Damocles Rising
A Warhammer 40,000 Story by Tygon Panthera
This story is © 2005 by Marc-Dennis Horn. This story may not be sold or used for commercial profit in any form or fashion. This story may not be modified in any way. This story may not be posted on a mirror site or any other Internet site without the written permission of the author. This story may not be distributed on print, magnetic, electrical, optical or any other mediums.
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Characters © Marc-Dennis Horn
Let me tell you a story. It is not a story about glorious deeds or heroism. It is, quite simply, a story about the first steps that eventually led to deeds that I deem at least worthy, although my colleagues might think otherwise. I am content with how things turned out and leave it to you to figure out whether or not my actions were appropriate for an Inquisitor or not.
But I digress. The events I want to describe to you took place long ago, over 200 years ago in fact. Would I be able to meet my younger self from back then, I would describe myself as foolish, naïve and idealistic. My only defense is that I did not know better. I was still an interrogator back then under my master, the revered Inquisitor Steinhammer, may the Holy Emperor watch over his soul. He was a taller than most men and broader too, almost always clad in thick plate armor and his powerhammer at his side. I must have seemed to be an almost comical sight when I stood at his side, my lanky frame so different from his. Aside from the obvious difference that I was female of course. I had taken to hide my physical shortcomings, which where painfully visible thanks to the thigh bodyglove I usually wore, underneath a long, fur-rimmed overcoat that I had brought from Silencia, my home world. I had my hair cut short back then, out of convenience as well as part of tradition among the promising youngsters that the Inquisition took in to train them as a new generation of Inquisitors.
In hindsight I think I must have been quite an annoyance to my master. He had been serving the Ordo Xenos faction in the Atica sub-sector for almost 350 years, and there I was, Iaphina Tali, barely more than a girl, young and foolish as I had already said. My head filled with all that romantic nonsense that young interrogators usually have about being an all-powerful Inquisitor, eager and ready to follow in the footsteps of such famous individuals like Inquisitor Kryptman or the legendary Gregor Eisenhorn.
Again, I digress. The particular story I want to tell you took place on a remote planet known in the Imperial databanks only as Beta 4/26. The Eldar called it Xozang Gaan. I never found out what that means in our language but it doesn’t matter. As I said, my master was an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos faction of the Inquisition, an Alien Hunter. While the Daemon Hunters of the Ordo Malleus fight against the corruption that seeps from the Warp and the Ordo Hereticus, the Witch Hunters, seek the enemies within the Imperium, we fight the ever present danger that the innumeral xenos species of the galaxy present. Inquisitor Steinhammer and his retinue, of which I of course was a part, had been traveling through the Empyrian for almost 2 months to reach the distant world of Beta 4/26 only to find that others had gotten here first. A group of Eldar starships hung in orbit around the planet. Deciding that a covert approach was more likely to be successful than an open attack, we left the Righteous Destruction, the Inquisitional Blackship we had been provided with for the journey, behind and landed on Beta 4/26 using my master’s personal ship, a small but powerful craft he had named Arc Hammer.
Beta 4/26 was a dark and unfriendly world. At some point in its history it might have been more hospitable but something had burned the entire planet down to its foundations. That something was what we were searching for. In the process of his studies of alien inscriptions found during xenoarcheological excavations on the planet of Grund Theta, he had found hints to an unimaginably powerful artifact somewhere in the outer fringes of the galaxy. It had taken him months of careful studies before he could pin down the supposed location of the artifact to Beta 4/26 and now we were in a terrible hurry. Part of the Ordo Xenos’ duties was monitoring the aliens we could not fight for various reasons and one of these were the Eldar of Vle’Tian. The massive spaceship that was home to these aliens was slowly drifting through the interstellar space of the Atica sub-sector. Normally the Eldar, though vile and crafty as they were, left the human held worlds alone so the Inquisition was diverting its attention to more pressing matters and there never was a lack of these. However, there had been increased activity from the Eldar in the last few weeks and one of our advance scout teams eventually found out that the aliens were looking for exactly the same thing my master was - and they got to Beta 4/26 first.
