Warhammer [542-544] (Patreon)

Chapter 542: The Traitor Leandros, Abaddon Approaches

This is a great opportunity! While Calgar is fighting Abaddon, that Leandros can defect to their side.

"Master! What do you plan to do?"

"Go to Calgar first," Rhodes said with a smile.

A moment later, Rhodes returned to Calgar's quarters. Calgar had just finished handling a mountain of military affairs and was about to rest when Rhodes suddenly appeared.

"Lord Rhodes, y-you're back again. Do you have orders for me?" Calgar was startled, then, recognizing the visitor, quickly stepped forward to ask.

Could it be that Lord Rhodes still hasn't given up on sending me as an undercover agent to Chaos? I really can't do that!

"Tartarus, you recorded what just happened, right? Show Calgar," Rhodes said.

Tartarus nodded, golden light flashing in his eyes, and Calgar was instantly drawn into a mental vision.

Tartarus possessed the ability to let others witness certain images of the future—or even the past.

He replayed for Calgar what had just occurred in Leandros's room, and even ran through the entire process of Leandros's fall during their time on Ultramar.

As a top-tier powerhouse who wielded the forces of time and space, Tartarus's abilities were that outrageous: once he noticed any clue, he could view a person's past—

And even predict their future!

 "Th-this is impossible—Le, Leandros! That traitor, that traitor—how dare he, how dare he do this?

That damned traitor! I actually trusted him so much." After watching everything, Calgar fell into an unprecedented fury.

 No wonder the shipment of Astartes organs was leaked to Chaos; no wonder they arrived with such perfect timing; no wonder they bypassed Ultramar's security measures and appeared directly—

This traitor even indirectly caused the deaths of countless battle-brothers and the Emperor's Custodians. And I, like a fool, was deceived by him—actually believing he had reformed.

"Loyalty that isn't absolute is absolutely disloyal.

He was loyal only to that Codex he'd studied for centuries. When that Codex was abolished, his entire worldview collapsed," Rhodes snorted.

"Lord Rhodes, I'll arrest him immediately—seize this Ultramarines traitor and put him to death," Calgar said.

Leandros's betrayal pained him deeply. He had trusted the man so much. Even when Leandros denounced the 2nd Company Captain, Calgar had not punished him harshly.

Because in those circumstances, any Astartes neophyte might have done the same—it's just that Leandros reported straight to the Inquisition.

He had even made Leandros a Chaplain of the Ultramarines. But after the Primarch's return, everything changed! Leandros's attitude shocked Calgar.

"No, you can't arrest him now. Since you can't do the undercover job, let Leandros be the real mole instead!

He doesn't know Abaddon's true identity. I'll have a Chaos Space Marine under Abaddon contact him," Rhodes said.

He needed a gap in Vigilus's defenses—needed the Vigilus world thrown into turmoil, a grand melee—to ensure Fulgrim would come.

Rhodes even had backup plans regarding the Orks: the Orks mustn't win, but humanity mustn't utterly crush them either.

"Lord Rhodes, he's only an adjutant, not some key position. And if we keep him within the Ultramarines, he might corrupt other battle-brothers," Calgar said.

"His Chapter Master will likely apply soon to have him reassigned as a Chaplain. Just approve it," Rhodes said.

"But Lord Rhodes, if he becomes a Chaplain, he'll have even more reach—he could secretly alter some beliefs," Calgar said in shock.

"Corrupting Astartes neophytes isn't that simple. I already have a concrete plan. Just do as I say, Calgar—I guarantee that aside from him, no Ultramarine will come to harm," Rhodes said.

If he weren't worried about spooking the man, Rhodes would have made him a Chapter Master.

"Lord Rhodes! I—I need to contact our gene-father," Calgar said through clenched teeth.

This could lead to corruption across the entire company of Ultramarines, so he had to proceed with caution.

Rhodes nodded, and through the link among the Cosmic Phantasms, he contacted Guilliman, who was traveling in the Warp.

"What's happened? Why the sudden urgent call, Rhodes?" Guilliman asked.

"Here's the situation, Guilliman—you need to personally speak to your gene-sons. I've arranged for Calgar to arrive at Vigilus early," Rhodes outlined his plan to Roboute Guilliman.

"Rhodes, I agree to be your decoy, but I can't fail in my responsibility to my gene-sons.

I agree with Calgar—this is too dangerous. And Leandros is just a minor figure, not worth mentioning," Guilliman said.

To him, Leandros was merely a small fry without high standing among the Ultramarines—just a company adjutant.

There was no need to risk making him a Chaplain, giving him a chance to corrupt hundreds of proper gene-sons.

