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Horrors of Tzeentch
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our platoon was sent to clear out a mostly-abandoned Ork mining outpost on Corellian IV so we could repurpose it for Imperial use. The first sign that something was wrong was when our first two attempts to make landfall were impeded by our dropships exploding - both times, as soon as they were exactly 22.2 clicks from the outpost. 300 lives lost in the blink of an eye - and not an Ork in sight, let alone an anti-air platform. We tried to get a clearer look at the outpost after that, but all our arrays were bringing back a ton of interference. There appeared to be something - we couldn't tell what - hovering over the outpost. All we knew was that it was big. We touched down about 30 clicks away and slogged it in on foot. The vets hitched a ride in the tanks - that turned out to be a mistake. We didn't see a soul on our way in, but just before the 22 click mark, all 12 Russes were vaporised. The armour seemed to flake away in an instant, but the interior must have been caught in the inertia. For a flashing moment I saw a look of pure pain on our commander's face, before he got turned inside out. All of us troopers were unharmed. We crested the last ridge and made visual contact with the outpost - and the thing that had been screwing with our systems and our armour. It must have been 90 feet across, at least. A giant mirror. A diamond - or an octahedron, or a cube, depending what phase of its rotation it was in while you happened to glance at it. The air seemed crystal clear for the last 10 clicks between us, and it was filled with what I can only describe as song. Like a mix between whale sounds and steel chimes. With the sound came a cold touch on your brain - an alien tendril reaching out to your consciousness. More than one of us lost our lunch - or our bowels. And then the diamond shattered - its bottom half dropping through the air, splitting into a thousand little pieces as they descended. They seemed to fall straight through the corrugated plasteel roofing of the outpost - as if they weren't there at all. But moments later, they had formed a ring around the perimeter. An endless wall of shimmering, iridescent silver. The singing got louder. More than a few of us split ranks, screaming. We knew it wasn't long now until they were upon us. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Posted: 3 Oct 2020
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