Ashen Claw battle barge -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector -POV: Justicar Iscon Freth
The situation was not good for the Grey knights of the first boarding team, so far the losses have been on an acceptable level, exchanging less than five grey knights for more than fifty traitor Astartes, yet even such loss to kill ratio was not enough, the enemy was too numerous and now that their terminators have shown up, the battle seemed bleaker than ever, not to mention the loss of the Interrogator they were trusted to protect.
Iscon parried another strike with his hammer, it was no easy task to do so, a hammer was a weapon of offense, not defense. Pouring his psychic power within the daemon hammer, he countered the enemy with a strike of his own, the terminator marine's head was smashed under the force of his strike, not even the ancient relic could protect him from such blows.
The Justicar looked at the life signs of his brothers displayed on the visor of his helmet, only three of them remained in the engine room with more than ten hostile terminators, two of whom were already dead. Iscon cursed under his breath, he doubted they could come out of here on top, he wanted to order a retreat and at least save two of his brothers with him staying back to ensure their safe withdrawal but before he could voice his plan, a shock wave shook the room, Iscan could feel it, it was a psychic shockwave.
All the superhumans, Grey Knights and Ashen claws alike, were thrown away by the force of the shock wave, any mortal would have been thrown to the walls by the force of it but they were not mortal, the Grey Knights and Terminators withstood the blast and turned to face the source of the blast, the Justicar did the same. Iscon's eyes widened as he saw the mortal Interrogator standing on his feet, his entire body was shivering under the pain of injuries he has received, his armor was shattered and barely anything of it has remained, his entire frame was covered with a coat of immaterial energy.
'Impossible' Iscon heard one of his brothers mutter, he was right, no mortal shouldn't be able to live let alone stand after getting struck by a thunder hammer of a terminator, yet, there he stood.
The Interrogator's eyes were hidden behind a veil that was his silver mask, though Iscon could feel the fury emanating from them "I have yet to embrace death, traitorous dogs!" the Interrogator said, impressing the Justicar with his resilience.
That wasn't the only thing that impressed the Justicar, the Interrogator's psychic power was increasing with every second, energy pumping through his veins becoming more visible every passing second 'So much power' Iscon thought, normally he would have already killed the mortal psyker using such level of power due to the chance of him turning into a daemon portal but this, this was a different story, the grey knight could not feel anything but purified warp power, the Interrogator was somehow in full control of his powers.
One of the Terminator's closet to the Interrogator aimed his storm bolter at the mortal Psyker, the hand-attached weapon let out a thunderous roar as it fired and tens of bolter rounds flew toward the silver masked mortal, but before they could reach him they stopped, with a gesture of his hands, the Interrogator let loose his power.
Suddenly, a flash of light engulfed the entire room as the ship began to shake, Iscon fell to his knees under the pressure of the raw psychic power emanating from the silver masked creature, the grey knight tried to breathe but he could not, his superhuman form already trying to find a way to save him. Seeing it as the only way to survive, the Grey knights created a mental shield around themselves that helped them endure the immaterial energy pouring from the masked creature, the Ashen claws weren't fortunate as their form began to shrink.
Iscon looked in a rare moment of awe as the ground beneath the terminators began to crack, their bodies began to break down under the gravitational pull.
"KILL. THE. CREATURE!" one of the terminators tried to resist against the force and he almost managed to do so but the increased pressure from the Interrogator crushed him into a paste as his entire body began to contort into a single point. Iscon gritted his teeth, the force kept increasing, if this continues, even their psychic powers might not hold up with the pressure.
"Destroy. the. Engine!" Iscon heard one of the Ashen Claws say, his head turned towards the location of the voice, the Ashen Claw's helmet was cracking and breaking down, allowing his voice to escape outside from his sealed helmet. The rest of his brothers obeyed his command and aimed their weapons at the engine core.
"Stop them, brothers! don't let them destroy the plasma engine" the Justicar said, his brother knights were already moving to kill the rest of the traitors. The three remaining knights used all of their psychic might to move against the force, their efforts were not as effective as the Justicar hoped it would be. In the span of only seconds, the Greyknights dashed forward, each killing one of the remaining traitors but it wasn't enough, the remaining terminators opened fire and sent a hail of bolter fire towards the plasma engine, the ancient technology began to break down under the explosion of the rounds and soon, the engine began to go critical.
The alarms in the engine room sang as the plasma engine began to glow. Iscan's HUD began to buzz in order to inform him of the increasing radiation, soon, he and his brothers will die, them and the second boarding team who were tasked with securing the command center.
'So this is it?' Iscan thought, was this how the emperor wished him to go? not in the thrill of melee or by the hand of a daemon, but a sudden end through plasma fire? his war-gear will not be recovered, his gene-seed will not bring a successor to the chapter.
