A different kind of Knight

Chapter 16

(Author's note: Messy visercal fight scenes are present in this chapter.)

I stare at the mountain of cadavers and think of the reasons why this grotesque monument exists. Every single possible answer that tries to justify the unjustifiable doesn't comfort me in the slightest about this gruesome display.
A deep guttural beastly roar like that feral of a feral beast. "RRRRRRRAAAAA AAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Echoes from the depths of the cave. That isn't friendly or welcoming at all. "Alice, get off me, now." I say it to her calmly whilst I hide my fear behind a mask of stoicism and shell of adamantium. "Luke, Wait! I know him! I know what you're thinking, but please give him a chance! He wouldn't do such a thing!" Please! Just lemme talk to him!" Alice refuses to obey my order as she pleads with me to not fight the accursed being residing here, who is most likely responsible for this unforgivable act. I ignored her pleas because they were unreasonable. A very faint whisper invades my mind. "Kill. Main. Burn. Kill. Main. Burn. Kill. Maim. Burn." I recognized that chanting. It is the words that the heretics scream on their untimely deaths. I try to quell the voices as I look for the source of the beastly sound. Unfortunately, I am blind, mysterious magicks are at play here since I cannot see anything further than the light that the Knight suit provides. Auspex is nothing more than an irritating static display of green and black pixels dancing together. Radar only presents me with blackness as it can't see past the veil of darkness as if it was a solid curtain of ink.
The issue of the radar is also present when it comes to thermals too. However, the audio sensors remain unobstructed. "RAAAAGGGGHHH!!!"
It sounds closer this time and I am afraid that this foe might be more than a match for me. I shift my vision to the camera present on the Icarus anti-air turret. Damn it. That stubborn furry witch is still present on my carapace! I can see her also lookíng around with fear in her wide open feline eyes and tensed jaw that is easily seen through the high fidelity camera as she scans the environment. Her head rapidly snapped left and right repeatedly. The scream came from the front if I remember right. I began to move the battle cannon over to the general direction of the scream, I can already feel that a shell is already loaded in the chamber since I can feel what the Knight can feel for this, is also my body. *BOOOOOM!* A great fireball erupted from the muzzle as the 120mm Battle Cannon's gave out its thunderous consent to battle. *CIing! Clang! * The empty shell flies out and clangs onto the rocky cave floor, another shell is now present in the chamber as the breech shut with a clunk as the locking lugs engage. *Clunk.* The faint greenish-yellow glow of the tracer Compounds attract the irises of my eyes like a predator. I hope that the shell flies true and hits any foe. There, for a split I saw the face of my beastly foe as the whizzed by, its eyes filled with hate, his open jaw with rows upon rows of sharp teeth, its red skín, the two forward facing horns, and the heretical symbol of Khorne around its thick scarlet neck. Then the shell went past it. Surely, AIice must've saw it too. "Trelbjor? No, it cannot be..." She comments to herself with disbelief, possibly heartbreak even. That must be her friend, Trelbjor. Too bad he succumbed to the foul ways of Chaos. I am afraid that I must kill her friend Trelbjor if it wants to bring harm, and I'm pretty sure he does. A few second later, the screaming APHE shell exploded in the distance providing an illuminating detonation which lasted for a second. The glow gave me clarity on what I could be facing up against. And he truly encapsulates the word: gargantuan. His frame completely dwarfed the Knight's already Massive frame, for I estimated that Trelbjor stood somewhere around 22 meters. If anything, my estimates could be wrong and he could be even bigger than he seems. Another thing is the massive sword raised over its head through the power of its own monstrous arms, the pose most likely indicates an attack from Trelbjor. "RRRRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Another scream full of hatred, but this time he really meant it, his angry stomping footfalls slowly becoming louder and louder. *BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!* The rapidly growing footsteps that feel like distant Basilisk artillery batteries hammering away on the battlefield makes me feel worry for my companion and contempt for her stubbornness. "ALICE! GET OFF ME! NOW!" I yelled at her but it was too late as the form of Trelbjor came into view, the crude-looking sword still held up high. Then, it came down. It was swung downwards but reflexes honed by a lifetime of war proved his attack useless. The Knight rapidly executed a sidestep maneuver, it was done so quickly wherein the first booming footfall was superseded by the second footfall not even quarter of a second later. *WHIR! BU-BOOM!* His crude sword embeds itself into the cave floor. *SHIK!* He makes no effort to retrieve it as he carelessly leaves it impaled on the floor. The chanting in my head grew in volume as I found myself hypnotized into a fit of rage. It was too late, my mind was already singing along with the infernal chant, noble dreams replaced with bloodthirst. "KILL! MAIM! BURN! KILL! MAIM! BURN! KILL! MAIM! BURN! KILL!MAIM!BURN!KILL!MAIM!BURN! KILL!MAIM!BURN!" The heretical temptations were interrupted by my proclamation of hatred against the very being standing in front of me. "I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOOOUUU!!!" I scream out as loud as I can to the point where my throat bled from the exertion. Scarlet-hued spittle stains the display as he smirks at me. The Battle Cannon rapidly moved its horizontal and vertical drive motors to adjust its aim towards his scaly, red, demonic face. The sounds of cannonfire and the HE shell detonating almost happened simultaneously where it was very difficult to differentiate. Its face
was then reduced to a gorey mess of burns, cooked flesh, shattered bones and torn tendons as his jaw hangs freely. His sleek prehensile tongue was amputated by the blast as it fell to the floor with a wet splat. The organ wriggled disturbingly like a snake in its death throes. "LUKE! NO!" Alice cries helplessly as she bore witness to the damage I've done to her once dear friend. Although, I could care less since I only wanted to satisfy my urge to kill. CHARGE! *BUH! BUH! BUH! BUH! BOOM!* I charged at Trelbjor's massive frame and slammed into his body with my left shoulder first. Our bodies collided explosively. *EEeEEEeeeEEe!!!* There is a shrill noise reverberating throughout the cockpit as I feel his claws sliding over the armor plates. Then, it wrapped around Chaosbane's waist as it tried to halt my charge. It is a battle of strength between daemonic powers enhanced by foul deities and Imperial technology under the control of an enraged pilot. And the latter seems to be the victor as I continued to push him further, his reptilian legs struggling against the might of Chaosbane. *RRRRRRrrrrRRRRRRRRrrrrrRRRRRR!!!* I swung the Reaper Chainsword at him, hoping to feel his flesh tear, but my position compromises my attacks. I realize I cannot reach him with it, all the while a cloud of heavy particles of combusted promethium fumes from the chainsword's motor exhaust blocks my vision. *FWWOOSHHH!* A big gust of wind suddenly came out of nowhere thus
clearing my vision of the dark cloud of motor exhaust. The daemon's hateful embrace continues to tighten around the waist but is futile for it is made of alloys and metals that is incomparably strong compared to feeble flesh. *FWOOSSHH!* Another gust of wind. *FWOOSSH!* And another. But I suddenly noticed something; the weight. Then I just realized, those are wingbeats. No wonder why he abandoned that sword nor not dodge my attack. Turns out I was being played here. *FWUH! FWUH! FWUH! FWUH!* The flapping of wings continues to Speed up and soon I cannot feel the ground anymore. As my body, as Chaosbane's body, suddenly jerked upwards as we accelerated skywards.