shape as his fingers played with the edges of its pages.
"For only a Psyker, can truly understand what a Psyker is, what they represent"
He looked at her, his eyes prompting the question his words were certainly looking for.
"What… what do they represent, Lord Inquisitor?"
"Chaos"
Rykehuss's empty hand was twitching with fury, his face barely concealing the frothing and fervent rage.
"They are beings tied with the Warp! A lightless realm of desolate horror! Their very existence is linked with the eternal well of damnation that the Enemy calls home!"
He slammed the book down on the desk before him, the slap of contact drawing an audible intake of breath from the startled Vanella.
"Look here, child"
Tentatively approaching the Inquisitor, Vanella stepped up to the table the now open book was splayed out upon.
She couldn't help her attention being stolen by the book.
Black and wide images displayed upon small white parchment squares were borne aloft each page with wax, their subject matter depicting dark and perilous scenes.
Burned buildings.
Destroyed homes.
Even the dead, sometimes in macabre scenes of violence were plastered across the pages.
Her hand came forward, her fingers quickly finding the corner of the page before her brain caught up with the action.
Before she could turn from one page to the next, Vanella brought herself back, respectfully stepping away from the small book as she faced the Inquisitor once more.
"I'm sorry Lord Inquisitor, but I don't understand"
Rykehuss didn't sigh. For another painfully quiet moment he regarded the girl.
"A Psyker can only corrupt and destroy" he gently closed the book, "I like to keep evidence of the fact, a guiding light of truth should doubt ever creep into my mind"
He lifted the book from the table, turning its cover before holding it out to the girl.
"The youth you knew as Lucian, your friend, -" Vanella couldn't help but jolt at the familiar name, a face conjured in her mind before the Inquisitor swept it away, "-is a Psyker"
"He's alive?" she couldn't help but blurt out.
Rykehuss nodded, "he was taken off world by a, colleague, of mine before I arrived"
The Inquisitor before her hummed, the venom delivered across the word 'colleague' draining from his following statement.
"Lucian is dangerous. And thus he must be dealt with"
Before Vanella could abject, primarily in defense of her friend, Rykehuss continued to speak.
"The Great Enemy came to Helios, your world, for him, Vanella Castelius. He is the reason for all this needless death and destruction. It is his existence that has brought damnation to your home"
"Lucian wouldn't-"
"His crime does not fall upon his actions, but rather his nature, girl. Make no mistake, the boy may not have chosen to rain destruction upon Helios, he is merely guilty of his nature. His true nature"
Vanella didn't know what to say.
Rykehuss grimaced, "you cannot make sense of it. And I understand. There was even a time when even I could at least tolerate their cursed existence. But no longer"
He pressed the book forward toward her.
"This is my journal. It is a documentation of all my experiences and findings. You will return to me once you have read it"
"But why? What place do I play in this… this hunt? Why me?"
The Inquisitor's face relaxed, an honest expression coming across his face as his severe look dimmed somewhat.
"Because I need your help"
"Get his attention"
"For how long?"
"As long as you can"
A wraith of black smoke and vengeance exploded into existence.
Every Greenskin enveloped by it died to a hail of gunfire, the center of the sudden cloud slowly coalescing back into a singular form.
Mordo's sudden emergence into the observable world had accomplished two things.
Firstly it hid Vownus's blinking away into the surrounding Xenos, the Inquisitor quick to return to his circling observation
And secondly, it drew the eye of the madened berserker.
Pulling his sword up and out of the body of an Ork he had impaled, the body of Lucian turned to face the unknown Astartes. A terrifying smile splashed itself across its face as blood and gore rained from the heavens.
No words were exchanged between the two.
Mordo let his weapon of choice speak first.
Two archaic bolter pistols, the same he had used to dispatch the handful of Ork's he had emerged upon, were pointed and fired toward the youth in a heartbeat.
Lucian's body twisted unnaturally to avoid one round, the speed of which caused him to be a blur. The second shot ricocheted off the blade that had likewise twisted unnaturally in order to protect its user.
"Release him"
Lucian's only reply was a madened cackle, followed by his immediate charge toward the unknown Space Marine.
As the blade crashed down upon where he stood, black mist enveloped Mordo's figure and instantly obscured him from view.
