Madness

Part One.

Truth Revealed.

‘Ridiculous!’

Grungi shrugged.

‘I agree. It is, however, the truth. Those treacherous grey-skinned parasites all but run this galaxy now, and no one seems to be doing a great deal about it.
As more and more empires fall to their knees before the damned Tau the hope of ultimate victory against them diminishes. Much has changed here in the time you have slumbered.’

‘And what of the Imperium? The warriors of the Emperor would never bow down to the Tau.’ Codian asked, his eyes wide with troubled anticipation.

‘Your Imperium survives still, human. It would seem that your Emperor does not wish hand over his rule just yet. Be warned though, the realms of man are not what they once were.’

Codian opened his mouth in order to continue the conversation when a loud squeal began to echo through the space beyond the hatch, causing the compact alien to sigh and roll his eye. He turned to leave, muttering under his breath as he did so.

‘Wait. We must learn more.’

‘Then you will have to follow me, Imperial. Some things are more important than answering questions.’

‘Go.’ Laenar uttered. ‘I will tend to the others.’

The Chaplain nodded his head and turned to follow the departing figure, sweeping his black cloak aside.

+++

Each ceramite-weighted footfall echoed through the endless spaces about him. The deck beneath his feet hummed with the deep rumble of the ship’s mighty engines, a dull resonance that seemed to perpetuate endlessly. Pipes and conduits snaked from the floors and the walls wherever he looked, some rusting away, others slick with glistening grime.

‘Where are we going?’

‘Ah, questions! More damned questions!’ Grungi answered, throwing his hands in the air. ‘It is about time that I asked some questions of my own.’

He lifted his head to look upon the warrior.

‘You have yet to introduce yourself, marine.’

‘My name is Codian. I am an Ultramarine Chaplain.’ He answered sullenly and after a lengthy pause. Such formality disquieted him, especially when in the presence of an alien.

‘Well Codian, it seems that something has come up. Don’t ask me what as I do not commune with the ancestors. Now, I believe you have questions. Try to keep them short and to the point as I am not in the mood to be giving a sermon.’

‘Very well.’

He glanced down at the curious alien. Despite the fact that he towered over him, this Grungi seemed almost nonchalant to his presence. He found himself admiring the small creature’s spirit.

‘You say we are at the centre of the galaxy, brought here by the Wash. How did this happen?’

‘Hmm. Well, think of the Protea Wash as a strong current in the warp. From time to time it enters and exits realspace, sweeping up space debris as it goes. The trick is to know when and where it spits the crud out, see? Think of the Wash as a shifting scrap pile. I have recovered many treasures in my years collecting salvage.’

‘And the Imperials pay you to do this?’

‘In a fashion. Imperials will pay for technologies and weaponry that can be restored for use against the Tau. War is a greedy thing, Codian. It consumes resources ravenously.’

His eyes narrowed as he heard this. He could not bring himself to imagine an Imperium that bartered with aliens, especially for its own property.

‘You say that the Tau hold dominion over this galaxy. I simply cannot accept that. The Imperium is simply too vast and powerful to allow that. There are many empires and races that would never have allowed such an expansion.’

Grungi sighed and shook his head, throwing him a sideways glance.

‘Grindel’s arse! The galaxy is in a state of total war, Marine. You either fight for the Tau or against them. Many of the most powerful races opposed the expansion of the Great Unity. All have so far failed. Your Imperium is on its knees, the hands of the Tau around its throat. What remains of your once mighty fleets and vast armies are now clustered around the Segmentum Solar, fighting tooth and nail to defend your Emperor’s throne.’

Codian felt his chest tighten as he heard this. For the first time since he could remember, he felt an unfamiliar emotion stirring deep within his heart.
Fear.

‘What of Ultramar?’ He whispered, hardly able to bring himself to ask the question.

Grungi slowed a little, his single eye narrowing as he turned to face the towering Marine.

‘Hmm. Ultramar…was the last to fall.’ He answered after a lengthy pause. ‘Of all the outer systems of the Imperium, Ultramar fought the longest and the hardest. The Great Unity expended many, many lives conquering the Ultima Segmentum.
Your Calgar is a mighty warrior, Codian. He refused to bow to the Tau for centuries and it was only the impending advance upon Terra that saw him forced to abandon the system. He is an honourable and courageous warrior, and he holds a grudge well.’

‘Mighty Calgar still lives?’

‘As far as I am aware. I have heard tell that he wears the armour of the ancients now, as do those most celebrated amongst your kind. Even in death he refuses to die. His rancour does him credit.’

The duo turned a corner sharply, the sudden shift in direction throwing him off for a moment. He ducked his head as they passed beneath another doorway, the alien scaling of the craft far less than accommodating.

‘Your kind are hunted with the utmost vigour.’ The Demiurg continued, slamming his fist into the access panel beside him.

The door next to it opened with a serpentine hiss and they passed through, never once slowing their pace. Codian found he had to almost bend double to enter the small room.

