Just started writing, a brothers keeper part 5?

[aura_enchanted]

Hi there it's me from the dark Angels sub forum this thread is both to let you know I am working on a piece of fan fiction it is also where I am going to post it. This is a guardians of the covenant fan fiction broken into a series of parts. To wet your appetite for this story that is currently at part7 of its rough draft that I have been going over and tidying up as I go when I feel bored of adding new content. Each part is 2-4 paragraphs in length so I'm at 14-22 paragraphs so far. The first two of which will be up an online in the next week or so.Here is your back of the book teaser:

A brothers keeper-
When a distress beacon dating back to the legion brings the guardians of the covenants to an Agri world it sets into motion a series of events that will change the lives of three special members of the task force. Faith will be tested, strengths will be shattered, and one brother will learn the heavy price of the path for salvation the unforgiven walk...

 

2015-08-03: parts 1 & 2 are now available

2015-08-08: part 1 proof reading

2015-08-14: part 3 posted

2015-08-17: part 3 proof reading, part 4 posted

2015-09-13: p5 posted (you though i forgot about this thing havent you?)

 

parts 1, 2, and 3 are designed to give you an idea where my three characters are coming from and a bit of their personalities. they also help get the ball rolling in explaining where their coming from and where they are going. Ionus is a reserved leader who would much rather be given orders from a superior above him in difficult situations but isnt put off from getting work started or doing things himself anyway, while antillies is a faithful servant who has always held himself down who is finally taking a step up in the world, augustus is a cold methodical machine behind a wall of normality (as far as chaplains can be normal anyway as being a zealot is practically the first thing mentioned in the job description). and from this point forward the story will be told through their three perspectives. it hasnt been the emotionally charged action packed ride because that isnt who the guardians of the covenant are. they are perhaps the most monastic battle brothers under the lions banner and contest that title under most of the other successor chapters from other legions as well. but i promise it gets more colorful from about this point forward with only the occassional breaks.

 

p5: i had a brain fart in the upcoming chapters and mixed some names up dont worry ill be correcting this as soon as i can

[aura_enchanted]

A Brothers Keeper

p1. follower II

 

Deep in the dark of his meditation cell he focused. his mind was a razor and his thoughts the blades. the material world of flesh and blood was chaos but within there was always order. His mind was the tool do dissect the madness and through his actions and words he could pierce the veil and seek out any threat, overcome any obstacle, and topple any fortress. This was the teachings of chaplain Narth his teacher in the ways of the chapter and the god Emperor. His mind focused more on the words his older mentor used to teach him, in his youth he had studied under his old master in the hopes of someday becoming a chaplain and leading his brothers in the hymns and sermons of battle and of piety.  More words from his teacher  flooded into his mind each one striking against his thoughtless mind strengthening it, tempering it, making him a wiser and stronger man with each word and syllable. "Honor thy brothers in life and in death" his teacher would say before each of the many times he had borne witness to him interring the dead to their resting place in the chapters mausoleum. How he missed his old teacher, it had been many seasons since his mentors passing. he himself had spent many long hours in a meditation cell mourning his brothers departure. In many ways he had been just as much a father to him as lion el'johnson his gene-father or the Emperor above who watched over him. Slowly he opened his eyes and his sense and let the madness of reality flood its way back in. The sounds of chapter serfs quietly chanting and humming, the vibration of the ship as they crossed space, the gentle beauty of the stars and cosmos as they passed by through a port side window, the tug of his silver and burgundy robes as they rapped his body in their embrace. Ionus company master of the guardians of the covenant exhaled deeply and slowly rose to his feet his mind was ready for whatever tests were to come, whatever madness the universe would throw at him, the demands of his post. he would handle them.

