Chapter 2 Part 1

Chapter 2: Dawn of war

Part 1​

Jenova Town

Deimos Peninsula

Kronus

Before I could start cleaning up all the blood and gore covering me, I found myself picked up as if I was a small child and staring at the glowing eyes of Anteas's helmet. I could feel him probing me through the Warp – no doubt searching for any sign of Chaos taint.

If he found any I was a goner.

Needless to say, that made me damn nervous.

"Huh. You're clean." The Librarian muttered and carefully put me down.

I sighed in relief.

"You sure?" One of the braver or dumber troopers asked aloud.

Anteas turned with dexterity belittling his bulk and stared at the soldier. "No more taint than any Space Marine who faced Chaos up close and personal." The giant rumbled.

"Well, that's a relief. lieutenant, we have an Inquisitor to save. Let's move people!" I paused and glared at the offal covering me. "Where's my damned rag?!"

"Form up! Elen, your squad stays with the Chimeras, the rest with me. Alpha on point." Pickos ordered. "On foot or mounted?" She asked and pointed at the target building.

"Here, sir." Santos gave me the cloak of the man I shot at the start of the current unpleasantries.

"Thanks. That should do." I muttered and started cleaning up. "Foot. APCs will provide cover if needed." I paused. "Belay that!" I shouted a moment later. "Call HQ and have them check about building schematics and defenses – there might be records in the capital. There's no sense to get shredded in the open by sentry turrets or something." I pointed at the Librarian. "He probably can take anything they could dish out, but the lest of us are much squishier."

"That's actually prudent, considering." Anteas rumbled. "A teeny bit better than I would expect from a greener than grass fresh schola graduate anyway. The backup will be down in a few minutes." The Space Marine continued.

"You know, your words do wonders for my self-esteem." I snarked back.

"You've got the guts to talk back to me, don't you?" The smile was clear in his voice. "That however demonstrates a startling lack of brains or at least good judgment. lieutenant, get that small hill scanned." Anteas pointed at the slight rise partially hiding the plaza from the Arbiter's HQ.

"Right away, My Lord!" The LT snapped a salute and started issuing the relevant orders.

"Nasty surprises?" I asked, while trying to remove a piece of, was that a jaw, from my belt.

"If it was me, I would have at least mined this side to ruin the day of anyone who thought the hill would provide good cover."

"Just mines?" I inquired.

I could feel a tiny, very tiny bit of approval radiating from the Astartes.

"Of course not!" Anteas growled. "Sentry turrets, indirect fire, redundant sensor net. It would be best if the hill was simply a cover for a nice adamantite plated bunker chock full with nice toys and murderous bastards."

"Nice image – if they're on our side."

"A bit of fun otherwise." The Librarian nodded sagely. It sounded like it was from personal experience.

Who was I kidding? Of course it was! He was likely hundreds of years old super soldier who had seen campaigns all across the galaxy!

"Any other advice for a newbie like me?" I asked. While we had a bit of quiet, it dawned on me that picking up his brain for ways to keep myself alive might be prudent. That and keeping him between myself and whatever nasty thing tried to eviscerate me the next time.

"We don't have a decade to spare." Anteas deadpanned.

"How did you retain or get a sense of humor?" I asked. I was almost done with mopping up brains and viscera off me. Note to self – try to avoid cutting apart heretics with a chainblade and shoot them instead. Preferably from safe distance. The stench of blood was becoming a bit nauseating.

"Well, most of my brothers think me a bit strange." The Librarian somehow shrugged in his armor in such a way that the suit actually made a half decent facsimile of the gesture. "While they're decent guys, mostly, they tend to be a bit… how to put it? Stiff?" Anteas sighed.

I gave him a weird look. He was nothing like I was taught about the Adeptus Astartes! Oh, he was a superhuman killing machine – something the man amply demonstrated just a few minutes ago. His soul was the grandest one I felt besides the Emperor's, something that put him high above the rest of us mortals. Yet, despite that, right here and now, he felt oddly human and I found that more reassuring than I could properly describe.

"Tips… Let's see… Don't get killed, duh." The Librarian nodded, making me smirk.

"Even I think that's obvious."

"Many don't." Anteas sounded less than pleased with whatever memory my quip brought up. "So don't get killed unless it serves the Emperor and Humanity best in the situation. More importantly, see the latter and don't get your men killed unless it's absolutely necessary to get the job done. The Emperor can use live soldiers better than a bunch of very dead martyrs."

Yep, I definitely liked him. The troopers who could overhear us apparently shared the sentiment – even with my warp senses clamped shut I could feel their spirits rising up a bit as they heard our conversation – something that I'm sure wasn't lost to the Space Marine.

"Let's sum it up – don't die like imbeciles. Consider that a standing order." Anteas continued. "The next simple thing, for dummies like you." A giant, armored hand rested on my shoulder. "Charging Emperor damned heretics like a crazy Khornate berzerker, when you aren't wearing a power armor - like you just did – is a great way to die like an imbecile. So don't do that if there's another way. Like ever, or just spare us all the embarrassment of working with you and get your head blown off right away."

"I won't hear the end of this, would I?" I moaned.

"You made not too terrible impersonation of a Khornate cultist. If I wasn't a reasonable man, I would have vented your brains just in case. Or for sport." Anteas spoke in a serious tone that sent shivers down my spine.

The Librarian's head snapped up and he pointed at the dark sky. "They're here."

I looked up and could spot a pair of fast approaching fireballs which appeared to be aiming straight at us.

"They know that there're friendlies in the area, right?" I asked.

"They should." Anteus nodded. "Everyone, kiss the ground!" The Librarian shouted in a voice that reverberated in my bones.

I wasted no time in following his bellowed instruction and dived into the short grass next. A few moments later, the world ended in a bass roar and twin hammer blows that shook me to the core. That impression was reinforced by a rain of smoking debris that started impacting all around us.

The cavalry just arrived and almost killed us in the process. This rescue mission was getting better and better and we were yet to meet the real enemy.