章節 45: Epilogue Three: Fear the Reaper
Silver Order Archives
File Security Level: V
File Name: Crusader-XIV-4-54
File Type: Military Compliance Record
Date: 870..M30
Imperial Actors: Crusader XIV, Argent II, Expedition XLII
Location: Segmentum Tempestus, Sector Foetari, Sub-Sector Barbarus Nebula, System Barbarus, Planet Barbarus Prime.
Part Alpha- Discovery and pertinent data related to Barbarus, compiled by High Agent Nyessario Stelzner
This is a record for Imperial use of the events that occurred during the Military Compliance of Barbarus. An archival compilation sourced from official reports, eye witness accounts and Remembrancer prose, assembled for the purpose of preserving and transmitting the story of the Imperium of Man's first encounter with a major Chaotic threat post-Lunar Insurrection.
The Iron Wars and the subsequent Age of Strife had damaged the Segmentum Solar extensively. Being the heartworlds of mankind, the most horrific fighting occurred here, inflicting suffering that made it so that no major civilization aside from the Imperium of Man existed in the Segmentum. This provided the infant Imperium an extreme advantage, allowing the twenty Crusader Fleets to quickly and effectively eliminate the region's threats. The ruined but still resource rich worlds of the Segmentum proved a bounty for the Expedition fleets. Thousands upon thousands of systems were peacefully incorporated into the Imperium. STC's were recovered, Forge Worlds reunited with Mars, and throughout it all, Imperial civilization spread.
It took the Imperium a little over 58 standard Solar Years to establish an unbreakable grip upon the Segmentum Solar, providing a core of systems to fuel the Imperial warmachine and legitimize the dream of Unity. Threats faced by the Legions during this period were almost entirely degenerate human cultures and Xenos Horrificus infestations. Chaotic threats were rare and typically weak. The War Within the Warp had neutered the Primordial Annihilator's ability to influence the materium to a great degree. Slaves to Darkness engaged in ugly civil wars with one another and the conflict between the "gods" spilled over into their worshippers, reducing their ability to summon madness and control the Immaterium. Daemonic activity was rare, and easily handled by the Silver Knights.
The first major Chaotic threat the Imperium faced was 53 years into the Crusade. The XIV Legion had been engaged in a series of purges against a species of Ammonia-Breathers in the galactic south when a fleet of Silver Knight strike cruisers rendezvous with them. Carrying orders from Terra, the 2nd Brotherhood of the Silver Knights met with XIV Legion to discuss a new and terrible threat from within the Warp. The two forces had been trusted with undertaking the first campaign outside the Segmentum Solar: the conquest and subsequent purging of worlds within Nebula-4737.
Nebula-4737 is a resource rich astral body home to numerous star systems at the northern edge of the Segmentum Tempestus. The rare gases within the Nebula, along with the mineral deposits within the Nebulas systems. would prove a valuable boon to the Imperial economy. This was not the only reason the Nebula had been chosen for the first extra Seg-Sol (Segmentum Solar) campaign. Powerful warp disturbances had been detected within the Nebula's heart by long-range Cyberseers.
An unknown actor of chaotic nature inhabited the oldest and best hidden system within the Nebula, producing PA7 (A.K.A Nurglitic) corruption at a staggering rate. If left unchecked, the chaotic taint would reduce the Nebula to a sub-sector sized cloud of warp-touched miasma, creating a breeding ground for Chaotic threats while also making the entire Nebula unusable for Imperial industry.
Hence the XIV Legion, a specialist in Zone Mortalis and similar extreme warfare was picked for this task. The 2nd Brotherhood of the Silver Knights have long had a reputation for dealing with contaminated regions and macro-corruption. These two forces working in concert would prove the best option for successfully conquering Nebula-4734.
Deploying with little fanfare, the XIV Crusader Fleet set a course for the Nebula. Dozens of scout vessels were released into its gaseous expanse. It would be a difficult journey. Oozing corruption from the central system within the nebula distorted warp routes and obscured the Navigators' sight. There was little guarantee a Warp-Jump would transport the fleet to the desired mandeville point. They could be stranded in the void between stars, or entombed within a celestial body.
