Sword Bearers and the Unforgiven (Updated 1/07/23: Angels Redeemed)

[deathspectersgt7]

Will be watching for that brother..

[Spaced Hulk]

Ok, not the best pics but there's plenty of them

Veteran Battle Brother Hagan, Third Company Standard Bearer

Veteran Battle Brother Mathius. Awarded the Marksman's Honour during the Kanus Subsector Pacification 722.M41

Veteran Sergeant Viktor, Second in Command of the Assault team.

Veteran Battle Brother A. Rolendis, weapon specialist.

Vid Capture: Veteran Assault Team Balian, Sword Bearers 3rd Battle Company. Images recorded immediately prior to an assault on the Southern defences of the Necropolis, Phormia Prime, Iris Campaign 723.M41

Edited September 1, 2014 by spacedhulk

[deathspectersgt7]

Sweet, great kit-bash anvil bitz fit nicely.Veteran Battle Brother Rolendis is a monster. 

[Dark Rage]

A very cool looking force, very nice use of different parts, I really like the shield guards on the lower arms they are a nice detail to the 2 handed weapons.

 

Great stuff

 

DR

[Spaced Hulk]

Thanks guys , glad you liked them and sorry about the delayed reply.

 

The next chapter will be posted very shortly.

[Spaced Hulk]

The dead lined the walls. Desiccated remains were piled up, one on top of the other, extensively blanketing both sides of the gallery. Here and there, fresh corpses had been added to the rows of mummified bodies, foul smelling putrescence contaminating the air around them. For long stretches of the great corridor, yellowed skulls were inlaid into the floor as macabre cobblestones, while in other sections, entire skeletons had been plastered into position in the ceiling, empty eye sockets staring down woefully on the multitudes that passed beneath.
 

Seemingly oblivious to the morbid surroundings, the living inhabitants of the Necropolis made their way through the gallery of the dead. The teeming mass of human traffic fell into two distinct categories. Armed militia and other Secessionist troops, including the cloaked and hulking Necropean enforcers, were all heading outwards, towards the city's gates and defences. Travelling in the other direction was another army, one consisting of scribes, clerks, administrators and other cult members, hundreds of non-combatants fleeing the front lines and the inevitable onslaught of Imperial retribution. It was this second stream of robed bodies that Aldous had joined, following the hordes as they moved steadily deeper and deeper into the great pyramid.
 

Beneath his false-hood, the Pathfinder was practically invisible, the light repelling qualities of the material acting as the perfect camouflage. Too perfect in fact. As he navigated his way through the Secessionist mob, Aldous found himself desperately dodging and weaving, constantly evading collision amongst a crowd ignorant to his presence. As a result, it took Aldous some time to realise that something wasn't quite right about the cultist's behaviour.
 

There were no signs of panic or fear. Instead, every face in the mass exodus held the same relaxed, nonchalant expression. Everybody was walking at the same, steady, unhurried pace. With the war now so close to home, and with armed troops moving amongst them, it seemed unlikely that the mob were uninformed about the nature of the threat they were facing. Perhaps even more bizarrely, the crowd was utterly silent, save for the constant rhythmical beat of thousands of individual footsteps. The chanting voices could still be heard in the background, a constant murmur accompanying the sound of marching feet, but nobody within the procession uttered a single word.
 

It was possible, the Pathfinder mused, that the city's inhabitants were simply supremely confident in the forces guarding them and the presumed impregnability of their stronghold. Alternatively, it was equally feasible that their twisted religion had brainwashed them into such ordered docility.
 

Watching the blank, emotionless faces surrounding him, Aldous began to feel a slight sense of unease.
 

He had a bad feeling about this.

 

***
 

The Rhino bucked and rolled as it traversed the debris strewn carriageway, it's armoured tracks forcing it over or through ruined barricades and shell craters alike. Like a fishing boat riding the storm driven waves of Mire's oceans, Balian thought to himself. In these anticipatory moments before combat, it was surprising just how often his mind turned to memories of the home world.
 

