Anon's wargear:
Light carapace armor capable of stopping lasfire and small arms, and light enough not to hinder Anon's capability in CQC.
A low-quality force saber, increases the user's psychic power control and allows them to wield a greater amount of force with less danger. Once powered with psychic powers, it can cut through ceramite like a power sword, however, if psychic powers are disabled, it will turn into a normal sword, very good against armor(If powered). This blade is low quality and forged by an unknown artisan.
Plasma pistol, the same pistol he found on crashed Inquisitorial vessel on Thule many years ago, good against armor, high chance of explosion when overheated. This weapon, although old, is expertly maintained, it was repaired recently by tech adept Malina.
-Planet: Sythia -Year: 915.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Athena Sector -POV: Anon
The air was filled with smoke, the wind was carrying snow. The Silver wearing Witch closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the constant sound of artillery was almost deafening to his ears, thousands upon thousands of shells struck the hive city's outer layer but even they did next to nothing to the giant city. All around him, soldiers rushed to their positions as their sergeants yelled, but that was not what Anon was looking for. The Inquisitorial Acolyte focused his mind, he could already feel their target all the way from here, the bastard who has caused all of this.
The hive city was gigantic, so high and proud it stood that it almost pierced the lower atmosphere. The city was grotesque, ugly yet strong, like its inhabitants. Anon took a better look at the city, making sure he carved the image into his memory, it was a morbidly beautiful image, it remind Anon of the post-apocalyptic novels he used to read in his old life, the toxic snow in the background only worked to enhance that image.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" a voice asks, gathering Anon's attention. The Psyker turns his head to face the source of the question, it was a Stormtrooper, the same one he saw at the briefing before they made planetfall. The man standing before him was Isaac, a soldier working under Ishmael, he had short blond hair and a well-built body in the full void capable carapace, he was looking at the hive city as he asked the question.
"It is" the Psyker nodded "As strong as its people and beautiful, in more ways than what meets the eye"
The StormTrooper nodded, crossing his arms while enjoying the view, he frowned as he saw a giant explosion erupt in the outer layers of the city, caused by an artillery shell "You know" he started "Most people don't appreciate how beautiful a hive is, yeah it is ugly and dirty but it's strong, like every man in Imperium should be" Isaac explained, he then gave a quick look at the Witch beside him, noticing his mask and making speculations on his own about how Anon looked beneath the silver "Not... Not that I'm saying yer ugly, just... you know" he stumbled in his wording.
"I am not offended, Trooper" the Psyker brushed off Isaac's concern "But I do believe in what you said, though I don't think being unattractive is a desirable trait, not even for an old man like me" Anon chuckled. Anon didn't lie, he agreed with the Trooper's opinion, the hive city was indeed beautiful but only to some extent. You may observe a hive city from the outside, and see a proud tower standing in defiance of nature, piercing the sky, but that was only from the outside. A hive city is like a shade of old earth, from the outside it is a healthy human, beautiful even, but inside is nothing more than a dead man, rotten to the core.
"Older? yer don't look that old. I mean yer walking just fine" Isaac inspected the Psyker with curious eyes, Anon didn't like it, he had spent most of his life avoiding attention, and seeing someone look at him so intently was an uncomfortable sensation "Don't tell me yer got one of them fancy rejuvenation treatments" the Trooper gave a sarcastic smile, not liking the subject of the conversation, the Witch began to walk away without giving the Trooper an answer "Wha? yer not liking the conversation or something? from a refined gentleman such as myself" Anon laughed at that, had the Trooper's accent wasn't that of an underhive hooligan, it would've made it a lot more convincing.
"Oh, I do enjoy some solitary time but that doesn't imply that I hate a decent conversation" the Witch replied, the Trooper began to follow closely behind him.
"Well, Mr. high and mighty, yer ain't showing it" Isaac argued, his eyes shifted towards passing the female guardsmen every now and then "Just tell me yer don't like to talk, I understand, not anyone can be as sociable as I am" the Trooper puffed his chest.
"The key word is 'Decent' dear Trooper" Anon replied, causing Isaac to stop and think.
"OI! yer just said I'm a bad talker? if so look at yerself first, I bet yer don't knew ma name either" Isaac said "I'm Isaac, the one from the briefing" the duo stepped aside from the road as a chimera passed by, carrying ammunition and troops for the front line.
"I do remember your name, Trooper Isaac. Your identity is known to me"
"Damn man, yer always talk like that? no wonder people don't talk to you. If yer don't stop acting like an Eld..." before he could finish his sentence, the Psyker's voice interrupted him.
"I. AM. NOT. AN. ELDAR!" Anon growled, his voice emanating anger and frustration, he was tired of being called an Eldar. In his time working under the Imperium's banner, he has been called all manner of names, mutant, witch, subhuman, filth and so much more, none of it mattered, he was willing to accept whatever insults people threw at him. What he couldn't accept, however, was people calling him Eldar, Alien, or a worst, a damnable hybrid. The only thing in life that him the strength to move forward was his identity as a human, if people are to take that away too then what will remain of him?
"Well, yer acting like one, all cryptic and stuff" the Trooper shrugged "That's why people don't talk with ya" Isaac revealed the thing Anon already knew.
"And may I ask why you do so?" the Witch stopped and looked back as he asked the question, his gaze causing the Trooper to slightly flinch "I have taken sanctuary within the ship for more than a year now, in that time, you didn't approach me. Why now of all time? why bother an old man in his hour of solitude?" Anon asked a question he already knew the answer for, he just wanted to hear him say it.
"Just wanna know who will be watching ma back" Isaac shrugged, all around him the ground shook under the pressure from the artillery fire "Even if yer are a Witch, I consider yer a comrade. So long as ye don't turn into a portal or explode" Isaac gave a dry laugh, the Witch didn't give him a response "Yer ain't gonna explode on me are ya?" he asked nervously.
Anon smiled, the Trooper's reaction was entertaining, maybe he could tolerate this man's behavior for a while "Perhaps" he said in an uncertain tone. Isaac took a careful step back but quickly began to follow him again as the Witch continued on his way "I haven't exploded and I intend to keep it that way" Anon heard him take a breath of relief "We should make our to the Inquisitor then, Isaac, our duty awaits"
"Do ye think we'll make it out alive?" the Trooper asked nervously, making Anon question whether he is truly a Stormtrooper or not. The tempestus scions are elite of normal humans, trained from birth and equipt with the best, for them to feel fear was unacceptable. Anon looked back at the Trooper, his judging gaze resting on him, he didn't know for certain but he couldn't feel fear in him, at least not the normal kind "What are ye looking at?"
"Are you afraid, Trooper Isaac?" Anon questioned in a judging tone, he won't be of use if he was afraid, what use did a fearful soldier have to the Inquisition?
"No" he answered without hesitation "Death ain't something to be afraid of" Anon could feel his confidence, as he said, he wasn't afraid of death, death was a simple thing, what he feared was something else, something more complex. The source of his fear was most likely personal, whatever it may be, it didn't concern him.
"Then so long as our plan stays in motion, we will survive to see another day" Anon answered.
"What, did you just see the future or something? if you can do that, can you tell me will..." Isaac was excited but he was interrupted by Anon's hand indicating him to stop talking.
"No, I cannot see through the threads of time, the art of divination is beyond me" Anon answered his question before he could even ask it. Anon was good at a few psychic disciplines, he was unparalleled in Telepathy, excellent in Telekinesis and Biomancy but terrible at Pyromancy and Divination. Such was his lack of talent in Pyromancy that just using it caused danger. His skill in Divination was somehow even worse, not only he couldn't see the future clearly, every time he used it, it caused a terrible headache, enough to make his eyes bleed. There was no reason for him to use it either, unlike the Seers of the Eldar or Doom Scyers of the Imperium, his ability only allowed him to see a few seconds into the future, regardless of how much he trained.
Isaac wanted to say something but was quickly hushed by Anon, who gestured towards the Inquisitor and his guard, it was time to set their mission in action. Without uttering a word, the duo followed the Inquisitor, they already knew the plan, there was no need for instructions. The group was to commandeer several Imperial guard valkyries and infiltrate the enemy hive and rescue Inquisitor Helen Smaug and her retinue, her retinue members are considered expendable. Their next objective, or rather Anon's objective was to assassinate the cult leader of the planet who resides in the hive, with apparently only Isaac as his assistant. Isaac will most likely be a hindrance, but unfortunately, the mission required the presence of a tech expert, hence Isaac was called.
After making their way into their transport, the Inquisitorial troop went through rituals of checking and rechecking their equipment, since there was no option of resupplying inside the enemy territory, the proper working of their equipment was vital to the mission's success.
Despite the number of valkyries formations acting as a distraction and Anon's ability to hide them from sight, 'the getting into the hive' part of the mission will be dangerous. Unlike their last mission where Anon faced the Fallen space marine sorcerer, this cult had trained soldiers under their command, without them distracted on the walls, the chance of them being uncovered was extremely high, hence the reason for the Imperial guard assault to distract as many enemy soldiers as possible.
