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+++fiction+++Inquis Xenos - Purging hostiles since 1892.
Manifest Destiny by Inquis Xenos
"Remind me again. What are we doing here?" Stefan Setzer absently twirled his revolver around his index finger as he looked out over the grassy plains of the planet Aleron's southern continent, his hat-brim flapping in the gentle wind.
Inquisitor Davion Toshiro, agent of the Ordo Xenos, followed him down the ramp of the shuttle Death Anchor. The sleek craft, its shape completely alien to the primitive planet on which it rested, was weathered but its dark hull still gleamed as the early morning sun shone across it, heat haze from cooling engines distorting the light.
"If you had been paying attention earlier, you would know." Toshiro stepped out onto the earth and, feeling the warmth in the air even at this early hour, unbuttoned his dark greatcoat to allow the breeze to cool him. "My dealings on Hekate were left unfinished. Inquisitor Khainem…"
"The one who likes eldar."
"Yes, that one. Khainem suggested that those unfinished dealings may have spilled over, onto Creda. Apparently the eldar that he 'confers' with have forseen an uprising on Creda, that will be somehow initiated by a raid by their piratical cousins on this world's plains. How, I do not know, but xenos or not the eldar seers have a reputation within my Ordo for soothsaying, and I saw no harm in investigating."
Setzer looked perplexed, not for the first time in regard to his master's policies. "You see, this is what I don't understand about you Inquisitors. You're all, 'feel the wrath of Imperial justice,', and 'burn the unclean' - but here you are, listening to this alien-loving freak like he was the Emperor Himself. Why did you trust this Khainem?"
"I keep trying to tell you, mercenary, that the Emperor moves in mysterious ways - and equally mysterious at times are the ways of those who serve him. I do not trust Khainem, and I have no doubt that he is deeply misguided in some way." The Inquisitor paused, checking the mechanisms of his rifle with practiced swiftness before continuing.
"However, his information during the Hekate heresies was flawless and invaluable, and his courage and devotion are beyond reproach. Although his association with the eldar is somewhat… suspicious, Valarian sensed nothing expressly evil in his intentions. Denouncing Khainem as a heretic and executing him would achieve nothing, and would shed no light on his motives or those of his contacts. I would be cutting the leaf of the weed, and leaving the root.
"If you only learn one thing from me, Setzer, let it be this: better the daemon you know. Remain aware and suspicious always, but deal with what is placed in front of you, or you will find yourself fighting nothing but your own paranoia."
Setzer bowed ironically. "Wise words," he said with mock gravitas.
"Wiser than you yet know, clearly. What we are doing here on Aleron is looking for an eldar portal, without which there can be no eldar."
The third member of the landing party walked out onto the plain, heavy footfalls giving away his identity. Rodrigo Ximines, the former tech-adept, moved up beside Toshiro, his red robes waving as the breeze flowed across them.
"And when we find it?" He hefted his huge chainaxe in one hand and a large scanning unit in the other, either of which the other two men would have struggled with - but Ximines' cybernetic limbs achieved it with ease.
Toshiro looked thoughtful. "Then we will at least know that what Khainem told me is founded in truth. But there is a lot of land to search. Let's see if we find it first."
* * *
Phaos leth Lorimar kha-nurgh-ek i'chamon. The inscription on the cliff-face, engraved clumsily - one might almost say hastily - in letters no more than a few inches high seemed, just for a second, to glimmer, as though by the light of a flame.
* * *
Rodrigo Ximines looked up from his scanner display. "Got something."
Inquisitor Toshiro and Stefan Setzer walked over and peered at the screen. They had been methodically searching the area around a small mountain range, the foothills of which would be about the only place within hundreds of miles to conceal anything. Ximines would scan up to the limit of his machine's radius, then they would move on to the next area. Now, after what to Toshiro and Setzer had seemed like hours, had he finally discovered a lead?
A metal finger tapped the screen as Ximines pointed out his discovery, indicating a small dot of purple on the otherwise mostly blue display screen. "I've set this thing to look for magnetism. This dark colour here - about eight miles north behind those hills - could only mean a anomalous dense metal deposit of a few square metres, or…"
"Machinery," Toshiro finished.
"Right. Well, machinery, circuitry, electromagnetism, that sort of thing. Even psychic energy has been known to show up on this scale. 90% this isn't geological, and the human natives hardly know what metal is, let alone how to build things with it."
Toshiro looked at Ximines. "I think this warrants investigation. Good work."
Storing the location of the anomaly in his internal memory banks, Ximines switched off the scanner to conserve its power, and the three made their way northwards.