The plasma engine began to glow, the Justicar could see the energy forming in its now exposed core, soon he will die but strangely, he was calm, calmer than ever, was this how it felt to accept death? was he looking forward to this moment his entire life? it matters not, all that is remained is to embrace death.
Iscon looked in morbid fascination as the explosion erupted from the core, his superhuman flesh allowing him to process the imagery before him with unnatural speed, the thing that happened in mere seconds took minutes within his mind to occur, soon, the plasma flames consumed the Ashen claws and began to make its way towards the grey knights who were furthest from the core, but before it could reach them, a purple wall of light stopped the flames. Iscon blinked in confusion, the gravitational pressure was now gone and in its stead, was this wall of energy protecting them from the explosion.
The Grey knights turned to face their savior when their eyes met the silver masked interrogator, barely holding the explosion at bay "I can't... hold it!" the creature said "LEAVE AND BRACE!"
Iscan looked at the Interrogator with awe, a sense of disgust brewing inside of him, not for the Interrogator but for himself, here stood a mortal, taking the noblest of actions and trying to hold back against a tide greater than himself in order to buy time for them to escape, yet he was accepting his death as given, had his younger self seen his state now, he would have spat on his face.
Iscan looked around, seems like his brothers were also thinking the same "Brothers! Protect the Interrogator, we shall whether this together!" as if they were waiting to hear this from the mouth of their superior, the two sprang into action, Iscon following suit, soon, three Grey knights huddled together behind the struggling Interrogator who seemed confused by their actions. The three brothers, using the last ounce of strength they have left, erected a shield around themselves and the silver-masked Interrogator, their shield was complete as soon Interrogator's gave in, the silver-masked creature used his power to disperse the energy in such a way that it would not destroy the ship itself, as a result, a massive energy blast echoed throughout the ship and beyond, where it ended was still unknown, Iscan can only pray that those who were at the receiving end of it are prepared.
The combined material and immaterial energies flooded the room, their shield barely holding against the tide that crashed against it, they held for minutes until finally, the stream of energy ended and silence dominated the doom.
The Justicar looked around, the entire room was charcoal black, from the walls to the ceiling to the floors, now that he looked, he realized his armor was black as well, it seems that the resulting energy disperse has left the room completely empty, except the ceramite armor of the Astartes which had a natural resistance to heat, but even its resistance wasn't enough to save the shell of the core which was now a melting reck.
"By the emperor, we survived" Iscon heard his brother say, a rare smile formed across his face but it was soon gone as he heard the Interrogator collapsing on his knees while breathing heavily.
"Destrich, call an apothecary, there might be still yet time to save the Interrogator" Iscon ordered, his brother began to vox the request when the silver masked creature stopped them.
"There is no need" the Interrogator coughed "I... I will be fine" a look of surprise formed on the Justicar's face, he wasn't expecting him to be able to speak, sure the words sounded painful as they came out but they still came out "I... am...a biomancer, I can... heal" as he said, his body began to heal, although slower than before, it was healing nonetheless, strangely, Iscon couldn't feel any psychic energy from the process but he pushed it aside duo to his own exhausted mind.
Inquisitorial vessel "Fatorum Ruptor" -Year: 932.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Askellon Sector -POV: Trusted acolyte Celliphus
Celliphus prepared for the planetfall within the confines of her transport unit, the battle in space will soon be over, and the loyalist armies will have full access to drop wherever they desired, after the orbital bombardment is over, to be frank, Celliphus had little knowledge when it comes to battlefield tactics and strategies, all she cared about was to fulfill her own part.
The white-haired woman focused her mind on meditation, it was a boring thing, to just sit there and shape your psyche while doing absolutely nothing on the realspace, but it was a vital part of being a Psyker, you either meditate with discipline or be fed to the daemons of the warp, so the choice was obvious.
As she ventured through the immaterium, she detected the state of the warp in the system, the entire sector was currently under the effect of warp disturbance but this system was by far the worst, Celliphus could only pray for the souls of the poorly trained sanctioned psykers on the planet, she could only hope that they are at least given some sort of training via 'Doctrina Psykona', that way they could at least receive similar training to that of her's, as poor quality as it may be, it was still better than the Imperium's old teachings.
Stretching her mind further, Celliphus felt the battle raging on in a specific enemy ship, it was the largest traitor vessel and one of the two voidships that grey knights boarded. The psychic power unleashed by the psyker astartes could be felt all the way from here.
