The soothing hums of the plasma engines filled the ears like the sounds of insects at dusk.
The battle plan was ready and set in motion, the Ashen Claws will not succeed in their plans, soon, the gathered fleet will enter the enemy system and eradicate the traitors.
The battle in space was an assured victory, the loyalist forces has gathered a decent armada, small compared to other imperial fleets, but it was more than enough to defeat the traitor Astartes vessels. Once the battle in orbit is won, the loyalist forces will bombard the planet and reduce their numbers, many civilians will be caught in the bombardment of the hives but it was of no importance, in the imperium's eyes humans were nothing more than currency, to be spent and to be used, they won't receive any mercy, especially these traitors, who were even less valuable than servitors, for the commanding officers of this fleet, their lives were already forfeit, for Anon however, this was a necessary evil, a means to an end.
Anon sighed as he checked his equipment, everything was in order, a Plasma pistol, a force saber which he named "Timur" after the ancient Terran warlord, his mask which was modified to be void capable, and his light carapace. All in all, a very light load focused on helping him move faster.
"Soon, we will enter the system and eradicate the traitors" a knight in grey appeared beside him "Are you ready Interrogator?" Tivor asked, his hulking frame made Anon look like a child, even the giant's force sword was larger than the puny Interrogator standing beside him.
"Ready as one can be, Paladin" the Witch answered dryly, trying to hide his inner turmoil both from his demeanor and his psyche, though the Grey knight seems to be more skilled than what Anon had thought, he quickly realized the disturbance in his psyche.
"Many of my brothers are not convinced about taking you with us during the mission" he said, looking down at the command center of the ship "My voice was along the few who spoke in your favor" the paladin revealed. Anon immediately realized the meaning behind his revelation.
"It would be odd if they hadn't, Paladin. You and your brothers are the pinnacle of warriors, forged from the flesh of his holiness on Terra, accepting a mortal within your ranks, even temporarily, should not go without a stir"
"You think of me as the odd one?" Tivor grinned, invisible to most beneath his helmet. Looks like he is amused.
"No offense, Paladin, I'm sure you are a good judge of character but many within space marines would find the presence of a mortal during their mission a burden at best and an insult at worst"
"But we are not like the others" Rephaeus argued, his tone was neutral but the color of his soul was not, he has taken offense at being compared to other space marine chapters.
"I apologize if I offended you, Grey knight, just forget what I said, it is not my call to judge you"
"Well, you are not wrong in some regards..."
The sound of naval personnel engulfed the air as more and more orders were given, soon, the ship will jump to the enemy system along with the rest of the fleet, soon the battle will a joint and Anon won't have to think about his inner turmoil, only the tumult of war.
"Something ails you interrogator" the voice drew the Witch's attention "You are distressed, understandable given the recent developments" Anon wonder about the meaning behind his words, was he talking about the news of his promotion?
"It won't affect my performance Paladin, I assure you. It is simply a passing nuisance, the battle to come will cure me of it... I hope"
"Forgive me Interrogator if I don't find your words convincing" he said dryly, then stopped and an air of silence returned between the two, oddly enough, Anon find the silence more comforting, more than the superhuman trying to educate him with the state of his soul. Unfortunately, like all good things, it quickly came to an end "I am not a Chaplain or a spiritual guide to rely upon, I am not capable of understanding your mortal coil, but if my ears of any help, I'm willing to listen" the gesture surprised the Witch, not that it was uncommon within humans to use such a gesture, but more because of the person it came from.
"You are..." the masked Witch began, trying to find a word to describe his thoughts in a polite manner "...Surprising"
"Hmmm?" the Paladin "In what way?"
"You are oddly capable of showing human gestures, I guess it's hard to see a human beneath the Godflesh" Anon explained, if he is being honest, he found Tivor's human gesture disgusting which was quite hypocritical of him "Now if you'll excuse me, I wish some time alone to pray" this was a lie, he did not pray, he didn't even know how to pray, he just wants to be alone for time being.
"I see..." the grey knight hummed, sensing the Interrogator's need for solace "Then I wish you good hunting in the battle to come but don't hesitate to contact me when such need arises" Anon left without saying anything else, leaving the Grey knight to contemplate on whether he offended to mortal Interrogator or not.
Inquisitorial cruiser Fatorum ruptor -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector -POV: Trusted acolyte Celliphus
Celliphus has failed, soon she will be all alone again. The weight of her failures was crushing her master's trust in her. He was disappointed, he didn't trust her enough to let her loose on the battle, he saw her as a shame, a stain on his honor... she has disappointed him...
