Markham could see the ruins of the city’s outer defence wall down the main plaza. Bombardment from the assault had turned it into a mountain of rubble. It was badly breached. Dark shapes crawled through the rubble. If they were some of the defence forces, maybe he could rally them. Commander Cadmus had betrayed him, the Wolfblade and House Belisarius. Markham did not give his loyalty lightly, and something churned in his stomach as the impact of the betrayal struck him. He knew that he was still reeling from the near miss of the Earthshaker cannon earlier, but he felt as if the betrayal was what truly kept his head spinning.
Cadmus had made a mistake. Markham was originally from Catachan, a real deathworld, not some planet where the people hid behind walls and feared the mines more than they feared the plants. He’d find a way to survive and do his duty. He knew that he’d gained some respect from Wolf Guard Mikal when he had demanded a weapon so that he could rejoin the fighting. Markham wasn’t going to let a few scrapes, bruises or even a concussion slow him down.
He squinted to see more clearly. The dark shapes that he had spotted moved strangely, and he was sure that there were many more of them than before. Lethe burned from the ongoing war, and with his addled brains, Markham wasn’t sure exactly what he was seeing. He wiped his eyes.
The shapes weren’t human, they were reptos. Dozens of the creatures were gathering around the breach, all the while the humans on the planet were busy blowing each other to bits. The reptos appeared to be gathering, waiting.
Markham had a vox that he had scavenged from a dead soldier so he could to stay in touch with the Space Wolves. “Wolf Guard Mikal,” he voxed. “I believe we have a problem. The wall has been breached and the reptos have come to scavenge.”
“Lieutenant, what are reptos?” came the reply. Markham heard storm bolter shots echo through the vox.
“The reptos are native creatures from the jungle surrounding Lethe. They’ve been attacking the mines and anything outside the walls. They are mammalian reptiles,” responded Markham.
Static answered him. Communications were jammed again.
Markham crouched down behind a bit of rubble and took a better look. The reptos shook and convulsed. He was confused. He’d never seen this behaviour. The creatures then poured into the streets, heading to the bodies of Dark Angels. Strangely, they ignored the bodies of the defence forces.
The creatures fell upon their targets, ripping and tearing. Through extreme effort, they found cracks and weak spots in the power armour, and ripped into the dead flesh underneath. Markham shook his head. He hated watching the reptos scavenge and devour any humans, even if the Dark Angels had attacked Hyades.
The reptos were tearing large bloody objects free from the Space Marine bodies. Markham wasn’t sure what they were collecting. At first, he thought it might be hearts, but the organs were too large. The reptos gathered in clusters, hissing and snapping at the body parts, as if they were celebrating. Then, they retreated.
All of the reptos moved back to form a semi-circle around a single large member of their species. The large one wore different scaled pelts and held a long staff. The sight fascinated and enthralled Markham. He forgot the sounds of battle behind him, completely oblivious to everything but the scene he was witnessing.
The repto with the staff suddenly ignited, bursting into flame. At first, Markham thought that someone, an infiltrating soldier perhaps, had taken a hand flamer to the beast, but the creature didn’t burn with the purifying white fire of promethium. Instead, the flame burned with an unearthly rainbow of colours. As the fire consumed the repto, something even more unexpected took place. Markham cleared his eyes. With the haze of battle he wasn’t sure at first that what he saw was real.
Tendrils burst from the body of the flaming creature. Then something covered in mouths and eyes floated out of the fire. The creature was bright blue with streaks of red and pink. It floated above the ground and a nimbus of rainbow fire curled around it. Markham’s mind laboured to accept the sight before him. He was a survivor, a man born on a deathworld. He had endured challenges and pain. He had encountered the deadliest predators on planets across the galaxy.
Somehow, he knew that what he saw was not from this galaxy. He felt terror in every fibre of his being.
The reptos gave a shrill greeting sound as one, and handed over their trophies. The abomination took each of them with its tendrils, tenderly grasping them. Then it pulled itself back into the flame and vanished. The reptos spread out, hunting for more trophies, save for one, who picked up the staff from the charred hand of its former owner.
Markham fell on his knees and sobbed a prayer of thanks to the Emperor. The unnameable horror that he had seen was gone. He would not have felt so relieved if he had known that similar scenes were taking place across the city. The harvest had begun.
In the palace complex, Haegr, Torin, Elijah and Nathaniel searched for Cadmus. Ragnar and Jeremiah were searching together elsewhere, and the other Space Marines assumed that they might be negotiating more details of their alliance without the complications of everyone else’s thoughts. The four focused on their search, each one hoping that they would discover the commander first. So far, they had found nothing but bodies, and the lasgun wounds on the bodies coupled with still-secure doors indicated that their killers hadn’t been other Dark Angels. The dead men appeared to have been killed by members of the planetary defence force.
Torin looked over at Haegr after sniffing the air. “So, lad, your nose can tell us everything else. Where is he? I can’t find him.”
Haegr shook his head. “I’m not sure. There are too many scents.”
“Are you really trying to sniff him out?” asked Elijah. The Dark Angel sounded incredulous. “I thought that was Space Wolf talk for tracking or something.”
