Secret War: The Annihilation Plague (Part 2)

Chapter 1

Attelus, Tathe, Karmen and the Sons of Dispater leader, master Hadrel made sure they were on the bridge of The Xenocide before they exited warp space. Karmen wore her full power armour. Hadrel was a shaven-headed, dark-skinned man whose forever scowling face seemed like he was constantly smelling the foulest of farts. The Xenocide when they exited into material space. From what little Attelus understood of spacecraft, he'd been informed The Xenocide was a raider-class ship, one designed for speed and manoeuvrability over huge amounts of firepower and armour like the cruisers or the more balanced ships such at the frigate classes. The Xenocide was an incredibly well built and old ship made with high-quality archeotech and fitted with numerous stealth systems, horticultural gardens and an inbuilt barracks, making the ship almost entirely self-sufficient. As well as a newly installed piece of archeotech which somehow sped up their travel time in the warp the ship's Tech-Adept Attelus had already forgotten the name of had explained this to them after some convincing, but the technicalities of it went way over Attelus' head. It seemed they'd really hit the jackpot in taking this ship, all thanks to Kalakor.

Thanks to the Space Marine, it hadn't been hard to get the vast majority of the crew to work for them, especially after Delan Tathe went down and talked among them. They'd promised the lower decks crew better treatment and pay, and Attelus had meant it. It was sad how little they needed to change their allegiance; Attelus supposed it was true the Imperium over; it was one of the reasons why so many Chaos Cults could manipulate so many into their embrace and sell their souls to the depredations of Chaos. The bridge crew and the upper deck crew were less willing to co-operate, so even now as the bridge was still being patrolled by ten Sons of Dispater guarding them, while many were being held in the prison section. Attelus dreaded what they had to do with them once they reunited with Inquisitor Enandra.

Luckily, the Navigator had been so segregated and out of touch to almost all the going on in the ship he'd just calculated their course without question. The astropath, after regaining consciousness and being calmed down by Karmen, she'd managed to convince him to help them; it also helped he apparently wasn't a fan of Inquisitor Draven in the first place, but the poor bastard seemed shaken and traumatised by his encounter with Kalakor. Attelus hoped he'd be okay; there were already too many people victimised by their actions now.

'Exiting warp space in five minutes,' said the Navigator over the vox, bringing Attelus back into reality, and Attelus turned to give the ship's newly appointed Captain, a woman named Arete, a pointed glare. She met his eyes without a hint of fear and nodded.

'Yes, good work, thank you, Kellen,' she replied over the vox-link. Attelus had no idea how old Arete was; her long light brown hair could've been dyed, and her pale youthful, smooth skin could've been due to extensive rejuvenant treatments, but the matronly way she carried herself and the weariness in her bloodshot, blue eyes, and her old, worn but well maintained blue navy uniform suggested she was much older. She was quite gorgeous, in all honesty, despite the jagged scar running down the left side of her face. Attelus found himself crushing on her quite quickly, despite the withering looks from Karmen. Perhaps he had a thing for more mature women? Of course, Arete had been cold and prickly towards Attelus and everyone associated with him during the whole trip, only speaking to them when it was completely necessary. Which Attelus couldn't blame her for, in all honesty.

He just hoped that Arete wouldn't have to die, but if anyone could convince Arete and her crew to join their side, it'd be Inquisitor Enandra of the Ordo Hereticus.

Attelus sighed and began to pace the bridge, his arms folded and stole a glance at Hadrel. Attelus hadn't had much time to talk to the assassin master across the week, but Karmen had subtly slipped past his psy-block and gave his mind a good read. According to her, he seemed to have legitimately changed sides; he too had hated Draven, but he was still at war within himself, his loyalty to the Sons of Dispater had been strong, and he was terrified of the retribution they might bring down on him and his people's heads later. What'd really made him turn against Draven was his loyalty to the people he commanded; this had been reinforced after Attelus had slaughtered so many back in the Counting House. The contract with Draven had been for a year, and he didn't want to keep working for an employer who deemed them so expendable. A fact that he'd suspected since he'd first met Draven six weeks ago.