Passive scans had revealed the ruins of massive structures in a mountain range on the northern hemisphere of Beta 4/26 and Inquisitor Steinhammer deemed that to be the most likely place for the artifact we looked for to lie. On our approach, when we passed the small Eldar fleet I could not help but admire their starships. They were elegant vessels that seemed to be sculpted rather than manufactured. I would learn later that was not too far from the truth. Instead of pushing their ships forward through the brute force of mighty plasma engines, the Eldar ships used gigantic sails to glide through the void of space.
I shook my head to drive these thoughts out of my mind. Those where the constructs of vile aliens, nothing worth of admiration. Planetfall was uneventful, even though we anticipated an attack by the Eldar at every moment. We set down a few kilometers outside of the ruined city where my master expected the artifact to rest. It was built on a massive plateau in the direct center of the mountain range. The skeletons of tall buildings reached into the dark sky, reminding me of bony fingers, petrified in their last grasp for life. I could only imagine how the city might have looked in its prime, but now the ruined structures were blackened, burned down like the rest of the planet.
We approached on foot in the hope that the Eldar might not find us that way. Along with Inquisitor Steinhammer and myself were three other humans. The brothers Hal and Yal Nerek were Inquisitorial troopers who had been serving under my master for over 30 years. Both wore the full body armor that the troops of the Inqusition usually wore and held heavy las-carbines in their hands. The last in our group was a man with the name Yule Surus. He was smaller than the brothers and much sleeker. Clad in a bodyglove similar to mine and armed with not one but two powerswords, I had witnessed him doing things in close combat that I would not have thought possible. At an age of 135 and with almost a century in service of my master, he was the most senior member of the retinue. I myself was armed with a long-bladed sword, as was usual on my home world, and a las-pistol. Only Bollus Gerfli, the pilot of the Arc Hammer, had remained on the ship, ready to bring it to our aid at moment’s notice.
Making pretty good time, we reached the outskirts of the city fifteen minutes after we had left the Arc Hammer. Even when not even my master had a concrete idea were the artifact we were looking for was resting, he was pretty sure that it was in the center of the city. The ruins were as dead as they had looked. The narrow streets between the tall buildings were covered with rubble and the dust of centuries, if not millennia. The place was perfect for ambushes, and we expected one around every corner but nothing stirred. The passive scans of the city we had conducted to rule out various approaches had shown no sign of Eldar activities, but that didn’t mean much. The aliens’ technology was, as much as I hate to admit it, distinctly more advanced than ours and they would have no problems hiding from our sensors, let alone from a passive scan. Still, we did not even see traces of activity as we made our way through the ruined city.
The bad thing about when things are going well is that it makes you suspicious. In our line of work one learns pretty early not to trust one’s luck. Even back then I had already learned that. The problem was that such suspicions make one oblivious to obvious dangers. About 5 kilometers into the city my master decided that it would make more sense to split up and approach the central plaza from different sides. I went to approach from the north with the Nerek brothers while Inquisitor Steinhammer and Surus came from the west. Still, we did not meet a single living thing which only served to make us even more tense.
The closer we got to the center of the city the slower and more carefully we moved. Avoiding any unnecessary sound we eventually cleared the last building and the sight that greeted us took my breath away. The plaza was vast, at least a kilometer wide. That itself was not so impressive, but its surface was black and seemed to be perfectly smooth. It shimmered lightly as if it was either polished or a liquid. Unlike the rest of the city there was no rubble or even dust here. Every inch seemed to be absolutely clean and well maintained, from the shiny surface of the plaza to the pyramid in its center. Unlike most pyramidal constrictions, however, it was three-sided and made of the same shimmering material as the rest of the plaza.