'I should do as he asks and remain here I can't bear to see his disappointed face... it hurts' Celliphus looked through the mirror as if she was looking at something beyond her own reflection... she was contemplating her future actions "Maybe that is for the best..." her gaze followed the small double-headed Aquila in front of her mirror, she locked her hands in front of her face in a praying motion.
"O god-emperor of mankind, master of Terra, what should I do?" again there was no answer to her prayers, as always, the master of humanity couldn't be bothered to answer to her plight and why should he? she was but a speck from the greatness that is mankind, he wouldn't answer, not after being controlled by daemons and disgracing humanity in front of the filthy Xenos, only the likes of her master can hope to communicate with his holiness on Terra.
Oh master Jermai, what a great man he is. A man whose skills were only surpassed by his intellect and wisdom, a kind soul in the sea of filth that was the inquisition, for all its glory, the inquisition was nothing but a pack of maniacs, Anon on the other hand was a man who can judge the innocent from the guilty with a single look, a man whose judgment was always right and just, just like the Primarchs of old. He was what the situation needed him to be, a patient teacher, a ruthless executioner, a jury of heretics, a dashing swordsman, a handsome noble, and a humble worker all at the same time and so much more... by the emperor what she wouldn't give to be embraced by such a man, then again, her failures stood like a thorn blocking her way to Eden's garden, to her destiny within that man's arms.
Celliphus slapped her cheeks with her hands, her cheeks grew red from the impact "Calm yourself Celliphus! the battle is lost but the war can be won, I can still come back from this and gain master's trust" she looked back at the face of the ghost, who was staring down at her through the mirror.
The ghost remained silent, her blue eyes were as cold as Terra's spires, her white hair finding its way down her shoulders, as soft as silk. She had what every woman wanted to have, a slender yet muscular body, well-proportioned curves, a beautiful face, silk-like hair, and diamond blue eyes, more can a man want? what more does her master want?
'It appears that you wish to begin your career with a clean slate, so be it'
The words echoed in her mind as she cursed herself for uttering them "I shouldn't have said that, I shouldn't have. Now I need to find a way to attain his forgiveness, to attain my place in his future retinue" the cogs within her head began to turn as a new plan formed, Celliphus grinned as if the worries of the past moments no longer were her's.
'Your a devilish rogue Celliphus' a part of her mind called out to her plan, she was not being devilish, simply, cleaver, yes that is the word! "I guess we all must make do with what we have" she stood up from the stool of her room and began to wear her armor, she made sure to adorn it with purity seals. She strapped her laspistol to her leg and took her force staff in her other hand, the inquisitorial eye embellishing its top, all-seeing eye of the inquisition, the sign of their eternal vigilance.
It took less than one might expect to find Isaac, he was always in the engine room, conversing with the tech priests, those half-mechanical weirdos from mars, their appearance was as ugly and inhuman as one can get. How could Isaac even talk with them, Celliphus wondered, then again, Isaac was a perverted bastard, beneath the title of 'men', that title belongs to true servants of the imperium, people like the guardsmen giving their lives to emperor's ideals, the priest who preach the imperial truth without rest, and people like William and Jermai who face the horrors of the galaxy head-on so the weak-willed didn't have to.
A small part of her mind told her that she was being harsh on the Technophile, he was serving as best as he could and facing the horrors of the warp on every mission, but then again, he was perverted filth who have to audacity to call himself "Woman killer" which he was not, despite his aggressive harassment of females on board the ship, she hasn't seen him succeed, he even tried his luck with three-eyed freaks of the Nobilite! at this rate she wouldn't be surprised if he tried to seduce one of these mechanical monstrosities, he may already have done it before.
"Isaac" his name came out with disdain, he flinched as he heard her voice.
"W-what do you want? I told ya I won't do it again!" he took a step back, looks like he still remembers the consequences of his actions all those years back, good.
"Don't worry lowlife, I didn't come here to punish you, you haven't done anything to offend me, not yet..."
"Why are you here then?" he looked confused, Celliphus took note of his dirty armor, he was going to participate in the assault.
"I came to call upon the favor you owe me, I want a place on the vessels that are landing on the planet, near the Monastery district" Celliphus's request sounded more like an order with the way she held her head high, a gesture she still remembered from the days of her nobility, until the day when she was stripped of her title and left to die in the underhive, a set of memories she abhorred yet liked at the same time.
The days she spent there was harsh and cruel, every day was a battle for survival yet she couldn't hate it, she used to hate it with all her soul but that all changed when she met Jermai, her mentor who saved her from the chains of the past. Without her days beneath that hive, she would have never learned about humility, she would have never met her teacher.
