Vermilion Wings: Apocalypse

[Evz]

PART II

 

I

 

She sat in the balcony overlooking the bridge. Below, the pilots and engineers, all clad in latex and piercings, having drugs pumped into their systems, worked all of the controls. One rather large mutated Ogryn worked the cannons. Lillian watched them with glee. She giggled to herself, and stood. She wore black and purple power armor. Not the adeptus astartes power armor, as she was not one of them. No, she was just a girl who grew up too close to the eye of terror on a pleasure world. Her power armor was built to fit her sleek frame. She ran her hands back through her long black hair and put them into a ponytail, and stood straight. To her side came Anpu, a Chaos marine. "Mistress." He began, staring down at her through his pale, white eyes.

 

"Myes, commander?" She said, not taking her eyes off of the insane cultists below.

 

"We have bombarded the largest city on the world. Shall we begin the invasion?" He asked.

 

"Yes. That would be wise. Preferably before the system figures out we have entered and have gotten this close. Once we finish this planet off, we would have weakened the walls of the Imperium more and will be one step closer to taking Terra. If we can kill space marines, my father will be very pleased, and I will be promoted." She grinned, showing her perfectly white teeth. Anpu nodded, turning and walking away. "Salith." She said to one of the cultists below, wearing some form of gas mask, hooked into a larger machine. He turned his bald head to her. "Take us closer to the planet. We are attacking the marine headquarters..." The cultist returned his eyes to the console before him. Lillian returned to her throne, sitting cross-legged. Music began to play. Not as much music as it was noise. it grew louder and louder. Until it filled the entire ship. It was the noise of insanity. It was madness. The music played loudly, echoing through the entire ship.

 

Below the ship, as it came further and further beneath the clouds, blasted out of sonic blasters below the ship, and cleared forests and caused avalanches. Within the bridge, Lillian laughed. The Imperium would die eventually. Her father would be pleased.

 

* * *

 

The stormraven flew through the skies. It was flying over the ocean, near where the fortress monastery was located. "It is just several miles to the east..." Began Lael, pointing at a map with his gauntleted finger" Thran nodded.

 

"And what do we do once there?" He asked.

 

"Warn Chapter Master Suriel of this attack, and mount a full defense." Lael replied.

 

"And what if they already know...?"

 

"I am sure that they do..." Lael sighed. Then a shadow came over them, and a wave of noise. The glass shattered. Klaxons whined. The ship turned on its side and crashed into the ocean. Water began to gush in. Thran grabbed the pilot serf and dove out the front cockpit window. Lael grabbed as much weapons and equipment as he could and followed. Water filled Lael's vision. With his helmet on, he could easily see underwater. He swam as hard as he could. He was heavy, and was sinking. But he realized they were not that far from shore, as his legs hit the wet sand at the ocean bottom. He crawled and burst from the water, and a wave broke over his head, pushing him down. Thran grabbed his by the arm and pulled him out onto the sand. The serf was on his back, covered in blood and cuts, ears bleeding. Thran knelt by his side.

 

"My friend." He said, "You can make it. We can save you." The serf looked up at him weakly.

 

"Aye, please... do..." Thran picked him up. "I hope you have fun being a pack mule for the next several hours, brother-Lael." Watched him begin to walk to the tall grass that marked where the beach ended. "As you said, it is a long walk. Come." Lael sighed, and picked up the gear and followed.

 

The desert was long. Most areas were full of debris from the original battle on the planet between the first Vermilion Wings and the Orks. The three humans camped in a destroyed Ork trukk as night came. Though, the two space marines did not need rest, but the human did. The stars were bright. Thran watched a comet fly across the black. "It's so fantastic..." Thran began. Lael looked to him.

 

"What?" He asked, cleaning the seasludge from his helmet lenses.

 

"The sky. The night sky. I wonder what humanity thought of it before. While we were all on earth." Thran continued watching. "We actually have been up there. It is amazing how it all works... I don't even know how it works, I am just a barbarian... But by the Emperor."

 

"Thran, stop thinking so much. Our world is under attack." Lael said, and spat off the trukk into the sand. Then came an explosion on the horizon. Thran grabbed binoculars and looked through them. He saw just the silhouette of the Spire burning, with all sorts of shapes flying around it. He also saw bolter-fire.

 

"We are under attack. Us, specifically. We need to move."

