The Infinite and The Divine (Warhammer 40,000) by Robert Rath

Author:Robert Rath [Rath, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

‘If the enemy surrounds you, there are only two tactical options. The first is to break out of the encirclement and retreat, which – if successful – will preserve your army but ensure the chroniclers remember you as a defeated fool. The second is to fight to the death, in which case, you will destroy your army but the histories will laud you as a slain hero. Given these two options, I consider encirclement generally inadvisable.’

– Nemesor Zandrekh, The Logic of Battle

Disassembling beams tore through the abyssal dark, atomising fish and luminescent jellies, eating away at Sautekh Warriors that, implacable and uncomplaining, carried on pushing through the water as they ceased to exist.

The cold water dragged on metal limbs and traversing weapons, giving the combat a sense of deliberation, like sparring partners moving at three-quarter speed to learn a new fighting stance. It was as if, Orikan thought, he were watching the battle with his chronosense dialled slightly back.

If not for the beams. They leapt through the water as fast as ever.

From above, Orikan saw a quartet of synaptic disintegrator beams lance into a knot of skorpekh Destroyers that were advancing across the ceiling. One quivered and fell, sinking towards the raging combat below.

Orikan sensed danger and locked the threat down: an Immortal hiding in the kelp, bright light already splashing from his gauss blaster.

Orikan ran time back a second, then knitted his fingers to summon the Prism of Zycanthus, scattering the beam into harmless bands of light. Then he leapt, his insubstantial form immune to the impeding water.

The dissonance between slow-moving troops and fast-moving beams had made the cavern a killing ground. Warriors and Immortals dropped, whole ranks snuffed out by the relentless gauss fire. This watery battlefield also multiplied the effectiveness of tesla carbines. Their directed electrical strikes raged like storms though the Sautekh ranks, turning them from a support weapon to a heavy cannon with a lingering blast radius.

Orikan hit the Immortal even before the trigger on its gauss blaster reset for a second shot. Plunged a shining hand into his ropy entrail cables, found the spine and yanked it out through his front. Swung the Staff of Tomorrow around, scything down kelp, and cleanly decapi­tated a second Immortal.

The one with the tesla carbine turned on him, electro-chamber cycling for a shot.

Orikan spoke an equation and overloaded the weapon, finishing the troublesome soldier with an electricity storm that fused his joints and left him a blackened statue, falling stiff into the silt.

He was so powerful. All the energy in the galaxy channelling directly into his system. The light that bent around black holes, the particles that raced across time and space from the furnace of creation, the entire flow of cosmic energy was focused here. Focused on him. There was so much, he found himself frustrated that he couldn’t contain it all. Like a tomb robber who had broken open a chamber of treasures and could only carry away what fitted in their small bag. The wealth of energy he had was immense, but there was more he could tap into, so much more.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.