**Author's note: Double length extra long action chapter! Enjoy!**
Our group filtered into the main outer gallery as my temple ached uncomfortably. I knew intuitively that there was an open portal to the Warp ahead of us outside, and one that was now spilling more terrible daemons into the Materium. I had had enough of Slaaneshi daemons back on Levant, but apparently Tzeentch thought it was funny to screw around with my fate and pit me against more of those revolting things. We had been "miraculously" transported here by that one Lord of Change, anyway, so of course the Architect of Fate knew there was trouble here waiting to find us.
There was a faint breeze in the dark interior of the gallery, and the smell of cold ashes filtering in from the storm outside. The heavy darkness in here almost seemed to swallow up the light from Null's lantern mechadendrite, and Alberich's blue flaming daemon glaive. A feeling of visceral foreboding had fallen over us.
"What manner of daemons do they summon? Can you tell?" Lian asked as we all walked to the corner of the gallery, near where the dried corpses still lay. Staying out of the direct line of sight of the outer passageway was probably smart.
"I'll check this time," Alberich answered helpfully, stepping near the corpse of the dead Aeldari.
The Tzaangor's eyes closed as he gripped Valkyrie, and his colorful mane of feathers ruffled as he clenched his beak in concentration. After a few heartbeats, he blinked, looking at us in confusion. Alberich then sneezed, and shook his head. "I cannot quite see the Champion, and can only really perceive his companions. But, I do see that there are woman devils, daemonettes as they are called, but there is also something else. I fear I do not know how to describe it," the beastman said, cocking his head in bewilderment. Alberich took a breath and tried to offer a description regardless. "A tall devil walks on four disjointed legs, and moves as a crab would. It has a thin face that halfway resembles that of a cow, but also, it has the features of a reptile and a scorpion's tail. Like a centaur, it also has two forearms, but instead of hands, they are long crab pinchers. It is bizarre." The beastman sniffed the air, stifling another sneeze. "And, I sense that there is a heavy strange scent around it."
"A Fiend of Slaanesh, I'm guessing," I answered. Oh fantastic. I read somewhere that those things had a magical stink that could mess you up, and I found myself grateful that it was windy outside.
"That's not good," Null chimed in. "To those who do not know, a heady scent surrounds these Warp-spawned beasts. This odor can completely incapacitate those in close proximity. Stay away from being too close to this daemon if you have a sense of smell. Ah! I've got it working once again!" the tech-priest ended his dire warning on a lighter note when one of his mechadendrites transfigured itself into some kind of futuristic space blaster with a glowing green barrel.
I quickly translated for the Witnesses as I nervously watched the direction of the outer passage. As I spoke, I noticed that to my right, Alberich was once again curiously examining the bodies of the Chaos Marines on the floor as Null's mechanical mantis drone buzzed very clumsily into the air before returning to the tech-priest's pocket ahead of me. It appeared that Jiminy was out of commission. Lian stood a few steps before us as he also faced the direction of the outer passageway, guarding our little band against the inevitable.
"Jiminy cannot sustain flight, and cannot be a spy for us, I am afraid," Null informed us.
"That gun you have. What is it?" Lian asked, not turning around. Null turned around and walked up to the Fallen's side, and I could see him demonstrating the blaster on the end of his mechadendrite from behind.
"Energy weapon. Customized from xenos technologies, if one could forgive me for using such things. It is something that can be dissolved and reformed from metal, allowing for maximum portability. Truly, I am loathe to use it, and I could never really operate it repeatedly without issues with overheating. We are in a perilous situation now though, and need all the help we can get," Null explained.
The tech-priest continued to chatter about his blaster as we nervously waited around near the outer passageway, but my attention was now fixed on Alberich, who had placed his glaive against the wall, and was now chanting in a mysterious language under his breath as he stood over the corpses.
What are you doing? I asked the Tzaangor. He paused his chanting.
Do not interrupt. Keep the metal man distracted, as he will not approve of this. It is our surprise from the Great Architect. It will help us.
A twitch of an arm in the Aeldari corpse left me very alarmed, and a shine of blue energy rose from around the Tzaangor's head as he continued to chant.
"What is he doing?" Morai asked me with a few curious gestures as she stood nearby. It was interesting that the somatic language of the Witnesses could be used even when they held their sai daggers. Much of what they said was illustrated in the motions of their arms and hands, and I could tell that these motions were nervous here. Ennoia was now reaching for her mask.
"Uh, look. Don't worry about that. Don't take your masks off just yet. I think Alberich is trying to help us."
Null stopped talking and then turned around to see Alberich obviously using his psyker abilities for an unknown purpose, and shouted in alarm.
"Don't..." I commanded to Lian and Null, who were now both turned toward me. "I am allowing this." I gestured toward the Tzaangor. "Fight about it later. Like you said, Null; we need all the help we can get. I do not want to d-"
I was interrupted as a shiver ran up my spine, and my attention was immediately drawn to the passageway. "Look!" I had time to yell before a grinning daemonette appeared, poking her head through the tunnel. She was smiling widely, and covered in dust.
"Delicious yummy yummies! Dinner is here, oh sisters!" she cried out, leaping into the gallery.
