Secret War: Warhammer 40,000 by Ben Agar (reading eggs books TXT) 📖

right now, isn't that right, Attelus?"

"Yes, that's right," I agreed, and I paused as I realised. "Wait, what do you mean 'us three'?" I asked.

"Because Attelus Kaltos, because good medicae Feuilt here will be accompanying us, isn't that right Feuilt?"

Feuilt's face grimaced in utter rage, but it was quickly gone, turning into a look of defeat. "Yes, yes, I will be accompanying you, major."

Olinthre grinned that grin again. "Good!" he said brightly. "Let's go then, shall we?"



We silently rode the elevator up to Taryst's penthouse, standing with Olinthre and Feuilt on my flanks.

Earlier on our walk from the medicae, I asked Feuilt with as much casual interest I could feign. If he had seen anything behind that door, anything of any importance, but the only answer I got was that the door actually led to an elevator that went down into an underground bunker that he hadn't been shown much of the shelter at all.

Perhaps he was lying, but I didn't want to push the medicae for more information with Olinthre around; the ex-guardsman's suspicion of me was high enough as it was already.

With the thought of the ex-guardsman, I could not help but steal a sidelong glance at Olinthre, my jaw twitching slightly.

Perhaps I should've pointed out the pure hypocrisy of Olinthre making poor Feuilt come with us, Feuilt who in all essence which had done nothing wrong he was just following orders.

But me being the complete coward I am, my mouth kept shut, not wishing to force any confrontation with Olinthre, I needed to stay on his right side, him being my only real ally in this idiotic endeavour.

Well, how "true" Olinthre was as an ally has yet to be elaborated on. I would be keeping an eye on the major after his tirade with poor Feuilt. I was beginning to wonder about his mental health.

I then looked sidelong to the medical, who stood as emotionless as he was motionless. He hadn't complained about the dangerous position he was in, but life was unfair, as I had said earlier. I couldn't help but respect the medicae for his apparent stoicism.

I sighed slightly and reached into the pocket of my flak jacket for a smoke while tapping the tip of my shoe against the floor, very much unlike the good medicae my nerves were really getting to me the entire ride I fidgeted in one way or another while wholly ignoring the annoyed looks from the Major and medicae.

The attempt to retrieve my Lhos was far harder than it should've been, my shaking fingers fumbling to find the little ceramic case that caused me to curse a couple of times under my breath.

Finally, I managed to tug out the case and opened it with a flick of a thumb, then began to search for my igniter.

"You aren't going to smoke, that are you?" growled Olinthre at my back which made me flinch in fright.

"And I hope that you are aware of the dangers to your health of smoking Lho," said Feuilt. "Or of the potential effects for both Olinthre and myself when you smoke in such proximity to us in here-."

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted while hurriedly slipping my Lhos away, really not wanting to hear much more of the medicae's tirade.

"Are you a bit nervous, Attelus?" asked Feuilt.

"Yeah, just a little," I said. "We are about to confront the leader of a huge multi-planet business franchise who has a huge army at his beck and call and may or may not already want us dead and may or may not has lost his mind, so I am a little bit nervous, yes."

Feuilt smiled. "I understand we all have our ways of dealing with our anxiety Attelus, you, I see, deal by fidgeting and by displaying extreme sarcasm, which is not uncommon for others your age and the smoking of Lho, of course."

I sighed again. "So, are we a psychologist now as well?"

Feuilt smiled wider. "Why I've dabbled, although I doubt it would take a genius to figure that out."

"Of course you have," I said, "and what is your way of dealing with anxiety medicae?"

"My faith," he answered without hesitation.

My jaw set at the medicae's response, first frigging Olinthre now Feuilt both being idiotic believers in 'faith', a smile spread across my face, and I looked up at the cameras looming over us and said;

"Whatever happens, happens."

Before either Olinthre or Feuilt could respond, the elevator had stopped its ascent, and again the automated voice announced in its typical monotone "300th story; Master Taryst's living quarters restricted access retinal scan required."

Wordlessly Olinthre unslung his lasgun approached the retinal scanner, and placed his face into the machine. At the same time, I still watched the cameras with great interest, wondering whether Taryst was watching us ascend to usurp him.

I drew my autopistol from my chest holster, racked the slide and turned to Feuilt. "Stay behind us, Feuilt."

The medicae's exterior of apathy was gone, his nod of reply very nervous.

"Employee 106; identified as Toron Olinthre," said the computer, "Access granted."

We all quickly stepped into the sides of the elevator in case of any immediate retaliatory gunfire from Taryst's bodyguards.

But there was nothing.

I glanced questionably at Olinthre, who, with a similar quizzical look, nodded back and together with guns raised, we slipped out of the elevator and into the corridor beyond.



What we saw as we stepped into that red, overly pretentious hallway made my jaw drop and Olinthre bark out in disbelief.

She stood at the end, kneeling over both Taryst's bodyguards' corpses, seemingly studying them intently.

"You!" roared the ex-guardsman. "How in the Emperor's name did you get up here?"

Elandria was suddenly on her feet, and she eyed each of us blankly. "I was allowed," she answered.

