Part 35 (1/2)

Kelbor-Hal's minions would suffer greatly to take the Magma City, and unless Zeth acted now, they would take it, that was certain. And not just the Magma City, but the rest of Mars would soon be in the thrall of those loyal to the Fabricator General.

The time had come to follow Ipluvien Maximal's n.o.ble action.

Zeth turned from the screens and walked towards the wide shaft that descended into the depths of her forge, bathing in the heat and waves of energy that rippled upwards from the magma far below.

A primitive-looking servitor swathed in a hooded robe followed her, its crudity quite at odds with the sophistication of the chamber. The anonymous cyborg creature took up position alongside Zeth as a dozen slender silver columns rose from the floor around the shaft.

Each of the columns was topped with an intricate arrangement of plugs and Zeth stepped into the middle of them. She reached out and slipped her hands into the biometric readers atop two of the columns, extruding a series of mechadendrites from the length of her spine.

These waved through the air and made contact with the remaining columns, and she began exloading a series of macroinstructions into the noospheric network of the Magma City. A glowing schematic of her forge flickered into life before her, invisible to anyone not noospherically modified.

*I hope Kane managed to rescue at least a portion of his noospheric network from Mondus Occulum,' she whispered to herself. *It would be a shame for my technology to be forgotten in this sordid civil war.'

*Even facing destruction you are vain,' said a voice behind her.

Zeth turned, unsurprised to see the sinuous form of Melgator's tech-priest a.s.sa.s.sin slithering through the air behind her.

*I had a feeling I'd be seeing you again,' said Zeth.

*The Cydonian Sisterhood do not forget those who insult us,' said Remiare.

*I'd ask how you got in here, but I have a feeling it won't matter.'

*No,' agreed Remiare. *It will not.'

The a.s.sa.s.sin skimmed slowly over the floor of the chamber towards Zeth, drawing a pair of exquisite golden pistols from her thigh sheaths.

*My employer wishes this city captured intact,' said Remiare, inloading to the noospheric map floating before Zeth. *So you need to stop what you are doing.'

*I'm not going to do that,' stated Zeth.

*I wasn't asking,' said Remiare, and shot Zeth twice in the chest.

LORD COMMANDER VERTICORDA felt the pain of a dozen wounds through the Manifold of Ares Lictor. His s.h.i.+elds were gone and his carapace was cracked in multiple locations. He could barely feel his left arm and the knee joint that had been healed two centuries ago by the touch of the Emperor ached with psycho-stigmatic pain.

All around him he could see the red-lit legions of his enemy surrounding him. Weapons fire spanked from his disintegrating carapace and his fear was not that he was going to die, but that a machine touched by the hand of the Omnissiah would fall into the hands of his enemies.

To his left he saw a group of dark-robed skitarii on one of the causeway's overhanging platforms aim a battery of quad-barrelled guns. He turned his right cannon on them, letting Ares Lictor target them. He felt the thrill of acquisition course down his arm and opened fire, the hurricane of sh.e.l.ls obliterating the platform and turning the guns and their operators into an expanding cloud of shredded meat and metal.

Alongside him, Caturix crushed and sliced into the enemy host with his cannon and laser lance, his fury carrying him forward where Verticorda lived by his preternatural skill. The other Knights that still lived were the best of the order, the most sublime warriors he had fought alongside: Yelsic, Agamon and Old Stator.

Ahead, Verticorda saw the black pavilion where the architect of this confrontation watched the honourable Knights of Taranis dying for his amus.e.m.e.nt. The standard of Melgator, a golden chain upon a crimson field, flew above the pavilion and though a host of warriors and black machines stood between them, Verticorda vowed he would not be brought low while such an ign.o.ble individual still lived.

More gunfire hammered the Knights, and Agamon was undone, the final strength of his s.h.i.+elds torn away by the heedless sacrifice of scores of suicidal warriors rus.h.i.+ng close and detonating explosive petards against his armour.

Old Stator died next, the preceptor clearing a path for the masters of his order with a gloriously heroic dash towards the black pavilion, his twin blades extended to either side of him as he charged. Running low, the Knight took a direct hit to the c.o.c.kpit and crashed to the ground.