The Imperial Guard forces sieging the city were already in full haste to prepare for the upcoming invasio... libration! once they are ready, the Inquisitorial group can begin their mission.
"Inquisitor" an old voice called out for William. William who was reading the map of the hive's layout from his wrist-mounted data pad turned his head towards the voice, his power armor hissed as he did so. The man in question was General Rudersdorf Casevir, the overall commander of the loyalist forces on the continent Artesia. The General was an old man with no signs of rejuvenational treatment on his skin, making Anon certain that he was in his late 70s. Despite his age, the man was blessed with the body of an athlete, bulky and strong and not yet prepared to yield to old age. This man something else, he isn't your average guardsman.
"General" William nodded, his eyes carefully observing the old man, expecting an answer for the interruption.
Rudersdorf scratched his grey hair, even a man as experienced and old as he seem to be afraid of the Inquisitor, it was expected. For many within the Imperium, the Inquisitors were spoken in tales of nightmare, they were dubious eyes that watched your every move, judging since from virtue, to put it simply, they were god's executioners "Our forces will suffer a great deal against the traitors in the upcoming raid" he said, carefully choosing every word "I return, I wish to ask for a boon"
William frowned, all of his retinue members, except for Anon grimaced, looking at the General as if he had a death wish, Anon, on the other hand, was too focused on his meditation to care "A boon?" he asked, causing the guardsmen behind the General to flinch.
"The eastern gate, it is the closest gate to Eria's Steel Work Guild, the manufactorums used for munition production, we made many efforts to capture but it is reinforced" the General explained.
"And you want me to open it from within" William deduced the rest of Rudersdorf's request.
The General nodded "Crippiling their production facilities could win the war in Artesia for good" Rudersdorf explained, his next words were spoken in a much lower tone "The other continents are a different story" he mumbled as he looked down to the ground.
William looked between the faces of his underlings, trying to see which one of them can accept another task along their main objective. His eyes shifted from one nervous agent to another until his eyes rested on Isaac, Avina, and Anon all of whom did not react "Jermai will take care of it" he casually ordered.
Anon whose mind was in deep meditation suddenly returned as he heard his name, sighing after hearing about his other assignment "Of course I have to do it" he complained in a low volume, earning him a glare from the Inquisitor "The cult leader is a very powerful Psyker, my lord, if we open the gate without killing him, we risk high losses to the Guard" the Witch paused, waiting for William's gesture to allow him to continue, he spoke when he did "It means the gates have to wait until the Cult master is dead, my lord"
"As you can see, General Rudersdorf" William gestured towards the Witch.
"I understand, Inquisitor" he sighed, he didn't have a choice but to accept. He couldn't do anything to an Inquisitor and by the looks of it, he was only promoted to his rank out of necessity rather than skill and bravery, this was just an old man from the Imperial guard "Sir Jermai?" Rudersdorf's voice snapped the Witch out of his thoughts, he slowly turned towards the General who was addressing him "The lives of my man are at your hand, please hasten" he slightly bowed.
Anon raised an eyebrow at the sudden gesture of respect, not that it was inappropriate, but because it was for the first time in centuries someone talked to him so... respectfully.
"I will see what I can do" Anon nodded, when he left, his mind returned to a more trance-like state, half of his mind in the materium and the other half in the imaterium. What confused him however was how William was staring daggers in Rudersdorf's back, did the General offend him in some way?
"I guess we'll have them gates too, partner" Isaac chuckled, softly nudging the Witch with his elbow "What?" he asked when he saw both William and Anon staring at him. Anon stared at him to decipher the meaning behind the gesture, and William, well William was a mystery, Anon didn't know why he was glaring at people today, nor did he care enough to plug it from his mind, he was too busy trying to remember what softly hitting someone with elbow meant, he had been alone for soo many years that human gesture became alien to him, he had a hard time understanding what they meant.
(-one hour later-)
Anon watched from the skies above as the Imperial guard approached the hive, the armored formation offering some level of protection for the infantry against small arms fire. The loyalist forces opened fire, thousands of artillery firing at once, darkening the sky, the traitor forces returned the favor in kind, causing thousands to die before the battle was even joint, more will die soon. The Witch shifted his eyes toward three groups of valkyries, attracting enemy AA fire to give them a higher chance of surviving the infiltration
The valkyrie the Infiltration team was on, opened fire on the enemy defense, killing tens of forces and destroying a few heavy weapon emplacements on the platform before landing on the same platform. This was bad, the cultists already knew their location.
William jumped out of the transport and the others followed in his steps, quickly securing the area, the entire infiltration team consisted of five people, the amount William deemed the most stealth capable, these were, Anon, Isaac, Avina, Mylin, and William himself, the others were left behind on the ship when their skills were found wanting.
"They know we have landed, we must convince them otherwise" William informed, he was inspecting the area around "Take a few of the intact corpses and bring them here, I have a plan" the Inquisitor ordered.
The group obeyed, once the corpses were brought to him, William walked up to Isaac "What bos-" his words were cut short as the Inquisitor took a grenade that was attached to his hip, pulled the pin, and threw it into the valkyrie before it could take off as planned, the friendly pilot was still inside. Anon was completely taken off guard by his action but decided to not say anything until the threat of detection was gone.
The transport exploded, sending a wave of flames toward the group, William was unharmed thanks to his power armor, the others were saved thanks to Anon's psychic shield "Threw the corpses into the fire, it should be enough to convince them" William said as he threw a corpse into the fire, the other did the same.
A hissing sound came from behind, and everyone in the group rushed into the closest cover they could find. Avina and Anon jumped up to a large pump ten meters above the platform where the cultists won't see them. Isaac, being the Necromundan he is, jumped into a small ventilation system, William, on the other hand, grabbed Mylin and used a device to cloak themselves, turning invisible to the naked eye. Anon heard Avina growl as William pulled the Cadian woman close.
"The bird is down Arch!" shouted one of the cultists as tens of his comrades flooded into the crash sight, a ragtag troop of soldiers, some in military tunic and some civilian, most carried autoguns while some used melee weapons. From what Anon could gather from their minds, they were part of a more zealous militia group.
"Search around for survivors, if those corps worshippers are alive, bring them to me" the woman in front ordered, she seems to be their leader, considering how her equipment was better than everyone else. The cultists began to look around, almost bumping into William and Mylin on several occasions, they were redirected thanks to Anon's illusions, just a simple trick of making them think they already searched that area.
"No one is here Arch, the fire has taken them all" one of the cultists said.
"Loyalist dogs burning, that's what I'm talking about HA!"
"ARGH! shut it, both of you!" their leader silenced the Troop, she then gestured towards two of her underlings "You two, stay here, see what equipment you can find, the other will follow me to the habitation district, were going to hunt down that Inquisitor bitch" she ordered and soon, the enemy flooded to another gate.
'So the Inquisitor is still alive, a good news indeed' Anon thought, them reinforcing the traitor forces will only make it harder for William and his team.
Arch wanted to leave with her men but stopped, he grabbed the collar of one of the zealots and pulled it toward herself "I swear on the lord of change, if you hide anything you find from me, I'll feed you to the crows. Do you understand?" she threatened, like most rebel forces, they seem to be under equipt.
Imperium in M34 had no such issues, in the current Era the number of warp storms was low, and the Imperial infrastructure wasn't damaged by constant war, the Imperial Guard and Adeptus Astartes were constantly supplied and well maintained, but that won't be the case forever. One day, Imperium too will suffer from supply issues but not now, not for another few thousand years.
"Yes, Arch" the traitor answered" they were left alone by their leader and their group, once they were completely alone, Anon and Avina made their move.
The two left behind continued their search while above them, another pair was making their fates. Anon gestured towards the soldier in the grey tunic, marking him as his prey, after receiving a nod from the Assassin, they made their move.
In a graceful motion, the two jumped down from ten meters (32ft) height and onto the traitors below, the augmented flesh of Avina allowed her body to withstand the landing while Anon had to use Telekanisis to slow down his descent. In a blur of motion, the traitor fell to the ground as Anon cut him in half, the man couldn't even think of what was happening. Though Anon's methods were purposed in a way to be as efficient as possible, Avina's methods were designed to be cruel. She cut the traitor's throat to prevent him from screaming, she then swung her blade a hundred times in a blink of an eye, cutting parts of her body that caused the most pain.
A few seconds later William deactivated his device, making him and Mylin visible again. Isaac simply came out from a dirty-looking hole in the walls, claiming it to be an old ventilation system, as if finding these holes were common knowledge.
"Mylin, throw the bodies into the fire" William ordered as he grabbed one of the bodies and throw it into the fire of valkyrie, the same valkyrie William destroyed. Mylin took the other one and throw it as well, the smell of burning flesh did nothing to reduce the stench of the hive "Now we move, Avina scout ahead we will follow after you" William ordered "But before that lets deal with that ga-"
"Inquisitor" Anon interrupted him, and suddenly all eyes locked on him. William turned to face the Witch who was slowly walking toward him.
