+++Chapter 6+++
Within a secret
cubicle at the centre of the Mechanicus Spire Umbertino gripped the first lever
with trembling metallic hands, muttering the Rite of Connection he pushed it
forward. On the console display before him the first rune changed from a dull
red to a flickering green. In the mere moments it took to switch his grip to
the second of the four levers his enhanced brain raced with a mixture of excitement,
fear and relief. It was 357 years since he had taken over from the previous
Guardian, sealed within this hidden sanctury waiting for the order. Now it was
finally here, the wash of emotion was unsettling and strange to him after so
many years with so little of his original organic form and it's human weakness
remaining. He pushed the second lever in, spoke the Rite of Control and watched
as the next rune glowed green. Umbertino continued with the third, its rune
glowing as he spoke the Rite of Power. He paused for a moment contemplating
his life, knowing the final activation required a sacrifice, the death of the
Guardian. His admantium fingers tensed around the final lever, he felt the mechandrite
snaking from the console and connecting to a port at the base of his skull.
"I give my soul to the Emperor's light"
With a sigh of release he pushed the final lever forward, the mechandrite connected
to Umbertino's skull tensed as it launched it's solid payload upwards. The last
thing he saw was the final rune flicker and glow green.
Drifting in a hidden orbit on the darkside of Luko, Avengis' single moon, the
Lux Imperator stirred into life. The Adeptus Mechanicus' secret prototype, unknown
to the Imperium it's construction had spawned the four battleship killers built
on Istvall in the Gothic war, but they mere shadows of the originals power.
After the finer secrets of it's construction were lost, and not wanting such
power out of their control the Mechanicus had the the ship hidden here as the
ultimate saftey guard for the treasure of Avengis. A standard Battle Cruiser
hull enlarged to house a Plasma Drive on a scale unheard of throughout the Imperium,
the extra power required to power the monstrous Energy Bombard Cannons running
along the hull and jutting past the prow on each side. Energy sparked through
ancient power conduits, control circuits came online, releasing thousands of
servitors and servo skulls from their stasis chambers. In moments the giant
hull shook as the monstrous Plasma Drive hummed into life. As soon as life support
activated a dark circle of crackling energy coalesced in the centre of the bridge,
black smoke swirled, white lightning snapping within. Then with a sudden hiss
of displaced air the teleportation was complete.
Tech-Magos Ivanex and two red robed Tech Priests looked around the bridge, watching as servitors moving into place at the various screens and devices lining either side of the central platform. Ivanex was relieved the process had been so efficient, the Lux Imperator had not been activated in over 2000 years, the Adeptus Mechanicus directive demanded it only used in the most dire circumstance. Ivanex had been aware of the Chaos cruiser since it moved into orbit three days ago, bad enough he thought, but the arrival of yet more rogue Space Marines who somehow knew of the Vault had left him no choice.
++Active shields and bring weapons online. May the Ommnissah guide us.++
Over the millennia Carbus and the Spite of Chaos had become one, man and machine
merged and mutated over the millenia into a single being, 15km of Battlecruiser
given life by a single corrupt soul. Once he had been of the Navis Nobilitae,
but the twisted path of chaos had eradicated any sign of his honourable past.
He was no longer aware of his human body, it puzzled him how he could feel every
inch of his metal shell, every power conduit, port, weapon battery or engine,
yet not a thing of his old flesh, perhaps it was rotting like the corpse on
Terra, he didn't know. But for now he put such thoughts aside to focus on the
matter at hand. As soon as he had received Corvex's communication he began readying
the assault. The heavy footsteps of Black Legionairres and the insane screams
of Dreadnoughts echoed through his hull, as the Black Legion responded to his
call to arms. Flashes of yellow fire twinkled around the baroque obsidan black
hull as a rain of Dreadclaw assault pods hurtled from launch bays towards the
planet below. The first wave of his cargo released, Carbus fed more power to
his main drive engines and the Spite of Chaos slowly drifted into position above
Duron Hive. He felt a tingling sensation as the ships sensory systems picked
up an energy spike on the far side of Luko, Avengis' only moon. He recognised
it as the signature of a Plasma Drive coming online, a very big Plasma Drive.
The ship's sensors like his own nerves he could feel the tendrils of energy
coursing from this energy spike, gaining in potency and then as a whole moving
out from behind the moon and towards the Spite of Chaos, the signature changed,
weapons powering up and shields coming online. The power was intense. Within
the Spite of Chaos the followers of chaos stumbled as the whole ship shivered,
for the first time in millenia Carbus felt fear.
Running silent in a loose drifting orbit and operating with a minimum of powered systems active, the Hawk's Talon remained undetected. From the low lit bridge Epistolary Primis watched as twin streams of green energy lanced from the Lux Imperator and smashed through the Chaos ship's shields. The blast burnt a kilometre wide hole from bow to stern. Instinctively his enhanced Spacemarine body reacted dropping his eyes protective covers as the ships innards burst into the void, plasma arcing outwards as the Spite of Chaos' drive went critical. The ship buckled and exploded in a firey conflagration bathing the area in white light. Primis focused, his green armoured form still as stone, a frown formed on his dark skinned face as he stretched out with his mind. Shutting out the screaming souls of the dying Chaos worshippers, beads of sweat ran down his face as he connected to Klast's mind on the planet below.
"The Guardian has been released, proceed with Gamma Seven at once. I will send Barakas to deal with the Black Legion."
By Bootae