Rewinding the tiline just slightly.
Aboard the Lunar-class cruiser.
"I am fully prepared."
Cybia surveyed her surroundings and spoke to the Custodian.
In order to better rain the God-Emperor's wrath upon the traitors, she had already tested a multitude of psychic incantations, confirming she was in peak condition.
Leonardo gripped his newly forged weapon—a freshly minted Custodian Guardian Spear—and ran his gauntlet gently along its haft, a profound sense of nostalgia welling up within his chest.
"As am I."
Just monts prior, Rowan had casually transmuted him into an architect of reality as well.
Having beco an architect, while Leonardo could not pry open the immaterium to channel boundless psychic might like Cybia or Lucia, he could undoubtedly utilize this newfound authority to significantly exalt the machine spirits residing within his Allarus Terminator armor and Guardian Spear.
"Speaking of which, where is Lord Rowan? Why is he not present?"
"I have arrived."
Off to the side, Rowan's voice carried over from a distance.
His figure materialized into view as he approached, with Lucia guarding him closely, matching his every step.
"Wait, what exactly is that?"
Cybia seed to spot sothing anomalous and paused in bewildernt.
Trailing behind Rowan, autonomously tracking his movents, was an utterly bizarre-looking... cannon?
"Ah, I simply had a sudden stroke of inspiration."
Rowan explained casually. "While our current combat efficacy is more than sufficient to butcher a detachnt of Chaos Astartes in a boarding action, if the enemy deploys heavy armor to stall us, it could prove rather tedious."
"Thus, I took a stroll through the cruiser's armory where they store the Astra Militarum munitions. And, Emperor preserve us, I actually stumbled upon a Leman Russ Executioner!"
He forcefully patted the self-propelled artillery piece hovering beside him, an expression of supre confidence written across his face.
Cybia and Leonardo exchanged utterly bewildered glances.
They roughly deduced what had transpired. Staring at the grotesque amalgamation of machinery for a mont, they spoke in unison: "Did you... rip the main gun off that tank?"
"Correct."
Rowan nodded. "I dismantled the Ryza-pattern plasma destroyer main gun and welded it directly onto the track chassis of a Thunderfire Cannon. Now I simply drag it along using my dominion over the materium. I figure the firepower on this thing should be absolutely devastating."
"Very well..."
Even a Custodian of Leonardo's vast, esoteric experience had never witnessed such a spectacle. He clicked his tongue, "If an adherent of the Omnissiah were to witness this... let's call it, highly audacious modification, they would absolutely emit an ear-piercing binary screech."
"Hah, who cares?"
Rowan dismissed the notion casually. "Everything is prepared. Initiate the teleportation."
"By your will."
Upon receiving the command, Cybia imdiately drew her force sword. A vast ocean of psychic energy coalesced around her form.
With a violently forceful slash, a massive warp rift tore open before the group. The interior of the rift radiated a deep, abyssal blue luminescence, as if an invisible tide were violently surging within.
"Let us move. It is ti for the main event to begin!"
Without a microsecond of hesitation, the four figures filed into the rift, crossing the threshold of the immaterium.
Upon entering the warp, Rowan closed his eyes, sharply withdrawing all of his senses to avoid accidentally triggering his ontological dominion and causing catastrophic interference with the teleportation transit.
The transit through the immaterium was agonizingly brief; almost instantly, the blinding white light of teleportation dissipated.
Returning to the material universe, Rowan felt a montary wave of vertigo wash over his brain, requiring a second to acclimate.
Just as he regained his bearings, he witnessed Lucia and Leonardo erupting forward from his flanks like twin hurricanes, violently sweeping across the enclosed space with absolute impunity.
Imdiately following, the whistling of swung weaponry, the sickening thuds of heavy impacts, the clatter of falling bodies, the spray of arterial blood, and the shrieks of the dying instantly intertwined into an unending cacophony.
By the ti Rowan fully gathered his wits and surveyed his surroundings, the teleportarium was already a slaughterhouse. Mangled fragnts of armor and flesh were scattered everywhere, forming a grotesque tableau resembling a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Every single enemy present in the chamber re monts ago—whether Chaos Astartes or mortal cultists—had been t with the exact sa fate. Under the combined assault of a Living Saint and a Custodian, they had been swiftly reduced to crimson decorations upon the deck plating.
"Allow to ascertain our position."
Cybia, who had not even found the opportunity to strike, waved her hand dismissively. The severed head of a Chaos Astartes, still rolling across the deck, levitated into the air.
Tendrils of psychic lightning arced from her fingertips, piercing the skull. The brain matter within was instantly scorched to cinder under the violent application of her telepathic interrogation.
Roughly two seconds later, Cybia retracted her psychic grip and spoke: "I have obtained a rough schematic of this strike cruiser's internal architecture. We currently possess two viable options: First, proceed directly to the bridge and decapitate the leadership of this Chaos warband."
"Second, proceed to the warp engine housing and scuttle the vessel entirely. Both routes will successfully achieve our objective."
"...Select the first option. To the bridge."
Rowan made the decision instantly. "Given our current combat capabilities, eliminating the leadership of a Chaos warband should be an effortless endeavor. If we target the warp engines, we will be forced to fight defensively—we must avoid causing catastrophic damage that could trigger a premature detonation and consu us all, while simultaneously guarding against cornered enemies attempting mutually assured destruction. It would be far too tedious."
No one voiced any objections, unanimously accepting the tactical assessnt.
Deliberations concluded, the four individuals, accompanied by one self-propelled plasma cannon, ford a combat formation and advanced out the blast doors of the teleportarium.
As they marched, Cybia rapidly and efficiently relayed the intelligence extracted from the Chaos Astartes' brain to the rest of the squad.
Through this, the group gained a comprehensive understanding of the Chaos warband's operational structure.
"The Chaos Lord is also a Dark Apostle?"
Leonardo frowned slightly, imdiately offering a tactical recomndation. "We must exercise caution. Traitors of this specific breed are exceptionally well-versed in a multitude of warp rituals. We must remain highly vigilant."
"Understood. Their vile sorcery shall shatter beneath our blades, for the God-Emperor illuminates our path."
Lucia spoke in a calm, solemn tone.
Marching down the corridor of a voidship almost entirely consud by chaotic corruption was unequivocally a harrowing experience.
The deck was so heavily coated in blood it resembled fresh paint, dyeing the entire corridor a sickening crimson. The ambient air carried a bizarre, cloying fragrance and a moist warmth, inexplicably evoking the sensation of a maiden's gentle caress.
Flanking the corridor were copious amounts of grotesque sculptures and blasphemous art pieces, further defiled by the bloody "paint." The empty eye sockets of these statues appeared exceptionally sinister, as if they possessed a perverse vitality and were secretly observing Rowan and his retinue as they passed.
Although this Chaos strike cruiser appeared vastly more "vibrant" than any standard Imperial vessel, to Rowan, it resembled a bloated, rotting corpse adrift in the cosmic sea, with those statues rely acting as the maggots writhing and festering within.
After advancing down the corridor for several minutes, the group's transhuman senses detected a shift in the environnt.
They could now faintly hear the overlapping, densely packed thunder of footsteps echoing from the distance, rapidly closing in on their position!
---------------------
Stone the Fic.
User Comments
0 comments from readers