With his animus speculum masking his soulless aura, no Drone or sensor could detect his presence. Although they looked straight at the ghoul in their midst, not one of the bewildered Fire Warriors sent to investigate the landing craft could see him. Yet as the Strike Team mounted their transport to return to base, none could shake the creeping fear that had settled upon them. That sensation would have turned swiftly to terror had any of them been able to see the silent, skull-helmed horror that had joined them inside their vehicle, and which even now pressed itself into a corner of the Devilfish's transport compartment, biding its time as it began the quest to reach its ultimate prey.
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And there was good reason to fear.
Passing through the empty streets and ruins of Agrellan Prime was a true horror. It passed undetected, save only for an unsettling feeling that washed out in bow waves before its sinister presence. Spider-like it crept, scuttling down access shafts, picking its way through narrow tunnels, searching for its target. Resplendent and clean-lined amidst the ancient ruins, the Tau compound glowed, its very newness shining in the darksome hole of the old hive city. The crawling thing from the blackness pried open a vent, pulling itself inside. The Culexus Assassin had come, and it aimed to kill Aun Va.
Slipping into and out of reality, the Culexus was a blur to the Tau and their myriad sensors. Fear ran before him, causing all nearby to shudder, and slowing or even freezing Al functions. This living horror was a soulless anomaly, a shifting spectre of inhumanity replete with the terrors of the Warp. It scurried across the ceiling over unnerved engineers, dropping down to walk after their passing. Its skull-faced head turned this way and that as it peered through walls in search of its target.
A burst from its opened animus speculum felled two guards, their armour worthless against the lethal mind blasts. A pair of Gun Drones, unable to focus on a foe, were ripped from the air and smashed. Deeper and deeper the black-clad creature stalked into the command compound, leaving a trail of dead behind. Fire Warrior Strike Teams, alerted to an intruder, shot wildly down the corridors, but in the end were blasted by negative psychic streams or torn apart at close range.
The Culexus neared its target.
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It began as a growing unease and bloomed into pure dread. The Culexus Assassin burst into the command centre in an organisation of swift destruction. The Fire Warriors guarding the room crumpled, their last breath used to scream in horror. The Culexus seemed to solidify and fade as it unleashed the full power of it's animus speculum.
Aun'Va was wounded, his mind aflame. His Honour Guard, knowing they would die, willingly stepped between the flickering ghoul and their master, absorbing that onslaught. Only by such noble sacrifice did Aun'Va escap, his hover drone banging off pristine corridor walls as he fled, peering behind him for fear of pursuit.
The hallways were filled with bodies, their twisted expressions contorted in final terror. Assuming none were left to defend him, Aun'Va knew he must flee. The triple-shielded doors opened upon his command, and the Ethereal Supreme entered the abandoned hive. Terror followed his heels - the certainty that the black-clad nightmare was calmly pursuing him drove Aun'Va onwards. His throbbing mind saw images of a leering deathmask. When the hover drone malfunctioned, damaged from flight or battle, Aun'Va left it, the robed figure moving as quickly as his ancient limbs allowed. He turned corridors, stumbled down empty streets, and climbed timeworn steps leading to a vast arched structure. The gargoyle-studded building was ancient, grotesque, its purpose long forgotten. In short, it was all that Aun'Va loathed of Humanity. There, beneath its arches, the Culexus finally caught it's prey.
The end was neither swift nor merciful
Warzone Damocles: Mont'ka pp104-106
