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You order Lieutenant Chorda and the rest of Gamma company to retreat and hide, and await further orders. Chorda acknowledges instantly, and though you can hear the screeching alarm sound continue, you know that Chorda and his men will make it out safely. Only the Raven Guard themselves can disappear faster than the snakes of the Alpha Legion. As you draw closer to the Great Pyramid you feel a greater urgency run through you, and though none of the alarms are triggered you don’t leave a second for relaxation. The Pyramid of Photep towers over the Tizcan skyline, more of a vast ziggurat complex with the Sorcerers tower at its peak than a simple pyramid, and whenever you glance at it you can’t help but feel a twinge of doubt. What is the Crimson Lord of the Thousand Sons doing in there? What strange sorceries is he summoning in the hour of his greatest need? With your thoughts flying about you, your forces reach the main walkway to that vast complex without incident, still encountering not a single living thing. You thought the plazas and squares of the temple-arcologies were quiet, but this place feels more like a grave: silent, and empty.
You are moving quickly beside the main walkway, careful not to expose yourself even in this apparently deserted place,when one of your advance scout squads voxes in with a report.
“There is no entrance.”
No entrance? How? You vox back demanding an explanation, and the sergeant replies:
“The entrance is blocked by a great carved stone. Auspex scans show it extends into the pyramid, and must be pushed into an interior cavity to allow entrance. My squad is unable to push it. Auspex estimates several hundred tons weight, potentially reaching a thousand.”
Several hundred tons? You’d need most of your company to push such a weight, and even
then it would be a close job. Almost impossible if the entrance isn’t wide enough for your men to put pressure on it. You’re almost thinking about climbing the side of the pyramid instead when you hear Valdor’s voice through the vox.
“We must proceed nonetheless.”
You shake your head at the Custodes’ stubborn-headedness and move with him to the main entrance. The scouting squad is right. There is a triangular doorway, but it’s perfectly blocked by a solid block of stone that neatly fits within the entrance. How is it supposed to be opened? Is there a hidden mechanism? Or do the Thousand Sons use their sorcerous powers to somehow open the door?
>How do we-
“Step aside.”
You barely have time to move before Valdor is at the door, looking over each corner before he places his spear aside, spreads his hands over the door, and leans in. You’re about to ask him what he’s doing when several other Custodes join him, and together they begin to push against the doorway, digging their feet so hard into the ground it begins to crack. And somehow, defying all possibility, the door <span class="mu-i">moves</span>.