Lian reacted almost instantaneously, and charged at the creature. The daemonette easily jumped aside and away from his blade. Like an Olympic gymnast, she bounded and somersaulted happily around, singing and laughing. Null's mechadendrites reared up once again like metal cobras waiting to strike, and as Lian recovered, Null brandished his laser scourge with an electric crackle. The daemonette screamed, and made a wild leap toward the tech-priest, who attempted to defend himself with a downward chop of his electric gear staff. This was also easily dodged by the daemonette, but what wasn't dodged was Null's scourge, which struck the creature savagely right across the face, setting her on fire and sending her smashing back against a priceless painting, ruining it as she crumpled to the floor.
Another daemonette appeared from the passageway, also filthy and also grinning madly. She danced into the gallery, singing a mad keening song. "Dance with me!" she called out. Unfortunately, Lian's interpretation of dancing involved swiping wildly at creatures that were mostly way too fast for him. At least she was just dancing and not killing right now.
This was happening so fast that I didn't even have time to catch my breath, and I was no longer paying attention to Alberich's chanting, which had not abated. Alright, lets light this party up!
I dipped into Nabopolassar's memories, and uncovered a sight of the king lighting a bonfire with his staff. I liked setting daemonettes on fire, so that'll do. I quickly focused my energy, and concentrated it onto a point at the tip of the staff, magnifying it. With a motion, the daemonette that was taunting Lian was now immediately consumed in blue fire, screaming and laughing all the while. This gave the Fallen the opportunity to decapitate her, which he did very quickly. I noticed that my immolation of this daemonette was more powerful than when I torched the daemons way back on Levant, and I felt no fatigue. I was definitely much stronger!
Lian stood ahead of me, ready for more action. Ennoia and Morai now advanced into my field of view, brandishing their sai daggers and ready to fight as they flanked our sides. Behind me, Alberich continued to chant behind me, and I began to hear a strange scraping sound.
"Champion Girkk'ahn wishes your soul tenderized but not killed, lost little Traveler!" the daemonette that had been struck by Null's scourge said as she forced herself to her clawed hooves, still on fire. "We promise not to-"
A blinding green light flashed in the gallery as her grinning daemonic face exploded into glowing cinders.
"Never listen to daemons!" Null barked angrily, holding his blaster, which smoked above his head.
Alberich's chanting reached a fever pitch behind me as two new daemonettes cartwheeled into the room. Lian was ready this time, and one was immediately dispatched at the end of his blade, plunging it deep into her chest. She literally exploded into a pink cloud of sickeningly sweet perfume. The second vaulted right over the Fallen, and charged at Null, but not before Ennoia raced out from the shadows. The creature wailed as the masked Witness skewered her between her ribs with her right sai. The daemonette's black crab claw rose in defense, but it was captured with a clang by Ennoia's left sai dagger. The Witness continued to twist her right blade inside the daemonette's innards as her crab claw was immobilized above her head. This daemonette only had one crab claw, and its humanoid right hand was futilely striking the Witness on her mask, which didn't seem to phase her at all. These women were hardcore! Morai came to the aid of her sister, and plunged her daggers into daemonette's other side, causing it to explode into pink flesh, which melted into mist.
Little bird, little bird, come out and play! Little bird, little bird, your skin we'll flay! Little bird, little bird, you'll sing so sweet! Little bird, little bird, your flesh we'll eat! An extremely loud and evil voice echoed in my mind. Reflexively, I brightened my Corona, willing it to become a shield against any psychic intrusion.
Behind me, I could hear more scraping, and a strange hissing sound. Before I could figure out what the fuck Alberich was doing, I received a vision from outside. Grikk'ahn was now almost here with his two men, who were readying strange weapons as they approached the entrance. He noticed that I was watching him, and he smiled, his sharp teeth coating with a layer of sandy ash. It really was incredible that these marines were alive, looking how they did. Plague Marines looked better than these guys, I swear.
I felt bold, and mentally jeered, You want to mess with me, you dried out mummy? You're not perfect enough to be a daemon prince anymore, you sorry sack of mutated shit! Looked in a mirror lately? You're so ugly Nurgle won't even take you now!
Oh, joyful humiliation! Sing to me, little poison bird! Sing to me when I rend your flesh and drink your blood! Grikk'ahn responded cheerfully. I felt amusement from the direction of the Chaos Marines outside, and then...
"What is he do-" Null began to demand of Alberich but was cut off as a booming noise erupted from inside the tunnel. It resembled an excessively loud electrical chord, and it rang like a screaming dragon in the room. The Noise Marines were here! They got here in like five fucking minutes!
While I appeared to be somewhat unaffected, I could see that Null and Lian were now both staggered, with each clutching their ears. I reflexively backed up, and raised my staff.
I'm finished, Alberich quickly informed me in mind as another loud blast echoed in this room. Lian was struggling, and Null was typing something in his arm.
"What?" I turned and saw that the corpses had rendered down out of their armor into some kind of blue black sludge which was shifting and roiling like a giant amoeba. I watched, momentarily fascinated as this blob swirled and bent itself into a round figure. A long clawed limb reached out from the mess before I turned away. I began summoning more of my own energy so that I could set a Noise Marine on fire as soon as I saw him.
"They're in the tunnel! Push them out of the tunnel!" Lian yelled, gripping his ears. "The sound is echoing inside! Push them out!"
Since Alberich was busy with Chaos magic, and I was charged up with psyker strength, I had a moment of insane stupid bravery and ran to the front of the passageway.
"No!" Null yelled protectively as I passed him.
