Aboard the Shadow-pattern Stormbird, Sasebo Tezuka, clad in Tartaros-pattern Terminator armor, followed Lord Ramsey towards War-Hold Ninety-Two.
He noticed that Lord Ramsey's features seemed sharper than usual, like the peaks flashing past the narrow viewport.
His gaze naturally fell upon the four Honour Guard members beside his lord.
Their armor was vastly different from before, making their forms seem larger.
Cataphractii-pattern Terminator armor.
The Tenth Chapter's armory was primarily equipped with Mark II Expeditionary power armor, including the Honour Guard.
In the past, only he and one other had worn Saturnine-pattern Terminator prototypes.
This was the first time Terminator armor had been deployed in the Tenth Chapter on a significant scale.
'Those equipped with it are all the Viscounts, those who have been granted the power of flesh by our father.'
Sasebo Tezuka's eyes narrowed, thoughtful.
'Except for Lord Ramsey, no other Court Viscount can, like him, penetrate into another's flesh with their armor.'
'Going unarmored would severely reduce defense. So, is Lord Ramsey's solution a compromise?'
'Using flesh as armor?'
His gaze finally settled on the Cataphractii's pauldrons. They continued the familiar Tartaros-style pauldrons, with a large, multi-layered design.
A slight shudder underfoot marked the Stormbird's landing. Lord Ramsey and several Honour Guard members in Mark II power armor silently vanished into the shadows of the compartment and the Terminators.
Sasebo Tezuka rose, as was his custom. With the other Terminators, he walked with heavy steps down the Stormbird's lowered ramp.
A biting, knife-edged wind howled in their faces, softened only by the filtration grilles as they breathed it in.
The further south they went, the colder it became. The Terminators' footsteps struck the ice with heavy thuds.
Sasebo Tezuka, strengthened by his time as both a "Corpse Taker" and a "Grave Digger," moved with greater ease in his heavier Tartaros armor than the Cataphractii, a comfort shared only by the wearer of the Saturnine-pattern prototype.
The "Gatekeeper," Sasebo Tezuka, felt a familiar shadow lurking within his own, elongated shadow.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
A piercing shriek tore through the air. Before Sasebo Tezuka and the Cataphractii could react, a beak struck downwards.
Before they could move, a pale, jade-like hand rose from the shadow behind Sasebo Tezuka.
Crackle, crackle...
Electricity arced, leaping from snow-shrike to snow-shrike, scorching their white feathers black.
The biomancer raised his right palm and clenched it into a fist.
The riders and snipers in their saddles turned crimson, like frogs boiled in water.
Bang, bang, bang...
Bursting flesh rained down on the black-armored warriors.
Twenty-four "Rose Bishops" raised their hands in unison. The falling gore was woven into "Flesh Cloaks" in mid-air, settling over their black armor as an outer layer of defense.
Sasebo Tezuka's pupils contracted. Just as he had suspected, he had guessed Lord Ramsey's intention.
As he pondered, red runes flickered onto his tactical display.
The entrance to the canyon leading to War-Hold Ninety-Two was now visible.
The "Gatekeeper" moved his mind. A slit opened on his brow, above his right eye.
The bronze gate slowly opened. A cold, fetid odor drifted out.
Pfft! Pfft!
Two heads emerged, one after the other. Four pale lights swept across the ice.
A sinuous, bone serpent crawled slowly out. A pair of wings unfurled from its back.
Behind the feathered serpent wraith, two bird-like forms with outstretched wing-membranes followed it into the air.
A ragged army of the dead flowed along the green-glowing ice towards the frozen canyon.
Rat-tat-tat...
From the mountain fortresses, a dense hail of fire rained down, hammering against the bones.
Pale light shimmered. The bullets passed through the wraiths' ghostly forms.
Physical weapons had limited effect on spectral beings.
The feathered serpent wraith reared high. Its four cold, green eyes swept the canyon.
The head on its right recoiled, its throat working as it loosed a silent, piercing shriek.
Invisible sound waves rippled, striking the ears of every being in the canyon, almost simultaneously.
Hundreds of Avenian warriors staggered, their heads ringing.
Hundreds of elegant forms clutched their heads and rolled. Snow and ice filled their gleaming armor.
In the chaos, figures "grew" from the shadows of the bridges. The "Shadow Ascetics" shaped the Avenian's elegant shadows into spears.
They clasped their hands, pushing forward. Spears of "shadow-sculpted" form pierced the Avenian warriors' backs.
The spear points emerged from their chests, pinning the tough bodies to the ice. Blood dripped down the shadow-stuff shafts.
Bang, bang, bang...
The shadow spears vanished. Bodies crashed into the snow and ice.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Snow-shrikes dove, their beaks like lances aimed at the black-armored warriors.
The "Shadow Ascetics" stepped back, "hiding in shadows," as the "Rose Bishops" charged into the chaotic canyon.
The Cataphractii's auto-targeting systems swept the ice, marking enemies on their tactical displays.
Twin-linked boltguns mounted on their power fists rose. The twin, black muzzles spat a deadly barrage.
Amidst the thunderous roar, Avenian warriors fell in droves.
The snow-shrikes, having lost their targets, wheeled and dove at the flesh-wreathed black-armored figures.
The "Rose Bishops'" flesh-cloaks writhed, coiling around helmets and torsos like living serpents of gore.
Pfft, pfft, pfft...
The shrikes' beaks pierced the outer layer of flesh, only to be entangled in the surging mass. Their speed slowed.
Thump, thump, thump...
The shrikes' beaks hammered against the black armor, leaving dents, but failing to pierce the Cataphractii.
The "Rose Bishops" raised their hands in unison, grasping at the white birds.
Bang, bang, bang...
Flesh exploded, falling onto the black armor, wrapping the Cataphractii in layers.
A sudden detonation echoed from the bridge. The Avenian commander, ravenned and crested, his form swelling like a balloon, exploded. Flesh rained down.
Ramsey, having slipped back into the shadows, looked with satisfaction at the "Rose Bishops."
No one in his Chapter could match him, a biomancer, in the domain of flesh.
Even with the Yeld-pattern hunter-killer suit, custom-made by Armor Master Malevolus, and with years of integration, they could not, like him, wrap their armor in flesh and burrow into an enemy's body.
Upon hearing of the new Terminator armor, Ramsey had conceived a new approach.
'Indeed, the Cataphractii-pattern Terminator armor is a perfect match for the "Rose Bishops."'
The Cataphractii offered greater protection than standard power armor, yet was not as heavy as the Tartaros or Saturnine patterns. It suited the "Rose Bishops," whose physical strength was not enhanced.
Flesh magic further reinforced the armor's defensive capabilities. The snow-shrike's beak, which could pierce Tartaros, could not penetrate the Cataphractii's defense.
....
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