literature

Angels of Death: Ch.8

Deviation Actions

Yohan-Gas-Mask's avatar
Published:
1.3K Views

Literature Text

Chapter 8: Warp Travel

The Warp is a curious thing. Mankind hate it with all their strength and faith, and yet they use its powers as often as they can.

The overuse of these powers created the traitor legions that turned from their brothers and sisters and from their worship of the Emperor. They fled to the side of chaos, and worshiped the daemonic entities known as the Chaos Gods. These vile beings spew forth nightmarish creatures and forms into the universe, known as daemons. These daemons are mightier than any one man, and only the combined efforts of the Emperor's holy warriors truly have any hope of defeating them once and for all.

And yet, the guardsman of the first fragments, with attachments from many other regiments and groups, including Raege's own men, boarded a space transport, The Shield of Righteousness, and nigh enough flew head first into the warp itself.

Warp travel is designed to get space ships through the universe as quickly as possible. Doing this allows them to cover light-years in mere seconds. However, it is a risky endeavour, and their ships must be built to withstand the insane turbulence and instability within the warp. Special psykers called Navigators can guide ships through the warp safely.

Warp travel was once described by one of these Navigators as trying to guide a can of food rations through a star without cooking the contents.

Within the ship, Darrius and Raege had come across a worrying sight. A group of guards had surrounded Tauron, who lay on the floor of the ship, completely unconscious. Moments after warp travel had been initiated, he had simply collapsed.

Most people feel upset or irritable when passing through the warp. Psykers are especially sensitive to this and each react in a different way.

"Its begun." sighed Darrius.

"What has begun?" asked Raege with a degree of concern.

"Sometimes when we warp travel, Tauron...well...wait a few seconds, and you'll see." He replied, rubbing his forehead. Raege now associated him doing this with bad things, so decided to mentally prepare for the worst. "He's mad enough as it is, but..."

Before he could finish, Tauron suddenly woke up and sat bolt upright.

"I...I can see...I can seeeeee..." whispered Tauron. He took a deep breath. "I can see the past! The past crashing into the future!!" he screamed, throwing his hands into the air. He shouldered his way out of the group that surrounded him, ran to a wall, and began violently attacking it; smashing his head against it over and over again. Raege expected something like this to happen. Under normal circumstances, she'd be expected to silence the maddened psyker, but Darrius held up a hand to stop her.

"I think my men can handle this." He said, walking over to Tauron. As he did, Michael, Roth and Mirria appeared to help.

"Lord above, he's started already!" yelled Roth.

"Get a straight jacket and some psychic dampeners!" screamed Mirria to the group of guards who had surrounded Tauron before he awoke. The guardsman ran away to find them, leaving Tauron in a screaming, writhing state of utter madness.

"The cold grave! The frostbiting and the torment and oh, we'll all be gone to death and...and...the cycles will end, and there will be no death and no life, only an endless void!" Tauron screamed before abruptly stopping and looking straight at Michael. "The ghosts of the past scream for release from your living coffin!" he yelled at him. Then he turned to Raege. "Those who you have defiled in the past shall seek your redemption!" He then looked between each and everyone once, before looking straight up and screaming again. "They shall come for us all! They shall rise from the ground itself, and freeze our hearts with their deadly truth! In the face of this...we...are...nothing!" He screamed the last three words psychically as well as physically and they pierced into the very minds of the people around him.

"Gah...everyone, keep away from him!" yelled Darrius, holding his head in his hands, those three words screeching through his head. Raege too could feel the pain of those words, but since she was further away, it hurt her less.

"Are you sure that I shouldn't just shut him up!" yelled Raege to him.

"Of all the times, this would be the worst! He's at his least stable now, and he could psychically erupt at any moment! Put a bullet through his head, and you might as well be shooting a barrel full of promethium." replied Darrius. A few moments later, the other guardsman came with the dampening equipment and the straight jacket, and handed them to Michael. Darrius nodded to Michael. "You got this one?"

