#khopesh

Lullaby walks through Stone Flame on another visit to the Chemistry labs. Olly and them had done phase one of their current project yesterday, that being preparing the samples and doing the taste test. They were determined to not be late today as they were eager to check on how the remaining slices of their prototypes fared in the overnight conditions they'd been left in. 

They walk familiar halls, and use a special door pass to enter the lab room sector, required for baselines but not Astartes. Guess their right to be here was assumed, as opposed to themselves. They roll their eyes, the more things change the more they stay the same. 

It's even true of these hallways that remind them of the ones they'd used in College, though in these cases the rooms had to be reserved in advance and any experiments approved by base management. Wouldn't want Astartes building pipe bombs here. 

Would pipe bombs even damage Astartes? Well yes probably, but maybe they'd have an easier time tanking an explosion than a baseline. 

Random thoughts aside, the room reservation system made them even more eager to not misuse their allotted time. They'd arrive, get things set up and then-

(!)

Something shifted- it wasn’t a sound, not really. It was more - like pressure? The way the air felt just before something goes wrong.

Karlsor- among the other Night Lords that made up Lullaby’s found family have hammered in trusting one’s gut instinct about things like this. To always have at least one eye out for something to go wrong. Lullaby’s hand twitched. Then- they move- walking only a few steps more before picking up a run as they felt the sudden desire to do so.

The corridor behind them erupts into motion- boots hammering stone, laughter sharp and predatory. Space Wolves- the same ones as before. All damned four of them, but the sound and weight. Those awful blood Claws.

“Run away little Baseline!” One of the blood claws barks out with a cruel laugh.

Lullaby didn’t look back- one of the things that Karlsor and the others hammered in every second counts when facing enemies that far out class you. Lullaby focuses and uses their powers to help enhance their muscles to run faster. 

The four blood claws- two behind, two somehow ahead of Lullaby, a trick they’d been taught by one of the Blood Ravens- who used flexibility and out-of-box thinking had them move and slide - dropping down low as Lullaby slips between their legs and rolls as they get up and continue to run, no wasted movement.

The Space Wolf Blood claws swear and howl as they turn to give chase once more. These corridors- that Lullaby is very grateful for is too narrow for four space wolves to run abreast of each other, too many twists and turns. And Lullaby knows these lab corridors far better than the Blood Claws do. Lullaby doesn’t need to out last them all that long, just enough to find a place of relative safety.

Even as Lullaby runs-  they hear them howl and laugh, claws scrape against stone. The Blood Claws are taunting them. Enjoying this- as if it was all some fun game. Harmless play. Lullaby turns and ducks hard into a side access area and squeezes into a maintenance recess- too small for Astartes armor, barely big enough for the baseline.

Lullaby presses themself flat. For one Breath, two- there was silence. Lullaby blinks and thinks, staying put but thinking ‘Okay- Okay maybe-’

The metal screamed. A Claw punched into the edge of the recess, tearing a gouge free. A snarling, jeering Blood Claw face shoves in, his teeth bared. A smug look- and something dark glitters in his eyes that Lullaby does not like as they press deeper into the hiding spot.

“Found you whore!” He barks out, sharp teeth a victorious and vicious smirk. 

Lullaby reacts without thinking- ‘always have something on ya to stick the fuckers with’ you recall hearing from Karlsor who’d squished their cheeks once when they'd admitted they didn’t have a weapon on them.

Their hands flashed into their pockets as they pulled something out. It was a knife - small, ordinary. Used to cut hay bales, twine, and stubborn feed sacks. Still- ‘sharp enough to cut one thing- is sharp enough to cut another thing’. Or so Shatter had once said with a wry smirk. 

They slashed the knife across Snorri’s face. The blood sprayed hot and sudden. The wolf roared, reeling back, more shocked than hurt. 

For a moment they hoped that would be enough to put them off, but instead a different hand wrenches into their hiding spot, past the damaged wall. They were snagged and yanked out bodily, boots scraping uselessly as Baggi hauled them up and slammed them flat. Their back hits the stone wall hard enough to rattle their teeth. They kick and squirm and hiss profanities of every shade and in multiple languages. 