They were travelling along the remains of the Great Southern Trail, one of the four main roadways that led through the warren of hills and valleys to the Necropolis. Once the carriageway would have been thronged with crowds. Pilgrims and petitioners in their thousands used to walk the Trail on a daily basis, commuting from the space ports of the south to the city and back again in order to worship at the very heart of their religion. Now the dusty roadway was empty except for corpses and wrecked vehicles. The preliminary assaults had done their work well.
 

Six battle brothers sat alongside him in their squad transport. Three of the usually cramped metal seats remained empty. Hagan had been transported back to the fleet, and was presumably undergoing surgery even now. Another marine, Leto, had fallen during their initial landing, an anti-tank round taking him directly in the chest. The third seat had belonged to Mathius. Like Balian himself, the young veteran's power armour had been patched back together in record time, the skill and toil of the artificers allowing him to participate in this final assault. But he had not returned to his former unit. With so many casualties, particularly amongst the higher ranks & company veterans, Mathius had been promoted once again, this time to acting sergeant of Quintus Squad.
 

The remaining members of the squad were all heavily armed. As per Orbec's instructions, they had deployed as Devastators, drawing weapons and munitions from Third Company's onboard Thunderhawk armoury. Two battle brothers, Claudin and Elyon, were configured as Firestorms, each wearing the bulky fusion packs that powered their heat blackened melta-cannons. Alain, perhaps the most physically imposing individual in all of Third Company, wielded a massive, drum fed heavy bolter as easily as other warriors carried their rifles; while Ezzeran, who commanded the squad in Balian's absence, had supplemented his treasured, wrist mounted storm bolter with a brutal but cumbersome looking power fist. The remaining squad members, Farun and Setheus, were both armed with long barrelled Anvil pattern boltguns, an obscure variant produced by the Chapter's own forges. Balian himself had chosen an ancient, battle worn combi-plasma to replace his own damaged bolter, although his great sword, as ever, was mag-locked across his back.
 

As squad leader, Balian was linked to the sensor feeds and optical scanners of the Rhino itself, enabling him to monitor the local conditions and situation from within transport's hold. They were on point, with the rest of Third Company, all similarly mounted in Rhino and Razorback APC's, following behind in a close single file. Orbec's personal Land Raider transport, the Wrath of Mire, brought up the rear of the convoy, flanked by a pair of brutish Vindicator siege tanks. Even with Third Company's reduced numbers, Balian thought to himself, they were still a force to be reckoned with.
 

Far ahead of them, visible only as a dust cloud on the arid carriageway, was the other, darker side of the assault force. The Revenant mounted attack squadrons, led as usual by Letholdus on his relic Mark XIV jetbike, had easily outpaced the rest of the Sword Bearers. The Black Rider was notorious for his impatience, recklessly leading his bikers into melee as quickly as possible, regardless of opposition or any previously agreed strategy. In a way, Balian mused, the Knight Captain epitomised the entire Celerem Mortem: bold, arrogant and disdainful to any outside his own Company.
 

Suddenly a dark shadow, both physical and mental, shot over the entire convoy, quickly followed by a dozen more. Despite their high speed, the jet black vehicles that surged past them were easily recognisable, both visually and from the sense of intense unease that followed in their wake. Revenant landspeeders, bristling with missile pods, phospex flamers and heavy bolters, racing to catch up with their bike mounted brethren. The last of the anti-gravitic craft was far larger and more imposing than it's fellows, completely blocking out the harsh Phormian sun as it passed overhead. Such was it's velocity, the Rhino's observation systems only caught a quick glimpse before it was out of sight once more, but even so, it was enough to allow Balian to identify the distinctive vehicle.
 

It was a Vengeance class landspeeder. The only one in the Chapters entire armoury. As he replayed the vid-footage he could just make out the ominous form of the Shadowcaster manning the heavy bolters of the forward pulpit, while twin linked assault cannons were mounted in a turret at the rear of the vehicle. Power vanes projected from the sides of the speeder like jagged spikes, the force field projectors crackling with arcane blue-white energy.
 

