Legends of the Smoke Jaguars Chapter 28
It was Sedaxus' opinion that whoever had designed the Whispercutter deserved to be shot. He hung from the flimsy harness with growing annoyance, watching craggy mountainside flash past mere metres from his eyes. They were travelling at fantastic speed, but so low as to give a pilot a heart attack. Sulphurous air whisked over his helm, feeling like a tornado battering his scalp as the faint light of evening faded into murky twilight. The summit was lost in darkness but he knew they were drawing close to the target, a shrinking ring of Black Ceramite surrounding the Traitor warlord on all sides.
He was exposed, his armoured form open to the elements as the skeletal frame dashed over the ground, floating on a cushion of anti-grav as the servitor-brain that passed for a pilot sought a safe path. The concept of a Whispercutter struck him as ridiculous, as if someone had taken the earliest models of Land Speeder and instead of upgrading armour and weapons had instead stripped it back even more. Up to ten Space Marines dangling from harnesses, with no protection save stealth. A single stray flash of light or noise could betray them and so they waited in silence, not even risking a closed vox-link. Their only prospect for victory being catching Kharkul off guard.
A craggy boulder loomed in their path and the servitor swayed the craft to one side to avoid impact. Sedaxus sensed rock passing mere inches from his faceplate fought back the urge to swear loudly and inventively at the sheer absurdity of this manoeuvre. He had argued against it but Nolaro was set, unwavering in confidence that this would work. Since the moment the vox had spat out coordinates on the third planet the Raven Guard had been hellbent on engaging. Observing from afar had revealed a craggy and lava-strewn landscape, perfect ambush country should this prove an elaborate trap. A direct orbital drop in Shadowhawks would have been too obvious; if Kharkul wasn't prepared for that he deserved to die. Had they the Terminator elite of the Deliverers to hand they may have risked a teleport assault, but they didn't. That left a swift stealth infiltration, and Nolaro was betting the Night Lords had never seen anything like a Whispercutter.
A jerk to the side shook Sedaxus hard and he could only assume they had dodged another obstacle. Darkness was closing in but they were nearly at the summit. Dozens of other Whispercutters were closing from other directions but he could not see them. That was good, if he could see them something had gone very wrong. Altogether nearly three hundred Space Marines were closing undetected, power enough to burn cities and topple planetary governments, all set upon killing one warlord. Sedaxus was sure victory would be swift.
Suddenly he was thrown forward in his harness as the Whispercutter decelerated. A moment later they crested the lip of the summit, emerging onto a broad plateau strewn with crumbling boulders. There was no sign of life, no alarms or cries of challenge, they had arrived without setting off a single alert. The Whispercutter slowed to a crawl and banked about as Nolaro and Damolos disengaged their harnesses and dropped to the ground. Sedaxus was in the second rank and broke free a moment later. He was weightless for a single moment then hit the ground in a crouch, glad to have firm footing under him at last. A half-dozen Ravens, a combat squad's worth, dropped in sequence behind them, then the Whispercutter took off, flying back to the landing zone with its task completed.
Damolos drew his axe and shield as he whispered, "No signs we were detected, the bastards should have no idea we're coming."
"No traps. Looks like Xavaar was telling the truth," Sedaxus grunted.
"Take nothing for granted," Nolaro hissed, "Tread lightly, no noise until we engage. Get as close as we can then hit them with everything we've got. Engar, get up high and if you see the Warlord take the shot."
Engar nodded and gripped his rifle tight as he climbed on top of a boulder. Sedaxus for his part drew his plasma pistol and extended his talons, following as the Ravens began slinking closer. They kept close to the boulders, never letting their mass stand stark against open sky, mere suggestions of shadow in the black. The centre of the summit was their destination, a good distance across the plateau. Night became torpid darkness and autosenses engaged filters to allow him to see. Dark Ceramite became merely etched silhouettes in the black, but he was not discomforted. Night was his home and darkness familiar to him as his own breathing.
Minutes crawled by as the Raven Guard tightened their noose and Sedaxus thought they'd catch this Kharkul unawares, but as he slipped around a boulder there was a flash of light and the harsh banging of bolters letting rip. One at first, but then another and another, followed by dozens more. Someone, somewhere had engaged, the Raven Guard had been discovered.
