The world slowed down as the green lightning approached me. Lasgun beams became visible as solid beams of light, bolt rounds almost hung in the air, and droplets of blood from wounds stood out as glittering red jewels suspended in time. This was it. This is when I died, stuck underground on a backwater shithole of a planet on the fringes of known Imperial space.
Then came the impact, but the lightning never reached me. It stopped inches from me and wreathed around a shimmering dome that enveloped me.
"NOT TODAY, ABOMINATION! THE EMPERORS ANOINTED ARE NOT YOURS TO DEFILE!" I looked behind me and saw Hann, that amazing individual, flanked by several of the psykers that had helped him secure the pandemic staff. Their eyes were blazing with warp energies and it became obvious they were the cause of the telekine dome around me.
"I SHALL SEE YOU GROUND TO DUST BEFORE THE MIGHT OF MANKIND! NOW FULFILL YOUR DESTINY AND DIE AT MY HANDS, MUTANT!" He roared and raised his own weapon, a gun I had only read about back in my own world. A purgatus crossbow, the combination of a boltgun and stake crossbow. He fired a single stake toward the grey seer and I saw a flash of silver before it grazed the leg of the Skaven psyker. For a moment, I stared in anticipation of the supposed effect of the silver-tipped stakes fired from the weapon, and I was not disappointed. Warp energy began rapidly exuding from the grey seer, quickly running out of his control and I sensed panic in the Skaven warlock.
As a desperate measure, an enormous warpstone token suddenly appeared in the hand of the Skaven and it began chewing ferociously, probably in an attempt to magnify its own power over the immaterium in an effort to control the psychic energy now running wild and rampant through the grey seer's body. His beady eyes became imbued with the sickly green warp energies as he chewed on the stone and the out-of-control psychic energy seemed to condense inwards in the psyker. It screeched, a sound of pure rage and frustration as warp lightning shot from all of its fingers with no specific target in mind. His staff crackled with barely contained energies functioning as a conduit to discharge the worst of the bleeding psychic effect. As the entire battlefield watched in either awe or fear, depending on which faction you looked at, the grey seer slammed his free hand down on the back of the rat ogre bonebreaker he was riding, discharging the runoff of psychic energy into the beast.
Now wreathed in the psychic energy that was no longer threatening to kill the grey seer, the bonebreaker howled in fury and started thrashing about in an attempt to shake off the grey seer and get away from the psychic attack it was suffering. Little did it help as the platform on its back provided a stable platform for the grey seer to keep his balance. Large wounds opened and closed in rapid succession on the body of the monstrous mutant creation, burns spread a sickly stench of burned meat before disappearing again, and the sound of enormous bones cracking again and again with the sound of snapping trees could be heard over the pained and anguished roars of the beast. While the wounds were healing, it was clear that the healing abilities of the monster were being tested to their absolute limits under the assault of enough psychic energy to level a good portion of an entire Imperial regiment.
Hundreds of heretics and Skaven were trampled and squished beneath its stomping feet as it threw itself around in increasing desperation to get away from its master and the ungodly pain he was inflicting upon it, but the grey seer had jammed his warpstone staff into the body of the giant rat ogre to anchor himself down while he discharged the vast amounts of power he could no longer control. I vaguely noticed that the fighting had stopped at the sight of the spectacle. My troops were stunned in silence over the display they were witnessing and the Skaven were stunned in fear of seeing their master and his ultimate enforcer being brought to the brink of defeat in such a short time.
Soon enough the hulking monster slowed down its efforts to get away as the healing factor could no longer keep up with the damage and it became sluggish, started stumbling, and finally fell over, shallowed breathing slowing down while the grey seer finally seemed to get some semblance of control over himself once more. When he lifted his head and stared at us, his eyes had become entirely green and looked like warpstones had replaced them. He was heaving for breath and despite being covered in fur, you could see the sweat that formed in droplets on his fur from the exertion it took to survive the ordeal.
He didn't say anything, but when he opened his mouth, a scream that attacked both our ears and our minds, escaped his mouth. The psykers that Hann brought with him busied themselves with protecting themselves while troops on both sides fell to their knees while clutching their heads in a futile effort to protect themselves from the psychic shriek. But for some reason, I remained strangely unaffected. Since he was not moving, and no one was moving to fight each other while the grey seer was shrieking, I took an opportunity. Dropping my las pistol, I drew my stub cannon and aimed. I squeezed the trigger. I saw the bullet impact, but the damage was minimal, barely noticeable beyond a small wound. But it did stop the psychic attack and for the briefest of moments the green eyes flickered back to their normal red color, but it was enough. The short loss of control sent the warp energies, still rolling around in his body, into overdrive and split his body apart in a massive explosion of energy that knocked everyone in the cavern to the ground and generated a gigantic hole in the ground where, just moments before, the Skaven warlock had been standing.