 

"What of the serf?" Lael asked. Thran grabbed a jug of water and rations from his belt, and also his sheathed combat knife, and left it next to the young serf.

 

"He shall manage."

 

"But your knife... You never left without it..."

 

"It's time I share. We need to move." They jumped off of the trukk and began their walk.

[Evz]

II

 

The skies were shattering above the Spire. Chaos fighters blazed through the skies while bombers completely destroyed the mighty walls around the fortress. All around there was fighting. Vermilion Wings were slaying the forces of chaos left and right. But, the Chapter itself was being beaten into submission. It was the same all around the planet. Chaos bikers ran through the northern tribes. Cities were smashed. People were beat. People, men, women and children, were ground up into drugs. Noise marines wreaked havoc, blowing up vehicles and buildings with their sonic weaponry.

 

"Madness..." Spoke Suriel, within his quarters in the Spire, in the tallest tower.

 

"Sir?" Asked Varden, holding his red helmet in the nook of his arm. Beside him were captains Abiel and Raphael. The only ones available. The rest were spread thin with their forces across the galaxy, fighting wars far, far away from this planet. Suriel turned. He wore golden armor that glinted when the sun touched it through the tall window behind him. "The Planet defense forces of all worlds in the Oshim sector, Dleiffus, Oshim, and Galf, are all organizing an attack to aid us. Their ships are close to engaging the enemy in orbit." Vardan nodded.

 

"And what of our ships??" Suriel asked, turning.

 

"Sir. They are engaging the enemy. They have only just begun to. The rest, as said earlier, are spread thin..." Said Raphael quietly.

 

"Then let us ho-" He was interrupted as a Chaos fighter smashed through the window, crashing into Vardan, and skidded across the marble floor of the chamber. Vardan was ripped in half by the impact. The cockpit opened and a chaos marine emerged. He was tall as them, had a muscular stomach, and was decked out in pink armor, with eyes as dark and black as the night, and had a long blond mane of hair. He held up a sword and charged, clashing with Abiel. Suriel picked up his own weapons, the Axe of Sanguine, which he had found on an ancient Shrine World, and the sword of tears, which was the sword used by the original Chapter Master, Saon. Suriel charged and beheaded the traitor in one fell sweep. "Let us hope we can make it out alive... Are there any forces anywhere else on the planet?" He asked.

 

"No." Said Abiel. "Not that I know of. All our forces are here... I have just received world the guard regiments of the system have engaged the enemy and are making planetfall. They will help the people of the planet. We can send one kill team out to be deployed to help them."

 

"Abiel. Old friend." Said Suriel. "You are in charge of putting together this team and aiding in the evacuation. Raphael, come with me. We are going to see who is behind this devilry."

 

"Yes my lord." Both marines said at once. Abiel left, and Raphael followed Suriel out of his chambers. The chapter master still gripped the bloody weapons in his fists. Another explosion and a second ship plowed through the walls in a waiting chamber outside of the chapter master quarters. Several marines piled out.

 

"GET THE GOLD ONE!! SHE WANTS THE GOLD ONE!! KILL EVERYONE ELSE!!" They held out weapons: sonic blasters. The weapons fired. Raphael flew back, smashing into the wall. The lenses of his helmet cracked and broke. He pulled off his helmet and felt his ears bleed. When he came to, and the ringing stopped, Suriel was gone. Abiel ran down the corridor and stopped.

 

"Brother-captain... W-where is the chapter master!?" He asked frantically.

 

"I know not, Abiel... Do as he has told you. I will find our lord..." Abiel nodded and continued down the corridor. Raphael stood weakly, and walked over to where the chapter master's weapons lay on the ground. He picked the two bloody weapons up and walked to the hole in the wall that the ship had made. The skies outside were red, full of all sorts of ships, Imperial, chaos, and space marine. Laser bolts and bullets and missiles were flying every which way and that. Below, through the clouds of smoke, Raphael made out pockets of marines battling chaos forces in the courtyards and on the walls far below. Even out in the Green Desert, he saw tanks duking it out and assault marines running down a unit of chaos bikers. "How... How did they make it past the sector's defenses...?" He asked himself quietly.

 

* * *

 

Suriel came to. His helmet was missing. He was nailed to a cross, atop the tallest tower of the Spire. His arms were also tied to the cross made of steel with some bent pipes and chords and cables. A woman was with him. She was watching the battle below, leaning onto the railing. She turned to him, and she was the most beautiful woman Suriel had ever laid eyes upon. "Greetings, chapter master." She said happily.