 

Ionus turned around and stepped out into his personal chamber, ancient tomes and parchments lay on bookshelves. They lined the room stopping only to allow room for a simple bed and the desk at which sat a tome, quill, and ink. In that tome he wrote all the things he had learned in his many years as a member of the guardians of the covenant. He walked past them both and into the hallway beyond; he walked the halls passing serfs, battle brothers, and initiates he found himself finally at the bridge of his warship the strike cruiser bound to oaths. the crew and serfs guiding the mighty vessel to their goal. Staring out into the endless space beyond was as if standing on the edge of a blade piercing deeper and deeper into a beast of impossible size. Ahead of them loomed their target the agri-world of follower II, its large gas giant looming behind it like a protective mother nurturing parts of the world in her endless warmth. The world itself was largely unremarkable; the planet had been raided a few times by xenos over the past hundred years and there had been two uprisings over her thousands of years as a planet under imperial rule. and it was from here a most curious signal was coming...

 

Ionus remembered when the beacon had gone active how much of a shock it had been to see such archaic data code. His company techmarine was practically in awe of its age. Dating back to the days of the legion of that there was no mistake but consulting the limited chapter records aboard his vessel had yielded no prior visits of his chapter or the legion to this one of a scarce handful of agri-worlds under their chapters care. If the lion had graced this world with his presence there must have been a reason for it and clearly he had left something behind. He walked over to the command throne, there his brother both in the chapter and by blood Artemis lay infused permanently to the ancient vessel. He had been the victim of a crippling wound at the hand of a tyranid splinter-fleet many years passed as the companies master and was now confined to his throne passing his duties unto Ionus. "ah greetings to you company master" Artemis said his optics and head augments adjusting as he turned to acknowledge his brother. "Artemis there is no reason to be so formal, I am and have always been our brother." Ionus replied. It was rare for two brothers to join the same chapter at the same time and both reach full brother status. Rising even further was nigh short of a titanic achievement but such blessings were irrelevant to Ionus while his brother had worn such designations with pride. "How goes things on the ground?" Ionus inquired.  many hours prior initiates of the chapter had been dispatched to locate the source of the beacon. Even now they were crawling the planets surface traversing mountains and valleys searching for the source. " Well Ionus searching has been thorough and so far nothing, but with time i feel we will find it. Shall i raise veteran sergeant Antillies if you like and ask him about his progress?" Artmeis replied. 

 

p2 grave intentions

 

Antillies stalked through the woods, six initiaties at his back, bolters, pistols, swords, and initiate Vercants heavy bolter in tow. the woods were fillied with mystery and subtle beauty but largely their had been nothing more than local wildlife for hours now. he passed another large rock and checked behind him. his initiates were growing bored from the constant empty riverbeds, valleys, and hills they had traversed. initiate merthik had a clear sneer on his face.; always one to be easy to annoyance he would lose his cool constantly and today was slowly becoming no different. the youngest initiate berthis brought up the rear constantly checking is angles and terrain features.  he had taken well to the life of the scout and while he was the youngest of the squad he had shown much promise and antillies was certain he would one day live to be a fine brother.

 

suddenly over a hill up ahead in the woods he could hear the faint shouting of voices and the firing of ship engines. he ordered his scouts into a run and as they crossed the next few hills he heard the distinct sounds of an old thunderhawk transport taking off and disappearing into the distance. he cursed at his old legs being too slow to see where it went. he crossed over the final hill of a series that he ended up crossing he drew his bolter and cracked the hammer sending a fresh magazine to chamber its shells. he raised his gun over the rise and found what he and his scouts had been sent to find. and what he saw made him sneer just as hard as the initiate had earlier. below him two dozen humans were loading up a second space transport. a much smaller a buggy craft it loosely resembled a mismatch of imperial and xenos technology blended togeather out of a need by its crew. they were loading in crates and sacks all of which were being dragged up from a crypt with the dark angels logo and words of their gene father etched into solid rock above it. antillies bit back the urge to charge down and blast the enemy and instead knelt down using the rise in the ground for cover. he ordered his brothers to fan out with brother vercant taking up a position to cover the entrance ramp to the odd cargo transport. the pilot of the ship must have seen them,  the engines fired and the ground crew yelled and barked for a reason of this behavior but by the time they realised why the pilot had dusted off the ground it was far too late for any of them. a fool tried to grab a landing strut but was crushed between it and the ship when they had retracted

