Fire and Shadows

[Allerka]

I've finally gotten around to writing the next story in my planned trilogy, so here it is! This story doesn't directly tie into my last story, Swords and Shadows, but it helps set up the characters for the next planed story, which'll be a cross-over between my Lords of Oblivion and Shadow Acolytes. Anyway, enjoy!

 

Fire and Shadows

 

Part 1

 

Darkness reigned over the chamber, only the dimmest of shadows visible. A number of large, hunched forms could vaguely be seen, arranged in two rows of five each. A dozen more, smaller forms, silently shuffled about. The scent of incense wafted thickly through the air as one of the smaller figures moved up and down the middle of the chamber, waving a glowing censer.

 

The silence became punctuated with a low chanting, a single voice intoning ancient words in a language nearly forgotten. Occasionally, the voice would pause, and the other nine forms would echo a reply in unison. The lone voice would then fill the chamber once more.

 

After long minutes, the voice concluded with the words, “Ave Imperator, Ave Manus.” The other forms repeated the words, and all stood in unison. On cue, light began to fill the room, dispelling the shadows. Further illumination came from the glowing displays of a bank of consoles at one end of the chamber.

 

With the darkness removed, the ten figures became visible, mighty robed giants towering over the smaller humans moving about them. They stood facing each other in pairs, silent and unmoving. Behind each could be seen ornate racks displaying suits of armor as massive as each of the giants.

 

Another word was spoken by the lone voice, and each turned about, facing their armor. They shrugged off their robes, which were hastily collected by the menials about them. Others moved forward and began to reverently remove individual pieces of armor, assisting the giants in donning them. As they armed themselves from their feet, moving upwards, chanting began to fill the chamber once more.

 

“Spirits of the armor, grant us the sureness of foot to stand strong and true against our enemies. Guide our legs, that they may ever carry us towards the enemy and towards victory. Protect our hearts, that they may beat with eternal fury. Guard our souls, that they may stay forever pure. Shield our arms and our hands, that we may bring justice to our foes. Gird our heads, that we may see through deception and deceit. Power our bodies, that we may be the Angels of Death.”

 

With a collective rumble, ten suits of powered armor came to life, power surging through the circuitry within. The figures now wearing the suits, who had before remained virtually immobile, now came to life as well, flexing fingers and arms, looking about, or shifting weight from foot to foot.

 

Their armor was a blend of colors. Their legs, arms, and shoulders were in the color of a deepest green, faintly reflective of its own property, and the edges of the armor seeming to glow with a hint of light. Their torsos were of a magnificent blue, not unlike the sky of their homeworld, now so distant from where they stood. The trim on their shoulders, wrists, and boots was of the purest white.

 

On their right shoulders were painted the ancient symbol which denoted them as a Tactical Squad, the lower corner of the shoulders further carrying a single dash, marking them as the First. Their right kneepads were painted black, on which could be seen a silver sword, interposed with three more dashes. Their left shoulder pads bore an upwards-pointing sword, flanked by the Imperial Laurel.

 

The menials stepped forward again, this time each bearing melee weapons. Most were chainswords, but a few received different weapons. One was presented with an ornate axe, another with a mace. A third, his armor additionally draped with a bone-white tabard, was given a large gauntlet to wear over the one already on his left hand. Individual chants were taken up to prepare the weapons.

 

Their melee weapons ready, the menials returned once more, giving each Marine a mighty rifle, save for one who was given a different gun with a cylindrical barrel, and another who was given a gun with an underslung tank and a muzzle stained from fire. The Space Marines each picked up their bolters reverently, speaking the Litany of Arming in unison and loading a magazine. Their bolters ready, the Space Marines turned about to look at each other once more. The Marine with a tabard and the mighty gauntlet stepped forward, looking at each of the others. A menial stood behind him, carrying a banner which bore the Chapter symbol upon it.

 

“And so we ride to war once again, Brothers. Our enemies await, let us not disappoint them.” One of the others spoke up.

 

“Who are we to do battle against, Sergeant?” The Sergeant shook his head.

 

“The Captain wished to divulge that during the briefing, so you shall have to wait until then. I’m sure you will not be disappointed. I can tell you this; it is an enemy some of us have yet to face.” With this, the Sergeant looked to one of the other Marines, this one with noticeably less ornate armor than the others.

 

“You have not yet had the privilege of fighting this foe, Brother Dorias. Hopefully you will come to appreciate what this enemy represents, both to the Imperium and to us, and savor the opportunity to destroy them.” Brother Dorias Tor’ten nodded. He had only been recently assigned to the squad, promoted from the Reserve Companies to replace a prior loss. Even before then, he had only been promoted to a full Battle-Brother a few years prior.

 

“I understand, Sergeant Lucius. I pray I will not disappoint.” Lucius laughed as he stepped forward.

 

“Of course you won’t disappoint, Dorias! I’ve trained you myself, like the rest of you, and there’s a reason we’re the First!” Lucius punched his left hand into the air, and the squad cheered. “But enough, we’ve tarried long enough, we don’t want to keep the Captain waiting. Come!” Lucius led the way out of the chamber, and the squad followed, exchanging jovial banter between them.

 

---

“Captain on deck!” the call went, so loud from the speaker’s natural voice no amplifier was needed to ring over the noise of the hangar deck. Over a hundred booted feet smacked the ground in unison as the Third Company, already in formation, came to attention. Command Sergeant Bronte glared out over the assembled Company from his raised platform for a moment before stepping to the side and saluting the new arrival on the platform behind him.

 

The new figure wore the most ornate armor out of all the Marines present. Like many of the senior officers, he wore a bone-colored tabard, representing his ascent to Veteran status without suffering the loss of any of his bodily parts. From his back flowed a black cloak which seemed to absorb the light around it. Atop his back was an expertly crafted banner which bore the symbol of the Third Company, mixed with his personal heraldry. His hands were the normal gauntlets of his armor, the massive claws he normally wore into battle being carried by a pair of Battle-Brothers to his side. His helmet was strapped at his side, and his face could be clearly seen, short black hair atop his head and his eyes a depthless green.

 

Captain Tiburin stepped forward to the edge of the platform and looked across his Company for a moment. It always filled him with pride to see so many Marines, so many Brothers, together and united in singular cause. The center of the formation was his Company, arranged into two columns five wide and ten deep. Behind them he could see twenty Scouts from the Tenth Company, and to the side stood the fifteen Veterans of the First Company attached to him. Five of them wore their ancient suits of Terminator Armor, the others in power armor. The only one moving was Chaplain Luk’than, quietly intoning prayers and sprinkling holy water upon the assembled Marines as he moved around the formation.

 

“Brothers, the time has come once again to bring the fires of war upon the enemies of the Emperor. Our last campaign saw the liberation of a world from the Tau, and the capture of a deadly heretic. However, this heretic was not without allies. Our oldest foe was present on that world, aiding the heretic. Though we brought ruin upon them, their leader and his warriors escaped.

 

“The enemy known as Faldred the Foul awaits us,” as he spoke the name, he could see his Marines subtly shift about, whether with anger, anticipation, or other emotions. “The Scriptorum Oblivio speaks long and well of his menace to our Chapter, a centuries-long oath yet unfulfilled. The time has come to complete that oath!” The assembled Marines cheered at this, and Tiburin continued a moment later.

 

“We have tracked them to this lonely world, lost in the void between systems. To the best of our knowledge, no servant of the Emperor has ever come to this place. But it is here that Faldred has fled and chosen to make his stand. Even now, battle rages in the skies above this world, as our fleet destroys his, thanks to our allies in the Imperial Navy. We have cut off his escape route, and now he and his twisted brethren of the Emperor’s Children will die.

 

“Your Sergeants have your squad assignments, learn your duties. That is all I have. Emperor be with you. With thunder we ride!” The reply was screamed by every Marine before him in a deafening roar.