 

"What do you want, witch?" He growled, his expression changing to anger, realizing she was the one behind all of this.

 

"I simply want you to watch your world burn. I have killed so many space marine chapters, burnt so many Imperial worlds. Tell you what. As you watch your world die, I will tell you a story. My story! I was born on a pleasure world, near the eye of terror. It wasn't an Imperial world, it was a colony that was lost during the age of strife, or whatever, I am not too good with history." She said, pulling out a knife. "I had a rich father, and mother. An a family of brothers and sisters. We lived happily. Happy happy in our mansion." She approached him with the knife, and began to cut through the black soft parts at the joints between armor. Suriel felt the blade kiss his skin and enter, and felt blood trickle down his leg. "The renegade marines came, and slaughtered everyone. They made me watch my entire family get beat and murdered. And then they had the nerve to take me with them as a slave. Those first few nights weren't bad..." She ripped his leg armor off, and stabbed into his foot, Suriel reacted by grunting.

 

"Witch..." He spat at her.

 

"Hush. I escaped. I went into the eye of terror and found a palace of Slaanesh. I dedicated myself to that god. I built up an army. I was even adopted by my new father."

 

"Who??" He spat again. "Who is your father."

 

"A snake man in the eye. I shall not be telling you. Now, to get through this pesky armor... Abasi, Anpu! Help me with this!!" Then two chaos marines stepped out from behind him, and began ripping at his golden armor and tearing it off. "Now, to continue. The Imperium did not help me when my world was destroyed. So, what did I do? I went to somebody who could help. I went to my new father. He gave me some warriors and ships. I went around gathering more and more... And now, we travel the galaxy, hunting and killing Imperials... Such as you..." Her expression went from giddy and happy to sour as she took the knife and raised it up. "Aw, we need fun! FUN!!" She giggled, running up to the chapter master. She began to carve into his flesh the symbol of Slaanesh and an eight-pointed star. Suriel roared the entire time as his body was defiled and his world burned.

[Evz]

III

 

"Fun, fun, fun..." Lillian looked to Anpu. She nodded towards the Chaos marine. He drew a long, curved sabre. "Make sure he can't move and we'll take him aboard the Excess." She grinned.

 

"Yes, mistress..." He slashed out, and both of Suriel's legs fell from his body. With two more sweeps, both of Suriel's arms fell, and his bloody torso full of chaos runes fell to the roof of the tower. He did not even scream. Anpu picked up the torso, which bled horribly.

 

"Salith, be a dear and teleport us back aboard, please?" She looked to Abasi. "You're in charge here." Abasi nodded. The chaos terminator watched as they fizzled out of the material realm. He looked down to the battle far below, and roared. This world was theirs.

 

* * *

 

Thran and Lael made it to the back walls. They had already gunned down five or six chaos marines, and even more cultists. "We have made it..." Thran said as they marched up the causeway into the fortress. Within, it was hell. Chaos marines and loyalist marines battling everywhere. "Brother-Lael, to me..." Thran led Lael down the length of the wall. Cultists came at them in a horde. The two Vermilion Wings held their ground, holding up their boltguns, taking aim, and opening fire. The bolts exploded on impact with the horde. Bodies and limbs flew as the marines chewed up the fleshy, ragged enemies. They fired until there was nothing but a bloody mess.

 

* * *

 

"This is Commander Donal. I have entered the system. What is the situation?" Said the space marine commander from his bridge. Donal was youthful. Short brown hair, a scar across his cheek, and wearing a suit of golden power armor. They had just returned from a campaign in Tau space, to return to this. In front of him, a hologram of an Imperial Guard general appeared.

 

"This is General Song of the Oshim PDF. We have combined with the rest of the guard forces in the sector and are in the process of evacuating Callisto and fighting this damned enemy. We have successfully cleansed the city of Vel. We are defending it to the last."

 

"What of my Chapter?" Donal asked sternly.

 

"We have sent a few platoons. They are holding valiantly. No sign of your chapter mast-" The hologram fizzled and was replaced by a young woman in armor.

 

"Hello marine!" She said happily.

 

"Who are you? What happened to General Song?" He narrowed his eyes.

 

"He's alive, I just interrupted to say hi..."

 

"Who are you, woman?" He was getting annoyed. She walked down some steps and what Donal saw next scarred him. Suriel's torso, covered in chaos markings, with pipes and cables filling him, pumping him with drugs.

