Commander Skaav Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 WARHAMMER 40,000 HEART OF IRON By "Commander Skaav" Lord Tolkar knew the target was near; he could sense the enemy vessel hiding within the endless depths of the Warp, he knew fully that even with a fully trained Astropath, that deep within this sector unless they could find the Astronomican there could be no chance of escape. The enemy ship contained something of importance to him, an artefact so sacred to his master, that he and his men would do anything to regain it, even if it meant the spilling of blood. Not that it really mattered to him, he'd become used to it, some of his men were known to break in to completely a beserk rage of complete and utter blood lust. A servitor edged silently towards him, not knowing what to expect, for although more machine than man, it feared the figure to such an extent, that it quickly withdrew after delivering its report, and with very good reason. Lord Tolkar stood at approximately eight feet three inches tall, his power armour had become adorned with runes of great powers, and his right arm now a bionic limb. Yes, once long ago, he had been a noble servant of the man he now knew as the False Emperor, as he had served as a captain in the Imperiums IV legion. That was to him of course, the distant past, nearly ten thousand years had passed, he had a new group of masters, and a new title, he had aged very little, it seemed to everyone that someone or something had been preserving him for some event, perhaps he would rise to serve his master as an equal warrior. The screen in front of him suddenly flickered into life, the enemy had been sighted, the order given, the sound of bolters locking and loading rang out through out the ship, followed by the guttural whirring of Chainswords. On the screen, the Warp was a whirling mass of colour, changing from green, to red, to blue, constantly changing, rearranging itself, as if it were itself alive. Then as if from nowhere the enemy ship appeared, stationery, lost, the Astronomican nowhere to guide them. It suddenly came to Tolkar that they had made the biggest mistake of all, they had lowered their shielding, not only could his men access the ship, but so could the very servants of the powers themselves. He barked his orders through the intercom "Squad Ironbreaker, strike via the secondary airlock, Squad Steel-beast, attack via the ships main hold!" The responses came in loud and clear, they knew exactly what they needed to do, Tolkar did not have to repeat his orders, otherwise, it would be the end of their service in his name. The ships weapons batteries came to life as the full scale assault was begun, by using the cover of the auto-weapons the troopers made their way silently undetected towards the designated airlocks. For the occupants of the Imperial Ship the battle had only just commenced. The Loyalist Astartes of the Imperial fists fought valiantly, although as one Chaos marine fell, another replaced him, screeching foul words of gods they worshipped, and in the maelstrom of battle, a hole in the warp opened, and daemonic servants of the Blood God poured in to join the affray. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the very depths of the vessel, the heaviest melee begun to take place, for although the top decks were guarded by Imperial fists, the mechanical heart and soul had been given the protection of the Iron Hands, venerators of the machine, worshippers of the Omnissiah himself. It was to be within this location that Commander Skaav of the Legion's 1st company would make his mark known to his Master. His power sword crackled and sparked in the damp atmosphere, he could smell the scent of treachery, the servants of the False Emperor never too far from the prize. Suddenly and without warning a hail of bolts rang out in rapid sequence, it became clear that the Astartes had called upon their elite forces to defend the inner sanctum, the Assault Cannon rang out twice more, once gunning down a traitor marine in a hail of shot, knocking him to the ground, rending his armour off his body. Skaav who had now taken cover, along with the remainder of his squad, peered around the corner of the corridor he had chosen in order to survive the relentless tenacity of the enemy. Quickly within his mind he drew up a plan, he knew that the Astartes weapon, to be a slow firing, slow loading type, if he could draw their fire power away from his post, he or one of his men would be able to launch a frag grenade towards the adversary. They could hear the enemy Terminator reloading his Assault Cannon, in a flash, one of the Chaos Marines stood to his feet "I shall draw their fire Commander!" he roared, and moved to the end of the corridor to gain a clean run-up, in his mind, he knew it to be certain death, but he was ready, he knew the great powers would be good to him, he knew they would reward him within the Warp, he ran as fast as he could, successfully he managed to draw fire, Commander Skaav threw the grenade has quickly as he could. With an almighty explosion, the Astartes Terminator was thrown into the air, his armour fractured, Assault Cannon nothing more than a twisted hunk of metal, to Skaav's amazement, the Chaos marine that drew the enemies fire, had miraculously survived the ordeal "It