"What is it, Jermai?" he asked as if he forgot what he had done a few minutes ago.
"The pilot, he did nothing wrong" Anon said, he couldn't see William's face under the helmet but he can feel him. William felt disappointed, in his mind, he knew Jermai as a person of cold calculation and a man capable of making sacrifices, and he was right. Anon is willing to sacrifice even his life to achieve his goal, his goal was far greater than he'll ever be so it was a logical thing to do. He always admired people who are willing to let go of everything they held dear to do what must be done, in his mind these men and women were the true saviors, William was not such a man.
"You had seen me let go of so many others, what difference a lowly pilot has?" William questioned, he felt a bit furious for someone challenging his authority.
Anon stopped right in front of the Inquisitor, his eyes locked on William's "Sacrifices must be made, I have no doubt, but this" he gestured towards the wreckage of the valkyrie "Was unnecessary sacrifice, a waste of resources, manpower, and most importantly, Trust" William glanced towards the burning wreck.
In the background, Avina's hand tightened around the handle of her blade while the other the Cadian woman pointed her gun towards the Witch, ready to shoot him in the slightest hint of killer intent.
"You could've asked me to cast an illusion, to make them think we were dead, but you did not" Anon frowned "Instead, you betrayed the trust of a loyal subject"
Suddenly, Anon felt the tip of a blade at the back of his neck, where the armor did not cover, he recognized the feeling of that blade anywhere, he had been damaged by it so many times during his training, that it became easily recognizable "I had enough of your filth, Jermai" Avina growled "You will get away from the Inquisitor" she threatened.
"ENOUGH! both of you"
"I had enough of this mutant"
"I will not repeat, STAND BACK!" William ordered, knowing full well that the Assassin couldn't do anything to harm the Witch, Anon could kill everyone here without a hitch, had it indeed what he wanted "Isaac" he called out the tech expert "Open that gate"
"Aye aye bos... I mean, my lord!" the Trooper quickly corrected himself before rushing toward the door, he had to hack the servitor if he wished to open it.
William turned back toward the Witch, who was staring patiently at him "This is what it means to be an Inquisitor, Acolyte. I accepted you as my successor, and I believe you'll be a more skilled Inquisitor than I'll ever be" William admitted "But if you lose your sight in sympathy, you'll only prove to disappoint your goal"
"I have never lost sight of my goals, Inquisitor, but you" Anon paused "You have lost sight of your duty, that mask of cruelty is blinding you to your sworn duty" the Witch walked past William but not before making another remark "It is the responsibility of the Inquisition to protect the most amount of Imperial citizens from the evils of this galaxy, a fact most of you have forgotten"
Tired of the stupidity and total disregard for human life the Inquisitor has shown, Anon walked toward his mission partner. Isaac, who has been working on the gate, gave a quick glance towards the Witch before quickly returning to his task.
"Ye got some ball, ye know?" he chuckled as he played with a DataPad in his hand. Isaac tried to put down the Datapad and work on the wiring system of the gate, but Anon stopped him.
"Focus on hacking, leave this to me" the Witch knelt down, it was time to test the knowledge he had gained from the mechanicus. Isaac gave a nod before starting to direct Anon's efforts, telling him what he needed to do, together the process was hastened greatly.
While working on opening the gate, Anon thought of what he had done, perhaps this time he went far by insulting William's authority in front of his subordinates. The person who spoke out against the Inquisitor's crimes wasn't him, Anon was supposed to be calm, uncaring of the process so long as it produces results yet here he was, getting mad from the murder of a lowly guard pilot. Anon shook his head to clear his thoughts, perhaps he was still the weak-minded fool he once was when he first descended into this galaxy. Perhaps he was never strong to begin with, and only pretended to be one, after all, what was his life but an act to put a veil in front of the truth, to preserve a lie a millennium in the making.
And now, his actions will be rewarded by further seclusion from others. Perhaps Isaac too felt nothing but hatred for a Witch like him, what he has done against his liege insured that.
"Thank ye, Jermai" Anon stopped momentarily but continued to work on the gate "Not many many willing to stand up for grunts like me, especially against an Inquisitor" Isaac said, his voice turning into a whisper at the end of it.
"A childish tantrum, that's what it was. A mistake" the Witch argued "What I did was wrong, hypocritical even" he spat out the last two words with venom, he had spoken to William as if he wouldn't have sacrificed others for the greater good.
"Hypo what now? that's a big word, too big for me" Isaac let out a dry laugh.
The gate hissed, its joints began to move but it wasn't quite right, it'll need several more adjustments to work.
"So what if it was hypocritical? what is life with a few lies here and there, ey?" Isaac questioned. Before Anon could argue, he spoke again "I haven't seen ye do so, Jermai. For me, ya have said the truth" the Trooper's hand continued to work with renewed vigor. Somehow, Anon could only feel genuine truth when Isaac spoke out, what he said was the truth, what he thought to be the truth.
"It matters not how you perceive the events, in the end, the truth will remain unchanged" the Witch scoffed.
Isaac put the Datapad into his metal backpack that contained expansive equipment, it was made to be durable and lightweight. The gate hissed again as it began to open, revealing an empty hall with rail tracks in the middle.
The Inquisitor and his team rushed in, careful not to make any sound, Anon and Isaac stared as they delved further into the hive "Ya know, during ma years as the bodyguard in Syrin, ma lord told me something. I ain't a philosopher and don't like em fancy words, but this, this stuck with me for some reason" Isaac said as he turned to face the Witch "Lies for empires are like spice for food, season it a bit and ya make it rich, pour too much and ye burn ya tongue. For me, Jermai, I think ya lied just enough to make it flavorful" Isaac gently patted the Witch's shoulder, it was a bit awkward since he was a head taller than the Trooper.
Anon looked dumbfounded at the Trooper, mostly due to not expecting such a heavy subject from someone like him, which lord was even stupid enough to suggest imperium had lied? Perhaps he was too quick to judge the poor hiver.
"That was unexpected" the Witch said, he began making his way inside the hive.
"Have ma moments" Isaac grinned, this made Anon smile.
William listened with intense curiosity as Isaac and Jermai talked, the listening device on Isaac's uniform was connected directly to his helmet, making other vox units unable to detect. The Inquisitor grinned, his plan was coming to fruition, the two will soon form a bond, allowing him to proceed to the next phase of his plan.
Although William wouldn't let anyone question his authority, he had made an exception in Jermai's case. Not only that but he also hoped it would happen, otherwise as the Psyker has said, would he kill a pilot without reason? the answer was simple, to get a reaction from him, to force him to outburst his objections. And it had worked! with this, he managed to gain Isaac's respect, allowing them to grow closer.
'For me, Jermai, I think ya lied just enough to make it flavorful' William heard Isaac's voice through the vox, looks like they already have forged a bond, good. A day will come when Jermai will become an Inquisitor, a day will come when he will see the galaxy in his way. That is why he made this plan, that is why he planted this device in his brain so the Psyker wouldn't be able to read his inner thoughts.
'One day William, one day he'll see the truth' the Inquisitor thought.
The Infiltration team stopped in their tracks after a few hours of careful navigation while avoiding the enemy as much as possible, the reason for their stop was a fortified location. According to the maps William brought during the briefing, this was the access point to the lower levels where Inquisitor Helen and her team were trapped, it was also one of the only ways to reach the cult leader. The fortified enemy position looked more like a subway than a hive.
Anon carefully surveyed the two corridors that connected at the end to the elevator, forming a 'U' shape. The small fortifications had a sizeable force, two guards at the start of each corridor, manning a heavy stubber each. Behind them were also another 14 cultists that were out of vision, but Anon could sense them. They will quickly reinforce the four if they were attacked, though that wasn't as troubling as their leader, their leader seems to have a vox unit, he will call reinforcements if he detects their approach.
"There are sixteen of them" Anon informed, though he felt something change "Fourteen" he corrected himself as he sense Avina, she had taken care of the two cultists manning the other stubber.
"They don't seem well-fortified" William observed "They most likely have a vox unit and are ready to call for reinforcements" William deduced as he thought for a plan, before he could come up with something, he felt a rush of air next to him as the temperature dropped around them. William blinked as he saw the cultists fall to the ground as their necks twisted.
Isaac looked at the corpses, then towards William "Well that did the trick" said the stormtrooper waiting for his orders.
William gave Anon a glare before sighing "Proceed" he ordered and the ground followed.
The group moved past the sandbags, Isaac made sure to break the trigger of the stubber before he continued. As they approached the elevator they saw two corpses laying on the ground, drenched in blood. Behind the lifeless bodies, within the shadows where little light reached, stood a black figure, she was Avina. How they found Avina was disturbing for all but William himself, who already knew about her nature, the nature of her death cult culture.
Upon seeing the four Avina licked her blood-wet lips, the heart of one of the cultists was missing, it was torn out of its place. With a quick movement of her hands, Avina flick off the blood from her blades and walked closer to the group.
