Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"Do you really want to be saved? Is loving Him with your heart really more desirable to you than doing something you find fun and useful?" - "The Book of Lorgar"

They had just been here three hours ago, shooting everywhere, waving their claws, and releasing the gunpowder particles brought by the empire's weapons into many corners of the Randan biological ship.

During that time, the place was noisy and noisy, with many new microorganisms crawling out from the leaky holes and the inner walls of decaying fragile animal organs, creating dangers for them to block their way.

They succeeded, one warrior died in the attack, and the other warriors took out the remaining mission objectives.

The warriors were equally skilled at killing aliens, and the Harhabat was as familiar with tearing the ganglia of Randan monsters away from their grotesque bodies as any of them. After all, before joining them, that The Word Bearers also had one of their own fighting squads.

But it was Barrera who died in the end.

Destiny, or not destiny. The people who served the emperor left with his companions who had gone first, and only Hashem could tell clearly - maybe he could tell what kind of logic they relied on to think that they could ascend to a certain place behind the throne after death. A new paradise that does not exist.

Well, Jack thought, Hashem himself doesn't seem to be able to go, so who knows. By God's will or not, the Word Bearers left one after another.

"I'm going over here," Jack said. "What about you?"

Kroger glanced at the roads that forked in Randan's alien body according to their unknown body structure. The gray light falling from the holes above the biological ship shone equally on each of the remaining roads, like bubbles in the mire. , or the sparse light and shadow on the forest floor.

In previous explorations, these three roads have been scorched by heavy fire; the alien that escaped from the glass jar is probably the only remaining threat here.

"It's faster this way," Jack continued, "I'm still worried about it escaping with Hashem. Can just a newborn alien defeat a super alien killer? I don't think so."

"Okay." Kroger finally agreed with the Luna Wolf's view. The two Iron Warriors said a few words in the internal channel, and were about to walk towards the two passages respectively when a new message intercepted them. them.

"The First Primarch is approaching in this direction," Krog said over his shoulder. "The reason is unknown."

"Copy that, this doesn't stop us from working, right?" Jack said briskly. No one knew what the Lions were going to do. Anyway, they were all fighting aliens.

On his channel, he didn't hear the message. It seemed that the Iron Warriors had some unique signal detection devices in their helmets.

The Iron Warriors nodded. Their steady steps quickly disappeared into the forking paths.

Jack shrugged his shoulders and continued to feel his way inside the alien, walking the same path they had traveled. In front of him, the road on the rusty iron sloped downwards, and evenly distributed horizontal stripes overlapped in the distance. He opened the breathing valve and smelled the air here. A vague smell of blood lingered.

Who will discover Hashem first? Part of Jack wished it was him, and another part wished it wasn't. He quickly gave up thinking.

He sniffed his nose, and information continued to be sent to his heart through the analysis of the Space Marine helmet and his own perception ability. Now that there was no one around, he suddenly found that his usual eloquent words were suddenly stuck, and it was difficult to continue to say even half a word.

Jack didn't like this feeling. It reminded him of some vague memories of his childhood in Corsonia. They were too distant, like long-dead pictures, not to mention that the content of the pictures itself was not pleasing. He hates having too many memories, and he hates being in constant contact with his memories.

One must always live in the present.

The structure corresponding to the biological ship in the alien body is barely supported crookedly. The dark metal can swallow up all the dust and light falling on it. Instead, the surrounding rib-like white giant bones themselves brighten the entire dull space.

Deathly silence spread here. Except for the slight friction sound when the boots hit the ground, and the sound of the power armor running which seemed insignificant in the empty world, there was only some kind of intuitive warning left in Jack's consciousness. Sound the alarm. Every time he took a step deeper, the cold air surged through his lungs in greater amounts, making his stomach churn.

