Hunt for Vengeance
Energy crackled along the power sword's length, briefly lighting the passage. With his thumb, Sergeant Kael Morrigan touched the activation stud and the darkness again embraced him. Thirty meters to the western passage ahead.
It had been nearly twelve hours since he first tracked the beast into these caverns. Two days his Chapter had been on planet battling these Tyranid monsters. His squad was providing fire support from a nearby hill when a gigantic beast had barreled into their backs. His men were torn to shreds by the scythe-like claws that split the air around them. He had barely dodged to the side himself, losing a chunk of his vambrace as the claws ripped through the ceramite as if it were wet paper. His trusty power sword had saved him, tearing into the beast's limb and bloodying it. The creature let loose a high pitched scream as it turned away and ran. Kael had since tracked it to this labyrinth of caverns.
He had lost contact with the rest of the Blood Phoenix force when a Lictor caught him by surprise just inside the entrance to the caverns. With the light at his back and the natural camouflage of the foe, he only managed to avoid decapitation by a breath before ending the creature. He grimaced as he imagined the stern expression on Techmaster Vesk's face, his hand straying to the broken helmet attached to his hip. He felt the jagged split, regretting the loss of the fragile vox mechanisms destroyed beyond his knowledge of repair.
The part of his brain that was counting reached thirty. Kael stopped and turned to his left, letting his senses seek the prey. Drops of water could be heard in the distance, their echoes making it impossible to determine from what direction they came. He smelled the air and detected the familiar scent of blood mixed with alien ichor. He again lit the darkness for a brief moment and turned to the western passage. He started counting again.
His mind wandered back to the field of battle he had left. It appeared his brother marines were making headway, as he remembered squads of flamers burning through the overgrowth and drawing out the smaller of the foe taking refuge within. His squad had broken the enemy lines with heavy fire, while the captain and his personal guard fell upon the rest. With surgical precision they had meted out the Emperor's justice to the foul xenos.
What then went wrong? How did they miss the beasts to their back? Scouts had been sent to watch their flanks, yet Kael had seen no remnants of them while tracking his quarry to the caverns. When he returned to the battle, he would broach this with command and search parties would find them, or what was left of them.
Again, he stopped and powered his sword to get his bearings. The passage continued straight ahead, with no sign of deviation. The stench of blood had grown stronger. Kael smothered his memories for the moment and set his mind and senses to full alert. Dropping into a crouch, he idled ahead slowly, trailing one wall of the passage with his gauntleted hand.
When the floor fell out beneath him, Kael instinctively pulled himself into a ball to lessen the impact and tightened his grip on the sword. Whatever else, he would not find himself weaponless. His armor banged against rock and the echoes made him cringe. Wherever he landed, anyone or anything nearby knew he was there.
Kael rolled to his left and came up into a crouch, his sword brandished before him. He had not activated the weapon as yet, not wanting to disclose his precise location if an enemy was nearby. He stayed there, crouched and ready, for a full twenty heartbeats, listening, smelling, and tasting the air. Finally convinced nothing was about to strike, Kael touched the activation stud. What he saw brought bile to his throat.
Pieces of flesh littered the floor, viscera intermingled and painted the very walls. Intestines hung from the ceiling like decorations for a festival, still wet with the fluids of life. The stench of death lay about him like a heavy blanket, nearly overpowering all his senses. How he did not immediately notice it was beyond his comprehension. Bits and pieces of barely recognizable human forms lay scattered, like a puzzle that had been strewn about by a child. His eyes finally rested upon a broken pauldron covered in blood, the wings of a golden phoenix protruding from the gory coat. He had found the scout squad.
Anger rose within him, his breath becoming ragged as he quieted the growl seeking to escape his lips. Purpose was renewed. This was the work of his prey and he would take retribution for his brothers. More names were added to the tally of this beast's transgressions and Kael swore he would exact the vengeance so justly deserved. Rising to his feet he sought the exit, quickly spotting a side passage with a steep incline.
Ahead he heard the sounds of battle. He could not recall how long he had been running from the site of carnage below. He had one focus, one goal ahead of him, and he was closing the gap. His eyes were beginning to detect a shape to the walls and he realized there must be light ahead for his occulobe to grasp onto. As the darkness slowly turned into a mild dusk, he finally recognized the sounds ahead as boltguns.
A sharp turn in the passage hid the opening he expected. Bursting out of the cavern without missing a step, he saw a battlefield before him. Blood Phoenix marines were advancing on a nest of the bugs ahead, his captain leading the charge. What he saw that his captain did not was the overgrown beast bearing down on their flank. Kael loosed his anger in a guttural howl as he charged down the hill in pursuit.
Stealth was forgotten. He ran as if the lava worms of his home were after him. His sword bristled with power as he leapt into the air. Grasping the blade in both hands, it led the way as he landed upon the creature's back. Death had arrived and its name was Kael Morrigan.
Hearing a commotion to his left, Captain Markus Kordan paused in his assault and sought out the cause. What he saw stopped him in his tracks, as an enormous beast bore down upon his flank, not twenty meters away.
"Squad! Contact left! Carnifex!" he yelled into the vox even as his arm lifted the plasma pistol from his side. Then he saw it, a misstep. The creature stumbled in its run. Then again he saw the creature's pace slow and a leg dragged the ground. In a mere second, the danger to his flank collapsed to the ground, throwing up a curtain of dust as it slid to a stop a few feet away.
As the dust cleared, he saw the distinct outline of a Blood Phoenix marine straddling the creature's back like some Attilan Rough Rider. The marine slowly drew a power sword from the beast's back and leapt to the ground.
Without a word, the captain removed his left gauntlet. Reaching for his combat knife, he drew the blade across his palm. Using his own blood, Kordan drew an impromptu Crux Terminatus over the sergeant's Devastator squad marking.
"Welcome back to the battle, brother."
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