The scouts opened up antillies bolter rang out first his first shell entering the torso of an ugly looking woman blowing her back apart the looters saw her die and ran for cover unholstering pistols and unshouldering autoguns. vercant let forth a flurry of shells felling two more looters blasting them a part with a single hellfire explosive shell and then two more by causing a box of ammunition to explode. other scouts had joined the violence merthik had been charged by a man brandishing a sword. his deft skill with his own combat blade had been enough to put him down already he was picking out another target and another. the fighting had been ad-hoc but the foe hadn't been expecting such a rapid maneuver. the silver hunters themselves would of been proud of such a quick transition from motion to combat and before long the enemy had been thuroughly executed. the last man threw his gun down and attempted to run away only to run into another scout team and be apprehended and beaten into submission.

 

Antillies and the scouts fanned out and searched the clearing, dozens of  boxes were stacked in neat rows the foe had been wearing little more than clothes and the odd worn out suit of light flakk. their weapons were beat up and largely in a horrible state of disrepair. blades were rusted and chipped, guns were muddy and magazines had ben crudely repaired time and again the ground had been disturbed in a number of places. many ships had been here at one time, at least three. antillies himself opened one of the boxes and shouted a curse to the heretics; inside the box resting in a bed of cloth and shavings was a bolter, early imperial deisgn, the logo of the dark angels starring up at him...

 

Ionus's thunderhawk touched down and its ramp opened he descended with a brisk haste not waiting for the safety claxons to end. interrogator chaplain augustus marial hot on his heels. the scouts were around the edge of the clearing with veteran sargeant antillies and sargeant namiel and a prisoner still alive but beaten standing by the entrance. ionus headed immediately for the crypt and descended into its depths passing right by his sargeants as they tried to speak with him. the things inside that crypt made even his seasoned veteran skin crawl safely within his power armor. dozens of coffins had been opened, bodies lay strewn across the floor, banners had been torn down and candle stands had been knocked over or were missing entirely. the looters had been thorough taking anything of value and many of the trivialities as well. the chaplain was the most preturbed by the sight with scarce more than the sight of tipped over coffins and broken statuettes. " this is blasphemy, these are our honored dead! their heads will ring with their own lamentations for this act of barbarism!" Ionus was in total agreement at the sight " tombs robbed, resting places desicrated, relics stolen, have these charlottens no shame?" ionus wandered around the room and stopped to kneel next to a deceased brother. the preservatives used to keep bodies intact had worked remarkably well. he looked as well as he probably had been when he had died his chiseled jaw and his gray hair were divided by a forehead lined with service studs and his neck had been carefully sown back togeather by an apothecaries touch. ionus picked up the body and put it up on a resting pedestal. the covering shroud that normally rested on him had been unravelled and lay in a heap back by where he had found the body; he picked it up and clutched it with much anger. "these cowards will pay for their crimes against the legion. these men must be returned to their peace and honor". "and company master im certain that we can get this man to talk and tell us where they have ran off too" sargeant antillies remarked dragging the miserable whelp of a looter down the stairs brandishing his bolt pistol down the stairs and into the crypt. "chaplain.. i want confessions, use any means you deem necissary" ionus said. chaplain augustus breaker of the sought after malthier and three time apprehender of fallen angels stared at his company master and gave a slight nod of agreement. 

 

p3. Augustus marial

 

Interrogator chaplain Augustus Marial had been graced with no less than five fallen in his lifetime to interrogate; to date only one had ever confessed after his attempts at breaking their resolve and guilt. He had interrogated priests and governors and leaders of chaos cults he knew the scent of guilt all over the weak minded man inside his hall of confession aboard their strike cruiser as it was no stranger to him. He had done his best to guide the spirits of their long fallen heroes rest in that tomb and though his mind was weary from the sermons, hymns, and blessings he had been administering all day he was by no means winded and his mind was ready for the treachery and lies of the man chained on the wall in front of him...