Totally taken in by the sight, I took a few steps forward and at that moment I felt something. To this day I could not describe what exactly I felt. You have to experience it yourself. I guess the closest would be the first time one sees one of the Imperial Navy’s massive battleships or when one stands before one of the several kilometers tall hive cities that can be found on advanced Imperial worlds. I felt humbled. There was something about this place that made me feel insignificant, barely worthy to even look at it, and in that moment I knew that we had found what we were looking for.
I probably would have stood there for hours if the vox in my ear had not suddenly blared to life. Inquisitor Steinhammer had ordered strict silence, even on the secure vox channels we used except for the most grievious of emergencies.
“Ram seeks Damocles,” the voice in my ear said. “Mystic aware. Rise to glory.”
The message I had received was in Glossia, an encoded language that was commonly used among Inquisitors. It used analogies and code words that were almost impossible to decipher unless one knew what the words meant to the speaker. Ram was Inquisitor Stainhammer himself. Damocles was myself, although I never quite understood why he gave me that name. Unfortunately I never got to ask him. ‘Mystic aware’ meant that the Eldar knew of our presence and ‘Rise to glory’ that we were to abandon the covert tactics and should attack openly. I drew my las-pistol and pressed the button of the vox-unit that was fitted to the side of my head. “Damocles rising,” I replied and started running. My master needed our aid.
I focused my mind on the upcoming fight with the Eldar. The aliens were terrifying enemies in battle and one needed to put one’s whole attention on the fight to survive. Still, some detached part of my mind registered that the ground cracked as my feet hammered down on it. It was glass. Whatever the artifact did to destroy this planet had melted the surface of the entire plaza down to a single, perfectly smooth layer of black glass.
We made it about halfway across the plaza when they attacked. Or rather, she did. There was a bright flash and suddenly a tall figure stood before me and a moment later my head exploded with pain. I could hear Hal and Yal screaming in pain from behind me. The figure lunged at me and it was only thanks to my conditioned mind I was able to drop my pistol, bring my sword up and deflect the blow. The pain vanished as quickly as it came as the psychic scream faded. The figure was an aspect warrior known as a Howling Banshee. The eldar was female, clad in elegant armor in the color of bone and at least two heads taller than me, although a good part of that was due to the high helmets they wear. These helmets, as I was taught, contained a number of resonance projectors that turned the battlecry of the Banshees into a powerful psychic force that disrupted their victims and made them easy to slay. It was instinct and my training as an interrogator that saved me.
The Banshee was holding a long sword in both her hands that seemed to vibrate with barely contained power. Blue sparks danced where her blade met mine. In the Imperial Guardsman’s Uplifting Primer, the book that contained the rules and laws of the Imperial Guard, Eldar weapons were described as ‘old and unreliable’. Old they were, there was no doubt about that. After all, the entire race of the Eldar was much older than mankind. However, unreliable they were not at all, quite the opposite. Our own technology was proof that old things normally worked better than the new. The most powerful battleships of the Imperial Navy were thousands of years old and my own sword had been in my family for countless generations. I guess that was the only reason why the blade was able to stand against the Banshee’s first strike. The mere fact that I was able to do so must have had surprised the female alien for I was able to make a counterstrike before she could react. Unfortunately the Banshee was inhumanly fast and able to stop my blade with her own just like I had done before. Again, there was a detached part of my mind that realized that her weapon bore an uncanny resemblance to those Surus wielded.
This time there was no pause. The Eldar’s form became a blur as she sent strike after strike at me and for the most part I was barely able to fend her off. It would have been only a matter of time before I would succumb to her superior swordsmanship if it hadn’t been for Hal and Yal. The brothers had recovered from the Banshee’s psychic scream and moved around us. Yal, who was the better shot of the two, raised his las-carbine while Hal had knelt down. His shot glanced off the armor at the Eldar’s side but Yal hit her in the right leg. I could hear a scream of pain through the projectors of her helmet and brought my sword down on her. The expertly tempered blade cut easily through her armor and severed her head from her shoulders. Lifelessly the Banshee crumbled to the glassy ground.