The long passageway now yawned before me, and I willed my Corona to blaze into a protective shield. The light reflected off two sets of acidic yellow-black eyes on pink helmets, and I felt a sensation of revulsion. They both were at least as tall as Lian, and I could dimly see the pink spikes and swirls on their power armor in the dark. Holy fucking shit! Real life Chaos Marines! The two Angels of Ecstasy were standing just inside the outer threshold of the tunnel, and were both currently readying what appeared to be heavy handheld cannons with screaming grilled faces on their barrels, which I was assuming were their real life sonic blasters that could vibrate the real life flesh right off my bones. I caught them with my gaze, and felt them hesitate, which gave me a moment.
If Chaos Marines were instinctually afraid of the Emperor, then fuck them, I could make them afraid of me too. I would push these jerks back outside!
I flashed back to playing Skyrim in my rathole apartment in Newark, New Jersey. I was always very fond of dragon shouts, especially the classic Force Push one. It would be very useful here. I inhaled, and instead of shouting Dragon language, I simply channeled my fury into a scream, releasing a controlled torrent of kinetic energy ahead of me. The effect was similar to the effect I had seen against the farmhouse daemonette back on Levant, but substantially more powerful. Strangely, I noticed that the "scream" sounded very close to that of the Screamer back on Kolch.
With a laugh, I was rewarded with the sight of the two Angels being completely swept off their feet and knocked back, pushed entirely out of the passageway and outside the pyramid itself. They landed flat on their backs on the yellowed brick road outside. The sickening ochre light of the sandstorm was now visible at the end of the tunnel.
"Lian, go! I knocked them outside!" I yelled as I sidestepping the passageway to let him pass. I felt wind as the Fallen bolted down the tunnel as he shouted a challenge I could not quite make out.
"Null-"
"On it already!" Null passed me, nearly tripping over parts of his torn robe. He held his scourge and Mechanicus staff before him, and I could smell ozone and electricity as he dashed outside.
Ennoia and Morai didn't need to be told, and immediately followed the tech-priest to exit the pyramid.
This was insane and I couldn't believe we were doing this, I thought, briefly looking at all the out of place 40k artwork from my universe hanging around the gallery. I reeled again at all the bizarre "coincidental" circumstances that had brought me to this exact spot on this exact planet. Everything here definitely had a Tzeentch-y "just as planned" vibe.
Less thinking, more fighting, I thought, shaking myself out of another anxious fugue. I'm from New Jersey, so I'm used to fighting things! I rallied myself again, getting ready to run outside into a supernatural entropy storm and fight Chaos with my mind powers. I heard the sound of someone running behind me as I watched the two Witnesses run ahead, and I said, "Alberich, can you-?"
A human-sized pink wad of animate chewing gum with a comically oversized maw of sharp teeth and two spindly legs skipped behind Ennoia and Morai, giggling like a hyena. It had three arms, and skin that glowed a shifting iridescent magenta. Atop its head, three tentacles writhed. As it passed me (while avoiding my gold halo as best it could), it nodded briefly, and said, "At your service, 'luv!" as it gave me a small salute with a long-clawed reptilian hand. It bounded happily down the hall, laughing and squealing in glee toward the battle. Well, that was certainly new. What the fuck?
"Was that our 'surprise'?" I asked Alberich as he now stood beside me, holding his flaming glaive once again. The Tzaangor was apparently a daemon summoner now. Fantastic. On his chest, he now wore a glowing blue pendant of his own. Where had that come from?
"Some of it," Alberich replied, starting to trot down the passageway toward the battle outside. "It is called a 'horror', I think. It will serve us."
"A pink horror," I said running in behind Alberich as we both entered the tunnel. "That's a daemon of Tzeentch. I hope it obeys you. Have fun explaining this to Null later," I said.
"Whatever," Alberich said ahead of me, readying his glaive in two hands as he raced forward. "We need all the help we can get."
Far ahead, I heard the sound of metal striking metal, and the howling of the tormented winds of Nubua. The light was much dimmer than it used to be when we were outside earlier, and the visibility was very poor. Alberich ran ahead of me outside, and immediately had to brace himself against the wind. I watched as he met a charging daemonette on the yellowed brick road, and roared ahead of me. Alright, here goes nothing. Time to play space wizard!
I stepped outside, concentrating on holding up a psychic shield to the elements around my entire body. It somewhat worked, but I still felt buffeted by the scouring winds outside of my head.
There you are, pretty pretty bird! A terrible voice suddenly struck my skull like a church bell. Fuck! The only warning I had on where Grikk'ahn was was a strange pink shimmer in the air rushing impossibly fast down the stone road around where my companions stood sparring with daemonettes and the two other Chaos Marines. He was so fast that it appeared that he was glitching through time, and before I knew it, his face was right before mine, and I was thrown backwards back into the passageway on my back, the wind knocked out of me. My gold Corona winked out as I was stunned.
The tall Champion of Chaos now stood leering over me as he caressed his armor in a way I did not like, tracing lines with sharp claws over his breastplate that caused him to murmur in pleasure. He smiled down at me. "Teasing me are you, pretty little bird?" His voice was deep, drawling, and extremely husky, reminiscent of a cartoon villain. A bloody black tongue licked the air salaciously as the monster slowly kneeled down above me, washing me in an absolutely revolting aura that somehow resembled both vanilla perfume and rotting flesh. "Such a delicious little tease! I expected a banquet of death, but it is a little early for dessert, don't you agree? I really wanted to enjoy this more!"