 

Augustus quietly strode towards the 30 year old man he lowered inside his hooded chaplains robes ignoring the noise behind him of brother chaplain Isidor an interrogator in training; he would be recording the interrogation for chapter records as well as taking this as a learning experience, he had yet to ever interrogate a fallen. Augustus extended a hand and lifted the mans head up; he had received a rough beating likely from the Silver Knights guarding the secluded halls of this part of the strike cruiser. They were known for not taking kindly to those who would upset the gene-fathers legacy or bother the rich history of the legion that was usually etched into every inch of their venerated tactical dreadnought armor. "Look at me filth" he said to his captive the human who barely wrestled together a form of consciousness and raised his head further opening his eyes as best he could. " That's right filth mutt, listen carefully now; you are going to tell me everything i want to know about you, and your companions and what your doing here, and where you were going to go... or things are going to get very very bad for you" The human managed a cocky smirk "the master warned us of you". "Your efforts are in vain oh betrayers of the the anointed one, your efforts are in vain! I am pure, i am clean, i am a servant of he he who is all powerful! your days are numb-" The looter was cut off as Augustus slammed his fist into his lower midsection punching an ugly welt in his chest. The cultist coughed and hacked in response from the blow; "that vermin, was me hitting you so hard your liver bruised", he withdrew his hand back into the long sleeves of his robe, now tell me your name or i will do more, and at all times be aware the more you confess the less things will hurt".

 

The captive man identified himself and Victor; such a grand name. In the chapters history many great battle brothers had lived, served, and died with that first name. But to be borne by such a pile of filth as this almost made august sad at such a waste of a perfectly good first name. "And tell me what were you up too?"; the prisoner held himself quiet he looked elsewhere with his eyes attempting to dodge the blank stare of the seasoned chaplain. "Don't insult me boy, i find that disrespectful", Augustus reached up to the man left hand and grabbed his index finger, with a tug and a twist he dislocated it; the pop of the action was enough to get the man to yell in pain. "Now, again what were you doing here?" the human held back his voice still, Augustus was almost surprised by such resilience but by moving his hand to another finger the man spoke and gave voice to more confessions. "Our master the ascended guardian sent us to take back property stolen from him". Augustus felt that phrase as it entered his head Ascended Guardian like a stone in his throat; this was clearly the work of some heretic. "And tell me where is your master now?" the coward cleared his throat and then spat into Augustus's face. this man clearly was in need of something more serious, Augustus wiped the mans fluids from his face and reached over to a small wheeled table covered in a symbol of the Reclusiam. He removed it exposing a plethora of strange looking tools; blades, spikes, masks, it was a grizzly menagerie of items. a collection of tools that chaplain Marial has gathered over his 95 years as an interrogator chaplain. His fingers wandered through the table finally settling on a strange metal block attached to a small and simple metal chain. He grabbed the mans mouth and wrenched it open; the human fought back but the chaplains superhuman strength wouldn't be denied. taking the metal box he placed it between the mans far right molars and then slammed the mans mouth shut on the box a faint clicking noise happened signalling to him that it was now locked in place. "Where is your master now?" Augustus again asked the prisoner had a worried look on his crude face unsure of what to make of the strange device in his mouth with the chain dangling down his chin. "The sacred citadel" he said vainly hoping to avoid finding out what the peculiar devices intent was. Augustus was getting annoyed by the mans half answers and disrespectful gestures, "and where is that?" he asked; the prisoner didnt respond. He grabbed the chain with one hand and gripped it tightly. "Where is that?" he again asked, victor was stern in his refusal to respond; Augustus pulled the chain. in a moment of time brother Isidor had written only one additional word in the record book, in a moment Augustus had pulled the chain, in a moment far away deep within another part of the ship Ionus was impatiently waiting for the confessions from the prisoner. And in that exact same moment the machine in the prisoners mouth extended its internal claws burying themselves in the mans gums, they gripped hard to the ugly rotting teeth of his jawline and ripped them free. the scream from the man was hellish, the sensations of pain were like a thing from nightmare. he spat out the device and continued to scream. The mans face grew beat red and blood sprayed from his mouth. Augustus grabbed the mans face and held his mouth shut, "and so we continue from where we left off victor, where is that?"