The last three Knights blazed through the path won by Stator's death, and Verticorda killed and killed as he drew upon the spirits of all the lord commanders who had ridden into battle within Ares Lictor.

On one side, Caturix rode tall, though his mount was on the verge of destruction, while on the other, Yelsic, his companion from the day the Emperor first set foot on Olympus Mons, still carried the Taranis banner high.

*The b.a.s.t.a.r.d's running!' shouted Verticorda, seeing Melgator's golden chain banner moving.

*What did you expect?' retorted Caturix. *He's no warrior. He's nothing but a coward.'

*He won't escape us,' vowed Yelsic.

*No, he d.a.m.n well won't,' agreed Caturix.

Fresh impacts slammed into Ares Lictor, and Verticorda cried out, feeling the pain of his wounds surging bright and hot within his aged frame. Even as fresh wounds appeared on his body, he felt a sustaining power flow from the Manifold to hold him together, a gestalt legacy of heroism and honour that stretched back to his mount's birth.

The presence of Ares Lictor's former masters poured into Verticorda, eager to accompany him in its last moments.

All he could see through the canopy window were enemies, their twisted visages daemonic in the searing glow of the magma. This truly was a ride into h.e.l.l, and these were its warped denizens.

*There he is!' bellowed Caturix, and Verticorda saw the s.h.i.+eld-palanquin of Melgator surrounded by a cohort of brutal, ogre-like skitarii armed with fearsome beam weapons and flame lances.

The three Knights smashed through the cordon of enemy warriors between them and Melgator's retinue, their armour torn, trailing fire and spraying vital fluids. None would ever ride again, but with their final breath of life they would slay this last foe.

Verticorda shot down a dozen skitarii, and then felt the agony of sweeping beams of cutting light sawing through the armour of his right arm as though it was as insubstantial as smoke. He screamed in pain, his entire body spasming as the weapon arm was shorn from its mount.

Blood filled his throat and his vision greyed, but once again he felt the ghostly presences of his predecessors. Their ancient fury and fire was undimmed by the pa.s.sage of years, and their will gave him the strength to carry on. Yet even with the sustaining power of the Manifold, Verticorda could feel his life slipping away from him.

Yelsic's machine took the full brunt of a volley of flame lance fire, his carapace wreathed in crackling purple flames from a dozen hits. Concussive impacts of grenades blew out his torso section, and the shorn halves of his stricken Knight exploded as it skidded into the ma.s.s of skitarii.

*Into them!' cried Caturix, seeing the gap Yelsic's death had created.

Acting on centuries of instinct, Verticorda followed Caturix into the scattered mob of skitarii, seeing the fur-robed form of Melgator whipping his s.h.i.+eld bearers to carry him away from the rampaging Knights.

With the last of his energy, Verticorda shouted, *I cast the lightning of Taranis at thee!' and together, he and Caturix opened fire. Thunderous impacts strafed the ground and blazed a devastating path through the skitarii towards Melgator.

A haze of s.h.i.+mmering blue light erupted around the amba.s.sador, a personal void, but such a device was designed to protect its bearer for short periods of time and against the weapons of an a.s.sa.s.sin, not those carried by war machines as fearsome as Knights.

In seconds the capacity of Melgator's voids was overloaded, and the resulting explosion hurled him through the air. The amba.s.sador didn't even have time to hit the ground before the sustained fire of the Knights obliterated his body in a fraction of a second.

With Melgator's destruction, Verticorda felt the presence of his mount's former riders fade back into the Manifold. The pain of his wounds returned tenfold and he cried out as he felt yet more impacts on his armour.

A missile exploded his knee, the one the Emperor had touched, and Ares Lictor fell. The carapace slammed into the ground and the gla.s.s of his c.o.c.kpit shattered into fragments. Verticorda tasted blood, but felt no pain as he sensed the Manifold open up before him.

His last living memory was hearing Caturix's voice shouting his defiance to the end.

As Verticorda died, he was smiling, and the spirit of Ares Lictor welcomed him.

3.06.

BLOOD AND WARNINGS filled the liquid before Cavalerio, telling him of s.h.i.+eld ignition failures, reactor bleeds and a hundred other signs that his engine was suffering. Red droplets flecked the amniotic jelly, oozing from psychostigmatic wounds on his shoulders and torso, and bleeding from his nose.