Vex Chronicles 1: Infection

Sending the signal

Lucena's Ascent, main communication array

"They're coming." The woman ran back into the communication room. Lasgun pulses reached for her. But she was around the corner before they could fully focus on her.

"Everyone into cover," Markos commanded.

The honorblade drew a grimace. The enemy had reacted much faster than he had expected. The crew had barely fortified their defenses.

Markos rushed up the ladder and onto the walkway. He had just made it into the twilight of the upper level as the enemy already charged in. But what marched at them was not a faceless horde of deformed mutants and cultists. The attackers again wore the uniform of crew. But this time not all shambled forward like zombies with empty eyes and sluggish movements. More than half showed eyes of twisted devotion, the enemy's battle cry on their lips. The secret was out...

"What...," someone next to Markos mumbled. "I know some of them. Why are they attacking us?"

He wasn't the only crew member to hesitate. More than half of the imperial gun remained silent fired. And that cost the imperials dearly. Former crew members raced at the improvised barricades and opened fire on former friends and coworker.

"Don't hesitate!" Markos demanded. "It's us or them."

The enemy's forward teams used the confusion to claim cover behind cogitators and solidify their position. And their cover fire allowed the cult's main force to move into position. Those were the cultists everyone had expected. Mutated bodies and frenzied hybrids with a wild assortment of weapons stormed into the oval comm array chamber. Among them was the enemy leader. The female thing was partly cybernetic, partly organic but fully crafted into the false impression of a humanoid caricature of a pure-strain genestealer. She carried twin needlers and twin blades and was surrounded by a bodyguard unit of true blooded genestealers.

Markos could see Hanson tumble. The paralyzing anguish of the captain was back...

"They are no longer our friends!," Markos rose his angry voice. "They have abandoned the Emperor. End their anguish and open fire."

Markos' bolt pistol bucked and a mind-controlled crew member was ripped apart. The special weapon's team hesitantly joined as well. And slowly the defenders opened fire. But the enemy had already made ground. And when the cult's elite troops took cover, they opened fire and imperial loyal soldiers died.

Markos swallowed. The enemy had reacted way to quickly. Had this been a trap all along? The enemy must have laid in wait. And now the imperials had to fight in every direction with barely any cover. Everything in Markos screamed to call in the retreat. They could still flee through the exits in the upper level. But the message had to be sent. The warpriestess needed their cover to send that message. They had to defend her or die trying...

Lucena's Ascent, space, Fury interceptor

Feh checked the data she felt from the Fury interceptor. Most of her auspex systems were down, bombarded into submission by the four jamming buoys. But some systems still worked. Not enough to detect enemy fighters. But the deadly presence of the enemy frigate was still detectable. The shit sat in safe distance in wait beside the Lucena's Ascent. And its anti-fighter defense turrets limited Feh's battlefield to only one side of the destroyed voidtrader. And to her bane, two of the four estimated buoy positions were fully inside the frigate's turret range. And while the frigate was still dead in space, some systems were still operational – including its anti-fighter batteries...

When Jules gave Feh a course to the first buoy, she gave full throttle. But she had just raced out of the shadow of the Lucena's Ascent as her instincts kicked in. The Fury had felt something. And Feh felt that sensor pulse like an itch along her spine.