Ancient Mikhail, Bearer of the Banner of the Seventh Legion

[Captain Antonius]

Chapter 6

 

Techmarine Johannsen recited the rites of arming along with the Ancient inside his Dreadnought armor. Seeing as Mikhail could not place the weapons and ammunition, the two worked in concert to please the machine spirit.

 

“Mikhail,” Johannsen said as he worked grease into his shoulder joint in preparation for the mating of the weapon, “I have not asked you what weapon loadout you might require for this mission. I have taken the liberty of laying out a few suitable selections, but you must ultimately use them in battle. What would you like?”

 

The ancient marine stirred in his sack of amniotic fluid. The choice of weapon was of great consequence. If one chose rashly or overly zealously, he could be damning himself to the whims of the Chaos gods, and on such a mission as this, one could never be too careful. Mikhail tried to rationalize all the choices instead of just taking the dreadnought equivalent of what he usually used when he was just a battle brother in power armor. A plasmacannon might make a good choice, especially against chaos marines and their warp-spawn, but in the close confines of an enemy vessel, it might be just as dangerous to him as to any of the enemy. An assault cannon could throw an immense amount of deadly firepower toward an enemy, but couldn’t readily penetrate the great enemy’s power armor unless you got several shells in the same place rending their armor in twain. The twinlinked heavy bolter and twinlinked autocannon both suffered from poor armor penetration. The twinlinked lascannon didn’t suffer from the fact of poor armor penetration and had a good range and strength, but would be nearly useless in the close confines of what would probably be mostly close combat. Mikhail had his answer.

 

“I shall use the Mulimelta, techmarine.” He said.

 

“Very well. It should come in very handy. And what of your close combat weapon, Brother?” The red armored marine asked as his servo-harness moved to pick up the massive mulitmelta arm.

 

“A chainfist, I believe. With a heavy flamer so I might better cleanse the heretics from the universe.” He replied with a metallic ring. “The chainfist will help me move through bulkheads if I can’t get my body through.”

 

“Again, a good choice. I believe the Omnissiah will bless this union, Brother.” The techmarine said.

 

“Aye, I can feel my machine spirit warming to the thought of slashing through the enemy already.” He replied.

 

The techmarine and several chapter serfs and servitors moved the massive arms into place and connected them to the sarcophagus. Mikhail acknowledged that they were working properly and slew them around the arming chamber.

 

As they concluded the arming rites, the techmarine once again blessed them and asked the Omnissiah to watch over them both. The chapter serfs anointed Mikhail’s armor with holy unguents and affixed purity seals to his weapons.

 

“Thank you my friends. Your dedication to the Emperor and his just and mighty cause fills my heart with pride. May the Primarch watch over you and guide my hand in the coming battle. Primarch, Progenitor, for your glory and Him on Earth!” Mikhail said. He turned from the incense filled room and marched down the arching hallways to the torpedo room.

 

 

The whole of the Phalanx was buzzing with anticipation. Not since the Iron Cage had so many companies been a part of a planetary assault against a known entrenched enemy the likes of the Iron Warriors. It was a great gamble for Chapter Master Pugh to send so many of his warriors to battle, but the return of Captain Lysander and his blood oath to cleanse the Iron Warriors from the face of Malodrax and eventually the galaxy was something that even Rogal Dorn had sworn to. It was his duty to do the Primarch’s will and so it would be done.

 

Pugh had signaled the other Space Marine Chapters in the vicinity so that they would know what was at stake. Only the Blood Angels, an expedition of Black Templars, and the Ultramarines had so far signaled a reply. Dante of the Blood Angels said that he was investigating rumors of an Iron Warrior encampment near Baal and he would stand ready to aid the Fists should they need it. The Templar expedition signaled that they were currently unengaged and would make best speed to the battle fleet’s rally point, but it would be weeks at best and that was weeks ago. Calgar of the Ultramarines said that he too would send warriors should the need arise, but the majority of his chapter was engaged in stemming the flow of Tyranids from the galactic southeast. He also added that the Ultramarines would not be there this time if the Fists managed to destroy themselves in another Iron Cage.

 

All six of the available scout squads the Phalanx had on board had been sent ahead of the battle fleet to mark landing zones and to send back vital intelligence about the Iron Warrior fleet in orbit and in the planetary system. So far, none of the Imperial Fist scouts had been detected and everything was in readiness. The scouts had placed themselves in several strategic positions ready for the landing of the Imperial Fists. They would work to knock out several orbital denial weapons so that the fleet could send down the Titans and larger transports without loosing too many in the process.

 

When the Iron Warriors and Horus’ other treachorus legions fell on Mars itself, it was the Imperial Fists who bought the Titan Legions time to escape so that they might fortify Holy Terra. It was this bargaining chip which secured several Titans for this assault. The Warlord Titan Dominus Rex would lead the lance. It would be joined by two Reaver class Titans and four of the smaller Wolf class scout Titans. This attack could put the Iron Warriors on their heels throughout the galaxy, so a simple planetary bombardment and Exterminatus would not have the effect needed. It had to be bold, bloody and memorable. A Titan Lance would have that effect.

 

The scout’s intelligence on the whereabouts of the enemy fleet was sketchy at best. They had managed to detect two enemy warships in dry dock and possibly 4 to 6 in orbit or the system at any one time. The largest of these was the battle barge Wrath of Perturbo. It had seen combat during the great crusades on the side of the immortal Emperor. It was last seen escorting the Demon Prince Perturbo himself from the Iron Cage. As far as Imperial records show, it has not been seen since that time.

 

The Imperial Fist battle fleet included the Battle Barge Imperator Illuminati, since repaired from its engagement with the two Ork battleships, two strike cruisers, eight cobra class destroyers, four of the Admech's Titan Transporters and the Phalanx itself. And if the Templars arrived before they departed for Malodrax, they would add two more cobra class destroyers and a strike cruiser along with nearly a hundred battle ready marines.

 

And adding to that, the Iron Warriors had no idea that the Fist of the Emperor was about to strike.

[Brother Barkus]

Excellent read I've enjoyed following your story, very clear and clean as usual.

[KEEPER]

Capt, that's a tease chapter!

 

Looking forward to everything thats up coming.

[Pulse]

Hehehe really good as always. Things are really starting to heat up, i hope the Black Templars arrive to make war together! :D

[13skullz]

Keeper, I agree!

I cannot wait for more!