After only a few minutes, though, the pleasant if brisk journey was interrupted by the tech-priest, a look of alarm on his face and he suddenly stood still, eyes fixed on the horizon. Miniature servos whirred as the magnifying lens held permanently to the side of his head folded downwards over his eye, and began twisting and telescoping as he drew a focus on what he had detected.
"My lord," he said anxiously. "Anti-gravity vehicles, four miles away. Eight of them. Heading this way, very rapidly."
Toshiro's face, briefly, flashed alarm, before showing grave contemplation.
"Too late," he said, his voice dark. He looked about for a hiding place but there was nowhere within a mile. His mind raced.
"What? What is it?" Setzer interrupted Toshiro's thinking, clearly concerned at what could have caused such a change in atmosphere.
"Eldar corsairs," Toshiro said, monotone, as the dark shapes appeared within the range of normal human eyesight and still came on at appalling speed. Appearing to come to a decision, he reached into his holster and adjusted his bolt pistol. "Say nothing, and whatever you do don't panic. Ximines, get rid of that damned grenade launcher, quickly. And take the safeties off your weapons."
"You're not suggesting we fight eight ships?" Setzer responded almost incredulously, as Ximines' bionically-strengthened right arm flung his launcher a hundred yards back behind them without hesitation.
"I meant for yourself."
The gunslinger fell silent, and did as his master said. He was intelligent enough to realise that if these newcomers could cause such a response from an Inquisitor they must be terrible indeed.
He stood and watched as the black-painted grav-ships approached. They were nothing like what he had heard about eldar vehicles. Fast they certainly were, but they did not have the fluid, graceful curves that Toshiro had described when discussing eldar workmanship. Instead they were all points and concave slopes, sweeping prows and stylised frames, that reminded Setzer of nothing so much as the architecture of his home system of Lufretxia. They had an almost unfinished look, and as they sped closer it became apparent that the pirates rode on the outside of the transports rather than safe inside an armoured hull as would any Imperial force, standing on platforms astride the skimmers' exposed engines. At the prow of each stood a warrior arming a large cannon, and at the rear was a gyroscopically stabilised seat from which the driver - or perhaps pilot - steered his vehicle.
In seconds the eldar vehicles had closed the distance between the two parties to a matter of hundreds of metres. At first they appeared as if they might miss the three humans entirely but first one, then two more, then all eight adjusted their course towards the Inquisitor and his companions.
They slowed slightly as they approached, and the three were forced to leap aside as a beam of black energy leapt from one of the prow cannons and ploughed a great, scorching trench in the earth behind them. Setzer rolled away fully expecting to be vaporised at any second, but no further shots came. Inquisitor, tech-priest and gunslinger rose to their feet.
The black ships had come to a halt and were hovering a few dozen metres away, six feet from the ground. It became apparent that there were at least seventy eldar warriors present, and somehow the sight of the sinister aliens close up was far more unnerving than that of their heavily armed strike ships. Nevertheless, he and Ximines were the most cool-headed members of Toshiro's staff. With effort he checked his terror, as the eldar disembarked with speed and grace that would have been beyond the ability of the best-drilled human regiment; in what looked like a single movement all of the aliens were suddenly standing on the plains and moving towards the three humans.
Their dark armour mirrored the style of their ships, being somehow beautiful and intimidating together; most of the warriors wore tall helmets that obscured their features, lending them an even more sinister air, and all carried wickedly spiked weapons and silver rifles. For the first time in nearly a decade Setzer prayed to the Emperor.
* * *
The inscription flared again, brighter this time and with obvious anticipation. Something within the rock stirred, and what limited consciousness the thing yet possessed was nonetheless enough to feel the ebb of events around it. Soon, the pathetic human inhabitants of this tomb of a world would be struck at by the self-absorbed aliens, and they would pray to their spirits for aid.
* * *
Toshiro watched as the aliens approached. He tried to feign the fear of the unknown, aware that showing his true terror at this point would give away that he knew far more about these particular aliens than he should. To their credit Setzer and Ximines were looking as calm as could be expected; Toshiro wondered whether that would be the case had they read any of the Inquisition's limited files on the Dark Eldar. Certainly unnecessary shows of force, such as this, were in character for these aliens. It would have been so easy for them to destroy the humans with their cannon aboard their ships, or snare them as they screamed overhead. But their vanity, or warped sense of what passed for fun, had led them to approach the three on foot, mocking their powerlessess by treating them as if they were dangerous foes.