“Young one,” said Nathaniel, “the Space Wolves are known for their senses.”
“Unfortunately, some of us spend our time trying to track nothing but food,” said Torin.
“What’s wrong with that?” questioned Haegr. “Without my ability to find sustenance, we could die out here if things stay bad. Torin, I think you’ve gone too long without a good thrashing.”
Haegr had to admit to himself that hearing the banter made him more relaxed. He kept finding scene after scene of death, and he didn’t know where Cadmus was. Torin placed his hand on Haegr’s shoulder and leaned over to whisper to him in that conspiratorial manner that came so easily to him.
“Brother, are you tracking Cadmus?” he whispered.
“I’m trying,” said Haegr.
“Focus on Gabriella’s scent instead. You know it better,” recommended Torin.
Haegr gave his friend a look. He wasn’t sure if Torin was implying something or not. Haegr knew that he had a strange feeling for Gabriella, but he told himself it was a sense of protectiveness.
From one of the palace windows, Haegr could see drop-pods descending amidst the fire and smoke of the combat. The Space Wolves had arrived! Just catching sight of the wolf symbol made his blood race, although he felt a sense of disquiet as well. He should be in one of those drop-pods with his battle-brothers. Then, he realised that the symbol belonged to Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” asked Torin. The other Marines were gathered around, momentarily distracted by the scene of drop-pod after drop-pod coming down.
“Look,” said Elijah, pointing out of the window. More Dark Angels drop-pods were descending. The Dark Angels were still coming. The battle was escalating.
They were running out of time.
Gabriella struggled against her bonds as the commander pulled her through dark passage after dark passage. She had lost all sense of time and place. Guards walked behind them, hard-looking men with scars and oddly mixed armour and unique weapons. There were at least six with them, but she couldn’t tell if there were more. These were Cadmus’s hand-picked troops: men who had followed him to this planet.
She knew that the Wolfblade would c
ome for her. The Space Wolves would not relent until they found her. Cadmus would die for his treason.
Yet she could feel other forces at work. In her mind’s eye, colours swirled, vibrant and bright. She could feel the power of Chaos coursing through these dark passages. She saw images of Madox and the Thousand Sons, just as she had felt them before when Cadmus had contacted them in his ritual. They were coming, and they had something with them, something that they had brought from the warp.
Then, she saw an image that she knew from ancient tapestries and paintings. She saw the Spear of Russ, the artifact that Ragnar had lost. It was in the possession of the Thousand Sons, they must have recovered it from the warp. She knew the story about Ragnar and how the Thousand Sons had nearly opened a gateway between the warp and the physical world, attempting to summon their primarch, Magnus the Red.
Would they succeed this time?
ELEVEN
Dark Angels and Wolfblade Unite
A war raged in the city of Lethe between the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels. The ten thousand year-old distrust of these two founding members of the Adeptus Astartes was being exploited by the powers of Chaos.
Ragnar and Jeremiah were in unexplored territory. The mixed band of Space Marines was setting out to find Cadmus and bring him to justice, rescue Gabriella, and work out a way to bring this conflict to an end without sacrificing the honour of either of the proud Space Marine Chapters.
Torin, Haegr, Nathaniel and Elijah had just completed their search of the palace. There were no additional signs of Cadmus anywhere to be found. During their search of one of the communication temples they did, however, come across Tech-Priest Varnus. Varnus was monitoring several communication channels while directing his servitors to areas and equipment that needed to come to the assistance of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The tech-priest accompanied them, walking between Haegr and Torin, his scarlet robes lightly dusting the floor. With the exception of a few minor scraps and some fresh oil stains on his robe, he looked exactly the same as he had when the Wolfblade had first met him.
As the group approached the entrance to the command centre the heavy metal doors slid open as Ragnar and Jeremiah entered the corridor.
“Ragnar, Jeremiah, allow me to introduce Tech-Priest—” Torin began.
“Varnus, it is good to see that you are alive.” Ragnar’s surprise and relief were apparent. “We are in your debt. Had you not opened the blast door, Cadmus’s treacherous attempt to destroy us would have succeeded.”
“Indeed, your plight seemed rather perilous. I’m sorry I could not have been of assistance sooner. It had only recently become apparent to me that the governor’s forces had been compromised.” There were no emotional inflections in the tech-priest’s voice and his mechanically assisted breathing remained eerily rhythmic.
“Compromised is an understatement. Cadmus is undoubtedly in the service of Chaos.”
“Haegr will wipe his Chaos taint from existence,” Haegr promised.
“Yes, Haegr, we will, but first things first,” Ragnar responded.
“What could be more important than cutting out his treacherous heart?” Haegr’s words revealed his simplistic perception of the universe.
“I believe that Ragnar is talking about our newly landed brethren who are fighting and dying on the streets of Lethe,” Torin said.
“Perhaps I can be of assistance,” Varnus interrupted. “Shortly after the Dark Angels began their assault, the Space Wolf patrol fleet commanded by Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist arrived.” Varnus paused as if checking his facts.