Both Olinthre and I had here wholly covered, but I could not help but feel a little unnerved; what was she doing here? Was this Glaitis making her move?

"Did you kill those men?" demanded Olinthre, his tone betraying his nervousness.

Slowly, Elandria looked over her shoulder at the two dead men behind her as though only just realising they were there. "No," she answered. "They were both already dead when I arrived."

Scarily without a shadow of a doubt, I knew she was telling the truth, and that made me all the more nervous.

Suddenly, Elandria grinned her evil grin from nowhere, and her attention snapped straight to me.

"This is it, Attelus Kaltos," she said.

"This is it for what, El?" I asked.

"Finally, we will see who is truly the better of us," Elandria said as she slowly almost theatrically drew Setsukia and Katrina.

I kept my pistol firmly trained on her. "I don't want to fight you, Elandria."

"Oh, but you do," she laughed darkly. "You are just as interested as I am in seeing who is the superior one; I know it."

"Glaitis has ordered you to kill me, hasn't she?" I asked.

"That is mamzel Glaitis Attelus Kaltos, and yes, the master did order your death, so I will not be holding back."

"Well, I wouldn't have it any other way," I said and opened fire.

Almost faster than the eye could follow, she dodged the bullet swaying sidewards, and her somersault carried her lithe body out of the trajectory of both my next shots.

Olinthre had no time to react before she had crossed the distance between us, and me in vain emptied my pistol at her acrobatic form.

She flew at me in a horrifically powerful butterfly kick which would have taken my head off if I hadn't managed just to duck underneath.

My sword was suddenly drawn. I slashed horizontally, attempting to catch the young woman in mid-flight, but she dodged, twisting out of harm's way with almost impossible grace.

She landed perfectly and followed on by pirouetting into a powerful hook kick which forced me into a backstep, her heel barely missing my nose.

Elandria kept up her offence, thrusting Katrina at my guts, a thrust which I sidestepped and countered with a horizontal slash. An attack she cartwheeled just out of range from, but her dodge was also an attack as she attempted to shatter my jaw with her feet.

I swayed away and slid into a vertical slash which would have sliced her skull cleanly in two if she hadn't parried with Setsukia, then countered by cutting with Katrina.

My dodge was a desperate leap back while simultaneously ejecting a knife from my sleeve and throwing it straight at her face at point-blank range.

Elandria knocked my projectile out of mid-air with almost contemptuous ease and lunged forwards. She quickly made the distance while spinning into a vertical blow which was far too powerful for me to parry, so I sidestepped, sliding nimbly around her while cutting at her back.

Elandria leaned low, just under the blow and swept her leg out in an attempt to take my feet out from underneath me, but I danced over the kick and stomped down at her.

She rolled out the way, across the carpet and into a feline-like crouch, her dead, drugged up eyes looking up at me under a furrowed brow.

"It looks as though your time in bed hasn't affected your speed, " she growled, getting back to her full height.

I grinned through my gasps that little skirmish would have lasted less than a second or two, but already it had worn me down a bit.

"Well, that's me," I said, "the Autarch Speedyrificus."

Elandria raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing!" I replied quickly, wondering what the hell I had said as well.

Then without hesitation, Elandria was lunging at me again.



I slipped from the slicing Katrina's path then weaved underneath the stabbing Setsukia.

My counter was a quick short slash, slashing up toward her ribs.
She spun sidewards out of the path of my attack. It was yet another fanciful dodge, but I'd like to think that I learned a lot about Elandria's fighting style over the past six months. I knew that her spins, her flips, her cartwheels and such were usually far too fast for me to take advantage of the openings they create, and I knew they weren't just for show either. She used them to build momentum, which added much more power to her strikes; it was a deadly mix of speed and power that made her such an exceedingly deadly enemy.

Elandria spun into a stroke with Setsukia, the blurring blade arcing in a decapitating cut that I kept clear of by backstepping. Against an offensive dual wielder with her speed, I wasn't ready to risk parrying. I didn't want to open myself to one of her next blows or even potentially be disarmed.

She flowed into a high front kick that I sidestepped; I would have loved to slice my sword straight into her leg then, but again she proved to be far too quick.

Clenching my teeth, I stepped into the offence. Slashing out horizontally with my sword an attack which Elandria parried with Katrina, and she flowed with the blow, turning her hips and augmenting my attack in an attempt to push me off balance to impale myself on the tip of Setsukia.

I would have been surprised if not running on instinct, it was the type of defence I used, and so the appropriate counter had been drilled into me over and over again by my father a long time ago.

In the blink of an eye, I pulled my blade back, reposting into a blindly fast overhead vertical slash that Elandria barely blocked with both her swords. A smile spread across my face at seeing the surprised look on her beautiful features; then I kicked out with my boot knife straight at her knee.

In hindsight, it was foolish of me to think that she wouldn't have anticipated the attack; I had gained much knowledge of her style, and so should she of me. I found that out the hard way as she suddenly slipped sideways, pulling her blades from the block and just managing to dodge my crippling kick. Luckily my skill had prevented me from putting too much pressure on my sword; otherwise, I would have been overbalanced and open to