 

“With lighting we strike!” Captain Tiburin turned from the platform, and gestured for his Command Squad and the three Librarians present to follow him. Behind him he could hear Command Sergeant Bronte yelling in his booming voice once again. One of the Librarians, Epistolary Var’kres, spoke as they walked.

 

“Faldred has built a mighty fortress upon this world, it will be a difficult battle to break into it.”

 

“And that is how we shall circumvent their walls. We will use our very drop pods to smash through their battlements, and strike at them from within. Three hundred Marines, plus our armored might, will stand a very strong chance of breaking through anything they have. Our reports tell us their numbers are greatly reduced after the last several battles, plus there were still craft leaving their ships for the surface, no doubt we’ve destroyed more of the warhost in orbit.”

 

“Will Inquisitor Elliott be joining us?” Champion Grayle spoke up. Captain Tiburin shook his head.

 

“No, he is still interrogating Veck, his resources will not be at our disposal. Though the squad of Grey Knights he summoned will be joining us. The Terran Imperial Guard will also be landing several armored companies to smash the outer walls and lend further power to our offensive. The environment is too harsh for their infantry, unfortunately.”

 

They came to the Drop Pod for the Captain and his Command Squad. Tiburin halted and turned to face the other Marines with him. As he did so, he saw Bronte approach, having concluded his duties. Chaplain Luk’than also approached, his helmet already affixed. Tiburin spoke once more.

 

“Faldred has nowhere left to run. We will strike him down with everything we have, and finally put an end to this conflict. Librarians, no doubt he will call upon the aid of the warp, I will need you to focus on your shielding to protect our Brothers, I believe we have enough firepower to deal with whatever else he will bring.”

 

“Understood, Captain,” Var’kres responded. “I have already assigned a half-dozen Lexicanii to the Company, and Erz’inth, Helcate, and myself will be joining the Veterans as needed.”

 

“Excellent. Well then, begin your preparations.” Two of the Librarians and Chaplain Luk’than turned and went to board their respective craft. Captain Tiburin, his Command Squad, and Epistolary Var’kres began the embarkation of their drop pod.

 

Strapped in, Captain Tiburin attached his helmet, reading the familiar display, and flexed his fingers in anticipation.

[Roguemarine]

i like this, has a very nice flow...already many personalities to play with as your story progresses, keep it up brother.

[KEEPER]

I'm really liking this one. Looking forward to the next section of the story!

[Allerka]

Thanks, guys. Glad you're liking it. :lol:

 

Next section will be up later this week.

[Allerka]

Alrighty, here's the next part. Sorry on it taking so long, had a hectic week. Enjoy!

 

 

Part 2

 

 

The planet’s origin was unknown. At some distant point in aeons past, it had torn free of its star, whether by the natural flow of the cosmos or by artificial design, and now plied the vast void between systems.

 

Despite its vast distance from any source of light or heat, its surface, which should have been utterly frozen, was active with perpetual tectonic activity, covering most of its surface in rivers of lava that also provided the primary source of illumination on the surface. What atmosphere it had was filled with sulfurous gases, utterly lethal to humans, thus only the Lords of Oblivion and Terran Imperial Guard riding in sealed vehicles would be able to make planetfall and have any hope of living.

 

The planet possessed further qualities that confused the humans now orbiting above it. Auspexes were virtually useless, the planet generating an electromagnetic field hundreds of times stronger than it should have been, forcing the ships to rely entirely on visual sensors. Luckily the planet had few clouds, though there was constant storm activity that broiled across the planet in the form of endless chains of lightning.

 

By the time the first drop pods began to rain down, Imperial observers had thoroughly charted the layout of the fortress from orbit, identifying weak spots and ideal landing targets. Some surveying crews were assigned to sweep over the surrounding terrain for miles in all directions, to search for possible secondary strongholds, escape points, or other indications of Chaos presence. Scattered outer patrols were found, but nothing else.

 

In the hours leading up to the assault, and during the battle, a number of surveyor crews, scanning the surface from a low zoom, looking at hundreds of yards at once, reported seeing signs of movement, of distinct shapes darting across the surface of the planet, only to have these shapes disappear utterly when attempting to zoom in further.

 

Senior officers present initially dismissed these as sensor ghosts, interference, or natural phenomena; however the frequency of these reports, continuing across hours of scanning and even after repeated diagnostics by attending Tech-Priests, began to unsettle them. By the time a conclusive pattern could be discerned behind the strange sightings, the battle was already well under way.

 

---

Dorias could barely hear the chanting above the roar of the drop pod. Even with his autosenses tuned to block out the external roar, the sheer force of the noise and vibration reached through to his ears and forced him to strain to hear.

 

They had been fired from the Vanguard of Firien barely a minute before, and were punching through the upper atmosphere. The augury display in the middle was the only source of illumination in the pod, and he could see the display shift and data flash across it. Linking his own suit’s senses into it, he brought up a data display, showing their descent. With the magnetic interference from the planet disrupting the primary auspex to the point of worthlessness, the pod was forced to rely on backup systems, using manual target acquisition and laser sighting to properly gauge altitude.

 

Closing the display, he focused once more on the chanting, joining in, even if he doubted any of the others could hear him. Still, it helped him calm his mind and stay focused for the impending battle. As if on cue, he began to feel an itch in the back of his skull, beyond his reach. He attempted to rub his head against the inside of his helmet, but to no avail. Sighing slightly, he attempted to tune out the sensation and focus once more on the chanting.

 

Across from him, he noticed Brother Haldir suddenly turn his head towards the central augury, and press several buttons upon it before tilting his head as if in concentration. Dorias re-activated the link to the pod’s central machine spirit, and looked at the data flow once again.

 

Even with the backup systems, it was obvious the pod was beginning to stray off course. The atmosphere and interference was playing too much havoc with the drop pod’s systems. Heldir began to input course corrections, which partly resolved the issue, but the pod was struggling to stay on target. As Dorias watched, he could see lightning flash below them, striking the approaching ground.

 

After another few moments, it appeared Haldir had succeeded in stabilizing the pod’s flight. Dorias could hear Sergeant Lucius’ praise for the prompt response. Dorias continued to watch the data feed. They were only a couple miles from the target zone, less than two minutes until landing. He heard Sergeant Lucius call for a final weapons check, and he promptly completed the ritual.

 

Suddenly he was momentarily blinded as the data feed window in his vision filled with a flash of light, and a terrible explosion rocked the drop pod. He heard the screeching of metal, and was thrown about in his harness as the pod began to spin wildly, completing a rotation in barely a second. The central display went dark, and Dorias noted a distinct lack of sound coming from the pod itself. The retro rockets were no longer firing.

 

Instead, through the disorientation of the wild spinning, he could hear the howling of wind, and realized there was still illumination in the pod, only now it came from a massive rent in the pod’s hull above the Marines. The tear went straight through the attitude controls at the top of the pod, and Dorias could see sparking and smoking circuitry in the control box, definitely damaged beyond repair.

 

“Haldir, what happened?!” Lucius shouted. Haldir replied as he worked at the controls, attempting to get the pod back under control.

 

“I’m not sure, Sergeant! I think we were struck by lightning! The machine spirit has been slain, I cannot revive it!”

 

“We’re going to hit any moment now, Brothers! Brace for impact, it’s going to be rough!” Sergeant Lucius roared above the noise. They were spinning wildly, heading for the surface of the planet at twice the speed they would normally land at. Even for Space Marines, the speed would be hazardous at best, disastrous at worst depending on what they might impact with.

 

Gripping his harness as tightly as he could, Dorias tensed himself as he awaited the impact. Suddenly the roaring outside was replaced by a singular explosion of sound, and his head was thrown against the harness over his shoulder with such force his helmet cracked, and blackness suddenly took him.

[Roguemarine]

niiiiiiiice, keep up the good work.

[Allerka]

Next part...