"Emmm... why? aren't going down there anyway?" he asked, scratching the back of his hair with an oily hand, a disgusting act befitting of an underhive ganger.
"A calculation mistake within the cogitator, mine, and several others have lost our place within the assault and therefore had been replaced, your job is to find me a place within the assaulting army"
"Why not ask the boss then?" Isaac title his head, for a technophile he was as stupid as an Ork, his only saving grace was his skills with tech.
"Lord William is a busy man, I won't dare to bother him with such a trivial thing" she lied.
"And yer gonna use yer favor instead? I don't understand, why would you waste it like that?"
"You don't understand now do you?" Celliphus looked down at the technophile "That's why I'm a trusted acolyte and you are not"
Inquisitorial vessel "Fatorum Ruptor" -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector -POV: Inquisitor William Husan
The warp jump into the traitor system was short, only 10 hours at most, it was a neighboring system, only 56 light-years away from Kellion.
The sudden arrival of the fleet surprised the traitor voidships, they were expecting the loyalists to come but with such numbers and not so soon, perhaps it spoke to Inquisitor William's skill in managing to amass such an armada in such a short time, or maybe the traitors lacked intel on loyalist forces within the sector, maybe they thought of them as weaklings due to the ongoing civil war within the segmentum pacificus? it matters not, the enemy will pay for their betrayal one way or another.
"Auspex readings report traitor ship in the system my lord, 12 vessels in total near the 3rd planet of the system" one of the officers reports, looking down at the holographic projection, William notes the identification of the enemy vessels, there should be 16, where are the remaining 4?
"Began engagement, do not get close, engage from afar, and prevent boarding actions at all cost!" the Inquisitor ordered, the enemy had more Astartes than theirs, their greatest weapon is their superior soldiers, the mortal crewmen of the imperial ships could not hope to defeat them if they enter their ship, that alone should be prevented at all costs "Send a message to all imperial vessels, hold the interceptor units until enemy tries boarding action" yes, William will prevent damage to imperial ships as much as he can, after all, the ships were hard to come by these days and Inquisition always in need of them, besides, Jermai needs a ship as well after his promotion.
"Void shields at %100 capacity, Launching torpedoes!" with a sudden hiss, the weapon locks open and hundreds of torpedoes are sent toward the enemy "Enemy counter attack inbound!" William continues to observe the situation.
"My lord! a message from the tears of martyrs, Lord Tivor wishes to perform a boarding action!" the Inquisitor frowns.
"Tell them to concentrate on two ships at most, make sure to ask for their target"
"Message sent lord"
"Good, now let's get to work" Willaim grinned, today the traitors will witness the greatest firework of their lives, their first and their last.
Grey Knight Strike Cruiser "Tears of Martyrs" -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector -POV: Interrogator Jermai
The silver masked Witch stepped inside the assault transport, the small void capable transport was meant for one thing and one thing only, to get deep inside the enemy ship and capture it from within. The transports of this size are usually cramped with little space spare, Anon, however, found more than enough space to stand in, mostly due to his mortal size and the transport being designed for Astartes use.
The black rocket-like transport crackled back to life as plasma energy flowed within its system like the blood through the flesh. The grey knights present with the interrogator spared him a few glances before returning to a state of meditation, psychic meditation.
It was obvious to Anon that these "Men" did not trust him, they were warriors forged from childhood to work both as a team and as a single champion, for them, a mortal was a hindrance to their teamwork, someone who should be protected, he will prove them wrong when the time comes.
"Greetings Interrogator" his vox unit came to life as a message played in his ear, the message came from a private vox line, the sender's identity was Justicar Segei Zao, the Sargent of the grey knights.
Anon touched the side of his modified mask, accepting the private vox communication "Justicar?" he questioned.
"I have been recently informed that you will be in command of my battle brothers present within your transport unit, 10 in total I believe?" he asked, the interrogator was not used to speaking with space marines so it was hard to understand the emotion behind their voice most of the time, Justicar Zao's tone, however, was different, it was filled with disdain.
"I am indeed given command of you knights, yes" Anon answered "Are you worried that I may endanger your brothers, Justicar?"
The vox unit was silent for a moment "I would be lying if I said no" so he was worried that Anon might not be able to lead them properly.
"Then your brothers are fortunate indeed to have a senior as caring as you, Knight Justicar" another human gesture from the grey knight.