Jack moved the power claw of his right hand and turned the handle of the bone-removing saber in his left hand, repeatedly familiarizing himself with its center of gravity after knocking off a corner. The cold breath passed over his helmet, but the temperature indicator did not change. He knew that something disturbed him.

Suddenly, something appeared in the dim light. After a brief pause for a few seconds, a sound of metal collision echoed in the corridor. Before the sound left the sound, it hid deeper.

Jack eagerly chased after him, but a stronger blood aura stood in front of him, stopping his feet. Then he discovered that he could follow this aura and chase him away.

"There you are," Jack murmured. "I made the right choice."

Dots of blood appeared on the ground, and then connected into pieces, creating many irregular dark chaotic shapes. Hashem's bolter fell to the ground, thrown away by the alien for some unknown reason. Don't aliens shoot?

Jack gently kicked the gun away, not daring to pick it up.

In the swaying light and shadow, the Luna Wolf began to run, the power armor buzzing. His steps became faster and faster, and the wind flew past his sides until a steady figure became clearly visible in the corridor.

The man who used to be Hasem stood there, with his back to Jack, and his gray armor with gold inscriptions was exactly the same as his back in the past. A pool of Space Marine blood flowed at his feet. If it weren't for the blood and the power armor that no longer worked properly, he would be exactly the same as usual.

Jack stopped, quietly turned his saber to the front, and approached carefully step by step. The alien took a step forward, turned around, and faced the approaching Luna Wolf. Hasem's power hammer was held in its palm. A lot of blood once flowed out from the hole in his throat, staining the entire chest armor of the Word Bearer red, but now it has strangely stopped.

Jack raised one corner of his mouth, said nothing, and suppressed the rising anger. He knew all the weaknesses in his comrade's armor, and he hoped that Hasem had not let the alien know his.

The two stood facing each other silently, competing in the grasp of timing and attack status. At a moment when the light and shadow trembled slightly, the two rushed towards each other without warning and put violence into practice.

The combination of power claws and boning knives meant that the Moon Wolf had to win with agile speed and could not directly resist the power hammer of the Word Bearer.

The moment of the fight was so short that it could not be captured. The weapon was swung only by the intuition gained from years of training. The sharp edge of the weapon flashed a silver reflection, and a fatal blow swept across, aiming at the joint of the Word Bearer's armor; while the alien quickly dodged backwards at an incredible angle, and the long handle of the power hammer blocked the saber, knocking the Moon Wolf back, and the boots rubbed out a sharp scream.

Very good, Jack thought, the opponent was not familiar with his offensive rhythm, and it seemed that the alien did not take those memories from Hashem.

Jack lowered his center of gravity sideways, and the claws swung rapidly from another angle, aiming at the gap under the enemy's chest armor, as fast as a ferocious wolf. His claws dipped into a piece of soft flesh and were quickly thrown away. The alien pushed him away without feeling any pain. The power hammer swept heavily across, and Jack dodged and avoided the alien's attack.

The battle situation changed in an instant. The two went back and forth repeatedly in the broken light and shadow of the corridor, sometimes moving further into the depths, and sometimes changing their steps and retreating. Except for the noisy collision of blades, the whistling of heavy hammers and narrow knives, and the noise made by Jack's power armor, everything was immersed in silence.

Jack tried his best to destroy the alien's limbs according to his combat experience. After trying again and again, one of the alien's arms was torn off by the armor. A painful muffled sound came from the vocal cords occupied by the alien, and blood dripped red, giving Jack the illusion that he was dissecting his battle brother.

The Shadow Moon Wolf shook for a moment, but fortunately the alien did not pursue. Jack quickly readjusted the state of the confrontation, stepped aside a little, and flexibly positioned the weapons in both hands. Then, he seized the next opportunity and gave the weakened opponent another ruthless attack. The claws pierced into the alien body along the broken surface on the shoulder, biting out like fangs.

According to the calculation of the speed of the power hammer, he could retreat safely, but Jack found that he had made a mistake.

