Lord Deio stepped out onto the deck of the Ozzfather, twin hearts pumping after the pure dose of Chaos. He breathed deeply of the recycled air, and started for the elevator.
"Lord Deio! Auspex scans report three Imperial ships, coming about the planetside." Karos, bridge officer in Deio's absence, called to the champion. Deio bared his teeth.
"Already? Damn them! Raise void shields."
"As you wish." The ship hummed as the powerful shield generators came to life.
"How long until they are within range?"
"Approximately two minutes, Lord." Deio growled, and moved to the serf's side.
"How did they arrive so quickly? Pah!" The Marine opened a channel on the ship-wide vox,
+All hands, prepare for battle. The corpse Emperor's bootlicks dare our wrath.+
He closed it, before opening a channel amongst Chaos Marines only.
+Warrior-brothers, Imperial ships close. Prepare to repel boarders.+
"Aces High - Iron Maiden"
The massive ships drew ever closer. The Ozzfather turned to face them, void shields flaring. A cornered animal baring its teeth. At first, it seemed nothing would happen. The shapes hung in the void, immobile. In an instant, a flash of light, and a bright yellow bolt flashed out from the first of the Imperial ships, a Defiant-class, and smashed into the void shields of the cruiser. Once more, there was a pause. Another instant, and all three ships opened fire. Flashes of light crossed the gulf of space. Two Defiant-class, and a Imperial Lunar-class fired at once upon the Ozzfather. The whole ship shuddered underneath the barrage, but it did not sit quietly. Broadside arrays catapulted massive balls of super-heated plasma at the attackers. The smaller Defiants darted between the storm of fire, dodged much of the barrage, while the Lunar-class stoically bore the barrage scything out from the Ozzfather.
Deio intoned prayers to the Ruinous Powers, as he strode the deck, powerful voice rising through the din. The void shields steadily crept towards overload, but the warrior did not worry. The daemon within him lay silent. Karos bellowed orders to the bridge crew, directing the battle. They had the advantage of numbers, but the Ozzfather had been outfitted by Ozzure's followers. The heavily-modified Lunar-class had much heavier weapons than its Imperial counterpart, but not the same speed or defense capabilities.
"Lord of Destruction" - Black Label Society
The cruiser's shields faltered only for an instant, but the results were devastating. A glancing bolt lanced through the Ozzfather's flank, shearing away thick ceramite like paper. Explosions tore through the stern, hot fire bleeding from the wound of metal. A second shot slammed into the stern. hitting the chin of the magnificent daemon-head bridge. Almost the entire jawline was obliterated. Debris was flung out into the void, along with wiggling shapes, crewmen cast into the void through the rupture. A third bolt of plasma hit the daemon statue head-on, melting the terrible visage's nose.
Deio howled along with the ship as the deck shuddered underneath the impacts. Consoles blew out from the damage, and staggering crewmen clutched at burn wounds.
"No one leaves the bridge until they are smoking wrecks!" He bellowed. He back-handed a sniveling orderly and slammed a dial on the control-altar himself.
A barrage of torpedo's lit the void like luminous rain. They streaked across the black, fifteen bright blips of destruction, to crash into the voidshields of the first Defiant. The explosion was blinding. The Defiant's void shields collapsed, blown out by the overload. The second barage tore into the Defiant, torpedo's landing all over the already-brutalized hull. Not even the thick armoring of the Imperial Navy could halt the wave of destruction. Minor(yet vital) explosions tore through the Defiant, internal bleeding, even as the third and final row of torpedo's hit. The entire ship shuddered once more, before disappearing in a massive pulse of destruction.
Deio let out a triumphant warcry, as he echoed his bloodlust. He felt the daemon within stir with satisfaction as the souls of thousands of menial worker's, press-ganged indentured, a few naval officers, a assignment of Naval Guard's souls escaped into the warp. The bridge held a renewed fervor, cries of bloodlust sounding as well as the crew relished the kill. The Ozzfather had been blooded.
Karos remained stern.
"Lord Deio, our frontal void shields are now operating at half efficiency. The remaining cruisers are focusing fire. We are still taking severe damage." The massive Marine snorted with derision.
"Close range."
"Lord?"
"Now, Commander, before I consume your soul." The daemon spoke suddenly. Karos simply nodded stiffly.
"They will eventually break through our shields. We may not be able to break their's, but we will shatter their morale. Close range and reinforce front shielding. Divert power from life support, if you must."
Serbion brought the dagger down a final time, ceasing the cultist's feeble ecstatic wiggling. He shoved the body off the altar. It toppled down the steps into the pit to join the others. He breathed deep of the burnt-ozone smell of the warp. Reality was as thin as wax-paper, now. The Navigator shuddered occasionally from her position on the dais.
"Life, Birth, Blood, Doom" - BLS
"I devised this ritual myself, you know." He said conversationally, as he crossed to the black pulpit raised above the pit of corpses, looking down upon the chained form of the Navigator. "Our current pilot is a rogue. He does not interface well with the Ozzfather's spirit. Besides, even if I hadn't known you were that flexible," He paused, smiling, "we needed someone with experience." The Sorcerer ascended the stairs to the pulpit, drawing the ancient tome from his belt once more. He opened it, and gazed down on the human-skin pages, and became the incantations. The essence of Chaos, permeating the room like a raw wound, began to focus, take shape as each word tore itself gutturally from the psyker's throat. The daemon's feasting on the souls of the sacrifices began to take interest in the Navigator for the first time. A few began to approach as Serbion chanted.
Ancient pacts made with infernal powers were renewed, as the souls were sucked, screaming, into the warp. The daemons continued feasting, each wisp glowing brighter as it devoured another sacrifice.
By the Undying Eight
I consecrate these willing dead
For the Ruinous Powers
To beg the hand of fate,
Such is the Power of Chaos Undivided.
Serbion's chanting rose in pitch, and the air around him vibrated. A net of warp energy coallesced around the chamber, and the daemons looked up from their feast in surprise. One by one, the bright wisps were drawn into the silent Navigator. As the first possessed her, she flung her head back, eyes wild. She convulsed on the dais as more entities were bound to her. Each one fought for a control, a war going on inside her. Serbion's chanting rose again in pitch, almost to shouting, yet the baritone voice lost none of its serenity, although the psyker's eyes took on a fervored cast, relishing the essence of Chaos. The daemons were silenced, at the sorcerer's command.
Slowly, Serbion turned and descended from the pulpit. The air around him vibrated, the warp pressing in on the weakened layer of reality eagerly. The massive armored figure took up the Black Icon and circled around the pit of bodies. The psyker appraoched the Navigator, who was still shuddering from the mental invasion.
"You lived your life a slave. Riches are an illusion, as much as your "Emperor." The Emperor is dead, Kasteen. He has been. His "Golden Throne" is a waste of technology, preserving an ancient cult designed to keep the people from freedom. There is only one way, Kasteen. I offer you power, freedom, only for servitude to the Ruinous Powers. Their rewards far surpass the feeble attempts of the Imperium of Man." Serbion spat the last words out disdainfully, like they left a bad taste in his mouth. He held his hand out to the Navigator. The female looked at him in awe and horror. The chains snapped and sloughed off.
Hesitantly, she took it.
The Sorcerer smiled, and the Navigator spasmed again as he spoke the final word. The energies of Chaos were unleashed.