The possessed Psyker's response was a madened yell, followed by two ineffective swipes against the mist. These strikes failed to find any meaningful purchase on the one that it was meant for, instead lashing into the constantly rushing waves of Orks.
Unconscious to the sudden slew of death, the mist wrapped itself around the boy, billowing out to form a dense cloud that shrouded a large swathe of land.
Within the mist, Lucian's body contorted and struck, constantly weaving around each and every bolter shot. If the boy was keener of mind or sight, he'd notice that each and every shot sought to maim, rather than kill.
But Lucian wasn't fully there anymore.
A howl of bloodsoaked rage filled the dancing youth, the sword twisting in his hand to slam down into the ground with a blood red charging of power.
The following strike shattered the earth, a rumbling shake that moved the very foundations of the hab-blocks themselves.
Hundreds of Ork's fell off their feet, with many more sailing away through the air after being repelled by the sudden explosion of pure force.
The mist as well, was thrust away, whispers of it returning to the armor it had seeped out from.
Mordo was revealed to the beast.
Lucian's body sprung at him, blade already high and above him in another downward strike.
Whatever entities jostling with the youth's mind for control certainly weren't expecting the whip crack and binding rope that lashed outward.
Nor were they expecting their offhand to be ensnared by said tool, the black material of the whip coiling around his arm with a brutal suddenness.
Mordo's figure heaved the weapon above and over himself, taking Lucian's body from the air and casting it back down.
The impact of which shook the earth once more.
"You will release him" was all Mordo said to the newly created hole and its psychotic occupant.
And all that he was given in return?
"SKULLS foR THE SKULL THRONE!"
Mordo uncoiled the whip and brought it back to himself only a second before the maddened youth attempted to sever it. Not a second later, Lucian was charging him once more.
A figure blinked into existence at that moment.
From behind Lucian, Vownus appeared with his psychic weapon at the ready.
Time slowed to a crawl.
Even as he appeared, the body of the boy was turning to face him, seemingly reacting to his presence with instantaneously murderous intent.
Even as his sword hand wished to swing out, the coiled whip of Mordo ensnared it, savagely tugging the youth backward.
And with himself completely exposed, Lucian's off hand attempted to defend itself by striking Vownus.
The blow landed, rattling the Inquisitor's skull with the force behind it. But the Witch Hunter's strike found purchase as well.
Kaede's Psychic blade passed cleanly through Lucian's wrist, the now severed limb and the sword it held clattering to the ground.
A snap of air expanded outward, the epicenter of which originating from the dropped blade.
Vownus instantly blinked away, his gaze keenly focused on Lucian's now teetering form.
Eyes blank and expression of madness nullified, Kaede looked right into the glossy expression of the suddenly still boy.
'Please' Kaede pleaded to himself.
Lucian's eyes connected with his.
For a heartbeat, the Inquisitor hoped that would be enough, that removing the weapon from Lucian's grip would sever the Daemonic connection.
The youth's words were weak and pathetic, all manner of danger and death having been eviscerated from his frayed voice.
"Blood for the-"
Vonwus blinked in front of him.
"Sorry Kiddo"
His next strike also landed true.
Blood exploded outward from Lucian's back as the Psychic blade passed right through his heart.
Even as Lucian's body went slack, Kaede was there to hold him, gently, almost reverently keeping him on his feet for as long as possible.
The forming tears in the warp immediately began to dissipate.
But Vownus couldn't focus on that right now.
His pupil was dying in his arms.
A sense of color returned to the boy's face.
His eyes, slowly filled with light and soul, eventually fixed themselves upon the Inquisitor that held him.
"...Vownus?"
And for the second time in his life, Lucian died.
The Tempest's Advance shuddered as the last Ork salvo detonated across its void shields. Even as the enemy vessel was in its death throes, it had been capable of sending an impressive number of munitions towards them.
Captain Olivina and the rest of the bridge crew were shaken from where they stood, taking only a few moments to recover.
The world returned to her focus as the calls from each of the bridge crew flooded the air.
"All staff report in, fires on decks 4, 12, 18-!"
"-direct, the Starboard shields are steady and holding!"