Toshiro did his best to look stupefied as what he assumed was the eldar leader - a female in purple and blue robes that stood out against the black of the warriors - addressed them. The warriors immediately surrounding her, clad in heavier armour that the others and toting massive halberds, accompanied her as she moved forwards. She carried herself with a grace unmatched even by the other eldar, but although she was fascinatingly beautiful it was a beauty that revolted Toshiro. Her sculpted features, almost blue-white skin, flowing hair of deep purple, and lithe physique somehow added to rather than detracted from the almost tangible arrogance and evil which she exuded.
"What is this?" she purred, head cocked in patronsing curiosity. "We come expecting nothing more than apes in trees, and yet find you with your little electrical toys."
"We are ex… explorator team Creda IV, ma'am," Toshiro improvised with a faux stammer. "Looking for traces of elixior crystals. Ma'am." Some of the warriors burst out laughing, which was something Toshiro had not experienced from eldar before. The eldar mistress, on the other hand, looked disappointed.
"I go out of my way not to kill you on the off chance you might interest me, yet I get this," she sighed. She peeled back her left sleeve and revealed a gleaming black glove that reached up to her elbow, the fingers of which were tipped with 6-inch needles. They clacked together as she flexed her hand menacingly. "Well, explorator team, for your tediousness you shall have the honour of experiencing some of the most excruciating deaths the galaxy has to offer.
"I shall kill… this one!" She twirled, hand over her eyes, and pointed at Setzer with her vicious gauntlet. "We will take the other two as our first trophies. A success of unprecedented speed!"
Her warriors laughed and cheered as the several of them moved towards Toshiro and Ximines to take them prisoner, and the lady herself ghosted towards Setzer with her delicate weapon drawn back. It was as Setzer's hand was twitching over his gun, and the warriors were mere feet away from himself and Ximines, that Toshiro decided that his always ropey plan of playing innocent had failed and it was time for a change of tactics.
"Hold!" he boomed, in a voice so strong that it surprised even himself. The eldar all stopped and turned to him, though whether from shock or contempt was hard to say. No matter.
"I am Davion Toshiro, of the Imperial Inquisition," he declared, turning aside his coat to show his seal, "and I have information that would be most useful to you. Desist and you shall have it."
The alien mistress lowered her hand and turned to him, a smile on her face, and an obviously relieved Stefan Setzer relaxed a little.
"Ah! The truth. You do look a little cosmopolitan for an 'explorator team'." She paused. "Supposing you are not lying again now; what, little mon-keigh, could you possibly tell me that I would want to know? Even a human would surely not be so obtuse as to think I could be taken in by this ruse."
"I know the locations of the settlements on this world," Toshiro lied, "and I also know how long it will be before the Doom Eagle Space Marines reach this world on a recruiting mission. I can tell you the window you have for your raid, and help you complete it with greater speed, before you are annihilated by the Emperor's light."
She laughed out loud, as did many of her followers; Setzer looked puzzled, and Ximines nothing short of shocked. Good. That would add to the plausibility.
"Why would you do such a thing, you compassionate weakling? Is it not your mission to protect your pathetic people?"
"Simple logic. The work I can yet do should I live will save more people than you take today."
"How delightfully cold of you. But what makes you think that I will not now simply take this information by torture, and kill you all the same?"
"Because the second you try I will crack my false tooth, releasing poison into my body and ending my life before I hit the ground, denying you your information and your pleasure," Toshiro said. He had no poison-filled tooth.
The alien looked almost impressed. "I do so love you humans sometimes," she said wistfully. "No two of you are ever quite the same. Very well - I am loathe to bargain with the likes of you but I see it is to our advantage."
Some of the warriors seemed to shift uncomfortably at this; clearly they had been looking forward to the torture and death of the Inquisitor, and were perturbed to have this taken from them.
"Here is what we shall do," continued the mistress, flexing her glove again and wearing her most playful smile yet. "We shall make a bet."
At this the dissent evaporated, replaced by nods of approval and grinning faces. Gambling was obviously something they appreciated. Or perhaps they simply knew what was coming.
"You shall fight my champion in single combat," she decreed. "If he wins, we will capture your departing soul and it will give us both our information and years of entertainment and torment.
"If you win" - a barely suppressed ripple of amusement made its way quietly around the collected dark eldar - "if you win, you may go free. This is the deal. I have been generous enough."
Before Toshiro could even think about objecting the warriors had seized Setzer and Ximines, and one of the sinister, armoured figures strode forward and rapped his large halberd against the ground purposefully. He - Toshiro assumed it was a he - levelled the weapon at the Inquisitor and assumed a fighting stance, as the rest of the warriors formed a tight circle to prevent Toshiro retreating.