After quickly recovering from the shock of this sight Anon looked for the psychic signature of the other cultists, he quickly found them to be behind a door that lead to a small barracks.
The Witch gestured towards the door, drawing William's attention to where the rest of the soldiers reside "It appears, the others are residing within the barracks, Inquisitor. They are not aware of us" Anon informed "I can disintegrate the bodies but there is a small chance our target spot us. Warp fire is easily detectable" Anon added.
"Isaac, Mylin stand behind me and Jermai, we will draw their fire, you two will come in support" the two nodded as he ordered, William then turned towards the Assassin "Avina, go down the elevator and secure the permitter before we arrive. We mustn't give them a chance to strike us from the rear while we deal with them" William ordered.
As the orders were given, Avina leaped into a corner and disappeared into the shadows, while Isaac and Mylin moved towards the door and surrounded it from both sides. William stood to the front and activated his power sword, his armor would be impenetrable by small arm's fire so naturally, Anon stood behind him, using his liege as a shield.
The door shattered under the pressure of William's kick, drawing the attention of all the cultists within the room. Two were playing a board game, five were eating at the table, and the others were just wakened up by the sound of the door being shattered. William quickly moved forward as Anon cast an illusion to stun them in place, the psyker then proceeded to crush the sleeping cultists by bringing down the double beds on their heads with great force, four of the cultists immediately turned into bloody jelly before they could draw their weapons, their only fault was to sleep on the lower bed.
As the cultists under the effect of illusion, were asking why their superiors had barged into the room like this, William cut down three of them with a single strike of his power weapon. The power sword, enhanced by the strength of the power armor, cut through flesh and bone like a scythe through wheat. The blood of their comrades spilled onto their faces as the other two watched in shock. The other two cultists quickly throw the table they were playing on towards Anon, the Witch ducked under the object and dodged it without effort. Anon sent a shockwave across the room, throwing their weapons out of their reach. The traitor looked in horror as the Psyker cut his friend in half, he would've screamed but instead, blood began to pour out of his mouth and eyes as his skull was crushed under the force of Aon's gaze.
The remaining cultists, who had just awakened to the sound of the fight were shot by a wave of laser fire from the troopers, soon the room fell silent as the last o the traitors fell. William searched for the vox unit of the cultists as he ordered Anon and Isaac to bring the dead bodies outside of the room inside, so long as they were not in plain view it didn't matter if they weren't hidden.
The duo moved with all due haste, the less the corpses were in the open, the less likely they were going to be detected. Isaac grabbed the leg of the corpse and began to drag it back to the room, his unaugmented struggling under the weight of the heavy equipment. His head turned to Anon to check whether he required his help, he needed none.
Isaac blinked a few times as he saw the Witch, one body on each hand while the third was mounted on his shoulder. The madman was carrying the weight of his equipment along with three adult humans like it was nothing.
"Thought ya weren't augmented" the Trooper breathed heavily, had it not for the backpack, it would've been easier.
"I am not" Anon answered.
"Bullshit"
"Whether you believe it or not, doesn't matter" the Witch chuckled, after hundreds of years of training, his body was the apex of the human form. Although his progress stopped after a certain point, his limited form without using his psychic powers, was more than a match for a man with low-level genetic or mechanical modifications, not to mention his perpetual nature that greatly boosted his stamina regeneration.
"So yer using yer mind, GAH" Isaac grunted as he dragged the body up a stair "Ye know what I mean, ya brain and stuff, the way ye make things fly"
"Telekinesis" the Witch rectified, he went up the stairs without effort or sign of fatigue "I limit to use of my powers to prevent the enemy leader from detecting me"
"But the bastard ain't here" Isaac argued, he was a Scion, how could someone in his line of work not know how psykers functioned?
Anon sighed "He is a psyker Isaac, he can sense psychic activity just like me. His skill may be crude but he isn't brain dead" Anon explained then dropped the body inside the room, there was no way a cult of this size lead by an idiot who can't even detect psychic activities "As for the reason I used telekinesis, some abilities are much harder to detect compared to other. They require less power and more skill, thus harder to detect since psykers survey for a high concentration of psychic energy to detect their opponent" the masked man explained the basic psychic teachings to the Trooper, hopefully, he'll remember it and use it later on.
"Oh" Isaac was confused but slightly understood Anon's explanation "Ya said the guy is less skilled right? then the mission is easy init? I mean ya can beat him right?" he asked.
"I believe so, yes" Anon answered, though the sheer psychic presence the cult leader emitted was far superior to anything he has seen before, such power meant nothing if you don't have the skills to utilize it. The Cult leader was crude, he wasn't trying to hide his psychic imprint, he wasn't actively surveying the hive, nor did he help with the war effort outside, except for a few occasions where he simply spat out warp energy on the loyalist forces. Despite his lack of skills, Anon mustn't underestimate him, just by merely spewing out his power, he had killed fifty thousand men. Had the Cult leader had experience or better training, Anon wouldn't have even tried to take him on.
Before the two could speak more, William interrupted them "We have located Inquisitor Helen and her team, this is where our roads separate" the Inquisitor informed. Avina was already scouting ahead while Mylin seems to be prepared "The Emperor protects" William prayed, he tapped on Anon's shoulder before he quickly left towards the Elevator. Inquisitor Helen must be really in trouble to induce such a hurried reaction in William.
"Damn, so we really doing it alone huh?" Isaac scratched the back of his head, his gaze was locked on William's group, mostly on Mylin's bottom. How could think about that in such a situation, Anon wondered. This mission is going to be a headache.
-Planet: Sythia -Year: 915.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Athena Sector -POV: Calliphus Albion
"More enemies approaching from the eastern checkpoint" Celliphus shouted as she sensed the enemy approach.
"Straken, you heard the lass! take the stubber and go. Don't let them pass" Helen threw the heavy stubber to the Sargent. Several bullets hit her in the chest as she threw the weapon, they bounced off of her power armor.
Straken shot two of the approaching traitors before catching the weapon in the air "Affirmative" with a word acknowledgment, he ran off towards the checkpoint.
The situation wasn't better for Celliphus either, the Cultist bastards swarmed around their group like flies to a corpse. She let out another bio lightening from her hand, killing three of the traitors in one strike but that wasn't enough, bloody throne it was never enough. Their team had been stuck in this emperor-forsaken hive for days, constantly struggling to survive wave after wave of enemy attacks. They began the mission with seventeen agents, now only three remained, including the Inquisitor herself.
Celliphus breathed heavily as she unleashed another psychic attack, another five dead with ten more to replace them. She has exhausted her mind so much that even breathing was a problem, the air burned her throat as she took a breath. Is this finally the time when she will die? was this where she was going to die? in this godless planet, left to be forgotten and rotten, who knew what they'll do to her body once she was dead, at best they'll chop her up for rations, and at worst, they'll turn her flesh into a warp abomination, insulting her honor for one last time.
Her internal questioning came to an end as six more cultists arrived, they met with the end of Helen's bolter, turning them into a bloody mess upon impact. Soon, both women could hear the sound of stubber firing from the eastern checkpoint, Straken had fulfilled his part.
After Emperor knows how long, the traitors began to retreat, they have lost hundreds of their accursed comrades, they'll need some time to recover and reorganize.
Celliphus leaned against the wall while breathing in the toxic air of the hive, her mind was at its breaking point and she was pretty sure her lungs were bleeding. The smell of rotten flesh from the mountain of corpses around them didn't help either.
"Celliphus, can you sense anything?" Celliphus heard Inquisitor ask, she frowned as she saw her fatigue. It was as if her plights and exhaustion meant nothing to the Inquisitor, how can she be this cruel to give her such a task when she was clearly on the verge of dying? she couldn't refuse her orders either, her matron was a cruel mistress, she didn't take no for an answer. Helen was a ruthless Inquisitor, or perhaps the other Inquisitors were worse and she was better of the scum. Maybe if she survives this ordeal and finds a new Inquisitor by some miracle, she'll know the answer then.
Seeing no escape, Celliphus relented, she spread her consciousness outwards, sensing everything in the room and further beyond. In this state, even this simple act of survey was tasking, her mind was too weak to protect her from the voices. Celliphus is not a stranger to this phenomenon, the voices of the foul creatures of the warp plagued her mind from a very young age, being trained helped to lessen the voices but they never completely disappeared. The voices offered nothing but honeyed lies, to trick her into accepting them into her, damning her soul for the rest of time.
Celliphus huffed in her mind, as if words alone were enough to make her betray the Emperor, nothing was.
"Celliphus?" Inquisitor Helen called out her name, her finger stiffened on her boltgun's trigger, it seems she was in her trance for far too long, and now Helen was getting cross.
"My apologies, my lord. There are no enemies nearby" Celliphus bit her lip as she slightly bowed her head. She was tired of bowing her head to others, she was tired of doing what others told her, she was tired of having no say in her life but to obey just because she was cursed with this power, to be a Psyker in the Imperium is to be a slave. Had it not hampered the psychic ability, they would've turned her into a servitor.
