Immaterium
518.M32
Azkaellon
A chilling silence fell over the room. Most of the Blood Angels present, had fought alongside their father on Signus Prime and Terra, witnessing his terrifying duels with Khorne's Greater Daemon.
They might be elite Astartes, but Khorne's Bloodthirsters were on a completely different level. Frankly, Azkaellon doubted any of the other Primarchs could defeat Ka'bandha, perhaps Magnus, thanks to his powerful psychic powers.
Furthermore, fighting on a ship in the Immaterium itself was suicidal. Their enemy would easily break through the shields and tear the ship apart. But they had no choice.
Azkaellon looked at his brothers, seeing the same cold determination in their eyes and, even deeper, the lurking edge of madness, the unstoppable fury of their curse.
"BROTHERS!" he cried, his voice echoing through the chamber. "The greatest enemy of our Legion, right behind the accursed traitor Horus, stands before us once more! The same daemon who fell twice at our father's hands!"
"IT IS OUR DUTY. TO FIGHT HIM AND EITHER WIN... OR DIE WITH OUR FATHER'S NAME ON OUR LIPS!!!" His voice grew more powerful with each word, and Black Rage began to fill his veins with pure fire.
But he wasn't just any Astartes. He was the best of the best, and he not allowed his fury to rule him. He took control of it, repeating his father's name like a mantra in his head. 'Sanguinius, Sanguinius.'
Suddenly, he felt the hairs on his body stand on end. And he wasn't the only one, apparently. Baros and the other psykers among them clutched their heads, and the ship shook as something struck it with tremendous force; the sound of shattered shields and hull ripping apart was downright deafening.
"To the armory!" Raldoron ordered. "If we're to have any chance, we need to get Terminator Armors and heavy equipment. Barakiel, Tilonos, you must also wake Druel; he may be our best hope. The rest follow me!"
Sorrow was practically deserted; none of the crew except the Astartes had survived the journey so far. They had long since died of old age or gone mad and been killed.
Several of their brethren, who hadn't been present at the meeting, tending the ship, joined them along the way and, without question, followed Raldoron's lead.
The ship seemed increasingly shaken by the tremors, which were drawing ever closer. He wondered if they would reach the armory in time.
In less than a minute, the doors leading to the armory appeared before them. Without hesitation, Raldoron, racing ahead, slammed his shoulder into them like a speeding tank, forcing the heavy metal plates inward. A display of force that was impressive even among the Astartes.
The others followed their commander, entering a vast hall hundreds of meters long, filled with all sorts of weapons, equipment, and ammunition crates. While their brothers immediately began arming themselves, he and Raldoron headed towards the four Terminator suits standing against the opposite wall. Nassir and Zephon were following them.
Hastily, with the help of several of their brothers, they donned powerful armor and waited. He and the other three in Terminator Armors took the lead, while the rest of the Astartes spread out across the hall, seeking cover and getting as close to ammunition as possible.
But for a while all sounds ceased, as if the Greater Daemon had vanished.
Suddenly, the floor beneath him exploded, sending him and Roldoron flying. From it emerged Ka'bandha in all his terrifying glory. A demonic figure, nearly 13 meters tall and packed with muscle, emerged from the lower deck. Its head resembled a mixture of dog and bull, crowned by massive horns. Its eyes glowed a blood-red, and its entire form radiated unstoppable fury and pure hatred.
Ka'bandha. One of Khorne's most powerful Bloodthirsters. His very presence seemed to warp the space around him, and the Black Rage lurking in the recesses of his own consciousness seemed to react particularly aggressively to the daemon's presence.
The Astartes didn't wait, for each one had been forged in the fires of war. In a split second, projectiles of every kind and powerful plasma flares and streams fired from meltaguns hurtled towards the Great Daemon.
He, however, seemed to have none of it.
"FOOLS!!!" roared Ka'bandha, his voice making the ship shake. "COME! I'LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!!!"
Azkaellon quickly rose from the ground and, drawing his blade, rushed at Daemon with fury, "For Sangunius and for the Emperor!!!"
With great force he struck Ka'bandha's leg, his blade aimed at the back of Daemon's calf, but the latter did not even stagger, and his adamantium-hard skin withstood the Encarmine Sword's pressure.