 

"Want him back? Come at me." She grinned and fizzled out, replaced by Song again.

 

"Commander Donal?"

 

"Sorry... I have a mission of my own..." He stood and walked away form the hologram. "For the Emperor, general." The hologram disappeared. Donal was bent on saving his chapter master. He gathered up a contingent of 100 marines. They would teleport aboard the enemy flagship and take them full-on, and send them away from this system.

 

They would win.

 

* * *

 

Lael and Thran continued down the wall when a chaos raptor smashed into the rockcrete before them. The two fell and the raptor jumped upon Lael, and ripped his throat out with its power claws. Lael picked up his boltgun at the last second and blew the monsters face off, but he was dying. Thran knelled next to him. "Brother! We need to fight!!" He shook Lael.

 

"Fight for me, Thran." He handed him his boltgun, and Thran took it. The barbarian stood and walked away as Lael died.

 

Silence. Lael thought. Just like after every other battle. It ended in silence.

[Evz]

IV

 

"The armory..." Thran stood before the large bulkhead door. The control panel next to it sparked wildly. He sighed, and shot a single bolt at it. The door shuddered and slowly opened wide enough for him to step through. The space marine looked around. He slung his battle-brothers boltgun on his arm, and picked up a chainsword, revving it a few times to make sure it was in working condition. Then he nodded, picking up some more ammunition for his boltgun. Then he traveled deeper. He found a jump pack. Not any jump pack. This one had angelic wings of crimson. They would strike fear into the heart of the enemy. They would see an angel of death falling upon them, not a warrior.

 

Without thinking, he slung it onto his back and activated it, walking back out of the armory, where he came face-to-face with several battle-brothers with similar jump packs engaging chaos space marines along the wall. "Let all blood fly!" Cried the sergeant. Thran revved his weapon and blasted off into the fight, his chainsword chewed through the nearest enemy, ripping through their ceremite armor and into their mutated flesh. He turned, seeing a three-eyed chaos marine who spat some sort of acid into his face. He ripped his helmet off and bashed the three-eyed enemy across the face with it, then ran him through with his chainsword. Then through the mass came a large terminator, growling at Thran through horrid teeth.

 

* * *

 

Anpu stared down the puny Imperial dog. The space marine revved his chainsword and cleaved at Anpu, who dodged it quickly for something of his size. He picked Thran up and tossed him over the fighting and into the wall. Anpu then waded through the battle towards him. Thran stood and blasted off with his jump pack and crashed into Anpu, sending him on his back.

 

* * *

 

Thran grabbed his chainsword in both hands and plunged it into Anpu's face, letting blood and gore and brains splatter every which way and that. He then stood up, looking over at the squad. The sergeant looked to them all. "Commander Donal has requested that we aid him in a mission to save Master Suriel. To me, brothers!!" The sergeant blasted off towards the Chaos ship in low-orbit. Thran followed.

 

* * *

 

Commander Donal cut down another enemy, and looked around. These were but heretics, not nearly as tough as a chaos space marine. His force of one hundred men followed him this deep into the bowels within the enemy craft. They continued on, through ribbed corridors which had pulsating walls and deamonic eyes. It was not long til they were joined by Assault Squad Barbiel. Sergeant Barbiel ran up to Donal. "Commander. We have located the Chapter Master... He is on the bridge, come." Donal nodded and followed. Thran was not far behind, he used his jump pack to catch up when he needed to, and cut down any enemy idiotic enough to try and stop them.

 

The bridge itself was vast, the entire ceiling and front was a window. The floor had a large window on it as well. To the back end, where they came in, was a large balcony, overlooking all the heretics working at the controls. Thran and three other assault marines jumped down, killing several enemies in a bloody frenzy. There was Suriel, plugged into one hundred machines. He looked dead. The assault marines looked to Donal to see what they should do.

 

"Free him." He simply said. "He will be entombed within a dreadnought. A great honor for him." They nodded and cut the cables and pipes, and Thran picked up the pale torso, and blasted back up to the balcony. As they left, Lillian appeared behind them.

 

"Hello, boys..." She said, a whip in her hand and a dagger in the other.

 

"Go..." Thran whispered, handing the dying chapter master off to another battle-brother. Thran looked to the woman. He readied his weapons,a boltgun and a chainsword.

 

"Who might you be, young astartes?" She asked.

