Full Circle Pt.1

[Lord Solcia]

Full Circle

by Frankie DiSalvo

 

 

http://i36.tinypic.com/10cm5gj.jpg

 

 

Prologue

 

The sun sets on the ruins of the innocent. Bodies lay in the streets, motionless from the storm that had engulfed them. Masonry and stone work crumbles onto these unfortunate souls. The shadows of a giant and a many-armed man remained on this scene of chaos. Voices belong to the shadows, one is gruff, the other is noble. A shadow raises it's arm, the ring of thunder is heard. One shadow still stands...

 

 

Part One: The Journey Through Hell

 

T

he sun was high above Prodos; beating it's relentless light upon the brutal, sandy world below it. Prodos, one of the countless planets of The Imperium of Man. Just sand, rock and dryness, useless to the teeming numbers of man amongst the void of space; save the manufactorum that resides on the outskirts of the Hellish desert, and on one of the only places of the dust ball not buried in the many grains of said Hell. Other then that, the planet has never had the glories and horrors of battle and heroes grace it, not until now...

 

U

ltionis Inan, Captain of the Fourth Company of the Pale Horsemen stormed through empty underground halls, dimly lit by candles. The halls smelled heavy of incense and was a tad overwhelming, even for one of Inan's kind. His power armored steps were loud through the dark caverns, and he looked like a wandering spirit of war with his pale armor and grim expression. His skin, grim as it was young, was nearly as pale as his armor and his eyes were blue as the skies on this Hell of a wasteland. He bore an oddly shaped, rounded scar on the center of his forehead, that spread out like shattered glass onto the upper part and sides of his head. The tendrils of this past wound's marks cut into his hairline, which was shaved and had a small amount of dark bristle. It was for these reasons, that many of his brothers called him "The Bled Youth", and Inan knowingly carried the nickname with pride.

 

T

he young captain finally reached the end of the long, winding trail of the caverns, confidently striding in to see his allies surrounding and looking at a large map with many scribblings and markings upon it. "What have we found out, brothers?" Ultionis spoke, his voice young, but possessed the strength of a grizzled veteran, and resonated an extreme passion.

 

"

W

e've found him my Lord, our leads were correct. Our query is near!" exclaimed Lupor Dux, commanding officer of the 23rd Necrox Essedarius, a Imperial force which shared its home with the Pale Horsemen space marine chapter. It was common for the Horsemen to request assistance from their neighbors, usually when they were on the hunt for something, or in this case, someone. "Magos Perperum Spectero resides within the manufactorum!" Dux stated, excitement that this long campaign finally bore fruits of success.

 

M

agos Perperum Spectero...

, thought Ultionis, the name ringing in his ears. Years ago, Inan had worked with the machine worshiper when he was just a sergeant. Even when Inan had first met Perperum, he did not like the man, and continuously suspected the machine cultist having alternate motives when the Magos came to the Horsemen for help. Inan's suspicions proved to be correct when Perperum decimated a whole city of civilians, and his hatred for the man only grew deeper when he had given Ultionis the 'gift' on his face. Since that incident, the Pale Horsemen had hunted the rogue Magos with much tenacity, even given leads by Perperum's allies in the Adeptus Mechanicus. It had nearly been half a century since the Horsemen's hunt had begun, and every time they had received a solid lead, Ultionis Inan had declared himself ready to go and follow the trail. There had been no success until now, and Inan's mind grew joyous and exhilarated that the Emperor's will would soon be done. "Very good!", Inan finally spoke. "Get your men ready for battle Lupor, the Horsemen leave within the hour!"

 

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I

nan's pale armor shone in the bright light that was Prodos' sun bathed him with. Sand kicked up from under the wheels of his bike as he joined the spearhead on the manufactorum they were closing in on. In front of him by a few dozen feet where the twin landspeeders were hovering above the Hell-sand. By his sides there were two squadrons of his brothers on bikes as well, speeding to their prey with haste and the will of the Emperor. Behind them were the thunderous tracks of Leman Russ battle tanks and Chimera transports, carrying those of the 23rd Necrox Essedarius, ready to help their Astartes allies. Finally, soaring above were two Thunderhawk Gunships, ready to provide support to the Horsemen and Necrox soldiers who traveled on the ground far below.

 

A

smirk grew on the young captain's face. Within moments they would be at the beginning of the end of the rogue machine cultist, and this filled Ultionis with pride, the pride he and his brothers enjoyed when they were carrying out His holy will. He decided a speech was in order for his brothers and immediately, he knew what to say.

