Raven's Shadow

[Gree]

Author's Note: This is something I dug up from my computer. It's rather old actually.

 

Raven's Shadow.

 

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The Guardsmen are coming. It's the Cadians, the 374th Regiment if I am identifying their unit markings correctly. Their Chimeras move through the petrified forests of this blasted planet right where I have conducted my line of work.

 

I am sitting, the acting hum of my power armor disabled, as I watch in the darkness of the trees. Branches like the limbs of corpses surround me, scraping faintly over my armor as I move deeper into shadow. All around me my Wing hides as well.

 

We hide because that is how we are taught to fight and strike. We move from the shadows and strike when our enemies do not look. It is the way of Corax and our way for ten millennia. The orks below have learnt that.

 

Ah….yes, where was I?

 

This place is called Blindhope, a miserable, barren world that only holds promethium veins underneath the vast ash deserts and dead forests. Other than that it's a dry, dead world and one of the more sorry examples I've seen of the Imperium's worlds. The Guard regiments have been assigned here for one simple reason. To protect the promethium mines. However they have long since gotten cut off from orbit by the rapacious ork fleets. As of right now the Imperial fleet is at the edge of the system, regrouping.

 

The Chimera comes sputtering to a halt and the Cadians emerge, men win camouflaged uniforms and holding lasguns. I like Cadians, trained warriors from birth these men have proven to be worthy allies. Much better than the usual ones. There are two platoons, each mounted in Chimeras.

 

They moved quickly over a tight military formation, covering the place against any potential ambush. At their center is a Commissar, a man in a black coat and cap. He has a chainsword belted at his side and he is moving among the bodies of the orks.

 

An hour ago an ork convoy went through here. Trucks and battlewagons bristling with troops and weapons. They promptly ran into mines in the road my scouts had planted and were assaulted in crossfire by three tactical squads and my Wing.

 

None made it out alive.

 

Their bloodied bodies were lying in pieces across the road below, hacked apart by chainblades and shredded by bolter fire. They are from the Goff clan, as I have deducted, and I have placed weapons from another one of their clans there. Hopefully it will cause the orks to turn on one another. However one cannot understand the alien mind so easily. The orks kill each other for every conceivable reason. They live to fight and kill, and they need violence like a man needs strong drink.

 

Disgusting creatures, with no thought of subtly or grace at all. They blunder blindly into battle, hoping to kill something, with no regard for their own personal safety or any kind of restraint at all. Utter trash these creatures are. Killing them gives me a sense of amused malice really. Of all the enemies of the Emperor I have fought in the Targus battlezone, the orks are the most putrid and loathsome in my opinion, save perhaps for the traitors of Chaos.

 

The Guardsmen move among the bodies, firing bolts into anything that looks like it might be alive. One of them brings out a flamer in preparation for burning. I myself would have used a flamer earlier, had not my Company' ammunition been running so low.

 

Promethium issued forth, burning aside my bodies and my evidence. I don't mind at all. I was hoping to attract more orks, but burning them really is as almost good. It's always pleasing to see this filth burn form the Emperor's world.

 

I activate my internal vox, linking with Shorran, one of my Wing.

 

''I'm moving in.''

 

An answer comes in quickly. ''Why?''

 

''I am curious to meet these men, I have not seen any Guardsmen in months here. I thought them to be slain by the greenskins.''

 

''I'm not so sure, we could be comprising ourselves.'' Shorran warned me.

 

''Don't be like that. I and curious'' I disengage the vox and activate my external one, moving silently through the shadows, no small accomplishment for one in Astartes power armor and a jump pack.

 

''I am please you have discovered my work.'' My voice issues forth, deep and almost distorted by the vox caster.

 

Immediately the guardsmen respond, whirling around. The Commissar is first to speak, weapon at his side.

 

''Why is there! Show yourself! Are you friend or foe?''

 

''Friend of course. You can put down your weapons.''

 

''Friend? Are you Sh-''

 

''Yes. I am him, I am the raven that stalks the shadows.'' I revealed myself out from the shadows of the trees. The Commissar looked upon my armored form in shock as I stride out of the trees slowly, never far from the shadows.

 

He takes in my black and white armor, the stark white raven relief on the shoulder guards, at the jump pack and beaked Mk.6 helmet, and then to the matched pair of masterfully forged lightning claws that I wield.

 

''This cannot be, you are a myth.'' The Commissar says.

 

''And yet you see said myth before you.'' I cocked my head to the side.

 

''Forgive me but what is your name? I've already recognized the unit designation here. The 374th?'' I ask.

 

The nearest officer nods slowly. ''That's correct. I am Captain Winmeyer, this is Commissar Lent.'' He gestured.

 

'' A pleasure.''

 

''We didn't think you actually existed. All those stories in the Targus battlezone, we thought they were myths.'' Lent spoke finally.

