Vex Chronicles 3: Hunt

One step behind

Planet GC0334k, temple ruins

Hasthia couldn't say if she should feel happy for the badge, Vex had given her. Everyone that had hated her before, stared with renewed anger at her scaled hide. And sergeant Hakkar had looked as if he'd hit her any minute. But then she choose to follow Sill's example and simply decide to be happy. Hasthia was no longer the mutant scum and the hunted scalie psyker. She was a trusted member of the inquisition. Her head still couldn't grasp what power this little badge bestowed – even after Vex had given both her and Cassilia a lengthy explanation.

"Hey, you're happy aren't you?" Sill looked at Hasthia's scaled face. "It's hard to tell sometimes."

"I am trying... to be."

Sill smirked. "Then lets happily leave this dead dust ball behind."

They stood at the edge of a dust covered temple complex. An old necron tomb that had been freed from sand and soil by the world's ruthless storms. The world was uncolonized. But human settlers had been here once. The only trace of their existence were long gone settlements and ancient ruins. They had woken the necrons and had perished.

The temple had already been raided before the imperials had come to it. The signs of battle were fresh and everywhere. Ancient and brittle necron remains still rested where they had fallen, cut down by guns and blades. Markos and Vex both had clearly identified those weapons as dark eldar.

"I estimate this to be at least three weeks old," logis Gerrisat completed his inspection. "This damage had been dealt even before I joined the Aes Cognis."

Vex drew a grimace. "The eldar are one step ahead of us... Pack everything that looks important in for research. It is rare to have access to necron technology, even damaged ones. Warrior constructs are usually disintegrated on death."

"Shouldn't we hurry," Sill reminded Vex. "If the eldar are ahead of us then we need to catch up, right? This world was useless."

Vex looked at the half-ogryn and nodded. "You are right – and also wrong. Finding traces of the dark eldar is information. The three messages from the lava tomb lead us here. Gerrisat, how likely is it that the messages were alerts of an armed attack?"

The logis let his sensor lenses wander over the battlefield. "Above 80% probability."

Hasthia could see how the inquisitor grimaced. "All three most likely those dark eldar raiders. At least we now know where not to look... But the time runs against us. We don't have enough to assemble even half of our map. And the dark eldar are at least one data fragment ahead of us."

Vex stomped back towards the Minerva's Spear. He called off the search. And the gunship soon left the red dust behind.

"Hasthia, join me." Vex waved the lizard woman to followed and slipped behind the turret controls.

The lizard mutant followed Vex's call. And somehow she managed to squeeze beside Vex into the gunship's gun turret.

"What, madman?" Hasthia added annoyance to her guttural voice. She hated her bulk. And Vex needed to learn that he couldn't command her around like this!

"I thought long about it. I want you to have this." Vex slipped the black bolter pistol with silver decorations out of his holster.

"That is Meredith'zz..."

Vex nodded with a sad expression. "And you remind me of her. I will take the executioner's plasma pistol. It will tell me to be wary of traitors, even in my own ranks. And a memento of my failure on Eredius."

Hasthia looked at the offered gift. She felt happy. But the inquisitor was not to know. And so she put a bit too much growl into her voice as she presented her clawed paws.