The grey knights, their chapter's name still clung to her mind, to think such a space marines chapter even existed was mind-boggling to her, an entire chapter purely made of psykers that acted as daemon hunters. When she first saw the hulking giants, she thought of them as regular space marines that had come to the inquisition's aid, had it not for her mentor's tongue slipping, she never would have known such a secretive chapter existed, so secret that Jermai made her swore an oath of secrecy, an oath she was going to keep, perhaps he thought of her as trustworthy to bestow her with such knowledge. Celliphus couldn't help but smile at the thought.
As she continued her meditation, she felt a sudden rise of psychic energy gathering within the enemy ship, it was large, far larger than anything she had seen before and it kept growing. The white-haired woman narrowed her eyes, the information was extremely concerning, what was happening on that ship? suddenly, a huge psychic discharge came from the ship, so strong was the shockwave that it shook the enemy's ship entirely, the power of the force was also felt within the loyalist ships. The non-psyker could not understand the phenomenon but Celliphus did, along with the few psyker on board the ships.
As she was thinking about what to do about the phenomenon, she heard two heavy steps coming her way, coming out of her meditation, she returned her mind to the real space only to see two armsmen pointing their weapons toward her.
Celliphus looked at the two voidsmen, worry was visible on their faces and psyche, even though they tried their best to hide it.
"Acolyte Celliphus, Inquisitor Husan demands your presence" the man closest to her said.
The white-haired woman frowned, did he discover her plans on joining the planetfall? "Is that so? did he mention a specific reason for the summon?"
"You are to be informed upon arrival to the command center"
Celliphus sighed, it appears that she won't have her answers from the two armsmen. Slowly she stood up, the voidsmen were already wary of her, she didn't want an accident to happen just because they were startled. She began to follow the leading armsmen as the other one followed them from behind, weapon aimed at her throughout the entire journey.
Soon the group reached the command center, they were greeted by a very angry Inquisitor. William turned towards the opening door as the group entered, his eyes locked on the white-haired psyker.
"You require my presence, my lord?" Celliphus asked.
"I have. Tell me, Acolyte, have you felt anything of immaterial nature?" he frowned.
'My suspicions were wrong, he ask for my presence for an entirely different matter' Celliphus gave a mental sigh, she wasn't discovered, yet...
"There is a great disturbance within the entirety of the sector my lord but I think that is not what you mean" William nods.
"No. Less than 30 minutes ago all of the psychically sensitive individuals within, not only my ship but the entire fleet, have been disturbed greatly, we have no readings from the planet itself to confirm whether it was a weapon from the heretics or not" he explained he then gestured towards the corner of the command center where a corpse of an Astropath was visible, his eyes were bleeding "The effects on psykers are even greater. The navigators survived though mentally scarred" Celliphus frowned at the information, does this mean they cannot leave the system for a long time?
"I think I know what might have caused this, it was..." the words died out in her mouth 'The psychic shockwave came from the ship Jermai has boarded, if the incident has something to do with him, then they might judge him for the crime of harming the inquisitorial members' the revelation hit her like a hammer, she cannot let him be judged, whether he caused the incident or not doesn't matter, surely it must've been a mistake.
William's eyes widened "You do?" Celliphus gulped, now that her tongue has slipped, she has no choice but to give him an answer but the action she is planning might cost her a life.
"The incident was a powerful psychic shockwave, I think"
"Do you know where did it come from?" William's face grew cold.
"I cannot say for certain, lord Inquisitor, all I could feel was discharge originated from one of the enemy ships, most likely the second enemy voidship boarded by the Astartes" Celliphus answered, making sure to combine her lie with truth, this way she will be able to avert attention from her mentor while also being able to deny any accusation of a lie by the Inquisitor, hopefully, the blame will go to the Astartes.
A small part of Celliphus's mind told her that she was committing the ultimate heresy, that she was accusing the emperor's sons of a false claim, that she was going to burn in hell for doing such a thing but the more calculating part of he mind managed to take control. There was still a chance that the psychic discharge came from another source, regardless of how similar it was to her master's power, besides, the Astartes, despite being the emperor's sons were far from perfect, the traitor they were facing today was proof of such fact so accusing them would be no different than accusing a Guardsmen, or at least that's how she convinced herself of her current action.
"I shall send an investigation team to the second ship, the battle is almost over, we will find an answer for this and if possible a way to prevent something like this from occurring against the imperial forces" William typed something in the cogitator unit before turning to face her again "Were you not affected at all?"
"My lord?" Celliphus looked confused.
"The psychic blast, were you not affected?"
"No my lord, I am fully able and ready" she said with a hint of pride in her tone, William managed to give a dry chuckle at her demeanor.
"Jermai has taken extra care in your education I see" William said, his mood quickly changed to a more serious tone "Yet you lack obedience" the white-haired woman looked confused, a sense of unease took over her.
