Cain’s Adventure Part 3
A lance of an intense beam came out of Jurgen's meltagun. The energy beam follows Jurgen's aim, hitting one of the five Lernaean Hydra's heads. Because the meltagun was designed to be an anti-tank armor weapon, the hydra's natural armor couldn't do much and one of the heads fell apart from the main body.
Typically when a hydra loses one of its heads, it regrows back with a brand new one just like in the legend. The creature doesn't grow additional ones but it can be problematic as it will continue to grow new heads while bombarding the enemies with acid breath. Normal adventurers will have some difficulty dealing with a monster such as a hydra as it will require major preparation and strategy.
For Jurgen, he didn't need strategy or preparation to deal with such a monster. Following Lord Commissar Cain's order without a question, Jurgen simply fires his favorite weapon at the monster without a second thought and managed to take the entire head and neck in one shot.
Due to meltagun function more like a plasma weapon than a flamer, the beam of heat energy cut through hydra's scale armor and flesh like a hot knife on butter. Because of this, the lost head didn't regrow as meltagun cauterized the wound, leaving hydra confused and in pain.
"Fire everything we have!" Cain shouted. Half second later, he and Henderson raise their lasguns and open fire. Humble lasgun of the Astra Militarum isn't powerful as meltagun but it is still an energy-based weapon and hot enough to melt hydra's scale before losing the intense heat.
While the three remaining men make their stand and blast everything they have, the adventurers managed to defeat all the cultists and saw what they are about to face next. Without hesitation, Tina and the rest attack the hydra, joining Cain's last stand against the fearsome monster (Mage staying far from Jurgen as possible).
Hydra, forever losing one of its heads went on a rampage as it fully pulls itself out from the empty void and begins to swing its massive tail at the man who cause pain. Enduring the painful heat of lights, the monster turns the body and slams down the tail right on top of Jurgen.
Since Jurgen is next to Cain, he saw a huge shadow covering him and Henderson. He could dodge the incoming attack but he couldn't simply abandon his loyal aide. So, he raised his chainsword and prepare to intercept the incoming tail of the monster.
"Come at me, monster! For Emperor's finest are here to take your life!" Cain's furious voice echo the large chamber as a massive tail came down like a whip.
'What in the Emperor's throne am I doing? I'm not superhuman or strong enough to parry a fracking TAIL!' Cain cursed himself with regrets but his body didn't follow his thoughts. Due to years of combat experience and training, Cain's body was responding to his muscle memory and instinct to fight the enemy and survive. It was this pure unintentional instinct and luck (A lot of luck) that Cain managed to live more than 200 years and went to retirement before the 13th Black Crusade started.
"Fear not Lord Commissar, for I'm here as well." Forgotten by everyone, a large man without power armor and holding a black sword jump between Cain and hydra's tail to intercept the incoming attack.
Buzzing with blue energy, the black sword of the Emperor's Champion slashes the hydra's tail and cuts it apart with a single swing. The massive tail changed the trajectory as it fell next to where three men stood, barely missing them from certain death. This wasn't the end as the moment Champion made his landing quickly turned his body to make another attack on hydra.
Without hesitation, Champion dashed and aim his blade at the monster's massive left arm. Before realizing what happened to its tail, the monster felt new pain as a huge cut is made and blood is gushing out.
Champion dodge the blood and went under the monster's belly, his intention was clear to everyone. He was about to go for the monster's weakest point and deliver critical damage in one move. Just as the Champion was about to raise his sword, Hydra did something unthinkable, it simply drop its entire body and slammed the Champion. The entire chamber shook as the debris began to fall from the ceiling and soon, natural light began to appear from the top.
"Champion!" Cain called the Adeptus Astartes after realizing what just happened. Believing that the transhuman of the Emperor might still be alive, he orders Jurgen to fire his second shot at the hydra. Space Marines are tough, tough enough to survive thanks to their enhanced body including dense bones which strong enough to hold the entire body together.
With perfect timing, Jurgen's meltagun recharged and was ready to fire once again. Jurgen fired the meltagun and this time it hit the hydra's main body. Screeching noise hit everyone's ears as hydra felt unimaginable pain and heat. For the first time in its life, the hydra realized that it might not survive the fight and began to move back. Knowing that its enemies will not allow them to leave, hydra breath out its acid breath for the last time. Cain saw purple acid coming in his way. He was so focused on killing the monster, he forgot to take cover but thanks to his luck, something unusual appeared to save his skin.