"Yes sir, we've got it." said Michael. "Alright guys, on my count! One...two...three!" Michael, Roth, Mirria and the other guards pounced on Tauron. Some were thrown back by his psychic resistance, but in the insuing struggle, managed to restrain him long enough to get the dampeners on him. The moment they were on, he fell unconscious and the mental screaming in everyone's heads stopped. They then got him into the straight jacket and stood back in case he woke up again.

"Well..." sighed Darrius. "That went well. No casualties, no one severely hurt, and the nut job should be set for the duration of the flight."

"I don't know how you put up with that kind of thing." said Raege with some distain. "You either have the patience of a saint, or you're as mad as he is."

"Probably a combination of the two." chuckled Darrius. "I hate to be a burden on your organised mind, but me and my men are as unconventional as they come. Tauron's got issues with warp travel, but I can put up with them...well, so long as he's unconscious and restrained."

"Why don't you do this in advance?" asked Raege, holstering her weapon now she finally felt safe.

"I was going to, but we didn't have time. Usually there's a delay before warp travel and him going nuts. That and it doesn't always happen. Sometimes we can travel for months in the warp and he's none the worse for it. Sometimes it's less than a day, and he just looses it." He paused and thought to himself for a moment. "He wasn't always like this mind; it's only in the last few years that it's been happening." He and Raege went over to Tauron. He looked like he was sleeping, but even then he twitched and wriggled around uncomfortably. "Poor sod'll wake up on the other side and have no memory of any of this."

"Why does it happen? And...what was he talking about? He said something about rising from the ground, and someone seeking my redemption. What does it mean?" said Raege, looking at Darrius.

"Not a clue. I think it's just his madness taking over, so try not to pay too much thought to it." He said in response. "Anyway, I'll take our crazy friend here to the med-room." With that, he bent down and lifted up the twitching form over his shoulder and left the scene with him.

"Well...that was awkward." said Raege to herself. Michael looked around to her from the group of guardsman. The switch was thrown inside him, and he changed back into his previous mental form.

"What's the matter, out of ideas beyond blamming? I thought as much." he growled. Raege realised he was there.

"Oh...it's you." She sighed, rolling her eyes. In moments, Roth and Mirria noticed as well.

"Hey, Michael, calm it down. None of us need this right now." said Roth. Michael turned round to him, his eyes turning dark purple.

"Don't you tell me what to do, private, unless you want me to shove one of your grenades up your ass!" he growled to Roth. Roth recoiled a little.

"I'm not telling you anything sir, I'm just saying..." he began. Raege raised an eyebrow.

"Enough. Don't want to hear it." replied Michael firmly. "You, Mirria, and the others, back to barracks. I'll be with you shortly..."

Roth, Mirria and the other guardsman sighed and obeyed his order. After they were gone, he turned back to Raege. Just looking at him, she could tell that the very sight of her made him angry, but he also seemed unsettled, as if there was more to it than that. Indeed, she knew there was.

"You're a sergeant?" said Raege with a little smile. "Interesting..."

"Yeah, what's it to you?" He replied. "Darrius trusts me. If you don't, that's your problem, not mine."

"I'm not so sure." She replied, leaning up against one of the walls. "I'm not so sure that I trust him as much as I was hoping I would." Upon hearing this, Michael's eyes darkened again.

"You don't know the shit he's been through. He's never made a decision that was a foolish one in all the years I've known him." said Michael, gritting his teeth.  "Unlike you, he gives a damn about everyone he works with, so do him a favour and trust him." Raege shrugged, deciding to play Michaels own game.

"Maybe I would if you trust me, it would help me trust him." She replied, and Michael's expression mellowed. "And just because I don't trust him completely doesn't mean I'm not going to follow him into battle. You should know that." She replied. Michael's eyes lightened a little, but a tiny, wicked smile appeared in the corner of his mouth.

"Is it true that you commissars really have no fear?" he said, slowly and quietly. "I've always wondered."

"Well...not exactly. Everyone has fear, but we are trained to stamp it out of our system and not let it cloud our judgement." said Raege, almost philosophically. "If we die, we know the emperor will protect us in the afterlife."