"You don't understand—Fulgrim pursues perfection. If he learns about Leandros, he'll find a way to come," Rhodes said.

"Rhodes! We already have a plan. However you handle Leandros—send him as a mole or let Calgar judge him—either way is fine.

But under no circumstances should my gene-sons be put at risk. I know your Cosmic Phantasm energy can purge Chaos, but corruption by Chaos is still corruption," Guilliman said.

"…Fine," Rhodes sighed helplessly and ended the call.

"You've worked hard, Calgar. Leave Leandros to me. I won't let him become a Chaplain to corrupt the Ultramarines. I'll assign someone to keep close to him.

Don't show any abnormal behavior in the coming days. I'll personally deal with him. Do not let him sense anything unusual, understand?" Rhodes said.

"I understand, Lord Rhodes. Rest easy—for the Imperium," Calgar replied.

Rhodes nodded and left Calgar's quarters with Tartarus.

Next, Rhodes began preparing orders for the Alien Barbarue impersonating Abaddon: once he reached Vigilus, he was to find a way to contact Leandros.

Since Leandros had already betrayed them once back on Macragge, he should have some footing with Chaos.

Rhodes even estimated that before long, Fulgrim would send someone to contact the man.

…

Time flowed by.

Half a month passed in a blink. During this period, Calgar strengthened the mortal forces—starting with Vigilus's Planetary Defense Force.

Calgar provided these mortal troops with super-soldier stimulants. These are now mass-produced; once administered, a mortal's physique could reach that of a proto-Astartes, boosting their combat effectiveness. As for the Sisters of Battle—

Without suitable gene-seed, they couldn't undergo augmentation, so they were also provided the super-soldier stimulants to gain stronger bodies.

Days later, the vast Chaos fleet led by Abaddon tore through the Warp and arrived at Vigilus.

Abaddon's Black Legion rent the veil of realspace, like countless blood-stained blades stabbing into Vigilus's orbit.

The howls of the Chaos horde echoed in the storms of the Warp. The Warmaster's banner hung high from the spire of the flagship Vengeful Spirit, its crimson eye fixed on the world about to fall.

"Warmaster, we have arrived at Vigilus. We've detected large numbers of Ultramarines—and their ships," a Chaos champion reported to Abaddon.

An officer, his body covered in chaotic sorcerous markings, knelt on one knee, his voice rasping like grinding rust. Abaddon—or rather the Alien Barbarue posing as him—slowly raised a spike-studded gauntlet. A hololithic display unfolded before the command throne: the planet's surface bristled with anti-air batteries, and the orbital defense platform Iron Ring was aligning its guns.

"Keep the Reaper Fleet in phase-shift," the Chaos Warmaster sneered. "Tell the warband leaders I want to see the Iron Warriors set up a frontline bastion within twelve hours. We will take this world and complete this great crusade."

"As you command, Warmaster. The warriors of Chaos follow you," an Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marine knelt and replied.

"Go. Take Vigilus."

…

Meanwhile, in Vigilus's surface command hub, shrieking alarms filled the hall.

Calgar snapped his head up from the tactical hololith, his masterwork armor glinting blue under the crimson alert lights. "Orbital monitors confirm! The Chaos fleet exceeds Black Crusade records! Abaddon the Despoiler is here!"

Just as Lord Rhodes foretold—Abaddon's host had come.

"Everyone, do not panic. I need exact intel on the Chaos forces. I need their numbers," Calgar ordered.

Chapter 543: The Battle of Vigilus, Black Legion vs. Ultramarines

The veil of the Warp was torn apart. The colossal prow of the Vengeful Spirit punched through the barrier of reality, followed by thousands of Chaos warships, polluting Vigilus's orbital space like foul blood pouring from a wound.

Twisted metal spikes on the hulls flickered with ominous green light—the glow of cursed runes burning with empyric energy.

The Black Legion's fleet was daemon-forged; within the Warp, such vessels held greater advantage.

In realspace, their ships seemed almost alive.

Calgar stood within the orbital defense platform's command center. In the hololithic projection before him, a dense swarm of red dots formed an attack grid—this was the largest armada Abaddon had assembled since the Great Rift tore open.

"Vice Legion Master Calgar, we have confirmed the Black Legion's main fleet," the Tech-Priest intoned in a mechanically flattened voice. "Energy signature of the Vengeful Spirit detected. Flagship confirmed. The Despoiler Abaddon is here."

Everyone held their breath. Abaddon had been the greatest bane of the Imperium for ten millennia, even supplanting Horus in some respects.