The terrible mutated mummified face of Grikk'ahn was really something else when seen up close. This marine was huge, and had to be at least a half meter taller than the other Noise Marines. He had unnaturally large yellow reptilian eyes that resembled a serpent's, and a wide mouth that resembled a shark's filled with sharp black teeth. His six black horns swept back from head like a goat's horns, and his drooling acidic spittle burned a small hole in my trousers. The worst part, somehow, was still that he appeared nearly completely dried out. His thin lips were cracked and split, and his skin looked like leathery white paper over his bones. His massive white hands, which held six inch long black claws on each finger, were unarmored and dripping a thick dark red blood as he began to reach for me as I lay coughing on the ground.
What he said next chilled me to my core as he slowly flexed his clawed fingers before my face. He hissed, and another drop of his saliva burned a hole in my shirt before saying, "Am'Erika sends her regards, my pretty little bird."
Luckily, that was as far as it went, as the Champion suddenly stood bolt upright with a cry, his horned head nearly striking the roof of the tunnel.
"No bad touch! Naughty, naughty, naughty! Where are your manners?" an unnaturally loud squealing voice shouted behind the Champion. "Teach you decency, I will!"
Grikk'ahn furiously whirled around, aiming to backhand the interrupting pink horror with a massive clawed hand for getting in the way of his fun. I quickly noticed that part of his power armor near his lower back and buttocks had been burned away by a strange fire, which still smoldered on him. The Champion actually wasn't fast enough to hit the daemon, and the horror simply backflipped away from the strike, giggling. In one of its hands, the horror held a small fireball of multicolored changing Warp energy, ready to blast the Champion again.
Behind Girkk'ahn and the pink horror, I quickly took stock of the rest of the battle on the road in the sandstorm as I struggled to right myself. The land was a screaming ruined mess of sand, ashes, and wind, and the sky was a dark, poisonous yellow. Gusts of wind that approached that of a hurricane buffeted us from a side perpendicular to the dusty yellow road, but thankfully, it wasn't powerful enough to knock me off my feet. The visibility was so poor that I couldn't even see the Divine Retribution from here. Vaguely, I could make out that Lian was struggling against two daemonettes, and I also saw the shining blue of Alberich's daemon glaive and pendant as he dodged a fast overhead swipe of a pink glowing power sword wielded by one of the marines. I could see the gold of the mask of one Witnesses as she taunted another daemonette. Upsettingly, I could not see where Null and the other Witness were, nor could I see where the Fiend of Slaanesh Alberich sensed was located.
I recovered, and jumped back up to my feet willing my Corona to ignite again. Ahead of me, the Champion was now staring down the pink horror, and with a bellow, conjured his own perfumed warpfire against the friendly daemon, which was countered. A fiery magic duel between the two individuals had commenced, with each participant hurling gouts of warpfire at the other. I happily noticed that Grikk'ahn's power armor had burnt up or transfigured enough to expose a small area of his bare pocked skin below his left kidney.
I took my force staff, ignited it with flaming electricity, and went to slam the butt end down on the rear end of the Champion ahead of me. Before I could move fast enough to do this, however, Grikk'ahn's head twisted 180 degrees around like a daemonic owl's and chuffed a guttural word down at me, causing me to stagger back again, but not fall to the floor. My Corona remained up this time.
This was enough to give the pink horror an opening, who pushed his line of multicolored warpfire ahead, slamming the Champion in the chest and as he fell backward, and nearly onto me. I sidestepped Grikk'ahn as he toppled over, and the horror continued to blast Grikk'ahn relentlessly, pinning him to the ground. The friendly daemon then turned to me as he did this with a toothy smile and said with a happy politeness, "Nice lady can pass now! Nice lady is favored by change! Go and make pretty fireworks!"
Grikk'ahn was flailing on the stone ground, so I decided to take the advice of the horror and get the hell out of this tunnel. I ran past the Champion and the daemon. Just a few paces away, I heard a high pitched whinny, and an electric cracking sound. My intuition suggested that the singular pink horror was now two blue horrors, as it had been revealed that Grikk'ahn hadn't really been injured beyond the damaged armor on his back, and had only been momentarily pinned. Of course, things couldn't be easy, I thought running ahead and trying to find someone else to help me.
A bright green flash illuminated the air around me, and although I could not see him, I knew that Null was still in the battle. Distantly, I swore I could hear a dog barking somewhere. Was Wolfie back again? I decided to run further down the road, looking for Null and maybe Wolfie. The winds continued to scream, buffeting me and howling like hungry ghosts.
"...Omega..."
I half heard the word through the screaming winds. I willed the staff to brighten in preparation to blast anything trying to trick me.
Another flash of green light ahead of me, and I could now hear Null yelling.
"Back! Back, foul Warpspawn!" the tech-priest shouted angrily, followed by an unnatural musical trumpeting sound that resembled a group of autotuned elephants. I could now also see a very large shadow moving on the road behind the ochre veil of the sandstorm, and I guardedly approached. Behind me, I heard the shrill keen of a Noise Marine's sonic blaster, and Lian screaming in anger.
The wind also continued to scream, and again, I heard a whispered voice call out to me: "...Omega..."
