The Watch [IN PROGRESS]

[Tengo]

Hail brothers!

 

It's been a while since I've been kicking around here, been a bit busy to say the least (still made sure to buy dark vengeance however ;)) Finally got pictures of my termy chaplain from the ETL vow too, but I accept that I've probably been counted amongst those who failed.

 

Some of you might remember that I was writing a short story, well I think now it has surpassed the definition of a short story and is well on it's way to becoming, perhaps, a novella. The story isn't yet finished (far from it!) but I've written a substantial amount already and it's starting to seem a bit pointless doing all that work with nobody (bar some certain honoured brothers) reading it. Not to mention that expected regular releases and maybe even, heavens forbid, some feedback or interested readers might motivate me to keep carrying on.

 

Feel free to ask any questions or give any criticisms (as true and as fair as you can please, no holding back!) the finalised version will be posted in the librarium, but until then you guys can share the honour of being first to read it and perhaps even have a say in its development, lucky you eh? :P

 

So, without further delay, here's the double-sized first instalment in the story!

 

 

THE WATCH

CHAPTER 1 - SEGMENT 1

 

 

A total silence strangled Lairum, a silence so complete and rare that it was unlike any other place in the entire universe, even the vast and empty expanses of uncharted space perpetuated echoes of activity, but Lairum did not; it was so soundless that it seemed very out of place in a universe where a moment of clarity is a precious thing.

A death world, with a blackened, stony surface and poisonous atmosphere, Lairum would allow no civilisation habitat; the inhospitality of such a world would ensure that only the hardiest beasts imaginable would be able to survive there.

But even the lack of life on the planet doesn’t explain the silence that had befallen it. Planets with such an inhospitable and deadly nature are known for frequent and terrible storms, seismic activity and volcanic eruptions, and they rarely exhibit a level of calmness that Lairum was experiencing.

Whether the undisturbed silence engulfing the planet was usual or not; no one would be able to say, as according to imperial records, the death world did not exist, either the planet had gone undiscovered by the imperium of man for many millennia, or, once again, the terrific inaccuracies and lost information of the imperial data banks had prevailed against the peaks of technology in the 41st millennium.

 

Lairum, with its unfathomably deep chasms and ashen rock spires which pierced the bloody red sky; was about to be penetrated by imperial forces, and once the emperor’s angels of death descended; any semblance of calm on the planet would be forever shattered.

The world would be snapped out of its solitary slumber and frantically plunged deep into a state where the rest of the universe hung, a state of war and terror. Like the rest of the universe, peace would no longer exist on Lairum.

 

Flashes of bright electric blue illuminated the crimson sky, every so often, electrically charged particles in the atmosphere would be ignited by a flash, and a mile high carpet of flame would spread in the air, rolling forward until it burned itself out a few seconds later.

 

Wounds in the uniform sky appeared, and bled droplets of black. Black pods, resembling tears from the heavens, descended furiously upon the death world, and apart from the occasional light crackle of the sky flames, the air was relatively silent, betraying visual scenes that would force panic into the hearts of most men.

 

The first pod landed, and the silence of Lairum was finally and eternally broken. A deep and cracking thump rumbled thunderously through the air as the pod impacted the planet. The ground shook violently under the sudden force and threw up a cloud of dust, undisturbed for thousands of years. The dust flew twenty metres up in the air and consumed the pod in a large, thick, black mist.

 

The pod stood paused, invisible in the density of the heavy dust and, as a sharp, violent hiss broke out, followed by the whir of hydraulics, it came to life.

 

The five hatches that made the walls of the pentagonal pod blew from the hull and lowered to the ground. The lights on the inside of the hatches barely shone through the black fog, just about managing to illuminate a few feet of the darkness.

Then the other Drop Pods started to land, the air was filled with the roar of the guidance thrusters slowing the speed of the pod’s furious descent to ensure a safe yet nevertheless almighty impact nearby.

 

As the ground trembled, six figures emerged from the first pod, clad in power armour and wearing dark hooded robes. They looked like ghosts in the fog; they stood tall and held a very powerful presence.

 

The impact of the other drop pods pounding the surface had thrown up a huge amount of dust, the cloud grew a great distance in every direction, the black fog becoming so thick that light failed to penetrate it. The few, violent crimson streaks of the sky that were visible before, were blotted out, nothing but the black dust could be seen and the six ghosts were engulfed in total darkness.

 

“This really is a dreadful place, isn’t it?” muttered one of the ghosts, his voice coming through the earpieces in his squad’s helms, “Command squad, are you all with me?”

 

“Yes, my lord” came the replies of the five others, who had not moved a step since they got out of the pod, and were now all on one knee, with their weapons steady, searching the darkness. Experienced veterans, for whom their weapon is an unfailing extension of their will.

 

After the seventh and final deafening drop pod landing, the first voice called out to the Darkness:

 

“Third company tactical contingent! Must I pray for any souls?”

In unison the chant of thirty men came over the vox "None master!” every one of them lost in the dense and unmoving black haze.

 

“Good!” retorted the first voice “Hold ground and stand to, don’t allow the darkness to overcome you!”

 

“My lord, what is our task?” inquired a voice to the left of him

 

“Patience is your task brother, there are no xenos here, I can see no foreign heat traces.” replied the first voice “It’s impossible to get any bearing in this God forsaken mist, I can’t organise any troop movements in this black hell!”

“Flight lieutenant Vikare, bring down the transport” he barked over the vox.

 

“As you wish master, what are the co-ordinates?” Came the reply, a voice from an unseen person

 

“There are none, you’ll see a large, black fog hanging over the ground, myself and the contingent are lost inside it, we need a point of reference to safely move out, land as close as you can from the furthest perimeter of the dust cloud, withdraw on the first signs of distress”

 

“Affirmative master, ‘Praetereus’ departing” replied Vikare.