While normally in these circumstances, estimated jumps and material travel could easily counter these troubles the exotic materials coveted within the Nebula proved an additional problem. If the fleet warped into the heart of one of these cosmic cloud banks, the hyper active chemicals within might burn through the hulls of the ships, or react horribly with vessel discharge. Moric Thane personally calculated that a possible opening in the Nebula's swirling fog would appear every few decades. After which finding the system would allow the mapping of stable warp routes too and from. They did not have that kind of time, so more exotic methods were needed.
Occult Techno-Sorcery of the Silver Knights would instead chart the XIV Fleet's way. The Silver Knights split their vessels into five groups, surrounding the Nebula and using each vessel's Penitent Compass to triangulate the desired location. The misery of dozens of PA7 daemon-hosts all beckoned to the corruption's source, providing all the information needed.
Punching through the Nebulas mist and misery, the XIV Fleet arrived into the Barbarus System, the source of corruption. Its ancient star at the Nebula's heart barely bright enough to push back the chemical tide. The Barbarus System was an unremarkable place of rusted worlds and poisoned gas giants. Except for the Imperium's target. Barbarus Prime was unmistakably touched by the Daemonic. Its thick atmosphere seethed with Warp-Energy. The misery of untold billions toiling away on its fetid surface struck the fleet's psykers like a hammer blow. This world teetered on the edge of doom, one final push away from becoming yet another Daemon World that eternally leaked corruption into the surrounding void and nebula.
The history of Barbarus Prime is hauntingly similar to many worlds encountered by the Imperium at this point, while also being unique enough to be highly dangerous. When the first outbreak of Psykers plagued this once thriving urban world, it collapsed into chaos and madness. Daemon possessed Witch-Lords conquered the desperate humans and made them their thralls. These abominable hybrids of Human and Neverborn turned Barbarus into their own fiefdom. While most of these Witch-Worlds were destroyed by their very nature, the twisted version of Barbarus they created endured.
Necare the mightiest Second Born Overlord was instrumental in this necrotic "survival". Using sacred numerology and sorcery, he had predicted a coming calamity. Some great disaster would ruin Barbarus. To survive, the servants of PA7 must unite and grow with blessed fecundity. The very nature of Chaos meant that his mission would be one filled with hardships and setbacks, so Necare turned to the simplest and most effective method of binding lesser Overlords to his will: procuring a weapon strong enough to enforce loyalty. With PA7's blessing, a ritual culling of entire counties of diseased peasants was conducted in grand ceremonies of infestation and mutilation. A great and terrible Daemon of austere pedigree was dredged from the Warp.
Its very presence forced all but the most foolish Overlords to heel. Though they were all Daemonic and powerful, the thing Necare summoned went beyond their mutated minds could fathom. The Plague Maiden as it was called, was brought into the material and with it came Doom. Even sealed beneath the cursed-iron vaults of Necares' holdfast, the Maiden produced an endless storm of miasma, a creeping, filthy fog that poured across Barbarus, violating the untainted valleys and hollows below the world's toxic clouds. The poor mortal wretches of Barbarus rotted alive. existing in a state of unlife. Blessed with dark fertility and the endurance of PA7, these living corpses were fruitful, filling newborn cities with suffering warp-cursed humans.
This horror further weakened the walls between material and immaterial, giving rise to a terrible world where Overlords and Daemons ruled over vast nations of broken dregs. At its heart was Pale King Necare and the Plague Maiden. Both grew stronger and stronger upon a diet of plague and misery. The Maiden was bound under horrific spells and contracts. Barely obedient to Necare, it was shackled attack-dog. That suited Necare's plans fine. The Plague Maiden would soon turn Barbarus into a Daemon World and then spread corruption to the galaxy. A mighty deed that would raise the Overlords place of honor within the clan of decay.
What Necare did not know was the danger his sorcery had predicted would summoned by his own actions. Without the Plague Maiden, Barbarus would have been hidden from the Imperium for centuries, maybe even millennia. Instead, on 870.M30 Terran Standard, the Angels of Death came to Barbarus.