 

Thirty minutes later Augustus was in Ionus's personal chambers. The seasoned company master was siting on his desk chair, the report from the chaplains interrogation in hand. and a grim look on his face. "The place the looter speaks of is some kind of space installation" voiced the chaplain. "These looters identify themselves as the purekin, above them further are "the enlightened" they appear to be much closer to their leader and distinguished in some way, whom i suspect may or may not be former Sargent Velic. part of the garrison back on caliban before the fall." " chapter records list him having been tracked before and hunted unsuccessfully by the Consecrators who encountered the same label for him on a mining world." Ionus had an intense look on his face; fallen were serious foes, he had confronted the foe before but in those times he was usually working in conjunction with the Silver Hunters or the Knights. Never before had he faced them without their expert guidance; there were some of their number under his command aboard the ship however. Their talents were going to be needed in the fights to come, "thank you chaplain, pass on instruction to my dear brother at the helm and have him set course for the location the prisoner spoke of. we shall see what awaits us out at this place". i

Ionus rubbed one of his temples as the chaplain walked out of the room, he would need to mediate again today. he would need all the wisdom he could muster for the fights ahead.

 

p4. forging brothers

 

Ionus sat in a chair at the front of the chapel within the bound to oaths in front of him was the sum total of the inner circle presence within his detachment of the guardians of the covenant. silver knights their metallic colored robes with words of scripture hung from their waists on parchment, veteran squad virtuous warfare was also present. honored brothers of the chapter in their robes of burgundy the chapter crest emblazoned on their chests they were seasoned warriors who had fought the hunted personnally before. it was fortunate for him he supposed that almost every member of the circle under his command save for his pilots from the silver hunters was of the same level of understanding about the nature of the fallen and that having to keep secrets within even his own inner circle would have been an unwelcome added challege. the coming battles would be hard and already he had asked for assistance in capturing this fallen from chapter command. though well equipped his force was realtively small for marine forces having naught more than eight months prior had they put down a tau led human uprising on the mining wolrd of grazian secundus or as the tau had renamed it vily'ras un meaning silent stones in the language of the aliens. "brothers" he said with a firm voice; he tried his best to speak plainly to them on the matters at hand but formality was a system that ran through his blood like laramans cells, the desire to have structure and order to each comment or discussion was a part of him. " we are currently hurtling ourselves at all speed to the location of our enemies. we have reason to believe that their leader may or may at one time was a fallen dark angel, they have upset our honored dead and have made off with the relics of the chapter" the words were heavy in the room. brothers psycho-indoctrinations kicked in, teeth grinded, eyes moved to intensity, the words were like hot ashes in even ionus's mouth he felt as though the words themselves were like fire crisping and scratching the roof of his mouth. "his apprehension is paramount above other things. he has already struck the first blow against us by looting our dead and for those crimes he must answer in addition to his other crimes against the lion". he adjusted himself in the seat and then continued " we must be like the axe cleaving through his defences until he is exposed and then we must bring him to justice. we must be swift, we must be merciless, our vengeance must be ferocious, no relent brothers". "no relent" replied his battle brothers the moto of their gene father was always a powerful phrase to cast into his orders and the inner circle members would do their task. "rememebr brothers by our actions our chapter can be one step closer to redemption, one step closer to the return of el'johnson, and one step closer to purging humanity of its heresies and traitors". "never forgive, never forget" replied his inner circle members. It felt good to be fighting along side the inner circle again. it had been many seasons since he had fought amongst members of the 1st company of his chapter or the inner circle allies of another chapter amongst the unforgiven.

 

the inner circle members left the room except for those of the virtuous warfare, as the 1st company veterans left chaplain marial entered from a side cloister clad in his power armour and he bore with him a simple wooden box helt tight with a seal. he placed it on the tabernacle at the front of the chapel and turned around to face the gathering. ionus drew his power sword and then took a chair from along the wall and sat down next to the holy table the chaplain used for his rituals and ceremonies, and then in walked their guest veteran sargeant antillies. it had been many years, nigh at least 8 decades since antillies had begun his service to the chapter and today would be the day he would leave the 10th company. it was no secret that he was a skilled warrior and that he had more than earned his position as a battle brother but recent actions in the liberation of grazan secundus specifically his defeat of an alien heavy artillery battery formation by himself had warranted another approach with the offer of elevation and this time he had accepted the honors. antillies walked forth with a confident look on his face, his robes were decorated with laurels and marks of honor. a single line of silver text lined the trim around the bottom of his legs this was the names of brothers that been elevated to the status of battle brother from initiate under his care. as he got closer ionus saw the signs of confusion and uncertainty in his eyes. he had witnessed the promotion to battle borther many times but that was not only such a ceremony. it was his baptism; to the lowest levels of the inner circle...

