Part V With a flick of a button, solid doors slammed into place surrounding Zeke, sealing him inside a hardened cube of protection. Instantly, new lighting faded up, and a small viewscreen flickered into life, showing one of the scenes from outside. Another panel was marked with legible runes, detailing how to remove the barriers. Other runes changed the scene the monitor showed. Cycling through the views, Zeke hunted for his friend. Gideon had returned to his front room. There he stood, also watching events transpire outside. From his stance, he expected trouble soon, and Zeke could see that the surrounding cordon of power armored troops was almost complete. In total silence, they crept from cover to cover, inching closer to the hut. The small boy instinctively knew that they did this not out of fear of being shot, but to prevent their detection by Gideon. Suddenly, he realized who the Marine meant when he said "they." Somehow, for some mysterious reason, other Space Marines were hunting for Gideon. But as for why? Zeke had no idea. Silently, he watched his screen. The other Marines were in position, and Gideon was apparently about to make a move of his own, when something unexpected happened. From out of the night, behind the cordoning Space Marines, vehicles suddenly roared in from the surrounding darkness. Bright searchlights flared into life, momentarily causing the screen to blank out as it struggled to compensate for the brilliance. Playing all around, they illuminated the stalking figures of the Marines, as well as showing dozens of Adeptus Arbites troops pouring out of the vehicles. To Zeke's eyes they were tanks, and he felt strangely glad to see the Warriors of Justice. The other Marines were an unknown menace, but everyone knew the Arbitrators were incorruptible. From the top of one of the tanks a tall figure in dark robes rose up. His voice carried too far for a mere throat, and it echoed as it was amplified through the tank. "Hail the Emperor!" he cried. "In service of the Emperor, I hail thee as well, Dark Angels! But I, the Lord Marshal, Judge Salzbry order you to cease your operations here! This is my jurisdiction, and no unauthorized activities will be permitted! My Precinct demands no less of me! Return to your ship, and I will take no action! Oppose me at your peril!" Around him, his Arbitrators continued falling into positions of defense, seeking shelter behind their armored vehicles, aiming their weapons at the revealed Dark Angels. Dust kicked up by the arrival of the tanks swirled thickly in the searchlight beams, creating weird shapes that floated and flowed, then were gone. For several long moments, silence prevailed; no one moved. Then an equally imposing figure, clad in bone-white armor -- a different armor than the others, this was bulkier, huge! -- strode out in front of the Judge. With a smooth movement of his arm, he lifted his helmet from his head, revealing a white-haired visage of indeterminate age. From the view on his screens, Zeke saw only that he looked as stern and unyielding as the Judge. "And I say to you, Lord Marshal," he bellowed, almost as loudly as the Judge's amplified voice, "that the Dark Angels answer to no man! This raid is our business, and you need not have worry for your Precinct! Only the heretic we hunt must fear us! But your part in this is done, and you will go or die! Go, now!" The Judge was not a man to be cowed, though. Staring implacably at his opponent, he pitched his voice to carry only to him. "I know you," he said, "I recognize your armor's markings. You are Deathwing, a Master I suspect. What do you here? Tell me, and earn my blessing, and thereby the Emperor's as well." At the mention of the Emperor, the Space Marine took a step towards Salzbry. Controlling himself with an effort, he responded, "The Emperor's blessing is not yours to give, Marshal. Our Chaplain has already anointed our weapons and our cause; you can give only offense. I say again, leave now, or you will die." Turning his back on the Judge and his tank, the Deathwing slapped his helmet on -- the eyes lit up with electronic life as it clicked into place -- and strode forward to the hut. In the full glare of the spotlights, he hammered with his fist on the door. Zeke could hear the strength of it even in his tiny room. "Gideon, we have come for you! Give yourself to us, so that we may heal you and ourselves." Inside, Gideon didn't move. After waiting ten heartbeats, the Deathwing Marine spun away and marched back to his troops. Drawing his sword, its blade crackling and spitting with suffused energy, he raised it high, shouting, "Dark Angels, take the heretic!" As of one mind, the Space Marines surged forward, boltguns barking angry fire in their hands. The sudden noise exploded against the screen's speakers, at the same time beating harshly through the very walls of the house. Zeke cycled wildly through his available views, trying to see what was happening, but all was bright flashes and murky dust. Inside, Gideon stood rock still, not even swaying as the floor bucked under the firepower. Part VI Unseen by Zeke, though, the Judge had retreated inside his tank. With an unheard command, he sent his Arbitrators after the Space Marines. The tanks -- there were only three of them, Zeke realized, though there had seemed more at first -- spat blossoms of fire as their guns sought out the Dark Angels. New explosions ripped at the rear of the Marines' positions, forcing them to turn and face this threat. With fluid precision, half of the elite soldiers continued advancing while the rest returned fire against the Adeptus Arbites troopers. Suddenly, the chaos of full battle was everywhere. Two staunch supporters of the Imperium were destroying each other over one lone man, in front of Zeke's very eyes. The concussion of explosions sent flakes dancing from the ceiling, shook the viewscreen into a blur, and made the boy press his hands hard against his ears. The monitor fought to show the night as day, but bolter fire and muzzle flashes made it a losing battle. Similarly, the Arbitrators fought a hopeless fight as well. Outclassed in every way -- in armor protection, in weaponry -- they were forced back by a mere handful of Space Marines. The Arbitrators' guns seemed to have little or no effect on the tough power armor the Marines wore. Though they easily outnumbered the Dark Angels, there were far more Adeptus troopers lying dead or dying on the ground after only a few minutes of fighting than there were Marine casualties. A horrendous explosion signified the destruction of one of their tanks, and the others began to back away in response. Gideon still stood unmoving, but now his attitude conveyed one of waiting, of tense expectancy. His screens showed a combat squad of Dark Angels converging on one wall, moving carefully but fearlessly. As one placed a rock-like device against the outside of the building, Gideon moved quickly to the same inside wall. Triggering a grenade with one hand, he punched a hole in the masonry with the other, then flipped the bomb into it before throwing himself into the far corner. Zeke felt the resulting explosion in his bones, and saw that a gaping wound had been opened in the wall. He cycled his screen to show him more, and found that the Marine who had placed the grenade outside had been caught in the blast; Gideon's attack had caused the other grenade to go off too, killing two other Marines. Without hesitation, Gideon launched himself through the hole, spewing bolter fire in all directions. Zeke tried to follow his movements through the battle-filled night, but more and more of his viewsources were being ripped apart by stray shots and explosions. The Arbites were still fighting, only now it was a withdrawing action, as they desperately tried to escape the superior firepower of the Dark Angels. Two tanks, now, were blazing in the darkness, adding their own flickering shadows to the chaotic events outside. With a glimmer of hope, Zeke realized that the Dark Angels had not seen Gideon's escape. The Deathwing commander still sent his men after both Arbitrators and Gideon, and didn't know his quarry was gone. Zeke watched as the soldier's glowing sword slashed into the last tank, and thought he saw the Judge's robed form inside. But all was lost as that viewsource drowned in static as it was destroyed. |
REDEMPTION By Kelly L'Roy |
TOMES OF VALOUR |
This item has been reproduced without the permission of the author. It's use here is not intended as a challenge to the original authors copyright and is reproduced here for the sole purpose of enhancing the Dark Angel spirrit and the warhammer 40,000 experience. Sadly all attempts at contacting the author have been unsuccessful and the original site where this was published no longer in existence. The story has been too invaluable to the DA community to be simply lost in the warp and therefre been reproduced here. If Kellt L'Roy happens to read these pages, please contact by email. |