I nodded to Yal and Hal thankfully before I looked down for my pistol. One of us must have had kicked it away during the brief fight with the Banshee and I had no time to look for it. Cursing the lack of time I knelt down beside the decapitated Eldar and reached into the holster at her side, producing a sleek shuriken pistol. Neither of the brothers commented as I took the alien weapon and motioned them to go on. Inquisitor Steinhammer still needed us.
The sensation of humbling became stronger and stronger the closer we got to the strange, three-sided pyramid in the center of the plaza until it was oppressing. I could see that it was affecting the brothers too but fortunately we could focus our minds on fighting the Eldar who were without doubt attacking my Master and Surus. Eventually we reached the far side of the Pyramid. This one was not completely smooth but had a steep stairway instead that led up about halfway the height of the building. And at it’s foot I could see figures fighting.
The Eldar were superb fighters, I have to give them that much. However, my Inquisitor Steinhammer and Surus were giving them an excellent run for their money. My Master was swinging his powerhammer, keeping the Eldar at bay that he could not slay. Surus was a blur of movement, slashing out here and there, drawing blood with almost every strike. However, the Eldar had the numbers on their side and it was only a matter of time before they simply overwhelmed my Master and his fighter.
Still running, I lifted the shuriken pistol I had relieved the dead Banshee of and pulled the trigger. Molecular slices of crystal shot at an Eldar in ornate armor and a shimmering grey robe. I was shooting at him from behind but still he dodged the alien bullets as if he had sensed them. I had no time to ponder these reflexes that seemed more like precognition though, for a small group of five of the aliens turned to lower their shuriken rifles at us. Hal and Yal reacted immediately and fired their own weapons. Two Eldar fell, clutching wounded limbs. A third crumbled down as a shot from my pistol hit him. Shuriken tore through my heavy coat but this group seemed to be surprised by the ferocity of our assault. Maybe they had expected the single Banshee to be able to handle the three of us, maybe they were simply inexperienced, I did not know, and to be quite honest, at that moment I did not care either. Before the two remaining Eldar could fire another salvo I had reached them and cut down one with my sword. The other fell under concentrated fire from the brothers.
I looked up as I pulled my blade out of the dead alien and whipped it around automatically to clean off the blood. My Master was struggling with an Eldar a mere twenty meters before me. He roared as he swung the powerhammer, shattering the chest armor of the alien. A smile formed on my lips and I could not help but feel proud to be the pupil of such a great warrior. However, a second later the smile froze. All the heat drained out of my body as a figure clad in red, white, and black materialized out of thin air between Inquisitor Steinhammer and me. It was heavily armored for an Eldar with a huge carapace protecting it’s back. I watched in horror as the Eldar raised a large weapon that was supported by two robotic arms that extended under his natural ones. A writhing white mass shot from the wicked muzzle of the gun. My Master tried to jump aside but the shot hit him in the side. I screamed and raised my shuriken pistol to fire at the Eldar.
I did not know back then but these Aspect Warriors were called Warp Spiders. They used specialized machines to open short portals through the warp, essentially teleporting themselves over short distances. Thanks to that form of movement they were able to wear heavy armor which Eldar normally shun because it restricted their movements. Before any of my shots could hit it the alien had disappeared. I saw something move in the corner of my eye and acted out of instinct. I spun around and during the movement I let go of my sword. The blade flashed as it reflected the little light that surrounded us before it disappeared in the white mass that the Warp Spider had shot at me. The weapon could not stop the shot but it slowed it down enough so that I could dodge. I got back to my feet just in time to watch the Eldar drop forward. Surus nodded to me, standing behind the head alien and spun his powerswords once before he dashed off.