In his old life, Anon has read tens of novels relating to space marines, he knew about the dark angels, blood angels, space wolves, and many other chapters. Despite being superhuman killing machines, sometimes these marines showed human emotions, it was rare but expected. He didn't know much about the grey knights, perhaps that is why he never imagined Grey knights to be the same as the other Astartes. The knights of ordo malleus suppose to be different from the common Astartes breed, they had one of the most dangerous jobs in the galaxy, they had to be even less human.
"Not as caring as to not wanting to waste manpower and resources. My brothers are the shield against the darkness of the unknown and the whispers of the void. Each a peerless warrior, losing even one to incompetency is tragic"
'Prideful indeed, not a corrupting type but one based on facts' Anon's chuckle went unheard from beneath his sealed mask, specially designed not to hamper his psychic powers while also being protective and void capable, it was his old mask modified by himself with advance technology, an item he made sure to hide from priests of mars.
"I understand your concern Justicar, I truly do. But worry not, you won't find me wanting, that I assure you"
The private vox link went silent for a moment before it came back online, another hissing sound came from his mask's HUD "I shall entrust you with the lives of my brothers, Interrogator, see to it that you do your utmost not to disappoint me" with that, the vox link went offline entirely, returning humming sounds of plasma running through the transport's veins.
The transport began to shake as hatches of the voidships opened and launched them toward one of the enemy battleships, a 12-kilometer vessel where the rest of the assault transport was heading.
The image of the space battle outside was visible in Anon's HUD, the loyalist fleet was trying to keep their distance and engage from afar while the traitors moved with haste to close the distance, a reasonable choice since they had no chance of victory in long-distance engagement, their only chance was to somehow board their space marines inside the imperial ships, but they couldn't, the Ashen Claws won't try a boarding action from this distance, their assault transport would be shot down immediately by intercepters, unlike the grey knights, their transports lacked cloaking array.
"Two minutes till impact, cloaking array is deactivated" the superhumans standing beside him were unmoving, their god-forged superhuman bodies not showing even a speck of fear or stress.
The clanking sounds were heard throughout the transport as the enemy flak turrets began to fire, their shots did little to no damage to the vessel, had they had more time to shoot, it would've managed to shoot them down. The Witch observed the camera systems outside the transport as the melta drills in the facade of the assault transport melted the outer layers of the ship, the shaking grew stronger as they crashed inside the ship, leaving a gaping hole in their wake.
Without uttering a single word, the group disembarked from the transport, instinct taking control of their movement, with grace not possible with such large forms, the Grey knights secured the area in haste, their movements almost impossible to follow for a normal human, Anon was not a normal human.
"23 traitor marines closing in on our location, they are surrounding us. More than 50 mortal armsman" the Witch informed the group who take the information in stride. The number of marines on the ship was a total of 110, a little over a company against 26 grey knights along with Anon himself, truly terrible odds, this was a battle of quality against quantity, if you can call Astartes a force of quantity that is.
Two of the Knights stood beside a metal door, leading towards the engine room of the ship. With a sudden strike of a hammer, the Knights broke the door and began to pour inside in unison as the air inside violently poured out into the vacuum of space behind the knight, their entry into the corridor met with bolter and las fire.
Aiming their storm bolters the knights began to return fire, the shockwaves of the shots reached Anon, he can only imagine how they sounded had it not fired within the space.
The group charged toward the enemy marines, thinning out their numbers with ranged weapons. Seeing the ineffective of the bolter rounds against the power armor of the renegades, the knights switched targets. Psilencers tore through the marines while the armsmen exploded as bolter rounds hit them.
In less than 1 minute, 5 Ashen claws were down, and most of their mortal crew were dead while the grey knights suffered none. But even with this ration of kill ration, they couldn't thin them out enough to allow for a charge.
More marines poured into the fray, supporting their brethren, a few armsmen even managed to set up a heavy bolter at one of the high points at the end of the corridor.
Anon threw a lightning bolt toward the enemy before taking cover beside one of the justicars assigned to his command, a few of the knights find their armor starting to fail under heavy fire.
"The enemy is surrounding us, we need to break through the defenses" the Witch's sound was heard through the vox "We need to charge, I will create a defensive field in front of us to stop the incoming fire but we need to act fast" Anon ordered, the Justicar looked at the Witch beside him, his helmet hiding his face, after a few seconds which felt like an eternity, he spoke.
"Acknowledged, on your sign, Interrogator" Anon nodded.
Anon took a deep breath, concentrating his mind, immaterial energy forming within his flesh, the sound commotion around him began to muffle out as his mind began to experience clarity, the amount of psychic energy being gathered was almost addicting.
