Aristander Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Haven't written anything in a very long time, and was feeling a bit bored, so... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pain, at least pain like this, was meant to be alien to the Adeptus Astartes. Such concerns were exorcised from them by the ministrations of the Apothecaries, by relentless psycho-conditioning. The Adeptus Astartes, the greatest of the Emperor’s servants, weren't meant to feel pain like ordinary humans. It was alien to them. Perhaps that was the answer, in that the pain was delivered at the hands of a wild xenos, or to put it more accurately, the fists of one. The Ork was enormous, one of the chiefs of their race, standing a half metre above Sergeant Maris, whose transhuman physique, encased as it was in the expertly wrought power armour, could hardly be said to be short in stature. His brain shook at the onslaught, tossed about in the confines of his skull within his helmet, as the Greenskin pummelled him. Knocked off his feet by the crude rocketry of the enemy, he had climbed to regain his fighting posture only for the creature now threatening to extinguish this light of the Emperor had charged, a biological machine perfectly calibrated to bludgeon armoured flesh. Even an Ultramarine couldn't withstand continued punishment of this sort, and regardless of the less than ideal circumstances, a plan was formed, simple in the theoretical, but effective, in the particular way a combat knife, drawn from the waist and plunged into an opponent’s side is effective, in the practical. The Ork roared, the quality and size of the blade, coupled with the transhuman force with which it was driven, overcoming even this notoriously hardly constitution, giving Maris the opportunity he needed to regain the initiative. Rising to his feet, a lesser man, a mortal of the Guard, for example, would struggle to understand how this plate-clad giant could move so. A brief sprint, an arm gripping the monster by the rear of a leg, augmented shoulder driven into what passed for an alien sternum, free hand tugging the blade free from the side of the chest cavity. The two landed in concert, the bulging mass of the Greenskin bearing the brunt of the vengeful Imperial, jostling for position but finding the topknot with which it fastened it's hair gripped tightly but a cold gauntlet, Maris better positioning his foe for the killing blow, the combat knife, already slick with xenos ichor, coming down and forcing through the thick neck, a brief spasm the last of the alien's defiance. Pulling back, flicking the blade to dispense of the excess viscera before setting it back to its scabbard, the sergeant spotted his bolter, kicked away from him by the force of the initial explosion, and chided himself for his carelessness. The trauma he had suffered under the blows of his deceased assailant was forgotten, washed away by his superior makeup and a tide of combat stimms administered by thought from his armour. Symbols and figures, tallies of the dead and notes on the progress of the battle formed on the interior visor of his helmet, bringing good tidings for the efforts of the Ultramarine task force, drawn primarily from the strength of the 5th Company, reinforced by veteran elements of the 1st, and providing opportunities for achievement to novices of the 10th. A verdant farming world on the Eastern Fringe, Calibria could have considered itself what passed for tranquil in the war-torn realities of the Imperial demesne, with none but the oldest of the Emperor's subjects in this world having recalled a time when they faced the serious prospect of annihilation or conquest, though raids and other brigrandry tormented them. Such relative peace was shattered by the approach of Waaagh! Bruskulgh, any idea of the tactical value of such a rich source of food stuffs an afterthought for so fickle a factor as the trajectory of the Space Hulk the Greenskin Warlord had hitched his fate to. Certain of their kind showed an unhinged zealotry for speed, and this was not confined to the bikes, buggies and crude aircraft that harried Imperial troops on the ground, but also the more nimble and fleet of foot (a strange description for such ugly vessels) ships, of which a contingent raced ahead of the Hulk, and whose inhabitants now assailed the folk of Calabria. Lord Calgar had dispatched the task force to reinforce the Imperial bulwark forming to defend the world, and the Ultramarines even now struck against a number of targets across the world, eager to break the back of the vanguard and prevent it from offering any safe harbour to the main body of the onslaught. Inspecting his weapon, Maris was aware his squad was forming up about him, each having dealt with their own individual challenges posed by the mob of Greenskins that rushed their position in the aftermath of the barrage of explosions. “Status?” came his query over the vox, and the replies of his men showed no injuries and sufficient ordinance, with the sergeant keeping a running tally of such details, which in turn would be fed back at regular intervals to command elements. Pleased that his squad remained at battle effectiveness, like him, his men primarily dispatching of their foe by means of carefully forged steel, Maris ignored the mob of dark-skinned Orks strewn about, and noted their objective – the relief of a farmstead garrisoned by a platoon of guardsmen. A final check of his bolter, and a hand patting gently the purity seal hanging from its side, the sergeant relayed a message once more through the vox. “Onward, brothers...” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opinions and constructive criticism always welcome. 27/02 - corrected some awful typos... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathspectersgt7 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 liked it would like to read more . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanguine_Knight Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Yes... Let us hear more about the liberation of Calibria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welcheren Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 You have a nice turn of phrase with varied vocabulary. Nice balance of elegance and brutality. I would take the time to read more as soon as you post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuclear Fridge Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Well-written; I liked how Maris' disorientation is replaced by the tactical side of his mind - figuring out how best to take the ork down with what he has to hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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