//------------------------------// // Breakdown // Story: The Descent into Madness // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// “We managed to destroy seven different towers,” one of the clan leaders spoke. “It’s over half of the initial wave, but they keep coming down and they’re wising up. Larger organisms have been spotted at the new tower, Carnifexes, even a Dimachaeron. We lost a Stallion in our last assault. We could push for more, but…” “No,” Rainbow shook her head. “We played for time, the Hive Mind pushed back. If we continue to strike them at their home we do nothing but tire ourselves out without bleeding them at all. All that biomass is still in their possession, every Tyranid we killed will be back at some point. How are we with the next stage of the defences?” “Two hundred leagues of dense jungle separate our next line from the Tyranid landings, all Exodite clans have been relocated away from there to make sure there’s no easy biomass for them to feed on.” “Sorry, but ain’t a jungle full of biomass?” Applejack asked, speaking for one of the first times in these meetings. Applejack had been quiet these past few weeks, but that was not a sign of disinterest. Even Rainbow was surprised by the zeal with which she prepared the defences assigned to her, and the ferocity with which she took the fight to the swarm. Her battlesuit was a technological wonder, proving the rising star of Tau technology again and again. She never spoke in the meetings though, despite being present at all of them. Whether she was content to just listen, or trying to make a statement, Rainbow didn’t know, and truth be told she didn’t care either. Applejack fought and killed and stayed alive, that was all Rainbow wanted from her. She had been fighting and killing for far longer than Applejack, that was why she was in command. “The world spirit has already risen against the threat to it,” a wayseer looked at her as he spoke, Rainbow closing her mouth and staring daggers at the woman. “The bio-mass could be consumed by the swarm, but it will also lash back at them, dragging Tyranids beneath their roots to be killed and consumed in kind. It will stall them efficiently.” “And allow us to keep harrying their flanks,” Rainbow finished, scowling at the wayseer. “The swarm will have another enemy to fight, we increase our forces and keep pressing them. We hit them hard at every turn, we kill synapse creatures, we assassinate those who command portions of the swarm. We strike Lightning, with speed and murder in our hearts. The Dark City taught me this well, if we want to survive we fight like them. A single thrust of a knife through the weak points in the armour is more devastating than a hundred swings at a breastplate.” “This is all just a delaying action though,” Scoval pointed out. “Nothing we have done will harm the Tyranids for long, we need to strike a telling blow.” “What, against a Norn Queen?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “We have a single ship, and not even a warship, and the Norn Queens will all be on board their Hive Ships. So Hive Tyrants are next on the list. We can kill them, but until we can disrupt the fleet, more will be spawned. Holding is all we can do. If Saim-Hann or the Triumvirate or Pa’Laa don’t turn up, we can’t win. It’s as simple as that. You have a better idea, let me know, but if you don’t, we do things my way.” Scoval scowled, grinding his teeth, but he leant back, relenting the point, Rainbow smirking at the victory. “Good. Get to work. Sharp-shooters are to begin targeting any synapse creatures they find, don’t bother engaging the smaller beasts, the jungle will sort them out. Scoval, organise your remaining Knights, if any titans appear, you’re up. The rest of you, have your Dragon Knights patrol the jungles edge, run raids within if it is safe to do so, but report instantly if any Tyranids reach within a league of the jungles edge.” Without waiting to hear confirmation of her orders, Rainbow stalked from the tent. She probably should have stayed for longer, but she could already feel her skin beginning to crawl, the shakes threatening to break to the surface and overwhelm her. She longed to flex the muscles on her back, to release the cocktail of drugs that her body craved. It would be so easy to do, just a little twitch and… She fought the urge back down, snorting with the effort. Her supplies had reached critical level now and she couldn’t manufacture anything close to the potency her body was used to, not with what was available on Barank. Her body screamed in protest, her skin feeling like it was on fire. Her entire body began to shake and she scrunched her eyes shut, wrestling with the pain. Just when she felt it was going to force her to cry out, it stopped, the sudden lack of it jarring Rainbow, her eyes shooting open. It had been mid-day when she had