Secret War: Warhammer 40,000, Ben Agar [list of ebook readers .txt] 📗

certainly weren't taking any chances.

"Keep a good eye on the short one," said one of the Hammers that'd let us inside, indicating me with a thumb. "That was the one that attacked the Twilight bar."

"I see my reputation precedes me," I whispered to Karmen.

"Yes, well, don't let it go to your head, Attelus," she hissed back.

"Check them!" yelled another Hammer, and immediately a few Hammers moved forward and patted us down, even Jeksen included.

"Clear!" all of them yelled, one after the other.

"Well, well," said one Hammer as he emerged through the others; he was taller and older than the rest and seemed to ooze leadership he was perhaps well into his fifties which could've meant two things in the underhive, he was smart and skilled as only the very best lived that long, or the luckiest. "Comin' into the lion's den unarmed, you must be desperate."

He grinned and folded his thick tattooed arms across his barrel chest. "Or just stupid."

"We would have been more stupid if we had taken in weapons," pointed out Karmen.

He shrugged and pursed his dry lips. "Good point. So, what brings a pretty little boy, a fancy, senior magistratum detective and a babe like you to our oh so humble abode?"

Karmen clenched her teeth. "We wish to talk."

"But to talk what, exactly?" said the gang leader. "What could've brought our enemy so low that they wish to talk instead of shoot?"

"I can't tell you now," said Karmen. "We need to speak with Brutis Bones."

The huge Hammer rounded on us, his brow knotted in utter rage. "Not until you tell me what I want to know!" he roared.

"Calm down, Tevith," tried Jeksen.

"Oh, frigging shut it, Wesley!" roared Tevith. "We all know the reason they found us was because you squealed! As far as I'm concerned, you're a frigging traitor whose words don't mean crap here! You know how many good men have died because of these idiots! To frigging many! But still, here you are! Now frigging working with 'em!"

"And I'm sorry to say many more will die if we don't listen to what they have to say!" yelled back Wesley Jeksen.

Tevith pulled out a massive handcannon and aimed it right at Jeksen's head, his expression now a deadly calm.

"I told you to shut it, Wesley and I frigging meant it," said Tevith, deadpanned, "and I don't care if you're a Throne Agent. You're still a frigging traitor. And you know what traitors get."

The shot rang deafeningly through the room, causing everyone to flinch in pain and fright, and a horrid scream of complete agony immediately followed.

But Jeksen, who stood right beside me, was unharmed. It was Tevith who screamed as he clutched at his bloody, destroyed hand.

Another figure emerged from the mass of Hammers, holding a raised, smoking stub revolver, and I immediately knew this was the Brutis Bones character we'd been looking for.

The blue power armour he wore made him dwarf most of the Hammers in the room, and over his shoulders lay a fur cloak of beautiful make. Sheathed at his hip was an ornate sword, and slung over his shoulder was a bolt gun with an under-slung grenade launcher attached. He didn't wear a helmet, so we could see his short red hair and his pale, freckled face, which seemed permanently set into an expression as hard as hell.

Brutis Bones was truly an Inquisitor through and through.

"Get him to medicae Aheth," Brutis Bones ordered casually as he holstered his stubb revolver, and two Hammers immediately moved to carry the whimpering Tevith away.

Brutis shook his head and approached us. "Please forgive Tevith; he's rightfully pissed off about all the crap you've done."

"Th-thank you for saving us," stammered Karmen.

Brutis smiled slightly and shook his head again. "No need to thank me. If he were going to shoot any of you other three, I wouldn't have stopped him. You okay, Wesley?"

"Y-yeah, boss, but I've been better."

"I'm sure you have, and I'm sure there's a fething good reason why you've brought them here? Right?"

"Of course, boss, but," he glanced around the room. "But, I think we'll need to talk about all this in private."

Brutis nodded, turned on his heels and waved us on. "Alright then, follow me."

Immediately Hammers approached us and grabbed us roughly, shoving us after Brutis Bones as he led us further into the complex.

 

 

Brutis took us up to a small, separate office on the second floor. Along the way, I took the opportunity to look around. I found that the entire place had been fortified; the plastcrete walls were reinforced further with thick bits of flak board. Many of the windows were completely boarded up, and the ones who weren't all had a Hammer standing watch.

But what got me was on the shop floor, all the workbenches had been moved, taken away to Emperor only knew where. Instead, there were sleeping cots, dozens of them and sleeping, sitting or walking around them were women and children, people who I could only guess to be relations to the many Hammers under Brutis Bones' employee. Both Arlathan's and Tresch's auspex had said only forty lifeforms; well, that was certainly proven wrong now.

As we walked through, everyone had eyed us with big bug eyes and expressions of undisguised curiosity. I'd looked back, finding myself suddenly almost overwhelmed with horrified apprehension.

I had no idea they'd be here; I'd never given even the slightest thought of where the Hammers had kept their wives, their children. It was a trap, this I knew without doubt and them being here, them being here, it complicated the situation vastly, and as we walked through, I found it very hard to breathe.

Karmen looked over her shoulder at me, asking, "you alright, Attelus?"

I had managed only a nod in response.

Brutis held the door for us as we filed in; it was a simple, spartan room with only a large cogitator bank in the back wall, a cot in the corner and a large desk in the centre of the room with an office chair behind it. Although Brutis didn't sit, he just kept standing at the doorway, his face unreadable, and he folded his arms over his chest.

"So, we're alone, speak," he said bluntly.