 

"I am Eth Thran, of the Evz tribe. I will not let you pass." He growled, and jumped at her, his jump pack flaring and he flew towards her. He lashed out with his chainsword and nicked her shoulder. She winced and whipped him, the whip coiling around his arm and his chainsword went flying down to the deck below. He opened fire with his bolter and she fell down as well.

 

Thran jumped down, landing with his armored boot upon her chest. He aimed down. "Die, heretic." He whispered. But the body faded into shadow. Puzzled, Thran picked up his chainsword. He blasted a hole in the floor-window, and took one last look around as klaxon alarms sounded, chaos marines rushing towards him. "They are preparing to depart..." He whispered, and jumped through the hole, skydiving to the planet below.

 

He crashed through the clouds, and there was the Spire. Several tall towers surrounded by high walls and turrets. The chaos marines were leaving. And eventually Thran had rolled onto the wall, and deactivated his jump pack.

 

It was over.

[Evz]

V

 

Eth Thran sat alone in his room. Yes, that was his name, Eth, not Thran. He had only wished he had told Lael before he had met his end by a Chaos Raptor. He sighed, stepping out onto the balcony attached to his small chamber, containing a cot, a drawer to put his robes, and a weapons stand. He walked out, and his robes flowed in the warm wind. Far below, chapter serfs had begun repairing. The door opened behind him, and in stepped Sanguinary Priest Alimon, behind him was a cart containing Lael's body, and following was a servitor carrying a large needle. Eth turned and walked back into the room, nodding to the priest. Alimon nodded back as the servitor inserted the needle into the body's chest and began to absorb all the blood within his body. "Brother Lael's blood shall be added to the Pool of Remembrance. He wanted you to have the body. Take him in. Goodbye." Once the servitor was done, it removed the needle form the pale body, and the two of them left, the door sliding shut behind them.

 

He knelled by the body, wherein lay a sanguinary knife. He drew the blade, and it was serrated. Without hesitation, he cut into the body. The meat tasted the same as all his other brothers he had consumed in his thirteen years of service. Within his head were the memories, feelings, and thoughts of his fallen battle-brother. They continued swimming as he continued to cannibalize upon the corpse. Eventually, after two hours had passed, he had managed to finish. He peered down at the skeleton as the door opened and two servitors on treads rolled in to grab the body, and Alimon returned. "His bones shall adorn the main hall. He will be remembered, and shall live on within you. For the Emperor, brother-Thran."

 

"For the Emperor." Eth replied, and the priest left once more. Eth returned to the balcony, watching the entire desert around him.

 

* * *

 

Commander Donal stood within the docking bay of the Spire. Before him was the dreadnought containing the body of their old chapter-master Suriel, behind him were Raphael and Abiel, the other captains were away on campaigns. "He has gone mad..." Muttered techmarine Tar. "He is not fit to lead the chapter, he must go into rest for some time, maybe even centuries..." Donal shook his head.

 

"I shall lead. I was his friend. We entered the chapter at the same time, many centuries ago." He sighed, looking upon the sarcophagus. Tar raised an eyebrow.

 

"Are you sure you are capable of leading an entire chapter, commander?" He asked.

 

"It can't be much different that leading a company or a small force. Just on a larger scale..." He said.

 

"I will follow Commander Donal." Said Abiel. "I... I could not lead an entire chapter, and I enjoy fighting on the front-lines. What say you, brother-captain Raphael?" Raphael turned his head, removing his helmet.

 

"I would not mind. I was not planning on leading anytime soon... I wasn't planning on getting attacked by a force of renegades anytime soon on my home planet either." He snorted. Donal walked up to the dreadnought and rested the palm of his hand upon the front armor.

 

"Rest easy, old friend. Your burden has been lifted off of your shoulders. You must go rest now. I shall lead in your stead. Goodnight, but not goodbye..." He turned to Tar. "Bring him to the dreadnought resting area. He shall only be awoken during the utmost need." Tar nodded a reply.

 

"Yes, Commander." And Tar, with several servitors, led the dreadnought away. Commander Donal looked out the docking bay at the vast expanse of desert littered with wrecks. "We are going to send a team after the chaos forces." He folded his arms behind his back. "Raphael shall lead the force. Abiel, you are to stand by in case anything returns. Increase security throughout the entire system, I want a contingent of marines on every planet." The two captains did not disagree, and the plans would be carried out.

 

PART IV