Looking at her first mate, the Captain quickly asked him "Hull breaches?"
Lodias shook his head, "none. However it appears the Axe of Russ has taken the brunt of the Ork's attention"
The Cadian captain grimaced.
Of course their Ork pursuers would target the Astartes vessel. As if an Ork could ever resist the temptation a larger target presented. Even as the Tempests Advance, the Axe of Russ and two Balorian cruisers had retreated to the far side of Balor's moon, the Greenskins had been on their heels.
The rapacious hounds had sunk their teeth into the last of Balor's navy only a few hours ago, and Olivina had sent off a quick prayer to the recently destroyed Cruisers. They had been lost with all hands, the Orks even strafing their remains with missile fire to reduce every remaining piece of the once proud vessels to slag.
And now they had come for them.
When the Naval battle had been lost the remaining forces had thought to regroup behind the moon, thus using the body of the planetoid as temporary cover. It had worked for some time, the Orks taking more focus on their landing operations rather than the remnants of the Orbital defenders.
But not every Greenskin vessel had gone to ground.
Some of the more astute captains among the Xenos had come to the conclusion that perhaps their enemy had not just run away.
A few ships had come to check what exactly was behind the dark side of Balor's moon.
They were met with Imperial fury.
But not before revealing the Imperial rallying point.
More and more Ork vessels sought them out, nipping at their heels without a sign of stopping. Eventually, if their continued existence continued to prevail against the Ork curiosity, a large enough force to finally stamp them out would be summoned/
That is to say, if they proved a good enough fight, the Orks would come.
War was their purpose.
Nothing else.
"Any word from Hive Primaris?"
Lodias shook his head again, his look no more grim than it was before, "nothing new Captain. But while the Vox has been reestablished… It is intermittent."
"Has Vownus made contact?"
Lodias face looked as if it was made from stone.
"The Inquisitor has not reported in for some time now"
"Fuck" the Captain growled, "what of Imperial command?"
"Their priority tasking has shifted to asset denial"
Olivina felt her heart sink.
The Governor expected to lose the war.
So she was doing the only thing she could to prevent the enemy from securing a complete victory. By destroying key locations and munitions, the Orks would not be able to rearm as effectively. Many within leading Imperial structures of command were aware of how the Greenskins were capable of processing the bare minimum of resources into armaments. This knowledge dictated protocol, the keen understanding that even if you didn't win, you could harm the victory of your enemy….
Andoa Paxat had her back to the wall with no way out, and she still intended to go down swinging.
It had all happened so fast.
Rhamine didn't know what to make of it.
The sight before him was an impossibility, something so ludicrously odd that he couldn't make sense of it.
The Ork that had gotten close, the disgustingly vile Xenos that dared to assault them, was dead. And Tiberec…
He had been struck, this was certain, since he was laying not even three feet from the reeling Astartes. Why did he not stand?
Yes, it was clear he was wounded, but why wasn't he getting up.
Rhamine and Tiberec had both been injured before.
Many times.
Under countless skies and long forgotten grounds, they had fought and bled for Dorn and the Emperor, as did any Astral Knight.
But they had always stood.
As their numbers had dwindled, Rhamine and Tiberec weathered it all.
Why wasn't he getting up.
It was a wound, not a-
"Tiberec!" Rhamine roared, stomping toward his Brother in order to get him back on his-
An icy blast of malicious energy washed them all, the source of which Rhamine could care less of, as he came to kneel by Tiberec's body.
He wasn't moving.
Tiberec was… drenched in blood, but he was fine, he was-
A powerful fist yanked him back, jarring his sight for a moment.
"Rhamine!
Raduriel stood above him, attention still focused toward the source of energies the Orks now charged toward, yet coaxing him to his feet.
"We are retreating! On your feet!"
Germael's orders hadn't reached his ears over their personal Vox, but Rhamine processed the command instantly.
"Help me with him, Brother Sergeant, Tiberec is-"
"Tiberec is dead, Rhamine"
His eyes remained on Raduriels form, before the weight of his mind forced his gaze down to Tiberec. Many words came to the forefront of his consciousness, many words that he wished he had shared with his Brother.
Words that he should have shared.