A huge clawed paw struck Azkaellon with such great force that he was thrown into the air, flew several dozen meters, hit the wall with a bang, and then fell to the ground, slightly dazed.
He didn't know if it was because they were in the Immaterium or something else, but the Ka'bandha seemed to be much more powerful than he remembered from Signus Prime or Terra.
The four of them rushed him, each in Terminator armor, but the Great Daemon was clearly toying with them, enjoying the fight itself. He tossed them around like dolls, and Askaellon could only taste the blood in his mouth, while his muscles and bones were at the breaking point.
Suddenly, the main gate leading to the armory exploded, and an armored red colossus burst through the debris. Leviatan Dreadnought. Their brother, Druel.
His several-meter-high silhouette, however, was still half the size of Ka'bandha's.
"HORUUUS!!!" With a terrifying cry filled with almost incomprehensible hatred, the colossus lunged at Bloodthirster.
He grabbed Daemon in an iron grip, and despite its smaller size, fueled by Black Rage, he actually lifted the daemon, and the two of them crashed into one of the walls, pushing aside several Astartes in the process, before smashing through the combined mass and strength of the Dreadnought to the other side, into the hangar where all their heavy vehicles were stored.
Druel began to strike his opponent with a force that could shatter the hardest rock, but the Great Daemon of Khorne only laughed, though Azkaellon wasn't sure if it could be called laughter. For the sound was a combination of a dog's yowl and the cries of pure agony, sending shivers down even Azkaellon's spine.
Ka'bandha grabbed the Dreadnought and hurled it like a ten-ton missile toward the Astartes bursting into the hangar.
Azkaellon himself and most of his brethren managed to avoid the flying metal colossus, but a few unfortunates were not so lucky and were actually swept back into the armory with tremendous force.
Raldoron furiously lunged at the Greater Daemon, and he and Nassir followed. Zephon fired a volley of plasmabolt bolts directly into their opponent's face, attempting to blind him, while they attempted to sever the tendons in the beast's calves.
However, with a single flap of his wings, Ka'bandha rose several dozen meters in the blink of an eye, almost reaching the hangar ceiling, before crashing down on the enraged Druel, who was once again bursting into the room.
Daemon's hoofed foot crushed the struggling Dreadnought beneath it, and as the four Terminators charged at Bloodthirster again, he swept Nassir and Zephon away with a single swipe of his tail, then seized himself and Raldoron in his great, clawed hands and began crushing them. Daemon's mad laughter echoed through the air again.
Azkaellon felt his inhuman body begin to yield under the pressure of his own armor, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. Black spots began to cloud his vision, and he felt himself slipping away.
Suddenly, however, a flash of golden light filled his vision, and he felt a warmth surge within him. Even Black Rage, suppressed by the Greater Daemon's strange powers, suddenly came to life with unprecedented force, yet without transforming him into a blinded beast of rage.
A moment later, he felt the grip on his body weaken, as if Ka'bandha had released him. But he didn't simply fall to the ground. Not that anything would have happened to him. Instead, he felt himself sink gently to the floor, held as if by an invisible hand.
At the same time, his senses were flooded by a cacophony of sounds, mostly the roars of fury, and perhaps even the pain of the Greater Daemon Khorne.
As his eyes began to adjust and his body slowly began to regenerate from the most serious injuries, he tried to comprehend what had happened.
Suddenly, his eyes widened in astonishment, and his heart began to beat in an uneven, accelerated rhythm. Before his eyes, floating in midair, maybe a ten meter above the ground, with his back to him, was a being, emanating incredible power and glowing with golden light, like the sun itself above Baal.
Golden armor and gently flowing golden hair, and above all, snow-white wings, spread out a dozen meters, lazily flapping in the air.
He couldn't mistake this figure for anyone, nor this aura of righteousness and hope. For the first time since his training, Azkaellon felt tears welling in his eyes and a lump in his throat.
"Father," he rasped, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight before him.
Sanguinius, however, didn't react, his gaze fixed on Daemon Khorne, roaring in fury, lifting the rubble that had previously formed one of the hangar's walls.
One of Ka'bandha's horns was broken, and his face seemed slightly deformed. Furthermore, a glowing spear was embedded in his chest, seeming to cause him great pain.
"SAAANGUNIUUUUS!!!" A monstrous roar erupted from the daemon's maw, saturated with such hatred and fury that space began to writhe around them in spasms, and warp energies began to pour into the ship's interior, even with some of the Gellar Field emitters still functioning.