"So..." Michael's smile stretched the full length of his face as he leaned against the wall behind him. "You'd run head-first into the maw of a carnifex? You'd charge into a wall of incoming traitors? You'd face up single handily to a warboss?"

"Certainly, and I'd expect my men to do the same." replied Raege, lowering her eyebrows. "The fact you ask these questions actually weakens my opinion of you further." She walked over to him, until they were almost face to face. "Are you trying to say that you wouldn't do any of those things?" To Raege's annoyance, his smile didn't go away. Instead, he reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out a grenade.

She jumped back a little, worried he was about to do something foolish.

"Hah, see, I can still scare ya!" he chuckled, but she was still uncertain. "Don't be daft, I'm not gonna do anything that stupid; I just want to prove something to you." He said, looking at the grenade, reflecting on a time long past. "Most of my men were dead. We were trapped in our own bunker by a tyrant guard. The bastard ate up all our weapon ammo like it was nothing, and still kept coming. Some of my braver men grabbed tables and chairs and tried beating it back, but it just slammed them into the ground like I would step on a bug. I was one of the last men standing and we only had one of these left." He said, tapping the grenade in his hand. "I decided that if I was gonna die, I was gonna die saving my men from being eaten alive by this thing. So I ran straight up to the bugger, pulled the pin and jammed it into its mouth." He looked up at her. "It could have ripped my arm off like a twig, or stabbed me through the chest with one of its talons. Instead, it just looked at me with those freaky yellow eyes, as if it knew I'd just sealed it fate. Barely got my arm out in time before the whole thing exploded like a fleshy balloon." He put the grenade in my pocket. "That was the day Darrius promoted me to officer, partly due to the old one having died in that battle."

"So...what are you trying to say?" asked Raege, looking at him with a confused expression, wondering what point he was trying to make.

"I'm not running from anything. Ever." He said with steel resolve. "If I can kill a tyrant guard by myself, I figure I can kill anything by myself. Everything has a weakness and everything can be killed. If they die, it's their own fault for letting me get to them. If I die, it's my own fault for letting them get to me."

"There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity you know." said Raege, folding her arms. "Let's see you take on an alpha level psyker or a titan by yourself then."

"Show me one that needs killing, and emperor knows, I'll try." He said, almost as if it was a challenge.

For a while, they both considered what to say.

"Ok, fine, you've made your point." said Raege at last. "But why did you even need to make it in the first place?"

"I just want to let you know, that's all." replied Michael. "I'm not a heretic or a mutant or a traitor or a coward. You have no reason to have a problem with me, so like you said: keep your distance and I'll keep mine."

"I do have a problem with you, actually." She said, lowering her eyebrows again and folding her arms. "Your inherent lack of manners to someone of a higher rank is what I dislike. I'll admit, it doesn't warrant a bullet through the head, but if I wasn't trying to be reasonable, I'd have the full right to take a power fist to your stomach." Michael lowered his own eyebrows, eyes darkening again, and leant forward.

"Try it. Just try it. I dare you." He replied, almost whispering. For a few moments, the two of them stared into each other's eyes, gritting their metaphorical teeth, neither about to back down. Something had to give.

"You know..." said an angelic voice. "I don't think I could cut through the tension between you two, even if I used chainsword."

Michael and Raege turned to see where the voice was coming from. To their astonishment, they both saw a sister of battle, in full armour, watching them from afar. Looking back to each other, and back to her, they both wondered if they were hallucinating or having a religious experience of some kind.

"What...who?" said Raege, a little lost for words.

"Ah, poor little Michael. You haven't changed one bit since I last saw you, have you?" said the sister in an almost motherly voice. "Still unable to restrain your zeal?"

"Wait...Diona? Is that you?" said Michael.

