Tigurio made planetfall within the hour. An orbital bombardment preceded the assault, succeeded by deathwind missile drop pods, and finally Thunderhawk bombing runs. If the Imperial Guard planetary defence forces found themselves overwhelmed in the initial bombardments, they found themselves overwhelmed and washed away by the cultist assault unleashed as drop pod after drop pod unleashed squads of traitor guardsmen led by traitor Black Templars.
Tigurio Falzone strode amidst the chaos, directing his attentions and movement towards the ancient and abandoned mine. Deep within, something stirred, a presence that had slumbered for a thousand years. A presence now sensing the nearness of the fallen space marine commander, and his intent to find it.
Yes.... Come, Tigurio... Come death of Akthalos, Betrayer amongst friends... Come to me... Come to me and RELEASE ME!!! The earth trembled, and the few surviving defenders fled in terror to the sound of laughter from below and from the Space Marines.
An hour later and Tigurio's techmarines had repaired the motors for the elevator shaft into the mine with their now twisted mechanical litanies of taint. The mine shaft seemed to shake with quiet laughter as Tigurio and his command squad made the descent into the mine. The warp was strong here. A weak spot in the physical realm from a rift opened millenia ago... This was a pit of death long before the Imperium had made it a mine.
Though none who now rode the elevator shaft, nor any alive to tell of it, knew; the mine had been dug into an ancient fane. A cave dwelling of an old priesthood long since past. An old priesthood that dined on the flesh of men, and children and made other uses of women. This old priesthood had enslaved the population for thousands of years before the Emperor's light had come to the world, and the priests themselves had practiced dark magics in the name of a dark god. That dark magic had been what led to the initial failure to pacify Akthanos, as daemons ran rampant against the Imperial Armies. It was only when Rogal Dorn's own legion brought the full weight of their guns to bear that the world was silenced. In the wake of the Horus Heresy, a cult sprung up here, using the cave for their debased rituals... Through the millenia after the Horus Heresy, the cult was purged, their records erased, and the fane purified... But the evil lingered on. After a time, the old legends became myths, exaggerated beyond belief, and eventually put to rest by the Ecclesiarchy.
Some time ago, the planet had been worth much more, as its mines had held great wealth. But after Hades Mine was opened, and delved into the ancient cavern dedicated to an ancient evil, the world's production began to ebb. When the horrors within Hades mine were unleashed upon the world, the Inquisition purified the world from orbit, then sent ground forces to cleanse all possible pockets of taint. The world was repopulated, but the mines of the world were shut down. With mining forbidden by ancient Imperial Dicatus, and with no public recollection of why, the world simply ceased to be important to the Imperium. The daemons were foolishly thought to have been vanquished, and the world safe... So long as the mines were kept sealed.
Yet now, Tigurio Falzone and his traitor marines were descending down, deep into the darkness of the mine. Past the darkness, the mine's walls began to glow. Tigurio felt the damness of Chaos, the stench of decay. He felt the putrescence as he felt this leg of his journey coming to a close.
Stepping off the elevator lift, Tigurio strode down a long winding mine tunnel, as if posessed of a certainty and knowledge of his destiny. He stepped onto a mag-rail mine cart, and intoned a vague rite of activation as he pushed the rune of awakening. The cart slid down the rail, Tigurio had left his men behind, with orders to kill anything that ventured out if it was not him. As the mag-rail picked up speed, Tigurio had to hold a restraint bar as the cart swept through turns, peaks and dips as if he were riding in a Land Speeder. Finally, the cart slowed to a crawl and Tigurio leapt off before it came to a complete halt.
The cavern he was in glowed with a light purple haze barely perceptible to the human eye. Indeed, if a human were to stand anywhere in the cave before Tigurio arrived, he would only see black, if he did not see anything from the warp, that is. And once Tigurio had entered, he would only see two, red, glowing, evil eyes passing over the whole room as they took it all in. Tigurio powered down his helmet, and took it off. The purple remained, and he sniffed the air. One second it was flowers. Some form of lilac, perhaps. The next he was smelling rotted fish, iron rich blood, a banquet hall, human entrails, human fluids and pheremones, blood again, then musk and incense. Each scent was fresh as the last, and each was new, different... Except the recurring scent of blood.
"Unuurthk'thechakkirnzvdbkhrduvviishkivbbdlikhathnduur..." He whispered to the air. His third eye opening and glaring directly in front of him at the altar. The altar was in tact. It had all the trappings of Chaos, and indeed every possible sigil or glyph to represent a god of Chaos was inscribed somewhere on the altar. An altar cloth lay on the floor. Stained in blood, Tigurio lifted it and sniffed the cloth. Fresh blood? He placed the cloth over the altar and both vanished, the cavern became huge, and Tigurio became aware that the cavern was now as it is in the real world... That what he'd just seen was more... memory.