For his Brother was dear to him. A pillar of his existence that had been their since the start. Squadmates from the moment they had ascended to a fully fledged Astral Knight, Rhamine had stood loyally by Tiberec's side across hundreds of years.
Together they had stood back to back against the greatest of threats and foes the enemies of mankind could conjure.
He would have Tiberec know how honored his Brother was to fight alongside him.
But Tiberec would not hear these words, even if Rhamine could speak them into existence at this very moment..
He did not rise.
Tiberec did not sit up and find his feet with some joyful exclamation.
The blood that soaked both the earth and now Rhamine's hands, was his.
He wasn't getting up.
Because he was dead.
"Brothers. Aethod is with me. We are falling back to your position now. This distraction has brought us time"
Rhamine failed to speak. Raduriel's voice was the one that replied to Germael.
"Aye Chapter Master. Dominus will see to the Guardsmen. What of the others?"
"The Dark Angels are free to do as they please. The Inquisitor is no longer our concern"
"I see"
Rhamine had flicked open his end of the comm link before he could stop himself.
"Tiberec is dead, Chapter Master"
Germael didn't respond for a moment, likely coming to bear with the news himself.
"If you can carry the burden Brother, bring him with us. This war has already claimed one of our own, I shall not thoughtlessly allow another to be lost"
"I will, Chapter Master" Rhamine's eyes stayed fixed upon his Brother's corpse.
"Rhamine"
Germael's utterance of his name partially snapped the warrior from the narrow thoughts his mind failed to free itself from.
"Tiberec died honorably. In combat. With his weapon in hand and valor in his heart, know that he has done his duty. Let him rest"
Rhamine buried everything, his soul set alight with purpose and intent.
"I will, Brother"
Raduriel's grip changed into an open hand, a gesture put to him with an offer.
Rhamine took it, clasping arms with the Sergeant and finally putting some strength into his legs.
And he stood.
"Now what?" Mordo's modulated voice never adjusted in volume, but his temperament was certainly more ferocious than before.
Kaede stood above the body of his protegee.
He didn't have a lot of options.
And in the heat of battle he had to make a decision.
Vownus didn't regret killing Lucian.
It was a long shot, but at best Lucian would revive at a later time.
At worst… well a demonic invasion had been thwarted.
With Lucian dealt with, they needed to fall back to-
"WAAAAAAAGHHHH!"
It seems the Greenskins had finally recuperated. And they had also seemed to single out who their next target was to be.
Vownus bore Lucian's body aloft, the youths bleeding and dead body held in his arms as the Greenskins encircled them from all sides, their rampaging number slowly closing ground.
They were encircled and about to face the brunt of the tide.
"Mordo, we retreat to the Hives. Follow me as best as you can"
"What of Seraphis?"
Kaede's mind blanked for a moment.
The Orks drew closer still.
"What? Where is he?!"
"Some distance from here. He has been cut off from his flock. He will die if he is left here"
Vownus wanted to growl. Mordo wasn't telling him what to do. In fact the mysterious Astartes was giving him a choice.
In that moment the Inquisitor knew what kind of man he was, as his mind didn't even hesitate to stop his mouth from moving.
"Then by the Emperor we will get him out alive"
"So be it" Mordo solemnly replied, black smoke leaking from his body, "follow me"
And the shadows contorted.
Mordo's very form seemed to bulge as a pair of black appendages smokily rose into existence behind him. From these new limbs, a wave of sharply defined feathers coalesced.
Vownus' brain was firing off warning messages at a mile a minute, but he tempered this.
Mordo was an ally.
For now.
Even if he looked like a winged Daemon of night and shadow, a great big black Raven that-
The Inquisitor's mind short circuited.
"Inquisitor?"
Kaede shook himself mentally.
'Not the time. Not the time. Not the time.' he mentally cursed at himself.
But soon.
Soon he would demand to know everything that was going on and begin to try and make some sense of it all.
"Get me to Seraphis, and I'll get us all out of here safely"
Beneath the Western gate of Hive Primaris's central fortress, Kjarl Grimblood observed the state of his arriving brethren.
It was not a pretty picture.
The last of the forces committed to the outer Western Wall were finally trickling in. Many were wounded, but far more were missing.