 

''Myths have a kernel of truth into them. Now, I am curious, I thought all Guardsmen were dead on this world?'' Shrike asked.

 

''No, three regiment, the 374th, the 602nd and the Brimlock 35th still remain, in a gorge thirty miles from here.'' The Commissar said.

 

''Fifty miles? This is as far patrol then.'' I comment. Usually Guard don't patrol that far.

 

''We were scrounging or resources, anything to help us.'' Lent said. ''We are starting to seriously run low on supplies.'' He informed me.

 

''No disrespect to the planet's colonists, but this place is a :cusshole.'' Winmeyer said, all around him there were murmurs of agreement, even from the Commissar.

 

''I would have my agreements. 'I looked around. ''Thirty miles you say.? Talasen Gorge? I was not able to penetrate the ork patrols there. It's an excellent hiding space. 'I commented. From Lent's expression he is obviously surprised.

 

''Yes. that's correct.'' It looked at me eyes wide. ''How did you-''

 

''I have hunted for centuries. I know how to track someone.'' I nod. '' Finding out where you where is good for both you and me.''

 

''What to you mean? Will you help us?'' Lent asked.

 

''We are coming. Look to the skies for salvation.'' I say.

 

And then I disappear, moving back in the shadows. One moment I am present. The next I am not.

 

Behind me I can hear the shouts of the Guardsmen as they fade away.

 

 

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''I heard what you said.'' Shorran grumbled

 

''Why are you so upset?'' I ask.

 

''You gave them hope for a rescue that might not eventually come. We don't have time to aide them like.''Shorran replied. He is irritated, I can tell. He was always the most easily provoked of the Wing.

 

''No, I think we can do it.'' Vaan, the youngest of the Wing, said. ''The Third Company is not the only unit present in this system.'' He commented.

 

It was true, five more companies of the Raven Guard Chapter were en-route to the Blindhope system. The Chapter Master had concluded that this was too important to the nearby hive worlds to lose.

 

''They were supposed to reinforce us for a central strike on the ork horde. They don't need to be protecting a bunch of Guardsmen who have fallen back.'' Shorran argued.

 

I thought about his words for a moment. Certainly from a cold, tactical sense it made a good idea. However there was something about those men that made me reconsider. I had made my name fighting for those very same lost causes in the Targus system.

 

''They where like us once, cut off and broken from the rest of the Chapter.'' I remanded him. On Targus I and the Third Company were shot down and force to fight a guerrilla war against the greenskins for years afterword.

 

''That's not the same at all. We preserved and struck back these Guardsmen-'' Shorran began.

 

''Do the same, but in their own way. Your words worry me Shorran. I picked you out you my wing because you showed promise. What you are doing here is bordering close to arrogance.'' I gentle rebuke him.

 

I consider arrogance among the Astartes to be a sin. Horus fell because of his pride. Corax sinned because of his pride in that he thought he could accelerate the geneseed process. Countless Astartes have fallen over the centuries because of pride and arrogance.

 

I hate arrogance.

 

A small amount of pride is good. Having pride in one's chapter and brothers is good. But when that pride turn's to undermine one's allies then that pride becomes a liability and must be cut off and excised before it can become a poison.

 

''Shorran.'' I say, looking at him.

 

''Yes my lord?'' he replies, his voice well-guarded, but I can pick out the sting of wounded pride.

 

''You are my brother. Report to Chaplain Artimos when we return to camp. Will you do that for me brother?'' I ask.

 

I hear a sigh but Shorran replies.

 

''Of course.''

 

 

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''Begin. 'I tell Codicer Talek. My brother stands before me in the blue armor of the Librarium. His helm is off, revealing the bleached white skin and night dark hair that the geneseed of my blessed Primarch's brings to us.

 

The Third Company rest deep in the mountains, away from ork patrols and raiders. Here we conduct our own counter-insurgency against the greenskin warbands who plague this world. I choose this place because it was hard to access by anywhere but orbital transfer.

 

Outside in the caves and tunnels a hundred Astartes of the Raven Guard prepare their weapons and armor for the evitable assault. Here we prepare to rain the Emperor's vengeance on these greenskin trash on Blindhope. Here I wait with Talek in a small, dank cave I have claimed as temporary set of quarters.

 

Talek is a psyker, a warrior for a century and a half. His mind is cast in steel and iron and I trust him absolutely to deliver this message though the warp and connect with the Chief Librarian aboard the approaching fleet.

 

''It is done.'' Talek says, his eyes open. Blue light shines out of his aquiline face, giving his features an ethereal glow. As of now I do not talk to Talek anymore. I talk to Cerran Galas, the Chief Librarian of the Raven Guard chapter.