The speed of the alien suddenly increased, and the power hammer pressed towards his flank like a falling stone. Jack was embarrassed to take the first blow, and the severe pain exploded in his body, and he was still not fast enough to recover his posture. After losing part of the storage of the battle memory, the alien's attack came violently like a torrential rain and wind, like some kind of crazy struggle.

Jack used his claws and saber in turn to try to deflect the falling attack, or find a gap in the attack, but his physical strength was rapidly draining, and his defense and movement on his feet slowed down slightly, which caused more hits.

One blow landed on his heavy chestplate, and he heard his bones breaking through the shock of steel. The second blow was an upward thrust, creating a blinding flash in front of him. No. He thought.

Jack fell backwards, was thrown hard, and slid a short distance on the ground. Half of his helmet was shattered, revealing a face covered in blood, and his deep blue eyes were also covered with red blood, bringing waves of uncontrollable pain. No.

Jack's saber slipped out of his hand, and he stabbed his power claws into the ground below him, struggling to stop the slide, and quickly tried to stand up. But the power hammer was already close to his head, and the shadow was looming over him. Just one more push down, and the Shadow Wolf would die because of the accumulated decline from his one mistake in the battle.

Damn it, he thought, the Iron Warriors will do the rest of the work, as for me-

A second passed, no pain came, the heavy hammer was suspended three inches above his head, and the release of potential energy ended. Jack seized this strange opportunity, turned over and jumped up, and the power claw cut into the damaged throat armor of the man who used to be Hashem. The sound of cutting flesh was heard instantly, and the enemy was almost beheaded by him.

The alien was about to swing the power hammer, but its movement was stuck again, and the weapon slipped from its hand and fell heavily on the ground. Jack took advantage of the situation and threw the opponent to the ground, while dismantling the opponent's power armor and breaking the other arm.

The alien twitched and lay quietly on the ground without moving.

Jack knelt above the alien, with the power claw against the alien's throat, and was about to cut it off completely, but a sudden hesitation made his hand stiff in place, unable to move.

"... Is it you?" He asked, feeling a little terrified by his own madness.

The other party did not answer, and blood gushed out of its throat again.

"...Is that you?" Jack asked tremblingly. He knew clearly that he was throwing all the rules of battle behind him. He was squandering his hard-earned life on unprecedented fantasies, but a kind of The burning premonition was forcing him to move his power claws away from the opponent's neck and instead place them on his shoulders where he had lost both hands.

--He's crazy.

"Hasem?" Jack said softly, "Hasem? Are you there? Are...is it really you?"

After a long time, the Word Bearer beneath him shook his helmet slightly and looked at him through the blank helmet. He didn't say a word - of course, his vocal cords and windpipe had been severed.

——He can't do this.

Jack took off the opponent's helmet and looked at the familiar and pale face. It was a young face, covered with orderly scriptures and scars, with soft lines, and deep eye sockets carrying thoughts day after day.

The Word Bearer's calm eyes traced his outline. In his eyes, there was sobriety and comfort that was different from the aliens, and a clear light - like a candlelight.

- He is utterly stupid.

"No..." Jack said blankly, the tips of his claws grazing the other person's face, "How is this possible? It gave your body back to you? No... you defeated it, you won... it didn't create psychic energy The power of echo, a single alien is weak... You win, Hashem, you win! You overwhelm it, destroy it! It left a hand.

"Yes, why is this impossible? You crazy believers, you fanatics! This is what you will do, only He is above..."

He stared at the Word Bearer in agony, hot blood dripping from the wounds on his face onto Hashem's cheek.

Hashem looked at him calmly, as if he wanted to pretend he didn't know anything. But finally, the Word Bearer blinked wearily and smiled.

"I can't save you, you chanter," Jack murmured, "and I don't dare to save you, after all, you once..."

He swallowed back the words that both of them knew.