The caustic fog that made up the world's atmosphere prevented accurate auspex readings. Only the Silver Knights psychic power told the XIV the rough location of their target: A massive nation sized mountain plateau dotted with cursed cities and foreboding fortresses. Scout vessels were deployed onto the planet. Stormhawks and other lighter vessels meant to find landing zones and discover enemy defenses plummeted into the mist in search of stable ground. Only half of these craft returned.
The atmosphere of Barbarus was stained with more than simple material poison. Daemons and cursed life flew in the atmosphere. Bloated crow-things and clouds of giggling Nurglings had latched onto the Imperial scouts, chewing through the metal hull with warp-acids and feeding themselves into its turbines with mad glee. The surviving scouts had only scraps of useful tactical data. It would be enough.
Part Beta- Barbarus Battle Prose of Remembrancer Jeailia Glelpke
The XIV Primarch Moric Thane was gifted by His Majesty the Emperor the title of Watcher of Cycles. He was entrusted with guarding the great system of life and death across the Imperium, allowing Moric to play the role of both healer and reaper, using his enhanced body and mind to find cures for countless afflictions, saving world after world from biological curses. While simultaneously destroying those beyond relief and the sources of their misery with horrific power. This is why he and Kiddu had been chosen for this task. Barbarus would be cleansed, and what survived would be saved by their hand.
Calculating and somber, the Primarch understood the best chance of salvaging the world and Nebula would mean destroying the source of the corruption quickly and cleanly. So the kingdom of Necare would die in fire. Using the data gathered the fleet picked hundreds of landing sights within the Overlords demesne. The XIV Legion would deploy across the mountain range. Smashing any resistance, clearing a path to its heart and holding off any enemy reinforcements. While the Silver Knights along with Moric and his personal company plunged into Necare's stronghold, destroying the source of corruption.
Great bombardments of lance bolts burned holes in the toxic atmosphere and Daemon swarms, giving precious moments for a storm of iron. Tens of thousands of XIV drop pods poured through the cloud gaps. Steel rain fell across the Kingdom of Necare. Its accursed inhabitants had already sounded the alarm. Lesser Overlords rallied to crumbling castles and commanded undead armies.While simple in Techcraft, these defenders were mighty in Warpcraft. Storms of destroyer flies were called into being, swarming across the rocky landscape like a living shadow. Cohorts of Plaguebearers arose from the flesh of cursed peasants. Puppeteered dead and corpse-golems the size of Warhound Titans marched. The very air was thick with poison and Death.
At each landing point, the XIV fought. Flame, volkite and bolter purged the streaming hordes of rotten minions. Armed with little more than rusted farm tools, the slaves of Necare attacked the Astartes, eager to die in service of Nurgle. These petty mortals did little more than waste ammunition and buy time for Barbarus's real defenders. Still, the XIV took the time to euthanize every last infected serf. The Emperor's peace would judge them, be they victim or villain.
Slowly and steadily, the XIV Legion spread out from their deployment zones, clearing areas and preparing for the second wave of drop-pods. Soon, larger transports came through the rotten clouds carrying Predators and Rhinos. Unlike some Legions where massive Tank Columns fought aside from the rest of the Legion, the XIV armor fought in the center of the main force, assembled and fully equipped each drop-force took formation. While each Legion can fight any kind of warfare they all prefer some over others. The sons of Moric were built for the bloody grind of infantry engagements and long attrition wars. As such, the most common strategy employed by the XIV worked to turn every battle into their favored type.
The Reaping Ground as they called turned the armor and infantry of the XIV into mobile kill boxes. An entire chapter became a single tool of war. Ground vehicles of this Legion were often over-armored. They were slow and ponderous compared to cousins transports, but as hardy as the Astartes who commanded them. This durability was key to the strategy. Based off the ancient Terran Terkio, the Reaping Ground would place a massive force of 5th Branch (Great Crusade slang for Super-Formation) Boltermen in a hollow square. With 3rd and 6th Branch Brothers inside the square. Then with Four tank squads, one at each corner. This design caught enemies between the hard armor of XIV Tanks, and the bolter discipline of the infantry. Tougher than any of their cousins, the Battle-Brothers of the XIV would march forward, creating a reaping ground culling anything that challenged them.
