{pictures work in progress}
For ten thousand years… I've lived… Saw… and merged mind and souls… and through that time had countless memory wipes… seen wars… and was there to see the rise of a supposedly "dead" deimgod… HA! Even the star gods… couldn't beat me…
And yet… with all my enhancements… I have yet still… could not fix the throne… oh, omnissah… forgive this martian-born… though I could give back life to your son… I still fail at your throne… though I have made your sons stronger… to be more than they were… To have improved on your grand design… sigh… The Warmaster… the traitors… my former master Magos Domina… the world of Trisolian-A4… the armour of Fate construction… Ah! My head!... memoires… fading in… data coursing… mind deterioration on unit 3…
How many times now… and how many more yet still… my mind is at war… While my soul must keep "him" in check… my students… please… continue the work… Guilliman needs you… My humanity is fading… Dying... To the backdrops of static noise… and yet... I am still needed… for only "I" am able to improve on our great emperor's work… and soon I will be the one to finish the work of sealing the great rift… forever!
→Excerpt by Belisarius Cawl←
"Those who scale the pinnacles of glory have the furthest to plunge into the abyss."
→Excerpt quote by Melothrucius Lux←
As the dust and blood settle, while a great unclean one walks slowly with a smile as big as his stomach, he bends to lift up his bell… and while it slings on his shoulder, the body of the great toad… black with scales larger than any man… moves! But not of living motion! For through its stomach a mechanical hand breaks forth!
But broken and full of errors… with sparks and blood oozing from a cold coffin… and with nothing but melted flesh and bones… but consumed in rage! The man inside yells… no! Screams in a blackened rage! While his fellow brethren lay dead… and motionless… except… through the corrupted blood that lay at every foot… began to spur new life!
Fungal spores! Flowers! New life through entropy! The once grey walls of the imperium grew colors! The cracks in the floor grew mold and moss! As a giant flower blooms on the giant toad's back! While the babies it once had, soon too grew flowers of their own into a beautiful bounty of a forest filled with the plant-like image of their god!
And through all that mess that happened in but moments, the dreadnought, consumed by it rages, stared with pure blackness at the great uncleaned one, but before it could even finish, yelling out the words:
[HORUS! Why…]
It was silenced… but not by the great unleaned one, no, the creature simply walked past his "foe" to stare up the elevator with a smile! As just behind him were the dreadnought stood… soon fell over as if their parts were simply molded rust… while a grieving flower bloomed through the man's open mouth! Though with a tint of black!
[grr… worry not, my master… the prey will not escape the net!] said the great unclean one with a horse voice, while his foul hands touched upon the great elevator of man! And while staring up its many ridges, a voice broke through the materium!
[ugh! It better not! This incursion into the mortal realm has already cost more than I would have liked… the others are getting in the way! AW! That raspy bird! Keeps messing with the structure in place… There is not much time before the shadow comes! DO NOT FAIL ME!]
As the voice of his father left, leaving behind nothing but a broken screen of fungal energy… like a hole in space…and while it closed, the great unclean one snarled as he looked to the fog behind him and said:
[send word to the upper floors!… that one of the fishies has moved upstream… but they must hurry! The father's patience is running thin… the shadow grows by the day… even my prefect form is starting to show the "signs"... ]
Meanwhile, inside the first great elevator:
As Molly caught her breath, while staring down the changing lights as the elevator moved from floor to floor…
[what… where those things… Akios…] asked Molly while she checked her weapon again and stared into Akios's eyes.
[hmm…] replied Akios for a moment as if gathering his thoughts…
But waiting patiently was never Molly's way, causing her to sigh as she looked up to the ceiling of the elevator in deep thought, when suddenly Akios spoke:
[monsters… demons… ememies... Xenos… pick one, it does not matter… they must die… but enough about them… now.. Sister… tell me about your thoughts… tell me why so many of my brothers… paid in their duty for you…]
Hearing how Akios said the word "brothers" and stopping midway with such emotion, caused Molly to pause for a moment, as she never thought the angels of the emperor to be so… human-like…
But to delve further deep into the angel's question, Molly couldn't answer… as she didn't know why herself…. As what answer could she give this man… this angel to satisfy him… she was but a normal human girl in a weird situation, and figured it had something to do with Layla…
[sigh, Oh angel… I don't know… I can only tell you to ask Layla that question when you meet her…] replied Molly defeatedly.