I wasted no time and turned around to hurry to my Master. Inquisitor Steinhammer was lying on the ground and moaned in pain, the right half of his body a red mass of sliced armor, muscles and organs. As I would learn later, the Warp Spider’s weapon shot strands of monomolecular filament that cut through almost everything without effort. When one got hit by such a shot the only chance was to hold perfectly still. Otherwise your own movement would make the strands cut even deeper into you. Unfortunately my Master had been in mid air as he got hit and did not have that option.
“Hold still,” I said in a soothing voice, dropping the shuriken pistol.
“Don’t touch me!” Inquisitor Steinhammer said, his voice still loud and clear although the strain of pain was audible in it. “The path is over for me, Phina,” he went on after a moment. The fact that he used my nickname as he normally did only in private made it painfully clear to me how serious he was.
“Master...” was all that I could get out.
His still intact left arm went to his chest. With his grip still strong he grabbed the rosette, the sign of office for an Inqusitor, pulled it off his armor and pushed it into my hands. “Take this,” he groaned, “and my hammer. Finish what we came here for.”
I just nodded as I took the rosette and reached for the powerhammer that lay on the cracked ground beside my Master. The massive weapon vibrated gently in my grasp. He nodded and smiled. I smiled back to my dying Master as I rose to my feet and turned. Without looking back I started running. The world seemed to vanish around me as I was filled with an iron resolve. I think one of the Eldar hit me with a shuriken weapon for I had a rather nasty cut on my left arm afterwards but I could not remember any pain. My feet hammered on the ground, sending chips of black glass flying as I ran towards the pyramid and up the steps. My Master had suspected that the artifact, something I came to call Belialum Solaris later, had been put here by the aliens that once lived here on this planet. From the inscriptions, he had learned that these aliens had worshipped the Belialum until it grew powerful enough to destroy them. Why that had happened was not important. The mere fact that it happened was enough to know that such a powerful thing should not be allowed to exist.
I reached the top of the stairway and came into a large hall that was built into the pyramid. And there, upon a low altar, supported by invisible, blasphemic powers, hung the Belialum Solaris. It looked like a small sun, about a meter across and glowing a warm orange. As I stepped close to it I could feel the warmth it radiated and I could feel the power that lay slumbering in this small sphere. Although my own psychic abilities were minor compared to most humans who could call themselves psykers, I could feel something from within the Belialum reach out for my mind. I could feel a conscience that tested me and for a split second I felt like a trapped prey animal that was seized up by a predator. The sensation vanished almost immediately as it had come and before that thing could reach out for me again, I raised mental shields as the inquisition had tought me.
I will not disappoint you, my Master, I thought as I raised the powerhammer over my head. “In the name of Him on Terra, I condemn thee!” I shouted and swung the weapon down at the sphere. That moment the Belialum exploded with psychic activity. A wave of impressions tore my shields down and I was flooded with emotions. I could see a mighty army that tore down the enemies of the Imperium. I saw the Belialum Solaris burning down the worlds of heretics that dared to smudge the glory of mankind with their existence. And I saw myself as the leader of this mighty force. The Belialum was showing me what could be if I spared it. It was showing me the fulfillment of my dreams and all it asked in return was a small thing: my eternal devotion.
Here and now I admit, though ashamed of it I am, that I was about to pledge myself to the Belialum. In that moment, shining glory for mankind and myself was within my grasp and it seemed like worship was a very small price to pay for that. Again, my only defense is that I was young. Fortunately, once in motion a powerhammer is not easily stopped.
The head of the ancient weapon connected with the Belialum and its mighty energies sprang over the sphere. A scream that seemed to originate within my own mind blinded and deafened me. I could feel that I was thrown backwards and that was the last thing I can remember before the world vanished.
When I woke, I was lying in a comfortable bed. Everything was silent around me and I could feel something pressing against my face. I tried to open my eyes but found that I could not and neither could I move.
Can you hear me? a voice in my head sounded up.
I tried to reply but my jaws would not move either.
Please do not try to move, the voice within my head spoke again. You have been hurt badly.
Finally it dawned on me that it was the mental voice of a psyker. What happened? I sent back.