"Whose engaged?!" Nolaro roared into the vox, "Report damn it!"
"Sergeant Dinnak, eastern quadrant, enemy presenting from the front!"
"What are we facing?!"
"Orks!"
The thunder of bolters was everywhere and Sedaxus saw loping shapes bounding their way, flashes of hulking frames evident between the boulders. Damolos hefted his shield and axe as he spat, "Xavaar warned us of this."
"Doesn't matter," Sedaxus growled, "If Orks are all he's got, Kharkul is going down today."
Engar voxed, "Careful, there's something different about this lot."
But Sedaxus snorted, "No matter, let's blow through this rabble and take the Warlord's head."
Suddenly a large shape bounded out from behind a rock, hurling itself towards him. Instantly Sedaxus' pistol came up and he unleashed a ball of shining plasma, etching brilliant light over the surroundings. He grinned as the shot clipped a shoulder, engulfing half the Ork in flaming death, but his elation died swiftly as the Ork failed to die. Plasma licked over its skin, charring away the outer layers and flaying muscle to the bone, but exposing metallic spikes buried throughout its mass. Even as flesh peeled away the spikes began to grow, building up new mass to compensate for the loss. What emerged from his inferno was half Ork, half a collection of oscillating spikes, all headed his way.
With a burst of frenzied motion the abomination leapt at him, shoving a growing spear of metal at his face, from what had once been an arm. Sedaxus ducked low, letting the blow pass over his head as his claws flashed low. He sought to hamstring the foe but though his talons bit deep the wounds almost instantly healed, new masses of spikes growing out of the injury to create metallic spines. Sedaxus gawped at the strange power on display but was more shocked when the Ork's remaining hand deformed, becoming a blunt mace that swept about to smash him in the side of the head.
The Night Lord went flying, tumbling to the ground as his head shook like a bell. The world was spinning and purple spots flashed in his vision as a faint smell of sulphur revealed his helm had been cracked. Bewildering dismay ran through him but combat reflexes honed over hundreds of battlefields compelled him to hit the ground in a roll, swinging his weight over to bring him back up on his feet.
He spun to face his foe and was dismayed to see the deviant thing reshaping itself. Spikes were growing out of the metallic arm, becoming a long lance with a glistening head. Sedaxus had once seen a Traitor Marine infected with some technorganic virus, able to grow guns and cannons out of his arms but this was different. The gleaming head of the weapon was crackling with lethal power, proclaiming it was preparing to stab his hearts and end his life with one thrust. Such a moment should have produced sneering contempt from his foe, a triumphant smirk perhaps, but there was nothing, the Ork was eerily calm and unconcerned.
Sedaxus' anger was stirred by such indifference and he resolved not to wait. As the Ork thing began to move he was already diving forward, closing the range with all his speed. The lance tip scored over his pauldron, ripping a terrible furrow into the Ceramite but failing to pierce his flesh. Sedaxus rolled with the blow and swung completely about, bringing his claws in tight to slice over the deviant's belly, in a disembowelling move that should have spilled guts everywhere.
To his utter shock the abomination did not fall, instead smashing its mace hand into his flank with all the weight of a wrecking ball. Sedaxus was lifted off his feet and sent tumbling to the ground, landing in an awkward heap as his fused ribcage shifted unnaturally. There was no graceful regaining his feet this time, he sprawled in the dust, struggling for breath as the Ork-thing loomed over him.
Sedaxus rolled onto his back and tried to bring his pistol to bear but the deviant was upon him, Lance held high, ready to plunge into his eye and end his life. Sedaxus' pistol came up but too slowly, moving at a glacial pace in the elongated moment of imminent death, the lance would strike before he could pull the trigger and his life would end. It was in that instant that a small disc flew past his eyes, spinning gently as it slapped onto the deviant's front. The abnormal Ork paused for an instant as it looked down, then the melta charge erupted. Sedaxus saw it all, skin broiling away and metallic spikes glowing cherry red, deforming into slag as super-hot fusion fire burned through its mass. Metal evaporated into noxious mist as the centre mass of the deviant was liquefied, incinerating faster than the spikes could regrow then it fell over, dead before it hit the ground.