[hmm… You wish for me to ask another as to why the servants of our ancient enemy were after you?] replied Akios, as he stared at the bowing head of a battle sister…
[sigh… fine.. Looks like I will have to meet with her first…] continued Akios as the great elevator has reached its destination and opened wide its jaws!
And as their chains rattled and moved, while the lights of the next floor shone through the dark, dead tunnels, Akios set his staff in front of Molly, while his visual visor warned him! Confused, Molly stared at Akios's staff as it suddenly thundered to light in a ball of lightning!
For in his sight, Akios stared into the floor of dead brothers! Blood and empty shell casing… fading lights and blinking distortions… walking slowly to their corpses, Akios bends down to inspect a fallen brother, only to find more questions than answers…
[But how... The dreadnoughts just came through here… yet the battle scars... Looks days old… chaos? Possibly, but… well, that would explain why the dreadnoughts were already so enraged by the time they helped on the bottom floor… but still... Something is not right…] thought Akios to himself while looking around the floor with his armor lights.
But while he examined and came up with theories, Molly ventured forward into the dark, and there in the darkest corner she spotted what looked to be limbs or wings of some kind of creature…
[sigh… now what is it! Man, I'm really starting to miss little miss monster index… thought it's probably just another one of those bugs…] thought Molly as her eye glanced over a broken wall panel…
Through their sparks and warped metal frame, Molly recognized the outline…
[servitor! But it's empty… where did it go?]
And as if to answer her question, the sound of a rotating blade, like that of a saw spinning to life, broke the sudden quiet from within the dark around! Then the sound of flesh being torn, as blood splattered in the quiet backdrop of men screaming!
Looking towards Akios, then flashing her light back into the corner of the hall… the pair rushed forward only to be met with torn flesh, like that of meat put through a grinder! The only spared part was the helmet of an Eldar! … rank unknown… affiliation unknown… to be determined as Molly had no real idea what she was looking at… but oddly enough, as she continued to poke around, she noticed ammo for her weapon, though it was drenched in xenos blood!
This, of course, raised more questions in her head. But then, as the pipes popped their fresh steam… The pair heard the low murmurs of an engine humming…quickly flashing their lights, they could see the servitor back!
Staring at the twitching figure, Molly quietly whispered to Akos:
[where… No, how far is the next floor?]
Staring at the pit of darkness but seeing far more than what Molly could, Akios quietly takes a step in front of Molly and says:
[To reach your fellow sisters, we need to go up using two more elevators… follow me and stay quiet! And trust me, what you're seeing isn't what I'm seeing… don't you dare rush in…]
For in Akios's eyes, deep within the dark, held more than just one creepy servitor twitching… but before he could warn her of the dangers, the servitor slowly turned his head to face them!
In the light, his face shone with the plagues' blessing and curses! Seeing fresh prey in front of him, the servitor screams as his arm roars to life in mechanical wonder of a drill and saws! With his scream, the dark behind him let up with the eyes… the eyes of the true drones of Nurgel!
Their wings beating so loud and as one, the very walls bend to them, the blood on the floor danced to them…as the rotten flesh bounced in joy!
[Run!] screamed Akios as he sent fire through the tunnels!
Meanwhile, at 43-Sea location at the top center tower:
[beep boop…] computer noises..
[Oh! Omnissiah, this is bad!]
[What is it, 43-sea? Did you find where Molly is?] asked Mary with great concern as Layla slept in the background on a bloody military cot...
[Yes, but there is good news and bad news, which do you wish to hear first?] replied 43-sea robotically.
[sigh, the good, I guess…] replied Mary
[Well, by my calculation, gracefully given to me by the machine spirits, she is two elevator floors away, around area C in the underground slums of the city… if all goes well, she should meet up with us approximately in 7 hours…] replied 43-sea witha slight head turn
[if all goes well?] Mary replied with nerves.