Balian did not see the vehicle's passenger, but nor did he need to. The Shadowspeeder was unique, and it only ever served a single master.
 

It appeared that the Lord of the Revenants wished to oversee this battle personally.

Edited March 16, 2014 by spacedhulk

[deathspectersgt7]

Great read once again brother .liked the reference to anvil pattern bolter.Aldous got in a hurry .by next weekend should have a storm raven and a five man squad of libbies posted.

[Spaced Hulk]

Great read once again brother .liked the reference to anvil pattern bolter.Aldous got in a hurry .by next weekend should have a storm raven and a five man squad of libbies posted.

 

Thanks brother! Have got a few of Anvil's Exorcist rifles that I really want to use as alternative bolters, so thought I'd better include a mention of them in the fluff somewhere. Aldous is indeed making pretty swift progress, but then, he is on a pretty tight schedule!

 

Which of your armies are the Storm Raven & Librarians for? Deathspecters? I'm currently reading 'Deathwatch' by Steve Parker, which if you haven't read it yet includes some really interesting stuff about the Specters. About half way through at the moment but it's been a good read so far.

 

Modelwise, I'm still putting off painting Balian's squad (in my defense, work's been manic this last week). I'm gradually collecting the parts for an entire Revenant strike force, which I don't want to start assembling until I've painted Balian and his team, so at some point I'm going to have to stop procrastinating!

Edited May 25, 2013 by spacedhulk

[deathspectersgt7]

Read Deathwatch last week thats where I got the idea on the SR and the libbies.Can't wait to see a whole strike force of Revenants.

[Cactus]

I've just read this whole thread over the bank holiday weekend (exhausting my daily quota of 'likes' twice) and your writing really is top notch Spaced Hulk. This is surely the most imaginative, literate, coherent and gripping fan fiction I've read. Anvil Industries should be paying you commission too, I'm going to order a bunch of their parts for my own Dark Angel veterans.

[Spaced Hulk]

Cheers mate , I really do appreciate the kind words and encouragement. There's a lot of the story left to write (the Necropolis storyline is essentially the prequel to the main events) so hopefully the eventual conclusion will be worth all the build-up.

 

Anvil's models (and customer service) are excellent, and I think they work really well with normal GW kits. I'm finding their skull helmets really useful as well (for obvious reasons  ) but the whole range is worth checking out, if only to add a bit of variety to standard marine models.

 

Thanks again

[Spaced Hulk]

The gallery of the dead led directly into the very heart of the city. Aldous emerged from it's claustrophobic confines onto a balcony, overlooking an immense domed chamber large enough to accommodate an entire Titan Legion within it's towering walls. This was the Inner Sanctum, the so-called Temple of Mortality. Within this huge, cathedral like space, the priests of the Dominion performed their funeral rites, the ceremonial rituals that accompanied each cycle's honoured dead to their final resting place. Whether the deceased was consigned to the Ashlands of the North or interred within the hallowed halls of the Necropolis, their name would be announced within the Temple. With so many corpses and cremated remains brought to Phormia Prime each day, the funeral rites never ceased, a constant, never ending roll-call of the lost. Regardless of birth, wealth or status, every fallen citizen of the Iris Sector was added to the daily rosters. In death, all were equal. In death, all became one.

 

It was all a deceit, of course. The entire planet was a testament not only to the Dominion's beliefs, but also to it's hypocrisy. Aldous had waded in a sea of ashes, formed from the remains of the poorest members of Iris society, and now walked through an entire city constructed to house the bones of the richest. The rulers of the Phormian Dominion had corrupted the morbid but loyal faith of an entire Sector, propagating myths of equality in order to assume complete control and turn their people away from the Emperor's light.
 