But his father raised one hand, causing the chaos energies to vanish as quickly as they had appeared. Then Sanguinius extended his right arm in front of him, making a delicate gesture as if drawing something.
The Ka'bandha's massive bulk leaped into the air and, in the blink of an eye, flew toward their Primarch, who had already grabbed the Greater Daemon by one of its remaining horns with his left hand and began pummeling its muzzle with the other.
Each blow sent shockwaves reverberating throughout the hangar.
Khorne's servant tried to break free, flailing his arms, legs, wings, and even tail, but all the attacks seemed to fail to even reach their father's body. Instead, they were blocked by some invisible shield.
Were it not for the context of the situation, the sight of a daemon several times larger than its opponent being mercilessly beaten would have been comical.
Each blow sent shockwaves reverberating throughout the hangar.
"This is for my sons." Sanguinius's quiet, cold voice echoed through the hangar, filling Azkaellon and his brothers with incredible happiness. It was good to hear their beloved father's voice after so long.
"This is for all the humans and other mortals you have slain... But fear not, Ka'bandha, this is only the beginning. When I am finished with you, even Khorne will not be able to look upon you."
With those words, the space above them began to bend and warp again, and the ship's substance began to transform, creating a corridor outside.
Sanguinius looked around. "I will deal with Ka'bandha. Take them to Angel Pride, brother." With those words, faster than they could react, he took off and flew through the created tunnel, dragging his enemy, thrashing and roaring with fury and pain, behind him.
The space behind them closed again, and Azkaellon realized they were not alone in the room and who their father was addressing.
A few steps away from him stood none other than the Primarch of the White Scars himself, Jaghatai Khan.
The Primarch's eyes scanned the battlefield, taking in the destruction and the Astartes present, and finally the Dreadnought lying on the ground, whispering incomprehensibly to itself.
Azkaellon couldn't help but notice this. For Druel had completely succumbed to the Black Rage, and they only awakened him in moments of greatest need, but he was always in a frenzied frenzy.
"Raldoron," the Primarch of the 5th Legion spoke, "gather all survivors, and if you have any gene-seed, bring it quickly. I will teleport us from this ship."
"Yes, Great Khan. But what of our father?" their nominal leader replied, to which the Primarch shook his head slightly.
"Don't worry about him. Sanguinius will deal with Ka'bandha; meanwhile, we'd better evacuate. His battle with the Greater Daemon must have attracted the attention of Khorne, if not all four Ruinous Powers," Jaghatai replied, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Azkaellon's mind was awash with questions, but like any good Astartes, discipline was ingrained in his very being. He and his brothers began gathering the wounded and the bodies of their fallen brethren, while Raldoron, Nassir, and a few others went to retrieve the gene-seed and other vital items.
From somewhere beyond the ship, they heard the furious roars of Ka'bandha and the sounds of a battle that shook the very Warp.
"Azkaellon!" Lord Jaghatai called to him, and he immediately ran to him.
"Yes, my lord?" he asked, waiting for instructions. However, the Primarch first held out a strange disc-shaped object, the size of his palms, toward him. What caught his attention was the fact that the device was clearly xenos in origin.
He looked questioningly at the Primarch, who explained, "You will take the brothers present here and transport them to our ship using this device. You activate it by pressing the button at the very top. He already has the coordinates written down. I'll wait for Roldaron and the rest... And one more thing. If you fire even a single missile there, I'll shove this Plasmagun up your ass."
Since the Primarch seemed calm yet deadly serious, Azkaellon swallowed and did as he was told. He gathered 74 living brothers, each taking with them either the bodies of the fallen, the gravely wounded, or crates of ammunition and weapons. He then activated the device.
There was a flash, and a moment later they appeared in a chamber clearly prepared for teleportation. It was almost empty, except for a few waiting crew members. They were ordinary human soldiers.
"My lord. Please follow me. I will lead you to a place where you can wait for Lord Jaghatai, and we will tend to the wounded," one of the men addressed respectfully, but without the same reverence they normally experienced from Imperial soldiers.
Azkaellon nodded and said, "Lead the way then."
Following the soldier and observing the ship's aesthetically elegant interior, so different from the Imperials, he couldn't help but feel that this was only the beginning of the surprises.