'So many dead'
"Damn the Orks" Hammersbald rumbled from beside his Lord, hammer swinging idly between his hands. Kurgskald didn't say a thing, but the Grimblood could feel the piercing stare that surveyed them all.
Kjarl turned as a group approached the solemn trio.
"My Lord"
Ulvar was battered and bloodied. His weapons had seen significant use. With him stood Torrid, Eiran and Svessel.
"It is good to see you" Kjarl clasped with his Guard, "all of you. I heard the fighting turned vicious"
Torrid grunted, his low snort heard even over the cascade of marching Astartes "the Greenskins are as Tenacious as they are putrid"
"Smart fuckers" Ulvarr sneered.
A brief alarm bellowed out against the large chamber before a Vox casted voice boomed out from every wall.
"Closing the gate!"
The last of the Company was filtering in and the Gate's were being sealed. The western section of the outer city was now, officially, being left for the Orks to have.
A bitter reality that Kjarl despised, but one he had to accept.
They hadn't been able to hold the Outer Wall.
"Joran and Skorn should be here with this last lot" Ulvarr looked back over his shoulder, himself and the rest of the Wolf Guard now scanning the crowd for the two warriors in particular.
Instead they saw how the no longer marching Space Wolves began to part, each stepping aside as a figure walked up to them.
A body was held in the warrior's arms.
Skorn reached them in another few short steps, and the sight he beheld was unavoidably clear for the now silent Wolf Lord and his Guard.
"No" Hammersbald couldn't hold his silence as the corpse of Joran was lowered before them all.
Skorn stood up, his face a rictus of control and discipline. Only a few would be able to tell there were hairline cracks in his facade.
"NO!" Otalig Hammersbald roared now, his disbelief, denial and fury reaching a crescendo heard across the room.
"Hammersbald" Kjarl snapped, the bite in his tone merely there to remind his Guard to hold himself in control of his emotions and actions.
Skorn's gaze met his.
Kjarl did not wish to know, for to know it was to confront the horrible truth.
"How" he simply demanded.
"An Ork Psyker" Skorn tightly replied, "the Orks had set an ambush in the outer city. We, at the tail end of the retreat, were caught off guard"
"They let us pass" Ulvar was horrified, "just so they-"
"Ulvar" Kjarl quietly stifled the man's questions. The nature of the ambush wasn't important.
"The beast that killed Joran" Kurgskald growled, "does it still draw breath?"
Skorn's face seemed to twist.
"No"
The creature was dead. Good. Joran's death was not left unanswered. The Grimblood looked down at the charred corpse of his Brother.
He now feasted in the All-father's hall amongst the countless others that remained there.
"See to the defenses of this segment of the wall Brother's. This is where we shall hold the line"
Seraphis felt raw power course through him as the latent energies of the warp answered his call with burning enthusiasm.
Fire curled and boiled within the air, great gouts and tongues of flame wreaking havoc across the surroundings.
Every lick of flame that reached an Ork consumed the beasts in an inferno.
Charred corpses now plastered the ground around him.
Once the War Boss had attempted to retreat, Seraphis had been forced to defend himself from the suddenly fixated Orks.
And then his flames had grown in strength.
The Warp had exploded around him, a sudden nexus of power that flowed from another segment of the battlefield before curling its way through the Blood Raven.
And Seraphis felt powerful.
Even as raw exertion suffused his veins, muscles and brain, he continued to conduct this orchestra of fire with devastating effect.
He wouldn't let an Ork near him.
His conviction, and his pride, would not allow himself to fall for such insignificant gnats. Seraphis knew himself to be powerful Psyker, gifted with his connection to the Warp. He would not waste this gift.
So even as the Blood Raven's vision blurred, and his limbs began to shake, he still tugged the waves of the Warp in and throughout his body.
Maybe he'd-
"Seraphis!"
One of his recently exposed flanks was suddenly filled by a striking figure.
Seraphis recognised the voice, but not the form of the being that appeared before him.
"Mordo?" he gasped, the wall of flame that protected him from every other angle flickering with a dull weakness.
Seraphis was tired.
The waves of the Warp were calming.
Another figure flickered into existence beside the winged shadow.
"Blood Raven!"
The Inquisitor.
