The Fall of Inquisitor Lord Evrard part 2 & 3 - by Gabriel CC.

It had been a long day and Elivad, the librarian commanding the task force that just wiped out space marines attackers, were finally seeing it end. Aboard a fast thunderhawk headed back to the chaos fortress of redemption. Around this one vehicle were a dozen of others just like this one, showing their efficiency during the battle. Effectively, very few loyalist astartes died during the planetstrike assault that just happened.

Using an ancient and powerful warp ritual that most librarian design as foolish, the rebellious space marines appeared out of thin air in front of the loyalist battle line. Their vehicles just behind them, they tried to use their massive firepower to destroy the blessed bastions but, having just appeared, most heavy weapons were not set upped.

Elivad remembered thinking that a rude fight awaited them, even with the few eldar warriors that offered their help, appearing from a webway gate not far from there. What he saw next was astonishing, leaving even an experienced commander like him with his jaws dropped.

Reality screamed while being clawed open and a pronounced blood stench filled the air a moment before they actually appeared. Daemons, all of them devoted to the Lord of Skulls and wearing his bloody color, teleported right in the middle of the corrupted space marines foot forces. He counted them with a horrified look on his face. 21 bloodletters, foot soldiers of Khorne armed with the dreaded hellblades, were roaring their bloodlust. Every one of their fiery breath an insult to sanity, they then looked upon the space wolves and salamanders whose power armours were no obstacle to their warp swords and launched a ferocious charge upon them.

Then Elivad remembered the battle plan and created a warp gate to teleport him and the 2^nd terminator squad right behind the first land raider, whose mighty armoured hull fast fell victim of their horribly strong thunder hammers. After the explosion of the large vehicle, the enhanced senses of his tactical dreadnought armour showed the massacre that happened in the rebellious forces.

Where once stood twenty proud and barbarous space wolves only remained cadavers. The only survivors, two grey hunters broken by the atrocities they saw, were running as if the Blood God Himself was at their pursuits. The worst of it all was that none of the bloodletters that attacked them suffered any injury. Their unholy assault wiped all before them in a bloody melee.

How could Evrard authorize the use of such horrible warp fiends? Yes they were effective, but he did not expect there would be so many of them. Even the most radical inquisitor lords were reluctant to invoke more than 5 of these and Evrard summoned 21... He even noticed a daemon prince of tzeentch not too far from here and he felt that the warp was strengthening, as if something even bigger was coming... Evrard will have to suffer the consequences of his acts.

Elivad also noticed that 4 space marines bikers were standing on the top of the wolf lord’s body, claiming his death. The librarian had never seen them, how strange.

He did not have time to investigate this, the battle needed him. He saw twenty salamanders appearing a few steps from the eldar farseer and its retinue. Calling upon the strength of his mind, he opened a warp gate for him and the 2^nd terminator squad to support them. The warp was agitated, more than he ever saw, and many horrors tried to hurt them, but none could penetrate their blessed terminator armours.

They appeared barely a few strides from the first salamander squad and crushed them in a pitifully uneven melee only to find that the other squad had suffered the farseer’s arcane strength and had been crushed to a bloody pulp under a psychic storm of a rare violence.

A roar of impossible violence hit his ears. Even through his armour’s filters it was hurtful. It was a roar of triumph and satisfaction; it was all about an impossible rage that was finally sated. Elivad turned his head to find from where it was coming. A soul grinder, Evrard also summoned a soul grinder... May the Emperor save him from his reckless idiocy. So the soul grinder’s iron claw just found another land raider’s prometheum reservoir and the heavy vehicle exploded in a fiery blast that left the dreaded mix of daemon and machine untouched and left his contents unprotected.

His content, Captain Sicarius and his honour guard. They had been known for selfless heroism and their pitiful charge was a testament to such reputation. With only two meltabombs, they tried to crack open the gigantic machinery of the daemon, but horribly failed and could not do much when the soul grinder took the head of Sicarius in his strong claw and crushed it with an unholy ease.

Another roar escaped the giant’s maw. This time it was purely of satisfaction and twice as strong as the first one. Elivad knew that this one will be greatly rewarded for the kill of such a hero. He closed his eye in pain. Such a loss... He hoped that Evrard was right and that they needed to be purged... But the fact that the corrupted ones attacked without even talking was a correct proof, for the moment...

The rest of the honour squad, demoralized by the lost of its leader, was then massacred when the bloodletters that foot slogged from their initial appearing point arrived and claimed even more skulls for their Lord.

At the very moment where the last corpse fell, it seemed as if some arcane leash had been broken. Elivad felt the warp rift slowly decreasing in size and power and the daemons slowly becoming insubstantial, but those all looked upon his troops, licking the blood on their fiery swords as if they wanted more.

In unison, the daemons of Khorne all launched a ferocious assault upon the space marines. Elivad quickly shouted orders and prepared himself for the dreaded charge to come. He had seen their efficiency and 15 bloodletters were now charging upon him, ready to claim ever more skulls for their atrocious Lord.

15 feets... His plasma pistol claimed a bloodletter, but the 2^nd terminator squad did not have any other firearms.