The cult leaders had assumed they could escape punishment for this heresy. They believed that by building their own military might, they could deter any form of Imperial retribution. That out here, so isolated on the Eastern Fringe, the High Lords would turn a blind eye to their secession. After all, what was one more sector amongst the multitudes lost each year? On a constantly changing frontier, who would either notice or care?
 

Beneath his false-hood camouflage, Aldous checked his chronometer. Despite the myriad concerns of his personal mission, he allowed himself a momentary smile. The rulers of the Dominion were about to discover just how wrong they had been.
 

***

Twenty metres high, the South Gates of the Necropolis were massive, adamantium plates fashioned with countless skulls and other icons of death. It was quite appropriate decoration, Balian thought to himself, considering the visitors who had come calling.
 

The area in front of the Southern entrance formed a large, natural amphitheatre. It was a killing zone, a hollow depression between the surrounding hills and the city's formidable defences. Artillery and gun emplacements were built into the curtain wall and gatehouse, covering the entire approach with a deadly enfilade of fire-power.
 

Most of those guns were already silent and burning. As Balian watched, a Revenant gunship screamed past on another attack run, launching a devastating barrage of cannon fire and missiles at a wall mounted Basilisk turret, reducing it to yet another smoking ruin. By this point, there was very little return fire, a result of both the efficiency  of the Celerem Mortem pilots and the disruptive effects of the Shadowcasters on board.
 

Third Company were waiting in their transports at the top of the incline, almost three miles from the gateway and hopefully out of range of both the surviving enemy artillery and the psychic aura. Although sitting idle, watching whilst others gave battle to the Emperor's foes, was contrary to every Sword Bearer's instincts, Orbec's orders had been unequivocal. This was a Second Company operation, and the Third were to hold back until the gates were breached. In truth, Balian suspected that very few of his brothers, if indeed any, would be keen to enter the fray alongside the black armoured warriors. Even for the most belligerent amongst them, the Shadow was a particularly effective deterrent. However, regardless of the almost universal antipathy towards the Celerem Mortem, Balian knew that every member of Third Company present was intently watching as the battle unfolded below, their vantage point providing a perfect view of the Revenant's assault.

 

An entire enemy mechanised division had been deployed outside the South Gate. Over a hundred tanks, an eclectic mixture of Chimera APC's, Hellhound flame throwers, ancient Malcadors and multiple Leman Russ variants. Sentinel walkers prowled amongst the armoured ranks, whilst at the centre of the formation, dwarfing every other vehicle, was the lumbering form of a Doomhammer super heavy, it's colossal shell bristling with weaponry.

“I thought the defences had been weakened. Where did they get a Titan killer from?” It was Alain, the heavy bolter gunner, who broke the silence. Always the first to grumble and complain, he had been given his nickname, Gripe, many years before.
 

“Don't know.” Balian whispered, the injuries to his throat still not completely healed. He was living up to his own nickname at the moment, he reflected. “Fortunately,” he continued hoarsely, “we don't have any Titans, do we?”

 

There were chuckles of laughter over the squad vox net. The Doomhammer could be a major problem though, the Sergeant mused, staring at it's turret mounted Magma cannon. One blast from that would obliterate a Land Raider, let alone a Rhino transport. However, at this point he reminded himself, it was Second Company's problem, not theirs. Not yet anyway.

 

As the Revenant attack squadrons accelerated down the embankment towards the city, the Secessionist tanks mobilised with impressive efficiency, moving forward to meet the assault head on. The two opposing forces seemed completely mismatched, the ebon bikes and landspeeders dwarfed and out-gunned by the heavily armoured vehicles bearing down upon them.
 

Before the first shots had been fired, the rebels hit the Shadow.

