Space Marine Apocalypse (Extinction Fleet Book 3) Read online

  It waited, and when his campaigns in the Rimworlds were complete, the Watchman granted it audience.

  Only then, in the company of the Watchman and his greatest warriors, did the nightmare speak. As if it already knew that it was being invited to utter its final words.

  "Every one of us used to be something else," Loki croaked, his inhuman vocal chords giving rise to a voice that poured over the beast's mandibles like a thick syrup, the sound of it combining with his fearsome appearance to wipe away any lingering hopes that any scraps of the Skald Thatcher they once knew remained. "You are made more than a man by the mantle you carry, Watchman, and yet also less than human. All who stand here are monsters made by the wars we have endured."

  The Watchman did not argue with the creature, and in fact, inclined his head slightly, his smooth face as cold as it was young.

  "You betrayed the All-Father, the Einherjar, and humanity itself. Surely, you realize that such a thing cannot go unanswered, and yet you willingly submit, which invites me to wonder what it is that you hope to accomplish, in these, your last moments," said the Watchman, his expression still as a statue. "When the Bloodhound was sufficiently removed from the psychic static that your hybrids all seem to emit, and the garm purged from a distant world, he was able to sense you, to at last find you. It was a clever thing to remove him from the game board, even if he eventually returned to us, and thus in the fullness of time, found his way to you. I cannot but suspect that you intended such a thing, and if not exactly this, then some version of events as they have unfolded."

  "You are accurate in your assessment, sir," said Loki, bowing his head, the movement looking particularly strange on his bizarrely shaped body. "Ajax, and the men who stood with him, indeed crossed swords with me in the darkness of Tankrid. They witnessed the alchemy of flesh that I had discovered, saw the prototypes of the hybrid cults that even now rage against both human and garm forces. He could not be allowed to rise, to resume his hunt for me, until the time was right. I believe, as I always have, that Beowulf walks among us, and I had faith that he would rise once more."

  "It is this faith that put you under Grendel's claw in the first place. The narrative strategy, ever do I curse it for being real enough to make some men believe," said the Watchman, the eyes of each man in the chamber moving from beast to commander as they spoke, none daring to do so much as whisper. "To what purpose did such living myth draw you?"

  "Ragnarok. The Doom of the Gods. The end of this war between garm and man," growled Loki, squaring his shoulders. "You know as well as I do, that the stalemate would have continued unending. The garm adapt. Marines overcome. Let the world die, Watchman, so that it may be reborn."

  "The extinction fleet gathered strength while your minions prepared for sabotage," breathed the Watchman, his voice carrying with it a sort of resigned finality, and Ajax could not help but wonder if this, at last, was the confirmation that the commander had been looking for.

  "The Alpha Hive Mind is capable of many things great and terrible, beyond easy description, though it has little in the way of imagination or awareness for the human phenomenon of story," rasped Loki, turning his head slightly to make eye contact with Ajax. "That was what made Grendel so special, and by extension you, marine Ajax. The Beta Hive Mind learned many things from the minds of those harvested by the alpha garm on Heorot, chief among them the power of creativity and the rhythm of dreams. It devoured our mythology and gave birth to giants."

  "You became chief among those giants. Drawn out of your torpor in the body forge and led into deep space by the receiver cells left in your body by Grendel's attack," stated the Watchman, his voice now flat and cold as he rose from his seat. "In the taste of your memories, it found a story that would bend you to its will, turning you away from your identity as the man Skald Thatcher and towards that of a mythic Loki."

  "The Beta had already battled the Alpha Hive Mind and lost rather soundly, the evidence of their civil war hidden behind repeated assaults upon the Bifrost. It was only in those last desperate cycles of its existence that its alien sensibilities unraveled the mystery of the story. Only in its state of near death did it achieve an understanding of the myths and dreams it digested from our minds," Loki responded with a mixture of pride and exhaustion as he returned his gaze to the Watchman.