This whole situation was terrifying, I thought, blanching as I tried not to think about just how much danger I was in right now. No more fear, Erika. I'm magic and I can do this! I'm stronger now!
My nose crinkled as a very heavy musky scent passed around me, and I immediately felt strangely tired. The scent reminded me of burning pitch, sandalwood incense, and pumpkin spice with faint notes of sharp body odor. It smelled like the world's filthiest new age store, but a thousand times worse. Shaking it off, I pushed more energy into my Corona, and the scent seemed to dissipate. I looked up at the giant moving silhouette a few paced ahead in the blowing sands, and put two and two together on what I was now probably close to. Was this the Fiend of Slaanesh? Over the screaming winds, I could also hear a faint barking and Null's swearing.
I flinched as Wolfie appeared in the storm racing down to me, his eyes bright hot points of hyperreal starlight in the obscuring sandy winds. He ran around me in a loop, excited for action as always. An excited thought projected from him to me: ...TALL STINK BEAST... FIGHT FIGHT!..
The astral hound turned back around and charged the Fiend just as it became visible to me.
As if seeing Chaos Marines wasn't novel enough, the looming sight of a Fiend of Slaanesh really ruined my day even more. This lavender-skinned monstrosity was over twice my height, and four backwards reptilian legs scuttled it about like some sort of mutant centaur-shaped crab. It had a long head that vaguely resembled a crocodile's, and its crown was topped with two jagged horns. A mane of bruise-colored fur ran down its neck, and the front of its torso was lined with multiple pairs of breasts. An oversized scorpion tail loomed behind it, swaying in the wind. Two strong arms ending in purple crab claws were currently occupied with swiping at either Wolfie or Null, the latter of whom stood close by as he attempted to strike at the beast's legs with his scourge before jumping back away as the beast reached out again. I could make out a smoking wound on the side of the Fiend's shoulder. At least someone had gotten a hit in.
"What are you doing here!?" Null shouted at me just as the Fiend noticed that it had a new playmate to kill. "The musk! You have a sense of smell! Get b-"
The Fiend charged toward me, lunging forward with one of its claws with a musical scream. As it came close, the musk that surrounded it managed to permeate my air shield. I confounded its plan by reinforcing the enchantment around my head as well as holding my breath for safety. I would need to keep this up, as it seemed that the musk was a sort of Warp ability that could transcend barriers, and not just physically based.
The daemon's claw swept downward. "Nope!" I yelled, taking my force staff, and slamming it down on the exposed crab claw as I jumped aside the Fiend's attempt at ending my life. I was very happy to see that entire claw immediately ignite in hot blue-white flames. How many wounds did Fiends have on the tabletop 40k game, because I was pretty sure that I was able to deal at least one right there.
Another blast of a Noise Marine's sonic blaster behind me, and a vision of Grikk'ahn chasing a blue horror and two brimstone horrors as they danced around him, taunting him about how ugly he was. The brimstone horrors were small animated bonfires of hate that were deceptively fast, and I was grateful that the Champion was somewhat distracted for now. I heard the psychic scream of a daemonette as it was shunted back to the Warp at the end of a sai dagger. We were holding our own!
The Fiend recoiled at my strike, trumpeting its distress at being on fire as Wolfie leapt up to bite at its other crab claw, which it snagged like a pitbull from hell. The astral hound was then physically lifted into the air by the monster, who shook Wolfie violently, trying to get him off. The little Warp beast was able to hold on for a few shakes until a piece of armor separated from the daemon's arm, and Wolfie was thrown over the boundary of the road with a yelp. To my surprised terror, I heard my little buddy actually fall as he screamed, as if the silt on either side of the road wasn't actually very dense at all. This meant that if anyone fell off the road, that they'd probably die in the silt! Holy shit! As if this couldn't get any worse!
The Fiend had endured enough of our shit, and had now decided to charge me instead. Bellowing a challenge, it galloped ahead, its one crab claw still on fire from where I had struck it. I jumped out of the way, and fell to the edge of the road. The Fiend didn't stop, and continued galloping in the direction on my companions further down the path, charging like a maddened bull. Uh oh!
Alberich! The Fiend is running your way right now! I desperately warned the Tzaangor, who had only a moment to acknowledge me until the monster was upon him, racing at a breakneck speed. I gaped in horror as the I received a vision of the Fiend rearing up and slamming the Tzaangor in the chest with a backhanded crab claw, sending him into the air.
Time slowed down as I saw Alberich sail right over the road in my mind's eye, and into the silt. I could hear his terrified scream from here!
I cried out in surprise as I felt hot mechadendrites pull me to my feet. "It's just me, it's just me!" Null replied. His animated eyes were flashing between red and orange, and I could see that the tech-priest was trembling.
"Alberich!" I cried out. "It threw Alberich over the side!"
"Don't worry about lost comrades right now! You're the hope the galaxy needs, not him! Fight!" Null shouted at me.
Okay, alright. Get it together, get it-
"...Omega..."
And now the wind was talking to me. Was I losing my mind? Okay, I have to fucking survive. Cry about the Nazi beastman later. Get it together! Get angry! I'm a goddamn Inheritor, a Marii-Suze, a Plane Walker, and a godlike Traveler beyond time in this universe!
I was an Empress!