Baggi actually struggles slightly to hold the baseline as they squirm and strike out. “Get the fuckin MMUCK YOU DICKHEADS! ALL FATHER DAMMIT! You're a slippery bitch!” Baggi hisses. What in Leman's name are they feeding this bitch!?

"We Were gonna just gonna douse you in it and let you go back to your big blue Bastard." Snorri growls with a vicious snarl and bared teeth now dripping with his own blood. "But since you were a stubborn cow whore, I Think we'll just hold ya head under till ya beg for air!" He jeers as the other two handle the bucket. 

That actually seems to make Herliefr pause for a moment as him and Kolr adjust the reeking muck they'd brought with them. “Uh… we want them to Live through this though, right?” 

It's not that he thinks the humiliation or torture is too far, it's more that he doesn't want to be responsible for the shit show that could come after an accidental fatality.

Baggi rolls his eyes. “Herliefr don't be a fuckin killjoy, we'll make sure this stupid little pet gets to cry to their big blue boyscout! Now quit yapping and hold the bucket right!”

Lullaby spits back. "I only beg for One Astarte and he's sure as Shit not you, you waste of Geneseed!" And then Literally spits on the Space Wolf holding them, right in the face.

He blinks, reeling from the audacity, before his face contorts with rage. "You fucking Bitch!" He yells, sending spittle right back in the human's face.

They snarl back. "Damn right you fuckin tree humping Cock sack!" They're getting ready to fry this motherfucker with a huge burst, consequences be damned. "When I'm done with you they'll have to bury what's left in a-!"

WHAM!

Lullaby's world goes sideways before they're quickly, but remarkably gently, swept back to a different giant in blue armor.

“Olly!” They cry out with delight and relief. They can tell it's him, even with his helmet on. 

Olly doesn't reply, instead he growls as he tucks Lullaby up on his shoulder for safety. 

Baggi spits, righting himself after the punch that made him drop the baseline. His anger grows as he sees red on his hand, he can feel it dripping from his mouth too. “You Fucker!” 

"You are cowards." Olly glares at the four Idiots “And like to go after Baseline humans. What honor is there in these actions - you Blood Claws?!" He spits out their titles like it was an insult. 

Kolr looks to their ‘leader’ with disdain at these events. “Nice going dickhead. What do we do now?”

Herliefr sighs with frustration. “So much for your Brilliant plan.”

Baggi flushes with both anger and embarrassment. “Shut your flea traps!” Baggi snarls then turns back to Olly. “Looks like we'll do this the old fashioned way!” He grins, baring his sharp teeth. 

Snorri's maw stretches into a vile smirk. “After all it's Four on One.” He cackles. “Let's see how well you can protect your little bitch against Those odds ey boyscout!? Hah!” 

Olly grimaces, he had sent a message to Cedric, Ramiel, and Claude requesting backup and why. He'd done so Right before engaging these miserable excuses for soldiers. He hopes the others make it in time as he looks from face to face and calculates the best course of action as fast as he can.

As the wolves draw close, Lullaby clings and hisses more spite from Olly's shoulder. “Hey Olly…want some help making these bitches Heel?” They ask, low so only Olly can hear them. They spread their hands, and deep in their chest their power crackles like eager sparks just Waiting to devour.

Olly scans across the line of advancing wolves again quickly, and doesn't hesitate. “Yes.” Olly says his eyes dark as a night storm as he glares at the Blood claws in front of them.

That affirmation is all the baseline needs to let their mycelium crawl forth, their minds intertwine almost as seamlessly as Khopesh and Lullaby's had done before but the feeling is different. 

There's a sensation like plunging into cool water, then diving deeper. Lullaby's memories of eyes stung from chlorine in pools mix with a literal ocean enveloping a body too large to be their own. Macragge's oceans, salt water, warmth near the surface shifts slowly to become cold, cold, Cold. 

Icey baths to aid in the administration of chems, and surgeries on metal tables, and crying…

Crying…

A child…crying…

An empty pod. And another. And another. And yet another. 

NO! 

Suddenly it feels like the ocean is boiling. The temperature they feel rockets up, like an undersea volcano hot enough to vaporize land and water alike. Their mycelium feels more like veins of magma flowing and cracking through bedrock.

They scream, but not with pain. 