One of the reasons Anon hasn't used his powers fully was addiction, the clarity gained through small amounts of immaterial energy was greater than any known drug known to man, and Anon's raw power was far superior to most.
The Justicar turned back his head towards the psyker beside him, in that moment all of the grey knights felt the energy emanating from the masked creature.
With energy burning through his veins, the silver-masked Witch stood up as an invisible wall of protection suddenly appeared between him and the enemy fire. The bolter rounds exploded in the air, hitting the Telekenisis wall constructed by the will of the Witch.
"Charge brothers!" the Justicar gave the order, soon the knights were following the Witch, unleashing Psychic energies as they went.
The armsmen flinched as they saw the attackers approach, their auto guns doing little to nothing to the coming foe, not even the marines could do anything. Funnily enough, the only thing that seems to pass through the invisible shield was the directed energy weapons of the mortal armsmen, the humble lasgun. Seeing how the Interrogator's shield sometimes ignored the energy weapons, the marines ordered their mortal crew to aim at the silver masked witch.
Anon gritted his teeth in pain as one of the lasgun rounds managed to find a weak point in his armor, burning his left shoulder, but even with the pain, he moved forward, acting as if nothing has happened, he thanked the ceramite in his carapace that dispensed the heat outwards, if not for this quality of the material, he would have died under the heat of the energy weapons.
'Only another 30 seconds' Anon tried to calm himself, his perpetual nature already beginning to heal the damage, but the pain began to be unbearable, the lasguns were far more painful than even bolters, bolters kill while lasguns burn.
As he continued to move forward, one of the grey giants moved in front of him, it was the Justicar, he held a large hammer the size of a mortal man. Anon soon realized the reason behind his actions, the lasfire stopped as they hit his giant frame instead of him, the knight was protecting him by absorbing the fire. Anon mentally chuckled at the image in front of him, the idea of a space marine absorbing damage for a normal human amused him to no end, commonly it's the other way around.
'Looks like I found my knight in shining armor' Anon gave a mental chuckle but quickly cleared his thoughts, this fight was no place for jokes.
The concentrated fire continued, all of the physical rounds stopped while only a few energy weapons passed through the interrogator's shield. Anon's shield was made mainly to counter normal rounds, energy weapons were too fast to stop, sometimes, their energy blended in with the shield's energy and managed to pass through it.
'I need to train my Telekanisis' he berated himself.
As they close the distance between them, the enemy marines charged in coordination with each other, their disciplined formation allowed for no open weakness. With only a gesture of his hands, the shield protecting the imperials expanded forward, throwing away armsmen, obstacles, and even the marines.
"NOW!" Anon shouted in the vox as sounds could not travel through the vacuum of the space, his shouts could damage human ears, but fortunately, his comrades were superhumans.
With righteous fury, the knights in silver charged, their weapons are drawn and their blades ready, Anon himself pulling his force sword from his(Yes his) sheat and charging forwards with flesh enhanced with biomancy.
The armsmen were killed without mercy, some were shot, some were stabbed, and some were crushed beneath heavy power-armored feet, the interrogator himself crushing their bodies with the force of his gaze, the renegade marines on the other hand were a different story. The Ashen claws quickly regained their footings and charged back at the attackers, their attention mostly locked on the silver masked witch.
Soon, the battle turned into a pure melee where the grey knights had the advantage, some of the Ashen Claws retreated to use their ranged weapons in support of their brothers.
The interrogator rushed through the marines with inhuman speed, his every step enhanced beyond mortal limits, his eyes locked on a retreating marine. In a swift motion, his force sword cut through the marine's neck, killing him instantly, his cut was not beautiful, his form was not beautiful, but it was efficient and effective.
Witnessing the death of their battle brother, the remaining two marines aimed their weapons at the silver masked Witch, they were fast, they were skilled and more importantly, they did not hesitate, not even for a single moment.
Anon increased the enhancement of his mind to observe the situation, his brain began to process the information faster than any human could. As the world around him begins to slow down, he observed the marines. Eight rounds, eight rounds were shot from their weapons, only three would hit 'Only 3?' the Witch's mind filled with confusion, his enemy is enhanced superhumans, they don't miss!
As the effects of the enhancement began to fade, the interrogator leaped to the right, trying to avoid being hit by the bolter rounds.
'Shots evaded I need to clos-' before he could conclude his thought process, a bolter round hit him right in the chest, the round exploded as the Interrogator was thrown back. The world around began to slow down again as Anon analyzed the situation 'How did they hit me? I evaded! wait, the shots!' his eyes twitched over the surrounding area, the other four rounds that were supposed to miss him exploded in the area around his previous location, it was at this moment when the truth dawned on him, the marines didn't miss, they shot the areas they thought he would leap towards in order to evade the three shots!