10 feets...

5 feets...

At the very moment he saw three hellblades rise up, aiming for his head, a gigantic and evil laugh filled the battlefield... And all the daemons collapsed into blood, their soul retreating back to the warp.

Covered in blood, Elivad started thinking... This laugh remembered him of the one battle where he fought magic and treachery, the one time he ever encountered a lord of change ; a greater daemon of Tzeentch. But this time the laugh seemed ever stronger, as the one he once fought had been a lesser being... Which daemon could dwarf a lord of change in strength and malignance? In a second, he knew. Most librarians think of him as a legend and a myth, but Elivad knew it was the only possibility...

-Fateweaver... yes...

The voice came from his back, but Elivad had already fought such a being and such mind tricks would not work twice. Why would Fateweaver come to him? Was it to seed doubt in him? No, his mind was steeled against such acts. What about Evrard... Oh no... Evrard. He felt tears of rage going through his face, washing away the blood that covered it. He knew that the servant of the Changer of Ways was gone, it’s mission accomplished.

It had been a rough day, and Elivad was not eager to see it end... In a few hours his thunderhawk will land on the captured chaos fortress. Remembering what he saw during the battle, he asked to his second in command about the 4 space marine bikers that defeated the space wolf brother captain and his wolf guard. He responded that they had no space marine bikers in his force for this battle. How strange...

Within minutes of arrival at the newly reclaimed chaos fortress, Elivad isolated himself from his men inside the thunder’s hawk communication cabin. None knew what he did inside, but some noticed that when he left it, his fists were clenched and his eyes were filled with a new and fiery resolve. No one though heard him whisper with an absolute hatred;

-Let it all be purged and anew shall we start.

Inquisitor lord Evrard was occupied at trying to cleanse this unclean place from the unholy energy that bloated it. He had still a long way to go, but His holy light had taken root and it could only be easier from now on. He was too experienced to let his nerves interfere with his work, but he was worried about the battle that was happened or was already finished. He did not know because he would not accept battle reports to be broad waved across the planet, risking to be intercepted by the chaos worshippers.

He hoped that the daemonic reinforcements he sent to his space marines gave them the might to stand and fight with three others chapters... He knew that his acts were reckless; he did not know exactly how many warp-kin he compelled to help him with the warp artefact, but such summons were never the best options. Still he also knew that it was the only option he was allowed in order to cleanse the corrupted astartes.

A servitor pulled him out of his grim thoughts. The young man revealed to him that Elivad had just arrived. The inquisitor stopped him already and rushed out to meet his trusted librarian.

He met him just out of the fortress, a few strides from the very armoured door that proved so difficult to open the first time. Elivad looked tired, but a renewed vigour shined in his gaze and Evrard knew his forces had been victorious.

-Elivad, my old friend, how did it go?

-We won, my lord, with very few casualties.

-Did the daemons assist you?

-Yes, they were very effective and numerous.

Evrard’s smile disappeared. Elivad’s face started to look a bit sad.

-What happened?

Elivad walked up to his friend and whispered three sentences in his right ear, each one tearing up his heart even more.

-These daemons were not summoned; they appeared of their own free will... Those space marines were clean... You’ve been a pawn of The Great Schemer...

Evrard was stunned and turned all these revelations over and over again in his head. At that moment, the veil was lifted. He remembered the situation of awkwardness in the hall of command; it was the sensation of concealed warp presence. How did he not notice that? Then, he finally heard the horrid and evil laugh that was hidden from him that day. The spell weaved upon him faltered and he knew how true each and every one of Elivad’s words were true. He noticed the reflections of metal far to his left and knew what had to be done. He stepped away.

-May the Emperor protect us all...

A second later, a silver bullet incrusted with dozens of holy blessing known only to the vindicare temple was shot and tore out his heart. It was a clean shot, an honourable death. Evrard did not let out a single sound of agony.

Elivad kneeled, closed the eyes of his friend and whispered;

-And so The Great Scheme claims another life. You shall pay, foul god of chaos...

He did not hear the laugh of primal malignance that echoed his thoughts in the warp, but, as he stand up, his gaze was filled with a steeled resolve.

-What are we going to do now? Asked a young brother-captain.

-Call to the Ordo Hereticus to send us another inquisitor lord, he shouted, and prepare men; for tonight, we depart again. We shall purge them in holy prometheum. Burn the unclean, all of it. Let none stay our wrath and in fire and blood shall it end!

All of the present space marines answered, their voices as one:

-And we shall know no fear!

Later that day, Elivad was inside the command thunderhawk, already in way to deliver more harm to the hated worshippers of chaos, but still dwelling on grim thoughts. The ordo Malleus will be shaken. That one of their inquisitor falled to chaos in such a short period of time will worry them more than ever. He hoped that it meant the next inquisitor they will send will be a puritain one, one that does not bargain in any way with the atrocious powers of chaos.

Those were grim times ahead of Elivad, but he knew that the Emperor’s Light could still be given to this system. Yet, this time it had to be given with swords and not words. He whispered, putting all his faith in those few words:

-The Emperor’s will shall be done.