 

"

H

orsemen of the Pale, Chariots of Death, we near the monster that is Perperum! Our foe is a dangerous one! Not only does he command the arcane secrets of technology but now the corruption of Chaos resides in his very soul! We must stand against all of his tricks of both ways, avenge those who we gave brothers to die to protect, and to show this traitor that betraying the Pale Horsemen and the Emperor is very foolish for one who sees himself as a fountain of wisdom! Our enemies shall burn beneath us!" Inan cried out over the vox channel to his men.

 

"

W

e trample on them with holy fire!" the entire company responded with zeal and might.

 

U

ltionis' smirk grew wider as he felt the faith of his brothers flow on his words. He narrowed his eyes as the large fortress that hid their enemy started to become more then a heat wave stricken, dark smog on the horizon. The young captain's eyes darted to the sand not far from him, he could have sworn something was not right for at least a second, as if the sand was moving. Inan thought hard on what he thought he had seen, but before he could dismiss the worries, a large, black snake-thing erupted from the sand, sending grains of the land everywhere in a shower of dust. Cries of confusion broke out from the squadron that the beast had come near. Inan blocked out his brothers for a moment, trying to think of what to do. His thinking, was again, cut short, but this time, by many of the beasts flinging themselves from the sand at his force.

 

T

he young captain was barely able to draw his power sword in time to bisect one of the monsters who came from the ground. Mass fire from those behind him took out another of the creatures, but one of the landspeeders had begun to swerve as one of the monsters erupted right under it. After seconds of uncertainty, the landspeeder crashed into the sandy ground, it's crew bucked from it's seats and onto the bare ground as well. Inan passed them and muttered a curse under his lips. He already considered the the two dead, not from the crash, but the swarm of the things that were surely to find them easy targets. "Keep the course my brothers! Perperum shall not make us falter with such beasts!" he cried out over the channel, commanding and enraged.

 

I

nan began to notice that they were starting to reach the outer defenses of the manufactorum. He looked at the massive building before them, before catching himself and swerving quickly to avoid an auto-cannon shell, which landed quite the ways from him, sand shooting in the air once more like a geyser. Weapons of all kinds began to shoot at Ultionis' advancing force. Auto-cannons were uplifting the sand and tossing it everywhere, heavy bolters rained down their lethal rounds, and laser weapons began to pepper the area with crimson streaks of heat. Yet, the oncoming Imperial force moved on. The Emperor seemed to be shining upon them, until a loud groan could be heard, and the land began to quicken with vibration. Inan looked up again to see what was happening.

 

T

he Bled Youth looked on as he saw a large spire beginning to rise from the rest of the manufactorum, it writhed with energies that the young captain could see even from miles away. The spire then opened up, revealing a moon-like, glowing sphere which grew brighter as the vibrations grew more violent. The Magos had been evidently working while he had his stay here on Prodos. He could not take his eyes from the glowing orb, transfixed at pondering it's purpose. Yet, he did when the vibrations halted suddenly. He then began to look ahead as he could hear what could only be described as the howl of wind, but it was building up and was growing louder and louder. Inan then saw what the purpose of the white orb was.

 

C

aptain Ultionis could not explain or remember much of what happened next. He remembered his bike being lifted off the ground and into the air. He remembered the cries from his brothers. And he remembered the darkness of blacking out. When he awoke, he was surrounded by the sounds of chaos and war, wreckage of Horsemen vehicles and sand...lots and lots of sand. However, he was also surrounded by his brothers, firing wildly around him, protecting their captain with their lives. Ultionis lifted himself from the sand, but immediately fell to a knee, a large piece of shrapnel piercing his leg. Even hindered, he would not allow himself to become useless, and drew his bolt pistol, seeing that he and his brothers were surrounded by augmented humans, charging at them with weapons of all types. Most of these man-machines had been slain by his brothers though, and with his help, they picked off the last of them. After the chaos died down, Ultionis' brothers lifted him to his feet, where their apothecary treated the wound. He learned most of the force had remained intact and all remaining units of the 23rd Necrox Essedarius were now arriving to secure the area.

 

F

ourth Company Captain, Ultionis Inan of the Pale Horsemen looked up at what was eclipsing the sun. He smirked as he saw they were at the foot of their target. Perperum would soon be dead.

 

http://i37.tinypic.com/288pg11.jpg

 

(( If I get enough C&C on this I'll continue on it. Until then...it's just a one shot thing... :D ))

[Mr.(Space)Marine]

A very unique writing style you have there, Lord Solcia. An interesting story, I for one would like to see it continue.