Secret War: Upon Blood Sands

Chapter 54

Adelana was still getting used to the fact that the blue sphere had popped. Commissar Tathe, Hayden, the remaining Imperial Guard and hundreds of civilians suddenly appeared behind them. It'd happened so fast Adelana and the others had almost shot them if Tathe hadn't made them stand down.

Now Tathe and the others had hunkered down beside the Throne Agents, adding their salvo into the massed Resurrected below. Although, it seemed many couldn't have run out of ammunition during their push into the tower.

That included Hayden, who Adelana then stole a glance at; he sat a few metres away, his Long Las laid over his shoulder and staring into space with hooded eyes.

'Concentrate,' said Tathe causing Adelana to flinch and go back to her shooting. The Commissar knelt beside her, about half a metre away, but his very presence seemed to smother her.

He was also devastatingly handsome, even with the scars on his face and his salting hair. Adelana would describe him using the cliche 'tall, dark and handsome.' Even more so than Hayden, but unlike Hayden, Tathe had an incredible amount of charisma just oozing from him and...

Adelana blushed and pushed the thoughts away, now wasn't the time for that.

'I should be up there,' said Tathe.

It took Adelana a few seconds to realise he was addressing her.

'U-u-u-up w-where, Commissar?'

'Up the top of the tower, fighting my father with your boyfriend.'

'H-he-he isn't my b-boyfriend!'

'He isn't? Why not?'

'B-because I-I don't like him that way! Okay?'

'Okay, okay. My apologies, young lady, if I caused you offence.'

Adelana sighed. 'Why do you think you should be up there fighting with Attelus?'

'Because I am an Imperial Commissar,' said Tathe as he fired off another flurry. 'It is my duty to bring my father to justice, and your...friend might need my help. Emperor only knows what my father has become.'

Adelana smiled despite herself as she ducked to avoid a blurt of enemy lasfire along with Tathe.

'Well, you do not have to worry too much about Attelus needing help,' she said. 'If anyone can take down your father, it's Attelus Kaltos.'

Despite just nicking him, the punch would've broken Attelus bones if they weren't reinforced with wraithbone. The pain burst through Attelus' ribs; it made him cry out as he was flung from his feet. In mid-air, he curled himself a split-second before he hit the floor. The world turned into a whirling blur as he rolled with the impact and finished in a crouch, looking up just in time to see the general charging towards him, chainsword raised. The chainsword swung out in a huge horizontal arc that Attelus barely managed to duck.

'You are a fool!' the General snarled as he smashed down for Attelus vertically, which Attelus side-stepped. The whirring blade crashed into the floor, leaving a large gash. The General rallied and began to slice for Attelus again and again with a wild mixture of downward diagonal and vertical blows, which made more grazes and in the sandstone and sent Attelus skidding and sliding backwards.

'See my strength?' snarled the General. 'My speed? Khorne gifted these to me! You could have been the same! But you rejected His gifts!'

Attelus clenched his teeth as frustration boiled through his hazed mind; he was sick of fighting enemies with such ludicrously longer reach than him, first Kalakor, the Bloodletters, the Bloodthirster and now frigging General Tathe. He was short, around 1.67 metres he'd always been short, he'd dealt with that fact a long time ago, but by the Emperor, it got to him now! Attelus sighed through his gritted teeth as he side-stepped yet another cut; that was just the reality of fighting in the 41st millennium, and whining about it wouldn't make any difference; it'd just get him killed.