Present
– Rykad capital –
It turned out that reaching the Starport was the easiest part of the plan. It also turned out they had no plan.
" The shuttle ! It's over there !" said Evayne enthusiastically.
" Less talk, more action. Let's make a run for it !" commented Abelard, sounding relieved. At least their escape route was still reachable.
Suddenly, one of the transport shuttles belonging to the governor exploded in front of them. They backed away from the fire now consuming the bridge and barring their way to their shuttle. Amidst the smoke and the metallic debris, something big was coming.
A shape of something metallic, crimson, and towering emerged from the smoke. Few are those who can lay eyes upon a Chaos Space Marine and live to tell the tale. It seemed today they were going to find out if they were amongst the lucky ones.
The Space Marine's power armor was painted in red, with unnatural hooks and spikes decorating it. Under his protective helmet, they could see no flesh nor eyes. He was easily thrice the size of a normal human being in height, and its armor even bigger, enclosing him in a perfect cocoon of metal unscathed. Their weapons would barely scratch its surface. He had a heavy bolter fused over his forearm, a weapon most humans tended to mount on turrets because of its sheer weight. On the other hand, the Chaos Space Marine held a chainsword, dripping with visceras and blood, and twice the size of them. There was no way any of them would be able to survive one slash of the weapon. It would just cut them in halves in a moment.
Elena and her companions stopped dead in their tracks from the pure astonishment this appearance caused them. Elena understood quickly that the ogre she thought she had seen in her vision was related to this, though she didn't feel like it was the same armor exactly.
" Shit." That was Abelard, and he had perfectly resumed what was going on inside her mind right now. Oh, shit indeed. For all her training in Scholastia Psykana and her years on the battlefield in the Imperial Guard, she had never run into an Herald of the Archenemy, a corrupted and fallen angel. That…was quite the challenge. She made a conscious effort to stop her jaw from dropping, even as her heart started beating faster in her chest.
What was she doing ? There was no time to lose ! She wasn't a stupid rabbit caught in between the lights of a Titan running straight to it ! She was Elena von Valancius, and she was supposed to have a plan for every contingency ! That was what Rogue Traders did ! Snapping out of her surprise, she ordered quickly :
" Abelard, Heinrix, Argenta, to the frontline ! Distract him !"
It was cold, to send the three of them to face this…thing. She doubted Abelard's sword could even scratch the power armor. Maybe Heinrix's psychic force could do some damage…but he was never going to last long against something like that. Argenta would be the real damage dealer here, if she could approach the thing with her bolter. Even so, would her weapon prove enough to pierce through the power armor ?
" Pasqal, Cassia, Evayne, our shuttle has turrets and heavy weapons. Pasqal, in the name of all that is holy, get me those turrets up and running in two minutes ! Idira, you go with me. We make a dash there, and take care of this thing's minions."
As Heinrix, Abelard and Argenta already left for their position, facing the Chaos Space Marine, Elena and Idira ran to the side. From the corner of her eye, Elena saw the Chaos Space Marine bash into Abelard's sword with his, and the Seneschal barely managing to hold his own, roaring in despair as he tried to avoid the chainsword coming into contact with his face ; with its bolter, the herald of chaos opened fire against Heinrix. A bullet caught him on the shoulder and another grasped at his leg. Behind them, taking aim, stood the Sister of Battle.
" I shall fear no darkness, for light is within me, the light of my faith in Thee !" That was Argenta' chanting, her angelic voice firm and resolved, as she dashed out of cover to take aim. Her bullet grasped at the Chaos Space Marine's power armor. " I shall flee before no ennemy, for there is no ennemy more terrible than cowardice, and I shall overpower it !" Another bullet, barely registered by the enemy.
I do hope Pasqal, Cassia and Evayne will get the turrets up , thought Elena, gritting her teeth as she sped up. She could tell Idira, less agile than she was, was trailing behind now.
The Rogue Trader took aim with her longlas as she ran, barely stopping to get a shot at one of the most dangerous looking cultists sabotaging the shuttle, hovering over them from the bridge. It turned out that it was harder to make a shuttle explode when you didn't have your head over your shoulders.
Dashing forward, she launched herself towards a ladder, and nimbly climbed it up. As she laid feet over the bridge, she found herself surrounded by a dozen cultists that she chose to ignore. Her eyes were set on the prize : a nimble sniper that had just taken a shot against Argenta, and, from the cries she heard, had managed to hurt her.
" Idira ! I'm leaving those to you !"
" I- I'm right behind you, Lord Captain !" replied Idira, out of breath.