 

Even from a distance, with the enemy soldiers hidden inside their armoured behemoths, it was possible to spot the exact moment they encountered the full, undiluted effects of the psychic aura. The lead vehicles, a trio of Leman Russ Exterminators, all immediately broke formation, veering away as their drivers instinctively reacted to the Shadowcaster's mental assault. Two of the tanks instantly collided with other vehicles. A wave of Chimera transports had been closely behind the first rank, and as the Exterminators ploughed straight into them, the armoured hulls smashed together with a scream of tortured metal. The third Leman Russ narrowly avoided a collision but found itself bathed in liquid fire, as a nearby Hellhound began flaming wildly in all directions. Chaos erupted throughout the columns of enemy vehicles, their collective crews gripped by sheer, inescapable terror. Tanks travelling at high speed rammed into each other with immense force, exploding in showers of twisted armoured plates and sundered tracks. Weapons began firing constantly, their gunners aiming at anything and everything in their panic, even their own comrades.

The Revenant bikers rode headlong into this maelstrom of death and mangled metal, weaving through the rows of burning vehicles at breakneck speed.
 

It was at that moment Balian realised that this wasn't a battle.
 

It was a massacre.

 

***

The balcony wound it's way around the sides of the great circular chamber, a long continuous corkscrew that led from the dome of the Inner Sanctum to the temple at it's base. Aldous had emerged at a point halfway between the two. If he turned left, he would start to climb upwards into the very peak of the pyramid, the highest level of the city occupied solely by the rulers of the Dominion. If he turned right, he would follow the horde of cultists, descending into the Temple of Mortality itself.
 

As he watched the city's inhabitants streaming into the Temple, it seemed impossible that any more could actually be accommodated. Despite it's immensity, the floor of the great chamber was literally teeming with people, thousand upon thousand of them crammed tightly together, a solid mass of bodies squashed suffocatingly close. And still the cultists poured in, a constant, seemingly infinite procession of the damned.
 

This was the origin of the chanting he had had heard throughout his journey. Every man and woman packed into Inner Sanctum was singing in unison, a bleak, monotonous dirge that reverberated up the curved walls, amplified by the chamber's acoustics to an almost deafening volume. Aldous did not recognise the language being used, but there was something eerie and unsettling about the song. Like a requiem for the dead, it seemed to encapsulate the darkness of the grave, the inescapable grip of mortality. Listening to the morose chant, he was reminded of the Revenants, and the haunting presence of the Shadowcasters.
 

The information provided by the Inner Circle had suggested that he would find his target in the highest levels of the Necropolis, acting as an elite, personal bodyguard for the leaders of the rebellion. However, as the Pathfinder stared into the heaving mob of cultists below, he quickly spotted the unmistakable silhouettes of Space Marines amongst them . Increasing the magnification of his visor, he systematically scanned the crowd, concentrating on each hulking, power armoured warrior in turn.
 

Suddenly he stopped. Heart rates and adrenaline levels spiked dramatically, provoking a query from his suit's life support monitors. He was focussed on one particular warrior, a Space Marine in archaic, Crusade pattern power armour. Jet black plate, partially covered by a long, white surplice.
 

Moving as swiftly as the press of bodies would allow, Aldous took the right hand path and began to descend into the temple.
 

The search was over. He had found his prey.

 

Edited September 1, 2014 by spacedhulk

[deathspectersgt7]

Now the suspense grows ,one of the fallen getting very interesting how will Aldous handle this ARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHH!!!!!! have to wait till next time.

[Heru]

So I stumble upon this topic, read everything over the afternoon from pages 1 to 7, months worth of posts to find the story isn't finished yet.

 

It's like watching a fifteen episodes of a TV show in one go to find that there is still five more to go, but you have to wait for them...

 

Great work so far Spaced Hulk well worth the afternoon, so far.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Heru Talon

[Spaced Hulk]

So I stumble upon this topic, read everything over the afternoon from pages 1 to 7, months worth of posts to find the story isn't finished yet.

 

It's like watching a fifteen episodes of a TV show in one go to find that there is still five more to go, but you have to wait for them...

 

Great work so far Spaced Hulk well worth the afternoon, so far.