Unified by blood and purpose, the XIV Legion forces marched. Each Reaping Ground targeted a fortress dotting the stinking peaks of Barbarus. They did not go unchallenged. Patches of ground shifted and broke as Necromancy awoke ancient mass graves. Plague Zombies ranging from shambling figures of bone and muscle to massive Flesh-Golems erupted from the soil. The Plague Maiden's miasma lay heavy upon Necares kingdom. Packs of its Plaguebearers and their heralds materialized. Black, rock-hard buboes covered the skin of Zombies and Plaguebearers alike, displaying evidence of the Maiden's power and influence.
Unperturbed by the threats facing them the XIV marched on with stubborn resolve. Even when the Overlords took to the field, they held. Thousands upon thousands of bolt rounds and volkite discharges pummeled away at the undying horde. It is said that on that day, Vulgraxi the 24th of Necare, one of his Overlord lieutenants declared to a surrounded Reaping ground: "Fools! How can you kill what is already dead?"
In response All twelve of the Chapters Tanks opened fire upon the hulking Daemonhost. Vulgraxi's sorcery protected him from the initial bombardment. It did not stop the next twenty seven from reducing him to a twitching paste. The Chapter Master responded then with: "By reminding it of its predicament."
This and countless other stories of heroism doubt the appendix archives of the Barbarian compliance. Mighty hexes and curses were unleashed upon the XIV, the skill of the Legions librarians and its battle-brothers sheer bloody mindedness fought off the worst the enemy could throw at them. Steadily each of the outer fortresses of Necare were captured. The actual chaotic ruins were blown to smithereens, but the defensive positions became new basecamps for the XIV where reinforcement and much needed ammo were dropped from orbit.
By claiming the outer fortresses, the XIV issued a challenge and established beacheads. Soon the great Armies of Necare would march to reclaim his territory. This suited the Legion perfectly. They would test their endurance and might against the forces of unlife. Once the vast majority of enemy forces had moved to attack the Reaping Grounds, the true assault could begin. Ancient war-songs of Alba and the steady thunder of guns dueled the chants of Daemons. The XIV was in their element. The enemy would be ground to dust and this world would be cleansed.
Part Gamma- Personal account of Primarch Moric Thane.
The galaxy mankind calls home is insane. It is a place of madness, horror and evils beyond count. It is where homo sapiens fights and dies simply to exist. My brothers and I were born for a singular reason, to bring sanity to this galaxy, to make it a place where humanity can not just survive, but thrive. As such, we are being of both creation and destruction, capable of raising civilization from the ashes as well as burning worlds. I do not relish the fact some worlds and peoples must be put to the sword. Life is sacred and must be preserved if it can.
Nothing wounds my soul like when war must be waged on a world that could be spared it. Tyrants, zealots, and worse drive worlds to turn away from the Shining Path. It pains me greatly to order my legion to cut down those led astray and fed into the Reaping Ground by their leaders. Antithetically, when the time comes for true war to be waged, it brings me a grim joy. What I mean by true war, is war against what is evil, when the moral quandaries of mankind can be cast aside. Where the foe is a thing of such horror that one must blast it from existence.
Barbarus was one such case. The Warp's cancer had been almost completely woven into the world. The Daemonhost Necare had turned Barbarus into his fiefdom. Kiddu and I would burn away the rot and breath life back into this necrotic world. My sons, the XIV Legion, had pulled the Daemon armies away from Necare's fortress. The Overlord and his elite servants stood alone within his fetid walls. The Silver Knights, my company, and myself vowed to strike quickly and to strike true, executing the Overlord and banishing the source of his power.
We did not know what to expect when we teleported onto that blighted planet. In truth, I was overconfident. Nothing I had faced within the Segmentum Solar matched what was hidden under the Palace. While my sons dueled the Daemon hordes, our strike force teleported into. The Silver Knights and myself had focused our psychic might to pierce the wards surrounding the fortress. Necare had centuries to devise his defenses, we attempted to merely overpower the intricate psychic fortifications. In retrospect, this was foolish of me. I went against Kiddu's advice, wanting to end the battle as quickly as possible to spare my sons. With our psychic might channeled through the teleportarium, we managed to smash through most of the barriers, but not without a terrible cost. The wards scattered us, and what had been a mighty force of 355 warriors was split into dozens of squads stranded around the dread manor.