"Indeed it is." She replied. "I'm just here visiting and helping old friends, and I've come to you two with a message taken from a parable I recently read." She walked over to the two of them, her armour making her form dwarf the two of them. Neither of them knew what to do, other than look and listen. "Focus your hatred for each other onto the enemy, and together you could bring down legions." With that, the sister walked past them, down the corridor and out of sight. Michael and Raege watched her go and then looked back to each other.

"I guess she's right." sighed Raege. "We'd be better off using this anger of yours against our common enemies."

"Maybe when they're dead, we can pick this argument back up?" chuckled Michael.

"Maybe." replied Raege, looking down the corridor that the sister had walked down. "I heard that someone like her would be joining the regiment. You know her?"

"Yeah." replied Michael. "Been years, but I do remember her. She came to us a while back seeking repentance in battle, and Darrius helped he find it."

"Well if that's true, maybe there's more to him than I give him credit for." said Raege. "So, can I trust you not to cause any trouble?" Michael nodded, and with some degree of understanding between them, the two parted ways for now.
A Warhammer 40k Story Series by Yohan Gas Mask
“Ragged Edges of Raege” Characters (C) :iconmr-culexus:
Preview Image (C) Whoever made it

Tauron does strange things and Darrius and Co. stop him.
(Ȑ̄ͫ̊ͨͥ̒҉̨͝͏̧͓͓̼̝̻̦̳̜͇̖͙̬̪͖̭̘͕e͛͒ͭ̑͑ͤ͏̶̧͘͏̞̺̼̰̞̮͇̞̟͖̘͍̬͍a̢̛̅̈̾͂͗̀̚͟҉͕̩̫̥͔̗̮̲͕͇ͅd̨̡̨͍̦̠̳̜̝̱͕̖̯͖̪̫͚ͦͮͦ̿͐ͪ̋̓̐̋̎̌ͭ͝ ̧̧͓̭̫̬̰͖̬̜͖̰̟͓͈̲͙̹̔̅̂̽̅͘͟b̸̨̙̦̼̠̬͍̲̺̟̠̭̖͍͖͌ͯ̂͐̂̌̒͒̑̈́̄̏̂̾͗̀e̶̻̳͍̰͍̖̞͇̳̦̠̤̬͙ͫ̏͆̌̓̾̆̂ͨ̒̊̇͋͋̽̒ͬ̿͂̀͜͡͠t̢̛̰̻̮͔̯͚̹͚̯̹͔͎̥̱̬͙͎̗͐ͬ͂̐̓̑ͯ͒̊ͭͯͣ͟͜ͅw̌͋̎̅̎͊̾̍͆ͪ̓ͤ͒ͨ̚̚҉̴̙̘̩͖̪̞̯͈̲͕̪̹̪̙̻́͜e̸̥͓̤̱̲̳̟̜̜̖̟̰̤͙̘ͥ̾͌̃ͦ͂̇͝ë̡̛͇͈͈́ͣ̒ͭ̎͑̓͊͊͊̉̍͟͟n͌̐̓͆̿ͨ҉̰̙͉̣̦̟̼̰̲̰͠.̡̨̟̱̖͎͖̿̊̀̽̏͐̓̂ͦ͟ͅͅ)
Raege and Michael argue, and Diona stop them.
(T̢͙̜͇̺͈͂̀̏̋́̄͜͜h̸̷͐̇͐̑ͤ̾͋͜҉̠̹͉̳̬̞̼̟̭̯͜ͅë̲̦͙̘͚͔͇̮͈̬̙͍̖͉͚̘̳̼́̊͊ͥ̂̾̾ͬͦͯͬ͐̇͒͗̌̾̉ͪ͘̕͡ͅ ̡͉̝̠̺͔̟̱͖͕̟̜̗̆ͧͭͪ̌̈́͛ͤ͡L̴̮̭̱̙̳̩̫͚̗̝̱̒ͮ̿̅ͤ̏͑̄͑̕͟͡͠ị̸̡̺̘͚ͥ̔ͬͣ̎ͬͣ̅ͣͩ̉ͤ̓̒́n̶̹̥̺̤͈̺̭̹̹̥̋̓ͫ̈́̔͛͋̒̈̋͜ȩ̷̴͔̙̤̦̼̩̄̉ͭ̿̄̾̔̀̀ͅṣ̶̪̼̦̫̠̗̣̻͕͇̬̺͕̤̜̥̮̊̈́̋̀̏ͩ͂ͤ̃ͧ̈́͒ͧͬ̓̌̉͂̅͞.̷̷̵̧̥̭͈͚̥̺̣̳̰̟̘̯̹̭̖̥͗̂͂̽͗̎̍̔̅͌̓ͫ̓̐͜)
That's basically all there is to this chapter :shrug:
;)