 

 

Part 3

 

 

Captain Tiburin charged along the parapet towards the squad of Chaos Marines, their shots glancing off of his armor and energy shield without effect. He leapt into their midst, the Claws of Nef’arien crackling with arcs of energy as he swung them. Within seconds, the five enemies had been reduced to bloody ribbons of meat and ceramite, the blood quickly boiling in the heat of the atmosphere. Further along the parapet, he saw his Command Squad charge a trio of Obliterators, tearing apart the creatures with their power weapons.

 

He looked inwards across the fortress, scanning the battlements for enemy positions and movements. Opening his comlink, he passed along his observations in a quick series of orders to squads in his Company. They had already established a beachhead in the fortress, and were spreading out across the surrounding walls and interior passages. However, First Squad had failed to check in, which worried him. He couldn’t have the Librarians try to reach Sergeant Lucius either; though the Sergeant was a psyker like many officers in the Chapter, telepathy wasn’t one of his abilities.

 

Switching frequencies, he hailed one of his Tech-Marines which had been tasked with establishing a communication linkup with the orbiting fleet, their normal methods useless in the interference.

 

“Antonius, is the uplink ready yet?” Even at this short range, the vox was laced with static.

 

“Coming on-line now, Captain. One moment, please. Link established, patching you through to the Vanguard now.” A moment of static passed before a new voice acknowledged the link.

 

“This is Captain Tiburin. First Squad is MIA from the drop, I need a status update on them.”

 

“Their pod was hit by lightning on the way down, Captain, they crash landed some distance away from the fortress. Unfortunately, the discharge interfered with our tracking equipment, and we were unable to determine where exactly they crash landed, nor can we divine their status.”

 

“Understood. Attempt contact as best as able, and try to find them. Keep me appraised.” With that, Tiburin closed the link and resumed his advance down the parapet, already formulating changes to his strategy to adjust for this development.

 

---

At first consciousness returned slowly, but his Space Marine training began to kick in, and Dorias quickly forced himself to full alertness once again. Opening his eyes and blinking a few times, he saw through his helmet the sky of the nameless planet, thousands of stars twinkling brightly, partly obscured by brown clouds.

 

He began to sit up, shaking his head slightly to clear the remaining fog. Movement stirred to his side, and he saw one of the others of First Squad standing next to him. Several others stood at some distance, among them Sergeant Lucius. The Marine next to him called to the Sergeant, who turned and began walking towards Dorias.

 

Shifting his meltagun to one hand, Heldir reached down a hand and helped Dorias to his feet. Noticing his boltgun at his feet, Dorias leaned over and retrieved it, performing a quick functions check to ensure its operational status. Satisfied, he lowered it and looked at the approaching Sergeant.

 

“Welcome back, Dorias. Gave us a scare there, it’s not easy carrying an unconscious Marine out of a drop pod while it’s sinking into lava.” Lucius gestured to the side, where Dorias saw the top third of their drop pod protruding from a massive river of lava. The pod had apparently impacted along the edge of the river, close enough for the Marines to leap to safety, but far enough into the magma to begin sinking.

 

“How are you feeling?” Lucius asked.

 

“I’m alright now, Sergeant.”

 

“Good to hear. You almost had your helmet cracked open, you hit it so hard on the landing harness.” Dorias reached up and could feel a patch of bumpy sealant foam that had been sprayed into the fracture to close it back up. Lucius looked around at the rest of the squad. Three of them were further out, keeping watch in various directions away from the riverbank, others patrolling between them or checking supplies.

 

“Squad, form up on me!” Lucius called out. The other Marines quickly came to within several paces of the Sergeant, the three still maintaining an outwards vigil.

 

“We’ve crashed somewhere well outside the combat zone. We need to regroup with the Third Company and get back in the fight while there’s still fighting to be had, or, at the very least, before we get left behind on this Emperor-forsaken rock. Unfortunately, with communications out we can’t contact the fleet or the Captain to appraise anyone of our situation. Kor’tan, are you able to get anything on your auspex?” The Marine with an auspex in his hand shook his head and adjusted the controls as he spoke.

 

“Negative, Sergeant, I can only get readings out to about twenty meters.” Lucius muttered a curse.

 

“Well, luckily, there’s flashes over the horizon in that direction,” Lucius pointed in a direction away from the river, “and it stands to reason that’s the drop zone. We’ll head in that direction, see what we find. Spread out, ten yard distance. Stick to cover, in case we come across any patrols. Ith’maz and Yeros, take point. Let’s go.” Ith’maz trotted out to the front of the squad, his multi-spectral bionic eyes whirring as they scanned around him. Yeros moved forward, about twenty yards to Ith’maz’s right, and the rest of the squad spread out behind them, across a face about twenty-five yards in diameter.

 

As they began to move out, Dorias took one final look at the sinking drop pod. It had now submerged almost entirely, only the top fins still visible. His gaze moved to the far side of the river and he paused in his step as he saw movement on the far side. Blinking, he zoomed in with his autosenses, only to find nothing on the far side. He stared for a moment more before dismissing the sighting as lingering effects of his head trauma, and resumed walking.

 

A few moments later, he noticed the itch in the back of his skull he felt before had returned. He reached behind his head with his left hand and attempted to push his helmet against his head to satisfy the itch, but to no luck. As he walked, he saw Brother Gerrin push on his helmet as well, as if trying to accomplish the same thing.

 

Before long, the squad had lost sight of the river and their landing site, moving across the scorched terrain while lightning flashed above and in the distance.

[Roguemarine]

i can't wait to see where this is going, the story is coming along very nicely keep it up brother

[Allerka]

Alright, here's the next part. Apologies for the delay, getting side-tracked with other projects (the joys of not having enough time to do everything one wants to, eh?)

 

Part 4

 

An hour and more passed without incident, the squad covering the blasted rocks with ease, occasionally slowed by low cliffs or the need to traverse smaller rivers of lava, or even move up and down banks to find smaller points for them to cross. At one point, a river stood several dozen meters wide in both directions for as far as they could see, forcing them to backtrack some distance to find a large rock spire they had passed, cut it down, and carry it with great difficulty back to the river, before flipping it across the gulf and crossing.

 

A short while later, as they passed through a valley filled with numerous low rocks, Ith’maz signaled for the squad to take cover, and the Marines rapidly ducked behind rocks.

 

Lucius took cover behind a taller stone, so as to conceal his back banner as well. A moment later, his voice came softly over the squad vox.

 

“What do you see, Ith’maz?”

 

“Picking up heat signatures, Sergeant, over the far crest. Can’t tell how many, at least a half-dozen.”

 

“Are they just gas vents?”

 

“Negative, they’re definitely life-forms.”

 

“Stay low, brothers. Expect the enemy and prepare to engage.” Dorias silently flipped the safety to his bolter off as he crouched behind a rock, waiting for a further signal. At first, he stared at the ground, not risking a glance past the rock, but then he tilted his head up and looked around him. From his position, he could see Heldir, Gerrin, and Yeros, the rest being either behind him or obscured by the rocks. He glanced at the rock to his left shielding him, and nearly jolted from his position before his training overrode his initial reaction.

 

For an instant, he was certain he saw a leering, inhuman face in the rock, but a moment of further observation revealed it to be merely shadows forming indistinct shapes vaguely resembling a face. He looked away, trying to pay it no heed, but he felt certain that, for an instant, it was much more distinct in form.

 

A few minutes of tense silence passed before he heard anything further on his vox. The calm voice of Ith’maz, almost as mechanical as his extensive cranial bionics, spoke up.

 

“They’re appearing now, stand-by.” Dorias carefully and slowly leaned forward, until the edge of his helmet emerged from behind the rock, allowing him to see ahead of the squad. At over a hundred meters away, he could see movement, followed by shapes beginning to emerge over the crest of the hill. He triggered the zoom on his autosenses, and acquired a closer view of the figures.