With Rage. A rage they don't understand…but they don't need to. 

Olly alike roars with a defiance that is not fully his legion. A red, bloody, raw thing that claws up through shifting desert sands and hydrothermal vents he didn't know existed in the depths of his soul. Its cries echo against the stone walls here. 

It actually makes the wolves falter, for half a second they reconsider their attack-

SLAM-M-M! 

Olly with unnatural speed and strength for even a Primaris shoulder checks Snorri and the already bleeding wolf goes flying and tumbling down the hall. He knocks Baggi to the side, but doesn't stop. He rolls end over end leaving divots in the floor until his full body lands with a thunderous Crack! into the far wall. 

“Holy Shite!” Kolr actually cries out in surprise. Herleifr starts to back up. 

Lullaby snarls like an animal as they whip their gaze over. Their eyes almost seem to glow like red witch fire; but that cannot be-

“HRK!” Olly interrupts whatever thoughts Kolr was having to snag a massive hand around the dark haired space wolf's neck and make a grab for the other. Herleifr tries to duck aside, but- 

“WHa-” CRaCK! Something tangles around his boot and causes him to  faceplant into the floor. 

He's dazed for a minute, spitting his sandy blond hair out of his own mouth before he feels something grab his leg.

“Wait no!” 

Olly wrenches the bastard up from the floor One handed by the foot. Shoves Kolr to the ground with his other, pins him with an armored foot, and proceeds to use Both hands to throw Herlief into the prone Space Wolf. It's nearly a perfect flip and the two crumble into a pile of metal and groaning pain. 

As if he'd let them off that easy. He grabs Herliefr’s legs again.

“Ooww…a what- AHHH!” 

“HERLIEFR! WAIT WAIT NO!” SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! “Auuuggh….”

Meanwhile Baggi is watching the utter derailment of their plans as he tries to bring himself back up to his feet after Snorri's flying body had knocked him aside. Any bravado or brash thought of get backs is quashed by seeing the fucking Demon in front of him. Picking up and  tossing fully armored Space Wolves around and into each other like plush toys.  

He…He can't let himself be cowed like this! He won't- He glances down looking for Something, Anything- He still has his knife! 

He takes the weapon from its sheath, hand trembling. 

He…he can do this. He can put the feral bastard down while he's distracted with the others then get the fuck-

The baseline whips their head back again, and Baggi freezes. Their eyes are alight, burning like a vengeful ghost of the Fenris wilds. 

“One…left…” They hiss, though it doesn't sound like their voice alone. 

The Ultramarine straightens up from where he'd been knocking his two play things together, and turns his own head the same way, much, more, slowly…

Baggi feels his guts twist into tighter and tighter knots, his hand grasping around his knife till it aches. It still trembles. 

He's afraid.

But he shouldn't-! He shouldn't be the one feeling fear! He's a Space Wolf! A soldier of Fenris! Son of the Wolf King. 

But right now, this mixed blood son of Guilliman pins him in place with a gaze that is deadly cold. Not like frost in their color, but instead like the waves of an ocean. Still at first glance, yet holding a potent rage churning and boiling just below the surface…ready to pull him under and smash him against the rocks. 

Oh Allfather…what has he brought out?

The Ultramarine steps closer…closer…Closer, till the blade of the knife presses just against the gold of his breastplate with a soft titch.

All thoughts have run from Baggi's mind as he stands transfixed by the viperous blue gaze of the heaving Ultramarine. He wants to run. Wants to scream, but he can't even manage a whisper. 

But Oleanderos does; it's faint, more like a sub-auditory growl, but it's heard. 

“Run..”

Baggi's little remaining composure breaks, his training abandoned, he turns and runs like a coward. 

Lullaby and Oleanderos watch him retreat and Almost consider letting him get away. 

Almost. 

Olly picks up the muck bucket, and with an equal amount of power and flourish, chucks it down the hallway, aiming it perfectly so it tangles in Baggi's legs and sends him sprawling. 

Baggi's face slams into the floor with a mighty WHAM, enough to shake the surrounding area. Not to mention the responding CRACK has his nose breaks on impact. He groans in pain, and confusion as familiar footsteps approach. 

