{no pictures}
[how…did you know…. No… when did you know…] said Dylan with a bloody mouth and a sword through his gut!
{since those doors opened… You always looked at me like a prize, but not out of lust, but greed! At first, I didn't get it, but then… a certain birdy told me, as I looked into your eyes that moment… that you weren't human. At that moment, I knew you could only be one thing…} replied Layla with cold eyes
[ha…cough… a birdy huh…. I will die because of a bird… PLEASE! Don't give me that shit!! HOW DID YOU KNOW? I WAS CAREFUL! I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT! SO, HOW? Could I die like this…] screamed Dylan as Layla's sword drew deeper into his stomach.
{sigh, does it really matter, how? Ha! I mean, for a bug who treated others like bugs… this is kind of poetic if you ask me. Oh! What's with that face? You think I didn't hear what you and Oliver were talking about? Or the fact that you had Steve die for me? Tsk... he was… at least in the end... More human than you…} replied Layla with painful flashbacks.
[cough… ha... As if being more "human" would have spared Steve… you would have killed him all the same!] replied Dylan with venom
{You're right… I would have still killed him…} replied Layla with a quick pause as she looked deep into Dylan's eyes as Mary interjected:
["Suffer not the alien to live" is a creed… you, of all people, a former guardsman at that! should know and understand… that this is the banter we Battle sister die on… we spill our blood to make it happen! How many of my sisters have already given their blood to you, bugs? And how many more still?]
{That's a good question, Mary... and you know what bug....It disgusts me to think that your kind wanted to use me, to turn me into some psyker bug to help usher in your invasion fleet! I may not know which Tyranid fleet you hail from, but it doesn't matter! I will burn your kind clean off this world! But first… I think you need to taste the disgust you put me through, don't you think?} interjected Layla after Mary
Confused about what they meant, Dylan suddenly felt the sword leave his gut as he tumbled onto the floor of the train cart! There, he saw a strange spot that gave off a vapor… orderless but eerie. This part of the train chart was different. While most of the train was fixed with patchwork, this part still had battle scars, bullet holes, and traces of blood everywhere!
With even more questions, Dylan looked up to Layla, as his blood mixed with the old blood around him. Stirring it…. Waking it… with a harsh cough, he heard Layla say:
{You know, as I was in that base, I had my sisters fix the train, but unfortunately, they couldn't fix this particular area, and when I asked why, they told me a story… do you want to hear it? Trust me, it's short…}
Dylan heard her words but didn't reply as his head started to throb, but thinking it was caused by blood loss, Dylan didn't make much of it as he continued to look around the room as his skin slowly started to change color, first around his wound then his extremities but without his knowledge! Then, abruptly, a sharp shooting pain that once had become dull suddenly took on a whole new meaning! With twitching and screaming, Dylan moved his hands from his lightly scorched stomach to see puss-filled sores and spontaneous maggots! Eating him alive!
{Oh! Stop screaming! Or you'll miss the best part of the story… anyway, like I was saying… some random ad-humans that just so happened to be riding by in a tank… a griffon tank at that!} paused Layla for a moment as she enjoyed the man suffering for a moment before continuing over his pleas.
[Kill me! Just kill me!] screamed Dylan, to which Layla turned a blind ear and continued her story
{Anyway, to make a long story short, the tank was in a very bad shape, no ammo or fuel left… well they did have small arms I guess}
[Oh! Just grant me the emperor mercy! Please] continued to scream Dylan as his limbs began to rot, and the bug that invested him began move to other places throughout his body.
Continuing her story, Layla ignored the odd looks the other were giving her and said:
{They came from another battle front, you know… the only survivors of a harsh battle to rid your kind from infesting this world… and you know what… they also told me an interesting story! Something about betrayal or something… does that ring any bells by chance?}
Waiting for a response, Dylan only continued to scream and plead for death… with a certain look of foreboding!
{sigh, anyway continuing on, they said something about getting conflicting orders or odd vox messages, either way that couldn't have come from you in the vox chamber right... Mister Guardsman?}
But at this point in her story, Dylan stopped screaming, and only a light choking sound could be heard in the otherwise silent train cart. Seeing the man go numb made Layla realize that though Dylan wasn't screaming, his pain did very much continue, as Nurgles' rot wasn't designed to kill, but to torture! To torture space marines! As for man, though... Death was a sure thing!
Of course, Layla was very much so, going to let Dylan die of the disease, but as she turned her head for a moment, she saw Molly's disapproving face. Mary, though, had a face that screamed good riddance! Once she found out Dylan was an alien. In fact, Layla had to persuade Mary not to kill Dylan the moment she found out through the vox channel.
The ad-humans, on the other hand, had some reservations similar to Molly's but more of an understanding, as they wanted to be the ones to kill him! But knowing their place, they kept their mouth shut as this new battle sister gave them a chilling feeling…or so they said…. their animal instincts being the main culprit to the eeriness they felt.
However, ignoring the crowd's silent opinions, Layla lit her sword aflame, right in time, as Dylan's body jerked up and twisted like a possessed man! With black eyes and a scalp with white ridges, he leaped at Layla!