Anon hit the ground 2 meters away from where he was before, luckily the round didn't do as much damage as it should, the carapace helped him survive with only several broken ribs and a heart pierced by shrapnel, it didn't matter, he didn't need his heart to survive, he just has to manually circulate the blood in his body with telekinesis.
Another hail of bolter fire came towards him as the Witch leaped back, they used the same tactic as before but this time the bolter round stopped in the air before it could hit him, the round exploded without contacting him. Throwing a psychic shockwave back at his attackers, Anon rushed into the fray, the two marine's bodies hugged the wall under the sheer pressure emanating from the masked creature, but before he could strike the two stunned marines with his saber, a sword parried his attack, looking at the figure, it was another Ashen Claw but with a more decorated armor and a power sword, a Sergeant most likely.
The Witch leaped back in order to properly face his new adversary. The space marine Sergeant wore the color of his chapter, pitch-black armor with red pauldrons, in his hand was a power sword, he looked at his brothers who were released from the Witch's grasp, with a gesture of his head the two rushed away from the fighting. Anon didn't know what they said but he could hear the voice of their helmet, the Ashen Claw sergeant then face the interrogator, his power sword coming to life with electricity, he then pointed his sword at him, challenging the silver masked Witch to a duel?
The gesture stunned the silver masked Witch, did he consider a mortal worthy of dueling? well, he is not a mortal but he looks like one.
Anon shook his head to clear his mind, there was no time for useless thinking, what was important right now was dealing with the marine in front of him. His force saber glowed blue as purified warp energy began to pour inside, quickly analyzing his opponent, Anon dashed forward with swords in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other. He threw the bio lightning at the sergeant while simultaneously beginning to strike with his sword.
The renegade marine deflected the bio lighting with his power sword, with a grace that seemed impossible with such a large frame, he parried Anon's sword, the Witch jumped towards the wall to his right and from there leaped to the marine's back. His adversary was faster than he anticipated, he blocked another thrust and began his counterattack, the two soon found themselves locked into intense combat, almost going blind to the world around them as the rush of battle overtook their senses, but soon enough, the Witch began to take the upper hand as marine began to tire while he did not.
Seeing the Astarte's weakened state, Anon decided on a bold move in order to end the duel, he struck forwards with a gale of slashes and thrusts, too fast for mortal eyes to comprehend, the marine kept deflecting them one after the other but soon an opportunity presented itself to the silver masked Witch, the Sergeant's pose was open and ready to receive a killing strike to his hearts.
Taking the opportunity, Anon jumped forward into the air and send a thrust of his saber to his hearts, to his utter shock, the marine easily parried his attack and strike back, he was faking his exhaustion to lure him into attacking boldly. His blade met the interrogator's armor, the matter disruption field of his sword tore through his armor like a scythe through the wheat, not wanting to be cut in half, Anon used telekinesis to propel himself on the opposite side of the blade, allowing him to survive with just a slash to his chest.
'Shit!' the Witch cursed under his breath as the sword gave him an open wound to the chest. Anon looked back at the Ashen Claw Sergeant as he was flying in the air, he threw his saber back at him, the force sword pierced through the sound barrier and contacted his helmet, going through his skull and killing him in an instant.
Anon hit the ground but his impact wasn't as bad due to low gravity, the only problem was his blood which began to boil under the pressure of the space, concentrating his mind again, he speed up the process of healing, not enough to heal the wound entirely, but enough to close the open wound, preventing his blood from boiling.
The interrogator looked around to see the battle at its end, the corpses of the enemy were floating in the air, the pressure inside the corridor was the same as the space thanks to the hole they made by boarding inside. The Witch's gaze met the Grey knights assigned to him, all of them seems to be alive except one who was lying dead with a giant combat knife sticking through his neck. almost thirty Astartes laid dead at the cost of only one Grey knight, they were wounded yes but alive, even against higher numbers while also being the attackers, it appears their pride and talks about their superiority to other space marines weren't empty.
"Interrogator" his Vox unit came to life, looking up he saw a silver giant towering over him "Your alive" the Justicar spoke as if he was shocked by the news, he looked around and saw the dead marines behind the Witch then to the interrogator laying on the ground "Are you capable of resuming the mission?" he asked as he put his hand on Anon's shoulder and helped him stand on his feet, the Witch called back his sword, the saber flew back to his hand.