 

“Don’t take too long now” the ghost master muttered to himself.

 

*EDIT* Why won't it let me have spaces at the start of a new line to indicate a paragraph?

[Vazzy]

Ahhh I remember this...

[Tengo]

I can hear the excitement oozing out of my laptop speakers Vazzy :P how are you anyway dude, still writing?

 

And as promised, the first go around will be a double issue, so here's segment two!

 

THE WATCH

CHAPTER 1 - SEGMENT 2.

 

 

Within seconds, a mechanical drone grew out of the ethereal whispers of the newborn wind, stirred by the magnitude of all the sudden activity. The sound was so distant, that its direction could not be judged, steadily the noise grew louder, as its source came closer, and soon the marines on the ground were surrounded by the familiar roar of the jet engines belonging to the Thunderhawk troop transport

 

“Transport has arrived at location master, ‘Praetereus’ is landed” came the voice of Vikare, barely audible over the scream of the engines winding down.

“Excellent, tell the troops to disembark and set up a tight defensive perimeter, stay ready to withdraw” ordered the ghost

“Yes master”

 

“Contingent!” The master barked out to his invisible marines “reinforcements have landed roughly a mile and a half to the east, keep a careful tread and your eyes open, and consolidate on them, it may not be the quickest way out of this mess, but it works just fine for me, are there any objections?”

 

“None master!” was their disciplined reply.

 

“Then let the emperor guide you, your faith will observe where your eyes cannot. Marines, move onward!” he roared

 

“Into deliverance!” volleyed back their cries as they began to move out cautiously, blinded by the darkness, following the faint heat signature of their reinforcements in the distance.

 

It didn’t take long for the space marines to cover most of the ground between their insertion point and the awaiting reinforcements. The terrain was unforgiving. Without sight; the marines had to navigate narrow crevices, rock formations and shallow craters. At no point the fog thin, every inch of it was pure, unrelenting darkness, right up to the very edge of the cloud.

 

There was no sign that the shroud of darkness was about to very suddenly and dramatically end. One step was taken in utter darkness, and the next was taken in almost blinding light.

 

Every marine that took their first step out past the black curtain was taken by surprise at how suddenly the dark veil ended.

As vision returned to marines, they saw for the first time the world that they had landed on. The blood red veneer of sky had started to peel away, assailed by dark clouds. Flashes of thunder occupied the air as far as could be seen.

There was no sun and there were no moons, no life-giving star nearby to bestow light on the death world, the atmosphere of the planet simply seemed to glow. Lairum hosted neither days, nor nights.

 

The ground first seemed to be soft earth; pure black in colour, It was in fact solid, blasted grey, stone, covered in a thick layer of black sand, leaving footprints behind the path of each marine, a souvenir from the imperium in an otherwise untouched planet.

 

A wind had started to pick up since the thunderhawk had entered the atmosphere, and now whipped around the marines, howling like a pack of starved wolves in the distance.

Each step forward kicked up the dust carpeting the ground, which stuck to the dark green power armour of the marines, gradually coating them in black.

 

As the waiting thunderhawk came into view for the leading marines, atop a sharp hill just ahead of them, the passengers of the first Drop Pod had emerged from the darkness; the ghosts stepped out of the black void.

 

Wrapped in robes of dark green which obscured and overshadowed most of their bone coloured armour, they were mysterious and foreboding beings. They were clearly not of the same calibre as the rest of the marines, adorned with sacred antiquities, scrolls and purity seals, they were highly decorated, and each one inspired an awesome fear into any stranger that beheld them.

 

“Finally!” said the familiar voice, the only one in the squad not actually robed, but shrouded majestically in a dark green mantle, draped over his shoulders. His armour was decorated with gold and bronze, a gleaming Aquila emblazoned his chest, a column of wings rose from each side of his helmet. “Brother Curas, let free the standard and raise it to the heavens, if there is anything on this damned planet, they will know by whose hands they suffer”

 

“Yes my lord” replied a marine directly to his right, carrying a flagpole. The marine stopped momentarily to unfurl the banner from the crossbar, and as it unrolled down the flagpole, he proudly and fiercely thrust the standard upwards, roaring “For the honour of the chapter!” the cry resounded powerfully, catching the attention of the thirty marines marching ahead of them, as well as the thirty marines stationed on the hill beyond, all of whom, on sight of the standard; roared back “For the Glory of 3rd Company!”

 

“Vikare, has any unfamiliar activity been sighted?” asked the mantled marine over the vox

 

“None master, it seems totally lifeless out there” Vikare replied, checking all directions from the hill.

 

“Good, tell the troops to keep their eyes peeled and make sure there’s a squad covering our approach”

 

“Yes master”

The leading squad of advancing marines were mid-way up the hill, cautiously making their way up the steep, rocky incline. Almost every step further would send a cluster of rocks hurtling down the hill, gaining momentum until they found settlement in a nook in the rugged terrain, or went flying straight off the hillside and crashed on the ground.

 

The newly emerged ghosts had just started to tackle the foot of the hill, defended by boulders and almost vertical hill faces, crumbling and unassailable. The difficulty of seizing stable footholds was increased as they had to watch out for heavy rocks speeding towards them, and pray that they could dodge them.

[Vazzy]

I'm good dude, yeah still writing, though its been a bit since I posted, give it a looksie though

[WatchCaptainAzrael]

Oooopdaet dis nau! :)

[Tengo]

Ahh if you've updated the story I'll definitely mosey on over and take a look.

 

Patience is your mission brother Azreal! :) hope you're enjoying it so far, if you're lucky I might update with a short segment later on today, but after that updates will be atleast a few days apart (If I can help myself!) to give me a chance to always be ahead.