exited the tent, the worlds star high in the sky beating down on all of them. Now the moon was in ascendancy, casting long shadows through the quiet streets of the tent city. Rainbow didn’t know what drove her onwards, but she began to move, her body low to the ground as she loped forward. Something was different about her, but it felt so natural she barely questioned it. She could smell something, something close, something dangerous to her, more so than anything else on the planet. She couldn’t explain how she knew or why she ran towards it, she just acted, moving through the tents with ease, even as she towered over them. She rounded a corner and instantly froze. Rainbow was looking at her, Rainbow Dash, not the Succubus she was now. She was terrified, looking up at the true Rainbow with terror in her eyes. For the first time, Rainbow spared a moment to think of what she was, looking down at the rending claws and scything talons that ended all four of her arms, or the worm like protrusions that swam in her vision where her mouth should have been. She had seen such a creature before, she had killed it once, a blast pistol shot to the head. A Lictor. Rage, pure, hot rage, boiled inside Rainbow’s body as she let out a bloodcurdling screech. She was sick and tired of these memories, seeing the weakling she had once been. Her mind was rebelling, and only one side could remain victorious. The Rainbow that was bolted, turning and sprinting down the alleyway of the now solid buildings of Hannibal. The true Rainbow set off in pursuit, all pretences of stealth forgotten as she crashed after the memory. The body of the Lictor was fast, powerful, and for all the speed of the Rainbow that was, the true Rainbow was faster. Striking out with a claw, the true Rainbow caught the Rainbow that was full across the muzzle, leaving a scar that burnt across the true Rainbow’s face as she inflicted it. The scar was long gone from her face now, replaced by wraithbone by Eethron, but the pain renewed itself a million times worse than it had been when she had first received the cut. The Rainbow that was backed into a corner, whimpering as blood poured down from the cut, blood mingling with tears that streamed from her eyes. The true Rainbow remembered what came next but let out a howl as she charged forward anyway. The blast pistol was brought up, firing in slow motion, but forewarned by performing the action herself, the true Rainbow twisted around the bolt with almost lazy easy. Time froze as the world faded to black, only the Rainbows remaining in an endless void of darkness. Rainbow was back in her body again, clad in the raiment of the Succubus, and letting out a screech she charged, determined to end this once and for all. “I am in command here!” She bellowed, swiping at the Rainbow that was with impossible speed, only for the apparition to dodge away from her every time. “Leave, me, the fuck, alone!” Rainbow continued screaming, continued slashing, finally hitting the phantom Rainbow, her talons tearing through flesh, muscle and bone, puling out part of her own windpipe in a bloody welt of blood. Her own throat burnt at the injury but she ignored it, watching in disbelief as the phantom merely cocked its head, heedless of the mortal injury the true Rainbow should have done to it. Mesmerised, Rainbow did nothing as she saw the blast pistol raised again, pointing directly at Rainbow as the apparition finally spoke, just two, simple words. “You’re wrong.” The blast consumed her, Rainbow screaming as she opened her eyes on the harsh sunlight of Barank again. Exodites were crying out, scattering from around her, and it took Rainbow a few minutes to find her bearings. She was standing atop of corpse. Well, several to be precise, half a dozen megadon’s lay around her in various states of dismemberment, Rainbow’s talons still dripping with the blood of the animals. She tried to speak, but her throat let out a wet gurgling instead, blood dripping from around in her throat. She felt woozy as soon as she realised it was there, her talon flying to staunch the blood flow. The pain of the creatures was fading, and it was not enough to heal the wound, but it kept it from killing her, even though by all rights she should have died there and then. Still swaying she looked around herself, the Exodites surrounding her looking at her with fear and hatred. A trio looked angrier than all the others, the owners of the beasts maybe? Rainbow wasn’t sure, nor did she care. She roared at the crowd, spreading her wings and flicking blood from their membranous surface, splattering the front ranks of the onlookers. This was not the arena’s of Commoragh however, no cheers from the spectacle and showering of blood were forthcoming, and the roar was far from defiant or victorious, coming out as yet another yet gurgle. The crowd began to close in, but