"Vownus, what-"
In a heartbeat the Witch Hunter was before him. Slung over his shoulder was the body of Lucia-
"This may feel odd" was all Kaede said before he reached out with his free hand to touch-
The world lurched.
Colors, shapes and sounds all shrieked past him, the madness of the world suddenly righting itself.
A cold shiver passed over Seraphis's form as reality condensed.
He was standing in a pathway lined by hab-blocks.
A sudden ethereal weight fell upon him, and the Librarian stumbled, nearly knocking over the heavily breathing Inquisitor by his side.
"Hard to do that-" Vownus grunted, eyes squeezed shut as he swayed on his feet, "-with a passenger"
Wearily making his way upright, Seraphis agreed with a grunt as he slowly came back to his senses. The Blood Raven was exhausted, the strain of his overuse of the Warp making itself uncomfortably present.
His eyes snapped to the figure Vownus had slung over his shoulder.
Keenly, he was able to discern that Lucian's arm was severed at its-
Vownus dropped the body unceremoniously before him.
Because, as Seraphis was able to discern, the youth's glossy eyed stare pointed to only one conclusion.
The Librarian still felt the need to share the observation aloud.
"He's dead"
"Not the first time" Vownus calmly bit back.
Seraphis's took a second to process the words. Kaede was being serious. He rounded on the Inquisitor.
"What?" he replied, astounded.
"He's come back to the land of the living once before" Vownus hummed, "but I can't say for certain if it's possible a second time"
"Immortality…" Seraphis slowly said, his gaze shifting back to Lucian.
"Maybe" Vownus calmly returned, "it's not exactly an ability I could test the kid for"
Seraphis peeled his gaze off the perhaps temporary corpse in favor of examining the space around them.
"Where are we?"
"Couldn't get us far" Kaede hummed, "but far enough from the Orks. We've got a straight shot at the wall"
Seraphis looked around.
"And where is Mordo?"
The Librarian clearly saw Vownus's expression change. Exhaustion was replied with a grim severity that looked so clearly out of place on the carefree Inquisitor's usual look.
"You are either blind, an imbecile or a traitor, Librarian, which is it?"
Seraphis was taken back by the venom in the words, but glared back at Vownus.
"What are you talking about?"
"An idiot, then" Kaede snapped, "unless you're lying to me, you mean to say you had no idea that Mordo was a damned Warp Entity!"
Seraphis felt his stomach drop out.
"Impossible!" he shouted, "he fell alongside his Chapter! He rose from disgrace to seek his redemption-"
"Justice, Seraphis. I seek Justice"
The booming monotone spewed from the corner of the nearest junction. Seraphis and Vownus both turned to it, weapons at the ready.
In the drooping sunlight, shadows danced and carved their way between the deep amber shafts of light. What little illumination existed mingled with desolate and definite darkness.
He emerged from this shadow.
One moment there had been the twisting night, the next, the gray and colorless armor slowly strode forth.
Mordo's slow approach was met with a tense silence. Kaede and Seraphis were both equally ready to spring forth at a moment's notice. But their hesitation was built on a similar understanding.
Mordo had conducted himself as an ally, regardless of its nature as a Warp entity. Thus, both held back from doing what may be necessary.
"Name yourself" Vownus ordered.
"This is not a simple thing"
"Because?" Seraphis's eyes narrowed, "you have deceived me, Mordo. Trust is something I have in short supply, and you have abused this"
"Nothing I have ever said to you is false"
"Then name yourself" Vownus calmly reiterated, rolling his shoulders with a weary acceptance of the situation.
If 'Mordo' was a Daemon, he was beholden to the same rules as the others.
They couldn't lie.
If they couldn't name themselves, which at the core of a Daemon's being was their true name, then they were attempting to lie or evade.
Vownus knew the power behind a Daemon's name.
Ahmazzi had taught him this.
The helmet turned to the Inquisitor, a moment of silence given before the resounding reply echoed out.
"You will not believe me"
"Try me," Kaede grunted.
And Mordo acquiesced.
"I am the Emperor's Justice."
The shadows clung to his form, the armor shifting as he grew in size. It's very features twisted and contorted as the entity's form twisted and grew.