"We will move on with the mission, Justicar, the wounds will heal soon enough and our task must be done with haste"
"True" the grey knight nodded, his giant hammer was covered in blood "But I must say, Interrogator, I am impressed. No offense but none amongst us expected you to survive" the Witch gave him a glare from beneath his mask.
"I am alive if not a little bruised, to be honest, the only thing keeping me standing is the rush of adrenaline, I would rather complete the mission before its runs out" he turned back and faced the path towards his objective "We must move with haste before the remaining Astartes meet us from the rear, I can sense another 3 squads not too far from our location, Another 2 moving to meet them, survives of our 2nd boarding group most likely" Anon explained in a calm voice, sometimes he thanked his talent for reading minds, it came quite handy when locating people in his proximity.
"Not coming to meet us?" the Justicar asked "Perhaps they are making landfall to the planet below, sensing the inevitable defeat of their fleet"
"Most likely, but that is more the reason to hasten our efforts, they will certainly sabotage the ship before they make landfall, we must rush to our objective"
The Justicar gave a node and began to gather his brothers, this gave Anon a 30 seconds opportunity to gather his thoughts. The bolter shrapnel was still stuck in his heart, his ribs were not completely healed and his chest burned under the pain, every heartbeat was a pain to the point where he stopped it completely, using his mind to forcefully circulate the blood and keep his body alive, he will have the opportunity to take out the shrapnel once he secured the ship.
Inquisitorial vessel "Fatorum Ruptor" -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector -POV: Trusted acolyte Celliphus
"ALL TROOPERS ASSIGNED FOR PLANETFALL TO HANGERS, ALL TROOPERS ASSIGNED FOR PLANET FALL TO HANGERS, PRAISE BE TO THE GOD EMPEROR OF MAN, BY HIS WILL WE SHALL BE TRIUMPHANT!" the Servitor's voice resonated throughout the ship.
"Is everything prepared?"
"Bloody throne woman, I told you a hundred times already, get in and you'll go to Jermai's zone, once the fight is over in space" Isaac pointed towards one of the transports in the ship, the one purposefully coordinated to drop to a certain zone "But gotta admit, your one crazy woman, I mean going to the thick of it all just so ya can see yer bed warmer? shit man, and they called me the crazy one for flirting with that red machine woman... I think she was a woman"
"Keep your tales to yourself, by Terra's holy soil who in their right mind would fall for the likes of you" Celliphus sighed her hand meeting her face.
"Sorry lasie for not being as "REFINED" as yer man" the technophile gave a low chuckle but was silenced by a bladed force staff to his neck, Isaac stiffened a bit after seeing Celliphus's smile.
"He is not my man, not yet" the white-haired woman removed the blade from the "womanizer's" throat "I will trust you on this one, filth, but know this, if Jermai doesn't find me once I land, you will"
"Do you call all the men around ya like that?" Isaac asked as he began to play with a cogitator in the hanger.
"Only the ones as despicable and as vile as you, honestly, I am quite concerned for ladies who find you attractive" after double-checking her equipment, Celliphus began to walk toward the transport, her lander was designated OV-277, it will be the one that will take her to assist in Jermai's mission, and once her mentor sees her abilities, she will receive the recognition she deserves and maybe something more.
The white-haired woman smiled at the notion. Once the traitors in the system are dealt with, Jermai will receive his new rank as an Inquisitor and she will make sure to acquire a position beside him, anything less than his right hand was unacceptable.
But still, there was something in the back of her mind that bugged her to no end, her last conversation with Jermai and her rudely storming out of the room, it was unbecoming of a lady like her. Sure Celliphus was no longer a noble from the time when she was thrown out of her house, when she was forced to live a life of a common underhive filth, but even then, she still retained the aspects of her nobility, she was still the elegant woman every man desired yet... yet... Jermai won't look at her that way.
Celliphus clenched her teeth at the thought. A decade, more than a decade of being by his side, joining on dangerous missions, standing against the horrors of the galaxy, and even facing the emperor's fallen angels. All those years of fighting by his side yet he still didn't make a single emperor damned move!
The thought infuriated her, didn't ancient Terran tradition demand the gentlemen to take the first step?
'The Emperor is the light in our way who guides our souls with his ancient and unrivaled wisdom' Celliphus began to recite the prayers in her mind, it was one of the ways that helped her calm her soul "A spiritu dominatus, Domine, libra nos. Blessed be the man pure of heart for He will lead you into the light of the future, Heed His wisdom for He will protect you from evil, Whisper His name in prayers, for they will save your soul,
Honor His servants, for they speak in His voice" with the end of her prayer, she opened her eyes "Ave Imperator" with that, the world around her gave in to the sounds of engines.