Not losing momentum, Elena dashed through the enemies as the sniper, noticing her intent, made a run for the upper platform. In her back, Idira managed to get to the bridge, and gripped her staff tight as electricity crackled around her. From her staff and fingers, rays of lightning crackled and jolted towards the multiple assailants, jumping in between them. Half of the cultists fell dead on the spot, their heads glowing and melting from the shock. The others took hold of their weapons, encircling Idira.
On the ground, the Chaos Space Marine had thrown Heinrix to the side, and the psyker was getting back up unusually slowly. The Sister of Battle was screeching the power armor with bullets, and her determination and constant assault managed to tear a hole at a joint in the power armor. With one hand, the Space Marine bashed Abelard away as if he was nothing but a twig, and, in an excruciating moment, lifted his leg and just…crushed the Seneschal's legs under the weight of his armor as he literally walked over him.
That's going sideways really fast , thought Elena. Cursing herself, she let the sniper slide away for a second, just in time to take a deadeye shot at the puncture Argenta had managed to break. Inhaling deeply, she took aim and the beam of the long-las actually managed to burn through the armor. The hit was enough to unbalance the enemy, as Argenta dashed on the side, barely avoiding an incoming round of bolter. Heinrix was limping to Abelard's side.
I need to take out the sniper first, then focus on this one, she thought.
On the other side of the battlefield, now that the enemies upon the bridge were distracted by Elena and Idira, Pasqal and Cassia's way to the shuttle was clear. Elena had somehow forgotten one important detail in her plan : the Tech-Priest was slow. Being more machine than man meant he wasn't half as agile and nimble as most of them. She felt the need to push back on her vox and harangue Pasqal to go faster, but the communication was still jammed. Fortunately, Cassia, running from cover to cover behind him, was busy doing the scolding on her part. Whatever the Navigator was telling the Magos, it seemed to be working, as Pasqal gained momentum and sped up. Cassia then gestured at Evayne, and the young man slowed down, taking a shot at the Chaos Space Marine with his plasma pistol - and that thing was heavy enough to actually pierce through the armor.
As Cassia dashed out of cover once more, a perfect shot caught her in the chest. The force of the projectile was enough to project her a few steps back as she fell on the ground, gasping for air, her dress reddening.
" Cassia, no !" shouted Elena in desperation.
Elena felt her precognition ability warning her ; surveying the battlefield had distracted her from her prey. She rolled on the ground just in time to dodge a bullet that would have otherwise blown her brain out. Spotting the marksman dashing into cover, she forced herself back up, ignoring the vertigo caused by her blood loss, ran, jumped over an obstacle and aimed at the sniper once more. The beam caught the marksman in the gut and, this close, both nearly cut him in two and cauterized his wound at the same time.
On the bridge, Idira was having trouble facing the surviving cultists. She managed to get into one of their minds, twisting it, until the cultist took hold of his axes and threw himself at his ally's face. But two of them were closing in on her. She narrowly avoided one of their blows, only to be stabbed in the back by another one. Too late, Elena jumped back into the fray, her hair flying around her as she used telekinesis to toss the two cultists down the bridge as if they were puppets. She rushed to Idira's side, but was simply too incompetent at medical assistance to do anything.
" G-go…I'll manage", said Idira, already snatching one of her medicare kits on her own.
On the Seneschal's side, things were looking awry. The Chaos Space Marine had managed to get close to the Sister of Battle. Argenta tried to dash to the side, still firing her bolter fiercely, but the marine didn't seem to care. He slashed the whole area with his chainsword, and, as Argenta nimbly jumped back to avoid the blow, managed to grasp the head of the Sister in his second, enormous hand. Argenta's head looked so small in his grip - the Sister screaming, hitting over his fingers desperately, as the marine started tightening his grip, choking her. Her body went eerily limp, yet the marine kept on tightening, wishing to pop her head off.
Fortunately, Heinrix's psychic abilities had allowed Abelard back into the fray, and the two of them coordinated a common attack, targeting the arm of the marine. More annoyed than hurt by their intervention, the marine let go of Argenta as if she was merely an insect or a doll, and turned his attention back to the two wounded swordsmen.
Elena's heart missed a beat when she contemplated the Sister's limp body. She aligned another shot, aiming at the weak point created by Argenta before - that seemed to make the marine react, at least, as he slashed angrily at the air. Heinrix clumsily jumped back before getting gutted by the blow.
On his side, Evayne had hurled himself towards the Navigator. Thank the God-Emperor for his sound mind, for he was providing her with emergency medical care. Should they lose Cassia, they would never be able to escape the system. That meant Pasqal was on his own. To Elena's relief, he had managed to get to the turret and was deftly connecting his augment to the cogitator.