  "Yes, of course, its psychic presence pushed me away from the All-Father and pulled me to the dying ship where the seeds for what I am now were planted. And yet, it was weak, its fledgling consciousness already battered by its struggle with the Alpha Hive Mind. It was only by submitting to the story we now shared that it had a hope of propagating its brood. That is the power of the narrative strategy esteemed Watchman, so potent that a garm Hive Mind allowed myth to direct its actions, giving the last of its life to make the monsters that I have used to tear down the walls so that the wolves may feast."

  Jarl Mahora shouted and broke ranks as he ran towards the kneeling Loki. The jarl leaped and slammed his fist into the traitors with a bone-crunching thud that sent the beast reeling. The jarl's trench spike was suddenly in his fist, and he drove it downwards towards Loki with a snarl.

  Just before the tip pierced flesh, an armored hand caught the jarls at the wrist. In a flash of movement, Hart had appeared next to the jarl, before any of the assembled marines could react, so in shock were they at the display of rage. The skald deftly pivoted on the balls of his feet and twisted his waist as he used his other hand to guide the jarl's body over his shoulder, using Mahora's own momentum to complete the maneuver. The jarl's armored body pounded into the deck and in an instant Hart was on top of the man, pinning Mahora's arms to his own chest as the skald used his weight to hold them in place.

  Seconds later, Ajax and Poole were there, helping Hart restrain the jarl as Mahora roared with fury. They held him like that for what seemed like an eternity, as Hart implored the jarl to breathe.

  Ajax stole a glance at Loki and saw that the monster was slowly returning to his kneeling position, obviously still shaken. One of his mandibles was clearly broken from the impact of the mighty blow. Soon Mahora stopped struggling and let go of the spike. Without a word of apology from Hart or admonition from Mahora, the jarl allowed the skald to help him to his feet and move several steps back from Loki.

  "A timely reminder, gentlemen," said the Watchman, giving a curt nod at Hart and Mahora as he began to circle the kneeling Loki at a safe distance. Each of the marines with a pulse rifle trained on the beast lowered the barrel when their commander crossed their field of fire and raised it again as he left it. "The blackout is looming for every man here. Some more than others. Without re-supply for our body forges it will only get worse and precious little time can be spared for such rest and refit docking, to say nothing of finding a world with suitable materials that are not engulfed by this war."

  The Watchman considered Loki as he paced around the beast. For Ajax, along with many others, the whole spectacle had a spark of destiny to it. Ajax was reminded of the way in which planets and stars often aligned in unique patterns, some of which could take centuries or millennia to repeat themselves.

  The Watchman, easily the youngest man in the room and in possession of the least combat hours, was only the second individual to hold his position after the great man who invented it.

  Loki, formerly Skald Thatcher, a highly decorated special forces operative who, after a career that eclipsed most any other Einherjar had betrayed his own and become a traitor to his own species.

  The man charged with protecting humanity and the monster responsible for bringing humanity to the edge of extinction face each other.

  "I will admit that I possessed great skepticism for the narrative strategy, though even my predecessor saw the first sparks of it and took himself to Heorot to test it. What I have witnessed since his departure has been a tempest of contradictions and magical thinking, though my own experiments have even now borne fruit," announced the Watchman as he circled around to meet Loki's multiple eyes
.

  "I know about the Covenant," he said.

  "Then you understand that there is no need now for faith,” Loki replied.

  Ajax felt his stomach twist at the sight of Loki's hideous face attempting a smile.

  "Call it destiny, a myth made real, or call it a tactical inevitability, it matters not. There is but one path forward."

  "Look upon this beast, Einherjar," said the Watchman. He stepped back several paces to address the mixture of marines and skalds assembled in the chamber. "And see what can be made of man when he believes so powerfully. The creature before you is the best and worst of us."