"Vksan'thdknar" He called out, and a laugh answered, faint as if a gust of wind. "Show yourself to me, that I may free you!" He called out. "Vksan'thdknar! I shall release you from this prison!" He replaced his helmet, allowing his autosensors to project an image of the cave's full size into his view.
Welcome, Tigurio Falzone, destroyer of man, Death of Akthalos. Welcome to my home... Why, dear little plaything, why do you think I would ever want out?
"This is a prison for you! A damned trap to you, is it not!?" He snarled.
I admit. It does frustrate me so that no man takes the time to visit... Not since that pestilence you call the Imperium rose up... Nurgle's rot... HA! The Imperium is the rot... Nurgle would provide a cure no doubt, but I am not of Nurgle... Dear plaything.
"I am no toy. Do not trifle with me, daemon, or I..."
Send me back to the Warp, traitor marine? Beat the life from me? You have no power over me. The name you use is a means to communicate, not my true name, which I shall never give. The daemon's voice grew more clear in Tigurio's mind as he began to see the outline of the secret keeper. I am a keeper of secrets, dear manthing. I am a steward of knowledge... And I do not share lightly, but I will share with you this. I can no better think a way to keep my secrets than to seclude myself from my brethren and your former allies. This world was of no import to the Imperium. Tithe grade Adeptus Non... But now that you have attacked, you will bring the Inquisition here. No doubt to find the artifact which keeps me hidden... The artifact which I have bound myself to in order to stay in this world. Then they shall destroy it, purify it of all taint, and in so doing, send me and my secrets back to the Warp.
So tell me... Why shouldn't I kill you now for this? Tigurio found himself staring up into the glowering countenance of a 5 meter tall daemonic woman. She held a weapon in each of her two upper arms, while her two lower arms seemed to bear runes of power on each palm.
"Because, I can move your artifact. Give you a new safe haven... Far from this world." He did not think much about what he was saying, but knew he would be obliterated if he did not act quickly.
You have offered this freely, and will keep your word as your honor? If you fail, do you pledge me your soul as token favor to satiate my rage, and the soul of every man under your command? Her voice a sibilant hiss inside his mind, Tigurio found himself strangely mesmerized by the vile and beautiful thing before him, her tail swishing over his head.
"I pledge the souls of my men to satisfy you if I fail to safeguard you into hiding." Tigurio began, but began to smile. "But I will not pledge my own life over such a matter. I only offer you the chance to take my soul if you help me avenge the men I have lost to the folley of the Imperium. Help me to bring ruination upon the worlds of man, and I shall not seek safe harbor from any God of Chaos, should I fail to safeguard you back into hiding.
You pledge such things so freely, as if your own immortal soul were so burdensome that you would happily discard it... Very well... I accept. With that, the great daemoness slashed Tigurio's right hand, licked his blood from her blade, and thrust a hideous shard of rusted metal into his bloody hand. The blood contact with the blade formed a brilliant light, blinding Tigurio for a moment, before dimming. In his hand, the shard of iron had become a beautifully crafted dual-handed power sword, with litanies that appeared Imperial, but as he read each rune and sigil, Tigurio became acutely aware that each was a blasphemy against the Imperium, some of which was a threat against him as well.
Sheathing the apparent relic blade, Tigurio fixed the hilt to his belt and mounted the mag-rail cart. As he emerged from the depths, a plume of dust and debris followed in his wake, the caves, having been supported as much by eldritch energies as by now-rusted plasteel supports, now falling apart behind him. The Black Templars awaiting him regarded him with distrust as he approached, but lowered their arms as they verified it was indeed their Marshal.
Within the hour, the full force of his assault had removed itself, with the exception of the traitor guardsmen, who were no longer needed. Left behind to secure the world for the Gods of Chaos, they began to spread out their forces to hunt down the remaining Imperial resistance. They did not have long however, as once all the Black Templars were safely in orbit, Tigurio ordered the immediate bombardment of the planet's surface with magma bombs and cyclotronic warheads. The bombardment took hours, and the screams of death echoed up from the surface through the Warp. Tigurio felt a certain measure of pleasure emanating from the sword on his hilt, and smiled as he watched the world burn.
Draconis Argentus Falzone mustered his men. The Storm Troopers under his command boarded the Thunderhawk Gunships that had landed just outside the void shield barriers. The men had run at full speed to get inside, in order to avoid frostbite, and none were lost in boarding the gunships.
Once aboard the Imperial Navy Sword-class frigate in orbit, Sergeant Falzone ordered the small fleet of Imperial ships to make for the nearest Warp Jump. An astrotelepathica signal had been recieved reporting a renegade Black Templar raiding force in the vicinity of Akthalos system. He was bound and determined to investigate and find the whereabouts of his wayward uncle.