The warp miasma that lay thick across Barbarus was at its worst here. The raw stuff of Nurgle seeped into our reality through his daughter. In those panicked minutes after our teleportation, I lost 12 of my company. Not to the Daemons and fiends in the mist, but to the fog itself. So caustic and foul was its nature, that it burnt through ceramite easily. Power armor was rusted to dust within the poison and my poor sons died horrible deaths once it touched their skin. Black buboes erupted across their body, shutting down even the mighty Astartes biology. They thrashed and screamed as the buboes grew and grew, before hatching... The Astartes we found were masses of rotten tissue and rusted metal, covered in teeming hordes of swollen vermin. Mutant rats covered in black fleas spawned from the buboes and preying upon the dead flesh. I know the intricacies of their deaths because the Plague Maiden found it amusing to taunt me with them. In my father's name I swear that rotten banshee will be true-killed by my hand.
Thankfully, most of my Company were close enough to me or the Silver Knights. The psychic protection provided by those blessed by the Emperor could keep out the miasma. Quickly, telepathic links were established and wards were erected against the corruption. Kiddu and myself had been stranded on opposite sides of the labyrinthian castle, our subordinates scattered throughout in packs. Our strategy was to meet up where we could and unify into a single force by the time we reached the Overlord.
While the vast armies of Necare marched across his kingdom, his most powerful and loyal servants remained. By the cosmic malice of Chaos, I had landed just inside the curtain wall, farthest from Necare's keep and directly in the middle of its garrison. A single, bloated Great Unclean One in the shape of a colossal flea and its entourage of plaguebearers greeted me. It spewed the nihilistic drivil of its kind, but all its talk of entropy and inevitably did not stop me. In battle, my favored weapon has always been a polearm. The halberd in particular appeals to me, as it can defend, attack in addition to its ancient roots. At that time I wielded a lovely one, a gift from my brother Odafin Vulkan. The masterfully crafted blade held an axehead on one side and a reaping scythe on the other. Tools of both war and peace. The blessed adamantium made short work of the Daemons. Then, I still lacked the ability to truly kill Daemons. Still, I made them hurt as I cast them back into the abyss.
For the next day and night, we battled through the fortress. We faced pox-sirens made from curdled miasma, rat swarms that formed living rivers of hungry cursed flesh, and Daemonhosts in countless forms, each older and more hideous than the last. The Silver Knights sang songs of purity and life as they killed with sacred flame and silver. My sons were content to do their duty with quiet diligence, hacking through Corpse-Giants and Plaguebearers with the stoic disdain I taught them. We lost some of our number, that was inevitable, for the dangers of Chaos are horrendous. Yet in the end, we cut our way through. The air was a bog of rot that slowed our movements, restricted our senses, and hid our foes. I killed 12 Great Unclean Ones, 539 elder Plaguebearers and countless more Chaotic minions on the march to Necare.
When we finally reached the wrought iron gates of the keep, my impromptu company of rescued and recovered Battle Brothers met with Kiddu's. The Silver Knights are an odd bunch. Where my sons and I were clad in the grim of war, they all shined bright as they had before. My witch-sight told the true story though. They had suffered and were drained. Kiddu alone seemed unaffected. My father had created the Lord-Paladins for these duties and it showed. I did not broach the topic of my earlier mistakes, but I suspect Kiddu, the quiet sage that he is, sensed my shame. He greeted me with calm warmth and remarked "It is good we have all arrived. Being a legion of one is an existence I am loathe to repeat"
The Lord-Paladins are strange beings. They may be weaker than my brothers and I but there is an unsettling wisdom to them. Kiddu in particular has served alongside me many times and while I enjoy his company, something about him has always disturbed me. Its as if he can see through me, to parts of myself hidden. Our shared interest in biology and biomancy had united us and we put it to work healing our warriors in preparation for storming Necare's stronghold. Psychic powers have never been my specialty. The only exception is my skill in biomancy. What purer example of my father's vision is there than using the soul's power to strengthen the body?