“Yes they were the forces of Thunderfist. After several attempts by him to determine why they had quarantined Hyades, he was forced to engage the Dark Angels, and through a daring ship-to-ship engagement was able to deploy his forces. It was here that I discovered the treachery of Commander Cadmus. His troop deployments were not consistent with defending the city. He had removed his most experienced forces from the city, leaving his less experienced troops defending the brunt of the attack. That, combined with several communications between Cadmus and his storm troopers that I was able to monitor, forced me to take action. I only regret that my actions did not come soon enough.”
“Have you made contact with the Space Wolf landing forces yet?” Ragnar asked.
“No, but I believe that their commander has been successful at contacting some of the loyal Hyades ground forces.” Varnus answered.
“Once the Space Wolves were on the ground they established communication with the loyal factions of the planetary defence forces. It was through this alliance that they were able to establish a defensive perimeter within the city, right around the palace compound. With the defensive lines firmly established, the allied forces have begun to push back the Dark Angels.” Varnus concluded.
Ragnar and the rest of the Wolfblade were relieved to hear that the tide of battle appeared to be swinging in their direction. Ragnar, however, knew that what was good news for him and his Wolfblade brothers was worrying to his new-found allies. The alliance forged with the Dark Angels kill team was tenuous at best, and if they were going to bring this conflict to an end it would be this relationship that would be the catalyst.
“This madness has to end,” said Ragnar. “Cadmus has been pulling the strings from the beginning. Everything that’s happened has been according to his design.”
“That is true, Ragnar, everything except one element: our alliance! Cadmus could never comprehend that the Lion and the Wolf would be capable of setting aside ten thousand years of distrust. It is this alliance that gives us the advantage.” Jeremiah said.
Ragnar was relieved that Jeremiah’s thoughts were the same as his. However, the Wolfblade’s first duty was to House Belisarius. The information provided by Varnus left them free to pursue the traitor and rescue Lady Gabriella.
“Varnus, can you establish communications with the Spaces Marine forces here on Hyades, and inform them of Cadmus’s treachery? Ragnar asked.
“Yes, I believe that I can.” Varnus replied.
Ragnar hoped that Varnus would be able to use his skills as a tech-priest to establish communication channels with the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels. This could be a useful resource when the time was right.
“Our priority is to locate Cadmus.” Torin exclaimed.
“Yes, but he could be anywhere. In fact, I would be surprised if he was still on the planet at all.” Haegr said.
“No, he’s still here. He wants to ensure that his plan works.” Nathaniel added.
“How can you be certain?” Ragnar asked.
The Dark Angels remained silent, exchanging glances between themselves until Jeremiah finally spoke.
“Shortly after our first encounter with you on the palace grounds we were contacted by Interrogator-Chaplain Vargas, who had arrived on board the battle-barge that orbits Hyades. While we were reporting our need for additional time to locate and secure our target, the transmission was interrupted by Cadmus, who we now know to be our quarry. Chaplain Vargas had just agreed to give us the time we needed. However, once the transmission was compromised Cadmus provoked the chaplain into this full-fledged assault. We’ve been unable to reach the battle-barge since.” Jeremiah concluded.
“Cadmus has gone to great lengths to ensure that these events unfold exactly the way he intends. I find it difficult to believe that he would simply slip away.” Nathaniel added.
“He wouldn’t.” Torin agreed.
“Yes. He must still be here on Hyades, but where?” Ragnar asked.
“He would need a place where he could plan events without detection, and free from interruption. That means it would not be within the palace compound,” Varnus concluded.
“How can you be so certain?” Haegr asked.
“The compound is heavily monitored by security surveillance skulls.” Ragnar remembered the command centre’s monitors, almost every corridor and room under constant scrutiny.
“Yes.” Varnus confirmed.
“
Then he would need to establish his base in a secluded location away from the palace compound.” Jeremiah added.
“The temple.” Haegr said, almost shouting.
The silence of the group was deafening as each member of the Wolfblade reached the same conclusion. Haegr was right — the temple would be the best place to begin their search for the treacherous Cadmus. It was secluded, and out of the way.
“Temple?” Jeremiah asked.
“Upon our arrival on Hyades we conducted a search of the jungle around the city. While there, we came upon an ancient temple. It appeared to be abandoned.” Ragnar explained.
“We just need to find a way to get there without attracting the attention of our brother Space Marines.” Torin explained.
“I think I can help with that.” Elijah said as he walked past the group. Jeremiah looked to Nathaniel who simply shrugged and entered the command centre as well, followed closely by the rest of them.
When they entered the command centre Elijah had pulled several tubes from a plasteel box that rested between the wall and one of the monitoring consoles.
“I saw these when we were in here earlier, I think that they can help.”
Elijah read the label on each tube in turn. “This one,” he said, pulling the parchment from the tube and unrolling it across the table.
“It’s a city map.” Elijah said.
The others watched as Elijah began to trace a path from the jungle to the city walls and on to the palace.
“What are you doing?” Torin asked.
“This is the path we used to gain access to the city.” Jeremiah explained.
[Space Wolf 05] - Sons of Fenris Page 20