 

I have met Cerran Galas on occasion. He is four centuries old, one of the oldest and most prominent marines in the chapter. I have seen him turn a traitor Astartes inside out with his mind alone. For that and his noble soul I respect him.

 

''Why have you called me Shadow Captain?'' Talek's mouth moves, but it is not his voice that answers me.

 

''There has been a change of plans.''

 

There is a silence as Galas takes this in.

 

''The Chapter Master will not be pleased at this sudden change.''

 

''Tell him it's necessary.''

 

''Then tell me what these ''necessary'' plans are then.''

 

''A few regiments of Guard, located of coordinates 2-26. It's called Talasen Gorge.'' He report.

 

Galas laughs for a moment.

 

''Imperial Guard? We have more pressing priorities.''

 

''You will still accomplish them, the orks move to crush the Guard, come in and you can gut a large portion of the horde.'' I remind him.

 

''We can do that with a separate strike right at the man warboss.''

 

''We will still have a better opportunity to do that, after we move in with the Guard. Surely with the guard it will be easier, we do need someone to garrison this world after he defeat the greenskins.'' I press on.

 

Galas is silent for a moment.

 

''I was stuck behind enemy lines once, the Chapter did not leave me. I believe in these men. 'I say.

 

''You compared yourself to mortals?''

 

''I do? What if it? They are noble souls. I have seen it for myself.''

 

Galas looks at me through Talek's eyes.

 

''Tch, fine. The Chapter Master won't be happy, but he trusts you.''

 

''Is that it? My Company will lead the fleet to the greenskins the.''

 

''We trust you. Victorus aut Mortis.'' Galas said as the blue light disappeared from his eyes and he slumped to the ground. I caught him gently with my gauntlets, my muscles strained to hold up his weight.

 

''Brother? Did it go through?'' Talek said weakly.

 

''Yes, brother, it did.''

 

 

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The Rhinos rumbled through the forest as I flew in short bursts ahead of them. Eight Rhinos, each filled with a Tactical or Devastator squad, each one a member of the Raven Guard Third Company. My company.

 

The twin assault squads flank my Wing. All around me the Wing, my Command squad moves with me, as silent as Astartes power armor can possibly allow. It's no easy task to do, but we manage to do it well enough.

 

My vox crackled for a moment.

 

''Shadow-Captain'' whispers the voice of Broek, one of my Scout sergeants.

 

''Is our path clear?''

 

''Affirmative my lord. Ork outriders have been ambushed and slain. It should be awhile before they realize what has happened.'' Broek says.

 

'Excellent, continue with your patrol.''

 

''Yes sir.'' The vox cuts off.

 

The entirely of the Third Company moved through the trees, silent like ghosts. A trio of Predators come behind us, also with their engines silenced. With the orks scouts out of the way our approach should hopefully go undetected, orks in my experience are not noted to be especially alert.

 

As we move through the forest I hear noise. It's a noise I'm most familiar with. The sounds of war.

 

First there comes the deep, guttural bellows of fully-grown orks along with the roaring bark of their crude weaponry. The sounds of screeching metal and rubber fill the air from ork bikers and vehicles going at full pelt across the landscape. Then come the crackle-when of the Kantrael-pattern lasgun. Then comes the familiar boom of the Leman Russ and the faint shouted orders of officers encouraging their men to hold on against the next ork assault as long as they can.

 

These sounds are fiat to me, even with my Astartes senses they must be far away.

 

''This is Shadow-Captain Shrike to all Squads. Contact in an estimated fifteen minutes. Prepare for Operation Planetstrike.''

 

We strike like lighting from shadows.

 

The orks deploy out in the middle of the wasteland, thousands upon thousands of them. Countless trucks and buggies ring the front part of the horde along with hundreds of bikers along with them. In the distance more ork war machines loom over the horizon.

 

All ramshackle, all brutal.

 

To my left is the Guard. The Cadians, the Mordians and the Brimlock stand against the green ocean. They are dug deep near a gorge, their trenches extending in a zig-zag shape, piled high with field bunkers and sandbags. The brutish forms of Leman Russes appear among the fortifications, along with the forms of Basilisks vastly further in the distance. A literal storm of las-fire is dropping wave after wave of ork along with the massed heavy weapons, but ultimately they are too far.

 

The green ocean swelled with the impetus of more orks as they begin to close the gap between them and the Cadians. Hordes of greenskinned monsters wave cleaver and chainaxes, ready for the immediate slaughter. Suddenly a ork war machine explodes from a lascannon hit. Its arms spin away into the green horde as heavy bolters and autocannons open up into the orks flanks. Rhinos roar as now stealth is abandoned in favor of force.

 

My eight squads deploy in firing positions as they lash the flank of the ork ocean with a devastating array of firepower. Hundreds of orks die in a moment as the combined fire of my Company and support is directed into them.

 

But it's not enough to save the Guard.