 

Their form was strangely familiar, and yet disturbingly different. Clearly they were Space Marines, they had the same general shape, but smaller details about them were vastly different. Spikes and horns arose from their armor, and Dorias could see segments of armor covered by flayed skin stretched across them. Body parts, mostly hands and heads, desiccated from the heat, hung either from chains on their belts or were mounted on spikes arising from their backpacks. Even in the dim light, he could see their armor was painted in a variety of wildly contrasting colors, segments alternating between black and a bright magenta, or other segments painted the color of blood.

 

Most of them carried bolters, but several bore strange weapons Dorias had never seen before. He reasoned these were the fabled sonic weaponry he had read about both in the mission briefing and in the legends of the Chapter; strange instruments that destroyed their targets entirely through acoustics rather than solid ballistics or projected energy. One carried a plasma pistol in one hand, his other gripping a curved and wide blade which seemed to have a screaming face carved into it.

 

Dorias felt a tightening of his stomach at finally seeing with his own eyes the Chapter’s greatest enemy. He had fought against Chaos Marines before, against those of the Black Legion during the Medusa V campaign, but the Emperor’s Children held a special place of hatred with the Lords of Oblivion, both from legends stretching back to the Horus Heresy and the early days of the Chapter’s primogenitors, the Iron Hands, and in more recent centuries with the ongoing struggle between the Lords of Oblivion and the Angels of Rapture, the warhost of Faldred the Foul.

 

He shifted his grip on his bolter, his fingers twisting over its form in anticipation, and he leaned back behind the rock, waiting for orders. Lucius’ voice came up on the vox a moment later.

 

“Steady, brothers, let them draw closer.” Dorias carefully leaned forward again to take another look. The Chaos Marines were completely over the hilltop and descending it, heading almost straight for First Squad’s position. He noticed one of them held something vaguely resembling an auspex, and was adjusting its controls. He thought perhaps they might have been discovered, but then he remembered Kor’tan’s earlier comment of his auspex being virtually useless outside of a small radius.

 

The Chaos Marines drew nearer, and Dorias saw the one with the auspex suddenly stop in his movements and rapidly adjust something on the device. A second later, he looked up and gestured frantically in the direction of First Squad. Dorias couldn’t hear the conversation being had, but an instant later the Chaos Marines brought their bolters to bear.

 

“Attack! For the Emperor!” Lucius yelled, and First Squad emerged from cover to unleash a hail of bolter fire at the Chaos Marines who tried to dive for cover. Two were caught in the fusillade, their armor punctured and their innards already beginning to boil from the planet’s heat. The rest ducked behind the rocks and began to return fire from behind cover.

Some of First Squad began to advance, their brothers launching extensive amounts of suppressive fire. Sergeant Lucius quickly charged to the front of the squad, firing his bolter one-handed. Several of the Chaos Marines targeted him with bolter fire, only to have the shots deflected by a glowing shield of energy. Dorias could see Lucius’ eyes glow with psychic energy, even through his helmet. The shield disappeared as Lucius moved behind a rock again.

 

Dorias leaned out from the side of his rock, rather than above it, and looked down the sights of his bolter at the enemy position. After a moment, he saw one of the Chaos Marines stick his head above the rock and try to aim at another member of First Squad. Dorias aimed his own bolter in less than a second, and fired. The bolt shell impacted with the enemy’s helmet and exploded, shattering the helmet. The Chaos Marine stumbled out from behind his rock, clutching the bloody ruin of his face and gasping for air, only to have another member of First Squad fire another bolt round into his now-unarmored head, exploding it. The headless Marine tumbled to the ground and lay still.

 

As Dorias ducked back behind his rock, he heard a cacophony of noise. Even through his helmet, the sudden assault of noise was tremendous, and he found himself feeling slightly disoriented. He heard an explosion behind him, and saw the rock that brother Verik was hiding behind explode, and Verik was tossed into the air from the sheer force of the attack, hurling him backwards and smashing through another rocky outcropping.

 

In response, he saw Heldir dash forward, firing his meltagun at the rock hiding the Chaos Marine with the sonic weapon. The rock quickly began to glow with heat until it turned molten in a matter of seconds, evaporating rapidly, and allowing the beam to strike the Chaos Marine behind it. The beam bored through the Marine as easily as it did the rock, and the ruined body collapsed to the ground.

 

“Advance to melee! Iz’tar, lay down some fire!” Lucius yelled over the din of combat. Iz’tar, armed with the squad’s flamer, emerged from behind his cover and fired his flamer in a wide arc, bathing a huge swathe of the valley in fire. From his position, Dorias could see the flesh and body parts on the armor of the Chaos Marines burst into flames, giving the enemy an even more hellish appearance, but the Marines themselves appeared unaffected beyond keeping their heads down.

 

With a collective series of roars and battle-cries, First Squad broke from their cover and began to charge towards the Chaos Marines. Dorias shifted his bolter to one hand and drew his chainsword, revving the blade to life. Hearing the roared cries, the enemy Marines arose from their cover and drew their own close combat weapons.

 

Dorias charged straight towards one of the Chaos Marines, this one wearing a helmet with mighty horns arising from its temples. Rather than a chainsword, he carried a curved blade in one hand that was nearly the same length as Dorias’ chainsword. As he was the one charging, Dorias lunged with his chainsword once he was in range. The Chaos Marine sidestepped the lunge and parried with his own blade, bringing it down to slice through Dorias’ shoulder. Dorias was caught off guard at the speed with which his opponent reacted, and leapt backwards, avoiding the downward slash.

 

Resolving to be more careful, he swung his chainsword in a horizontal arc as he stepped forward, and the Chaos Marine blocked as he expected. He threw his whole weight into the blow, pushing forward and forcing the Chaos Marine to step back. The Chaos Marine shifted his weight and stepped back forward, inside Dorias’ guard, bringing his bolt pistol to bear. However, the Chaos Marine noticed only too late that Dorias’ bolter was down by his waist, pointing upwards, into the softer abdominal armor of the Chaos Marine’s suit. Dorias squeezed the trigger, and the explosive force of the impact hurled the enemy back and to the ground, where he ceased further movement.

 

Dorias looked to his side, where he saw the rest of the squad engaging the enemy. Sergeant Lucius was in the thickest of it, fighting two of the Chaos Marines at once. One swung at him with his sword, only to have the blow deflected by Lucius’ psychic shield. The other tried to fire his bolt pistol point blank, but Lucius grabbed the Marine’s arm with his power fist and, with a wrenching tear of flesh and ceramite, tore the arm completely off. Returning his focus to the first Chaos Marine, Lucius concentrated his psychic shield into a ball of force and hurled it into the Chaos Marine, sending him reeling.

 

The enemy champion suddenly stepped forward to engage Lucius, his power sword crackling. Dorias rushed forward to help the Sergeant. Dorias and Lucius both attacked at the same time, but the champion expertly deflected both attacks, nearly destroying Dorias’ chainsword in the process, and managing to fire a bolt of plasma at Lucius. However, the bolt merely grazed the Sergeant’s shoulderpad, leaving a furrow of scorched metal.

 

Dorias launched another attack, trying to get under the champion’s guard, only to have his attack blocked again, and a riposte attack nearly severing his right hand in the process. Dorias dropped his bolter out of shock, and pain and heat flooded up his arm as the atmosphere made contact with the flesh of his arm. He staggered back as he tried to block the pain out.

 

Suddenly his vision flashed, and things became hazy. He looked up, and saw the melee around him moving in slow motion, as if time had suddenly slowed. Everything had become blurry, filled with afterimages, but he could still discern the figures of Sergeant Lucius and the enemy champion. As Dorias watched, he saw Lucius bring his power fist around in a mighty punch, only to see the champion step inside the blow and bring his power sword up into Lucius’ midsection. The Sergeant staggered at the blow, and the champion tore the sword out of Lucius, nearly cutting him in two.

