The Emperor’s Angel of Death

As Talos advanced aggressively on the upper levels, Soshjan continued to lead the company straight towards the target area, soon entering a massive room constructed from black iron and dark steel.

The warriors maintained a combat-ready stance, their boots echoing loudly on the shattered floor as they passed inoperable elevators and cranes, approaching the enemy. Here, one could see sections of starship wreckage hanging overhead. It was difficult to guess which ship it originally belonged to, but long, dark shadows were cast by the suspended walkways around them.

It was a wide-open space, perfect for the enemy to concentrate their forces and block their advance.

Beside him, the battle standard bearer Murad, Chief Apothecary Yazdan, and First Company Captain Mack kept close. Soshjan looked to his left at Ustad's Second Company, who were deploying into formation. On the right were the recruits of Tenth Company; this operation also served as training, and they had to learn how to deal with enemies in the corrupted wrecks of space hulks.

The battle-automata detachment behind them was hidden by smoke and darkness, but Soshjan could still hear the sound of the machines moving.

The instant the first enemy appeared, the flashes of bolters lit up the dark environment, accompanied by a constant humming that reverberated through the air.

"Soshjan Alexeyevich—"

It said in a calm, mechanical voice.

"There's no need for us to be enemies. I can help you kill Huron. I can even help you establish a new empire in the Maelstrom."

Soshjan raised a hand, and the twin-linked bolter mounted on his arm blasted the nearest speaker to pieces.

Immediately afterward, a massive number of enemies poured out, everywhere, jostling like a tide.

Most of them were soldiers wearing the uniforms of the Red Corsairs, clad in scarlet armor, with blasphemous sigils etched into their skin.

Of course, there were also their masters, the Chaos Space Marines of the Red Corsairs.

"Soshjan, are you content to be used?"

The voice, which had disappeared not long ago, echoed in Soshjan's ear as he plunged Firesky into the chest of a Chaos Space Marine. The traitor wore relatively new power armor, on which the symbols of his Chapter and the Imperium had been scratched off, replaced with new, hateful designs.

"I know your secrets!"

The dying Chaos Space Marine howled, blood gushing from his ruptured lips, but it was not his true voice.

But Soshjan paid no heed. He had already guessed that this was the entity sponsoring Huron, then withdrew his weapon, letting the corpse fall to the ground.

"Advance!"

He shouted over the company comm-channel:

"Tread over their corrupted corpses!"

On the battle line, Second Company roared a cheer, followed by the shouts of Tenth Company, all the way up to the wreckage of the starship overhead. The entire assault force, about three hundred strong, formed a battle line in the hall, firing furiously at the enemy.

"Soshjan, I know your secrets."

The second speaker crackled to life, the mechanical voice echoing, before it was immediately shot down.

More Chaos rabble poured in through the corridor doors. The heretics quickly set up makeshift barricades, their heavy weapons teams setting up gun mounts. Bullets skipped across the floor, striking machinery, the sound like a winter storm.

Then came the characteristic firing sound of the battle-automata's back-mounted rocket launchers.

The explosions cleared a path from the corridor doors to the enemies guarding it, turning the surrounding air red. The floor cracked beneath Soshjan's feet as he ran, and every enemy in his path, whether mortal or Chaos Space Marine, was reduced to a bloody mess.

The enemy began to scream and then to flee, but flight was useless in the face of accurate plasma fire.

Some were pierced by Firesky, some were thrown into nearby scaffolding, and some had their limbs torn apart, which was the easiest, because power armor and the flesh beneath offered almost no resistance to his strength.

At that moment, the voice continued to seep into the air, into his helmet.

"They will only use you until there is nothing left."

Even without a transmission medium, its words echoed in Soshjan's helmet. He suddenly had a bold guess: this thing, or rather demon, had probably infiltrated the communication channels.

"Think of all you could achieve. You possess great power. Do not let them bind you. We can ignite divine fire. We can embrace everything."

Soshjan snorted and banished the voice with grey matter.

Then, with a wave of his fist, he knocked over a spider-like daemon engine, sending it plowing a trench in the ground.

All the surrounding sounds were amplified at the same time: screams, explosions, the sound of bullets hitting power armor, and the sound of bones breaking. Countless souls vanished in an instant, and blood mist sprayed onto Soshjan's armor like waves. He felt no fatigue. Instead, he felt somewhat soothed, and for some reason, he even felt that the screaming souls carried a scent similar to incense, surrounding him and becoming indifferent with each breath.

Perhaps out of the anger of being banished, the one controlling the wreck poured out more power, among which appeared some very strange things. There were hundreds of them, crawling on multi-jointed limbs, while others ran, their limbs unfolding in a bizarre manner. Each creation was a clumsy joining of pink or blue flesh with steel, alloy, or bone. Multi-colored crystals protruded from their bodies, and where their faces should have been, there was only a silver mirror.

The appearance of these things reminded Soshjan of a type of demon called a Horror, except that they were mechanized Horrors.

These mechanical Horrors' sharp feet scraped against the floor stained with blood and oil. Soshjan faced the enemy fearlessly.

Around him, the Terminators of First Company also approached the demonic creations, their plasma guns and twin-linked meltaguns unleashing full-power fire to light up the battlefield. At the same time, shouts and curses came from Second Company; everywhere there was the sound of swords clashing and the smell of blood.

Just as the two sides were in the heat of battle, a message suddenly came.

"Chapter Master, the battle-automata are experiencing some kind of interference. They... they have stopped functioning! There is even some kind of scrapcode echo. We are urgently dealing with it, but there may be enemies nearby."

Nasu Marstenbrook's tense voice came through. Soshjan immediately judged that it was the mysterious demon who was responsible. Combining what he had seen along the way, he had already guessed that the opponent might have some kind of mysterious power over mechanical devices. It seemed that bringing the battle-automata was not a good choice this time.

So he also knew that the Tech-Priests' trouble was definitely not a mechanical failure.

"First Company, follow me forward!"

Soshjan immediately made battlefield adjustments, cleaving a mechanical Horror in half with Firesky.

"Sergeant Bahram of Tenth Company, take two tactical squads to assist the Tech-Priests in restoring the battle-automata. They are being interfered with by demons. Remember to use your powers."