Kabal Knights

[Brovius]

I posted a rough idea of this once before, but since then i have had time to revise the story of Brother-Captain Baene's fall, and current service to the Dark Eldar, and now leads his own piratical strike force, the Kabal Knights.

 

The fluff idea originally came about from a game i once had, my pure Grey Knights force versus Dark Eldar.

I had a Brother-Captain as my HQ, and i gave him bionics to fill the last 10 points i had left.

Turns out, after being shot down by Dark Eldar weaponry three times, he passed his 6+ bionics roll twice (The third time he wasn't so lucky) and got back up to keep fighting!

 

 

Here is the fluff:

Brother-Captain Baene's strike force landed upon the world of Sondheim V, an agri-world that had reported a Chaos cult led by the Daemon Prince M'Kar the Reborn was terraforming into a throne of his own bloody desires. After disembarking their Thunderhawk in a small, dry gully, Brother-Captain Baene ordered Elandus' squad to move to the nearby elevation to observe the surrounding area, Psycannons ready if needed.

Baene is a strong individual, but easy to anger. His short fuse has led to him taking many risks while in the Emperor's service, and he has undergone bionic surgery more than once to repair his often ill-looked after body.

 

"Initial sweep of the planet is negative, no sign of Daemonic activity thus far" reported the pilot of Thunderhawk Titannis.

"This makes no sense! We're chasing after ghosts. Three systems informed us of cult activity, and no signs on a single one!" yelled Baene. He is often

known for his impatience, not common among the Grey Knights. This alone has hindered his progress through the ranks of the Ordo Malleus' chamber militant hierarchy.

"Captain, we've got fast moving vehicles approaching" Elandus' voice erupts from the comm interface, shortly before the quick thud of Psycannon fire can be heard.

 

Baene rushed to patch a link to the Strike Cruiser Jadestar, in request for heavy vehicle support. The Jadestar always keeps several Land Raiders ready for battle, including the Imperial Liberator, Baene's personal Land Raider Crusader.

 

"Teleport my Terminator battle-brothers down here, immediately!"

Within moments, the bodyguard the Brother-Captain has trained with for the past hundred campaigns, appeared next to their commander.

"Run to the hill!" Baene ordered, sprinting to the assistance of Elandus and his squad.

 

A pair of Raider skimmers flew past the Grey Knights' scouting force, with a third flying through the squad at the top of the incline, one of the Marines being dragged along by a jagged hook that penetrated his chestplate.

"Dark Eldar!" Baene patched himself through to the Jadestar "Where is my Land Raider support?"

 

Behind them, the xeno warriors leapt from their still-moving skimmer, opening fire with splinter rifles. The Terminators unleashed concentrated storm bolter fire upon the pirates, gunning the xeno scum down, while their crystalline shards do nothing more than scrape against the Grey Knight's heavy ceramite plating.

At last, a trio of Thunderhawk transports came in, dropping off reinforcements in the form of more power-armoured brothers and a few Land Raiders, including the Imperial Liberator.

 

The skimmer who is now empty is blasted down by an incredible beam of light from one of the heavy reinforcements, as the transport ships begin to fly off. More xeno enemies arrive in the form of Ravagers, concentrating their fire on the closest Thunderhawk, their combined Dark Lances tearing the giant from the sky as it attempts to fly back to the Strike Cruiser. Psycannon fire from the elevated battle brothers tears holes in the weak armour plating of several of the Dark Eldar's transports, but Baene can see the squad has suffered heavy losses.

 

The Brother-Captain boards the Imperial Liberator with his Terminators, and proceeds to drive to higher ground, to have a better vantage point for the enemy assault. All the Land Raiders make it to the high ground, only for one to the left, the Nemesis Blade, to be pierced by a Dark Lance and erupt from within.

 

Baene and his companions exit the front hatch of their assault vehicle, and rush towards the remains of the Nemesis Blade. Several Grey Knights are crawling from the wreckage, but a mass of Wyches jump from their transport, spears, blades and shardnets at the ready, to finish off the survivors.

 

"They make a mockery of our arsenal, purge the xeno scum!" Yells Baene, determined to save his fellow Knights.

The Wyches shown no mercy towards the Grey Knights who tried to fight back, and ensnared the ones weakened from the explosion. The gladiatorial fighters dart from side to side, easily avoiding the storm bolter rounds launced towards them by the bulky figures. Those with captured marines board their Raider, whilst the others dart in towards the Terminators.

"You won't claim your prize so easily, Eldar"

"Welcome your pain, Imperial servant!" Screeches their Succubus, as the drugged-up aliens leap into Baene's bodyguard.

 

The Wyches prove a strong match for the might of the elite Grey Knights, although many are split in half by the Nemesis Force Weapons before they bring their attacks to bear. Brother Carren falls to his hands and knees, from an impossibly thin blade slicing the armour of his neck, and is then netted by another Wych as if he were cattle.