Jack let go of Hashem and sat down next to him, hugging his knees. The pain caused by the bones breaking in his body came in waves like waves.

"Let me sit with you for a while," he whispered. "I'll call Kroger and Hammer over. You can hold on for a few more minutes. Is that okay? Don't be controlled all of a sudden. Look, I I haven’t even taken off the power claw, and I can take your life at any time, you know that?”

At the end, he threatened viciously. Afterwards, Jack thought twice and told the two Iron Warriors what he had discovered through the communication channel.

Kroger was silent for a while and said on the channel: "Watch him and be alert at all times. We will be there soon."

Jack said he understood. He stared at Hashem lying on the ground and backed away slowly. He first kicked the power mallet to a place where Hashem could not reach it with his feet. Then he squatted down and picked up the hammer he had dropped not far away. saber.

Before he stood up, a broad shadow fell above his head, blocking the faint light shining from the hole above, like an extremely hard high wall. Jack's movement to stand up stopped, and he was frightened by a terrible sense of oppression, and was restrained in place.

"Stand up." The voice commanded from top to bottom, and the majesty in the words seemed as if the orderer was born to lead and conquer.

Jack stood up shakily, trying to straighten his back.

"Why didn't you kill it?" the voice asked. Just a cold question made Jack freeze in fear.

"My lord..." he said, feeling as if he was undergoing a ruthless and desperate hanging.

"explain."

"He... Hashem has probably regained the dominance of his consciousness, sir," Jack's words gradually became smoother. "I think it is necessary for us to temporarily preserve his life. This has no precedent."

The voice towered silently above him, without speaking or moving, as if he was listening to some enlightenment unknown to ordinary people, or perhaps he was just deliberately prolonging the silence in order to exert influence on the Astartes. Double the mental stress.

Finally, the voice spoke: "There is no precedent for this, and you are not lying. The Word Bearer's soul has indeed regained his self. The Provisional War Council will be informed of this information, and you can believe this."

The owner of the voice walked up to him, and his blood-stained robe brushed against Jack's side, allowing the latter to briefly catch a glimpse of the knight's sword worn on the giant's side.

"Now," Leon El'Jonson ordered, "you may kill him, Luna Wolf."

——

When Kroger and Hammer found Jack, the Luna Wolf was standing silently, his eyes falling on the wall of the corridor, but seemed to pass through it from a distance.

"Jack?" Kroger asked.

"Oh," Jack came to his senses and shrugged at them, trying to show that he was as relaxed and at ease as usual. "You are here."

"You said... Hashem has found himself?" Kroger asked suspiciously, then suppressed his next words.

On the way here, he prepared a few necessary questions, but the Space Marine lying on the ground in front of him was undoubtedly lifeless. His head was severed by the power claws, then carefully replaced and put back together as exactly as possible.

"He was retrieved, but according to the order of the First Primarch, we still freed him." Jack said, "The Lion King is right. I think Hashem also supports his own death to avoid future troubles."

"Yes." Hammer seemed to have no idea what to say.

"And..." Jack rubbed his feet on the ground, revealing his restlessness, "I have one more thing to tell you."

"What?" Kroger asked, still looking at the dead on the ground.

"That's it," he raised his voice slightly, and then lowered it unnaturally, almost to a cautious level.

"I think we only have three people left now. If we continue to recruit, the ratio of three to two is actually not suitable for rapid running-in and mission execution. A cursed No. 5 is enough, don't add another No. 4.

"Besides, after getting close to the Randan Center, the form of the special agent team is not as versatile as before... The danger here is increasing, casualties and so on, some things still require legion operations..."

"So," Shadow Moon Wolf asked, "Do we still want to continue to exist as a team?"

Kroger raised his head, stared at Jack's bloody face, and read the other's emotions.

Soon after, he nodded: "We are very happy to cooperate with you during this period. "

"Me too," Jack smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, "Nice to meet you, Kroger, Hammer."