‘You and your brethren are a dying breed. The Tau deplore those who cannot be swayed to their cause. They hate your kind, Codian, and they wish for nothing more than to see you exterminated. As I remember, the Astarte homeworlds were sought out and cleansed, one by one. Your kind are few now, and yet they still fight the expansion of the Great Unity.’

‘Cleansed?’

‘Yes. As the Demiurg were. I am the last of my kind, at least as far as I know. I seek only a honourable death at the hands of the Tau.’

The two figures slowed as they approached a huge bank of augurs and screens, each one alive with activity. Grungi stepped forward, bathed in the light of the multitudinous screens.

‘Hmm. Perhaps I will find this death sooner than I had anticipated. I am about to alter our course, human. I will show you what it is you face here.’

Codian was about to ask what he meant by that when he found himself cut off by the mournful wail of an alarm system.

‘Gods! What is it now?’ The Demiurg snapped, glancing about him at the clustered screens.

‘Are we under attack?’

‘The holding bay.’ He answered, finishing his course alterations as fast as he was able to do so. ‘And I suggest we make haste.’

+++

Codian barrelled through the hatch to be met with a scene of utter horror. Epistolary Kreusus was awake and on his feet, roaring and screaming like a madman. His eyes were two shining balls of bright azure fire, his outstretched hands aflame with the same ethereal energies. Pulsing lightning arced around the hold of the small vessel, igniting systems and melting whatever it touched.

Laenar was on his back beneath the crazed Librarian, shaking like a terrified child as his augmetic systems shuddered and convulsed, sparks flashing across his prone form. Apothecary Umbras and brother Berolinus were also awake now, fighting to bring down the flailing psyker and bring his rampage to a halt.

‘Kreusus! Brother, can you hear me?’

It was no good. His mind was gone, ravaged by the centuries of slumber. He ducked as a whickering flash of energy passed by overhead, missing him by inches.
He had seen it before. The risks associated with the activation of the sus-an membrane were great for psykers. Their bodies would shut down but sometimes their minds would not, and so they would be left to wander, awaiting the revival of their bodies.

Kreusus had been all but conscious for over six centuries, and what he had seen in the warp had driven him utterly insane.

He launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around the warrior’s legs, sending both of them crashing into the bulkhead. It was to do little good. He felt himself lifted up and hurled through the air by the Librarian’s superhuman strength, his body aflame with burning pain. Kreusus continued to roar and thrash, bellowing the same thing over and over again.

‘Lost! We are lost! We are lost! We are all l…’

He glanced up through the haze of pain to see Grungi standing beside him, his teeth bared.

‘It must be done, Codian. Your Ancestor Lord is beyond help.’

Before he could protest the Grungi stepped forward and something dark and heavy hit the deck. It was his own augmetic fist, thick chain rattling as it unfurled behind it. The Demiurg lifted the chain and began to twirl it around his head. Bright energies burst across its length and the fist became a thrumming, swirling ball of energy, casting a crimson hue over the small alien and the entire chamber of the small craft.

Codian looked on in horror as the alien bounded forward and took the Librarian’s head from his shoulders with a single blow, sending the extremity spinning away with a sickening thud. The body of Kreusus fell forward, bright energy pouring from its torn neck.
It was over in seconds

Codian felt his rage building inside him. He made to rise and his hand found his crozius, the winged skull atop it flaring with energy as it ignited. A blur of movement and a burst of energy saw the weapon knocked from his grasp to spin away across the hold, sparks raining through the air before his face.
‘Don’t be a fool! He was beyond help! The mind sickness had taken him!’

Berolinus and Umbras rose behind the squat killer, their fists bunched and their eyes glowing with hatred. Chest heaving, Codian shook his head slowly. The Demiurg was right. He knew only too well that Kreusus could not have been saved. The insane Epistolary would have torn them all to pieces in his madness.

‘He…he could not have been helped.’ Umbras admitted, shaking his head. ‘Without the facilities of the Chapter to hand we would not have been able to help him.’

In the long moments of silence that followed, the entire ship seemed to lurch and sway around them, a long, resonating groan echoing through the vast spaces beyond. Laenar rose to his feet to stand beside the others as the lights of the small escape vessel began to flicker above them.
There was no mistaking it. the ship had altered its course.

‘Mourn your brother if you must. I know how you feel. The Tau have taken everything from me. They took my homeworld from me. They took my family and my Brotherhood. They took the crew of the Grudgebearer.’

The others watched in silence as the cooling fist retracted, the greased chain sinking back into his arm until the cooling fist locked into place once again.

‘They even took my hand. They betrayed the Demiurg and I vowed to give my life hunting them down and destroying them.’

He turned to Codian, the fingers of his weapon-hand flexing.

‘You can ask me a thousand questions and never be satisfied with the answers, human. Better that I show you what it is you face here. Let me show you what has become of the Tau. Who knows, we may even kill a few along the way.’

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