The strange nozzle atop the eldar champion's scorpion's tail-like helmet seemed to move almost organically as Toshiro watched it. Instinctively he reached for the biggest gun he had - his bolt pistol - but the eldar ruler interjected.
"No guns, human. Where would the fairness in that be?"
Toshiro knew enough of these aliens to require no more obvious a warning. He threw himself aside as a volley of razor shards flew forth from the nozzle on the champion's helm and lacerated the grass inches behind him. The laughter of the collected eldar followed him as he rolled to his feet, simultaneously drawing his chainsword and gunning it into life. He had to get closer, inside the effective range of that gun-helm.
Somewhat unnervingly the alien seemed to have had the same thought, and they met almost at a run. Almost imperceptibly the Eldar champion realigned his weapon to thrust at Toshiro and it was all the Inquisitor could do to dash it aside as they passed; a crackle of blue power flashed as the weapons contacted and several of the teeth of the chainsword spiralled away towards the spectators. Toshiro was caught desperately off balance by the effort of parrying the stroke but managed to reform his stumble into a turn, and polite, ironic applause greeted the exchange as the combatants rounded on each other again.
Toshiro realised that he could not hope to match the alien's skill, so he elected to go on the offensive and hope to cause the eldar champion to make a mistake. He made a feint, and swung his chainsword towards his opponent's head; the dark eldar parried the blow nonchalantly, sending chunks of metal flying from the inferior weapon, before making a counter thrust that sliced through Toshiro's coat, missing the Inquisitor's leg by inches.
Off balance and vulnerable, Toshiro fought the urge to scramble away and instead lashed out with his free hand. For all his skill this was not a tactic the eldar was used to and Toshiro's fist slammed into the side of his helmet, sending him reeling and buying enough time for Toshiro to regain his footing and composure.
The assembled dark eldar booed at the human's insolence but it was a hollow victory; the warrior's helm was more than enough to protect him from mere punches and there was no lasting effect from the blow, and furthermore the alien would not be making that particular mistake again. As the attack caught him the champion pirouetted away, maintaining his balance with ease. He turned back to face the Inquisitor and took up a different stance, more elaborate than the first, before making his next move.
This time, rather than simply charging, the champion approached slowly and gracefully, spinning and turning with awesome agility. His weapon moved in bizarre arcs, tracing a fluid and hypnotic pattern in the air in front of him, the power field surrounding it leaving a blue haze in its wake. Despite himself Toshiro was momentarily stunned by the stark beauty of the motion, but as the warrior drew closer adrenaline took over again.
Something about the speed and unpredictability of the movements meant that the Inquisitor's human eyes could not follow it, and it was impossible to see precisely where the head of the weapon was. Toshiro's heart sank as he realised how greatly the champion's skill at arms outmatched his own. He had always considered that he would have a fighting chance against most foes but he could see no way of defeating this one. The eldar was faster, better equipped and in all likelihood stronger than himself, and if he used his guns he would be disqualified and doubtless executed, or worse.
Guns… Like a faint ray of sunlight through a storm, an idea dawned on Toshiro. It was unlikely to work and would probably result in his death; but probably was better than definitely. As the armoured eldar drew closer, Toshiro began to retreat, holding his chainsword in front of him vaguely, reaching into his coat until his hand closed around the object he had been looking for. The circle of spectators booed insultingly as Toshiro was forced back by the assault, and the champion increased his pace slightly.
Distracted by his opponent Toshiro fumbled with the thing in his pocket, but eventually managed to flick something out of it with his thumb. Not a moment too soon; the blows started raining down, and the end of Toshiro's chainsword was hacked off by the very first. The return stroke swept past inches away Toshiro's abdomen as the Inquisitor staggered back, desperately trying to get away. Another attack nicked Toshiro's leg, drawing blood as he stumbled away. Another, and he toppled backwards, only catching himself with his arm and getting to his feet again just in time to throw himself out of reach of yet another strike in the relentless attack. With each slash or stab Toshiro was coming closer and closer to defeat as he he tried futilely to mount some form of defence against the onslaught.
One, Toshiro thought, trying to concentrate.
