At this mont, Telax's state could only be described as "radiant." The interrogation of the xenos had allowed his simring bloodlust to temporarily subside, and the intelligence squeezed from the panicked prisoner had granted him a sliver of hope for survival.
"The Webway!"
The xenos hanging from his forearm shrieked, his voice raspy and raw. A Slaaneshi pendant, fashioned from a single gemstone, had been crudely pinned into his skull, swaying with every frantic movent Marazhai made.
"Valiant warriors, we can evacuate through the Webway! I brought the activation device with —it is on this very ship!" the xenos said flatteringly, his eyes darting around, desperately hoping soone would liberate him from the proximity of the Youngest Goddess's icons. "I still have subordinates outside! I can have them navigate for you!"
"Truly remarkable—these vermin actually learned how to be polite," Enkidu remarked with a sigh. He noted inwardly that Slaanesh truly was the ultimate counter to the Aeldari; no matter how stubborn the pointy-ears were, they beca remarkably flexible when faced with the Dark Prince. "Thank you, Telax. It seems we have a new path."
"No need for thanks. Like you, I prefer living over dying," Telax replied steadily. He gave his arm a sharp shake, forcing the crippled Drukhari Archon to vomit out the rest of the details.
Through this, Enkidu learned the background of their captive. The xenos was Marazhai Aezerlash of the Kabal of the Ravening Tempest, a recently risen parvenu Kabal. Because their recent slaving raids had t with inexplicable failure, Marazhai had set out to find the cause. His investigation suggested that soone within the Kabal was conspiring with the "Mon-keigh."
After much deliberation, Marazhai had decided to work from the human side, intending to have a high-born Mon-keigh identify the traitor.
Given that betrayal was the national sport of Commorragh and the traitor had not yet revealed themselves, Marazhai had gone to the trouble of smuggling a portable Webway Gate onto the rchant vessel. He had tasked his Sslyth bodyguards with bringing the device aboard during the boarding action, ensuring a swift retreat should anything go wrong.
Unfortunately for him, his luck was abysmal. Before he could activate the gate, the Chaos warband had crashed the party.
"That is everything. I wish to make a deal: I will have my people activate the device, and you let return. It is a benefit to both sides," Marazhai wheezed, his face pale as his gaze locked onto the swaying Slaaneshi sigil. He could feel the decadent, haunting song of the Immaterium drawing closer... and closer... siphoning his soul like a vortex. He felt numb, his throat tight, hungering madly for even a drop of distilled pain—but there was none here, only the suffering being wrung from his own flesh.
"My dear Dark Aeldari, I'm afraid your plan has a fatal flaw." Enkidu smiled, tossing a data-feed into Marazhai's view and savoring the transition from hope to despair on the alien's face. On the screen, the Drukhari's blade-shaped raiders were veering away from the rchant ship one by one, desperate to flee before their Craftworld kin noticed them—utterly indifferent to the fact that their Archon had been left behind. "Your subordinates have abandoned you."
"...Traitors."
The forr Archon stared at the screen, his eyes bulging as a hollow, rattling sound erged from his throat. The light died in his gaze.
He had imagined ten thousand scenarios of betrayal: a poisoned chalice, a lethal ecstasy, or a hidden bolt from the shadows. He had expected to die in agony and be reborn at the hands of a Haemonculus.
None of those scenarios involved being abandoned on a battlefield to fall into the hands of the Youngest Goddess's hounds.
"No... I am still of use to you," Marazhai said dryly. His forr pride had been shattered, replaced by a void where fury, hatred, and a burning desire for vengeance coalesced. The Archon was dead; a revenger was born in his place. "Only I can operate the Webway Gate. You cannot comprehend the device; it is locked, and can only be opened while I am alive and my will is clear."
"Then take us to it."
A bizarre war-banner moved through the ship. The "flag" was not made of silk or leather, but was the battered, limbless torso of a Drukhari. Whether it was the terrified mortal crew or the Drukhari stragglers hiding in the corners, the mont they saw that banner, they were struck with a bone-deep terror.
The mortals saw the Astartes; the Drukhari saw their broken master.
The two Astartes sprinted through the ship, descending through the toxic, foul-slling lower decks and into the deep, lightless vertical shafts, finally stopping at a maintenance junction.
"It is here," the figure on the banner-pole said. "The device is behind that door."
The door was kicked down with a resounding boom, but the room appeared empty. Enkidu imdiately realized it was a Drukhari mitic shroud. He gave the pole a shake, signaling Marazhai to do his job.
"Patience..."
The forr Archon spoke weakly, reciting a pre-set cipher. The empty room flickered and shimred, spitting out a strange object.
It stood as tall as an Astartes, but its design was deceptively simple—a hemispherical do. After confirming the device was indeed a portable Webway Gate, Varex's voice opportunely crackled through the vox.
"You're too loud, Varex," Telax snapped, cutting off the leader's rambling before turning back to the captive on the pole. "Do we use it here?"
"No. Move it to an open area. The prow would be best."
Varex's voice cut out, only returning once they began hauling the device.
"I shall et you at the prow."
Three minutes later, the Webway Gate was positioned in the center of the prow observation deck.
Originally the Rogue Trader's private viewing lounge, the massive reinforced windows now looked out onto the infinite void and the flickering weapon-flashes of the distant Aeldari fleet. The energy field of the void shields rippled outside like translucent waves.
Fully ard Astartes surrounded the room, though they maintained a cautious distance to prevent any xenos trickery. Enkidu scanned the crowd, noting without surprise that Varex was not actually present.
As a cowardly warband leader, he wouldn't show his face in a situation where survival wasn't guaranteed. Now that an escape route was confird, he preferred the safety of his fortified palace.
But that didn't matter. What mattered was that Enkidu had already alerted the Lash of Agony. Marazhai began the activation sequence.
Under the Drukhari's manipulation, runes on the device's surface ignited one by one, looking like eyes opening from a long slumber.
The space ahead flickered and grew dim. A few heartbeats later, erald flas tore through the void, circling a massive, shimring golden tunnel.
Enkidu's spirit surged. He issued the command to the bridge without hesitation.
"To the Golden Dawn and the Lash of Agony: Maintain formation. Full thrust into the gate!"
~~----------------------
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