Thirteen Black Crusades, even birthing the Imperium Nihilus. Only in recent decades had he waned slightly. Before that he was among the galaxy's top combatants.

Would this war be counted as his Fourteenth Black Crusade? Would they face Cadia's fate—

Or would the Ultramarines crush the Despoiler here?

"Soldiers of Vigilus, Sisters of Battle, Ultramarines, gene-sons of Guilliman—

I am Vice Legion Master Calgar. I now deliver the Primarch's command—the Emperor's command: we will hold Vigilus.

Here we will defeat Abaddon the Despoiler. We will not let him disrupt our gene-father's journey. We will annihilate these accursed heretics of Chaos!" Calgar rose and roared.

"For the Imperium! For Ultramar!"

"The Emperor be with us!"

"Purge the vile heretics! Death to heresy!"

The mortal regiments, the Ultramarines, and the Sisters shouted in unison.

"Good. Relay my order: bring every planetary defense online. Here we make our stand against Chaos!" Calgar bellowed.

…

At that moment, high above Vigilus within the Black Legion's armada—

The World Eaters howled bloodlust over the comm-channels, crimson lenses flickering with Chaotic fire. Their god-blessed bodies loomed larger than common Astartes. Angron's sons had long craved slaughter; they couldn't wait to offer mortal and lapdog blood to the Blood God.

Red-eyed, with Butcher's Nails drilled into their skulls, they roared so ferociously that other warbands edged away from the berserkers.

"Servants of the Blood God are the finest warriors—Angron's sons the perfect instruments of war. The opening strike goes to the World Eaters," said the Alien Barbarue impersonating Abaddon.

"Great Warmaster, under your command we shall wash away past shame. The false Emperor will die by your hand," Abaddon's adjutant declared.

They had prepared thoroughly: countless Daemon Princes, champions, and lords had joined the Despoiler, freshly blessed by the dark gods and capable of gigantic forms.

"Keep the Black Legion in phase-shift," intoned the figure upon the Vengeful Spirit's command throne, his spiked gauntlet carving through the hololithic chart.

"World Eater warbands, establish the forward bastion. Night Lords, strike the eastern flak arrays. The other warbands will support."

Calgar's tactical display suddenly flared with warning runes. Three Reaper-class cruisers phased in like ghosts at low orbit, their warped hulls flickering between realspace and Warp. Their macro-batteries locked onto Iron Ring's power core.

"Raise the void shields! All batteries load armor-piercing!" Calgar's voice blasted across the defense grid.

Mortal gunners, boosted by the super-soldier stimulant, loaded at blistering speed. Flak lasers screamed as their cooling systems strained.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Death blossomed in space. The battleship Wrath of Macragge unleashed a full broadside, lances lancing through a Chaos cruiser's bridge. King Joes took to the skies; their Padenium beam cannons fired—

Vaporizing the Dark Apostles within. But then twelve Chaos strike cruisers opened up at once, Warp-energy beams coiling around Ultramarine escorts like vipers.

"Indomitable reports starboard belt breached!"

"Grace of the Emperor's void shields overloaded!"

Damage reports detonated in Calgar's auditory feed.

He watched a frigate disintegrate under the Black Legion's crossfire, blue-armored bodies tumbling silently in the void.

On the ground, World Eater siege tanks rolled over flaming ruins, their gun barrels wrapped with brass chains, each chain ending in a skull torn from a murdered mortal.

A berserker wielding twin axes howled madly—the Blood God's chosen, Khârn, the one who had slaughtered Custodians on Macragge.

Chaos Spawn slithered between the tanks. These pitiful mutants were once human; now they were living shells. The Blood God's warriors shrieked for the blood of mortals.

"For Macragge!" First Captain Diocles led an assault squad out of shattered fortifications.

His power sword lopped off a World Eater's head—but three chain-axes came down at once.

Sisters of Battle on the flank bathed the field in holy flame, turning Spawn to charcoal. These fierce warriors drew greatswords and charged, crying praise to the Emperor.

Captain Diocles's jump pack flared; he rolled under the axes and jammed his bolt pistol into a berserker's chest. The round detonated inside the chest cavity, but the madman charged on with half his torso blown away—until the Canoness's power maul smashed him into pulp.

These blood-maddened heretics feared nothing, fighting in their most primal manner.

"Careful, my lord—the Sisters will fight alongside you!"

Before Diocles could answer, a vast blood-red axe cleaved down, splitting the Sister who had aided him in two.

She died without even realizing who had killed her.

A 3.5-meter giant in Chaos terminator plate, wielding twin great axes, stepped forward.