  The Watchman turned and walked back to his throne, taking his seat. He sat in silence for a time, then keyed several commands into the pad on his throne. A three- dimensional model of a small planet shone in the center of the chamber, projected by the Watchman's briefing system.

  After a moment the model zoomed in to show a moon orbiting the planet, then it zoomed in yet again to reveal two massive starships in orbit midway between the moon and the planet. Each one easily twice the size of the super heavy warship upon which the Einherjar now stood. Arrayed around the warships were a multitude of other vessels, most of them having the appearance of security frigates and long-haul cargo vessels.

  "Gentlemen, since the destruction of the Bifrost I have labored in analysis and meditation upon the possible outcomes of this war. Though I refuse to submit to domination by the narrative stratagem, the potency of it, when applied with a degree of flexibility, is undeniable," said the Watchman as he held out a hand to indicate the two giant starships.

  Loki looked up, as the model hung in the air above him, and Ajax felt as if the beast was in awe, as if his own actions were being confirmed despite all his boasting of not needing faith any longer.

  "This is the planet Tabir 7,” the Watchman began, “A jointly controlled world operated by House Vorhold and the Wageri corporation. The vessels you see represent a tremendous construction effort that was begun by Wageri, using Vorhold as something like neutral space. Now the effort has been boosted by the involvement of other powerful houses and corporations in the UHC."

  Ajax watched as the list of entities involved scrolled across the side of the model, most of them were unfamiliar to him, though he recognized a few names. Grotto, Helion, Augur, Rubicon, and Aegis. These were the sorts of companies and cartels that were unlikely to work together, even with the threat of annihilation by the garm.

  "This world remains untouched by Loki's hybrid insurrection and that simple reality gave me incentive enough to fully investigate," said the Watchman. "Which I thought suspect until I approached it from the perspective of a believer in the narrative."

  Ajax saw that Loki's eyes had gone wet, and it was strange to consider that the beast yet had emotions.

  "Those are generation ships," said Ajax, as memories of his resurrection dream started to fill his mind, the two children, the warriors in the cold, and he felt his heart begin to thunder in his chest at the implications.

  "Indeed, they were named the Askr and the Embla approximately one year ago, when a sizeable amount of financing was infused into the project by an unknown donor, who had but that single request.

  “Those are the names of the human survivors of Ragnarok," said the Watchman as he pointed at the ships, "Ships capable of sustaining multi-generational crews, packed to the bulkhead with DNA samples, seeds, fertility banks, technical databases, and many thousands of human beings ready for the voyage. The mercenary cartel called Merchants Militant have been paid to escort them, and already a course is laid in."

  "They are abandoning us," spat Jarl Mahora, unable to contain his anger. "Could have built half a dozen warships with those resources!"

  "In the myth of Ragnarok all the gods die, but they do so while killing the giants that destroy the world and saving the lives of those two human beings," spoke the Watchman as his gaze transfixed the jarl. "The traitor has helped them complete construction in advance of the extinction fleet's arrival in their system. He has contracted mercenaries to protect them, and he has spared them his insurrection. Monster he is, yet he is correct, there is but one path forward."

  All of the men in the room looked at the models of the ships, each of them considering the Watchman's words.

  "While I was in the Rimworlds gathering needle ships to aide in our void battles, Skald Wallace traveled to Tabir 7, and has made arrangements for Askr and Embla to depart within the next forty-eight hours. Wallace will see them off, and then return to us as we draw the Hive Mind into a fight that it cannot avoid," announced the Watchman as he rose from his throne, this time sliding a blackout's blade from the sheath affixed to the throne, the one piece of ceremonial equipment he allowed himself. "However, to ensure that the Hive Mind rises to meet us..."

  "You must clear the path between the Hive Mind and the Bloodhound so that they are able to pinpoint each other," croaked Loki as he raised his multiple eyes, "My presence is a bonfire, the light of it casting shadows across the universe."