 

Dorias screamed, and tried to rush to his Sergeant’s aid, but found he was virtually unable to move, no matter how hard he tried. The broken form of Lucius collapsed to the ground, and the champion turned to face Dorias. As the twisted helmet turned to look at him, Dorias thought he saw the leering face from the rock again, but he couldn’t be sure as his vision flashed again.

 

He found everything returned to normal, the blurriness gone and his ability to move restored. He stood stunned for a few seconds, trying to figure out what happened, when he looked up and saw the champion solidly kick an unharmed Lucius in the chest, sending him reeling. Lucius recovered, and clenched his fist, readying to step forward and deliver a mighty punch. Dorias saw the champion shift his weight to step forward, and realized what was about to happen.

 

Reflexively, and knowing he was too far away to aid Lucius with his chainsword directly, he reached his arm back and hurled his chainsword at the champion, the teeth still whirring at full speed. The chainsword spun in the air, and the teeth impacted with the helmet of the champion. Though the chainsword barely scratched the armor and bounced off, the champion was stunned by the sudden blow, and failed to react to Lucius’ attack. The power fist impacted with his chest, shattering the breastplate and sending the champion crashing to the ground. Lucius stepped forward and leaned over, punching his fist into the face of the fallen champion, reducing his head to bloody pulp. Standing, Lucius turned to a still-stunned Dorias.

 

“Unconventional, certainly, but I can’t question the effectiveness. Thank you, Dorias.” Dorias merely stared at the Sergeant.

 

“I…I saw you die…” Dorias said quietly. Lucius stepped forward, his head tilted in puzzlement.

 

“You saw what? Me? Die? Hah! No, I don’t think so, Dorias. That was just good reflexes on your part. Well done. Speaking of which, your armor still has a hole in it, patch it up.”

 

Dorias remembered his armor had still been punctured, and his arm suddenly flared up again with pain. Grabbing the packet of sealant in one of his pouches, he tore the packet open and squeezed the foam into the crevice in his armor, sealing it closed. The pain began to subside after that.

 

By now, the rest of the Chaos Marines had been dispatched by the First Squad, and they began to scout about for any further presence. They went back to check on brother Verik, only to find him still lying where he had crashed to the ground. The explosion had torn several holes in his armor, and the atmosphere had boiled him alive before he could do anything about it. The others recovered what equipment of his they could, stripping his armor and carrying individual pieces among them. Sergeant Lucius drew a knife and quickly excised the progenoid glands from Verik as best he could, storing them in a sealed compartment on his belt.

 

With the recovery of equipment complete, the squad held a brief ceremony of several minutes, Sergeant Lucius recalling the most glorious of Verik’s deeds before the squad recited the Benediction of Departure, and brother Iz’tar ignited the body with his flamer, quickly cremating it. The ritual complete, the squad moved beyond the valley, searching for any form of transportation the Chaos Marines might have had, which could be commandeered and make their journey easier.

 

They did indeed find a Rhino a short while later; however, oddly enough, it had already partly sunk into another river of lava. The Lords of Oblivion found this rather bizarre, reasoning the Chaos Marines would have had no reason to drive into a river of lava. The tracks behind the Rhino were indeed fresh, indicating the Rhino had not been parked long.

It was not until brother Kor’tan, standing on the hill behind the squad, and thus looking at the Rhino from above, noticed the far side of the river was home to small veins of lava, almost like remnants left behind a body of liquid flowing across a surface. Though they couldn’t be sure it was the case, it appeared to the members of First Squad as if the river of lava had actually moved to swallow up the Rhino.

[Allerka]

Here's the next part. The following section is going to be huge, so posting these separately.

 

Part 5

 

Ensign Gilman sighed as he leaned back and rubbed his eyes from exhaustion. Hours of visual scans of the planet’s surface, searching for a lost squad of Space Marines that might never be found. Teams on the Aquila Decus had been searching the surface since the drop pod was observed to have been hit. However, a sudden surge of interference blanked out all the monitor banks, blinding the ship long enough so that they were unable to track where it landed. Afterwards, crews had scanned the surface exhaustively, looking for any trace of movement or sign of passage.

 

Further frustrating the efforts were the continual traces of movement being detected from above, only to vanish upon closer inspection, wasting incredible amounts of time on false alarms. By now, Gilman wasn’t even reporting the fake readings, zooming in and then back out upon confirming them as a false reading, and then continuing his broader scan.

 

He leaned back forward in his chair and resumed his scan. He was searching somewhere east of the fortress, though that hardly mattered, the terrain looked the same no matter where he scanned. He touched the controls, and the grainy picture on his viewscreen shifted again as his pict-feed moved across the blasted landscape.

 

Nearly twenty minutes of scanning passed before he saw the next trace of movement. At first he considered ignoring it entirely, until a few moments of observation revealed the dark specs moving across the screen were clustered together, moving continually and deliberately, entirely contrary to all his previous sightings. There even seemed to be something resembling a formation to them, arranged into a pair of parallel arrowheads.

 

Gilman gasped as he realized he might have found the lost squad. He quickly keyed the sequence to zoom in, and felt his excitement grow as the objects remained visible, rather than slowly fade away as he drew closer. He leaned in closer without realizing it, to try and view the growing forms better. As the zoom increased, so did the level of distortion and grain to the pict-feed, but the forms were beginning to resolve. They were clearly humanoid, and vague colors began to be distinguishable on them, green and white, quite at odds with the terrain around them.

 

He made to summon his superior over when the screen suddenly filled with static again. Gilman cursed, figuring it was just another spike of interference. After a few moments it subsided. However, he stared in confusion at his screen once he saw the pict-feed. Everything was the same as before, only now the forms were gone.

 

“What the-?” he said aloud. A couple of nearby operators looked up from their consoles and glanced at him before returning to their own work. He manipulated his controls, shifting his view around in case they moved, and even zooming out, but the forms didn’t reappear. He shook his head in bewilderment, oblivious to the footsteps behind him.

 

“Something wrong, Gilman?” he heard Lieutenant Wilmarth speak. Gilman rotated in his chair, looking up to where his superior stood on a raised platform in between the two rows of pict-screen banks.

 

“I’m…not sure, sir. I thought I found them, but then they disappeared.” He glanced back at his display again, in forlorn hope of seeing the forms again, but nothing appeared, only empty ground and static.

 

“Probably just another of those auspex ghosts. Emperor knows the planet plays enough hell on our instruments as it is. Keep scanning, we’ll find them eventually.” Lieutenant Wilmarth turned and strolled away on the platform.

 

“Aye, sir,” Gilman turned back to his console, still feeling uneasy. He realized there was little he could do, though, and prayed that what he saw wasn’t an indicator of some greater willpower or malignancy.

 

---

A sudden blast of lightning struck less than a dozen meters away from the squad, forcing the Space Marines to duck down or shift their footing to resist the sudden blast of heat and wind. The noise of the explosion roared over them, thankfully muted by their autosenses. After a few moments, the roar subsided to be replaced by the constant rumble of the lava flows around them, and the sounds of more distant lightning strikes.

 

Dorias glanced behind him as the squad resumed their march, noting the enemy Rhino disappearing both into the lava and behind random spires of rock in the distance. He turned back to resume his march, when he noticed Sergeant Lucius looking at him.

 

“Dorias, come here for a minute,” he heard the Sergeant say over the vox. Dorias trotted over and walked alongside the Sergeant, surrounded by the rest of the squad. The Sergeant spoke to him over a personal link, only the two of them were privy to the conversation.

 

“You’ve come face to face with the Emperor’s Children now. How do you feel?” Dorias had suspected the Sergeant would want to speak to him of his first encounter with the Chapter’s arch-enemy.

 

“Triumphant, though a little unsettled. They were surprisingly…fast.” Lucius nodded.