Suddenly Nolaro bounded into his field of vision, racking the combi-bolter as he cried, "Don't just lie there, get on your damned feet and fight!"
Sedaxus forced his aching chest into the back of his mind as he staggered upright and snarled, "How many of those charges you got left?"
"Not enough!" Nolaro spat.
Sedaxus looked about and saw Raven Guard struggling with more distorted Orks. Bolters blew craters into flesh but they healed over almost instantly, making them look less like Greenskins and more like walking pincushions with every blow. Several black-clad bodies lay unmoving upon the ground, killed by stabs to the hearts, while the thundering of bolters further away proclaimed the battle was going no better elsewhere.
Sedaxus spied Damolos duelling with a deviant, axe tearing deep furrows into flesh as his broad shield sparked from return blows. The venerable warrior was sagging, his strength not enough to withstand the flurry of strikes and his own arm insufficient to land a telling blow. He was struggling to hold and Sedaxus saw in moments would be beaten down. Instantly the pair leapt to help, claws extending as Nolaro drew his power knife. They tackled the thing from behind, scoring lashing blows to its back but failing to drop it.
"This thing doesn't die!" Sedaxus roared as he slashed over and over.
"Cut deeper," Nolaro barked, "Don't just slash the skin, you have to cut its heart out!"
"I'm trying!" Sedaxus snapped as he sank his claws into the spine without effect.
"If you can't do it properly then get out of my damned way!" Damolos roared as he returned to the fray.
With a moment to regroup the warrior had drawn back his arm and braced for one mighty leap. He threw himself at the struggling trio, axe sweeping overhead in one mighty sweep. The roaring chainteeth Wailed as they spilt the air, diving like a divine thunderbolt to land squarely in the centre of the Ork's head. Flesh and bone parted, metallic spikes shattered and brains were pulped as Damolos drove his axe downwards, cleaving the skull apart from scalp to neck. The Ork froze as its head was spilt in twain, then it dropped, lifeless at last.
Sedaxus let go and was about to turn to find another foe but then the night lit up. From the very centre of the summit a column of unreal light shot upwards, piercing the vaults of heaven. All the colours imaginable and more besides flowed out of the column, staining the universe with vile tinges of unreality. Strange shapes flowed in that light, claws and beaks and tentacles reaching from a dimension of horror to scrape the walls of the material universe. One look was enough to proclaim they were nearly free, almost able to break the veil between universes and drag billions into hell with them.
"The ritual has started!" Sedaxus gasped.
"We have to get there now," Nolaro spat, "Engar, clear us a path!"
"On it," Engar voxed from wherever he was hiding, "Hold onto your feet."
Something flashed overhead and then the universe turned upside down as Gravity inverted. One of Engar's special rounds, a micro antigrav-bomb, disrupting the universal constant for a moment. Weight lost all meaning, leaving everybody floating in Zero-G. The Space Marines were accustomed to fighting without gravity but the Orks were not. While the Astartes moved with practised grace the Orks trod heavily, catapulting themselves into the sky as they flailed wildly. The effect lasted only a few seconds but it was more than enough for Nolaro and his squad to break away, bounding towards the centre of the summit with sinuous grace.
Gravity returned an instant later and Sedaxus found his feet growing heavy under him once more. Behind he heard Orks slamming into the dirt as the world brought them crashing down, but he didn't bother to look. The column of light lay just ahead and he itched to engage. Time was against them, if the ritual was completed then billions would die, Sedaxus among them.
Six Space Marins dashed around a rock and found the ritual site awaiting them. A broad circle of plinths and altars, all bearing strange devices and humming mechanisms. They were bathed in blood and strewn bodies announced the bloody sacrifices made in this place but that was incidental. At the very centre erupted a spewing geyser of unlight and before it loomed Kharkul. His back was to them but his form oozed infernal power and around his waist squatted naked slaves, chained to his body by fat links of dark metal.
The Imperials screeched to a halt as Kharkul lumbered about and chuckled, "Too late to stop me little Ravens, but you're just in time to join my sacrifices. I shall dedicate your murders to the Dark Gods of Chaos and with your deaths the veil shall shatter and I will ascend!"