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

people! If you can survive that, you can survive anything! Keep going! Keep fighting! I know you have the strength! I know it!+

I smiled and slowly began to climb to my feet.

"Thank you for the great, amazing, awe-inspiring speech, Karmen," I said. "You could compete with Brutis' in that department, but I didn't need it!"

Brutis grinned at me. "Attelus! Anything you want to say before we send this scum back whence he came?"

I threw back my head and bellowed out a loud laugh, so loud that Etuarq stopped his, this despite my sore, raw throat. "Yeah! Hell yeah! I'd like to thank you, you son of a bitch! For so long, I've struggled for a purpose in life! Something to truly fight for! And finally, you've given it to me! I'm gonna hunt you down, and I'm gonna stop you! Once and for all, even if it's the last thing I do! But before that, I'll stop this Exterminatus! Screw you and screw your fate! I'll do it for Elandria, for Castella and most of all, for me!"

Brutis laughed. "You could've been a little less cliche, you know? But I'll give you points for the spirit! Karmen!"

I frowned, and who was he to accuse me of being cliche? Bit of a double standard, I'd say.

+Got you!+

No longer could I keep my feet, and I collapsed to my knees as together they roared, and the explosion shrunk and shrunk. It Still writhing and rumbling and struggling.

Then, two people appeared on my flanks and helped me on my feet, laying my arms across their shoulders, and I was shocked to see it was Verenth and Selg.

"Yeah! Up ya get," said Verenth, and we watched as the explosion slowly faded into nothingness.

+You've done well, my little puppets,+ said Etuarq; his voice was fading with the light. +But it makes no difference you will die with Omnartus no matter what you do!+

Then he was gone, and the church was in darkness; the only thing left of it was the deep, five-metre wide crater in the floor.

 

 

"Is it, is it dead?" asked Selg as Brutis 'Bones' approached.

Brutis shook his head wearily. "No, Selg. We just sent him and his witch explosion back into the Warp."

Selg nodded as Brutis activated his vox link. "This is Inquisitor Tybalt; Edracian is defeated, I repeat. Edracian is dead; we are victorious."

Dead In more ways than one, I thought.

+I am tired; I must return to my body,+ said Karmen.

"Now what?" asked Verenth.

"Mercs are still holding floors six through eight," said Brutis. "The elevator's active, and we are transporting troops up and soon will have enough strength to catch them between us. We've still got fighting to do."

"Great," I sighed. "Of course we do."

"No, I think yours and Darrance's struggle is over," said Brutis. "You're in no condition to fight anymore."

I sighed again as Darrance approached Hayden, helping him walk.

"Do you...do have an ecclesiarchy priest?" asked Darrance, his face dark

Brutis furrowed his brow and folded his arms. "Yeah, he's back at Taryst's tower; why?"

I gasped, and my eyes widened, realising what he meant, then had to fight back the sudden, welling tears.

"Our friend," managed Darrance. "She...died, she was deeply religious, followed the Emperor and that. I think she deserves a proper send-off. She gave her life to stop that...thing; she died in His service. She was the best of us, and now she's dead."

Brutis stood in silence.

I couldn't hold back the tears anymore as they freely flowed.

"Please," I hissed. "Darrance is right. I know so many have died other than her, and I know we were enemies. But please. She'd have liked that, please give her this! She was like the sister I never had."

"Where did she die?" asked Brutis.

"There," said Darrance, pointing.

Brutis nodded and began walking to the rubble.

Darrance yelled. "Her name was...!"

"I know her name, Darrance," Brutis interrupted. "I made the effort to learn all of your names! Her's was Castella Lethe; it seemed a fitting name from what little I knew of her."

I nodded, and we followed him.

"I'm not a priest," said Brutis. "But I am an Inquisitor, the next best thing, I guess."

"Yes," I said. "Thank you."

"Boss," said Verenth with uncertainty.

"Verenth!" said Brutis. "I know time is short and know she's one of them, but I feel I've gotta do this, anyway she wasn't one of them who killed so many of us. It won't be long."

He looked over his shoulder. "Besides, once finished here, I'm gonna have this place levelled; if it's going to happen, it's going to now."

For a few minutes, we stood in respectful silence as Brutis recited The Litany of The Emperor's Peace, his hands raised over the rubble. It was a rushed version, but Brutis never left anything out, and the entire time tears flowed down my face. I hadn't been to an ecclesiarchy service since before the war on Elbyra but still remembered when to say the responses. Usually, I would've mouthed it, but for Castella, I wouldn't show such disrespect.

Once he finished, Brutis turned back, approached me, and placed his gauntleted hand on my shoulder, much to my surprise.

"For a cold-hearted merc killer, you seem to cry a lot," he said, smiling and looking as haggard as hell. "She must've been close to you; I am sorry."

All I could manage was a nod.

Brutis stepped past me. "Alright! That's enough! Selg! Take your men and scout the rest of the tenth floor! Hayden! You're with them! I doubt there's anyone else up here, but we've got to look anyway! The rest of you with me! We'll take Attelus and Darrance to the elevator so they can get back, and we'll rejoin the reinforcements there! Move! Move!"

Selg slipped away, and another Hammer took Hayden's place, helping Darrance.