We just need to hold on for a few more seconds. Oh, Omnisiah, let the machine spirit save us !
But even that may not be bestowed upon them.
The Chaos Space Marine must have noticed Pasqal's tinkering. He slashed once more at Heinrix and Abelard, who had to recoil in order to avoid the impressive blow. In the movement, the marine managed to hit Heinrix with the hilt of his chainsword. The blow sent the psyker down to the ground and was sufficient to bash his head in. For a second, it seemed like Heinrix was trying to crawl back up, but a round of bolter fire would have turned him into mush, had he not put up his psychic shield just in time. Still, the Interrogator remained eerily still on the ground.
Sweeping away Abelard easily with another round of bolter shot, the marine headed purposefully towards Pasqal. Elena furiously shot at him another time, but her shot barely grazed him.
If the marine gets to Pasqal, it's over. Our weapons are not capable of truly hurting him.
Well, that left only one possibility open. Gathering what little strength she still had, Elena grabbed the railing and jumped to the ground, rolling into herself as she hit the ground. Her right ankle cracked with the sound of snapping bone as sharp pain erupted in her feet. She rose unsteadily, now limping.
Her momentum had evolved into a new kind of desperation. She deftly reloaded her rifle as she advanced head on towards the marine, who barely even acknowledged her presence.
To her surprise, Abelard was still conscious, despite his wounds, and, through sheer willpower, rose to his feet as she came close.
" Lord Captain", he said, and coughed a cloat of blood and teeth on the ground. " Get into the shuttle. We'll cover…we'll cover for you…get away…"
" Your wounds must have gotten you to your head, Seneschal, for I think I misheard you calling me a coward " Elena gritted her teeth, letting her fear bubbled up inside her.
Don't be afraid. Be angry , she repeated to herself.
" Anyway, don't they say that today is a good day to die ? ", she told Abelard, and then braced herself as she jumped in front of the Chaos Space Marine, blocking his way to Pasqal. This was a desperate measure. She was going to empty her barrel, and then she would be utterly defenseless. But a few seconds might seal the deal after all. She raised her long-las.
Using her precognition abilities to guess at the weakest point of her prey, she aimed deftly, and she could tell that this one truly hurt. The warp was getting tricky though, as unnatural winds surged around her, projecting light objects around, including some broken glass that slashed her arm and face.
The Chaos Space Marine did not even deviate from his course, though the shots had succeeded in slowing him down. However, he did have the decency to acknowledge her desperate attempt by picking up a heavy looking piece of fiery debris from the exploded shuttle, and hurling it towards her. Abelard put her out of the way just in time.
As she ducked, her face lying on the cold hard ground, and tried to reload her barrel, she heard the sound of the combat turrets of the shuttle coming to life. The familiar whirring made her heart pulse with joy. Both heavy bolters mounted on the turrets started shooting at the Chaos Space Marine and, despite all his ruthlessness, the marine had to stop and ducked for cover behind another shuttle. Pasqal didn't relent and the turrets shot through the unknown shuttle, piercing their way through towards the marine. Elena aimed at the enemy a few more times more, feeling her contribution was superfluous at this point, but cathartic. At least, the huge form staggered and fell unto itself. Just to make sure, Pasqal made the turrets empty their barrel into it - until it became apparent that not even an agent of Chaos would come back from being turned into goo on the ground.
Abelard and Elena stood there as the smoke settled in, and they exchanged looks of surprise and awe at their victory.
" I…can't believe we put a Chaos Space Marine down", said Abelard.
" What can I say, I'm a walking lucky charm", said Elena wryly.
" That…is certain. Let's bring the others to the shuttle. They badly need help."
Evayne was already carrying Cassia into the shuttle, under Pasqal's vigilant visor. The young man then ran towards them. Limping as she was, she wasn't going to be able to carry anyone on her own to the shuttle. She gestured for him to help her and they both lifted Argenta's limp body up, Evayne carrying her feet and Elena putting her arms under hers. As they clumsily reached the shuttle, Pasqal took over, and Elena said :
" Praise be to the Motive Force for your timely intervention, Pasqal !"
" The Omnissiah knows all, comprehends all", he answered, bowing his head in a sign of faithful devotion.
Abelard followed just after, carrying Heinrix, and Idira trailed behind him, holding her abdomen with pain.
As the last member of her retinue crashed into the shuttle, Pasqal headed to the pilot cabin and the shuttle sealed, its motors whirring and seemingly purring. " Launching countdown for take off", said the Magos, calm as ever. "Beginning activation prayer and rejoicing hymn."