Rainbow was not about to find out how mob justice would work on Barank. Beating her wings, she shot into the sky, leaving the scene of carnage that she had wrought behind her, trying and failing to push the words of the Rainbow that was from her mind. *** Weeks past, the Tyranids slowly but surely advanced, Rainbow’s wounds stitched back together with every kill, every creature she tore apart, but the scar never faded, now did the groove across her face from where a megadon claw had raked across it, despite the fact wraithbone should have easily been able to repair such inconsequential damage. As the wound refused to heal, Rainbow began to fight and kill in ever more exotic ways, isolating lone creatures and staging her own gladiatorial games, alone at first, but soon Gilda caught wind, as did some of the more violent Exodites, those that agreed with Rainbow’s strategies far more than the majority did. Tyranids were herded and captured, forced into makeshift arena’s for Rainbow to fight, recapturing little of the glory of a true arena, but drawing cries of delight nonetheless from the crowd. They were all young, all of them had been born after the fall. They didn’t remember those times, nor did they heed the stories of what excess would lead to. They revealed in the kill as Rainbow did, always eager for more. And still the wound in her neck did not heal, stubbornly remaining as a large knot of ugly scar tissue, her voice coming out in a cracked rasp now when she did speak. Eethron may have been able to repair the damage, but he wasn’t here, so Rainbow did the only thing she knew how to do anymore. Kill anything before her until the path became clear. The bodies of the Tyranids she slew piled high before being burnt away, trophies lining her ship, but the more she killed the more uncertain the path ahead became. Part of her screamed to go back, to make sure the defences were still being commanded properly, but what did that matter? She had given the orders, she had made the plans. Everyone knew what was at stake and what had to be done. Killing was required to make that happen, and Rainbow and her new group of acolytes, her new Cult, were adapt at the art of death above all others on the world. And so they killed, they tore enemy apart, treating it like sport, giving into their primal nature to fend off this foe. They were not Wyches, but they were close, and they were loyal, Rainbow didn’t care beyond that. Free from the restraint of command or the pressure to find Applejack, Rainbow was free once more to enjoy the hunt and the kill, the brutal whirlwind of talon on talon combat. *** Applejack landed heavily on the street, her suits vector jets firing to ensure she didn’t overbalance as she sprinted. Just as she hit the Tyranid lines she pushed herself up onto her hind legs, firing three blasts with her fusion gun. The first two melted the Warriors they hit, while the third froze mid-firing, flattening into a blade as she found herself in hand to hand combat with the swarm. The Tyranids had broken through the jungle cover less than an hour ago, their numbers making the horizon writhing as the living carpet rushed towards the mass of tents where the Eldar had been planning the jungle defences from. A mass exodus had already started, fleeing to the final defences in the mountains to the south, but many had stayed behind, either by choice or because they were cut off. The swarm had to be held here for a time to give the next line a chance, but as they came on it became more and more unclear if they were actually doing more than annoying the swarm. “Applejack, watch out!” a voice called from behind her, Applejack instinctively activating her vector jets and jinking to the side, narrowly avoiding the bio-plasma that had been streaking towards her back. Lightning landed next to her, Spitfire close behind, the Tau jet pack she wore burning hot, making up for her lost wing. The trio fought together, Exodites streaming to reinforce them. Scootaloo was just ahead of them, Exodites surrounding her as well, but she barely needed them. As much as she may have hated to admit it, she had become a proficient killer, Rainbow teaching her everything she knew while they were in Commoragh, while Lightning and Spitfire languished in a torture chamber. Eventually the group cut down the last of the pack, taking a few moments to catch their breath. The sounds of fighting and dying still echoed across the tent city though, they were far from finished it seems. “Where’s…she?” Spitfire panted, still managing to spit out the last word, making it clear who she was talking about. Nobody had seen Rainbow for weeks now, not since the last command meeting she had attended, and the slaughter of the megadons that came afterwards. No one knew quite what had driven her to kill the beasts, though there were a hundred different theories whispered