"Thank you," I hissed as we walked to the exit. "Your name is Verenth, right? Thanks."

Verenth clenched his teeth. "I only do it 'cause the boss ordered me to, nothing personal."

I sighed and said, "I'm sorry about killing your brother. I am truly sorry. But...but I only did it because my boss ordered me to, as well. It was nothing personal also. I'm not trying to justify it, and I do deserve your anger, but there are others who are far more deserving of it than me."

"Yeah, like who?" he growled.

"Inquisitor Etuarq," I answered without hesitation. "It was all because of him that this happened; it was because of him, so many have died. He manipulated us all; he manipulated all of this. I would've suggested Taryst too, but he's already dead."

Verenth said nothing.

"I've suffered much to get here," I said. "I've been through hell, Verenth."

"Yeah? Like what?" he growled. "I doubt it has anything on having to mourn your younger brother."

"I wouldn't know," I said. "I'm an only child, but I do know what it's like to lose a mother, and that was hard as hell. How about just after finally getting up the courage to confess to the girl that you loved, that you loved her, for her to be shot in the back, then she bled out in your arms? Just after a life and death fight with her? Or the woman who was like a big sister to you just being crushed horribly, abruptly under a falling pillar? Or how about finding out you may be indirectly responsible for the potential deaths of billions? Or..."

"I get!" said Verenth as we finally walked out onto the stairs. "I get it! But that doesn't make up for..."

"No!" I Interrupted. "I never said it did, but I suspect before this is all done, especially now with this new revelation, that it's just beginning. That I've got a shit ton more trauma to go through before this is done, but if I have to go through that so someone else doesn't have to if I have to go through that so that maybe, one day I will earn some forgiveness from those I've done wrong. I will, and I will bear it. So you can hate me all you want; it's fair enough, I understand. Please don't kill me. There's still much for me to do. Once I'm done, once I'm finished, and if you don't deem it enough, then you can put a bullet through my brain, and I will let you. And perhaps, by then, I'll even welcome it."

Verenth smiled. "If that's the case, then you'll never be done, and I'll never get to blow your head off."

I laughed despite myself. "I'll be done if I end up crippled and destroyed in the process. Confined into a wheelchair or whatever. Then I suspect I'll truly welcome that round."

Verenth said nothing, just clenched his jaw; perhaps the idea of him killing me without me minding didn't appeal. Fair enough.

"What are you?" asked one of the Hammers. "Some kind of masochist or something?"

"Perhaps," I said with a shrug, genuinely surprised a moody Hammer knew what a 'masochist' was. "But I never said I'd enjoy it."

"You've changed," said Darrance.

I looked at him, expecting he'd say more, but he just stayed silent, his attention fixed forward.

We were the last out, Brutis leading the way, Wesley on his flank and the Inquisitor reached to his ear.

"Gerral, we're about to meet you at the bottom of the stairs, stand ready," he said.

Brutis paused and held up a hand for us to halt.

"Gerral! Respond!"

Brutis waited for a few seconds before glancing at us, grim-faced; he shook his head then waved an advance.

Slowly and in surprising silence, we walked the stairs, everyone but Darrance and I with weapons raised. We reached the end of the curvature and saw the corpses, ten of them, all cut apart by a power sword. There was no sign of weapons discharge, no smell of las-fire or gunpowder, no holes or scorching in the walls.

I didn't like this, to take out ten men, even lowly Moody Hammers like them, without even one getting off a shot? And with all the lights intact? They were good, really, really good; my question was, why hadn't they struck until now?

With points of his fingers, Brutis ordered the Hammers to fan out. I could tell Verenth wanted to move up too, but we were forced to watch on.

Surprisingly calm, the hammers secured the perimeter, covering the corridors with their assortment of guns, and Brutis reached for his vox.

"This is Inquisitor Tybalt; I've got ten men dead on the ninth floor. Professional killers, none of my men managed to get off a shot, power sword wounds. We've got more assassins; it seems, three maybe four, watch out."

"One," said someone and everyone looked to the voice's source; it was only then I realised it was me who said it.

"What?"

"There was one killer," I said with certainty. "Inquisitor Etuarq said he was delaying for when someone special was going to enter the building, who would be that special?"

Darrance's eyes widened, and he flinched with realisation. "Shit! She's here! Glaitis is here!"

The light above Brutis and the Hammers suddenly smashed out, leaving them endowed in darkness, and I could hear a slight clatter as what I guessed was a throwing knife fell to the floor.

Immediately the Moody Hammers opened up, the light from their weapons revealing everything in blinding flashes of white, despite Brutis bellowing for a ceasefire.

Two on the right abruptly cried and reeled, then collapsed, knives jutting, seeming to appear in their chests, then another two on the left, with blades jutting from the bases of their skulls.

I would've shouted a warning, but there was no way they could hear me over their roaring weapons as Glaitis was suddenly among them, dual swords slashing; she gutted another two. A third tried to bring up his lasgun, but she kicked him in the face so hard the crunch! It managed to eclipse the roaring gunfire around, and the poor bastard collapsed like a ton of bricks.

She threw another two knives; one impaled the eye socket of a Hammer the other, Wesley ducked.

Brutis dropped his bolter with a roar and drew his elaborate power sword, igniting