Peacesword 20k: Fall of Cadillac 2: Shieldnette boogaloo

"So we're not getting sent to our deaths?" Asked Secundus, feigning a hint of surprise as he marched through the corridor in full Admiral regalia and a servo-skull next to his shoulder. His steps echoed throughout the metallic confines, with each clank flowing through the air of that which led towards the bridge of the cruiser. Not only were his steps that which formed the echo, but so to those of the man next to him, he who dressed in his inquisitorial robes and hood.

"I'd rather remain with my guts and sanity where they belong, and your... 'fleet' surviving will aid in that." Answered Apollo, not shooting him a glance.

"Two destroyers and a cruiser seem a weak force for what you want to do."

"A Retribution-class would fare the same, without the warp giving your main guns a target."

A sigh escaped Secundus as he lowered his head, rummaging in his coat to then take out a pack of smokes. He grabbed one and offered the pack to the inquisitor who denied it with a wave of his palm, to which Secundus shrugged as he put his own smoke in his mouth and his pack back in his pocket.

"Admiral Secundus," spoke up the servo-skull in its static-infested tone, "a high-priority message from Commissar Revus has arrived."

"Put it through." He answered, halting and turning to the servo-skull; in turn, the inquisitor so too did the same.

The ear-drilling noise of static changing frequency over and over played relentlessly. A pristine clear exterior could not hide the ever-eroding machinations within of millennia long past; a full replacement had seemed in order for well over a century, yet such little thing still served as if emotional attachment had been the only thing keeping it online to its last breath, one to arrive sooner rather than later in all of its ear-bleeding static.

"This is Commissar Revus in Sector Five, western wing." Played the servo-skull, sound quality found lacking even for mankind back before its first space-faring ship had broken atmosphere. "Sir, you should see this. There is... something on the window outside the ship. That's the best any of the ratings can describe it as."

And then, the static ended.

"I wonder what could be outside the ship in the middle of warp travel." Asked Apollo, with his minuscule hint of sarcasm arriving to Secundus as if it were at its maximum capacity.

No words needed to be said before the two silently agreed in their next action: Turning and marching back through the corridor the same way they came from. Metal upon metal greeted every hallway and corridor they stepped to, soon to arrive to the areas the crew dominated with their numbers marching about. A lengthy trip, and they arrived to an elevator they took downward, eclipsing their view of all but the confine they stood in, until they saw through the transparent glass of the elevator the lower level. Sector five, a segment of the massive ship's length several dozen meters high with its massive reinforced viewports inbetween each gun of the macro-batteries. From so high above as the elevator descended, both Secundus and Apollo saw the sea of ratings converging by the viewports, leaving all other parts of the segment desolated save for its skeleton crew.

The floor. The glass doors slid open, allowing the two to step outisde. The desolation left them to march in relative quickness towards the spot in question, certain that the commissar would be there. True to their thoughts, shouts of orders broke out from the crowds, shooting glances of surprise at the admiral and the inquisitor upon seeing their presence, moving in quick fashion to allow them a corridor of men to walk through.

"Admiral." Greeted the commissar in his so characteristic attire, marching out of the crowd and saluting as he arrived to the two and kept pace.

"Is what you found still by the window, commissar?" Asked Secundus, marching through the crowd towards the viewport, yet still gaining no sight of the object- if it were an object- in question.

"That, it is."

The warp outside raged on, seen in its full splendorous abhorrence through the massive viewport reaching to the ceiling of the segment, shaped like a gothic window in its frame. Like an oasis in a desert, the beauty of the Imperium's aesthetic superimposed upon the abhorrence of the warp flew by the Dauntless' side, one of the two sword-class frigates at its flanks. And yet, no object could be seen so far, giving away what minuscule size it had. Soon enough the three reached the very edge of the ship, the window itself with a mere step away from its base, to see what all had found right in front of their eyes, size equivalent to that of a man and looks none wished to compliment.