 

“Indeed, many of their kind like to indulge in intoxicating substances that alter their perceptions. They have the side effect of enhancing their reflexes, but they also tend to take enough to incapacitate a saurok, making their judgment cloudy at best. Remember that lesson, you will find it useful when you fight them in the future.

 

“Now, do you know why, above all the other Traitor Legions, the Emperor’s Children stand out the most as our enemy?”

 

“The Scriptorum Oblivio speaks of their ultimate treachery during the Horus Heresy, so long ago, how they betrayed our fore-fathers, their closest brothers.”

 

“Indeed. The Iron Hands and the Emperor’s Children were the closest of allies. No other two Legions shared as strong a bond as between them, not even between the Iron Hands and the Salamanders.” Dorias noted a hint of anger in Lucius’ voice as he spoke the name of the Salamanders, but decided not to interrupt.

 

“However it happened, the Children were seduced by Chaos, and revoked their oaths to the Emperor. They even betrayed our forebears, and dealt them a terrible series of blows during that war. More than any other Legion, their betrayal not only killed a great many brothers, but the emotional scars of their actions still haunt the sons of Ferrus to this day. Greatest among their blows was when their primarch slew ours, or at least that’s what the High Paladin tells us. The Iron Hands of today deny that Ferrus was killed, and I couldn’t tell you how Allerka knows he was, but I’ve known him for over a century now, and he wouldn’t lie about something like that.

 

“But that’s all ancient history, let me tell you a little bit about more recent events. It was almost two hundred fifty years ago, during the Sagrado Worlds Campaign, that we first encountered Faldred, the traitor we hunt now. That was the Captain’s first campaign as commander of a Company, too. He did excellent, and personally led the liberation of two planets in that sector.

 

“Faldred, though, he was a tricky devil. His warhost would appear out of seemingly nowhere, striking us hard. We hit them back hard, too, but we could never pin them down long enough to annihilate them properly. They disappeared entirely towards the end of the campaign. We didn’t see him again for decades, but return he did.

 

“It’s strange, to be honest. Faldred has only appeared to our Chapter where Captain Tiburin has been present. No one else has ever encountered him. It’s almost as if he has a personal vendetta against the Captain. And certainly one can understand the Captain’s grudge against the whoreson. He’s the only enemy the Captain’s failed to destroy in battle. Can you imagine how the Captain must feel about that?” Dorias merely nodded in response.

 

“We’ve tried for centuries to wipe him out, almost suffering the same fate ourselves on multiple occasions. Do you understand why this particular battle is so important to us, to our Chapter, now?”

 

“I do, Sergeant. Thank you for helping me understand better. Though, may I speak to you about something else?”

 

“Of course, Dorias. What is it?”

 

“I’ve been…noticing things, since we’ve landed on this planet. I keep seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, but then it disappears when I look at it. I also keep seeing…a face, of some sort, almost like a ghost. Also, I keep feeling a strange…itching on the back of my skull. Normally I wouldn’t report something like that, but it’s been unusually persistent since we’ve landed. And there was my…vision from before.”

 

“Your vision, I cannot explain. Perhaps some latent psychic ability is awakening within you. It’s uncommon, but not unheard of for the power to manifest itself at such a young age. I will request an examination from the Librarium upon our return. As for the other things you’ve seen… I’ve seen them too. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it’s clearly not just me if you’re seeing them as well.” Lucius switched his vox to the entire squad.

 

“Squad, listen up. Dorias tells me he sees shadows moving about, signs of life around us when there is none. Has anyone else observed anything unusual?” Over the next several minutes, everyone else in the squad reported similar sightings and observations. Most of them also concurred to feeling a strange itching sensation at the back of their skulls, which unsettled Dorias more than anything else thus far mentioned. No one in the squad could guess as to the cause of the strange itching.

 

Lucius was not sensitive to the presence of other psykers, and so he could not say if it was the work of an enemy psyker. He could concentrate on forming a psychic shield around the squad, blocking any encroachment from opposing psykers, but there would be no guarantees on the effectiveness of it, not without Lucius knowing exactly where any intrusions were coming from.

 

Resigned to the situation as it was, the squad continued their advance, now especially wary of encountering anything unnatural. As Lucius began to devote his mental faculties to shielding the squad, the itching sensations began to subside, but not entirely disappear. Dorias sighed with some relief as the annoyance of the itching faded.

[Allerka]

Here you go, this part's a bit lengthy.

 

Part 6

 

They continued onwards in silence for nearly another hour, the distant flashing growing brighter, and giving a greater impression of closeness. Very sporadically, they could faintly hear a rumble above that of the natural terrain around them, vaguely resembling far off explosions. At the prospect of rescue growing nearer, the mood in the squad began to lift slightly.

 

They cleared a ridge and approached another valley, this one filled with towering spires of rock. It appeared to have been eroded by the flow of an ancient river of lava that had, in a sense, dried up, leaving a veritable forest of former islands. The squad advanced cautiously, individual Marines taking cover behind separate spires of rock, covering their advance, staying alert for movement in their limited fields of fire.

 

Dorias advanced at a partial crouch, passing by Brother Gerrin, his bolter held before him, ready to fire instantly if he needed, shifting it in his view as he looked around, so that he always looked down the sights. He closed the distance to his target spire, and crouched down behind it with the rock to his right side, scanning his field of vision for a few seconds before gesturing behind him. A moment later, the footsteps of Brother Gerrin reached him, and the Space Marine passed by him, advancing to the next spire.

 

As Gerrin advanced forward, Dorias caught a hint of movement in his peripheral vision. He shifted his view and aim to his left to track the movement, but saw nothing among the spires to his side. Suddenly a form raced through the space between two spires to his left. He quickly shifted his view and aim again, finger resting on the trigger. But there was nothing to greet his aim, only lifeless rock.

 

“Dorias, advance,” Gerrin’s voice came over the vox. Dorias stood and began to walk back behind the spire, following the movement he saw.

 

“One second, I saw something.” He heard Gerrin’s muttered statement of confusion, but didn’t look to see if he covered Dorias. His bolter still ready to fire, he rounded the spire, and saw nothing. He looked around for a few seconds, confused.

 

“Dorias, let’s go,” Gerrin spoke again, growing impatient. Dorias turned about and began to advance once again, when the squad-wide vox came alive.

 

“What was that?!” He heard Kor’tan suddenly exclaim. Lucius asked him to explain, but Kor’tan could only say he saw movement. A second later Heldir reported seeing something, but nothing substantial could be reported. Yeros interjected with a report of no contacts on his auspex, only to have Ith’maz disagree with a claim that he was beginning to detect heat signatures nearby.

 

As Dorias approached Gerrin, the other Space Marine suddenly cried out in surprise and unleashed a trio of shots at something behind a spire beyond Dorias’ view. Dorias quickened his pace, advancing past Gerrin and coming around to see what he shot at. As the roar of the explosions faded, he heard a cracking sound, followed by grinding. Looking up, he saw Gerrin’s shots had merely impacted with a spire, shattering part of its lower mass. With the support removed, the upper portion was beginning to break free and come tumbling down like a felled tree.

 

Dorias quickly leapt to his side, narrowly avoiding the crashing rock spire, which impacted with a deafening crash, and blanketed him in dust. The vibrations nearly threw him from his feet, and he struggled to stay upright. After a moment, stability returned, and he turned to face Gerrin.

 

“What in the nine circles were you shooting at?!” Gerrin stood slowly, lowering his bolter.

 

“I could swear I saw something there…” Dorias sighed and shook his head.

 

“Well, there wasn’t anything there.” As he said this, Sergeant Lucius appeared from behind Gerrin.

 

“What’s going on over here?” The Sergeant demanded. Gerrin turned towards him.

 

“My apologies, Sergeant. I thought I saw a distinct form coming towards me.”