"Excellent, reinforcements are on route. We should be able to get out soon" said the Inquisitor as she looked around "Straken hasn't returned. Celliphus do follow" Helen ordered as she moved towards his last known position.
Celliphus took a deep breath to give her the strength to walk but mainly to relieve her frustration even a little. The duo made their way through the corpses, of which there were a lot. Not long after, they reached their destination, they were greeted by the corpse of the Sargent, clinging to his weapon till the end.
"Throne damn it, we were barely holding them back as is, now we have another dead" Helen said as she examined the half-blown head of the trooper, his brain colored the wall behind him "I cannot win battles without men, let alone the war"
Seeing Straken's dead body, Celliphus felt a pain in her chest, even if they weren't friends, they were comrades who fought alongside each other. He had saved her life when they had faced the cultist leader 'His soul is now with the emperor' Celliphus reassured herself, if they return back to imperial territory alive, she'll give him a proper prayer.
"What should we do now, Lord?" the psyker asked.
"The situation is quite frantic, I admit, but we can't do anything other than wait for my college to arrive" Inquisitor said with a hand on her chin "Let's fall back for now. Sabotage the weapons and place the remaining explosives, we'll connect the explosives to a switch, don't want our allies to step on mines now do we?"
"As you wish my lord, I will see to it at once" Celliphus said which received a nod from the Inquisitor. O holy Emperor on Terra, how low has she fallen to be an errand girl. From participating in the highest banquets on Terra to placing explosives in a heretical hive.
Hours passed, when Celliphus finally planted the last explosive, the duo retreated further back where they had a single entry kill zone, preventing the traitors from using their numerical advantage. Celliphus had placed the explosives in a way that would cause the collapse of the entire sector, if she was to die then she'll ensure her body was damaged beyond use, she rather die a thousand times than allow them to turn her corpse into a warp abomination.
As expected, the traitor forces returned with even greater numbers than before, shouting war cries and curses in their local low gothic. They threw themselves into the kill zone, facing Helen's bolter and Celliphus's warp lightning. It was hard to tell how much time had passed but after what felt like days, their reinforcements had arrived.
The Psyker stopped her attack in the middle of her cast as her target's torso exploded, the rest of the traitors soon followed their comrades to death under bolter, lasgun, and immaterial fire, there were even a few who were killed by a blade that moved unseen in the shadows.
"Throne, finally" Helen exclaimed. Celliphus relaxed somewhat when she saw the two figures approach, one was a woman in carapace armor, and the other one was what she assumed to be the Inquisitor since he was wearing high-quality power armor like Inquisitor Helen.
"Greetings Inquisitor, I am Helen Amber, Inquisitor of ordo hereticus" Celliphus heard Helen introduce herself, compare to the new Inquisitor she was less intimidating, mainly because of their differences in height. Inquisitor Helen reached his chest.
"Greetings, I am William Husan of ordo Malleus" the new inquisitor introduced himself with a slight bow "I dread the circumstances of our first meeting, but worry not, we will have a proper introduction once we return to orbit" he said as he looked around, his eyes met with the white-haired psyker.
Celliphus flinched as the two glowing red eyes stared at her, there was something terrifying about meeting new Inquisitors, Helen she knew very well but Inquisitor William, he was an unknown card, and that terrified the Psyker.
"I read your last report, it is stated that you left with seventeen members, where are they?" William asked, fearing the worst.
"Dead" Helen answered in a cold tone, she give a quick glance towards the Psyker "She's the only one left sane with self-proclaimed "Chain breaker" you may know him as AV-341" Celliphus grimaced as she heard the name, he was their main target. Seventeen agents were tasked with killing that feathered bastard, seven of which were Psykers, four primaris, only Celliphus survived the battle. The rest of the group retreated upon seeing their psykers fall, they have been fighting a war of attrition ever since, until only Helen and Celliphus remained.
"Worry not, we'll save you, but before that" William said as he took off his helmet, revealing a weathered man with black hair "I believe the package is safe?"
"Though their leader is alive, we managed to secure the item from his layer" Helen gestured towards a briefcase that had a weird symbol carved on it. Celliphus didn't recognize the symbol but it wasn't chaotic, Helen had brought it with herself for this mission, as for what it contained, she didn't know "The traitors are trying to enact a ritual that'll drag the planet into the warp. So long as we return with this, we can justify an exterminatus, better burn it then give it to them"
"That option won't be necessary" William said, Helen raised an eyebrow.
"I don't believe he is dead, otherwise we would have known" Helen said as she turned to face the white-haired psyker who nodded to confirm her suspension. Celliphus could still feel the creature's presence.
"Two of my agents are currently making their way towards the target. We will make out to the landing bay"
"I beg your pardon?" Helen questioned "A team of two? is this a jest? we don't have time for silly jokes Inquisitor Husan" a slightly irritated Helen asks.
"I believe I spoke clearly" William replied, either this Inquisitor had a Librarian under his command or mad, most likely the latter.
Celliphus to a cautious step back upon seeing Helen's face writhing in anger, this was bad, when her liege gets mad someone dies, friend or foe, it mattered not.
"Do you really think two psykers can succeed when 7 had already failed?" Helen growled.
Hearing this Inquisitor Husan grinned "It's not two, only one" William corrected her, at this point, Helen's fury was oozing off her face.
"Are you a fool? or are you pretending like one?"
"Unfortunately for you, I am the one who is making the decision here, Inquisitor, and I will not let you question my judgment when I am the one who is rescuing you" William glared angrily at Helen.
Celliphus, who has been witnessing the pissing contest between the two Inquisitors, tried to think of a way for them to stop arguing unless someone will get shot, and by the emperor, she will not be that person. Before she could think of something, her senses pick up something. Large amounts of warp energies were being discharged somewhere, one was clearly the one they had faced before, the same Tzeentchian mutant that had killed her comrades, the other one, however, was different. Was this the person Inquisitor William had sent?
"My lords" both of the Inquisitors turned their heads towards the psyker which caused her to flinch and forget her words. Seeing two angry Inquisitors glaring her down, caused her to stutter in panic "I-it's... the P-psyker"
"What is it, girl? Out with it!" Helen yelled.
The white-haired Psyker took a deep breath, calming her mind before she talked. This wasn't like her, to stutter under pressure, she was a noblewoman emperor damn it! her social skills were above the commoners "I can sense two large psychic signatures discharging warp energy. One is the cult leader we faced before, the other one I don't recognize" as she informed them, the ground shook, this wasn't a natural earth quack.
"What is going on? the orbital scans showed no signs of volcanic activity" William questioned, the ceiling began to collapse in several places, causing large debris to fall down, each enough to crush a man.
Celliphus grew pale, who did William exactly send to deal with the cult leader? his psychic signature almost matched that of the traitor in sheer power "It's them" both William's and Helen's eyes widened at the prospect.
"Are you certain?" Inquisitor Helen asked.
Celliphus nodded "they are dueling, I think. I haven't sensed anything like this before, it feels like two titans clashing in the warp"
"By Terra's holy soil, what is that bastard doing? at this rate the entire hive will collapse under the pressure" William cursed "We must move to the extraction point, let us hope they don't bring down the hive before we escape" both Inquisitors put back their helmets "Avina, move ahead" Inquisitor Husan ordered to someone. Suddenly a black figure appeared out of the shadow, rushing towards their escape route "We must leave, NOW!"
(One hour ago, POV: Anon)
The duo moved through the maze-like structure of the hive, or at least it was a maze for Anon. He finally understood why William had chosen Isaac to go with him, somehow he knew how to move through the hive as if he already lived here, Anon didn't know how he knew where to go, but he will make sure to steal his memories later. Since one-third of the Imperial worlds were hives, including the most important ones, such knowledge will be extremely useful.
"There, once we go through there we will reach that bird bastard" Isaac pointed upward towards a staircase "Only if I'd knew where that damn thing starts" Isaac was looking around to see how to reach that staircase above them.
"We are close to our target yet he has not noticed us yet, even though I am a psyker..." Anon muttered. It was odd that the enemy hadn't noticed them yet, he should've at least noticed Anon even if he can't sense Isaac.
Was this a trap? is he pretending to not notice for the duo to drop their guards? or did he simply lack in training and was too incompetent to notice them? sure, Anon had tried his best to conceal his and Isaac's signatures, both in reality and the warp, but still, something was odd... he should, at the very least, feel the daemons the pair had banished on their way toward his lair.
"Did ya say anything?" Isaac turned to look at the masked figure.
"Nothing" Anon shook his head "Come close, stand in arm's reach" the Witch ordered. Isaac looked around confused before he did as asked.
Once his partner was close enough, he used his force sword to carve a circle around them, the damnable blade was so low quality that this was enough to dull the edges, this quality wasn't acceptable for M34. Isaac watched curiously as the Witch sheathed his blade "Woah!" he cried out, trying to hold his balance as the circle under their feet lift up in the air, taking them to the upmost floor.