Restored in flesh and spirit our Strike Force broke through the gates of Necares keep. The cursed iron and stone fell beneath us. The very material of the building was so infused with the Warp that it groaned and howled at us as we ruined it. We met little resistance as we moved through the dank halls. Only a few poxed servants we quickly euthanized. The door to the throne room was a thing of sickening majesty. A massive slab of rotten wood, carved with murals of death and rot. From the countless cracks dotting its ebony bulk leaked miasma. So dense and rich with power that it appeared practically liquid. An oozing corruption dribbling through the door and dispersing into fog like a chem-bomb of old.
At my signal our warriors braced themselves and Kiddu prepared to strike. His powerfist crackled with lighting and fire. The Lord-Paladin whispered dozens of mantras of purification as he focused himself. The blow reduced the great door to ash and unleashed a wave of psychic fire into the chamber beyond. Anathema-Fire and Nurgle rot dueled. Like guttering candles the psychic flames died as the miasma drowned it. The moment the flames faded the seeping evil poured out of the throne room.
Kine shields and warp-fire crackeled as we entered. Even my senses had difficulty piercing the tainted fog. Auspex readings were unreliable but the chamber was massive. Large enough to hold the mutant court of Necare the Pale King. Shapes and shadows darted through the fog, never close enough to strike but lingering at the peripherals. The throne room was eerily silent. The thud of our boots on the moist stone echoed through the mist. A low groan split through the silence. Growing in volume the rattling howl originating at the chambers end at least a hundred meters away.
As it started the miasma started to recede. Thinning to lesser levels and pulled towards the noise source. It reminded me of an atmosphere leak on a void-ship. Our vision became clearer and the cause of the unearthly vacuum became clear. Perched on a titanic throne of Rotwood was the Pale King of Barbarus. Necare the High Overlord drank in the poison through necrotic lungs and swelled with stolen power. Many Daemonhosts had fallen by my hand, none I think matched Necare in sheer power and foulness.
With a wet noise the Overlord rose from his throne to his full height. The throne rooms size made sudden sense. Standing taller than most Mechanicum Knights, Necare was a thing of death and rot. Unlike many of Nurgles children he was deathly thin. A towering spindly horror that brought to mind images of dessicated plague victims. Tarnished metal plates armored his bulk and a swirling robe of moth-eaten cloth covered hm. Seven horns rose from his head, forming a crown of mutated ivory. The miasma clung to him, soaking his frame with a greasy film. Rotten muscle and pale skin seemed to drink it in empowered by the Plague Maidens touch. To complete Necares image of a primordial death-god a titanic Scythe was grasped in his hands. The blade was horribly stained and nearly as long as I am tall. Its killing edge weeped putrefied filith into puddles across the floor. Nurglings sprung from these dropping, cavorting around their master like feral mutatlings.
Necare finished its great inhale and I heard a faint rattling. Long iron chains covered the Overlords arms, leading up into the rafters. Floating between the damp beams was our true target. The Third Plague Maid of Nurgles Manor. Her body was a skeletally thin facsimile of a human woman's corpse. Stained bandages and iron chains crisscrossed the emaciated form. Black buboes and infected scabs covered her flesh. A grey dress that turned to leaking miasma at its fringes barely clung to the Maiden. My soul recoiled at the sight of her. Untold misery and death had created her. Like all the favored children of Nurgle she was born from a plague that tormented the materium.
The Plague Maiden tittered endlessly. Repeating child-songs and the stories of those claimed by her birth. Now that we could see the chambers entirety it became clear it still hosted numerous overlords and a few Great Unclean Ones. Necare spoke to me then. No matter how many millennia or even millions of years I live I will never forget his voice. It was mine, a rotten phlegm filled version, but mine. "Oh child of Death, you have come to me once again. Grandfather Nurgle has gifted me such wisdom. You will be reaped and your soul will return to the Garden, and with it I will rise through the ranks of favored."
Such madness was common enough for the Great Enemy to spew at my Brothers and I. Only after those dark days on dread Moloch did we understand the meaning. Then I paid no heed and gave the order to attack. My legions chant of hate and the Silver Knights battle cry unified. "The Emperor Protects, so must we! Purge the Unclean!"