 

“Be careful, Gerrin. Our ammo is limited, we can’t be jumping at ghosts. Or shooting them, for that matter. Come on, let’s go.” He placed a hand on Gerrin’s shoulder for a second before turning to move back towards the center of the squad’s formation, but paused as more gunshots rang out.

 

“I just said to stop shooting at ghosts, squad! What’s going on?” Brother Kor’tan responded.

 

“Contact! We’re engaging the enemy!” Dorias, Gerrin, and Lucius leapt into movement, sprinting towards the sounds of gunfire.

 

“Hold tight, we’ll be right there! What are you facing?”

 

“I don’t know, Sergeant! I’ve never seen anything like this before!” Dorias felt a slight chill down his spine, accompanies by both curiosity and confusion. Was it some new unit the Emperor’s Children had devised? Or simply something Kor’tan had never fought before? He heard Lucius’ voice again.

 

“What? Something new? Can anyone give me an ID on it?” A chorus of negatives came in reply, further enhancing the feelings seeping through Dorias’ mind. A moment later, he rounded another spire and saw Iz’tar taking cover behind another pile of rock. The other Space Marine suddenly leaned out and fired a burst from his flamer before ducking back into cover. Dorias slid to a halt next to Iz’tar, alerting him of Dorias’ presence.

 

More gunfire erupted, and he saw Sergeant Lucius duck behind a spire further along, where Heldir was also sheltering. Suddenly the air between the two spires seemed to glow, and a massive arc of lightning shot past the spires, coming from the unknown attackers. Even though he was outside the radius of the energy, and his suit was grounded against electrical current, he felt tingling sensations across his body, and his hair stand on end.

 

He leaned out quickly to catch a glimpse at the attacker, and nearly froze. Like the others in the squad, the creatures, if they could be called that, were like nothing he could see before. They darted back and forth into and out of visibility behind spires of rock, but the short glimpses allowed him to garner some semblance of details. They appeared to be tiny, no more than a foot in height or length, yet they radiated clouds of black fog that extended in a meter in all directions, obscuring the exact details of their corporal forms. The only distinct detail Dorias could see were a pair of unearthly eyes which glowed with alien malice. The forms floated above the ground, maintaining no contact with it, flitting about at speeds rivaling a sprint from any of the Space Marines. He couldn’t guess their exact numbers, but it appeared there were at least a half dozen of the creatures.

 

Though he could discern their form, looking at them made his eyes ache, as if there was a certain wrongness to their shapes or colors. Though the haze of the clouds surrounding them, he could see the inner bodies shift and morph, as if they obeyed laws of geometry not native to the physical world. The only constant were the glowing eyes, which, after a moment, he realized shone with a color he had never seen before, completely alien to him and beyond description.

 

As he crouched there, staring in mounting horror, one of the creatures turned to look directly at him. As its ethereal, alien eyes bored into him, he felt its mind reach out and touch his for an instant. An unusual and inhuman face seemed to suddenly appear over the creature, leering at him with inhuman emotion. Paralyzed, he barely registered Iz’tar grabbing him and pulling him roughly back behind cover, shattering the link. Dorias lay stunned for a moment, trying to process what he saw in that instant.

 

What he had looked into in that instant, he had looked into something utterly alien and inhuman, beyond comprehension, and yet with a sickening familiarity to it. Within the alien mind, he saw memories stretching back through countless aeons, back to before mankind has arisen, before ancient wars between gods, before even the birth of Chaos, when the very universe itself was roaring into existence with limitless fury and energy. Amidst the terrible roars of power and creation, there emerged roars which came from living throats.

As the universe exploded into creation, spanning more dimensions of existence than Dorias had ever conceived, the first things to be described as life, even if such life bore little resemblance to anything he was familiar with, emerged, terrible and powerful beyond measurement. Some were as gods, others more mundane. Some existed as if in a dream, simply drifting with no thought to self or purpose, others acted upon desires and instincts impossible to understand. Some destroyed, some created, and some hid. Wars, if they could be called as such, spanned ages, fought between gods while others danced and sang songs of energy and light, their footsteps breaking the barriers between dimensions.

 

At some point, one of these entities was subjugated by its misbegotten brethren, enchained within a tomb to rot for eternity, along with its servants. Its prison soared through the cosmos, drifting across vast, incalculable distances, always shunned, always alone. But then, strange creatures arrived, and did not leave. The inhabitants of the planet were at first horrified by the grotesque appearance of the new arrivals, but that fear soon turned to hate and cunning, as the master at last, in its own bizarre way of thinking, came to the realization a chance for freedom, to soar through the dimensions of the universe once again, was at hand.

 

And now the hideous, bizarre intruders would die and the escape of the master would be made manifest. The cold of space held no fear for the creatures, nor did any of its inhabitants. They would break free of their prison and once more sail between the stars, free to pursue their incomprehensible goals and desires.

 

All this Dorias saw in but an instant. He panted heavily as he struggled to handle the sudden surge of information. The sounds of battle faded to a faint din as he mind became absorbed in the visions of what he saw. As his mind finally began to comprehend the scope of the enemy before them, he felt helpless and insignificant, just a youngling upstart standing defiant before ancient horrors whose very roars meant the death of stars and planets in ages before even the oldest alien races he knew of would have stood erect upon their worlds.

 

He felt emotions he had never experienced before as a Space Marine. It took him a moment to recognize them as hopelessness, and even despair. How could he, or even the Chapter, stand against such ageless terror as contained within this world? His shoulders sagged as all energy seemed to sap away from his body, and all sense of feeling went numb.

 

Abruptly, his introspective reverie was interrupted by a violent slapping visited upon him by Iz’tar, accompanied by loud shouting.

 

“Dorias! Focus! We’re still under attack!” Dorias shook his head as he realized Iz’tar was right. Regardless of whatever threats stood before them, they were Space Marines, and would fight until the end. Nothing could change that fact.

 

Finding his strength returning, Dorias sat up and regained his feet. He readied his bolter and looked out again at the battle scene. Several of the other Marines were firing strings of bolt shells into the creatures, but to no effect. The shells impacted the cloud of darkness and merely vanished, leaving the creatures unaffected. Only Heldir’s meltagun seemed to have any effect, as he fired a blast at one creature, which, while it appeared unaffected at first, the energy washing over it soon overwhelmed the cloud and vaporized part of the creature, causing it to collapse to the ground, the cloud dissipating as it did so. A few moments later, the creature’s body seemed to evaporate, leaving no traces.

 

The rest of the creatures continued their assault, however, summoning continual blasts of lighting that tore away at the Space Marines’ cover. They wouldn’t be able to hide forever. In response, Lucius emerged from cover and unleashed a psychic blast of energy at the nearest creature, which had an even greater effect than Heldir’s melta, tearing the target apart, leaving nothing left.

 

Emboldened by this, Lucius yelled for the squad to charge, projecting a shield in front of them to protect them, though deflecting several blasts of energy obviously took a great toll on Lucius, as the shield quickly began to fade and the Sergeant staggered as if he himself was struck. The squad quickly closed the distance, moving to within arms’ reach and brought their melee weapons to bear.

 

Fortunately, these proved more useful than their bolters, and Dorias drove his chainsword into one, the blade sinking slowly into the cloud as if it was an impossibly thick liquid, but connecting with the creature inside after a moment, and causing it to vanish. He saw Lucius fire another blast of energy at another creature, vaporizing it, and Heldir unleashing another attack on still another creature.

 

One of the creatures towards the back of the formation unleashed another blast of energy, which grazed against Heldir’s arm, tearing a massive chunk out of it, and throwing his meltagun to the ground. Heldir cursed as he sank to the ground, clutching his wound. Dorias dashed over and retrieved the meltagun, firing at the distant creature and annihilating it. With the immediate danger removed, he looked to Heldir.

 

“Are you alright?” He saw Heldir was applying sealant foam to the wound after his larraman’s cells closed it, to keep the tissue of his body from boiling away.