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As we slowly got to our feet a deep shuddering sigh reverberated through the mountain, and the floor and walls started rumbling. I grabbed the master vox, "THE MOUNTAIN IS COLLAPSING, EVERYONE RETREAT! OUTSIDE THIS INSTANT! LEAVE ANYTHING YOU DO NOT HAVE ON YOU ALREADY!" I barked into the mouthpiece before I dropped it and turned around, grabbing Hann's arm as I ran past him and gave a heavy tug that made him start running alongside me. Deep, deep inside the mountain the faint sound of crashing rocks and horrible screaming could be heard and I realized that this would bring a swift end to the war, leaving a relatively peaceful and easy cleanup job of securing the rest of the planet. Something I could leave to the Inquisition, who would only be too happy about being given the job. You could say a lot about them, but they loved doing what they did.
As we ran through the tunnel to the outside we yelled at the guard posts we passed to run with us, and while confused they followed the flow of guardsmen and voidsmen running for the safety of the outdoors. We left weapons, tents, equipment, mutant prisoners, food supplies, and more, but I didn't care. Material goods could be easily replaced, but good and loyal guardsmen could not. We ran like the chaos gods themselves were chasing after us and soon enough the end of the tunnel came into view, the guardsmen guarding it looking bewildered and frightened at the panicked retreat approaching them.
When I burst outside, I realized it was nighttime, the cold air and oppressing darkness greeted us as the rumbling sounds inside the mountain became louder and louder. If I wasn't mistaken, the psychic explosion of the grey seer must have triggered a chain reaction in the hollowed-out mountain causing collapses and cave-ins, which in turn caused further instability. The entire damn mountain was collapsing in on itself in front of our eyes and I couldn't help but sigh in relief. This would take care of both the Skaven undercity and whatever heretical nests were inside. The few scattered survivors would be easy to take care of for the Inquisition.
"Hann, I trust your organization will be more than happy to take over the process of finishing off whatever remains of the mutants and heretics?" I huffed as I tried to regain my breath. Even in the body I inhabited, hardened and built for survival on a world of extremes, I was aware of the strain this mad escape had put on me. Hann, for his part, was lying flat on his back, gasping desperately to gain enough breath to speak.
It took a minute for him to recover himself enough, but when he did he got to his feet and, to my great surprise, bowed his head to me. "It would be my pleasure to facilitate the extermination of anything that escaped this unexpected turn of events. And Björn, know this. Your actions here have proven beyond any doubt that you are a true son of the Imperium. I will make a point of this in my report. Your words both before and during the battle show a devotion to the Emperor I rarely see outside the ranks of my own organization. One question still haunts me though." He looked thoughtful as he looked me in the eyes, not with the content and scorn that you usually saw from witch hunters, but with genuine curiosity. "Where did you get the insight about this enemy? Your ship's logs show you have not encountered them before landing here, and your service record states the same. Please, do not see this as a question asked by an Inquisitorial representative, but as one faithful Imperial to another."
I thought about it for a moment. How much would I like to indulge his curiosity? Did I dare risk offending him after he finally relented in his dogged pursuit to make me look like a traitor? "All rogue traders have their secrets, Hann. And I am no different. Would you tell me of the inner workings of your organization if I asked you?" I gave him a sincere smile with my words to show I meant no offense, and he smiled back.
"Very well, keep your secrets. But know that I will call upon you if I ever encounter this enemy in my travels. And I expect you to answer that call!" There was an edge to his words, but also resignation.
"If I am in Imperial space, I will answer. But as you well know, my duties to the throne demand I go outside of sanctioned Imperial space to spread the Imperial truth and extend the borders of the Imperium. If possible, I will ensure ways to receive communications, and should you call, you have my word as a rogue trader that I will answer the call." I was offering him an olive branch and he took it with a gracious nod. "Now, if you will excuse me, Inquisitor, I must attend to the good soldiers of the Imperium." I turned away without waiting for a reply and Hann sat down in the grass and leaned forward to regain his full composure.
I waved a soldier over and she came running as I did. "Send a message to my ship. Triple amasec, ale, lho-stick, and recaf rations are to be distributed to all soldiers in my employ, both on the ground and on the ship. Double food and energy cell rations for a week to the lower decks. A full day of shore-leave for all soldiers when we next make port in a friendly space station. A great victory was won today and it is only fair that everyone gets to enjoy it. Later, just before festivities are about to begin, I wish to address troops with a speech. Now go, carry out my will." I waved her off, and she saluted with the Aquila before sprinting off with a big grin plastered on her face. Such generosity was practically unheard of and I could see the disbelief in Hann's eyes when I turned back to him.
"What good is all the wealth in the universe if it is hoarded and hidden away?" I said as an answer to the unspoken question, "Those soldiers won us the battle, and I would be no better than a corrupt governor if I did not acknowledge that. And now, I will retire to my ship, my quarters have remained unused for too long and I miss the luxury of sleeping in a proper bed. We will speak more soon enough, Inquisitor." Hann nodded and made his way over to his Mordians who immediately fell into disciplined formation behind him.
On the shuttle back to the ship, I decided I would take time to dive into the system when I was alone in my quarters before I went to sleep. There would no doubt be a lot for me to take care of when I awoke.