Battle for the Abyss by Ben Counter Read Free Book Online Page B

howl of the reactor.
    Cestus watched the writhing mass of energy, taking in the confines of the small chamber that housed it and the control console, all but destroyed by its wrath.
    ‘How many charges do you have?’
    ‘A cluster of fragmentation and three krak grenades, but I don’t understand, captain,’ Antiges replied, his perplexity concealed by his helmet.
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    Ben Counter – Battle for the Abyss
    ‘A full belt of krak,’ Brynngar growled. ‘Whatever you are planning, lad, we’d best be about it,’ he added. Being blown to smithereens by a malfunctioning reactor was not the death saga he wanted for his epitaph.
    ‘We prime the chamber with set charges, everything we’ve got,’
    said Cestus with growing conviction, ‘and bury it.’
    ‘That would cause catastrophic damage to the station,’ Antiges countered, turning to regard his captain.
    ‘Yes, but it would not destroy it,’ said Cestus. ‘There is no other choice.’
    Cestus was about to detach the grenades from his clip harness when the reactor abruptly collapsed like a dying star imploding into a black hole. In its place a glowing sphere of deep purple blossomed, flickering like an image on a faulty pict screen. Purple lightning licked from the surface, playing over Cestus’s armour. He took a step back.
    Yowling static flared suddenly into life and the Astartes were floored by the wave of noise. A bright flash lit the entire chamber, overloading their helmet arrays in an instant. There, amidst the intense flare of light, Cestus saw an image, so fleeting and indistinct that it could have been an illusion from the overwhelmed optics in his helmet. He blinked once, seeing only white haze, and shook his head, trying to recapture it. The flare died down and when Cestus’s vision returned the afterglow haunted the edge of his retinas, but the image was gone and the reactor was dead. The core had turned dark. Cracks of static electricity glowed over its surface. It shrank and became abruptly inert. The warning lights inside the reactor shell dimmed and went out.
    Elsewhere on the station, secondary and tertiary reactors, registering the loss of the primary reactor, diverted power to the dock, allowing the tech-seers time to make the necessary repairs. The storm had howled itself out.
    ‘What in the name of Terra just happened?’ asked Antiges, a cluster of frag grenades still in his hand.
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    Ben Counter – Battle for the Abyss
    ‘Mother Fenris,’ Brynngar breathed at what he had just witnessed.
    ‘Did you see that?’ asked Cestus. ‘Did you see it in the blast flare?’
    ‘See what?’ Antiges replied, relieved that they didn’t have to collapse the reactor chamber after all.
    Cestus’s posture displayed his shock and disbelief as sure as any facial expression disguised by his armour. ‘Macragge.’

    SHARDS OF BROKEN images flashed on the psy-receiver, what was left of the astropathic transference from the psychic scream.
    Falkman, looking gaunt and haggard from his earlier experience, but otherwise intact, pored over them, running analysis protocols and clarity procedures with what little machinery still worked in the hub. Saphrax stood pensively beside him, awaiting the return of his captain.
    ‘Brother-captain!’ he said with no small amount of relief as Cestus and the others emerged from the tunnel, their armour scorched black in several places.
    When Cestus removed his helmet, his face was ashen and a cold sweat dappled his brow.
    Saphrax was taken aback; he had never seen a fellow Astartes, certainly not his captain, look so afflicted.
    ‘The astropathic message,’ Cestus stated coldly, going to the psy-receiver before Saphrax could verbalise his concern. ‘What’s left of it?’
    ‘All is well, brother,’ said Antiges, following in his captain’s wake and placing his hand on the banner bearer’s shoulder, though his tone was anything but reassuring.
    Brynngar waited further back, deliberately distancing himself, and