The black-armoured champion seemed amused by the contest, as though Toshiro was beneath his consideration; his footwork grew subtly more intricate, as though he were showing off to the onlookers, and some laughter from the spectating eldar warriors seemed to confirm this. Toshiro barely managed to put his sword in the way of the gladiator's almost playful thrust and lost his balance, coming perilously close to falling. A split second later the eldar brought his blade around, turning the return stroke of his thrust into a quick flick of an attack aimed at the Inquisitor's neck. Desperately Toshiro ducked, feeling a stinging crackle as the power field around the weapon skimmed his head, and the effort of it overbalanced him completely and caused him to fall to the ground. Two...
The next stroke effortlessly blasted the remnants of the chainsword out of the Inquisitor's hand as he tried to ward off the attack with it. The alien fighter could have killed Toshiro five times over already; he was clearly trying to humiliate his opponent as much as possible before ending the contest. Bringing his blade upwards again, he spun and twirled it rapidly in what was obviously a ritualised movement, drawing laughter and cheers from the onlookers.
Three.
Just as the champion completed his manoeuvre and was about to make his killing stroke Toshiro, flat on his back, pulled the object from his pocket and tossed it upwards at the victorious eldar. Briefly, the dark warrior seemed to hesitate, puzzled by this. But only briefly.
With a deafening crack!, the grenade detonated. The localised blast anti-tank explosive gouged out the entire left side of the eldar's body; his arm, his torso, and half of his head disappeared as they were sprayed over a twenty-foot radius, spattering some of the aghast spectators. His corpse toppled miserably forwards to the ground, exposed ribs and organs sickeningly on display; Toshiro rolled out of the way as the bloody carcass collapsed on top of him.
The crowd was stunned into silence as the human pulled himself laboriously to his feet. They were unsure how to react; how dare this mon-keigh have the gall to defeat their greatest warrior? And with such an underhand trick? There were murmured consultations between the assembled warriors, as they tried to determine what the protocol in this situation was; it certainly hadn't happened before. Meanwhile Toshiro simply stood bent double and breathing hard, hoping the prohibition on gunfire did not extend to hand-held explosive devices.
The quiet was broken after what seemed like an age by slow, appreciative applause. Looking for the source of this, Toshiro saw that it was coming from the aliens' warlord, who wore an amused half-smile as she clapped ironically.
"A most imaginative interpretation of the rules, human," she declared, her voice as musical as ever despite the change in tone from wicked amusement to dark authority. "That warrior was clearly a fool, and as such deserved to die."
There were looks of horror on the faces of some of her advisors, and clear consternation all around the warband at this surprising ruling. Surely their mistress was not considering honouring a bargain with a human? The leader, however, managed to quell this with nothing more than a few carefully aimed glances.
"I had, of course, intended to have you killed anyway," she continued, "but that so amused me that I think I shall spare you, in the hope that one day you may provide more of the same. Besides, those pathetic looks of relief for your pointless little lives amuse me. We will leave you now, but I hope most fervently that we shall meet again. You must pray we don't."
She gestured vaguely, and her warriors began to mount their grav-transports, releasing Setzer and Ximines as they did so. Some were obviously disgruntled and surprised at their mistress' decision but they obeyed all the same. In seconds they had climbed back aboard the ships with the same grace with which they had disembarked and were gone, speeding across the plains into the distance, seeking human settlements to raze and their inhabitants to enslave.
As Ximines jogged back to pick up his grenade launcher, Setzer straightened his hat and looked at Toshiro with a mix of approval and relief. "I can't believe she let us go," he said.
The Inquisitor shook his head in concurring disbelief as he watched the eldar transports fly away, his pulse only settling as they disappeared behind the nearby mountain range.
"It was surprising," the Inquisitor breathed. "I can only assume that, as she said, she found it an entertaining demonstration of her power over us."
He shook his head. "Her mistake. Come - we must get back to the shuttle and return to orbit. It may not be too late to call on armed forces to stop this raid."
* * *
The primitive, nomadic Aleronians had no idea what the demons that were falling upon them were, or why the spirits had forsaken them. As the warriors tried in vain to fight off their supernatural attackers, the old, the women and the children prayed. They prayed as they had never prayed before, pleading with the spirits to return and aid them against the darkness.
Their terror, their desperation and their will were all focussed into their pleas, and deep inside the rocks the stirring thing gathered these emotions, growing stronger. Soon the infuriating, cage of both material and immaterial that had been created by that… inquisitor all those hundreds of years ago would be shattered by its refreshed power, the magical inscription in the rock burned away by the raw force of terrible emotion - the very stuff of Chaos.
Inside the prison, the human part of the body of the daemon-lord Lorimar moved for the first time in over five hundred years, as the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.
CAST
For more on the Aleron raid, see Kayen'taye's background.