Impaling himself on her sword while she set him on fire! With purple, blue-ish flames that burned away his flesh, the anger in his eyes never left… the venom he spat and the coagulated blood that coated his lips was enough for Layla to understand.
The creature in front of her was not Dylan, nor was it a man… but simply a bug… one she was glad to purge! Dylan burned along with what blood disease remained in the room, with eyes never looking away from Layla! With deep-seated thoughts, the mind behind Dylan reached into Layla's for a fraction of a second, only for its psyche to be blown back by a purple, pinkish wall!
A backlash that caused the neo-tyrant that sat on his throne to bleed! With a psyche scream that shook the cave, Dylan's body blew with the wind of the train cart!
[A fitting end for a traitor… if you ask me, lass!] said the Ratling of the group. attempting to break the somber mood.
{Alright, show's over! Let's get this room fixed up. oh! And don't worry about the plague; my fire purified it all…} replied Layla with a confident fist bump to the chest.
But while they got to work, the daemonettes of Slaanesh surveyed the land and saw the followers of Aw father!
[Should we attempt to kill them? They are after what our prince coverts!] said one demoness
[err… as much as I can't stand them… That would be a difficult task; they are his Blight-lords, after all. They are some of Nurgle's best fighters! I'm against that idea.] replied another
[hmm… she right… We have our mission; we can't afford to return to him failure!] replied a third
[But won't our master be madder if we return to him, only to find out another has beaten him to his prize? Look! They wait in ambush as we speak!] replied the fourth
Hearing what demoness one through four had to say, the leading demoness closed her eyes, trying to feel her master desires…to sort out her own desires… to choose which is wise…
[We will split up…] replied the leading demoness to the other surprise.
[split up? So, you want us to achieve both? Save the whelp and complete the mission?] replied the 2nd-in-command demoness.
[That's right… Vitrexi! You will continue the mission! Find the last sacrifice! And while she does that, Drachisha and Luscenvia, you too will play with the death-guard… while me and Slavisha here will "help" our prince target… remember Drachisha and Luscenvia, you don't have to kill them, just keep them busy, while the train makes it to the station.]
Meanwhile, back on the train [time stamp 4 hours later]
43-sea worked her hands to the knights' repair and re-arming, while Molly and some ad-human took inventory of all the salvage items from the base station. As Mary watched the monitors inside the control room, there the Ratling made his preach on the gun turret zooming in and out into the night sky searching… while grunts got to work, the lights above the train shimmered in fading light! As silent daggers made their way through the carts!
As one ad-human walked along the walk way between carts, he heard a thump but saw nothing…but smelled the scent of death… confused as an invisible blade tore through his collar bone! Before the goat man could even scream, his head did a 180-degree turn!
As the invisible hands let him go, his body fell in between the carts! Blended and smashed, blood trailed behind the train, the smell and bump in train, caused the Ratling to look away from his scope, just in time to see the lights shimmer!
Instincts screaming, the Ratling pulled out his trusty handgun and fired! Seeing the bullets enter flesh and causing blood spurs, the Ratling yelled:
[enemy!]
As his foe's camo device failed him, the ratling got a good look at his enemy as the enemy charged at him like a wild animal! With a face mask and a broken suit, the ratling instantly recognized who it was! A tempest scion! But with reason abandoned and in a feral state, and with inhuman strength, the ratling was unable to pull the tempest scion off him, as it bit down on his shoulder blade!
Hearing the scream and the gunfire and seeing the blending of light in the glare of her monitors, Mary dipped to one side, barely dodging a side swipe of a dagger! And with perfect aim, she shot clean through the mirrored figure! With camo shattered and a body bent backwards, Mary's thoughts turned to helping her friend.
But the second she looked away, the scion she was fighting contorted its back in an inhuman fashion, with mutation growing and vomiting bugs, the scion ribs burst through its back! On all fours and a tongue reaching out from where its spine should be, the scion head that faced upside down rushed toward Mary! Firing her trusty rifle, the bullets made holes, but the monster didn't stop!
While the ratling in the room, fired close range pistol rounds square in his foe's chest! Point blank and with a goal, the scion bit down harder still as if the Las bullets going through his chest meant nothing…
Meanwhile, in the third cart [open and half-enclosed platform]:
Molly held one of the scions in between her shield and the cart's walls. With snarls and zombie-like groans, Molly smiled as she bludgeoned another scion with a blunt mace! All the while, 43-sea hid inside the knights' cockpit! Trusting her servitors with all the fighting! With spear in hand, the brainless servitor was like a butcher, while the flying cherubs delivered death by cover fire! Their sensors find-Ing anything hidden or unseen! Even the cold death could not hide from their eyes!
Meanwhile, in the second cart:
Layla stood in the center… with sword in hand… and eyes flickering between targets! Yet not a single scion made a move… surrounded by dead ad-humans and creatures of nightmare as each scion was a mutation beyond human! When the fighting started, the scion only went after the ad-humans but avoided Layla like she was the one with the plague!
Annoyed but understanding that her enemy didn't want to kill her, only to trap her, knowing it was in her best interest to play along, Layla said out loud:
{Fine, I'll bite… so, aren't you going to ask me anything? Bourgidus?}
[AAAH! HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!] screamed in unison all the scion ghouls.