One of the Angels of Ecstasy had appeared through the obscuring winds, this one wielding a long magenta power sword. He was screaming loud incomprehensible nonsense through the grill in his helmet as he ran down the road to us. This marine looked like he had lost his sonic blaster, and that he also now had a slight limp. I held my staff, and visualized my energy collecting into a point at the tip of my staff, which started to glow brightly again. With a short chop, a fiery Warp bolt shot from my staff in the direction of the Noise Marine, who raised his other arm in protection. My Warp bolt caused his arm to explode right off his body in a shower of gore. Incredibly, he was only slowed, and continued heading my way. Behind him, I now saw Lian racing to catch up. The Fallen's face was bloody and covered in ash and dust. Directly behind the Fallen, one of the Witnesses also ran. She looked behind her, as if she was fleeing from something.
"Blast it!" Null was apparently trying to fire his plasma gun at the approaching Noise Marine, but his weapon wasn't cooperating. At my side, Wolfie magically popped back into existence, barking with excitement.
Get him, boy! I commanded the Warp beast, pointing at the Angel. The brave little ghost dog promptly charged the Noise Marine, and leaped onto him in a fit of snarling. This managed to stop the Angel from charging us as he was now wholly occupied with the furious astral hound that had latched onto his sword arm.
I inhaled in preparation to force push the Marine right off the road and into the silt, but became distracted when I saw the form of the now badly damaged Fiend of Slaanesh emerge from the curtain of sand behind the Witness. It was bellowing loudly in distress, and its scorpion tail now hung limply at its side. From here, I could see that a figure was standing atop its back, stabbing it repeatedly from behind as it blindly ran ahead. It was Morai! Wow!
My distraction caused me to lose my psychic concentration just as I saw another faint pink shimmer skip through time down the road toward us. Null finally got a wild shot off, missing the Champion but striking the Fiend behind him in its right foreleg, causing it to scream. As if in slow motion, I watched the pink distortion race toward me like a cartoon Tasmanian Devil, and I forced myself to attention again.
Oh no you don't. Not again, I thought, immediately pulling my energy back, inhaling, and screaming in the direction of the distorted form of Grikk'ahn. Back off, asshole! The Champion was shunted back into proper existence, and slipped backward on the road again. Behind him, two brimstone horrors appeared, and began jumping on his chest to claw at his un-guarded face.
Null was swearing again, and I saw him begin to cautiously advance toward the crippled Noise Marine with his Mechanicus gear staff and scourge, apparently unable to get another shot off with his plasma gun. This guy was still very much occupied with Wolfie's furious attack, but he still had his pink powersword. From behind, Lian still approached, giving the furiously flailing Fiend of Slaanesh a wide berth.
The Fiend still fought, and was now wildly swinging at everything around it with its remaining crab claw as Morai stabbed it mercilessly in the neck. Ennoia finally ran toward the creature, and removed her mask with one hand as she leapt toward it, holding one of her daggers ahead of her. I felt a wash of loathing once again as the maskless Ennoia stabbed the beast in the chest. The monster screamed deafeningly before exploding into pink ethereal slime which burned away in the wind. The Fiend was dead!
Nearby, the unmasked Blank's aura had the unfortunate effect of banishing one of the brimstone horrors harassing the Chaos Champion as he swung wildly at the irritating fiery daemons. Through his slower motions, I could definitely tell that Grikk'ahn could also feel the presence of the nearby Blank, and was not moving with his normal preternatural quickness. I tried to see if I could force out another Warp bolt, despite being near a Blank, but I was rewarded with the familiar feeling of an aching temple instead of a fireball. Doing magic near a Pariah was not easy.
Ennoia placed her mask back on, and the two Witnesses stood once again ready for battle. The sisters immediately confronted Grikk'ahn, who had also recovered, and was now trying to stomp on the remaining brimstone horror that was taunting him.
I heard a distorted yelp of pain, and I now saw that the crippled Noise Marine had dispatched Wolfie. He was now limp-running on his way to us. The tech-priest laughed, and clanged his gear staff and mechadendrites together in a challenge. "Come to me, broken heretic!" Null mocked when the Angel was almost to us. Once again, at the last minute, I noticed something terrible. The second Noise Marine had somehow snuck around Null's exposed flank of the battle in the obscured windy atmosphere. With a shout, I only had enough time to get out of the direct line of fire of the sonic blaster as it screamed through the air, striking Null on his right side at a very close range, and also pushing him off the side of the road. The tech-priest desperately scrabbled at the road with his mechadendrites to find purchase, dropping his gear staff. I saw his fearful yellow eyes as he too fell over the side. No!
I had no time to get sad over this, as there was now an uninjured Noise Marine with a sonic blaster a few paces away, and the injured one was nearly on me, wielding his magenta sword with his remaining arm. I was too stunned by seeing Null fall into the silt to move for a few moments, momentarily frozen in shock. Luckily, I watched as the nearby crippled Marine lurched and fell over face first onto the road. The Angel gurgled out "Grikk'ahn, my soul to you!" as the soul left his body. Strangely, I wasn't able to grab it, and it fled like a bat away from my sight.
Behind the toppled monstrosity, I saw Lian withdrawing his short sword from the body of the Angel. The Fallen then immediately went after the other Marine, who was readying his sonic blaster for another strike as I stood unable to react. "Die, foul children of Fulgrim!" Lian yelled, frantically leaping after the remaining Noise Marine.
"...Omega..." the whispering wind snapped me back to reality, and I was able to move again. A sonic blaster was aimed at me at close range, and I saw a finger move to trigger it in slow motion. Lian wouldn't be able to stop him in time.
