Legends of the Smoke Jaguars

by Mattwho81

Born from shadow and blood the Smoke Jaguars stalk the dark places of the galaxy in their hunt for murderous traitors and those who prey on the weak and innocent. Torn between the twin calls of justice and vengeance that seethe in their blood these elusive warriors walk a path that could well lead to their damnation. These are the Legends of the Smoke Jaguars. Art by Judd Abinuman

39. Chapter 39

Legends of the Smoke Jaguars Chapter 39

The Strategium had never been so fraught with tension. In two groups stood the rival Space Marines, glaring at each other across the broad stage. Twenty-one Raven Guard, the Sergeants of the squads and scout-novices, sullen and resentful of this unexpected development. Across from them were twelve Night Lords, Claw-leaders rescued by Sedaxus and brought on board. They didn't want to be here, but were desperate enough to agree to talk. The lights were dimmed so the Nostramons could remove their helms, but their pale features betrayed no gratitude, only suspicion.

Engar was addressing the crowd, "So that's how it is. We're caught between the Orks and the Red Flayer. We think that combining our forces maybe the only way we can survive."

Gorth, a Raven Guard Sergeant with many scars, growled, "You cannot be serious. Damolos, you agree to this insanity?"

Damolos sniffed, "The facts are the facts, we're cut off and outnumbered. We need more Marines, there's no way around that."

A prim Raven Guard called Ibel sneered, "There is no way we'll stand shoulder to shoulder with Traitors."

Juru He Who Thunders barked back, "We aren't happy about it either. You think we like standing in the same room as you? We wouldn't be here if we had any other choice."

Herran the Beautiful Liar hissed, "Accursed crows, always looking down your noses at us. Acting like you're better than we are."

Gorth growled, "Test us and you'll find out just how much better we are."

Standing off to one side Sedaxus rolled his eyes at the barbed insults. He hadn't wanted to get involved in this argument, thinking that the Astartes would see sense, but it was clear to him that pride and honour would not be so easily overcome. There was too much bad blood between the opposing factions, too much ingrained hate and resentment. For years Loyalist and Traitor had seen their own cut down by the other, losing beloved Brothers in the fires of war. Neither side was willing to look past their petty hate, they were blind to the greater threat, unless Sedaxus intervened.

The Smoke Jaguar lifted his voice to explain, "The past is past, we have to look to the future. We're trapped in the eye of the storm with two hostile armies. If we are divided among ourselves, if we are weak, they'll roll over us without noticing."

"Work with Night Lords," Gorth sneered, "Nolaro would never have stood for it!"

"Nolaro's dead! He tried to hold to the old order of things, to fight as a Legion and look where that got him. The situation has changed, we must adapt or die."

Gorth snarled, "You want us to forget our dead, let the names of our Brother pass unavenged!"

"I want us to survive!" Sedaxus snapped.

Xavaar intervened, "Even combined, our forces number barely three hundred, set against millions of Orks and the power of Kharkul and his Mutilators. We are trapped inside the storm, there's no prospect of reinforcement from either of our Legions. The Squads represented in this room are all we've got, there's nobody else coming to help us. A dozen human colonies persist within the perimeter of the quiet zone, if we fail they will be wiped out." Sedaxus was surprised he spoke up after his grim revelation, but the mask of confidence was back in place and he appeared unbowed. The rest of the Night Lords didn't know his secret, to them he was as he had always been, a figure to respect, but unfortunately not blindly obey.

Herran scoffed, "Sounds like a Raven Guard problem to me, I don't care if mortals live or die."

Heads nodded in agreement but Arkqas retorted, "Are you always going to be Curze's creature?! Look at what he turned us into, look how low we sank. Once the Night Lords were more than murderers and thugs, we had nobility and honour, and so we can be again. This is our chance to be better than Night Haunter allowed us to be!"

The plea was impassioned but Juru laughed, "You jest, we were always monsters."

"Monsters yes but necessary monsters," Arkqas argued, "We had purpose and a mission. To walk into dark places and meet unspeakable horrors on their own ground. The Astartes once fought to hold back the evils of a hostile galaxy, no matter our heraldry or creed, all Space Marines shared this common purpose. We are monsters created to fight monsters, so others can stand in the light!"

That made the Night Lords fall quiet as pained looks stole over their faces. Sedaxus knew they were not noble beings, but they remembered when they had been, a tale passed down from the oldest of the Legion, from before the coming of Curze. Once the Night Lords had stood among the defenders of mankind and been counted among heroes. Those days were dead but Arkqas' words had made them believe for a second that such times could come again.

Unfortunately Ibel interjected, "If we combine our forces then someone will have to lead us. We will need a commander."

"What about Damolos?" said Engar quickly.

"What about Engar!" Damolos simultaneously exclaimed.

That set Night Lord faces in anger and Juru hissed, "There's no way we'll bow to a crow."

"Night Lords bow to none but our own!" Herran sneered.

"And we won't follow a Traitor," Gorth snarled.

Anger swept the gathering but Arkqas interjected, "What about Sedaxus?!"

"Him?!" Juru gasped.

"Me?" concurred Sedaxus with equal bewilderment.

Arkqas however pressed on, "He's our of blood, he walks in midnight-clad and released us from bondage. He's served with the XIXth for years, they know him, they trust him."

"Trust is a strong word," Gorth snorted.

Yet Xavaar pressed, "He's the only one both sides can tolerate, Sedaxus alone can command us."

"I can live with that," Damolos urged.

