Thus Did The Imperium of Mankind Fight There

Part 20 Coda Village

The odd band of fighters now journeyed toward what their new Elven friends called Coda village. They'd exited the forest and were now in the open with grass and hills as far as the eye could see. 

The Cthonians rode in the Chimera while the father and daughter pair, having expressed their discomfort in riding in such an enclosed claustrophobic space, elected to ride on top of the vehicle. With their superhuman speed and size, the Night Lords had taken to literally jogging beside the transport, one on each side, constantly keeping their senses alert for threats. 

The Elves were amazed at how the heavily armored warriors could run at such speed. However, they decided to observe for now instead of asking questions, knowing that they were on an urgent mission. 

Coda village was not far, and they soon reached their destination, the Space Marines and the speeding troop transport kicking up a cloud of dust behind them. This gave the villagers advanced notice of their arrival and by the time the force reached the settlement, they found not a single soul in sight. The residents, mistaking them for bandits, had hidden in their homes.

Sergeant Felix looked around in confusion at the empty settlement. "Uh Lieutenant, where are all the people?"

Minerva put a finger to her chin and replied, "Hmm, let's try this..."

Minerva approached one of the small cottages and knocked on the door. The entrance swung open, and Minerva found herself struck over the head with a broomstick. 

"Get out of here you dastardly bandits!!!" Screeched a young woman who, with foolhardy bravery and the element of surprise on her side, defeated a trained Imperial Army officer in a one-on-one fight by attacking her with a cleaning instrument. Luckily, Minerva was wearing her helmet or else she would have suffered a concussion, although she still saw lights for a moment. 

When her vision cleared, Minerva saw her squad pointing their weapons at the lady with Sergeant Felix's shotgun aimed straight at the attacker's head. Fortunately, the Night Lords had stayed behind with the Chimera and the Elves, or this woman would have already collapsed from transhuman dread, although the Marines probably wouldn't have killed her to maintain peaceful contact with the locals...maybe. 

Still, the situation was devolving rapidly, and she needed to stop it from getting any worse. Quickly, she shouted, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Everyone stop, we're not bandits!"

Upon hearing her panicked, hurried explanation, the crazy woman seemed to realize her mistake and lowered her broom while the Imperial Auxiliaries lowered their arms. 

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry I thought you were the bandits that have been popping up recently like weeds in a field."

Relieved, Minerva replied, "It's alright, are bandits really that common around here though, shouldn't there be someone responsible for handling them?" 

The woman answered, "Oh, there were but all the local garrisons and guards in the area were sent to the Gates and never came back. Since then, crimes been on the rise."  

Minerva blushed slightly as she realized the Imperium was partially responsible for the trouble these villagers were going through. Maintaining her professionalism as best she could, she responded. 

"Ahem, I see. Well I can explain that later but right now I need to see your mayor, there's a dragon going around burning everything down to cinders. "

The lady's eyes widened, and she screamed, "WHAT!!!"

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A little while later, all the villagers gathered in the village square where Minerva was speaking with the Mayor.

"A Flame Dragon!!??" 

The Mayor voiced with shock evident in his voice after Minerva finished her recounting of what transpired at the Elf village. A ripple of fear could be felt going through the crowd of civilians and soon, as if a bomb had gone off, every single one of them began calling out to friends and family as they ran to evacuate their homes. 

"You're all leaving?" Minerva asked. 

The mayor confirmed, saying, "Yes, we must. Once a Flame Dragon has awakened. it will not stop hunting until it slumbers once more." 

Minerva considered her next move now after completing the mission and warning the village. According to military law, she should leave these people to their fate and return back to base for further assignments, but something in Minerva told her that wasn't right.

These people would be forced to run a gauntlet of bandits and all kinds of unknown dangers to reach safety. 

She felt responsible for them and couldn't bring herself to leave them to die, maybe it was because the bandits were partially their fault or maybe it was the ideals of her brother rubbing off on her. Nonetheless, she decided to help these people. 

"Where to then?"

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Lelei POV

"Master, why aren't we moving?"

Lelei and her Master Cato El Altestan heard of the Flame Dragon awakening from a messenger sent from the village and rushed to pack all their valuables in their wagon. Most of the items consisted of magical tomes and the cart had been overloaded. 

Using their magic, they compensated for the weight of the books and prepared to leave. However, they now found themselves stuck in the caravan as it stopped moving before they'd even left the village. 

"There seems to be some kind of commotion up ahead," Lelei's master observed. 

Looking forward, Lelei saw what appeared to be soldiers wearing strange clothing and armor. Hearing their shouts, some of the soldiers were clearly female, something very unusual with the Empire's sexist policies. 

Curious as to what was happening and who these people were, Lelei said, "Master, I'm going to see what's going on."

"Huh, Lelei wait!"

Ignoring her Master's plea, Lelei rushed forward. She quickly saw what the cause of the commotion, a cart had flipped onto its side and a young girl had been injured. Kneeling next to the girl she assessed her injuries. 

"Not good, possibly life-threatening injuries." 

Then one of those soldiers kneeled next to the girl in front of Lelei. 

"The victim has suffered a concussion and possibly bruised ribs, administering treatment." 

Looking at the soldier in surprise, Lelei asked. 

"Are you a healer?" 

As the soldier was about to answer, the horse attached to the flipped wagon broke free and whined. In a frenzy, it reared onto its hind legs, about to crush Lelei beneath its front hooves. Just as it seemed Lelei's life would flash before her eyes, there was a tremendous boom and the entire head of the animal exploded, its brain, blood and flesh flying in all directions. 

Lelei heard all the villagers behind her gasp and after looking behind her, she did so as well. There stood a giant at least eight feet tall, in the largest suit of armor Lelei had ever laid eyes on, decorated in skull iconography and bat wings. The giant had long black hair, pale, almost translucent skin and eyes that seemed to be the color of night itself. In one of its hands, it held a smoking blocky contraption. 

Still stunned by what had just occurred, Lelei whispered. 

"You, you saved my life."

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