Chapter7: [link]
Chapter 9: [link]


Ţ̳̹̮̯̩̲̫ͥ̽ͯͨ͛ͮ͊̚h̶̘͍̮̯̯̟̟̮̤̼̼̤͕͙͔̦̬ͩ̃͗̏͆͐̉ͥ̑ͣͦ̕͝I̖͉̬͈̰̩̹̠̺̥̞̖̠̱̪̲̣͇ͯ̒̓͒ͯ̽ͩ́̒̕͢͠s̥̯͎͚̗̯̦ͨ̔̍ͭ̓̆͋̂̚͘͠ ̵̂̑ͬ͗̊ͯ͆̏ͩ͒ͭ̏͆̽̑̾͏̨̪͖͔͖͚̫͔͍̟̻͓̘̮̪͇͚̯̙͞I̶̴̢̗̜̬̰͈̦̲͗ͫ͋̓ͮ̆ͭ͌͊̈́͞͞ş̴̴̼̙͍̹̜ͤͪ̅͛ͣ̒ͦͯͨͥ͑͆ͦ͘͢ ̵̢̜̣͍̣̙͉̞̭̜̹̳̰̠͇̠͇̖ͫ͛̂ͣͣͪ͊ͮ̾̎̅̀̚̚ͅT̶̡̨̩̹̹̝̫̩͓͓̠͙̩͙̣̪͈́̑̽ͨ̏̔ͮ̚ͅh̵̶͙̖̙͙͔̳ͥ̈́ͨ͌̃͐͋̓͜͡͞Ę̶̫̠̹̺̦͓̦̞̼͊ͦͨͥ̑̊̏̊̈́̍ͤͩ̓̚͞͡ ̱͉̳̫̹̰̲̰͈͍̬͕̺̝̹̉̍̐ͣ̀̓̾̏̐̃̐̿̽̐ͪ͊͢͝b̸̨̛̘͕͖̫͇͍̙̑̒̓̑ͥͣͨ͌͐ͣͧ́ͮͮ͐̾ͤ̄ͅE̶̸̸̠͔̬̯̟͕̠͕͔̯̎̏̂ͫ̎̊͂ͯ͊̾̅̋͂̈̒̇́g̛̥͔͖̠͖̪͙͓̠̟̹͕̘̗͕ͭ̽̓ͫͧ̾̊͐̓̾́ͮ̆͜͠I̡̎ͪ̅̓̽͒ͩ̏́̕͜͏͓̱̘̪̦͎͈n̸͎̝̲͓̞̳̩̭̣̞̳̜̗ͣͮͬ͂̉̇̀ͨ̉ͧ͆̒̆̈́ͮ̍́ͅḬ̴̸̡̖̩̖̗̠̰̘̣̺̘̩̗͔̺͓͈̊̏ͩͪ͒́̓̕n̷͉̳̦̝̥̼͉͍̖̩̲͕̼͇͂̂͌͂͆ͦͨ̏̇͑̎ͮ̔̈̇͛̄̽̀ͅͅG̵̦̬̜̤̗̹̺̼̮̻̦͓̩̻̝̮͎̮̦̽ͫ̀̌͗̒̈ͮ̽̿ͤͩ̎̕
© 2011 - 2024 Yohan-Gas-Mask
Comments16
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Korikaze's avatar
Navigator's are the mutant psyker breed that guide void ships through the Warp. Astropaths are used to send messages telepathically through the warp.