Warp power surged into my muscles as I brought my halberd to bear against Necare. The reaping edges of both clashed and spat sparks. Around me Silver Knights and XIV Astartes lept into action. Squads of Argent Space-Marines split off and targeted mighty Daemons. My personal company spat bolt shells and volkite streams at Necare as we dueled. The terminator clad warriors of my Honor guard flanked the Pale King. Known as the Wraithborn they wield Guardian spears as a gift from the Custodes. Those adamantium blades and mastercrafted bolters kept anything from interfering with my duel. Necare was the source of this world's suffering, he would die by my hand.
Kiddu also had his hands full. He was engaged in a duel of sorcery and willpower with the Plague Maiden. I had no ability to observe that conflict except when it connected with mine. Necare was mighty, physically a match for me if slower. Fell warpcraft infused him to the point the materium could barely cope with his movements. Every blow I struck was true but the bastard pulled more energy from the Plague Maiden as needed. Even bound and weak the power of that Daemon was near inexhaustible.
Our duel reached a stalemate. I could not hurt him enough and he could not match my speed. The Lord-Paladin seemed to be faring little better. Kiddu had summoned armies of spirits. This damned world was rife with unquiet dead. Each a broken thing desperate to strike the source of its pain. The Plague Maiden whispered the tales of its victims with glee as it attacked with psychic power and swarms of vermin. The Pale King and his bound Bride proved a dangerous threat.
The grinding tempo of my duel with Necare changed when the Daemonhost exhaled a stream of concentrated miasma. The toxic gas was potent enough to eat through my armor and burn my flesh. I could withstand it and healed faster than it could hurt. My sons could not say the same. Even some of the Silver Knights were suffering. Multiple squads had suffered casualties and one had even been devoured whole by a rat-infested Unclean One minion of the Maiden. It was time to end this battle.
Reaching out to my flagship in orbit I touched my fathers gift. The Seed of Eden, now a magnificent tree that filled part of my living quarters. The Seed had been gifted to the Emperor by a long dead culture. It was a physical manifestation of the Warps power of life. The Warp is the domain of possibility. Creation, destruction, possible, impossible it is all occurring simultaneously within the Sea of Souls. Chaos seeks to corrupt and despoil that possibility into the entropic doom of true dissolution. Humanity must master the Warp before then and the Seed of Eden is a key piece of that. It is a font of life energy. Ancient immaterial energy born of the universes life and growth. Untouched by Nurgle it is a reminder of what the Warp was and can be.
Planted and tended by me the Seed grew into a World Tree that purifies the Warp and breathes life into the universe. Drawing too much power from it could be dangerous for both me and it. Instead I used it to filter my psychic might. In this modern age of Ruinous Powers so many warp arts are impossible. Inviting possession or corruption in the attempt. With the protection and power of the Tree of Eden one of those lost arts is mine once again. Maybe through my efforts it will someday be restored to all. The warp-art of Life Weaving.
The magik winds of life poured into my soul. Healing my wounds and invigorating my flesh. An aura of growth and health poured from me. Empowering my warriors and beating back the miasma. Nurgle is the god of rot and unlife. The Cancer-Lord of the Immaterium. I am the Lord of Cycles I will cut out the cancer and spread creation in its place. Faster and stronger than I had been, I charged past Necares guard. My halberd flashed and cut the Daemonhosts leathery flesh. Where miasma had once bound wounds shut life grew. Fungal growths and moss spread from my blows. The process of decomposition restarted. Again and again my blade cut. Leaving a pattern of verdant green on Necares mottled flesh. The monsters soul flickered with shock, then anger, and finally fear. The Pale King had corrupted life and used it to enslave and torment Barbarus. Now it was his time to be afraid. His time to be infested and broken from the inside out.
I am the Lord of Cycles and I bring death to the deserving and life to the needy. Fresh wood and green vines spread through Necares flesh, slowing him further. I lopped off one of his hands and I saw roots spreading through the stump. Death crept closer to the Overlord as he frantically siphoned power from the Plague Maiden. Even as he did flowering vines climbed the bindings. Drinking in the Maidens miasma, seeking her rotten form. Necare finally fell to his knees. His flesh a verdant garden of rebirth. Only one of his three eyes remained. It stared up at me with bitter hate. Even as grass filled his throat he spat out a final taunt: "I serve the God of life and death. Go on! Prove yourself and banish me back to grandfathers embrace. It won't change anything. The death of this universe was written out long before your thieving father was spawned. All will rot and return to Nurgle!"