The metal piece floated towards its destination and landed without any sound. There were three decently equipped cultists guarding a gate, they were shocked when they saw two armed people float to their position. Isaac and the guards brought up their weapons to shoot, instead of a firefight, the cultists fell to the ground as their necks snapped to the sides, they fell where they stood, their carapace did nothing against the attack. This type of attack, although useful in stealth operations, was extremely inefficient, using telekinesis to snap the enemy's neck required too much concentration to be effective in a combat situation, it required Anon to delicately focus his power on a small area. It was like trying to pass a thread through a needle, you can do it but not while someone is trying to kill in close quarters. It was far more effective to throw a lightning bolt to shock them, or the debris to crush them under the kinetic force, better yet, you can use your mind to create artificial gravity, crushing the enemy, though that required a lot of power and concentration, giving an opening for a ranged enemy to shoot you.
"Nice trick, continue like this and ye ganna make me feel useless" Isaac chuckled as he moved towards the gate
"Our target is behind that door, I don't know why he has chosen such a poorly fortified location, but it matters not so long as he is dead" Anon said, his voice turned into a whisper at the end "Stand behind me, Isaac"
"But the ga..." Isaac stopped mid-sentence as he saw the Witch's eyes glow purple "Shit" he quickly jumped behind Anon's back.
Immediately after Isaac jumped out of the way, Anon wrapped himself in psychic energy, focusing in his mind and then on the gate. The ground shook as the massive fifteen-meter-tall gates of ceramite were ripped out of their place and flew inwards, toward the people they should be protecting. A hundred tons of metal flew into the enemy command center, crushing the daemons and cultists under its weight, if the Cult leader hasn't noticed him, he will now.
The warp energy that was once contained inside the command center surged outside like a river, and like the water of a river, it hit the rock and stopped on its track. The immaterial energies passed by the duo, contacting the dome-like psychic barrier around the pair without causing them harm. Anon was a skilled Psyker, warp energy caused him no harm, the one purpose of the barrier was to protect Isaac, not him.
Isaac's training hit as he brought up his weapon and began to fire at the confused group of daemons and cultists. One after another, the traitors fell, only after the third death did they get out of their shocked state and began their counter-attack/
The Tzeenchian horrors began to laugh as hundreds of them began to pour out from the inner sections of the command center while cultists screamed and rushed toward the duo. Hundreds of spells from both the daemons and cultists were hurled toward Anon, but none of them hit their mark, he had lived for far too long to be beaten by such lowly creatures. They were ants, trying to bite an elephant.
"Ye got any plans for that little army there?" Isaac shot three of the daemons that were sneaking behind them, without psychic attacks, each one of them took several hotshot rounds to banish.
"I do" the Witch answered, the spells continued to hit his barrier which stopped the attacks in mid-air, gathering the energy around the dome "Observe" Anon grinned, he made a gesture with his hand and heralded the barrier outwards, expanding it.
Isaac watched in awe as the expanding barrier consumed the psychic energy collected from enemy spells and expanded even more rapidly. Two of the daemons closest to the duo turned into ash as they contacted the barrier, seeing this, the cultists began to run away while the Tzeentchian horrors accepted their fates with a burst of maddening laughter, the traitor humans weren't fast enough.
In less than five minutes, tens of cultists and hundreds of daemons were dealt with, luckily for the duo, whatever has brought the daemons into their reality seemed to collapse under the force of the barrier, no more daemons interfered with their mission. The command center was an epicenter of crystals that glowed with low amounts of immaterial energy, all of them contained chaotic taint. Sometimes, if you look close enough, you could even see the faces of people inside the crystals, Anon theorized it to be the souls of the traitors worshiping the lord of change, Tzeentch had a habit of tricking his followers into terrible fates.
"Don't touch it if you value your well being" Anon said as Isaac tried to touch one of the crystals, he quickly retreated his hand and give a nervous laugh "Focus on the missi-" Anon rushed towards his partner, grabbing his hand and using his all of his strength to throw him into the air, the confused Trooper yelled in panic, soon he was joined by Anon in the air as he too jumped.
Just as he jumped, a massive tsunami of warp energy hit where they once stood, the sheer level of energy was so ridiculous that shook the earth. There was no doubt now, this was their target. Once their feet touch the ground, the effects of the attack were mostly gone, though the ground still glowed red due to the heat.
~Who dares invade my kingdom?~ the Inquisitorial agents heard a voice in their heads, it tried to take control of their minds but was unsuccessful. There may be many people in this galaxy capable of defeating Anon in a psychic duel, but none could even match him in the mind control game, no one could hope to come close to his mastery over Telepathy discipline ~You dare to resist my will? the will of the chain breaker, the master of fate?~ the voice questioned, his tone was arrogant like most of the powerful psykers.
"Stop talking shit and face me like a man, ya coward!" Isaac shouted "Also get out of ma head, Bitch" a crude way of luring out the enemy but it seems to be working thanks to the target's ego.
~Your travesty will not go unanswered mortal fool!~ the voice echoed in their heads for one last time.
Anon drew his sword and turned towards a massive statue of a nobleman of the hive that once ruled the city, it was covered in chaotic crystals. The sculpture came crashing down as another wave of warp energy was heralded towards them, causing the statue to turn into ash and create a smoke that blinded their visions.
From the smokes of a once beautiful statue, came the person they were looking for, the bastard who was the main reason behind this rebellion, in its full unholy glory "Behold my majesty you imperial dogs" the figure opened its arms, he was an abomination, an unholy combination of man and beast, with bird-like wings for arms, and a beak-shaped mouth, his skin was barely visible under the feathers.
"You" he pointed in Anon's direction, mainly, the symbol that was embedded on Anon's neckless, the Inquisitorial 'I' "I recognize that symbol anywhere" the creature growled "Agents of the golden corpse, I killed a few of your colleagues from the first team, they ran away like the pigs they are, what chance you have against me?" he laughed.
"Come here and find out" the masked Witch answered, he had already begun making his way into the traitor's mind, so subtle was his effort that he didn't even notice it.
"Fucking pigs" the head Cultist cursed, sending another wave of warp energy, each one of his attacks was enough to destroy whole battalions worth of men.
"Shit! not again!" Isaac yelled as Anon threw him away again, he then covered himself in a force shield, withstanding the attack unharmed.
'Disappointing' is the word Anon used to describe his new enemy 'No training, no discipline, no direction, just a fool with a cannon' that is how he could describe the target's situation. He had expected many things from his target, he thought the head cultist would be the greatest challenge he had faced in his life, he was thoroughly disappointed. The traitor's power was far superior to Anon's, but he lacked training, he didn't know what he was doing. While Anon refined the warp energy and changed its shape to turn it into an effective weapon like a ball of fire or a lightning bolt, this beast was simply using it raw, Anon could cause triple the damage with the same amount of energy he used while doing it faster. Not to mention how he hadn't even noticed Anon's presence in his mind "Truly, disappointing" the Witch muttered.
"Not bad, not fucking bad at all, for a mortal" the Traitors said, only if he knew the truth. He wasn't immortal, not truly, perhaps biologically but not like Anon, his kind were the true immortals of this galaxy "You'll make a good slave"
"Ya ain't gonna get shit" Isaac began shooting even before his legs touched the ground, his shots only seem to annoy the beast as it shrugged off the damage. The Traitor growled and in a fit of rage, directed another wave of warp energy toward Isaac, this was Anon's chance to make his move, he had to make his move while the beast was distracted.
The Witch erected a barrier around Isaac while simultaneously casting an illusion on the Cultist, the beast needed not to see him doing so, otherwise, he'll have to resort to facing him head-on, destroying half of the hive in the process.
"Shit" Isaac put his arms in front of him, trying to safeguard his head against the incoming attack. Once the immaterial energy contacted the barrier, it translated into kinetic energy that caused the Trooper to be thrown away. Isaac came crashing down on the far end of the command center, hitting the wall with great force, somehow he was still conscious despite the hit, though mortally wounded.
"You really are annoying you know" the Beast called out "Once I have you in my clutch, I'll use your soul for nourishment" the Cultist turned to the Witch standing ready to receive his next attack, he looked a bit confused, trying to decode why he wasn't moving to evade his attack or to hide behind a cover "Have you so shaken my magnificence that you forget how to run? understandable" he grinned. Despite his provocations, the Witch remained quiet. The Cultists let out an annoyed grunt before preparing for another strike "At least the other intruders had the decency to fight back, this was is too afraid to do anything" he sighed "You bore me, die"
Another wave of warp energy was herded toward the Witch who did nothing to protect himself, not dodging, not raising his force shield, not even flinching. The warp energy crashed down on the ground, washing away any obstacle on its way, strangely enough, the Witch had risen his force shield not on himself but on his partner which further confused the Cultist. The immaterial energy covered the entirety of the floor, melting anything in its path until it too, dissipated into the air.