"I am the Shadowed Lord"
Now feet taller than even the towering Seraphis, Kaede watched as wings sprouted forth once more. A great winged beast of shadow…
"Some knew me as the Liberator. But the title I held, given to me by my Father, was the Raven Lord"
It was clear to see a humanoid, but a larger figure than that of a Space Marine, had formed.
A pale white face disturbed by matted strands of dark hair emerged from the shadows.
The armor coalesced into a solid shape.
His eyes were pools of black, his gaze one of critical discontempt.
"Impossible" Seraphis gasped, his angered gaze giving way to shock.
"I cannot hold this form for long, but …" the face of 'Mordo' turned to gaze upon the slumped figure of Lucian, "for the sake of my Brother, I must convince you"
He looked to the Inquisitor and the Blood Raven.
"I am not Mordo."
Vownus Kaede couldn't fucking believe it.
But the Warp wasn't manifesting before them in the ways Kaede knew to be Chaos. This was something else entirely. And it likely was, because it was impossible to deny who this was.
'Mordo' though, was the one to say it aloud, the words of which managed to somewhat clear the air between the demigod and his lessers.
"My name is Corvus Corax, Primarch of the Raven Guard, Son of the Emperor… and I'm here to make sure you haven't killed my Brother, Inquisitor"
Suddenly the shadows contorted, and the visage of the Emperor's Justice coiled back upon itself.
With a sudden shrinkage, the form of Corvus Corax was reduced back to it's gray and muted counterpart both Seraphis and Vownus knew to be Mordo.
The Inquisitor's mind however, was on the Primarch's staunch words.
"About that"
At the Eastern Gate of the Central Fortress, the Wolves had returned. En mass with the Rune Priest Ivur at their helm, the large swathe of Space Marines were integrated into the defensive positions they were needed at.
Most found their way onto the walls themselves, Governor Paxat and Lord Grimblood believing that the larger concentration of armed combatants would be most effective against the large targets the Ork's usually presented.
As such, the first Ork's that began to test the outer defenses found themselves swiftly dealt with.
For now the defenders of Hive Primaris were able to hold back the tide.
Their effort however, was undermined by one small problem.
The Ork's had a plan.
Lucian opened his eyes to a river.
Water rushed loudly down the path it was given through the earth. Sharp rocks protruded from the hurtling blue liquid, froth forming as the cascading water trailed over the dangerous rapids.
Trees lined the banks, their wood a deep brown as their sharp green leaves swayed in the humid breeze.
The forest thicket wasn't dense, but dense enough that sight of what lay beyond the trees was eventually obscured.
Lucian was standing a foot from the tree line behind him, his bare feet resting atop scattered rocks of varying sizes and shapes.
He didn't get to inevitably call out his frustration to the sudden world he had been seemingly taken to. His surprise and annoyance would have been palpably expressed to the empty forest if not for the sound of steps upon the shifting stones.
Lucian spun to see a man walking towards him from up the river bank.
The youth couldn't tell how he had arrived here, but it was likely that this approaching man was the cause.
Rage and anger licked at his thoughts.
He had been fighting! He had been winning! He had been-
The image of Vownus shoving an invisible blade through his heart bloomed in his mind's eye.
He had been killed.
Again.
The figure of the man came to a stop before him.
"Hello"
Lucian only had to slightly incline his head to look up at the man.
And now it appeared as if he were to meet another stranger… just like when he had first encountered Magnus….
While the surrounding region certainly wasn't the golden fields of Helios, there was a serene veneer of peace that blanketed these foreign lands. Perhaps like before, he was being greeted by an ally?
His thoughts trailed away into unanswerable questions.
But all he knew now was that a being stood before him with a kindly greeting.
So Lucian got straight to the point.
"Who are you?"
The stranger had a light smile across his strong amber colored features, his dark hair held back in knot that allowed it to cascade past his shoulders.
He was dressed in the leathers of beasts, his clothing a far more primitive thing than Lucian had ever seen before.
But his voice was firm and direct.
"I am Neoth"
The man tilted his head sideways, his expression shifting to a fond humor.
"And who might you be?"
"This is Actual, Tunnel Security check in, over"
"KZZzZZZzzZTTT!"
"Tunnel Security! Check in, over!"