Red skin marked its appearance, the only color remaining as it is as it contrasted with the ever-changing chaos behind it. Scales, sharp protrusions, a serrated saw-like tail, claws on both hands and legs like that of a reptile clinging against the glass, armor-like scales all over its body rivalling that of an Imperial Fists marine, all sharing shades from the hottest and fiery reds to the darkest obsidian-like blacks, characteristics all had heard of be it through Imperial notes or mere fairy tales. Yet, its hair showed a near-celestial white color, flowing wildly and falling upon its head enough to cover its eyes upon its head, its entire body showeing a similar anatomy to that of a human female. Something else showed such whiteness, too; her serrated teeth, grinning from ear to ear.

Apollo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at what he noticed by his side, the commissar's expression as he stared baffled at what clinged in front.

"Is this your first time seeing a demon, Commissar Revus?" He asked.

But the commissar could not answer. As if spacing out, he blinked repeatedly in quick succession before shaking his head.

"It is, Inquisitor."

"The crew shares the same sentiment, I suspect." He added, slowly turning and scanning the crowd all around them, to see them all wide-eyed with the same shock, if not more. Not even a mumble could be heard, all dead silent. "Admiral, I take it your crew is inexperienced in these matters."

"You did take an overglorified maintenance crew out for a sortie, Inquisitor." Said Secundus, taking the final step forward to remain face to face with the daemon, who stared with Emperor knew what eyes beneath the curtain of hair blocking them.

As if it had been waiting, it, or she, removed one hand from its clinging place and moved it further center, right between her and him. With a clawed finger extended, she gently pressed it against the glass, and then moved it. Though the meters-thick reinforced glass protected the interior even from noise, the vibrations caused by the scratching could be heard even from those ratings behind them flinching in fear. Slow yet steady, with stroke after stroke, the daemon wrote on the glass in calligraphy only matched by her form in abhorrance.

'SECUNDUS'

"It... marked you, Admiral." Muttered the inquisitor, narrowing his eyes.

"I am aware." He answered, before taking a step back. "Servo-skull, put me through to the Enginseer Prime."

Static blew out of its vox-speaker.

"Enginseer Prime, answering." Said a voice, generating static of its own along with that provided by the servo-skull. For those few moments, the potential health concerns almost left the daemon as second priority. "Requirements, Admiral?"

"I want an individual blast shutter down. Sector five, left wing, uh..." A pause, one he used to glance around and count the viewports. "Seventh viewport."

"Understood, Admiral."

With its whirring noise from above, the titanic armour plate descended upon the viewport in such excruciatingly slow motion. As all watched, as everyone's head pointed upwards to the plate slowly descended in equal measure, soon they saw the shutter close in on the daemon. It did not move, it did not flinch, just clinged onto the window till the absolute force of the shutter forced it down, scraping the glass with its claws leaving such comb-like marks against it. Everyone's heads descended further as it reached the bottom of the window, till the bottom frame obscured the daemon's presence, and with a great thud, the window had fully shut.

Little thuds could be felt through their vibration past the window, soon moving to the side. The giant gun of the macro-battery beside them obscured sight to the next viewport, a location the thuds lead to. The admiral, the inquisitor, and the commissar slowly made their way around, ratings following like a river's stream wherever they went, until they arrived to the next window. There they saw the demon approaching, clinging onto the ship like a spider, till it rested on the window just like before.

"Sixth viewport."

"Acknowledged."

And so, the armour plate descended. And so, the daemon scraped against the glass with its comb-like result showing. And so, the little thuds began anew towards the fifth viewport.

"...Fucking daemon, get the fuck off my ship!" Cursed Secundus, before turning to the servo-skull. "All viewports, all sectors, both wings!"

"Understood. Activating all blast shutters."

And so, all descended at the same time, little by little eclipsing what light the warp provided, to be replaced by that of the ship's interior flaring up instead. With a massive thud, all blast shutters of the ship struck at the same time.

"That's how you deal with a daemon, boys." Cheered secundus to himself, clapping his hands as if clearing the dust off them.

"Commissar?" Asked the inquisitor, gaining the attention of he who still seemed to space out, staring into the void where the daemon had been last seen. Like before, the commissar blinked repeatedly, before closing his eyes and rubbing them with a hand.

"Yes, Inquisitor?"

"I trust you'll be more than ready to deal with your men wavering. We've got a long way to go, and a daemon has already seen us. It'll only get worse from here. Far worse."

"I understand. The Emperor protects."