 

“I’ll live. You better hold on to that, though, I can’t move this arm.” Dorias nodded, and hefted the unfamiliar meltagun. Heldir drew his bolt pistol as he returned to his feet. Suddenly, Heldir cried out and fired over Dorias’ shoulder. Dorias quickly turned and saw one of the creatures charging towards him.

 

Before Dorias could bring the meltagun to bear, a light flashed from the creature’s eyes, and he was struck with a wave of vertigo and disconnect as the creature assaulted his mind directly. The world faded around him and shifted to another place. He was floating in a vortex of broiling energy and storm clouds, lightning flashing all around him. Looking down, he noticed all his weapons were gone, leaving him empty-handed.

 

Despite floating, he felt no sense of falling, and could turn and pivot in his position. He couldn’t be sure of whether he was actually moving, there were no other solid objects to act as reference points for him. He looked around in confusion, unsure of what to do.

 

After a few moments, the storms around him seemed to grow in intensity, and he could feel a palatable sense of hostility bearing down on him, but nothing approached him. Lightning flashed, nearly striking him on several occasions. Colors began to form within the clouds, taking a coherent shape. Within seconds, it acquired a humanoid, though indistinct form. The form began to approach him, shifting colors as it moved, into and out of the spectrum of color Dorias knew.

 

The form approached and suddenly made to strike Dorias. He reeled from the blow, tumbling uncontrollably for a moment before he willed himself to straighten his position, only to find the hazy form charging towards him again. This time, he managed to catch the blow, and the two grappled, spinning through the air as they wrestled for supremacy. Despite his training and best efforts, Dorias found himself unable to match the strength of the form. While it did not speak, he could feel hatred and anger exuding from it as clearly as any spoken words.

 

The creature broke Dorias’ hold and dealt several blows that cracked his armor. His shoulders were roughly grabbed, and a knee impacted with his abdomen, knocking the air out of him. A pair of heavy punches struck his helmet, and he was sent reeling. He tried to right himself again, only to have the form continue its assault. A speared hand struck under his arm, deadening the nerves in his left arm and rendering it useless. His foot was grabbed and he was spun violently before being hurled away.

 

As he spun around, Dorias tried once again to correct his position. However, before he completed his efforts, he thought he saw a glimmer in his tumbling vision. After fixing himself, he looked for the glimmer. The form was charging towards him, but was still several moments away. He looked above him, and saw the glimmer, now a distinct point of light growing brighter.

 

The light quickly grew in intensity until it took a ball-like form and approached him. He wasn’t sure why, but this light gave him a sense of tranquility and reverence, unlike the other form. The light approached him, and he allowed it to wash over him as he closed his eyes, suffusing his body with its warmth. The pain in his body vanished, and he felt renewed strength as he had never before experienced.

 

The alien form approached, seemingly oblivious to the transformation, prepared to strike again. Dorias opened his eyes, which now suddenly glowed with radiant power, and held out his hand, palm facing the form, which instantly froze, unable to move. Dorias hovered closer to it, until it was within arms’ reach. He reared back, and struck the form, his fist glowing with power as he did so. The form shattered with a mighty roar and vanished, and the feelings of hatred and other emotions vanished. The storms around him instantly began to subside and fade, until only blackness remained. He felt his feet touch solid ground again, and the blackness took him entirely.

[Roguemarine]

wow, that is one heck of a way to bring up these new life forms...amazing piece here, and to the end i was on the edge of my seat...literally, keep up the amazing work.

[KEEPER]

Well I'm hooked. It seems you've got a decent understanding on military formations, and a great story telling ability.

[Allerka]

Well I'm hooked. It seems you've got a decent understanding on military formations, and a great story telling ability.

Well, I would think my four and a half years in the Army counted for SOMETHING. ;)

[KEEPER]

Nice, figured something along those lines!

 

Keep it up man!

 

Semper Fi

[Allerka]

Hey guys, apologies for the delay. Been busting my arse on my RPG project and stuff, but I'mma try to get this story finished. Here's another taste to get you all in the mood again for the conclusion!

 

 

“Charges set!” The Techmarine reported. “Stand back!”

 

The assembled Marines backed up and took cover behind corners, fallen masonry, or other improvised barricades. Near the middle of their formation, Captain Tiburin knelt down behind a fallen statue depicting two vaguely humanoid forms embraced in some kind of intimate physical act.

 

The fortress they had stormed was easily several thousand years old; Tiburin and his senior officers reasoned the fortress had likely been built after the Emperor’s Children discovered this planet in their travels ages ago, and had established the fortress as a hidden base to conduct raids on the Imperium, or use as a secret hiding spot in the vast stretches of the galaxy. In the typical style of the Emperor’s Children, the Lords of Oblivion had found the fortress, itself a competent fortification, filled with examples of the obscene tastes resulting from their devotion to Slaanesh. Of course, the attacking Space Marines had taken some degree of relish in smashing the statues and idols, burning the paintings and rugs, and otherwise destroying all the examples of excess and indulgence they found.

 

Now they were deep within the fortress, nearly ready to breach its inner sanctums. The fighting had been extremely fierce in the several hours that had passed already. Twenty-four of the Lords of Oblivion had fallen thus far, though their superior numbers and armaments had seen that ten times that number of the traitors had also fallen. Faldred’s warhost was still estimated to be at over half-strength, and so the Lords of Oblivion had advanced cautiously, weary of any traps. With the fighting moving to within the deeper halls of the fortress, the Terran Imperial Guard forces had been left outside, lacking the equipment to survive egress from their tanks.

 

Tiburin’s frustration over the lack of anyone able to find First Squad had grown as well, but he had resigned himself to having to wait until after the battle to lead a search. Still, there had been several instances where their presence would have been desirous.

 

Returning to the present, he crouched down further as the Techmarine’s count neared zero. As the final number was uttered, he was rocked violently by the explosion of the melta-charges, and nearly fell over. Righting himself, he waited for the roar to subside, then stood and vaulted over the statue and into the spreading cloud of dust. The other Marines around him quickly followed suit, and a tide of fifty Lords of Oblivion stormed through the shattered gateway.

 

Switching to infrared view, he saw the hall beyond stretched considerably into the distance, and that several dozen familiar shapes were scattered in various positions behind cover, their bolters already firing. Behind him, dozens more bolters roared to life, mixed with the occasional bolts of plasma fire, or the deeper staccato of heavy bolters, or even the occasional whoosh of a missile launcher or flamethrower.

 

Tiburin led the charge, sprinting towards the front-most barricade behind which a full squad of Chaos Marines sheltered. Behind him, his Command Squad matched his pace, several bolt pistols and the plasma guns of Golgi and Jaannar punching holes in the barricade or the armor of the enemy Marines. Spreading his arms to his sides, he triggered an increase in the flow of power into his Claws of Nef’arien, and brought them forward in a mighty arc, smashing through the barricade in front of him. Three of the Chaos Marines behind it went flying backwards, and the rest moved to engage him in melee, but were swiftly hacked apart by Tiburin and his Command Squad as they brought their numbers to bear.

 

As the last one fell, Captain Tiburin became aware of a faint sensation, which was quickly growing in intensity. After a few moments, his ears were able to discern a vague rumble behind the din of battle, and he could feel a slight vibration beneath his feet.

 

Within a few more moments, the vibrations grew to more noticeable levels, and Tiburin saw that some of the other Lords of Oblivion were looking around them in confusion. Dust began to shake from the distance ceiling, and tiny pieces of stone fell amidst the armored giants. A chill ran down Tiburin’s spine as he realized the vibrations were familiar to him, though he did not immediately understand how he could be feeling them here. Whatever the case, he was certain in his realization, that what he felt were the vibrations of starship engines.

[Roguemarine]

STARSHIP ENGINES???!?!? me oh my whats going to happen next...keep it up brother, you got me reeled back in.