Chapter 15 Part 4

Chapter 15: Our enemies bring us together

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Part 4

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Victory Bay

Kronus

Katarinya stabbed Tyrantslayer into the ground and raised a hand to pinch her cheek. Cold, armored fingers touched her clammy flesh, and she could feel the pain. It didn't help.

The Commissar, Weber, was speaking, explaining the situation. Greyfax heard him, knew the words coming out of his mouth, they just made not a shred of damned sense! They weren't back into the abomination's lair, but instead on an Imperial world besieged by Xenos, Traitors, and Heretic. Daemons too. Or it had been if the madness Weber spouted held a shred of truth.

Katarinya was sorely tempted to raise her bolter and blow his head off. The man was clearly unhinged by the terrors he had faced. A sad fate that, however, no one was protected from breaking save for the Emperor. Despite her instincts screaming at Greyfax to discharge her duty, she kept listening. Weber was almost happy to condemn herself, and Katarinya guessed she owed him that much – to her his confession properly before bringing the Emperor's justice upon him. He might have been a good man once, after all. Not everyone she had to shoot or burn had been a depraved traitor from the start. A few were even factually innocent, merely unwittingly condemning themselves with their actions.

The Inquisitor picked up her power blade and held it in a death grip. They stood at the edge of a now ravaged park, watching a group of Xenos fight that huge insect-like monster. She gleefully observed how it crushed a few of them like empty cans, and its scythes proved a match for their accursed metal flesh.

They ceased their abominable screams, and Katarinya was almost glad for the end of the aural assault. Unfortunately, the beast picked up where the other Xenos left, screeching, snapping, and hissing in a very disturbing manner. The metal abominations lashed at it with a blade and lighting, stripping armored plates and exposing the tough flesh beneath. It still refused to die and continued to struggle, lashing back at everything in sight.

An almost reassuring form of a Predator tank rumbled from a nearby street, painted red. A few Adeptus Astartes ran behind it, carrying heavy weapons.

To Greyfax's stunned disbelief, they opened fire on the beast as well, instead of using the distraction it offered to cut down the more dangerous abominations. Did those things manage to compromise even the Space Marines?!

The tank didn't bother slowing down and opened fire with rapid-firing cannon and heavy bolters. Explosive ordnance bit into exposed flesh, shaking the beast, who let furious death-cries. It skittered with surprising speed for something so big and spouting such wounds as it did. It managed to trample two more abominations before pair of missiles struck it. One slammed into its exposed and shredded chest, while the other went into its screeching mouth.

The following two detonations splattered smoking ichor all around and finally put down the monster.

Then the Xenos looked around, and most of them left, taken away by offending lighting bolts. Those who remained merely stood guard but didn't move towards any of the humans.

After everything she had suffered, Katarinya couldn't believe it. What new torture did the abomination intend now? Offer them false hope? Pit them against the Daemon she sensed for its amusement?

The tank took a position at the edge of the park. Its cupola began to rotate left and right, scanning for threats and ignoring the abomination just like they paid no attention to the Astartes. All but a single Space Marine flanked the machine, providing infantry support. The last one walked towards them with long strides that ate the distance in no time at all.

"Commissar Weber." The Astartes nodded in respect. "I'm Brother Tarkus. Please explain the situation. Where is asset Selene? Who took her?"

"I'm pretty sure one of her Necron minders managed to get her away just in time." The broken Commissar kept spouting madness, further damning himself. "Before they left, Selene managed to get that bastard in the hand with Kneecapper." He proudly declared.

"Good girl." The Astartes nodded in agreement.

"What madness is this?!" Greyfax hissed. The Commissar was bad enough, however, he was a mere mortal man. The flesh was weak, the soul easy to tempt. But an Astartes? They were made of sterner stuff!

"Elaborate madam. And please introduce yourself. As I said, I'm Brother Tarkus, Tactical Marine of the Blood Raven's First Company deployed to Kronus under the field command of Captain Damian Thule."

"I'm Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax." She introduced herself coldly and raised a hand showing the symbol of her office.

"Now we have three Inquisitors on-site if the rumors are true." The Blood Raven said unperturbed.

Katarinya hadn't heard of that particular chapter, though that didn't say much. There were a lot of them, and new founding did often happen enough. Besides, there was important information those two let slip – there were supposed to be more Inquisitors caught in this snare.

"I don't know what rumors you've heard, Brother Tarkus. However, Inquisitor Veil is with Inquisitor Vail, who arrived earlier today. They're at the General's HQ discussing how to handle negotiations with the Necrons tomorrow." He nodded at the Inquisitor and her bodyguards. "They appeared along with that beast during the attack. The intruder escaped in the confusion."

Greyfax bristled at the very idea. Those two had to be from Ordo Xenos! Thankfully, there were precious few Inquisitors from other branches with the gall to treat with Xenos, especially such abominations!

"If you excuse me, madam Inquisitor. I need to find out the state of my charge. I vowed we wouldn't misplace her again." Weber offered a crisp salute and turned away, ignored Katarinya.

She had had enough and raised her bolter.

"Commissar Weber, in the Emperor's name I pronounce you

Excommunicate Traitoris! The sentence is…" Greyfax trailed off.

She stared at the large bore of a bolter, one held by the Space Marine as if it was a toy. Many of the Guardsmen nearby had their weapons aimed at Katarinya and her retinue, while the Stormtroopers returned the favor.

"Are you a traitor as well, Astartes?"

"If anyone is a traitor here or compromised, it might be you, madam Inquisitor. You just appeared under suspicious circumstances. If anyone needs to be examined and judged as a potential traitor here, it is you and your group. Not a man who not a few days ago, fearlessly charged a horde of Daemons at the side of Inquisitor Veil." Tarkus declared coldly.

Smoothly, the other Astartes turned around and aimed at Greyfax and her retinue. Moments later, the tank followed suit and several Necrons approached.

"Is there an issue?" One of them calmly asked.

"A few of them. First, what is the status of Selene?" The Commissar demanded, caring not that he was a trigger press from death.

"Safe and on the way back here under heavy escort. What about them?" The abomination looked at Katarinya with its sinister glowing eyes.

"That remains to be seen. You people saw how they appeared." The Commissar had the gall to shrug.

"The Thief released them from a Tesseract Labyrinth. Conclusion: He had stolen them some time ago and chose to use them as a distraction. However, they were smart enough not to engage our forces."

"Were they?" The traitorous Commissar raised an eyebrow at Greyfax, who was moments away from blowing his brains off and damn the consequences.

"What in the Emperor's name is happening here?!" A man bellowed.

It was a miracle really that no one pressed the trigger then and there.

Well, not in Katarinya's case. She froze for an instant, feeling the treacherously deceptive light of the Daemon brush over her senses. Greyfax looked to the right and saw it. It wore the visage of an ordinary man, twisting it with a pair of large glowing wings. Golden radiance covered its form, betraying the witchcraft saturating it. A blonde woman in a form-fitting costume walked beside him, and both of them were flanked by large abominations, with a lot more of the Xenos marching behind them.

Was this the abomination's game? Taunting and torturing them by shoving in their faces how many servants of the Emperor it had corrupted?!

"Inquisitor Veil." The traitor Commissar saluted the winged Daemon, an act that would have signed his death sentence if he hadn't condemned himself already.