Dawn's victory

This story is part of the community effort on the Emperor's Nightmare chapter.

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The ornate towers of the Upper Spire of Hive Emereth were alive with the exited bubbling of talk, raucous, cruel laughter and the periodic scream of agony as their depraved occupants cavorted wildly. It had been a grueling road, an endless map of politicking and scheming, a battle of wits and intelligence with the feeble Governor whose body was now nailed above the grand throne Estelle now occupied...But as the voices had promised, she and the faithful had endured and proved their worth to the Dark Prince without question. So soon too, the hive was barely a century old, it had not even had the chance to entirely destroy Alsalon IX with the fires of industry, something she was exquisitely happy with as she watched the sky.

A smile slid onto her pale, tapered features as she allowed that endless blue-green expanse to swallow her, merely gazing out into eternity.

What she saw made her eyes widen, her smile grow into a dark grin. A shooting star, a twinkling sphere of light arcing through the air with the grace of the finest of birds, surely this was a portent of the Prince's favour. Drowning out the loud celebrating of her new subjects, Estelle watched the star in its descent. How curious, it appeared to be drifting overhead...Getting brighter...closer...Wait-

The star crashed straight into the nearby Althene spire, shattering its shatter alcoves like so much china with a hungry roar of impact. Estelle gently pulled herself up, staring at the ruins of the spire in wonder. What could this possibly mean? Surely the Prince of Pleasure did not intend to snatch her victory so premature-

With the sound of an enraged monster, something tore through the roof of Estelle's throne room, a large metal shape, painted in such a gaudy purple and gold motif, flattening several of her unfortunate followers in its wake. Before the disoriented revelers could flee the hatches blew open, and Estelle's jaw dropped. Armoured giants leapt out, their weapons roaring as they gunned down any cultists trying to flee. Estelle gasped and put her hand to her mouth as one of the behemoths drove his revving chainsword into one of the faithful, splitting them in two in a sick, bloody fountain of gore. One of the assailants strode towards Estelle with purpose, and with a choked whimper she looked into its eyes. She found no mercy within those red orbs. She knew them now, she looked into the Dawn and she was afraid.

The sounds of slaughter echoed all around the spire, punctuated by the occasional impact roar signifying more of them, more of her doom. Mustering all her willpower Estelle stood up straight, glaring at the Space Marine facing her with an aloof sneer.

"...You win this time." She stated, tears running down her face even as she fought to keep her manners up. "But you cannot win forever. The rituals have already ended, the Prince's own stride within the city."

The only answer Sergeant Alier of the Emperor's Nightmare had for her was to bring up his crackling power sword and swipe at her, almost negligently. The last thing Estelle felt was the dreadful ripping of her own throat. She welcomed it.