In the darkness of the Balorian tunnel junction, a loud voice growled out a response to the partially destroyed Vox receiver.
"We'z betta get a move on boyz! Da humiez are on to us!"
This force of the Imperial Tunnel Security, the entire team, was dead. Slain to the last, at the hands of the small group of Orks now present.
A small, but very effective group of Kommands, a force of which the Balorian soldiers were entirely unprepared for.
It had been a divisive and brutally quick fight.
Some of the Imperial's hadn't even managed to get off a shot.
"Saddle up boyz!" the lead Ork barked out, his cohort all preparing their various weapons and savage equipment,
"We's still gotta crumpin job to do!"
Lynwood found himself trapped between the familiar impossibility of a choice between his duty, and his heart.
He had to make a decision.
And both options were at war with one another.
Lynwood had seen Lucian's sudden…. Attack. From the vantage point himself and the rest of the rank and file Imperials were stationed at, he had seen very clearly what had happened.
And after Lucian had dashed off into the melee now erupting across the Commune's plaza, the spike of frigid Warp energy was unmistakable.
He knew who the sinister energy was emanating from.
Only one being to his recent experience was that powerful.
And the aura that he could feel… the energies of the Immaterium were slowly registering in Lynwoods mind. Since Vownus regularly dealt in problems related to the Warp in one way or another, Lynwood had dutifully begun instructing himself further on the subject.
With what little sense he possessed, he attempted to understand what he most certainly would never be able to fully grasp.
But in this current instance, he knew something was dreadfully wrong.
And at the center of it was Lucian and the Inquisitor.
Caius and the others were already preparing to fall back, the order having been relayed by the Astral Knight Dominius, but Lynwood…
Lynwood knew that his talents may be an unnecessary, if not useless, set of skills in whatever events were beginning to unfold… but he believed he could help.
Vownus and Lucian were in danger, and the ex-Arbite was prepared to assist in whatever way he could.
But Balor was under attack.
The city needed defenders.
Lynwood knew he was compelled to do his duty, to see to the Inquisitor's safety regardless of his meager presence….
But his heart went to the city and its people.
"Lynwood!"
The old man snapped out of his foggy thoughts, his eyes going to the concerned face of Caius.
It took only a moment for the younger man to read his expression, his own features relaxing into a veneer of abject worry.
"You want to stay"
"The Inquisitor is in peril"
"And? What are we supposed to do about it?!" Caius barked back, "this isn't a fight we're capable of helping in! Even Aethod is joining the retreat back to the Inner Fortress, what difference do you think we could make?"
Lynwood frowned.
"We?" he repeated Caius's words.
"Damn straight, 'we', old man!" Caius sternly admonished, coming a step closer to his friend, "if you think for a second I'd let you charge off without me, you're a senile fool"
The words were genuine. Delivered with the tongue and cheek admonishments that Caius knew got under Lynwood's normally calm, if not grouchy, exterior.
And the elder Arbite couldn't help but smile.
"You are a brave man, Caius"
Caius just grinned, "so we're staying?"
Lynwood nodded, "we are servants of the Inquisitor, Caius. And he has tasked us with our duty to not only him, but to young Lucian as well"
He racked his weapons, ready to march forth into whatever threat that dared to rear its filthy xenos head.
"We shall do our duty, Caius. Or we shall die trying"
So yeah! Chapter 26!
Little life update. I got a kitchen job at a fine dining place, and now I'm doing 11 hour shifts most of the week. On the few days I get off, I've been working on the story, but progress has been slow.
Here's my first attempt at writing a more... shall we say, condensed chapter. Rather than going off the rails all the damn time, I've decided to stick to the important shit for this one.
Because to be honest, now that I've written so much build up for all these different people and characters, I wanna play around with them, show off all the little moments, drama, action and suspesne that I feel has been earned.
If this wasn't good enough, please let me know with a review or dm me, I'll take any of the criticism you're willing to give me.
If you enjoyed, I'm so fucking glad. Cuz there's so much more to go. So many wars, bad ass posturing and some earned deaths and victories.
I'm happy so many of you have stuck along this far. But that's enough rambling for now.
I'll see ya next time.
The Emperor Protects,
Freedom.