Broken, The - To Save a Chapter Master: Ordered by their dark master not to intervene in the duel, the Witness' court of debased Renegades, Khornate Berzerkers and Daemons cheered at every blow their champion landed. Inquisitor Drake tore his eyes from the desperate fight to discreetly scan his surroundings. The throne room was far more than just a mere residence or ceremonial prop, it was also the control centre of the entire space hulk.Although desecrated and tremendously ancient, the baroque consoles and machinery of the hall were still what was keeping the Fury whole and under control. Meanwhile, Marneus Calgar's two Honour Guards were ill at ease, but their lord had ordered them to follow Drake's lead and not to interfere in the duel.As he located what he took to be the controls to the Warp-Drive, Lazarus Drake gave the two Ultramarines the order to clear a path towards the tall console with the column of lights and diodes located mid-way through the hall.Mirroring their lord's battlecry, Brother Ohtar and Brother Morent charged to their left, yelling their Primarch's name. Too focused on the duel before them, the first Chaos Space Marines were cut down before they had even realised what had happened. Four further former Viridian Consuls were slain before the rest of the Broken took action.Drake's Acolytes began laying down covering fire with their bolters, and two were cut down by the Broken's return fire. The remaining three Acolytes went to ground, seeking cover behind one of the hall's great pillars as they hurled their last Frag Grenades into the middle of the hall.Advancing closely behind the two Honour Guards, Drake reached the console, a cluster of levers and spilled cables, as the venerable machine had been gutted by a sword and left to rot. After he cleared away the organic murk that covered the monitors, Drake was delighted to recognise indicators for power levels, coolant injectors and drive initiators. He had been right, this was the space hulk's primary control centre.Thanking the Emperor and the Omnissiah for their guiding hand, Inquisitor Drake intoned the first verses of the Prayer of Awakening, a prayer he believed he had forgotten long ago but whose words quickly rose to his mind. With the Machine Spirit of the console adequately raised, Drake grasped one of the big levers and pulled it down, disabling the failsafe preventing the Plasma Reactor's overload.Then he began feeding even more power to the reactor. Warning runes began to burn yellow, then an angry red as the enormous power source at the Fury's heart began to reach critical mass.At the same time, far below the Witness' throne-chamber and on the battlefield outside, Captain Galenus had rallied the survivors of 5th Company around him. The company had lost half its previous number, including Apothecary Philo, to a devastating charge of Juggernaut-mounted Bloodletters. Two dozen Space Marines of the line gathered around their captain, Librarian Ulfius and Chaplain Murtorius, who was bleeding profusely from multiple wounds.But the 5th Company's standard still flew, firmly grasped by Ancient Ameronn. Captain Galenus himself carried the precious Progenoid Glands of twenty-six slain brothers, all those Apothecary Philo had been able to retrieve before he was slain.Unknown to the Inquisitor far above, his psychic plea had been heard and Captain Galenus was trying to lead the remnants of his company to their aid. Galenus made the hard choice and called for the wounded to stay behind and buy them some time while the able-bodied Astartes would follow him into the Blood Keep.Meanwhile, the duel between the Chapter Master and the Daemon Prince ground on. Calgar had several fractures in his arms and sternum, but thanks to his transhuman physiology, they were already healing. His first wounds had stopped bleeding but he had earned several new cuts from which his blood still seeped freely. His armor was in even worse shape.The most pressing matter was the coolant leak in his dorsal power generator. Should it overheat, he would have no power left to fuel his armour or even the Gauntlets of Ultramar.Yet the Witness had not survived unscathed. The creature that had been Chapter Master Phrynon was limping badly, Calgar having stripped his left leg almost entirely of its blasphemous flesh. Several powerful punches had torn the thing's armour apart at the abdomen from where demonic ichor flowed freely, the Daemon's innards exposed to the chamber's stale air.His autosenses damaged and malfunctioning, Calgar ripped his battered and dented Corvus Pattern helm from his head. His skin was now exposed to the Blood Keep's dangerous ionising radiation so he would have to move fast, as even his immune system could not stave off the effects of radiation sickness forever.The Witness knew this as well and smiled through his fangs. Calgar dimly noticed the violence that had engulfed the hall, Plaguebearers and Khornate Berzekers battling Brothers Othar and Morent who were still shielding Inquisitor Drake and the alcove in which he worked.All his attention fixed upon Calgar, the Daemon Prince ignored their surroundings and the din of battle. Yet again the Witness spoke, offering the Chapter Master the same choice: death or servitude to the Dark Gods. Aware that he needed to buy his companions more time, Calgar let the creature talk, spitting bloody phlegm on the floor.Still refusing to bend the knee to this abomination, Calgar charged the Witness, but this time he opened a priority Vox-link to Brother-Sergeant Starn and his Terminators, calling upon them to join him at the top of the tower.Calgar opened up with his remaining bolter, blasting at his enemy as he advanced. Calgar landed a blow, but the Daemon's great claws grabbed him by the shoulder, effortlessly hefting him from the ground. Dangling helplessly at arm's length, the Chapter Master raised his other fist, unleashing the last of his stream of bolts into the creature's face before the gauntlet's Bolter clicked empty.The Daemon Prince smiled through broken fangs and a gouged eye, obviously savoring the moment of the kill. Even as his face became the fang-filled snout of some great beast that began snapping ever closer to Calgar's face, the Witness never took his eyes off his target. It would prove to be his undoing.With the characteristic bang and the ripple of electric fire that charcaterised close-range teleportation, four Ultramarines Terminators appeared at the creature's back. With Warp-energy still dancing around their Terminator Armour, Brother-Sergeant Starn and his warriors opened up with their Storm Bolters. The deluge of large calibre projectiles ripped into the Witness, shredding his wings and back.With a roar of pain that forced its followers to look up, the great Daemon turned, knocking one of the Terminators to the side with his outstretched arm. Focused upon this new threat, the Witness let go of Calgar who rose to his feet.This last ordeal had obviously been too much for his already damaged armour's reactor which began to splutter. Calgar watched as the three remaining Terminators charged the Witness, their Power Fists leaving marks on the thing's flesh and armour.The Witness fell to his knees and Calgar saw his chance. Without hesitation, the badly wounded Chapter Master launched himself onto the Daemon Prince's back. Using the remains of its wings to maintain his grip, Calgar reached for the creature's head. The Gauntlets of Ultramar closed around the daemon's horns.Calgar began to pull, fueling his failing muscles with all the rage and hatred he had previously so carefully kept under control. In a violent explosion of bone and daemonic ichor, the Witness' head was abruptly wrenched from its torso. Almost instantly the thing's body collapsed as its spirit fled back into the Warp and Calgar crashed to the ground, angling his fall so as not to be crushed by his opponent's corpse.