[Yes, that is part of the bad news, assuming her guide is still alive, and she doesn't take any detours, but that's not the most concerning part, no.. the concerning part is that the lower floors of the city slums have all been infected by something… the reports flooding in are all about a strange plague… strange "creatures" missing people and locked downs… amd doing all I can to keep the way open for her, but the machine spirits are really against it…their putting up walls in a sense…]
[wait, hold on 43-sea, let's back up, what do you mean seven hours? It didn't take us seven hours to get here!] replied Mary with many questions.
[Yes, well… we came straight up without any hindrance, while Molly had to go down a floor… A floor.. In which is right below the lake! A Lake that, for some reason or another, is showing signs of contamination of shorts… Putting that into consideration, plus the amount of turmoil going on down there, and the fact that the bottom floors have been neglected by the upper class for some time now, it's not surprising that there would be complications with her ascending…] replied 43-sea with her usual tone.
[fine.. Then I will just have to head down and get her! Sigh, then how about Lady Canoness? Have you heard anything yet? Did the message go through?] Mary replied questionably.
[Negative… for some reason or another, I can't get a signal off world… something or someone seems to be causing it… as the machine spirits are all working as intended, but for some reason the message keeps failing… It's like a shadow of some kind is covering this city…] replied 43-sea as she ponders many thoughts.
[Then we can head up using the space elevator?] replied Mary, thinking fast.
[negative… the space elevator has its own contamination, but different than the slums…] replied 43-sea with a pause, as Mary continued to look even more agitated…
[Based on the live feed I'm watching… I'm afraid some kind of blue-bird-like creature is monitoring the elevator… fascinating…]
[sigh, by the god emperor, is it just one creature at least.. Can we kill it and safely head back up into space?] Mary replied while she stared at the weird servitor that gave her chills…
[sadly not enough data to confirm a high probability but base one what I see presented in front of me, it would prove a challenge… we would need a pysker's help, as this strange man bird, seems to be able to handle these tyranid bugs with little effort… with its strange "magic" for a lack of a better term…] replied 43-sea while starting at a servant of the great raven.
Hearing 43-sea words and staring back at Layla sleeping face, Mary cursed under her breath, as they would likely need Layla to do something miraculous again… but not wanting to go that far again, seeing as how much stress it puts on her childhood friend, Mary could only sigh, as she said:
[Fine, one problem at a time, first let's get Molly… then come up with a plan for this "bird man"], Mary replied with exhaustion at the situation.
[Hmm.. That may prove problematic, as some of the floors have entered a lockdown and quarantine, some of which Molly must unlock on her end; there is little I can do from here for her… ] continued 43-sea with monotone.
[For the emperor shake! Then just get me the closest you can! Can you at least monitor us through all the servy skulls! And what not?] replied Mary
[depending on the location, yes, but many are just static now… some areas even have dead vox spots… but fortunately, I just spotted her getting off the first of the three elevators… but on our end, I can only control the the last elevator, in other words you will have to meet her only after she goes up the second elevator on her end… also…] replied 43-sea as she suddenly stop talking…
[Also?] replied Molly questionably
[hmm… well, nevermind.. It looks like my worries are unfounded…] confirmed 43-sea with a smile.
[What do you mean by that?]
But before 43-sea could respond, the air in the room shifted as Mary stared out the window to see the roaring lights of a thunderhawk! Bearing their red coat of arms, but with a strange tint of black, were a skull with fangs sat right in the middle… encompassed in a cross! And while their bay doors open to the rainy clouds, 43-sea couldn't help but stare at the blown holes in the Thunderhawk! In her eyes, they looked like they were made by some creature that could chew through metal! As the sheer amount of blood that stained the ship's outer shell was too hard to ignore, even as the ship was originally painted in its color…
And as the blood angels took their first steps out, the wind ripped around them, as the rain poured out in thunder, while the bugs that hid just below the platform began to stir up the walls! Immediately engaging in combat and killing scores of bugs as the gnats gladly fed the angels their lives… And as the captain of the team reached through his vox, like the scenery going on around him was just another day… To say:
[This is Captain Paracelius of the Charnel Guard chapter! NOW OPEN THOSE DOORS!]