Lullaby slides from Olly's shoulder, and snags the still nasty bucket. Then gets up to the Space Wolve's head and-

CLANG! Slams it onto place. They even give it a solid kick for good measure. It coats the nasty bastard in slime down to his shoulders, and causes his already throbbing head to throb even more. 

“Uuurgh…” The pain sounds trail off as the now bucket headed Space Wolf slumps back down. Pacified and covered in disgusting muck. 

“Serves you right!” Lullaby declares sharply. Then they turn on their heel to go back to Olly's side. 

They take a moment to breathe, in 4 out 6. Three sequences, before they finally take full stock of the damage. 

One assailant still embedded in a wall, two crumpled but alive in a heap, damage to the floors, awful stinking muck smears, and of Course some stray blood splatters. “What a fuckin mess!” Lullaby curses, throwing up their hands. “Honestly! What the Actual fuck is Wrong with these asschokes!? You'd Think they'd have learned the First time they had to clean up a mess they started.” They huff.

Olly doesn't respond, but Lullaby is still so livid they don't immediately notice. “This Whole Hallway will probably need repairs and decontamination! Fuck only knows what these idiots mixed into that Sludge! And even if the repairs are quick we'll need to either move our prototypes or redo the whole project from scratch I'm so fuckin MAD I could just-!” 

It's then they notice the lack of response from their companion. They turn as their anger is momentarily stifled by concern. “Olly?”

Olly stands there, not moving, not reacting, barely even blinking. He's breathing but the fact his breaths are labored while the rest of him seems damn need catatonic actually causes Lullaby More concern. 

“Olly?” They ask again, trying to determine  if he's even seeing them. “Olly, can you hear MeE!?” 

The human baseline suddenly finds themselves back up in the Ultramarine's hold. The rough breathing hasn't slowed, and his eyes still seem so far away. What can be seen beyond his helmet lenses anyway. He whispers something in Gothic that Lullaby cannot fully understand as they're bundled to the armored chest. A gauntlet clad hand tucks their head close like a child with a comfort doll. 

“Not again, XXX my XXXX… please XXXX XXXX them…not again…” 

They pick up the Gothic they can recognize but the statement still remains mostly gibberish. “Olly?” They ask, more hesitantly. But Oleanderos simply continues his murmurs, the half understood phrase repeating as he pets the human's head. Lullaby feels a new stress properly form in their gut fed by confusion and concern. 

Before they can ask again, armor clad footsteps hustle in from down the hallway. Their backup. 

Claude pants with his own exertion. “We're here! I tried to get here faster, but couldn't find a shadow. Damn these bright hallways.” He grouses and shakes his head. “Are you two alright?”

“Oh my Holy Emperor…” Ramiel trails off, taking in the absolute State of the place. 

Cedric does his own survey of the damage, including momentarily peeking under the bucket to see Who the unfortunate soul covered in smelly grease is. 

“Uggggh…” Baggi groans blearily again. 

Cedric grins, but it's not one of joy. Not fully anyway. 

Okay there's joy, but it's more of a wicked delight spurred by a deep abiding Rage Finally getting a chance to come to the surface. He whispers low, and in perfect high Gothic. 

“They will Never find your body.” He hisses.

Baggi is probably concussed and doesn't reply beyond another wordless groan. His head thunks against the floor. 

Cedric rolls his eyes. Waste of good geneseed. Then he turns to address Olly and Lullaby. 

“I'm glad to see you two appear unharmed. Still I think I should check your vitals.” He hums, bringing out an auspex wand and some other supplies from his med pack. “Oleanderos, please bring Lullaby closer so I can examine them and you.”

Olly doesn't move. Cedric takes notice. 

“Brother? The danger has passed. You can let Lullaby go n-”

Cedric doesn't even manage to finish his sentence before Olly twitches back to life, but not cognizance. 

“NO” He snarls in Gothic, and with such fierceness it causes Cedric, Claude and Ramiel to recoil with shock. 

The snarl came out distorted through Oleanderos’ vox grille, thick with static and something far more feral than simple refusal. His grip tightened instinctively, drawing Lullaby closer against his chest plate, massive gauntlet shielding the back of their head.