 

Thanks mate, glad you liked it

 

Decided to take a break from writing this last week, been concentrating on my entries for Grotsmasha's Librarian Conversion Contest instead (I'm actually working on three different models: two Shadowcasters and a regular Sword Bearers Librarian). I have made a start on the next chapter though. This particular part of the story is nearing it's conclusion, but to use your TV analogy, this is still the first season. Lots more still to come

[deathspectersgt7]

!!,disappointed ,Cool can,t wait to see the new figs brother .

[badguyshaveallthefun]

You sir have a gift when it comes to writing.  I must say I've thoroughly enjoyed the read, I should have gone to bed two hours ago but I had to finish reading the story.  Only to find out the story isn't finished!!

 

You've made me proud to be an Unforgiven.  

 

Keep up the good work, and KEEP THE STORIES COMING!!

[Spaced Hulk]

Thanks for the kind words! Really appreciate the encouragement and positive feedback.

 

Next chapter is still in progress, but I have finished my first Librarian for Grotsmasha's Conversion Challenge, and written his background. Pics (and some short fiction) can be found here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/276255-grotsmashas-conversion-challenge-2-librarians-completions/page-4?do=findComment&comment=3394150

 

EDIT: Second and third Librarians for the challenge (both Shadowcasters) completed as well. Pics are in the link above. 

 

Back to writing again now

Edited June 15, 2013 by spacedhulk

[red_knight23]

Brother, you may have outdone some of the finest "fiction"  writers of the Imperium. *Claps* Excellent job!

[Spaced Hulk]

So.....lost a couple of weeks worth of posts and pics. Fortunately I have copies of pretty much everything, but I think I'll wait before I repost them in case the original data can be restored. In the meantime, here's part of the introduction I'm writing for my first entry to Grotsmasha's Captain Conversion Contest. Still WIP but what do you think so far? 

 

***

 

Amongst the battle brethren of the Chapter he was an anomaly. A captain without a company, a bearer without a sword, a knight without honour. Even the ill favoured Revenants were still deemed brothers by those who despised them, but there were none who would willingly claim kinship with him. Amongst a thousand warriors, he was truly alone.
 

The title and nature of his duties were understood only by the highest ranking members of the Inner Circle, yet his authority was almost absolute. Only the Chapter Master himself could countermand his orders. Even the Lords of the Reclusiam and Librarium gave fealty to him, for he endured responsibilities even graver and more demanding than their own. Yet his true rank was obsolete, an ancient term forgotten by most within the Imperium, and unspoken by those who could remember such things. His kind were a shadow on the pages of history, a dark spectre gratefully consigned to the nightmares of the past.
 

He could command armies to accomplish his aims, or even mobilise the entire Chapter to war if he deemed it necessary. However, it was exceedingly rare for him to exercise his prerogative. In fact he usually worked alone, and indeed, actually preferred it that way. The blood on his hands, the stain on his honour, the taint in his soul: these were his to endure, and endure alone. Such was the price that needed to be paid, he endured this penance so that his brothers would not.
 

Like them, he was a knight, a warrior, a killer. But alone amongst their ranks, he had another role. A task sanctioned at the highest level of his order yet officially denied. Secret, necessary but unforgivable.
 

He was a murderer.
 

Edited August 4, 2013 by spacedhulk

[deathspectersgt7]

Cool thats a introduction.

[deathspectersgt7]

Brother do the Shadowcasters wear a skull helm also?

[Spaced Hulk]

Yes brother, every Revenant wears one.  The Shadowcasters also have a psychic hood and force weapons (basically they're Revenant Librarians).

[deathspectersgt7]

I think my first squad will be a 5man Revenant Sqd  w/jp led by a Shadowcaster.

[Spaced Hulk]

Awesome!   As I said before (in one of the now missing posts ), I really appreciate you wanting to build something based on my ideas, it really is the best compliment anyone could give to someone creating a DIY chapter.  Thank you again brother.

 

Which codex are you going to use to run the Revenants? I've always planned to use the BA codex to represent jump pack Revenant squads, but the new marine dex might change that depending on what rules they get.

 

Looking forward to seeing your creations brother