An explosion, came the reply. You have third degree burns all over your body as well as a few broken bones and...
What? I asked. Something was wrong, I could sense it in the voice.
I’m afraid whatever happened on Beta 4/26 burned out your eyes and ears. We think it is the result of a massive psychic attack but we are not sure.
I was silent for almost a minute, stunned by what I had ‘heard’. I could remember the Belialum’s death-scream within my head and how everything had gone dark and silent afterwards.
Can you repair it? I eventually asked.
I’m sorry but I do not know yet, the voice replied. We cannot yet ascertain the neural damage that has been done. If the neural pathways are not too badly damaged we can grow replacements for your eyes and ears. If not the only chance are bionics.
I tried to nod but I couldn’t. Still, the owner of the voice seemed to understand.
One more thing, I ‘said’ after a few moments.
Yes?
What... what about Inquisitor Steinhammer?
There was a short pause before the voice answered. Your retinue has brought his body.
Again I was silent but only for a few seconds. I understand, I replied.
During the long journey back home I slowly learned what happened after my attack on the Belialum. It seemed like just as we did, the Eldar thought we were seeking the artifact for our own and came to destroy it. The fighting at the foot of the pyramid stopped the moment the Belialum exploded. What shocked me most was to learn that it was one of the Eldar who had saved my life, and the grey-caped one on top of it. He caught me when I was hurled out of the pyramid. According to the brothers and Surus, the aliens then vanished without a trace. Their fleet had started to move almost at the same moment and left the system behind.
There was another thing to shock me during the long travel back to Yotta Mundi where the headquarters of the Ordos Atica was. Obviously I had a lot of time to think, even with various psykers visiting me to keep my mind busy. Still I could not help realizing how senseless my Master’s death was and that it could have been avoided if we had worked together with the Eldar. The thought itself was heretic and for a long time I lay in silent prayers to remove the taint of such an idea from myself.
“There is compromising, no collaboration, no ‘together’ with the xenos, no matter which of them,” my Master used to say. During that voyage I vowed to live by those words.
As I said, I was young and foolish back then.
Anyway, by the time we arrived on Yotta Mundi I was able to move on my own again. Most of my skin had re-grown nicely but I still could neither see nor hear. Fortunately several of my late Master’s servants and aids offered to help me get around until I either got used to my new situation or until it could be improved, whichever happened first.
The third shock I would receive in the wake of this mission I got in the office of Lord Inquisitor Cyrax, the commander of the Ordos Atica. I had submitted my report to him, and as far as I could say he kept quiet during it. He and Inquisitor Steinhammer had been friends, I know that and I am sure his death was something of a shock for Cyrax. The shock came when I was done. He let me stand before his desk for over a minute before he told me mentally that my Master had filed his commission for me to become an Inqisitor just days before we left for Beta 4/26 and that my actions on that distant planet and regarding the Belialum Solaris had proved without a doubt that I was worthy of being a full agent of the Holy Inquisition.
It would take over a year until I could go on a mission again. The surgeons had to re-grow several neural pathway within my brain and the organs that had been destroyed by the Belialum’s death scream. Most of Inquisitor Steinhammer’s staff had decided to join me instead of going their own ways. I found the idea a little awkward at first but I soon got used to it. After all, these were people that I knew I could trust.
So, this is the story I meant to tell you. Why, you ask? Maybe I did so to make clear that death is a constant companion for an Inquisitor. Or maybe I meant to teach you a lesson about how we must fight the xenos wherever we encounter them. Or maybe I wanted to show you how even the most promising of us fall to the seduction of vile powers.
I leave it to you as to what you decide to learn from my story. Myself, I hope that you have understood how I began my work as an Inquisitor and that this understanding will make it easier for to you grasp the decisions that I made in my later life. To this day I still wear the rosette and weapon of my Master and I like to think that they approve of their own wielder.
The Emperor Protects
Inquisitor Iaphina Tali
Atica Sub-sector
Ordo Xenos