Claude froze mid-step. Cedric blinked, genuinely startled, auspex wand hovering uselessly in the air. Ramiel, however, moved. Not fast. Not aggressive. Deliberate. 

He stepped forward just enough to enter Oleanderos’ peripheral vision, but not close enough to be perceived as a threat. His helmet still remained mag-locked at his hip, leaving his face fully visible. His hands stayed open and empty at his sides.

“Oleanderos,” Ramiel said quietly.

No Chapter honorific. No rank invocation. Just the name.

The Ultramarine’s breathing hitched. His helm dipped slightly, but his stance did not loosen.

Ramiel’s voice lowered further, cadence shifting into something older. Ritualistic. Grounding.

“The battle is concluded,” he said in high Gothic. “Your charge remains safe.”

Oleanderos’s fingers twitched against Lullaby’s shoulder.

“They are safe,” Ramiel repeated, each word spaced, measured, immovable, he says this in the local baseline language that Lullaby knows. Lullaby could feel the tremor running through the ceramite pressing against their back. The Space Marine was shaking. Subtle. Violent. Contained by discipline alone.

“…Brother,” Cedric began cautiously. Cedric realizes- Olly’s in a flash back- thinking he is- elsewhere. Elsewhen.

Ramiel lifted one finger without looking back. Silence fell again.  Ramiel took one more step forward. Slow enough that each movement could be tracked. Intentional enough that nothing about it could be mistaken for stealth.

“You are not there,” Ramiel repeats slowly. He murmurs quietly, voice low and soft as he states in High Gothic, “You are not on Mars or elsewhere.”

Oleanderos’ vox unit spat a burst of static.

“You are here, on Ancient Terra” Ramiel continued. “Hallway seven. Chemistry sector. Engagement resolved. Allies present.”

Another shudder ran through the Ultramarine’s frame. Lullaby swallowed. Carefully, cautiously, they spoke. “Olly… I’m okay.”

The words were softer than their usual sharp-edged cadence. Almost uncertain. But honest. Oleanderos’s helmet angled downward, pressing lightly against the crown of Lullaby’s head as though verifying their presence through pressure alone.

“…Not again…” he rasped. Olly won’t let- let- them let his ch-charge be ta-hurt.

Ramiel nodded once, almost imperceptibly.

“Yes,” he said. “Not again.”

That seemed to catch. Oleanderos’ breathing faltered. Hitched. Then dragged in one long, grinding inhale that sounded like air scraping over broken glass. Ramiel raised one gauntleted hand slowly and placed it flat against his own chest plate, directly over the Templar cross.

“Follow cadence,” he instructed calmly.

Ramiel made sure to inhale slowly- deeply watching to make sure that Olly mimics his motions.

Four counts- he makes sure to lightly tap them against Olly’s chest gently. As he held his breath- making sure Olly mimics him.

Two taps on his chest - Ramiel and Olly exhale at the same time. Another Six to hold the empty lungs. The rhythm echoed in the ruined hallway, strangely loud beneath the faint hiss of leaking hydraulics and the distant buzz of servitors beginning their cleanup protocols.

Again.

Oleanderos’ respirator stuttered… then matched it. Not perfectly. Not cleanly. But close enough. Lullaby felt the crushing tension in the arm around them ease by a fraction. Then another. Claude is watching the targets- downed as they are for unsafe movement and the hallways to ensure that no one intervenes before they have a chance to corroborate a story.

Cedric lowered the auspex wand slightly, eyes narrowing as he watched the subtle physiological shift ripple through the Ultramarine’s posture. Ramiel maintained the cadence, voice never rising, never rushing.

“You carried them through violence,” he said evenly. “You did not lose them to it.”

Another breath.

“You did not fail.” Ramiel says slowly, words soft and calm. Oleanderos’ grip loosened enough that Lullaby could actually move their shoulders. His helm tilted, vox static crackling again before stabilizing.

“…Ramiel?” he said hoarsely.

“I am here, Olly.” Ramiel says his voice is warm and gentle. The words landed like an anchor.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Oleanderos lowered Lullaby just enough that they could stand while still being held close, one gauntlet resting protectively across their shoulders as if he still needed physical confirmation they existed.

Cedric approached again, this time visibly slower.