"No! Damn you!" Diocles roared, lifting his power sword, rage blazing at the monster before him.

"Hahahaha! I smell blood—endless blood. My prey is here.

Skulls for the Skull Throne! Blood for the Blood God!" Khârn roared, swinging his massive axes and lunging for Diocles.

Today he would drink Ultramarine blood, Sister's blood, mortal blood—all for the Blood God.

Diocles's power sword met Khârn's twin axes with a crash, the blast wave hurling debris for meters around.

Sparks flew; brute force locked against brute force. The sword's disruption field shrieked against runes of Chaos.

"Dog of the False Emperor! Your death is at hand!" Khârn snarled, the Butcher's Nails pounding beneath his temples, his voice a beastly bellow.

He heaved down with the right axe, pinning the sword, while the left swept for Diocles's waist.

The Ultramar Captain reacted fast; his jump pack flared and he slipped aside. The axe skimmed his armor, leaving a smoking gouge.

He spun with the momentum; his sword traced a blue arc at Khârn's throat.

"Too slow!" Khârn laughed, not even dodging. The blade bit into his pauldron; terminator plate shattered under the disruption field, but Khârn seemed numb to pain and smashed a headbutt into Diocles's visor.

Thunk!

The Captain's display cracked; blood seeped from his brow.

He staggered, but battle instinct raised his blade in time to catch both axes.

The blow was so strong his knee armor punched into the ground, cracking concrete like a spiderweb.

"Is that all?" Khârn howled, axes raining down like a storm.

Each strike could split a Leman Russ; Diocles fell back, sword spitting sparks as it parried.

"For Macragge!" Diocles suddenly surged forward, overloading his jump pack. His thrust shot for Khârn's heart—hitting true. The blade pierced plate and flesh.

Khârn only laughed wilder, letting the blade run through him. "Behold the Blood God's blessing!"

Chapter 544:

Khârn's right axe hacked into Diocles's pauldron, tearing ceramite like paper. Blood geysered.

"Pain is proof of life! Blood is a warrior's honor—fight!" Khârn bellowed, the left axe scything for Diocles's head.

The Captain barely tilted away, the blade shaving a corner from his helm and exposing his bloody face.

Gritting his teeth, he yanked the sword and overcharged the disruption field on the pull. Khârn's chest wound burst into a red mist—only rousing him further.

The bloodier, the madder, the more likely to draw his master's gaze.

"Yes! Like that! This is battle!" he roared, crossing both axes in a crushing blow.

Diocles blocked; the impact flashed white-hot, the air shuddering, the ground splintering under their feet.

The Sisters' fire washed over from the side, holy flames forcing Khârn back. Diocles reset his stance, breath thunderous in his damaged helm, bleeding from many wounds, but his sword-hand steady as bedrock.

"Again!" Khârn tore through the fire; runes on his axes burned crimson.

They clashed once more, weapons moving faster than sound, blades and axes leaving afterimages, metal screaming.

Every exchange flared sparks; every pass flung blood.

Yet Khârn still wasn't using his full might—he hadn't even grown to giant form. His goal was to kill the Vice Legion Master, the former Chapter Master Calgar, to take that head for the Blood God. He wouldn't waste strength on a mere cohort captain.

The battlefield seemed to still; all eyes were on the duel of superhuman warriors.

Blood and oil painted twisted patterns on the ground; shattered armor littered the air.

This was violence in its purest form—the ultimate contest between Imperial and Chaotic fury.

But only Diocles knew his own struggle. The brute before him knew no fatigue, no pain; even wounds healed in a haze of blood. He was an unkillable monster.

And according to combat feeds from Ultramar, this fiend wasn't going all out; he hadn't become a sixty-meter giant as he had against the Custodians.

He's just toying with me.

Damn it!

Diocles hadn't undergone ultrabeastification, and lacked the power to grow. Against the Blood God's chosen, he had no chance.

And ordinary Ultramarines and Sisters couldn't help here.

Khârn's axe feinted, then hooked upward, splitting Diocles's abdominal plate. Blood spilled. At the same moment, the Captain's power sword buzzed into Khârn's scapula, punching into his chest.

It should have been a perfect trade—him gravely wounded, the foe dead.

But the blood spray suddenly crystallized into jagged spines, locking the sword in Khârn's body.

"Smell that?" Khârn's vox rasped with a filthy chuckle, his torn mouth split to the ear.

"That's your fear." He stepped forward with the sword wedged in his bones; the spike on his axe haft punched into the exposed belly and churned.

Blood fountained. Diocles's mind dimmed; limbs weakened. The Belisarius furnace tried to repair his body, but the Blood God's power was no simple thing.