"CARREN!!"

In this moment, a stray splinter pistol shot lands itself into a weak point the Brother-Captain's armour, possibly softened from the splinter rifle barrage earlier on.

Baene roars in pain, the shot landed deep into his knee, leaving him barely able to stand.

The enemy still maintains sufficient numbers to tie up the heavily armoured behemoths while the remaining Wyches drag off their quarry to their skimmer.

Baene himself slays the Succubus, only to see the rest of the xenos fall back at great speed, leaping onto the Raider and taking off into the distance.

 

"GET BACK HERE, PATHETIC ALIENS!" Baene's voice booms in the wake of the Eldar's retreat.

"Captain, there's nothing more we can do..." comes the reasoning voice of Maelus. "... but we should honour his service to the Emperor"

As they have a moment of silence for Carren, a scrambled message comes through. "...Jetbi.... ..elp.."

Elandus' squad is still in danger! The Brother-Captain and retinue mount their armoured assault vehicle and drive off swiftly towards the elevation where Elandus was stationed with his Purgators.

 

The Imperial Liberator shrugged off a black beam that found it's way to the broad side of the Land Raider. Upcoming was the position that the squad was holding with great fervor. The transport drives past the several wrecked skimmers, whilst Baene tries to remove the crystal shard from his exposed wound.

It landed in the bionic joint that the Captain had earned after the assault on the Deamos hive, a large Slaaneshi cult hidden in the lower levels.

Lucky it hit the machinery, or a wound like that would have left him unable to move.

 

Ahead, some jetbikes are seen speeding n their direction.

"Ready the charge, my brothers!" The Captain tells the bodyguard. The Land Raider suddenly stops, opening the front doors and the Terminators run out into the jetbikes. The leader of these xeno pirates is riding at the front of the unit, who swipes at Baene's face with the large claw-like weapon that is the Eldar's right hand. The blow knocks Baene to the ground, leaving gaping gouges in his helmet. Another xeno jumps off his bike, letting in plow into the chest of one Terminator. Baene stands back up. One eye is revealed through one such tear in the helmet, and a fire burns in it. Every muscle in his body burns for vengeance.

He swings his Nemesis Halberd towards the Dark Eldar leader's jetbike, only to have his weapon torn from his hand from one of the other Reaver Jetbikers. With lightning-quick reflexes, Baene fires his storm bolter into the back of the alien. Picking up his weapon, he is kicked to the ground, and blacks out.

 

Baene regains his senses, and begins coughing up blood. Looking around, he sees the legs of many Eldar fighters. He moves his left arm to fire his storm bolter at one of the xenos, but the last thing Baene feels is a foot land on the back of his head.

 

 

In the dark dungeons of Commoragh, lies the Brother-Captain of the Grey Knights. His body damaged badly from the many gladiatorial fights in the Wych arena, and torture from the Haemonculli. It has been what feels like many long years since Baene was first captured. All hope had fleeted from his mind a long time ago, and beyond shaken is his faith in the Emperor. A few of his other Grey Knights were also captured, but only a few of them have survived the many tortures and trials.

 

Why have i been abandoned by the Emperor? he thinks to himself. I have served him in the face of many foes, only for his shining light to turn away from me

The familiar footsteps are heard all through the cell block. It's the Incubus coming to escort Baene to another pit fight to appease the Kabal who captured him so long ago.

"Such a marvelous fighter, you are. You possess such skill and determination to survive. No matter what we do to you, you still stand up and keep fighting. I have started to admire you a great deal..." the Archon who captured him emerges into the light, a surprise indeed.

"I'm willing to offer you a freedom of sorts. Your false God-Emperor has forsaken you. But I, I recognize your talents. You are a born killer, and you could become a great asset to our cause. What say you, Emperor's lackey?"

"Sounds good to me" the deep voice of Baene replies to the Archon's offer. "Only if i can keep my old ride"

 

 

Eager to have freedom, Baene accepts. Those of his remaining imprisoned Grey Knights who do not join him, he slaughters personally. The few who do, become his own personal retinue. Returning to the battlefield where Baene was originally captured, he and the Dark Eldar salvage his old Land Raider Crusader, take it back to the black city and repair it, fitting it with powerful grav-engines to keep Baene at the pace of his new comrades.

 

Outfitted with the grav-engines, Baene stands atop the pulpit of his old transport, along with his personal retinue, shouting orders to the pirates under his direct control, while swooping low with the doors of the Land Raider open, gunning down the enemies with the repeater splinter-hurricanes, and scooping up those not killed from the Land Raider Enslaver's deadly new weaponry.