"NO!" I yelled, concentrating my energy on gripping the Noise Marine's terrible weapon, and with a pull of my left hand, I wrenched it out of his grip. I then smashed it on the stone road, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
Nearby, Grikk'ahn and the Witnesses were now circling each other, with each sister holding a hand behind her mask, ready to ruin everyone's day. Lian had not slowed down at all, and was now squaring up with the remaining Noise Marine as he guarded me. The Angel drew his own lurid magenta power sword, and made an obscene loud hissing sound through his helmet.
"We shall complete our mission!" the Angel screamed. "It is useless to fight! We have more men! Our lives to the great Grikk'ahn, Defiler of Purity, Shepherd of Souls!"
"...Omega... ...Omega..." the wind whispered as I rallied my energy to defend myself. The call came from somewhere on the wind. I took my staff, and concentrated once again, watching the swirling sands. More men? For real? I pulled my intuition out again, searching for where these new guys were, and found three more Noise Marines soaring somewhere above us in a modified space craft, waiting for a signal from their Champion to flee this world. This was the vessel the Angels of Ecstasy had arrived in, and the same one that they had been waiting within for more Aeldari prey to show up. Their ship was a fat pink scaly thing about fifty meters in length with bat-like wings and hot powerful engines. It once also held human cultists (which had since died from the entropic sand curse), and one enslaved Imperial astropath who had been torturously melded to the interior of the ship on the bridge, impossibly still alive. I realized that these Marines had a teleporter beacon attached to Grikk'ahn, and they had hastily prepared a chair with psychically enhanced chains in their ship to... Oh, that was for me. Great. This gets better and better!
Guard me! I'm looking for their vessel! I screamed into Lian's mind, hoping that he would hear.
How would anyone be able to fly in this sandy death hurricane? A quick mental image gave me an idea of what the storm looked like over us, which was a broad flat spiral swirling through what was left of the atmosphere. It functioned like a hurricane, and its "eye" was close to passing over us. Dust devils and extremely destructive ropey tornados were also meandering around the land at the fringes of the storm, and I realized just how dangerous this weather really was. The pilot of the ship above us had to be very good to avoid the tornadoes and not get blown out of the sky.
I held my staff, remembering that Nabopolassar had used the Force Staff of Zuze to control weather, specifically. Hmm, I wonder...
Intentionally, I began to make myself as angry as I could, pulling on all my feelings of rage and frustration at my nigh-hopeless desperate situation. It wasn't difficult. I had been stolen from, brutalized, poisoned, left for dead in my own apartment, and I kept having to escape more death for the entertainment of the Chaos Gods. I had just watched my companions fall to their deaths, a Champion of Chaos wanted to do unspeakable things to me, and now, this whole region was going to die and I was stuck inside it! How can things get any worse? My Corona responded by brightening like a nova, and I focused my energy into the force staff.
I could sense an especially ruinous tornado raging about a kilometer south of here, swirling so destructively and violently that it could probably pick up a house in Kansas and transport it here instead of Oz. It reached incredibly all the way up into the upper atmosphere, spewing ash, sand, and hatred everywhere. With my other hand, I imagined that I was gripping the terrible storm, and I began pulling on it.
It responded. The tornado was now under my control! Awesome! Watch out, Wicked Witches, I'll drop a house on you!
Once again, I searched for where the Angels of Ecstasy were in the sky, and found them only about a kilometer up, circling overhead with the winds of the storm. They were physically unable to see what was going on below them due to the poor visibility. Too bad none of the airborne marines were powerful psykers like me!
The imprisoned astropath responded to my scrying, but he did not warn his captors. His name was Quale, and he had been trapped for over six years now, always suffering, and never dying. Kill... me... he faintly whispered in a telepathic plea to me.
Dimly, I was aware that I could hear that the Noise Marine Lian was fighting was screaming at me, and the sounds of metal striking metal shot around me. I felt something nudge my side, and then, I could smell that something was burning, but I could at least tell that I wasn't hurt. Better get this done quickly.
I slowly moved my staff, gripping the tornado at its base, and steering it. Hopefully I wouldn't get us all killed, but fuck those guys. If I wasn't getting out of here alive, they couldn't just teleport back to their stupid ship and run away.
My feet began to levitate off the ground, and I steered the fearsome storm over to where I heard three Noise Marines gossiping in their ship. They were contemplating how best they'd like to torture me as they wondered how the battle was going down here, frustrated that they couldn't see it. I grinned when I heard an alarm begin to blare inside their ship as their pilot began to adjust course to avoid the Chaos-seeking tornado I was pushing around. A swift change in direction caused them to feel relief, with one of them saying, "Slaanesh, that was close! I hate flying in bad weather!"
"Not so fast," I whispered, smiling as I levitated, surrounded by my psychic halo of gold light. I pulled the tornado around, looping it to where they had moved. Their alarm began to sound again.
"What?! Full speed!" Their ship lurched and sped up in a swift dive, but their alarm kept sounding as the tornado bore down on them, speeding unnaturally through the atmosphere to follow wherever they fled. "What in the Warp is going on? It's like its following us! Slaanesh, help us!" The pilot began to flick switches, pull on throttles, and desperately try to escape through a change of altitude and another dramatic turn of direction. "Slaanesh, aid us!"