If not for his Primaris-hardened body—iron bones and corded muscle—he'd already be paste.

His visual module flashed red warnings; his greave shattered under an axe and he fell to his knees. In that instant, he detonated the sword's power core.

In the burst of blue light, half of Khârn's chest became bare bone. But the ribs sprouted fleshy tendrils, which wrapped Diocles and hoisted him into the air.

"Such sweet despair. Such intoxicating fear. Such a delicious taste." The chosen of the Blood God licked the Primarch-blooded gene-seed on his axe—he had just ripped the seed from the Captain's chest.

Gene-seed tasted quite good. The sight stunned nearby Ultramarines. Some tried to help, but Chaos Marines blocked them. This was Khârn's fight.

Diocles collapsed, his body refusing to move.

"Now let me witness the hero's curtain call. The Blood God's chosen will tear your skull free himself." Khârn sank both axes into the ground and spread his arms.

He was ready to take the warrior's skull—an appetizer before his duel with Calgar.

"Release him!" A thunderous roar rolled across the field as a blue-clad figure descended like a storm.

Khârn turned, laughing as he tore open Diocles's shoulder plate, deliberately letting the approaching lord see the gene-seed's blood spurting out.

The opponent he'd long awaited had arrived. Warm-up was over.

"Don't worry—he's not dead yet. If you win, maybe I'll have time to stuff him into a Dreadnought.

I hear you've improved your Dreadnoughts—those half-dead cripples can become some kind of blue giant now. Why don't I see one?" Khârn jeered.

"He won't be put into a Dreadnought. From now on, no one dies by your hand. I'll end your crimes myself. The one who dies today is you," Calgar said coldly.

With the new medicae pods, he wouldn't consign his men to sarcophagi. Dreadnought rewards had been scrapped in favor of ultrabeastification.

And Lord Rhodes was watching. Calgar had nothing to fear.

"Hahahaha! Talk is cheap. Last time on Macragge, who did I beat to his knees? Who couldn't even crawl away?" Khârn mocked.

His body swelled, in an instant becoming a seventy-meter red-armored giant. Calgar said nothing; his body also expanded, becoming a sixty-meter blue-armored giant.

Both sides' Chaos Marines, Ultramarines, Sisters, and daemons pulled back to clear a battlefield for titans.

Khârn's laughter rolled across the field. The seventy-meter giant thundered forward, his blood-red plate crawling with warped runes, blood boiling along his axe blades.

He looked down at Calgar, eyes burning with bloodlust. "Last time, you crawled away like a dog."

His voice boomed like thunder. "This time, I'll hang your head on the Blood God's altar!"

Calgar did not reply. Lines of blue energy ran across his ultrabeast form. His masterwork power fist flared with a ravenous disruption field as he swung for Khârn's face.

Khârn didn't dodge. Grinning, he crossed his axes.

Boom—!!!

The collision blasted a shockwave across the field, collapsing buildings, rending the earth in trenches tens of meters long.

Calgar's fist smashed into Khârn's axe-face. Disruption clashed with warp-filth, the energy storm shredding the clouds overhead.

"Not bad! Stronger than last time! Still not enough," Khârn laughed, heaving Calgar back a few steps.

Calgar slid, steadied, and punched again, the arc suddenly changing—an uppercut snapping into Khârn's jaw.

Crack! Khârn's head snapped back, bloody teeth flying, and his laughter only grew more deranged.

"Yes! Make me bleed! Make me hurt!"

He roared, an axe carving for Calgar's pauldron. Calgar slipped, but the edge still tore a gash, blood seeping.

Without pause, Calgar seized Khârn's wrist, wrenched, and drove a knee into his gut.

Thump! The armor caved, but Khârn only grinned and smashed a headbutt into Calgar's helm, bowling the blue giant over.

Ultramarines around them tensed; some who knew Calgar well had already ordered an oversized stretcher. They feared the Vice Legion Master would end up in the ICU again.

Khârn's armor dented, but he grinned and slammed another headbutt.

Thud!

Calgar reeled, vision swimming.

Khârn seized the moment, axes raised high, crimson energy pooling on the blades, a decapitating strike screaming for Calgar's head.

At the last instant, Calgar triggered a compact energy shield, forming a shimmering barrier.

Kra-koom—!!!

Khârn's axes smashed the shield, a blinding flash erupting. The energy storm flung Chaos and Imperial troops alike.

Calgar snatched the opening and drove his power fist forward—straight through Khârn's breastplate. "This punch—for Macragge!"

He roared, the disruption field ravening through Khârn's flesh.