Brother Captain Baene and the Kabal Knights now leads many piratical assaults against the forces of the Imperium, and those tho ever see Baene and the Land Raider Enslaver, never get a chance to breathe word of it.

[Jarl Bloodwolf]

Sorry not buying it. The Grey Knights have NEVER in all their history had a single brother turn, they are the most devout, pious and faithfull of the Astartes who recieve psycho indoctrination on a level even greater than that of other Astartes.

 

If Grey Knights can withstand fighting the greatest daemonic forces the warp can vomit forth (including a primarch) and not turn to chaos I very highly doubt that a Grey Knight let alone a Brother Captain would lose faith in the Emeror and betray him because he was captured by Dark eldar and tortured. There is a Deathwatch book where the same thing happens to the kill team and none of them turn. If Deathwatch marines (who may recieve additional training in anti xenos techniques but are still normal marines) woulden't turn from torture a Grey Knight sure as :lol:: woulden't.

 

Sorry to be so negative but I think that pruposing the idea of a Grey Knight in anyway turning away from the Emperor is a HUGE no no. It just simply would not happen (and so you know I'm someone who suggested the idea of a Sanguinary Guard turning traitor so I'm all for radical ideas)

[Obliterator]

I'm also not buying it, but not for the same reasons. I personally think it is possible a Grey Knight could be turned, but it would be because of a long and subtle process. Being captured by xenos would only strengthen the marines, and they would probably die when breaking from their prison before they would even consider swappping sides. Even unarmed, a marine would be resourceful enough to at least attempt an escape or two.

If you wanted to 'sell' turned Grey Knights, I'd try to make it so that Chaos (or another force) was subtly pulling strings, so it seems that they are still serving the Emperor, but by doing so they actually stray from His path, like by doing something drastically to destroy a powerful daemon or so.

Remember, Grey Knights are the most devout and pious of His marines, they would need a bit more then a couple of millennia of imprisonment to give in to temptation. I'd try to sell it like the 'turning' of Gregor Eisenhorn, a long and subtle process, one bit at a time, and always make it look like they're just being resourceful and doing their job. Also isolate them, because returning to the fortress-monastary would reset the 'days-until-heresy' counter.

[PhallenFoenix]

Last time you posted this idea, the fluff nazi's overlooked it entirely.

 

This time, less lucky, neh?

 

I still like the name Land Raider Enslaver ;)

[Blitzkreig]

I'm also not buying it, but not for the same reasons. I personally think it is possible a Grey Knight could be turned, but it would be because of a long and subtle process. Being captured by xenos would only strengthen the marines, and they would probably die when breaking from their prison before they would even consider swappping sides. Even unarmed, a marine would be resourceful enough to at least attempt an escape or two.

 

Lysander got mad and busted out of an Iron Warriors planet completely unarmed... I shudder to think what a Grey Knight Brother Captain would do if you got him mad...

[Chengar Qordath]

I'm also not buying it, but not for the same reasons. I personally think it is possible a Grey Knight could be turned, but it would be because of a long and subtle process. Being captured by xenos would only strengthen the marines, and they would probably die when breaking from their prison before they would even consider swappping sides. Even unarmed, a marine would be resourceful enough to at least attempt an escape or two.

 

Lysander got mad and busted out of an Iron Warriors planet completely unarmed... I shudder to think what a Grey Knight Brother Captain would do if you got him mad...

Well, considering the fact that a GKBC can out-fight a normal marine commander and out-psyker a Librarian ... yeah, that wouldn't be pretty. Actually, I imagine that a GKBC would probably go for a psychic self-destruct before he would allow himself to be captured.

[Brovius]

I'm all for the idea of Grey Knights having unbending purity, i just wanted to write up some fluff about the LRE :P

So here it is, it's not meant to be a serious piece of fluff for the background of my GK force at all (Unless i convert up the LRE :) ) but i probably won't ever end up doing that.

This piece was written entirely for fun, since me and the Dark Eldar player were joking around about the idea after the game, along the lines of the BC feeling that it was his bionics that saved him all those times, not the Emperor's grace.

 

Yes i know it is unlikely, but just judge it as a piece of literature, please :lol:

[Chengar Qordath]

I'm also not buying it, but not for the same reasons. I personally think it is possible a Grey Knight could be turned, but it would be because of a long and subtle process. Being captured by xenos would only strengthen the marines, and they would probably die when breaking from their prison before they would even consider swappping sides. Even unarmed, a marine would be resourceful enough to at least attempt an escape or two.

If you wanted to 'sell' turned Grey Knights, I'd try to make it so that Chaos (or another force) was subtly pulling strings, so it seems that they are still serving the Emperor, but by doing so they actually stray from His path, like by doing something drastically to destroy a powerful daemon or so.

