Fulminata- A Warhammer 40,000 Story

Fallen

Cicero felt... something grab him. Though it was clearly not physical, it felt as if it was. He felt as if his brain had been ripped from its skull and thrown into a storm. He felt his entire presence leave his body.

He stood in a red storm, in the middle of the Warp. Non-existence rippled around him in red streaks, boiling like a storm. He felt his soul rip itself apart, and then get shoved back together by the currents in the storm of immaterial.

A gaze fell upon him, feeling more than seeing a pair of Daemonic eyes boring into his very soul. Though an Astartes could supposedly feel no fear, Cicero felt what he believed to be the closest approximation to sheer terror as an Astartes could fall to. A thought whispered through his head, cutting across it like a sharp knife, leaving a bleeding streak wherever it touched.

This is your fate...

"No!" Cicero shouted, "It can't be! We're the Emperor's finest, we can't die like this!"

As Cicero shouted this, more a cry of denial then a declarative statement, he felt this... presence laugh. It laughed at his distress and denial, it laughed at Cicero's failure.

You know it to be true. The Emperor is dead, and your Legion with die with him.

Cicero tried to flail his arms, but he had none. He tried to set his jaw, but no physical body responded to him. He felt the helplessness of his situation, not just the one his mind felt itself in, but the one the Egregium was in. He had tried to deny it, but...

Your beloved "Chapter Master" the voice mocked, Is fallen. He has given up on you, and your entire Chapter. He waits now for the Warp to swallow you whole. He only waits for the Gellar Field to fail because he knows not how to shut it off himself.

Cicero growled. "How dare you speak of Kaeso like that. He is a hero, a champion of justice."

He is a lie. The voice ripped through Cicero, grinding his presence down more and more. Even now he lies to your brothers, telling them there is hope where there is none. He leads them to their doom because he knows not what else to do. He lies to your brothers about hope that he doesn't hold. But I hold hope.

A flicker of curiosity sparked in Cicero's mind at the Presence's last words. He tried to banish it, but...

I have power to save not only you, but your beloved 1st company, and the entire Chapter. I have the power to save those who you call brothers, and to destroy those who you call your enemy.

That flicker grabbed hold, started taking root. Cicero grabbed at it, clawed it to keep it down, but...

He could save his Chapter. After all, they didn't deserve to die in the Warp, all alone and far away from any honorable battle. They deserved far greater, didn't they?

And Kaeso... He hadn't heard anything from the Chapter Master. Did he have plans to save them from the Warp? Cicero hadn't heard any.

"No!" Cicero cried out, "He has a plan. He has to."

Does he? The voice asked, cutting right into Cicero's mind once more. Why do you worship a man who you are superior to? The power to save your Chapter is in your hands, not his. You have always been greater. How many times has Kaeso led a great assault against a Xenos homeworld, how many enemies has Kaeso slew in the name of the Chapter? Why do you worship a spineless weakling who refuses to fight alongside you?

Cicero rage grew with every word. It was confused, he didn't know whether to direct it at the voice or at Kaeso. But it grew to a boiling point, until it was ready to spill over. It would only take a few words to for it to explode, and to change Cicero, and the fate of the Chapter, forever.

Why do you worship an honorless fraud?

The Warp storm around the Egregium faded. The ship ceased to rock in the storm, and Vox communication resumed normally. It might have been considered a blessing, but it only portended dire things ahead...

Theos's vox suddenly clicked on. He heard the Chapter Master's voice.

"Theos? Theos can you hear me? Please respond."

The Vox sounded clear, as if it resumed its normal functions.

"Kaeso? This is Theos. Things aren't looking good..."

The Engine Bay was practically awash with blood. Corpses of serfs were strewn across the multiple levels, shattered servitors littered the machinery, and a few Astartes corpses were scattered across the levels.

"You can't just leave it at that," Kaeso said, "Report. Where are you?"

"We found the Engine room," Theos said, "But its been overrun. The crew has been killed, the machines are damaged, and the security detail has been slaughtered."

He could feel Kaeso's aggravation from his side of the Vox. "Do you know how damaged it is?"

"I wouldn't be able to tell," Theos said, "We'd need technicians down here."

"I should be able to scramble some with the Vox net back up and running. I'll send them to your position. Hold and wait for them, make sure the Engine Bay stays secure."

"Will do. Theos, out."