  "The extinction fleet has carved a direct path from the Bifrost to Port Chircascuro, because it is determined to devour what it perceives as a rival Hive Mind," nodded the Watchman as he closed in on Loki. "When your voice goes silent, it will be the Bloodhound that the Hive Mind hears, and we must ensure that the war howl of Ajax is so loud that the enemy cannot but answer with tooth and claw."

  "Sound the horn, Heimdallr," snarled Loki as he exposed his throat to the Watchman, "And let us die at last."

  The Watchman moved faster than anyone expected, slashing the blackout blade in a tight arc so that the blade passed through Loki's neck. The blade was razor sharp, and though the beast had some degree of armor protecting his throat, the weapon passed through it like it was glass. The creature's head spun away from the body, and as the corpse fell to the deck a sickening fountain of blood and fluids spurted out of the stump.

  The room was silent, as the men took in what they'd seen, worked to understand what they'd heard, and watched as their commander stepped over to the severed head.

  The Watchman reversed his grip on the sword and drove it down through Loki's forehead, and then wrenched the handle. The blade pried open the top of the monster's skull, revealing the gray brain tissue inside. The Watchman dropped his blade and knelt down to remove the brain, which he then held out to an ashen-faced Idris.

  "Perform the bloodhound procedure on Ajax with this," ordered the Watchman, and Ajax felt as if he was about to vomit. "It is time to show the Hive Mind a true rival."

  Then the Watchman returned to his throne, and with bloody hands typed in several key commands before looking at his attendant, Kohath.

  "Bring me the Gjallarhorn," said the Watchman, and the attendant rushed off to bring him the fleet-wide broadcasting device, "It is time for the last war."

  ARMADA

  "Kohath," said the Watchman as he opened his eyes, his voice causing the attendant to look up from his duties to give the commander his full attention. "In the event that we are successfully boarded, as opposed to destroyed outright, make certain that you destroy my brain completely."

  "Do you assume defeat, sir?" asked Kohath as he stood up straight, rising from his chair just beneath the Watchman's throne, a position he'd held aboard the temple ship since the old one first rose to assume the mantle of command.

  "On the contrary, I presume victory, though our deaths are all but guaranteed before the fight is done. However, in the event that this ship is finished before our goals are met, we must deny the enemy every continued advantage we are able to," responded the Watchman as he silently issued a battle stations order that was swiftly disseminated and broadcast to the massive armada that surrounded his own flagship. "That includes preventing them access to this mind. The extinction fleet must lose as much as possible and gain nothing from this engagement. If the moment comes, I expect you to comply."

  "Of course, sir," nodded Kohath before returning to his seat and responding
to the battle stations order.

  The Watchman closed his eyes once more and allowed his senses to be awash in the data streams pouring in from the multitude of ships loyal to the All-Father, and his heart thrummed in his chest. A great many had answered the call, and now thousands of ships roared through the void towards their chosen battleground.

  Craft ranging from heavy warships like Reaper's Lantern, to modestly sized security frigates and small mission specific craft like recon vessels or gunships, had all moved to join the growing armada as the Watchman's flagship moved from Port Chiaroscuro towards the Artemisia rally point. They had come from every corner of humanity's realm, drawn by the Gjallarhorn, but as resplendent as the full might of the All-Father's armada was, it had not been assembled without sacrifice.

  As the Watchman looked over the formations that had begun to take shape according to his orders, some small part of his mind ruminated darkly upon that sacrifice. The Einherjar had, of course, been one hundred percent engaged, with every single soldier and ship in the thick of battle against the tremendous and overwhelming forces of the extinction fleet.

  That was to say nothing of the complications and conflicts resulting from continued hybrid interference, especially now that their frenzied legions had been freed from Loki's control. Where the traitor skald had been carefully influencing the hybrids through his psychic and biological connection to them, functioning like an emergent Hive Mind himself, now that he was dead and the signal broken, the hybrids were free to rampage as their genetics dictated.