The carpet was in a good mood today.
The access hallway to the warp engine
core of the Emperor's Children Strike Cruiser Virtue of Excess did
not look, to the untrained eye, like part of the engineering deck of
a warship. The walls, which would normally be crowded with power
conduits and maintenance access panels, were instead decorated with
lavish silk tapestries, though the vital systems of the ship still
pulsed beneath them. The ceiling was hung with soft red lamps and
incense burners which spread a perfumed musk throughout the deck that
could send a man into a coma filled with lurid dreams for a week. And
then there was the carpet.
Tyka walked her
rounds of the deck, her bare feet pressing deep into the luxurious,
blood-red pile. Today, the fibres stroked them sensuously, sending
electric tingles through them, massaging out the tiredness. On
another day, or even in another second, the psycho-reactive thing
that covered the floor would bite with every step, never causing real
damage {oh i'm sorry darling i never meant to hurt you} but
setting nerves aflame with exquisite agony. Each pace brought either
needle-sharp pain or near intolerable pleasure, and until you got
used to it the experience was almost overwhelming. When Tyka had
first been brought here by the Sky Warriors, there had been six girls
from her village taken to serve on this deck. Two had not survived
their first breath of the incense, and another had lasted almost a
week before she finally succumbed to the urge to lie down on the
hallway floor {it will be so much better down here with
me}. Tyka had killed Ania, the fourth one to die, herself,
throttled the life out of her with a silk cord from one of the
tapestries. She had just wanted to know what it felt like.
She hadn't seen
Lyanna for a few weeks. She hoped they'd cross paths again soon.
Ania's knife was getting bored.
The main access
doorway had begun to tremble with anticipation. Tyka eyed it warily-
the doors liked it when people walked through them, liked to brush
them with a tendril or two, maybe take a bite if the visitor was
unwary or merely chose to let them. Someone was coming. She looked
around quickly for somewhere to hide- there was a tapestry hanging
almost to the floor a few feet from the door..
{yes i will hide you. She'll never
find you here}
Perhaps not. She
settled for concealing Ania's knife as best she could behind her
back. The silk shifts the helots wore were of a translucent white,
the better to display their dusky skin, so that was no help. She
didn't make the mistake Ania had of letting the blade touch her
flesh, though she could feel it writhing in her hand. {just a
taste, dearest, i will be faithful}
The door burst open
with a cry of joyous relief, and Death stepped through it. The knife
lurched again in Tyka's grip and broke free, landing on the carpet,
which devoured it greedily before it could escape. The slave girl
stared in a mix of fascination, horror, terror and lust.
Another Legion- the
barbaric World Eaters, or the stern Iron Warriors- might kill a serf
where she stood for the gaze Lyka swept over Her Dark Majesty Karyn
the Lewd, but the former Captain of the Emperor's Children relished
in the attention. Millennia ago, Captain Karras had revelled in the
cheers of crowds of citizens at the muster of the 63rd
Company, and Karras the Lustful coveted adulation even more, though
there were less to give it. After her rebirth, Karyn loved nothing
more than flaunting herself before her peers. And everyone else.
Perhaps she stood a
little less tall than her brothers in the other Legions, but Karyn
made up for this with a long, pink topknot that bounced playfully
behind her as she walked. Most of her power armour had long since
been subsumed into her skin, giving her the illusion of
vulnerability, with the exception of her ornate pauldrons of
lacquered black, pink and gold that still glittered with the proud
heraldry of the Emperor's Children. Her soft, black boots and gloves
reflected the red light enticingly, but Tyka knew that whatever was
underneath was as resilient as any armour of the Sky Warriors. She
had seen it when the young men of her tribe, presented to be
recruited by the Warriors known as the Excoriators, had attempted to
repel the horrifying armoured women who had come in their stead. The
slim blade riding at Karyn's hip had killed several of the lucky
ones. The rest had been.. less fortunate.
With Karyn walked
Lady Suspiria, the Sorceress known as the Painrider. The former
Epistolary Susurrus had been similarly changed by the great ritual
aboard the Palace of Diversions, though her mane of hair was a
pure white. She bore a great staff surmounted with the many-pointed
star of Chaos, and tipped at the other end with a slender spike. The
carpet moaned every time the spike stabbed into it.
Much to Tyka's
relief, and disappointment, the two ignored her. Even though she knew
it meant certain doom, she followed them. To let Karyn out of her
sight would be worse than death.
They walked the
halls until they reached the access portal for the warp core itself.
Months ago- if a measurement of time had any meaning in the Warp- the
Raptors of Squad Babylon had been hurled, screaming, through that
aperture at the start of what the Warband now called The
Transitioning. This had been well before Tyka had arrived on the
vessel, of course, but the ship had told her the story in her dreams.
Only.. she never
slept, not any more. And the Transitioning had taken place on a
different ship? {details}
“Open It.”
said Karyn. The words reverberated down the hallway, though it
seemed like she was whispering in Tyka's ear.
“My Dishonourable
Lady, are you certain? My auguries have not spoken of this.”
replied Suspiria. Karyn turned a smile on her that was a sea of
razorblades on black silk.
“You have not been Listening, my
Lecherous Friend. Some part of you still clings to the Old Ways,
closes your Mind off to the Song. You Scream for Knowledge with
Power, when all you Need to do is whisper your Question and Embrace
the Answer. They have Returned to Us.”
“I bow before
your wisdom, oh Supreme Slattern. You are, after all, the Harbinger
of the Transition. I have invoked the access charms- the way will
open for us.”