Looking around, Isaac has finished whatever he was doing with the cogitator "All done, I checked the system several times, the pilot's location will be the monastery district, it is where Jermai is" the Technophile reassured the psyker.
"Good, if this vessel takes me where I desire then you can count that favor nulled" Celliphus nodded "Now you can go, I have matters that need to be done before the planet fall"
Enemy Vessel, name unknown -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector -POV: Interrogator Jermai
The air was filled with smoke and blood, Anon's boarding team has finally entered the inner core of the ship where they were no longer required to have their void helmets on, or at least they could stop using their oxygen reserves and keep them for emergency situations.
All around the group was filled with dead mortal armsmen and a few remaining marines, they were dealt with, with ease. Another squad was eliminated with no casualties, but three of the knights, along with the other Justicar had to retreat because of their wounds, leaving Anon with 5 knights under his command, one Justicar with a daemonhammer and a stormbolter, three knights with force swords and stormbolters, and two ranged, one with Psilencer and the other with Psicannon.
The group stood before the opening gate which revealed the hidden plasma core of the ship, they quickly storm inside, securing the perimeter and checking for any signs of sabotage. Anon himself checked the main Plasma core within the center of the ship.
This place reeked of radiation so high that would melt off the unprotected skin, the knights were fine but the gaping slash wound in the interrogator's armor was not, the torn part of the armor leaking the radiation inside.
'I'm going to die at this rate' the Silver masked man analyzed his situation, his thought was not of fear, for he did not fear death, even if he were to die, he would just come back, besides, he can simply move his flesh like a puppet with the force of his will alone, death of his body meant nothing.
"There are no signs of sabotage, brother, this section is empty" one of the knights informed the group "I wish to call this a mistake but I know much about our cousins to make such false assumptions"
"There must be something, continue searching" the Justicar ordered.
Something was odd, there was nothing in the engine room, no damage, no bombs, nothing. Astartes don't make such mistakes as forgetting, even if they retreated from the ship to the planet via landers on the ship, they would most definitely try something to prevent the fall of their battle barge, no Astartes leave their relics to the hands of their enemies so easily.
Suddenly, the room was filled with light as loud sounds echoed throughout the room, Anon recognized the sounds "Teleporter!" the Witch turned back, only to see a Thunder hammer coming his way. The world around him began to slow down again as the masked Witch began to strengthen his flesh, it was too late to dodge, it was too late to fully enhance himself, this was going to hurt.
The black-clad terminator brought down his hammer from the side with superhuman strength, the hammer impacted the Witch with a force of an artillery shell. The impact shattered his bones and crushed every organ he had on the left side of his chest, even with biomancy it was impossible to negate all the damage.
With an electric clap of the hammer, the Interrogator was thrown across the room, hitting the wall and leaving a big dent where he was thrown, the force of the crash breaking a few places in his spine.
The world around the Witch began to blur as he barely kept himself alive, his perpetual nature already working in full capacity to heal the damage, with the help of the biomancy the speed of recovery increased, Anon has fully concentrated on healing himself, luckily for him, the Ashen Claw terminator began to engage the Justicar, thinking he was dead.
The Witch writhed in agony as pain spread throughout his body, his form risking to give away to the cold embrace of death at any moment. He looked at the engagement in front of him with blood-stained eyes, his lungs spewing out blood as he began to heal it. The grey knights can hold their own until he could heal enough to help them with his powers.
Slowly, his body began to mend and his broken bones began to fuse together, the speed of the recovery looked unnatural to humans eyes, even to superhuman Astartes, fortunately however, they were too focused on the battle to pay him any attention.
The Witch was using too much power, more than he should, the only time he used so much immaterial energy was during his first days on this galaxy when he banished his first daemon on Thule, which resulted in a permanent hand burn that could not be healed, even with his nature. But this time was different, he was no longer the inexperienced wild psyker he was before, he had years upon years of experience, he won't cause a psychic backlash again.
Removing the limitation he has put in his own mind, the silver masked Witch had access to the full might of his power. The flesh molded, the bones fused, the organs regrew as the psychic energy began to pour into his veins, like water through a tree's root. Soon, The interrogator stood on his legs, his frame shaking under the damage he has received, the Witch looked at the series of duels in front of him, the grey knights were beginning to falter as two of their ranks fell to the ground, lifeless. With a single gaze of his eyes, a psychic shockwave shook the ship.