The Beast sighed, now he had to replenish his royal servants that the Inquisitorial agent has killed, he also had to summon more daemons.
~I am not dead, Traitor~ the Cultist stopped, his head slowly turned back to where the Witch once stood.
"How in Tzeentch's name are you alive?" the Traitor hissed, readying another attack. Before he could launch another tide of warp energy, his vision turned upside down and he began to fall, he saw the masked inquisitorial agent standing behind his now headless body as his head hit the ground, 'How?' he questioned but couldn't speak, there was nothing left to support his vocal abilities. As his vision began to blur into nothingness, the peals of laughter began.
The Witch's gaze rested on the now lifeless body of the Cult leader, thanks to his accursed ability to hear thoughts, he involuntarily felt what was passing on in the Tzeentch worshiper's head as he died. His bright soul will be ripped apart by the ones he once served, then again, that was the nature of chaos.
Anon threw a warp fire on the corpse and left it to burn, he had more important matters at the moment, like attending to his dying partner. The Witch quickly rushed towards Isaac, leaning against the wall for support. The Trooper has received a lot more damage than he should, his bones were broken, most could be mended back together with biomancy but some required bionic replacements. The back of his skull has been cracked, that too can be healed but will require more professional physical treatments. The worst part of his injuries was his stomach, a chaos-tainted crystal have penetrated his armor, making a hole in his lower back and coming out from the front, that too will require Fatima's treatment, Anon could only stop the bleeding.
"Isaac, can you hear me?" the Witch asked, he was already at work trying to stop the bleeding. The crystal in his stomach worked to reduce the bleeding so his main priority was the skull.
Isaac was barely conscious, he couldn't answer Anon's question "Don't fall asleep, Isaac. You will survive this but only if you stay awake, I will aid you in any way I can but I can't do this without you" the Witch began to fuse the cracked skull back together, this should help him stay awake. Despite the injuries and his inability to talk, Isaac seems to understand the situation.
'This is going to be a long day' Anon grumbled in his thoughts before focusing his efforts on Isaac's stomach. His partner's situation meant that his secondary objective was impossible, but that is a thought for later, Anon had a patient to treat.
(POV: Celliphus)
The group ran through heavy fire, Celliphus was busy protecting the group that she almost didn't realize the disappearance of the psychic signature of the leading cultist. She was momentarily shocked as she discovered that Inquisitor William's agents have succeeded in their mission. Despite her wish to feel joy in the death of the person that killed her comrades, she removed such thought, right now she had to survive the breakthrough.
Hundreds of cultists swarm around them, heedless of the death of their leader, they fired their autoguns and stubbers, some rounds found their mark as they pierced the weak points of their armor. Celliphus tried her best protecting her teammates, she hardened their skins to such a degree that bullets had a hard time penetrating them but even then some shots could pass her abilities, if she lost focus.
As Celliphus momentarily lost her focus, a random bullet passed the weak part of her armor and wounded Helen's leg, she suddenly fell to her knee as the bullet hit her joint. Seeing this William quickly pulled her to a cover, with both of them wearing heavy power armor, only he had enough strength to carry her. As they were moving to a nearby barricade, a cultist with a heavy stubber pointed her gun towards them, before she could pull the trigger a blade cut through the back of her neck, she was paralyzed and fell to the ground bleeding. Avina then quickly moved towards her new target as she dodged bullets, her augmented flesh allowed for inhuman speed.
Inquisitor William dropped Helen to the ground nearby Celliphus, the purple-eyed woman behind William(Mylin) followed him but before she could fully take cover, a lasgun shot managed to pierce her helmet, her head blown up in bloody gore, some part of her blood spilled in Celliphus's face.
"Bloody throne, extraction point is 50 meters away, we need to find a way to push through" William said as he shot his bolt pistol, two cultists exploded as bolt round pierced their chests "Can you move?" William asked, his voice barely audible with the sound of gunshots echoing throughout the long corridor
"Damn heretics shot my knee joint, I can't move for a few minutes" Helen responded as she pulled out a metal pipe from the wall, the steam came out from where she had stripped the pipe off.
The group held the barricade, trying their damndest to not get shot, but despite their skills and tenacity, they were at their limit. Celliphus barely had the energy to spare, William was running out of bullets, and even Inquisitor William's assassin was at end of her rope. Celliphus almost gave up the idea of surviving when Inquisitor William's vox unit came to life.
"My lord we are at extraction point A, Where is your location?" the voice asked through the vox.
"Thank the throne" Celliphus heard William say as he opened the vox unit in his helmet "We are 50-60 meters away from the extraction point, we are surrounded. Ishmael, send some units to gate SCER-2" William shouted to a vox unit, thanks to the crack in his sealed helmet, he had to compete with the sound of gunfire to deliver the message.
"Understood, the units are on the way my lord" the vox fell silent again. Celliphus's resolve reignited at the news.
"Hold the barricade, reinforcements are on route" William shouted as bullets passed by his head, the ones that hit him could not penetrate his armor.
A few seconds later Celliphus notice a group of enemies closing to their position with grenades in hand, she focused her mind, and with a thought, a lightning bolt hit the grenade and caused it to explode. The resulting explosion reached the other grenades, causing a bigger chain explosion that killed all the seven cultists. Celliphus then shifted her attention to another traitor with a rocket launcher, her mind was already working beyond her limits, she was frustrated and sore, her bad mood affected her mind as she involuntarily caused the Traitor's blood to boil inside her, forcing him to scream in agony as he embraced his accursed god.
Celliphus's body burned in pain as a bullet went penetrated the barricade and struck her arm, this was bad, the barricade couldn't take more punishment. The young woman leaned against the wall and put her left hand on the wound to minimize the bleeding, she tried to heal herself but to no avail, her power has diminished. Minutes passed as the party barely held up the defenses, with Helen's injury, it was up to Celliphus and William to hold the enemy back. In meantime, Helen managed to craft a makeshift splint with the pipe and some cloth, she wrapped it around her leg. Although slow, it allowed her to walk again.
"The heretics will pay!" Helen wailed as she brought up her boltgun and began to fire. With each round, a cultist fell to the ground, exploding upon impact and discouraging their comrades from approaching any further. Celliphus glanced toward her mistress and noticed something in her blind spot.
"MISSILE!" Celliphus shouted, trying to warn the Inquisitor, but it was too late. William turned back and saw what the Traitor wielding an Accatran, he quickly grabbed the young Psyker and shielded her behind his power armor, Helen on the other hand was too slow to react due to her leg. The missile struck true as it contacted the Inquisitor's left shoulder, sending her flying, it killed her instantly.
"Bastards" William cursed, he aimed his bolter at the enemy to retaliate, but a ray of red light killed his target. More and more las fire hit the traitor ranks from the flank, killing most of them in a blink of an eye, the reinforcements have finally arrived!
Celliphus watched with joy as William's men put down the Heretic like the dogs that they were, this was the fate of all those who betrayed the Emperor. She then turned towards the Inquisitor, he had taken the package from Helen's corpse and now was telling her to start moving, she did as she was asked. The Scions covered the duo's retreat with suppressing fire, not giving the enemy the chance to shoot back. Once they were at a safe distance, they surrounded them, protecting them from possible ambushes.
As they were moving towards the extraction point, Celliphus who just lost her inquisitor looked around in confusion and anxiety, now that Helen was dead, where is she supposed to go? she doesn't have any authority to call the Inquisitor's vessel nor did she know anyone to help her off the planet, she already lost all of the people she knew. Was she going to be left behind on the planet? with the war that locals waged against the followers of Tzeentch, the hate for Psykers was at an all-time high, even if the Imperial guard accepted her, the guardsmen would slit her throat when she slept, they will tear her to pieces!
She looked at Inquisitor William as he talked with a bulky man, she recognized him as the man who spoke with William with the vox. A few seconds later, the two men were joined by a black figure, the Assassin that was supporting them from the shadows all this time, she was bleeding, and by the looks of it, quite exhausted.
"Where are Jermai and Isaac, where is Mylin?" the bulky man asked, he frowned "Are they dead?"
"Mylin is dead" the Inquisitor informed, she was most likely the Cadian woman who was shot in the barricade "Jermai's task was to kill the cult leader, haven't heard any news from them ever since" Inquisitor William's Psyker was named Jermai, he must be quite capable, especially considering how he defeated the Cult leader alone, the filthy Traitor who had defeated a team of ten professional killers, four primaris Psykers, and three regular Psykers.
"The Imperial guard sent a message for you, my lord, a letter of gratitude for destroying the eastern gate. I believe Jermai and Isaac were the ones tasked with the mission" Celliphus blinked a few times, not only did this Jermai take down that beast but he also destroyed the eastern gate? what was he, a living saint?
"That was their secondary mission, if what you said is true then they should be on their way to the extraction point" Willaim nodded.
The old man looked back and saw the wounded woman "Speaking of the lost, where is the Inquisitor you were talking about, she certainly isn't one" the man gestured towards Celliphus.