Yet Herran sneered, "No, not him. There's too much of the crows about him, he's been away from the VIIIth too long, he doesn't have what it takes to lead us."

Sedaxus was amazed at the turn the discussion had taken and broke in to protest, "Wait a minute! I'm a Mortiat, no leader of Marines. I've never even been a Sergeant. I wouldn't know where to start!"

"You brought us together," urged Damolos.

"I saw what needed to be done, that's all," Sedaxus rejoined.

Engar sighed loudly, "Then we're back to square one. If we can't agree to a leader, we won't agree to anything."

"Then give us a few gunships and we'll make our own way," Juru proposed, "We will disappear into the dark and wait for the storm to blow over."

"That's not going to work," Sedaxus groaned, "The warp storm could last months, years even."

"You didn't want to lead, so butt out," Herran snapped.

But Xavaar yelled, "We didn't come all this way to fall to infighting, there must be a way we can all work together!"

"If we could just put aside our feud…" Arkqas urged.

Juru however growled, "Forget it, you always dreamed of mad things but this is too far. Like it or not we are Curze's sons, we follow nobody who doesn't know the ways of Nostramo. Our blood must lead, or none."

"I won't serve a filthy Traitor," Gorth snarled.

"And I won't fight with smug crows!" Herran barked, "One more insult from you and I'll gut you right here!"

"Try me!" Gorth yelled.

Herran didn't answer in words, instead his hand flashed and came up with a bolt pistol, secreted somewhere on his person. Everybody tensed as the pistol came up, angling to shoot Gorth in the face but before Herran could pull the trigger a brilliant ball of plasma came out of nowhere and struck the weapon. Searing heat and light erupted and vaporised the gun, and also Herran's hand and arm, all the way up to the elbow. The Claw-leader gasped in pain and stumbled back, remaining hand pressed to the stump of his arm, which smoked where heat had cauterised the wound. Yet no one was looking at him, instead all eyes turned to Sedaxus who lifted his pistol vertically and declared, "The next person who defies me gets his head blown off!"

Arkqas glanced back at Herran who had doubled over his wound and gasped, "You… you shot him."

"Consider it a polite warning," Sedaxus growled, "Herran there wants to do things the Nostramean way, I can do that. You'll all fall in line and anyone who challenges me will suffer the consequences… or we can try the Raven Guard way and act like professional soldiers."

"So you changed your mind, you intend to take command?" Xavaar probed warily.

"I intend to live!" Sedaxus cried, "We are all teetering over the edge of extermination. Raven Guard, Night Lord, none of that matters anymore, all that matters is who will be alive at the end of this and who will be dead! Anyone who isn't actively helping us all survive is pushing us towards death. If anyone wants to die, speak up now and I'll make it quick."

Damolos spoke softly, "Does that make you Shade-Lord?"

Sedaxus snorted, "Call me what you want but it seems I'm the only one who can remember we are facing two armies. I said it once and I'll say it again and again, until it sinks into those thick skulls. Orks to the one side, the Red Flayer and his Mutilators on the other, they will grind us to pieces between them and spit out our bones. Then the Orks will rampage across the few surviving worlds in the eye of the storm, slaughtering all those innocents the Raven Guard are sworn to protect. Meanwhile Kharkul will ascend on the bones of the Night Lords, leaving you all in his dust. If we want to avoid that fate then we must work together, cooperate or die, those are the options."

The two groups looked at each other, then at their comrades. Nobody looked happy but nobody objected either. The Raven Guard gave subtle nods to signal their agreement while the Night Lords clamped their jaws begrudgingly as they accepted the proposal. Sedaxus hadn't wanted this but it seemed he was going to have to become the leader of this motley band, the voted Shade-Lord. He was keenly aware it was because he was the only one both sides could stomach, but there was no point bemoaning his lot. He was in command, he had best get on with it.

Sullen silence fell over the meeting but Engar spoke up, "If we are going to make a fight of it, how exactly do you want us to proceed? We don't know where Kharkul is, and the Orks are everywhere."

Xavaar mused, "We don't know where he is, but we know where he's going. He still intends to ascend and I told him he needs to sacrifice the Ork's leader. Wherever the warboss is, you'll find the Red Flayer somewhere nearby."

Damolos ventured, "So we have to sort through masses of Orks, looking for their leader. That could take months."

Sedaxus shook his head and said, "No, we need to set the tone of this battle. Draw the Orks en masse to where we want them to be, make them come to us and the Red Flayer will follow."

Everybody glanced at each other with trepidation and concern was writ large on every face but it was Engar who snorted, "At least it will be a battle for the ages."

Sedaxus corrected, "A chance at victory, our only chance. The Mutilators will reduce the Ork's numbers for us and if we can take out Kharkul and the warboss then their armies will fall apart."

Damolos objected, "Not wanting to get shot, but I'll just point out the last time we went up against Mutilators it didn't go so well. We were barely a match for them, and I suspect it didn't go so well for your lot either. We charge in heedlessly we'll be walking into a meatgrinder."

Xavaar mused, "They do have a critical flaw, their lives are limited. A few hours of combat and they implode."

"So we engage and just wait for them to die on their own," Engar snorted, "That sounds a good way to get killed."

Arkqas agreed, "He's right, we need something to tip the scales, a way to overcome them swiftly. An edge of our own…"

Sedaxus grinned as he said, "An edge you say, I might have something like that."

"You what?" Damolos said in confusion, "How?"

But Sedaxus replied, "I don't want to spoil the surprise but trust me, I have just the thing. Set course for Copan XII, there are some secrets in this system even Kharkul doesn't know about."