Warhammer 40,000: Stavrakis- The Hunt For Valakt

Epilogue

For the last ten years, the nightmares began the same. Since that day at Kryptmann Gamma. The lights flashing on and off in the twilight, the hum and thrum of the datafarm. Sudden bright flashes, rendering me helpless to act. I turn, dreading the sight. It has been the same for ten years. Sometimes they occur daily, sometimes i'm free for weeks . But always I return to that room, the sole witness to Valakt's butchery. The lights shatter and fuse, but still an abominable glow emanates from somewhere, somehow. The floor was covered in a carpet of what I had assumed at the time to be Genestealers. How wrong and naive of me.

The faces, it was always the faces that centered in my vision. The uncountable faces of the women and children, families of the workers. Dead, violated. Everyone of them shredded and torn asunder. The corpses of a few Genestealers were mingled in with them. Booming laughter echoed around the room as my vision focussed unerringly on the faces. My anger and fury rose as the implications settled on me. These innocent, Imperial citizens who sheltered here for safety as they families toiled and worked, only to be used as fodder for a Genestealer incursion.

THIS IS MY PROMISE TO YOU, HUMAN. A TASTE OF WHAT YOUR IMPERIUM WILL SUFFER.

Valakt's voice echoed around the room, a new laugh with it.

HA! THAT HUMAN PUPPET IS NOTHING TO ME. DESTROY MY VESSEL, TEAR ITS TENDONS AND MUSCLES. GO ON.

Suddenly, as nightmares go, the bodies convulsed. They flew violently around the room, careening and colliding with each other and the wall. As they flew past me, each one screamed in abject agony. I heard each of them, dear Emperor, and I was powerless. Each scream imparted to me a measure of their pain, and I saw myself collapse on the floor, bleary eyed.

HELP/ EMPEROR PRESERVE US.

WHAT IS IT WHAT IS IT HELP

FROM THE LIGHTNING, AND THE TEMPEST, EMPEROR DELIVER US

Then they collided. They collided with such force it turned their bodies into a fused mash, which dropped and thudded onto the floor. There was no silence, as their screams and Valakt's laughter still invaded my thoughts. The misshapen blob congealed and, in the manner of nightmares, became Valakt. Power returned to my body as I surged to my feet, raging. I ran at him with my rapier, seeing as his features melted and changed to become something like Valakt, but also unlike him.

THIS BODY IS BUT MY PUPPET. JOIN ME, INQUISITOR. I AM VALAKT.

Now revealed, the Daemon goaded me, taunted me. It felt like I was running through sludge. All I could see was the body of Valakt, as everything dropped, and faded into blackness. My rapier ran him through with a solid shudder. He gasped and doubled over. I wrenched my blade out laterally, almost severing his torso in two. As his body-form crumpled to the floor, his face had changed once again. Becoming the face of my master.

I fought myself awake. The room was dark and full of terrors until I calmed down. My heavy breathing reminded me of the slumbering Salamanders on Nocturne. My head was slick with sweat. I looked around after a few minutes, my breath coming in laboured gasps. I swallowed hard. This pattern has repeated itself for the past ten years, since that day. I became aware, as my breathing rate decreased, of a pain in my right hand. Blinking in the dark night, I saw I had my laspistol in a death grip. My knuckles were almost start white. Blood was trickling out from along the handle, so strong was my grip. I unclenched my hand, feeling burning warmth and sensation return to it. I massaged my palm, unconsciously making the sign of the Aquila. The laspistol clattered to the floor loudly. I swore. I quietly got up and out of the bed, wrestling the covers away. I felt as weak as an infant. I tried to make as little noise as possible, to not disturb the other occupant. I stumbled on over to the built on refresher block. I ran a freezing shower of water over my body, shaking and shuddering as the vestiges of my nightmare left me. I stood like that for a good few minutes, steadily increasing the temperature until it felt like my skin was burning. It was another half hour until I padded back into my room. The fervent hope that I succeeded in not waking my partner evaporated as she was sitting up, staring at me. Crap. A different feeling took over my body. Aurora's eyes were puffy, half-closed slits.

"Stav. What the fuck." She sleepily attempted to moan at me, but it came out more like "stasifhrasifuck." She yawned. "Was it another nightmare?" She said with more clarity. I kept my silence but my pained look gave her all of the answers she needed. I collapsed back onto the bed, feeling more normal. She gripped my hand warmly. I turned my head to look at her, and it felt like I was looking at her for the second time. Not the first time, as first impressions are false. Usually, in my line of work. The second glance, is worth so much more. Your brain couldn't make sense of what it was seeing, and demanded a second look. Her luscious red hair was neatly parted and framed her face nearly perfectly. Her golden-yellow eyes, the eyes of a predatory feline, looked back at me.

I tore my gaze away to check the time. Three hours past midnight. Damn.

"That crazed bastard will be dead later. I have faith." She said, as if reading my mind.

"I can't keep up like this." I confessed. "The sleepless nights alone aren't bad. Coupled with the exhaustive work we put in, the amount of hours of groundwork. That really fucked up fracas with the Tyranids near Arkas Minor." That last one brought a giggle to Aurora's lips.

"I will hound that creep all the way to the Plague Planet if I have to." I turned back to her. Her eyes were already half closed. I smiled as I settled back to sleep.

It would all be worth it in the end.