Part 16 (2/2)
The Destroyer Hive stirred with the Heralda's anger. The hollow, bony protrusions jutting from the archaic Terminator armour began to expel flies from their openings. Fat, blood-wet insects thrummed around the bridge, released from the Heralda's innards. His G.o.da's greatest blessing, contained within a once-mortal sh.e.l.l.
Terminus Est had been boarded. This was not amusing. This was an affront.
Seth. Seth. Seth.
Seth screamed. Psychic lightning raged from his outstretched fingertips, enveloping the Death Guard warrior in tendrils of coruscating energy. Its armour blackened and cracked under the psychic onslaught, and the reek of burning flesh was made far worse by the foul stench of cancerous diseases cooking within the superheated power armour.
The sanctioned psyker broke off his attack, suffering a savage cough that brought blood to his lips. As the destroyed Traitor Astartes collapsed in a heap of ruined armour and burned flesh, Seth cried out at the headache heating the insides of his skull. His brain was boiling. He was sure of it, his brain was boiling. Hea'd pushed himself too far.
Ban Jevrian pistol-whipped him. It was an ungentle blow that made a loud crack as it connected with the psykera's skull. Seth cried out again, but forced the sound to burst quieter from his lips this time.
a”Keep it down, warp-touched freak.a”
Seth nodded dumbly, blood streaming from his tear ducts, ears and nostrils.
Jevriana's Kasrkin unit, like the rest of the 88th, was falling back to Captain Thadea's position. They were under the graveyard, deep within an underground mausoleum, with Seth seconded to them for support. Theya'd been exploring until a squad of Death Guard had emerged from the shadowed corridors adjoining a large burial chamber, opening fire. The Kasrkin had taken the two Traitor Marines down with a blistering volley of h.e.l.lgun fire aimed at the Astartesa' armour joints, thirty grenades, and Setha's psychic fury.
Jevrian knelt by the still form of a black-armoured Cadian. Hea'd lost three of his men to the Traitorsa' bolters. Three. Three Kasrkin, the elite, the best of the best. He could scarcely fathom the loss. And now he had the warp-touched mutant dribbling and weeping. To h.e.l.l with Thadea's pet wizard; Jevrian was tempted to shoot the b.a.s.t.a.r.d now and have done with it.
a”Move out,a” growled the Kasrkin sergeant. a”Get to the surface, double time.a” The Cadians walked the corridors, leaving their dead down in the dark.
Seth.
The voice again. Familiar, but distant. Almost strained. It had been calling for several minutes now. He feared it was the voice from the night of the monastery, calling him by name.
Seth.
Seth took a shuddering breath, steeling himself by imagining his psychic inner walls back into place. With concentration, he could silence the whispering voices that stroked his mind. Daemons, warp-things, h.e.l.lish creatures from the empyrean reaching into his mind and seeking a way into the world of flesh and blood. He was all too used to resisting their corruptive touch.
Seth! SETH!
No, wait. He knew that voice, sensing it through familiarity rather than any true vocal recognition. Instead of girding his mind in hatred, he opened up to the one calling his name. At the last moment, he feared hea'd made a terrible mistake. The denizens of the warp would flood within his mind and steal his body, swallowing his soul.
That didna't happen. Hea'd made the right gamble.
Seth.+ The voice was crystal clear now he wasna't fighting it or overexerting himself through use of his powers.
Brother-Codicier Zaur.+
Listen to me, Cadian, and listen well. We cannot reach the ground forces. Communications are impossible with the interference caused by the Archenemy fleet. You are my Chaptera's only link to the Guard.+
a”Keep up, freak,a” snarled Jevrian. Seth picked up the pace. +Is the fleet truly lost?+
It burns and dies as we speak. The Second Shadow remains alone in orbit. We are the final defence before the Death Guard and their slaves land in full force. We have launched our s.h.i.+p-to-s.h.i.+p a.s.sault pods against Terminus Est.+
A n.o.ble end, brother-codicier. To die taking the fight into the enemya's heart.+
The fleet is lost, and with it, our precious Shadow. But it is not our time to die, Cadian. We need coordinates. We cannot escape this if we remain blind.+
Coordinates?+ Setha's psychic voice asked, but he already knew why.
Yes. Coordinates of the remaining Guard units. The a.s.sault pods are just a distraction. The Shadow was lost the moment the Archenemy fleet arrived, and boarding Terminus Est would be death through a thousand poisons. The pods are empty. We are making planetfall.+
Understood. The only surviving senior officer in the regiment is Captain Thade. He is the only one that will know the exact disposition of Guard units.+
Then find him! The vox interference is savage and we are deaf to the planet below. We cannot throw our drop-pods blindly at the surface, Seth. The Shadow is dying. We need coordinates quickly. +
It will be done.+
a”Master Sergeant?a” Setha's voice was an unhealthy rasp, but full of cold threat. It made Jevriana's skin crawl.
a”What?a”
a”On the authority of Brother-Codicier Zaur of the Raven Guard Astartes Chapter, get me to the captain immediately.a”
a”What in the h.e.l.l are youa-a”
a”Silence, blunt.a”
The stone walls of the undercroft sparkled with the faint kiss of psychic frost. The Kasrkin, those that survived the Death Guard a.s.sault, saw their breath steam before their faces. Seth felt the telepathic withdrawal of the Astartes psyker with a pang of bitterness. Zaura's power was intoxicatingly strong. It left Seth feeling weak and wretched in its wake.
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