 

''Assault units, follow me.'' I command as I ignite my jump pack and I lift off into the sky. Twenty five warriors follow me into the air as we soar above the ork mobs as they engulf the frontal ranks of the trenches in a green tide.

 

My armored bulk crushes a greenskin noble beneath my boots, the ork's spine snapping as I do so. I love that sound. I extend my lightning claws in a snik and behead the nearest three orks with one swipe before wading in further.

 

Behind me I hear the hiss of more lightning claws as my Wing falls in behind me. In ten seconds every ork for three meters is cleared out in a storm of powered blades.

 

A second after that my assault squads come down. Chainblades rev and flamers hiss as they join in blunting the ork charge. Immediately a path is cleared in the middle of the howling piggish monsters as I drive their vanguard away from the Guardsmen.

 

I catch glimpses of the surprised, shocked faces of the Brimlock and Cadians. I hear officers rally orders as troops are shifted into a better firing angle. Immediately whoever is commanding these men is taking advantage of the isolation.

 

A huge Greenskin chieftain runs at me. He has a massive power claw in one hand as he brings it out, blades splayed in an unmistakable roar of challenge. He wears a crude suit of armor pierced together from plundered carapace armor. I curl my lip in disgust. Even through my helmet filters this brute stinks.

 

''Cover me'' I vox to my Wing. I don't need a reply, I have trained these men since they were Scouts.

 

I leapt up into the air, my jump pack activating as the huge bulk of the brute rushes beneath me. At this distance only now do I realize the size of this creature. He's almost twice the size of a mortal man and about two heads bugger than I am, even without its crude suit of carapace armor. I land behind him, jump pack flaring as I burn off skin form the ork. Crude carapace armor and skin simply are incinerated as the ork screams in pain and hatred. It turned around, claw swinging as I activate my Iron Halo.

 

Readings flash on my visor as the claw connects and is thrown back by the shield of energy that comes out from my armor. For a moment the beast gaps at me. Then I rush forward, claws flashing as I cut out the cable powering its claw. The glowing field around the claw vanished, just as my Halo deactivated. The ork lunged forward as I thrust both of my lighting claws through its face. With a grunt I tear apart his head with a twist of my claws.

 

Gore splattered across my armor as I leapt disdainfully out of the huge monster's body. It hits the ground with a thud, but soon it is overran by a tide of more blood hungry orks, ready or the slaughter. My Wing comes forward to aid me….

 

A gout of fire bathes the ork as my attention is turned to a phalanx of carapace-armored Guardsmen. Cadian Kasrkin, men trained from birth to kill the toughest enemies that the Guard can face. Next to my own Astartes these are the best soldiers in the Imperium. They move in quickly and efficiently, firing off short bursts from their hellguns and from flamers. The ork tide, already blunted by my Raven Guard, are now slowly being driven back by the fire of the Kasrkin squads.

 

Lent comes near my, bolt pistol firing as he hits an ork right between its red eyes. The xenos' body flies back as I behead a wounded ork on the ground and turn to Lent who moves up beside me.

 

Lent looks like hell, he has lost this cap and blood masks his face. He pants hard with exertion, and for a moment I am struck by just how fragile mortals are. Just this level of fighting and they are already at their limit?

 

''We can't hold much longer, even with your Astartes, we can't win against that.'' He pants out. There is no panic in his eyes. As a dedicated Imperial servant he has none. But not even someone as fanatic as a Commissar can deny the utter truth of this.

 

I only half-hear his words. I open my vox.

 

''Sergeant Celkath?'' I ask.

 

''I sent the signal just as you moved in my lord.''

 

Lent say something more, but I don't hear it.

 

''Thanks you Sergeant, continue, we have a long battle ahead.'' I reply.

 

''-Are you listening to me?'' Lent demands. I sense his outrage growing.

 

Beyond us the orks mass for another charge. The oceans shifts again, eager to throw the green tide at us one more. I flick my claws, casting off the ork blood as I ready myself for another battle.

 

''I thought I told you to look to the skies of salvation?'' I asked him.

 

''What does?'' I cut off Lent with a wave of my gauntlet.

 

I point up. His mouth drops.

 

Fiery comets come through the atmosphere, cherry red drop pods streaking down like tears. There are many of them. For a moment the ork horde also stops in awe, looking up the fiery objects in the sky.

 

The objects land with a ground-shaking thud, crushing xenos beneath their weight. Drop pods doors are blasted open and in a moment over five hundred Astartes of the Raven Guard Chapter energy, weapons at ready.

 

For a moment, nothing happens.

 

Then the weapons speak.

 

''This is salvation.'' I nod to him.

 

Lent opens his mouth to speak…

 

But I am already gone.

[Regem Nox]

brilliant, lots of mistakes but who cares!

i love the raven guard and this story is a great example of all thats good about them.