"M-my lord?"
"Do you really think I wouldn't know?" he asked, his gaze emitting judgment "Jermai has come to me in person to prevent you from participating in the upcoming engagement on the planet, yet you wish to go against his decision"
"My lord I-" Celliphus tried to argue but was quickly cut off by the Inquisitor.
"You will participate" the white-haired woman blinked several times 'What?' was the only thing she could think of "Although insubordination is detested within the Inquisition, I will overlook this one, you will participate in the planetfall regardless of your master's instructions"
"I am not to be judged?" the woman asked, concerned for her own safety.
"No, for the second time in my entire career, I will not judge someone for committing a crime against the Inquisition, had it been someone else, my decision might've differed. Do you know who is the first one?" he asked, Celliphus shook her head nervously "Your master, Jermai. He has lied to me about your condition though I believe it has more...personal reasons"
'Personal reason?' Celliphus questioned, was he talking about Jermai's disappointment in her? or perhaps a more private reason? it was more likely the first, though she prayed that it was the second. Her attention was quickly redirected towards Inquisitor William.
"No matter" he shook his head "You will join the fray despite Jermai's instructions though you will receive a unit of my scions as bodyguards, as an Inquisitor, I have a duty to provide a small retinue for my Interrogator, can't have you die, he will keep a grudge against me if something was to happen to you"
"I am at a loss for a word, my lord, I am grateful for this opportunity" Celliphus slightly bowed.
"Keep your thanks Acolyte, now go and prepare, the orbital war is almost over" William waved his hands to dismiss the woman, with a slight bow of her head, Celliphus exited the command center, a smile forming across her face.
Inquisitor William watched as the white-haired woman left the room, the command center was as busy as always, his gaze rested on the group of armsmen cleaning the corpse of the astropath.
William hasn't given Jermai's student the full truth, he fully expects her to die on the planet, he made sure that her drop zone would be the most dangerous but not so close to where Jermai would be so as to prevent him from helping her.
"The implements on the scions, are they fully functioning?" William asked as a red-robed priest came into the scene.
"Yes my lord, they are implemented without their knowledge, once their task is done, their memories will be erased, leaving nothing behind" the sound of the tech-priest was not organic like many within their ranks, it came from a vocal unit installed to where her throat should have been.
"What about the side effects?"
"The scions will be unrecoverable after the process my lord, they will only have two hours at most after the devices are activated, then it will begin to eat their other memories, leaving them as nothing more than a husk"
William sighed, another unrecoverable loss of assets, a squad of highly trained scions will be lost but they will receive something better in return, an Inquisitor not bound by human emotion "Very well, you may leave now" William dismissed the priest.
With a binary chant, the priest of mars began to walk out of the room, as soon as she left, William signed to his armsmen, five men carrying weapons rushed out of the door that the tech-priest left from, several shots were heard within his vox unit, the walls muffling the sounds within the corridors, now that the last person with the knowledge of his scheme is dead, he can attend to more important matters.
"May you find peace in emperor's light acolyte" William muttered, he held no personal grudges towards the white-haired woman, she was simply a nuisance, a bump in the true path Jermai must take to become a true inquisitor.
"My lord" William snapped out of his thoughts, an officer was calling him, the youngest officer in his ship, besides him was one of the older officers, both of them looked nervous "The last of the enemy ships are defeated, two boarding teams report success and..." the officer trailed off.
William sighed, something bad has happened again, hasn't it? "And what? be done with it already"
"My lord, the intercepters could not reach enemy transports in time, many of their numbers have retreated to the planet below"
"A grave outcome to be sure but not a surprising one. It matters not, there are not enough holes in this galaxy to run from emperor's judgment" he turned towards one of the older officers that has came with the young officer 'Trying to save your skin by having the younger one deliver the message?'
"Order the fleet to orbit the planet, we will start bombardment as soon as possible. Someone bring me the damage report!" with a shout of 'Yes my lord' the personnel on the command center began working.
Author here:
Good news guys! I have returned from my business trip, now I can dedicate more time to writing.
To all those who want more Isekai stories, try my Skyrim fic. And now answer your reviews.
Liam199e: Grey knights are superhuman, they heal faster than mortal humans so I don't think Anon's help would be necessary, unless of course, the wound is too great for the Astarte to take care of.
YungTurd: Sorry if you didn't like the name, I have received several messages from the readers about the name change, I choose the name because it means "Them" in turkmanic, it also means anonymous in English. What's wrong about it?
Apple89123: I know seeing visions in a dream is cliche but come on man, how am I supposed to give such information about the... spoilers...
Godofdestruction3: Cope and seethe lol.