Placing my halberds axehead on his neck I responded: "You speak of certainty and stagnant fate. You neverborn are all the same, even after spending centuries in stolen flesh you don't understand. Necare the Pale King is just a story. A parasitic myth only as powerful as the power we give you. Chaos is nothing without us, and without Chaos we are mighty. I reject you evil one. You and all of your kind. Return to your usurper god of life, and tell him something from me. Learn to Fear the Reaper hellspawn. My brothers and I are coming for you."
With that I channeled my full might into a mighty swing. Splitting the Daemonhosts head from his body and banishing him to the Warp on a river of life. The Greater Daemon that mortals called Necare fell into Nurgles garden and was consumed by the power of life. He delivered my message to the Plague God as his body fell apart and spread the seeds of life. Nurgle destroyed him utterly. Ironically quarantining and eliminating life that threatened his realm.
With Necare gone the Plague Maiden was destabilized. Her unflesh burned with sacred flames and the wrath of dead souls tormented her. Seeing the danger my powers possessed she quickly escaped back to Nurgles Manor. Kiddu and I swore blood oaths to each other. We would together hunt her down and free the tormented souls she had claimed. Never again would she unleash her dance of death upon the Materium.
With the Pale King destroyed and the Plague Maiden banished the miasma started to fade. Daemons faded with it and zombies crumbled. My sons would wage a months long campaign across the world. Not resting until every last trace of the Overlords was burned from Barbarus. Only a few villages could be saved. Most of the worlds civilians had to be put down. The rot of Chaos imbedded in their very blood and soul. Channeling the power of life is an exhausting experience. I took a few days after the destruction of Necares Castle to rest. Kiddu joined me, his own body and soul worn out by the Maiden. We discussed many things and I gifted a cutting of the Eden Tree to him. If anyone could help decipher its secrets, it was him.
The survivors of Barbarus were hardy folk. Strong in body and spirit. In a few centuries they would make good aspirants. I marked Barbarus as my fifth recruiting world. Placing it under my personal rule and protection. Like every other world we added to the Imperium my Legion swore an oath over. To eternally guard it from the evils that threaten it. A practice that would eventually earn us the name the XIV Legion now carries proud. The Eternal Guard.
Part Delta (CLASSIFIED) - Excerpt from Lord-Paladin Kiddu's report to the Master of Mankind.
Your fourteenth son exceeds our expectations. He shows all the best features of Mortarion without the wounds inflicted by Necare. The Nathaniel Garro aspects of my soul are impressed and overjoyed with Moric Thane. By destroying Necare the timeline has further been altered. Removing a powerful servant of PA7 at this juncture will have unknown ramifications. Barbarus undergoing purification and acting as a testing ground for prototypical cleansing rituals and technology. The unrecorded Daemon known as the Plague Maiden escaped destruction or confinement. Nature of Daemon suggest connection to the Aeldari Psychic Intelligence known as Isha. Further investigation of Aeldari artifacts and warp science pending.
Restoration of warp-art recorded in Old One texts as "Winds of Life" ongoing. Chaotic corruption hinders use of it and kin arts. If warp space is sufficiently cleansed or a quarantine zone of the Warp (Webway usage?) could be acquired the Old One psychic arts might be more feasible. Current psychic techniques are stunted and weak due to threat of Chaos. Sufficient anathematic power might allow power use. Moric Thane has shown potential to wield pure Life Magik without aid of Tree.
The Tree of Eden is growing strong and samples taken show its "god-called" nature is surprisingly stable. Moric Thane nurturing it suspected for its purity and functionality. Raises the possibility of similar Old One or Aeldari artifacts thought unusable being salvaged. Reaction between Primarch soul-type and Old One technology must be further researched. Possibility of further human "god-calling" raises questions. Could more Winds of Magik be discovered and used? If so could they be bound to human psykers and help advance the Apotheosis aspect of the Shining Path?
Your servant
Lord Paladin Kiddu: Cleanser of Corruption.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票