“May I examine them?” he asked, voice carefully neutral.

Oleanderos hesitated. Lullaby looked up at the towering Ultramarine and gave a small, deliberate nod.

“I’m still okay,” they said. “And I'm not going Anywhere. I Promise.”

Several seconds stretched. Olly allows himself to blink. He trusts Cedric. He knows Cedric- Cedric wouldn't ta- would make sure that Lullaby is safe. Then Oleanderos released them fully, though he remained looming close enough to intervene at a moment’s notice.

Cedric stepped in immediately, auspex already humming as he began scanning for internal trauma, toxin exposure, and stress spikes.

Claude nudged one of the groaning Blood Claws over with his boot and muttered “They are going to wake up with such impressive regret.”

Ramiel finally allowed himself to exhale fully, tension easing from his shoulders as he watched Oleanderos steady himself through the last of the breathing sequence. His gaze shifted briefly toward Lullaby. There was approval there. And quiet gratitude.

Lullaby nods back to him, acknowledging the wordless affirmation. 

Cedric is the next to speak after a moment. “All their vitals and internals seem good. Some mild bruising will probably develop, but nothing more serious than that. Oleanderos?” He asks the name more tentatively than the diagnosis. 

This time, the Ultramarine responds, though his voice still sounds strained. “Yes, Cedric?”

Cedric gestures to the other Blood Claws. “I will need to examine…the others now. And I will need to step past you and Lullaby.” He explains, gesturing down the bedraggled hallway. 

Oleanderos nods. “Of course…” He steps to the side, while still keeping himself between most of the Blood Claws, incapacitated though they are, and the baseline human who they'd tried to harass. 

Lullaby follows, stepping to the side and staying near Olly. They…they don't think they want him out of sight for a while. And they don't think moving further away will be good for his stress. 

As Cedric goes Wolf to Wolf, he checks them over with the auspex wand and goodness the contrast is delightful. 

Oleanderos and Lullaby? Scratches and mild bruising. Olly didn't even have any injuries really. 

Snorri, no doubt, had at Minimum some broken ribs and a severely bruised face. Kolr and Herleifr? More rib fractures, collar bone fractures, and for the latter a dislocated knee and femur. But Baggi was undoubtedly his Favorite. 

Broken nose, and a mild concussion. Lightest of all these idiots but the Most humiliating position. Not to mention covered in goo. Cedric sighs with a certain measure of satisfaction. If it weren't for Olly's flashback and Lullaby's fright, this would truly be a beautiful day. 

He sighs, but takes pride and a certain amount of enjoyment in being able to collect and stabilize these…poorly trained dogs. He enlists the help of Ramiel and Claude to get these idiots in some semblance of triage as he goes through the first aid process. 

Snorri actually stirs a bit as Cedric fits him with a neck brace. The feral bastard opens his stinking maw. “Fucking bitch!” He hisses, near breathless. 

Cedric rolls his eyes. “Yes yes, I'm a bitch, now hold still so I can keep you from destroying your own neck.”

“Not you You daft fuckin cunt! That one!” Snorri hisses again and points a trembling hand at…

Well it's hard to tell if he means Lullaby or Olly or Both. Olly positions himself more fully in front of the baseline. 

Who is not taking the downed Blood Claw even half way seriously. They just stick out their tongue and blow a raspberry. 

That actually seems to set Snorri off more. “You little Bitch! I'll blind ya! You hear me i'll-HrlCk!”

The barking bitch is suddenly made silent by a hand in black armor wrapping around his neck, carefully mind. Only cutting off air and not crushing the vertebrae. 

Claude's electric ice blue eyes bore into Snorri's and there's a very…familiar looking expression on his face. He grins with teeth only half as sharp as their counterparts in the eighth legion. He whispers one simple phrase. 

“Be Quiet…”

The idiot shuts his trap. Only for a different idiot to pipe up. 

“Holy shit they are fucking their way through the ranks…” Herliefr mumbles, only half awake. 

Lullaby is rendered momentarily speechless, meanwhile a very confused Ramiel looks to them. “Is that a Terran phrase or…?”

Lullaby shakes their head. “I'll…explain later. Just get these idiots stabilized.” They groan. “Fuckin assholes…”