"Wall of Green!"
Mage girl from Tina's group summoned a wall of green vines thick enough to block the entire acid breath. Quickly recovering from the shock that the wall of vines saved his life and others, Cain turns his head to see adventurers in action as each of them moved with goals of their own.
Leading the group, Tina and the ranger attack the hydra while the thief and bard sneak under the monster to rescue the Champion. Without any issues, they managed to reach the giant man but because of his size, they couldn't move him away from the monster's belly. So, instead, they pop four bottles of health potions and pour it all onto Champion's mouth.
"He is alive but it's not enough for him. Sara, do your thing!" Bard shouted to a girl name Sara who happened to be a cleric of the group who already cast a prayer of a healing spell.
"Heal!" Sara finish her spell and point her finger at the Champion with her level 6th spell. The surge of positive energy washed through the Champion and all his injuries are healed as if his injuries were never there. Both the bard and thief watch closely as the Champion regains his consciousness and opens his eyes with fury.
"AAAAAAH! FOR THE EMPEROR!"
Champion quickly got up and saw retreating hydra behind him. Cain and the rest hear the scream and move side to see what was going on. What they saw was pure madness as the Champion made a zigzag dash as he charge the monster with his blade in his hand. Cain, who is ever very observant, saw a green foreign item attached to the Champion's belt. The Necron artifact was attached to Champion's belt with a leather strap, secured and undamaged from hydra's massive body.
Hydra saw an insane creature coming at him with blind rage as it was close to retreating to the pit. Knowing it is late to run, the hydra raises its right arm and attack with its claw. Emperor's Champion, who is lost to rage simply reacts incoming attack with his battle instinct as he dodges the hydra's claw attack and counters it by cutting the entire claw hand off. Regaining his footing after the counter, Champion took a low stance and put his entire energy onto his legs while placing his sword next to his face, pointing it at the monster.
"Die." With a whisper, Champion moved with unbelievable speed. Leaving a clear footprint on the ground, Emperor's Champion turned his whole body into a projectile as he aim at the hole Jurgen made a few minutes ago.
When Champion's body hit the hydra, the monster's main body pushed way in the back and blood began to gush out from the unhealed wound. With powerful force hitting the monster like a truck, the hydra lost its balance and began to tilt towards the pitfall. Shriek in pain and undoubtedly confused by what just happened, the hydra finally fell into the void once it came from and it was free falling.
"Cassimer! You will die unless you don't pull yourself out!" Cain call the Champion's name but it was useless. Second, later, the monster fell into the pitfall with Emperor's Champion still inside. Hydra was gone, and for the price of defeating it, the cost was a band of guardsmen and the Emperor's Angel.
'I will personally deliver his name to Lord William after this. He must know that his predecessor's demise.' Cain made a promise to himself and gather everyone who survived the encounter. It was at this moment when the entire ceiling fell and a clear morning sky can be seen.
"We are done here. Let's get out of this place." Cain ordered everyone and with quick thinking from Tina, the entire group managed to escape using a crossbow and rope with a hook. It was a difficult task to climb the walls but with fresh cold air breezing to the underground, Cain and others pull themselves out.
When Cain reached the top, he realized where he was. He was inside the fortress city and the hole was located in the middle of the square. Soon, he found out he was surrounded by the local militia as hundreds of soldiers tall and short, armed with swords and spears surround him and others.
"I don't know how you managed to crawl up here but you made a mistake of…" The captain of the guard didn't finish his sentence as the entire wall behind him exploded and debris fell on top of him and the rest.
The entire militia panicked and was unable to reorganize as they lost leadership suddenly. Cain and the rest take the opportunity to take cover as the dust cloud blinded the enemy force. When the dust cleared, Cain saw the cause of the explosion as Valhallan Ice Warriors ran through the destroyed wall and began the siege.