"Em...I...my name is..." Celliphus tried to say something but the words she wanted didn't come out, her mind was beyond tired and she was losing blood every second, she could faint before they reach safety.
"She is my new retinue member, her name is Celliphus I believe, make sure to familiarize her with her duties" Inquisitor William answered before she could say anything, his head turned towards her "You don't have anywhere else to go do you?" William asked, Celliphus nodded.
"Such a charitable man you are" the old man said sarcastically.
"We only have one proper Psyker on board, she is a stable Psyker with experience working with the Inquisition. She needs a place after her lord's death and we need more Psykers, the choice is reasonable" William explained, causing Celliphus to relax a bit, at least she won't be left on the planet or worst, killed because of her knowledge about chaos "Jermai will take care of her training, we can use her as an experiment, to see how his apprentices turn out to be" great, now Celliphus had to work with a crazy instructor with absurd powers, she could only pray to the Emperor that he wouldn't ask her to do things that indignify her honor.
"Speaking of the devil" Celliphus looked up, on the platform were two Aquila landers, ready to take them to orbit.
Celliphus's blood froze, her face grew pale at the sight of the monster in front of her whether. The one they called Jermai was a tall, well-built man, wearing golden and wine red robes with carapace armor on top, he was also wearing a silver-colored mask shaped in the image of an emotionless human. The appearance of the man wasn't the thing that concerned the young Psyker the most, it was what she couldn't see that frightened her to her very core. This thing, this creature wasn't human, whoever or whatever he was, it wasn't human for no human can cause such levels of dread. The sheer amount of psychic energy emanating from him was absurd, she had felt a greater amount of raw energy when she faced the leader of the traitors, but his was unrefined pure energy he wielded around like a child, but this man, this creature wasn't like him. Unlike the heretic, this man's power was controlled, purified, and stable, not even the space marines she had worked with could hope to aspire to such heights.
As she was thinking about the origin of this monster, she was completely frozen as he looked her dead in the eye, he didn't use his power, it was a natural fear, a fear born out of instinct, and right now. Her instincts were screaming at her to run away, she was like prey facing a monster.
The silver mask Psyker examined the shape of his comrades, his partner was half dead and sleeping in the transport, the Cadian woman was dead, the Assassin was exhausted and beaten, and William's armor had several holes, they were made by an anti-tank sniper rifle during their escape.
"Are you injured, Inquisitor?" the Psyker asked, by the look of his unconscious partner, he was a biomancer, Celliphus recognized the mark of psychic healing left on the flesh.
William waved his hand, dismissing Jermai's worry "I'm fine, but her? not so much" Celliphus flinched as the eyes locked on her, the Psyker's gaze was intense that she felt naked.
Celliphus's appearance wasn't something to be looked at either. She wore a wine red cloak with a white tunic underneath, a distasteful dress for a noblewoman like her, but then again, she was noble no longer. In Celliphus's hand was her force staff, the top of which was shaped like the Inquisitorial eye, and was made of light metal. With her long snow white hair and sapphire blue eyes, she was the very image of a ghost, the crew of her previous ship thought of her as such, especially when her psychic nature was revealed. She will be treated like before, won't she?
It was at this moment when the Inquisitor and the others two to their own, and the Witch's attention was drawn towards the blood dripping down the poor woman's hand. Celliphus was bleeding too much, making her face abnormally pale. She will faint soon if she doesn't receive any aid.
The Witch slowly walked to the woman as the others began to prepare for the return to the ship. Celliphus involuntarily took a step back as he reached her arm's reach "You are injured, I can help you" the Witch said patiently, his tone was unexpectedly gentle, almost soothing even. But the aura of his power was so strong that it overrides his soft voice.
Celliphus couldn't speak, with her mind exhausted and tired, her blood lost weakening her every second, and the Witch's intense aura of dread, she couldn't bring herself to utter anything. The young woman wished to say something, anything, but her mouth was shut, her body gave into her more primordial instincts. Mainly the desire to run away
"Are you perhaps, afraid of me?" the Witch asked.
"H-how?" did he just read her mind?
"Well, you are pale as snow, bleeding to death, and tired, yet you refuse treatment. Only two emotions make humans act idiotically like you, one is anger which you certainly are not. Two, fear" the Witch explained, unaware of his rude behavior.
"I-idiotically?" Celliphus stuttered, who was this man to call her like that, her actions were completely reasonable. I mean, who wouldn't feel hesitation and fear when faced with a wild predator far more capable than you?
"I have also found out that these two can balance out one another" the Witch said with a chuckle.
This was odd, what did he mean by that? what was the purpose of it all? "What is that supposed to mean?" Celliphus asked involuntarily, she quickly held her mouth shut as the words escaped her mouth.
"It means, my friend, that you are no longer overwhelmed with fear" the Witch smiled, she couldn't see his face but she knew he smiled, it was a weird feeling, as if he wanted her to know he was smiling.
He was right, the feeling of absolute dread she felt moments ago was nowhere to be seen, she still felt the overwhelming power oozing from his Psyche but felt no fear toward it. The Witch gently grabbed her hand, she could feel the psychic energy being poured into her arm, changing shape and altering her biological functions so that her arm will heal faster, and the effects were evident as her flesh began to fuse back together, stopping the bleeding.
"My name is Jermai, I am Inquisitor Husan's Acolyte in training" Jermai introduced himself, he was still busy trying to fix her hand.
"Celliphus, Celliphus Septor" the young woman responded in kind. A few seconds later, her hand was completely healed and the bleeding stopped. She thanked Jermai as she tried to walk, only to stumble and almost fall down.
Before Celliphus could hit the ground, a hand grabbed her and pulled her back up "Tread with care, your wound is healed but you have lost too much blood" he said as helped her walk to the transport.
"Thank you" Celliphus gave him a smile, perhaps this man wasn't the monster she thought him as. The revelation made her feel a tad guilty, he wished her the best yet she thought the worst, perhaps an apology was in order, she still had noble blood in her veins, and honor was part of that blood "I... I apologize for my earlier actions, I shouldn't have treated you like you were a monster" Jermai stopped for a second, making Celliphus assume the worst yet again. Did she offend him in any way?
Jermai continued to guide her toward the lander in awkward silence, the Witch broke the awkward silence a few seconds later "The fault was my own, I should've kept my psyche hidden, but my mind is also weary you see" Celliphus nodded at that, for some reason Jermai was acting a bit gauche when the time came for responding her apology "I have done the same mistake once before, unaware of the effects I cause, I stumbled upon one of our astropaths, he didn't take it well if you take my meaning" Jermai revealed, he was a bit embarrassed.
"I do" Celliphus replied.
"Sir" a woman greeted as the duo reached the transport, she was referring to Jermai.
"Blood loss, fatigue, and minor bruises" Jermai said, he then turned to face her "This is where we part, the field medics should take you to the medical bay on the ship for further treatment. Unfortunately, my talent in the art of biomancy is still lacking, I couldn't fully heal your injury" Celliphus looked at her arm, she was completely fine. Celliphus too was a biomancer, this discipline gave her the ability to know her body, and so far as she could tell, he had healed her injuries perfectly, there was only a minor scar left in the place that was once punched by a bullet.
Celliphus look up to the man, tilting her head in bewilderment "My healing methods leave unwanted scars, such things are... undesirable at best within the noble society"
'Wait, when did I tell her I was a noble?' the white-haired Psyker questioned, Jermai's answer left more questions than answered, this seems to be noticed by him as well.
"I know your kind as I know many others. The way you walk and carry yourself gave it away" he answered as he helped her up to the Aquila lander.
Inside the lander were two medics and two injured soldiers, one was Jermai's mission partner because he had recently received treatment from a biomancer, the psychic signature was unmistakably his. The noblewoman sat on one of the sits, it was far more comfortable than a valkyrie yet still harsh, she looked down outside, Jermai was leaving for his own lander.
'So this is it' she thought, a new Inquisitor, a new ship. Perhaps her new lord would be a better master, perhaps he will be worse, but one thing was for certain, so long as she had a kindred as powerful as Jermai, she will do better.
"One thing before we leave" Jermai turned back, drawing Celliphus's attention. The Witch's tone turned serious as he clenched his left fist, he used his other hand to take something out of his pocket, it was several Imperial crowns which he gave to Celliphus "Once you return to the ship, purchase ear plugs from the medics, trust me, you'll need them"
Celliphus was bewildered as the Witch shoved the crowns into her arm, questioning what was going on in her head "What?" the transport's engines roared to life as she asked, it was beginning to lift up.
"The brown-haired woman! sister Fatima!" the Witch shouted, trying to reach out to the young woman amidst the engine's sound "Don't listen to her otherwise she'll drive you insane. Remember, don't reveal to her that you're Psyker if you value your sanity!" the Witch warned.
"WHAT?" Celliphus yelled as the transport lifted up, her voice's strength didn't match that of the lander.
'What in the Emperor's name have I got myself into?' she questioned, she was already feeling the headache return, perhaps it was better that she died on the planet.