seems the Powers have preserved you! I can only assume you are destined to serve Chaos alive for the time being." He beckoned to the remainder of the squad. Now they faced an altogether more impossible task, to break into the central power core, and secure what the Imperium had taken from them. The traitor servitors followed the blood path which had been laid before them, ready to cut through the thick steel doors. The Traitors stood back knowing that they would be just few moments away from the ultimate glory. The impatience of one Marine became clear, when he raised his meltagun ready to blast the door, Skaav glared at him "If you so much as even touch the trigger, the blast from your Melta would not only destroy the door, but also our goal! And in that case I will leave it down to you to explain to Lord Tolkar, why our mission was deemed a failure!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lord Tolkar paced the command deck, awaiting the news of Skaav's success. The information he had already received had been sketchy at its best, reports of numerous losses on both sides were bouncing back and forth from different attack squads and of all of them, it was the Commander who had failed to report in. A servitor moved forward to report a further situation that had arisen on board the ship, only to be knocked flying by the flat of Tolkar's Daemon Sword. It growled and fizzled as it made contact with the unfortunate recipient. The pathetic creature withdrew to the shadows and cowered in fear, it was only at the sight of one of his own Marines Tolkar begun to once more feel at ease. The Marine had just begun to give his report when the ship violently shuddered from a volley of cannons, on screen a second Imperial ship had entered the battle, this time, a ship of the Ordo Malleus, just what Tolkar needed, a ship of the Inquisition, he gave the order to signal the survivors of the main battle on the first ship to withdraw. It was only a matter of time before Grey Knights would teleport towards the stricken vessel to clean up the Daemonic scourge; Commander Skaav was now working on borrowed time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back on board the Imperial cruiser, the Servitors had finally completed their task, the moved back from their positions, and allowed the Chaos Marines to pass. The Chamber they entered was a sight to behold, a strange pale blue glow illuminated the room, and in the centre the power core, the very life-force of the ship carried on with its silent duty. Beneath the raised console platform, lay a shrine, placed upon it was the very prize the Chaos Marines had been looking for, the Heart of Iron, not a physical heart, but an emblem of their worship of the machine, a device of power that only they could possibly dream of, and it was developed by one of their own numbers, their Primarch. Skaav sniffed the air, he could sense further members of the False Imperiums forces entering the ship, and worse, they were Malleus. Giving the order to evacuate, the squad quickly made their way back to the cargo hold where they had entered, realising they had no choice but to leave the traitor Servitors to their fate. They reached the teleport beacon just as the Grey Knights broke through the bulkhead doors; Skaav gave an evil knowing smile, as he and the surviving Chaos Marines disappeared back to their ship. The Servitors were not so lucky, the Grey Knights destroyed the beacon, and each machine was given a summary execution, due to being of little use in regards to information, or the Mechanicus. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Onboard the Chaos cruiser, codes were punched into the console, the Heart of Iron safely locked away ready for the day it would become active, and the command given to return to the homeworld. Commander Skaav received the reward he had dreamed of for so long, for so impressed was Lord Tolkar, he personally took Skaav to be one of his Chosen, and as a member of his inner circle of advisors. The Enemy ship lay in ruins, it had become clear to the Inquisition there had been little they could have done to prevent the recent activity; it was therefore decided to abandon the ship completely. Tolkar watched as the Malleus Battlebarge homed its lance cannons upon the stricken vessel, and with a single blast sent it to oblivion. The Chaos Ship now travelled deeper into the warp, mission accomplished, enemies vanquished for the time being, along with trophies and rewards to come. It felt as if the Imperium of the False Emperor would be nearing its end, and the era of Chaos would arise, with the great Warmaster upon the Golden throne. Chaos Incarnate. Commander Skaav watched as the prisoners taken during the battle were slowly executed, sacrificed to the undivided powers whom his legion had served since the Heresy. Their screams were like music to his ears, pleasurable, almost hypnotising, the whisper of excess filled his ears, he resisted, for he had never dedicated himself to a single power, and he would not begin to from now, no he had sworn to serve Chaos Undivided, and so he shall for eternity! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon a world, with a pure white sky orbiting a black sun, is a palace of machines, it's dark halls ring out with the ever mechanical workings of the technology that serve its occupants. In the centre lies a dark and forbidding throne room, within its centre stands an immense mechanical throne. The figure sat back, although it could not be seen, it could be sensed that he was almost smiling to himself. His servant had been successful, and now he held the very device he forged so long ago to protect the Imperium of the False Emperor, and now he would use it to bring down the old regime. He had waited for a long time for this moment, ten thousand years had passed, and at last, he would begin to plot his revenge, against those who turned against him, who had failed to see the truth in the words spoken by his Brother Horus so long ago. Surrounded by his closest advisors and his Chosen, he began to once again feel invincible, the power of the machine flowed through him. He would ensure the galaxy would tremble at the very mention of his name, for he was Perturabo, ruler of Medrengard, Lord of the Machine, Daemon Primarch of the IV Legion, and at long last, he would finally be able to fight alongside his own brethren, once more as their leader. The Imperiums time is slowly fading, it would now face it's a Apocalypse, and the Iron Warriors would be at the forefront of the battle! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PART 2 CAN BE READ HERE: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...=202331&hl= WARHAMMER 40,000 This Fan-Fiction peice is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited. 40k, Adeptus Astartes, Blood Angels, Bloodquest, Cadian, Catachan, Chaos, the Chaos device, the Chaos logo, Citadel, Citadel Device, Cityfight, Codex, Daemonhunters, Dark Angels, Dark Eldar, Dawn of War, 'Eavy Metal, Eldar, Eldar symbol devices, Eye of Terror, Fire Warrior, the Fire Warrior logo, Forge World, Games Workshop, Games Workshop logo, Genestealer, Golden Demon, Gorkamorka, Great Unclean One, GW, GWI, the GWI logo, Inquisitor, the Inquisitor logo, the Inquisitor device, Inquisitor:Conspiracies, Keeper of Secrets, Khorne, the Khorne logo, Kroot, Lord of Change, Necron, Nurgle, the Nurgle logo, Ork, Ork skull devices, Sisters of Battle, Slaanesh, the Slaanesh logo, Space Hulk, Space Marine, Space Marine chapters, Space Marine chapter logos, Tau, the Tau caste designations, Tyranid, Tyrannid, Tzeentch, the Tzeentch logo, Ultramarines, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k Device, White Dwarf, the White Dwarf logo, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Warhammer 40,000 universe are either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2007, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. Used without permission. No challenge to their status intended. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners. Can also be seen on DeviantArt along with my other 40K related pieces (I'm "Warhammer-Fanatic"). Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/169940-heart-of-iron/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Skaav Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 Would love to know what people think of my work. :P :P :P :P :woot: Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/169940-heart-of-iron/#findComment-2019642 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Rafen Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I like! Nice to see something on the Iron warriors :cuss Any chance of a continuation? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/169940-heart-of-iron/#findComment-2020146 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Skaav Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 I like! Nice to see something on the Iron warriors :cuss Any chance of a continuation? Indeed, this is just the beginning! :) The Iron Warriors are only just beginning their schemes. Also, these stories lead the way to a campaign I am planning to do at my local Wargaming club. Once that's underway, the stories will take the form of the battles and outcomes. Also keep watch for further appearences of the Primarch himself! :cuss All be it fleetingly. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/169940-heart-of-iron/#findComment-2020470 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Rafen Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Sounds exciting! The battles will be posted here or in the liber victorum? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/169940-heart-of-iron/#findComment-2020860 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Skaav Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 Sounds exciting! The battles will be posted here or in the liber victorum? I might post them here as stories, but I might also post a proper battle report with a link to the story for those who would like to read it in a more narrative genre. Haven't fully decided yet, but will post information on my decision as part of this current post. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/169940-heart-of-iron/#findComment-2020883 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Skaav Posted May 24, 2010 Author Share Posted May 24, 2010 Parts 2, 3 and 4 are now written! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/169940-heart-of-iron/#findComment-2410825 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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