Poison

[Brother Captain Andrecus]

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Space Marine of the Red Stars Chapter.

 

 

“Poison is everywhere. Fear is a poison, a mind killer. Gluttony is a poison, it makes us weak and dulls our senses. Heresy is a poison, it reduces loyalty and honor to folly and deceit. Poison must be rooted out, and destroyed wherever it is found. This is what will make the Imperium stronger.”

-Ecclesiarch Brogus Larm (attributed)

 

Praetor Celebrus Tuhl sat at the giant stone table, his chest hardly reaching to the top of the marble slab. At the other end of the long table sat Captain Arsius Bellun, Captain of the Third Company of the Red Stars Space Marine Chapter. On the left of Captain Arsius sat Company Champion Ethan, and on the right sat Chaplain Melburn.

 

Praetor Tuhl was here for a dinner meeting, and the Red Star’s servants had brought out the finest of foods. Wine so thick and potent it would intoxicate an Ogryn, a giant roast boar with three foot long tusks, steaks from a Nelguardian Blood-Bear, each dish was exotic and tasted wonderful.

 

Praetor Tuhl had especially enjoyed the wine. Its taste was exquisite, it was full bodied and rich, it slid wonderfully down his throat and smoldered pleasantly in his stomach. But the alcohol content had been so high; it likely would have killed him if he hadn’t been on his guard. Luckily, a small device in his throat filtered many commonly used poisons, as well as excess alcohol, from food of all kinds, and pushed it through the pores of the skin on his neck.

 

Now, the last course, dessert, was being served. For an eight foot tall super-human warrior, Captain Arsius was surprisingly genteel. He politely inquired as to the state of Tuhl’s planetary tithing, which had fallen lax in the past decade. Tuhl had secretly been funding a renegade army that was attacking a neighboring planet, but the army had recently been crushed by the Red Stars. Tuhl knew, however, that there was no way he, a respected and faithful planet leader, could be implicated in the scandal. Still the invitation was worrying…

 

Tuhl had brought six loyal warriors with him, each armed with hidden weapons. The six were seated on Tuhl’s side of the table, and they were ready to attack on Tuhl’s signal. They were all brave soldiers, prepared to die for Tuhl, if asked.

 

The last dish was brought in by the serfs. They held the platters with care, on each tray sat a single ball of dough, filled with dark red berries in a sauce of their own juice. The smell wafting from the small delicacies was incredible, and the serfs placed one at each place. Tuhl’s soldiers resisted the urge to eat, but the corpulent planet leader dug into the wonderful dessert. His poison sensors detected nothing, and he was relieved as the Space Marines all indulged in the food as well. The tension built up inside him over the course of the meal disintegrated, and he relaxed as he finished of the food. When Captain Arsius had finished, Tuhl complemented him on the final course.

 

“I had hoped you would enjoy it, Praetor. It was made from fruit found on your homeworld. The berry of the Bulcha bush was the prime ingredient.”

 

Praetor Tuhl’s heart nearly stopped. The Bulcha berry was the most poisonous of fruits on Telkanis. Tuhl stuttered lamely, his mouth running on. “The-the-the… That bush? It’s p-p-p-p-poison-poisonous! Highly poisonous! Are you trying to kill me!?!?!”

 

“Of course not! We didn’t know it contained poison!” Tuhl saw right through Arsius’ feigned innocence. This man was a killer, born and bred. “We thought the taste was wonderful, so we had our serfs collect a few bushels.”

 

“I demand a system-purger kit!!!”

 

“We have none aboard this vessel. Why would we have need of a machine that removes toxins, when our own immune systems do the same thing with ease? See?” A light red smoke rose off of Arsius’ skin, and off the skins of the Champion and the Chaplain.

 

“You did know!”

 

“Indeed.” Arsius’ words were chilling, but not nearly so much as his smile.

 

“Kill him!” Tuhl yelled, as he collapsed into a fit of ragged coughs. “Kill them all!” Blood poured from his lungs, as the poison took effect. Tuhl’s warriors sprang into action, leaping over the table to attack the Marines.

 

Arsius laughed and snapped his fingers. In an instant, the three superhumans changed from polite, noble hosts to vicious, raging killers. A power-blade sprang into Champion Elthan’s hand, and Chaplain Melburn hefted a Crozius. Arsius broke one soldier’s neck with his bare hands, and snapped the spine of another without blinking. Blood spewed onto the captain’s majestic clothing. Ethan sliced an enemy from left shoulder to right hip, and Melburn crushed the skull of a knife-wielding man in a single blow. Steaming viscera flew through the air, and then the battle was over.

 

Ethan handed his power-sword to Captain Arsius, and the mighty space marine strode over to the poisoned Praetor. Tuhl was thrown from his chair onto the floor, and he groveled on his knees before Arsius, blubbering as he came closer to death, the poison eating him away from the inside. Arsius spoke, his voice like a clear bell.

 

“Such is the reward of traitors.”

 

“How did you know I was guilty?” Ex-Praetor Tuhl gasped. “I was so careful!”

 

“I knew only now. You have confessed to your treachery.”

 

“What!? You didn’t know!?”

 

“I had only a hunch. But that was good enough for me. Better to kill an innocent fool who has done more harm than good, than to allow a guilty traitor to go free.”

 

With these words, Arsius hefted the power-sword. Tuhl tried frantically to escape, crawling and writhing, moving towards the door. He blubbered, begging for mercy.

 

"Mercy? Compassion? Hah! What compassion did you give the wives and the children of the loyal men you killed in your foolish campaign? What mercy did you give to Danicus, or Memnon, or Byron? Where was mercy when you smote my Brothers down!?! They stood in your path, and you destroyed them. The whole Company. What would you know of mercy!?! Die in the name of the Emperor, you wretch!"

 

As the last, tolling syllable rolled from the Captain's lips, the powersword descended, and the world went black.

[Hubernator]

Powerful, very powerful. Nice read, flowed well and hardly any grammar mistakes. Makes a change too; food was the killer, not the sword. I like it :D

[Brother Captain Andrecus]

Thanks, I really enjoyed writing it, glad you enjoyed reading it.

 

Makes a change too; food was the killer, not the sword. I like it :)

 

They kind-of both were. Sortof. (I had just eaten this really awesome dessert pastry thing when I wrote this, so food was on the mind, lol... Actually, the killer-pastry in the story is modeled off the one I had eaten... Weird as that sounds, haha. :D )

 

Glad you liked it.

 

Also made a few edits, added some stuff.

[Brother Fortis]

Holy smoke stacks! This is some of the best literature I have EVER read!! This should be put in the librarium. ;) Awesome! Make another 1

[Brother Captain Andrecus]

Haha....

 

Ok, thanks?

 

I edited it a little. Minor changes, here and there. Also made the format better.

[Sgt Rafen]

I really liked it kinda shows space marines have other ways to kill than just a chainsword strike, very descriptive about the food by the way. Funny that the govenor's poison sensors didnt pick any up though when he ate the pastry :sick:

[Brother Captain Andrecus]

It filters commonly used poisons. The poison of the bulcha bush isn't "common" enough to warrant inclusion in a device sold throughout the entire galaxy. It is, in fact, exclusive to the Praetor's homeworld.

 

Glad you liked it!