'They heard the ground collapsing and fire at the direction of the sound believing it was my signal.' Cain connect the dots and join the reinforcement with his laspistol while the rest of the group did the same. The city fell in the matter of half an hour as most of the city defense militia fell after catching the destruction of the wall from artillery fire. Anyone who resisted died as lasguns finish them off and flamer burned through their shields.
-----------------
After the Siege,
"Lord Commissar Cain. I must say, thanks to your signal we managed to focus all our artillery fire on enemy forces and take the city before lunch. You are truly the Hero of the Imperium and a shining example to the rest of us." Colonel Aldrik, the commander of the Valhallan regiment salutes Cain while he was drinking Tanna tea given by Jurgen a few minutes ago.
"I was doing my duty as a loyal servant of the Emperor. I'm sure anyone of your men would do the same for me and Lord William. Are my men being checked up for wounds?" Cain played off the hero role as usual. His care for the men under his command shows great care for simple guardsmen before his well-being and earns him respect from the rest. So, far it worked for Cain and he encourage the next generation of commissars to do the same instead of summary execution for failing to salute the Imperial eagle.
"Yes sir. They are all being checked for any injuries. As for your report on Emperor's Champion. Do you want me to send this to Lord William right away?" Colonel ask Cain as he passed the data plate to his junior officer. Before Cain can say anything, the junior officer who was reading the report gasped and earned himself colonel's, Cain's, and Jurgen's attention, who was standing next to Cain.
"What is it, captain? Come on speaking it out, Lord Commissar doesn't have time for your drama." Colonel Aldrik ordered the man to which he quickly went to the position of attention and apologies for his rude interruption.
"Sirs, I believe this report about Emperor's Champion is wrong."
"WHAT! Are you saying Lord Commissar is a lier?" Colonel went berserk and was about to pull out his laspistol when Cain stopped him and went back to the topic of the problem.
"Explain captain, what do you mean?"
"Lord Commissar, you reported that this Emperor's Champion participated in Sabbat Worlds Crusade in year 755 M41. My father was there when the crusade started, he was one of the senior officers of the Warmaster Macaroth."
"Ok, I'm sure your father told you about the war. What does this have to do with the Champion?" Cain ask and took a sip of Tanna tea. His hand began to tingle as something was off about this whole thing.
"Well, my father was an officer in charge of coordinating the entire crusade with each chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. Sir, Black Templars didn't participate in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Iron Snakes, Raven Guard, Silver Guard, White Scars, and Imperial Fists were the only ones who joined but never Black Templars."
"What?!" Cain said out loud enough for the colonel to jump in surprise.
"You sure captain? Few of the Black Templars may have joined their founding chapter. Maybe small information such as this falls through the cracks." The colonel said to his junior officer but Cain knew something was off. Sure, little information such as militia or band of resistance fighters might go missing but the information about Space Marines and their deeds can't be ignored or be forgotten from the Imperium record.
If that is the case then who was Alath Cassimer and why did he say he was part of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade? Cain began to have a bad feeling about this whole thing, especially the part where this 'Champion' was the last person to possess the Necron artifact.
Cain soon realized his error. The man who claimed to be Emperor's Champion indeed acted like Black Templar but with logic and the possibility that the Champion was founded by his party was astronomical to the point Cain should have realized that it was planned.
Ciaphas Cain, the Hero of the Imperium and the man who conned the entire galaxy finally became a victim of his own game as Space Marine who disguised as Emperor's Champion stole Necron artifact under his nose.
-----------------------
Meanwhile,
Alath Cassimer escapes the pitfall thanks to the hydra's body taking the most of the impact and softening the fall. After crawling out of the corpse of the giant reptile, Space Marine managed to fee himself covered in blood.
"It didn't go as I planned but at least I have what I came for," Cassimer said to himself and pull out a barrel of water from his inventory and towel to clean himself. When he is done, he put away the black sword and Necron artifact into his inventory and equips his power armor.
Equipped with scaly-looking power armor with the colors of sea blue and emerald green, the power armor was engraved with symbols of Chaos undivided and the right shoulder plate has the symbol of the legion he belongs to.
Putting his horned helmet onto his head, Cassimer activates his vox in a secure channel for his brothers who are still hidden to hear his messages to let them know his mission was a success.
"Alath Cassimer of the Black Templar is no more. I'm Alpharius and this message is a lie."