"This is a trap," I said immediately.

Brutis looked at me, turning like he was targeting me. "What?"

"This is a frigging trap," I said through clenched teeth. "Inquisitor Edracian is planetside; he's engineered all of this so we'd all be together so that he can kill us altogether."

"But aren't you his allies?" asked Brutis, with an almost mocking raised eyebrow.

"Not anymore," said Karmen as she stepped beside me and gave me an uncertain look. "After we found out from Interrogator Heartsa the information you had, Taryst decided to cut all ties to him."

Brutis' eyes narrowed. "So why did you still want to capture me?"

"Because Taryst wanted to have all ties to Edracian silenced, and this included you and the information you hold," answered Karmen. "But that's all changed now, now that Taryst is dead."

Arlathan, who'd been leaning on the wall, eyes widened and rocked forward in disbelief as Brutis' pursed his lips.

"Dead?" How?" asked Brutis.

"Murdered, though an internal conspiracy," said Karmen.

Brutis shrugged his massive shoulders and moved to his desk; sliding open one of the draws, he took out an expensive liqueur bottle and a few crystal glasses, doing so with the remarkable skill for one with armoured power fingers.

"Damn shame," he said as he poured himself a glass. "I was hoping I'd get to throw that bastard out the window of his grotto myself. Amasec anyone?"

Everyone declined except Jeksen.

"Yeah, boss, that'd be appreciated."

Brutis smiled slightly, poured another glass and handed it to the other throne agent, who swigged it back with great enthusiasm.

"Well," said Brutis sipping at his Amasec. "Is Edracian on Omnartus, now, huh? Well, that's what we've been waiting for, for all this time, isn't that right, Wesley?"

Jeksen nodded confirmation, and both Karmen and I exchanged confused glances.

"What do you mean?" asked Karmen.

Brutis shrugged again. "That's why we've been fighting this was with you; we figured if we fought it for long enough, Edracian would get tired of Taryst's failure so would come and finish the job himself, then we'd be able to take care of both of them."

Brutis took another sip of his sacra and said with a grimace of distinct disgust, "fething Isstivanian bastards. So, how do you know Edracian's planetside?"

"Because he attacked me," I said. "He and a group of axe-wielding, suit-wearing idiot Hammers ambushed me, captured me."

Brutis took another sip of his sacra. "So, how did you know it was Edracian?"

I frowned and shrugged. "Well, I don't know, actually. He wore power armour, had an Inquisitorial rosette and said he was, so I kind of believed him, and he talked psychically, telepathy, in my mind."

I tapped my temple with my index finger as I said 'telepathy', and also, as I said it, I couldn't help but notice the extremely bemused looks from everyone but Arlathan.

"What?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"Attelus, you never mentioned that he spoke to you via telepathy before," said Karmen.

I raised an eyebrow. "What? I didn't? Sorry, I must've forgotten, but what's the big deal? Aren't a lot of Inquisitors psychic? That's what Glaitis told me anyway."

His expression grim, Brutis shook his head. "Yes, but it's a well-known fact that Edracian is just as blunt as you and I."

My jaw dropped and began to twitch as a sudden horrific shiver slid up my spine.

The fear almost overwhelmed me; then the room temperature dropped dramatically, ice began to form on the walls, growing up the flak board like vines; then I heard the gunfire and the screams.

"Look's like you were right," said Brutis to me as he readied his bolter. "This is a trap."

 

 

A second after he said that, then came a substantial deafening crash! From outside followed a hideous, blood-stinging scream followed by another and another, each ending abruptly.

Shivering in the sudden cold, my heart thundered in my chest, and my shallow breaths steamed into the air.

Karmen turned to me with a wide-eyed, fearful gaze, and I looked back. Our attentions locked for a few seconds, and each time there was another scream, we'd flinch in fear together.

We were only taken out of our trance when we heard Brutis demanding answers into his vox link.

"Verenth! Uslith! Answer me, damn it!"

"W-what the hell's going on out there?" stammered Karkin at Brutis.

Brutis didn't answer; he just shook his head and paced the room.

"What's going on," demanded Karkin.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to find out," growled Brutis, then he turned to Karmen. "Vox is dead."

It reminded me quickly of my vox link going dead just before Edracian's mooks ambushed me.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"We go out there," answered Brutis directly as he drew his Stubb revolver and tossed it to Wesley Jeksen, who caught it neatly.

"What?" yelled Karkin. "Going out there? Are you frigging crazy?"

Brutis treated Karkin with a withering glare, and I could tell from a mile away that the Inquisitor held nothing but contempt for the Magistratum detective.

"Yeah," said Brutis. "Me and Wesley, anyway. I'm not forcing you to come, but I remind you, both him and me are the only ones armed here. So when we go, you've got no protection and nowhere to run."

Brutis shrugged. "On second thought; maybe it'd be better if you stay here, you will probably just get in the way."

Arlathan Karkin grimaced and shook his head. "I don't like this."

As this went on, I stood in the corner in silence with wide eyes, wondering how everyone could ignore the screams that constantly pierced the walls, the screams that stung my ears, that made my shoulders shake, that caused my heart to leap painfully in my chest. These screams made my lip quiver and hyperventilate in fear.

Brutis glared at me, his brow furrowing.

"Someone gets him to calm the feth down!" he bellowed.

It was then I felt a warm, soft hand wrap around mine, and I turned to find it was Estella Erith, who smiled at me reassuringly.

But I