among the Exodites. Applejack didn’t buy into most of them, Rainbow was many things, but she was not a genestealer cultist or a biological weapon. The rumours of a mental breakdown however were much more believable, and Applejack had to admit it was a compelling argument. The reports had come in about her activities of course, Tyranids slaughtered in ritualised combat, close to an entire Warrior Clans worth of Exodites disappearing to stay in the jungle constantly, and those Applejack had believed, as had Scoval. The High King was disgusted that men he knew and had fought with would fall prey to such behaviour, vowing that they would answer for their actions once the swarm lay defeated. “Ah don’t know,” Applejack muttered back. “Bloom, any chance y’all can see Rainbow on any of yer scanners?” “Negative, Shas’O, my scanners are picking up more movement than can be traced accurately as it is, to pinpoint the difference between the swarm and Succubus Dash would require far more advanced sensors than we have available. I am sorry.” “Don’t be, ain’t yer fault,” Applejack shook her head within the suit. “Come on, we need to get back in the fight. She’ll be somewhere around here, her and her Cult ain’t gonna miss out on this fight. They’ll probably be enjoying themselves.” “We most certainly are,” an Exodite spoke as he rounded the corner, a sword clutched in each hand and blood covering him almost head to toe. “Applejack, you are not hard I am glad to say. The Succubus wants to link forces and cut through the swarm in the lower quarter, create a line for a defence.” Applejack ground her teeth at the summons that seemed to be given but swallowed her pride and dropped back to all fours. “Let’s get a move on then, this day ain’t getting’ any easier, may as well fight as one.” The Exodite grinned manically, before turning and sprinting off through the streets, Applejack and her command following behind them. As she ran she managed to catch sight of more of the battlefield, her heart sinking as she saw the looming shapes of two Bio-titans approaching from the jungle. It looked like Clan Scoval was already engaging them, pitting their Knights against the biological monstrosities, and from this distance Applejack could not tell who was winning. Then the view was snatched away, a winged warrior diving at her, only to be cut down mid-dive by Scootaloo. The mare didn’t say a word, didn’t break stride. She killed, and she carried on, her eyes focused on the horizon. Was that the war mask Rainbow had once spoken of? Was it why Scootaloo was so meek out of combat and yet so vicious within it? Applejack couldn’t say for sure but filed it away as something to ask later on. The swarm pressed them hard as they forced their way through, but finally they managed to catch sight of Rainbow. She was covered in blood, not just dripping in it but actually covered in it. It stained her bodysuit and the armoured plates on it, it matted her mane and it seemed to have soaked in to the wraithbone on her face, not just recently, but after weeks of indiscriminate slaughter. Applejack balked at the sight, it was that of a monster unleashed not her former friend, but right now, as much as she hated to admit it, that was exactly what they needed. “Rainbow!” she called over the din, activating her communicator and synching with Rainbow’s with line of sight communications. “Yer wantin’ to take the lower quarter?” “Yes,” Rainbow reply was a rasping gasp, the clipped words making it clear her mind was barely on the conversation at all. “We move, now.” As one the two forces began to move, Rainbow’s Exodite Cult taking the lead, slicing through the swarm with reckless abandon, heedless of their own losses, while Applejack forces focused on keeping the horde back with precise shots from their shuriken catapults. They complimented each other well, but for every step they took they were forced to stop for longer, for every beast they felled, they lost one of their own. It was simply a numbers game now, which side would outlast the other. There was no contest, Applejack knew it, and from Rainbow’s change in expression, she did too. “Incoming!” one of Applejack’s Exodites called, pointing to the sky. Applejack followed his finger and felt the odd calm of realising the inevitable fate was upon her. A huge brood of gargoyles, hundreds of them, was heading for the group, their devourers firing as they came on. They couldn’t fight them, they couldn’t escape through the air. This was it, thirty-seven years of war, everything Rainbow had done to find her, this was where it had led. Applejack closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable before the sound of massed plasma fire ripped across the battlefield. Her eyes flew open in time to see a hail of blue shots ripping through the brood, and of a welcome sight descending on tongues of fire.