Without sparing
another glance for the Sorceress, Karyn strutted forwards. With a
look of pure, exultant malice on her face, Suspiria quietly began to
back away, moving further from the portal. Tyka scurried back to
avoid getting in her way- she was enthralled, but not suicidal.
Without warning, the aperture slammed open, and a howling, roaring,
screaming whorl of power blazed forth, enveloping Karyn completely.
She let out a shriek of ecstatic agony.
“Yes!” shouted
Suspiria. “I knew it! The Dark Lady never favoured you, you were
always just a tool towards my ascension! Don't worry, I'll be
sure to give your mewling remains pride of place at the next feast..
maybe as the main course!” She stabbed her staff down into the
floor, which moaned with pleasure at the contact, and the portal
closed.
“Great Sky
Spirit!” whispered Tyka, briefly forgetting where she was.
Where once had
stood the magnificent form of Her Dark Majesty, now stood six. Five
were figures almost as tall as Karyn Herself, and similar in form,
but each bore a pair of huge, pink, leathery wings from their back.
Their twisted faces each bore a wild shock of electric-blue hair, and
their hands seemed to be in a state of flux, shifting from almost
human one moment, to huge daemonic talons the next. One, the largest,
was more richly-appointed than the rest, a huge golden Aquila on one
pauldron matching the Legion symbol on the other. Her right talon was
shod in gold and silver, and her left hand gripped a cruel lash. Tyka
wondered what it would feel like. The sixth figure had her back to
Tyka and Suspiria, and when she spoke the Sorceress recoiled in
terror.
“Welcome, Aurora, welcome, Sisters
of Babylon. Long have you Dallied in the Orchards of Sin, long have
the Handmaidens shaped you. Now your Hunt Begins.”
Even as those
watching attempted to process what had happened, the leader of the
newcomers threw herself at the transformed Karyn, screeching in fury.
The lash whipped out, the claw struck with impossible speed. The
Chaos Lord seized the claw in her gauntleted left hand, and took the
blow of the lash to her right wrist with a hiss of pain, winding it
around until her attacker was drawn in close. Seemingly without
effort, she gripped the claw with her right hand, freeing up her
left, and seized her attacker by the throat. The uneven struggle
continued for a moment more, the newcomer's burning blue eyes blazing
hate into the bottomless black jewels of Karyn's, before she was
flung away. Rather than falling to the floor, the daemon-thing
flapped her wings lazily, impossibly slowly, and simply hung in the
air, staring at Karyn a moment longer. Then she dropped to the deck,
and fell upon one knee, the motion matched by the rest of the squad.
The carpet, wisely, didn't try anything.
“Good. Your killing instinct is
undimmed, Aurous-that-was. Come.”
She turned on her
heel, and began to stalk back down the corridor. Now Tyka could see
the extent of the transformation- as well as the wings, and those
eyes {swim in them, drown in them, die in them} Karyn's hair
had been replaced by a tousle of the same blue as the others. The
silver sword was gone, replaced by a pair of pulsing black blades
that seemed to float in the air at her hips. Suspiria, realising the
depths of her peril, crashed to her knees.
“M-my Lady, I-”
Karyn glanced at
her, and back up the hallway. “Suspiria. Bring me That.”
Suspiria looked up,
confused. Karyn was pointing at a slim pattern bolt pistol that lay
on the floor, the carpet forming a respectful ring around it.
“Y-your gun, my
most supreme-”
“Now.”
On the edge of
insane terror, the Sorceress hurried to obey. She had to flatten
herself against the wall to get past Karyn's new retinue, and one of
the tapestries, sensing weakness, tried to envelop her. Suspiria
ripped it to shreds with a single surge of magic, and the carpet saw
to the remains. She picked up the gun warily, and presented it to
Karyn.
Tyka had been
rooted to the spot since the portal had opened, and now, incredibly,
Karyn turned and looked at her directly. She fought to retain the
memory of who, what, where she was.
“You lost Your Toy.” Karyn
said, favouring her with a smile that was a promise of a thousand
explicit tortures.
“M-my knife? Yes,
Ka- my Supreme- ah..”
The Chaos Lord
laughed, musically, and after a moment her bodyguard joined in.
Tyka's heart welled in pride- she had entertained the Mistress, if
only for a moment. Her!
“Well, you must Have a new One.
Here.”
Karyn took Tyka's
hand and pressed it open. As the slave-girl's mind reeled with the
shock of contact, Karyn placed the pistol in her hand. It was a
slim-pattern weapon, designed for assault troops and bikers, but
still massive in the grip of a normal human. The Chaos Lord gently
placed Tyka's finger on the trigger, and pressed it in, before
turning to Suspiria. “Tell Her.”
Suspiria looked
deep into Tyka's eyes. “So, Helot, you have been gifted with Lady
Karyn's personal pistol, Deliverance. You have also been
gifted with a single bolt. Should you release the trigger, that bolt
will fire. If the bolt strikes your target, all will be well for you.
If you miss, the bolt will instead return and..” she gave a twisted
smile. “Well, I do not recommend that you miss.”
She turned, and
hurried after Karyn. Tyka looked down at the heavy gun. Already, her
finger was trembling with the effort of holding the trigger in.
Slowly, arms quivering with the effort, she raised it towards the
Sorceresses' retreating back. {Yes...}
No. Even hitting
the bitch by surprise wouldn't be enough. She had seen how much
punishment they could take, and how much they playfully returned.
She had to find
Lyanna, and quickly.
 |
| Squad Babylon |
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