Remember, Grey Knights are the most devout and pious of His marines, they would need a bit more then a couple of millennia of imprisonment to give in to temptation. I'd try to sell it like the 'turning' of Gregor Eisenhorn, a long and subtle process, one bit at a time, and always make it look like they're just being resourceful and doing their job. Also isolate them, because returning to the fortress-monastary would reset the 'days-until-heresy' counter.

As an idea for one of the turning points, you could have the Brother-Captain kept under Dark Eldar control, but occasionally let a little bit off his leash to fight the forces of Chaos. If a Chaos warband is causing serious problems for whatever Kabal has the GKBC captive, the idea of using their captive Chaos-killer against said warband would make a lot of sense. It would certainly be plausible for a GKBC to come up with some sort of rationalization for fighting alongside Dark Eldar if that was the only way he could get on the battlefield and kill followers of Chaos.

 

So, at that point we have the GKBC fighting at the side of the Dark Eldar; he presumably regards them as foul xenos barely better than their common enemies, but they are nominally on the same side now. Have the GKBC do well enough to start earning a few privileges; a Grey Knight will not be easily swayed by material things, but they might soften him up a bit more towards the Dark Eldar. Maybe he starts to form one or two bonds with Dark Eldar he fights alongside on a regular basis; after the Grey Knight and one particular Dark Eldar save each other's lives on the battlefield, the GK might decide said Dark Eldar is "not so bad for Xeno scum."

 

Eventually, the GKBC starts fighting enemies besides the forces of Chaos. Again, this can be rationalized; Orks, Tau, or other Xenos are still enemies of the Imperium after all, and every alien he kills is one less that threatens the Imperium itself. Maybe even take things a step further, and have him go against an Imperial force that is seriously corrupted, like an ultra-Radical Inquisitor who would be Excommunicate Traitoris if the Inquisition knew a quarter of what he was up to. After all, if the Inquisitor is that far gone, then killing him would be a service to the Imperium, not treason.

 

Then comes the moment of truth; the Grey Knight finds his opportunity, and finally gets away from the Dark Eldar and back to Imperium space. Unfortunately, his homecoming is not everything he was hoping for; the Inquisition knows that he's been fighting alongside the Dark Eldar and, as far as they're concerned, the Grey Knight is too corrupt to be salvaged. The Grey Knight gets an Inquisition Kill-team sent after him, and right when the kill-team is has him cornered, the Dark Eldar show up and bail him out.

 

At that point, the Grey Knight is pretty much out of options; either join the Dark Eldar, and still be in a position to do some good, or go back the Imperium and a guaranteed execution. This Grey Knight would still be reluctant to actually fight loyal Imperial forces, but consoles himself with the thought that, overall, he's doing far more harm to the Imperium's enemies than he is to the Imperium itself. Given a couple decades of fighting, even that rationalization begins to fade away, and the Grey Knight just accepts his new role in life as a champion of the Dark Eldar.

[Brovius]

Actually, Chengar, that's a really cool idea! :P Thanks for the assistance.

The planet they initially land on is a cannonical place, and it does get deformed to the Daemon Prince's will. This slightly predates the time in which Hive Fleet Leviathan land on the world and pick it clean.

The Grey Knight force was sent in initially to wipe out the Daemon prince whilst his minions are few, and before they get a chance to properly terraform the planet to their advantage.

[Gentlemanloser]

Reminds me of the third Grey Knight novel. :lol:

[The Holy Heretic]

Well, I must say that is poor writing.

 

You should have a decent chance at getting a gig with the Black Library ^_^

[Brovius]

Well, I must say that is poor writing.

 

You should have a decent chance at getting a gig with the Black Library ;)

 

I was trying to make it as short as possible, seeing as i was up late when i wrote this, and had work the next morning. I might elaborate on it, i usually go into much more depth in my writing.

It was never meant to be a serious piece of fluff relating to my army, but more a throwback to a game i had against Dark Eldar, where the BC remarkably passed 2 Bionics rolls and kept going.

Plus the Land Raider Enslaver is an awesome sounding name, don't you think? <_<

[Chengar Qordath]

Actually, Chengar, that's a really cool idea! :) Thanks for the assistance.

Glad to help.

 

I get that you were going for a quick concept rather than a properly fleshed out fluff piece, but groups with a reputation for unshakable loyalty like the Sisters of Battle and the Grey Knights need a bit justifying when it comes to dealing in fallen members.

[Brovius]

Like i said in the post above yours, it's not a serious piece of fluff, it's just going along on the jokes about the Land Raider Enslaver if the BC ever joined the DA.

Initial reasoning is that he cane to realize that it was his bionics that kept him alive, not the grace of the Emperor. While disenheartened by this revelation, he eventually comes to despise the Imperium for giving him this false hope, and eventually joins the Dark Eldar in their piratical raids against all other races.