"No... escape..." the enslaved Imperial astropath that was melded to the ship began to laugh. "There... is... no... escape..." Since poor Quale didn't have a voice box, his laughter came out as coughs and gasps. Through him, I could now feel incredible relief, as he knew he was about to die. Take me, God-Emperor, he transmitted to me when he felt my presence come over him. He gratefully allowed me into his body, and through him, I began to speak to the Noise Marines that had imprisoned him.
"Slaanesh isn't here, you little bitches," my own voice sounded perfectly from Quale's mouth, which was impossible, as he also hadn't had a proper throat in years. He had screamed too much when they had first kidnapped him from his Imperial Guard regiment years ago, so they had mutilated him before melding him in to the metal of the bridge. It was now the Angels' turn to scream as they struggled futilely against their flight controls, helplessly watching an unnatural entropy tornado as it chased them down. I continued laughing through Quale's body as I steered their doom toward them. "Only I am here. Just me. The one Grikk'ahn hunts. You are all mine. You are all going to die."
I was absolutely delighted to hear the sounds of terrified Chaos Space Marine screaming as I slammed the tornado into their vessel, but I wasn't thrilled to hear them shout strange words, and end their lives with, "Grikk'ahn, our souls to you!" Despite all the fancy future metal alloys and Chaos enchantments their ship had, it crumpled like tissue paper when the extreme winds of a Nubuan entropy tornado struck it like meeting the fist of an angry god.
My feet touched the road once again, and I saw that Lian was injured, and breathing heavily at my side, his sword out. My Key brightened again on my chest; it had managed to absorb what little energy was left in Quale's soul. I sensed that I had not pulled any other souls from the destroyed vessel, and that the Noise Marines on board had also fled my grasp. Bringing myself back to the present, I saw that the Angel that Lian had been fighting was now nowhere to be found. "Lian?" I immediately looked toward where the Witnesses had been fighting Girkk'ahn, and saw no one. "Lian, where is everyone?"
Lian said nothing, and pointed further down the road. I was able to make out the limp forms of Ennoia and Morai laying on the ground! Where was the Champion? Were they dead too? What the fuck, man. And I thought things were actually looking up for us!
"Your light has dimmed! I will put it out forever!" I heard the missing Angel of Ecstasy shout at me from beyond a sheet of sand. His electric pink powersword blazed to life again as he raced to me! I could see that the Noise Marine was blackened and burned. Lian, despite being obviously injured, turned toward the running scorched figure, and held his sword before him, ready to defend me.
Get ready for the rest of the surprise! I heard a cheerful German voice say to me in mind. Alberich?!
Out of the swirling silt off the side of the yellow road, a glowing blue shape soared into the sky above us, and a bolt of multicolored warpfire erupted from a figure standing atop it, blasting the charging Angel with the forces of raw change! The Noise Marine began to slow, and then stiffen in his tracks. I heard the crackling sound of breaking glass, and I realized that he was being transfigured. Before he could die, he said, "Grikk'ahn, my soul to you!", and once again, I wasn't able to grab his soul. I didn't want to eat shitty Chaos Marines anyway, so I was fine with that. The burned Angel of Ecstasy transformed into a thousand shards of sharp glass, and spilled onto the road in a torrent.
I looked skyward, and saw a glowing cyan and aqua blue disk rimmed with irregular spines and teeth. It skated on the screaming winds like a kite, leaving behind a wake of multicolored fire. Atop the disk, and shining with Warp energy, I could make out Alberich, who was absolutely filthy with ash and silt, as he stood balanced like a surfer, holding his flaming glaive aloft! Okay, that was a pretty cool surprise, I had to admit. Distantly, I could make out a glint of reflective metal laying on the base of the disk, and I could see a limp mechadendrite under a blackened red robe. Alberich had rescued Null!
Null is injured, as am I. We need to go! We're running out of time! Alberich replied to me as he flew around the road above us on his awesome new Disk of Tzeentch.
Bravo, naughty little bird! Commendable resistance, but you're not going anywhere, I felt that malevolent voice rasp into my mind again. The Champion's psychic voice now had a more fearsome quality. A pink distortion pulled itself out of the wind, and before me, Grikk'ahn now stood clapping his hands a few paces ahead of us. The Chaos Champion appeared unnervingly calm in the sight of losing all his allies, and an aura of dark power was swirling around him as he grinned evilly. He began to speak audibly, and his physical voice was much more resonant, like he was speaking from the bottom of a well. "I must say, this certainly wasn't how I imagined your taking would go, but I am satisfied none the less, and more importantly, so is blessed Slaanesh. While I had hoped that your soul would be the one to trigger my divine ascension, I will simply deliver you as a gift to the great Am'Erika instead! My rebirth begins!" Grikk'ahn shouted as he raised his arms in jubilation.
Cracks began to race across the road below us as another pair of monstrous arms erupted from Grikk'ahn's body. He was laughing when I realized in horror what had happened.
The souls of all the Noise Marines, both here and in the shuttle, had been devoured by him. That had been enough. He had been close anyway, I remembered, feeling my stomach turn. They had all pledged themselves to Grikk'ahn, being wholly devoted to him, in both life and death. Just as I got stronger with eating souls, so had he. He had been eating other Chaos Marines for years, and now, he had finally devoured enough to impress Slaanesh.
"He's ascending into a daemon prince!" I shouted to Lian. "We have to stop him!"