 

antillies finally came to stop in front of the chaplain, the 9 brothers of the virtuous warfare rose and formed a circle around the scout sargeant. ionus adjusted himself in the seat and then opened up a chair grip exposing a pannel of buttons. hitting the first of these the rooms lights dimmed and the doors at the back of the chapel locked. a few moments later chaplain marial finally spoke. "sargeant samuel antillies, your record is flawless, your skills unquestionable, and your duty to the chapter exemplar. by yor hand you have trained many brothers from human, the initiate and into their first steps as battle brothers, you have been an exemplar battle brother whos record of service is beyond what is asked by our chapter to serve in a higher company. many times you have turned down such accolades and now the time has come for you to joins our ranks brother. but this is not just the day you earn your right to wear blessed power armour.." namiel paused and then continued today you shall take your first steps in understanding the history of our chapter better. around you are the virtuous warfare, a finer assembly of brothers one could not ask for and they have seen fit to request you join their ranks. but one test is in order for this to happen. do you accept such honours sargeant?". Antillies clearly looked taken aback by such an honor. to rise to the rank of veteran company brother was a rare occurence, he had never seen the ceremony or the earning of the robes of valor. he bowed his head and replied to the chaplain "i do chaplain". Ionus hit two more button on the console. the incensce burners embedded in the wall belched red smoke, they filled the room this was a special incensce used to prepare a potential member of the circle, the rooms lights darkened further to enar black. the scouts nostrils filled with smoke, his mind fogged with their intoxicating chemical and herbal blends and he collapsed and hit the floor.

 

Antillies awoke, the chapel was gone. he was lying amongst rubble, all around him he could hear the bark of bolters and the roar of chainswords. he rose to his feet, he was wearing his scout combat chitin, a chainsword and pistol hung at his belt, he was in the ruins of a keep its ancient stone walls shook with the violent tempo of the violence within and beyond, kicking dust off high gargoyles and lose stone tumbling to the floor. the echoes of swords and gunfire filled its halls and ahead a door was open. he walk towards it and passed through its arches. and below him he observed a battle raging a battle he could never have imagined he would witness. space marines clad in black and red were locked in a bloody melee, chainswords roared and power weapons crackled. it was brutal and deadly but gradually one side was winning, above in the skies fighters and gunships lit up the sky with their gunfire and missles and lasers broken fragments of armor fell as comets, hissing and burning amongst the melee crushing marines and breaking up fights. behind him he could hear another fight. samuel spun around and witnessed a sight like out of dreadnaughts fine artwork or a relief in the reclusiam back home. it was the lion himself, his massive bulk in his primarch battle plate moved with all the skill he had been known for. he was locked in a bloody melee with a man he did not recognise or know from the chapters records. on his shouder he bore the marks of the chapter and that of the legion. their power swords cackled as they impacted lion sword met relic warblade as the two exchanged blows. the opponent gained the upper hand and knocked the lion to the floor his sword was sent skidding across the floor toward antillies. johnson tried to scramble to his feet but he was too slow, the foe was upon him his sword raised to strike down the primarch. antillies was enraged at this sight. he roared with anger and charged, the man turned to face him. antilies drew his chainsword and struck; sword met chain teeth as they locked blades. he broke the lock and brought his chainsword across to the side, the foe countered with incredible speed before with one free hand punching him across the face. he twisted his body on his heel and drew their swords out to his left and then brought it back rapidly. the foes grip on his weapon held firm anger and hatred fillied the eyes of this traitorous brother, his grey hair flowed freely from his head and his mouth was in a solid growl. "traitorous dog" snarled the traitor marine; "you side with this son of damnation then you yourself shall share his fate!", the man pressed his blade forward and then buried a knee into the scouts thighs the blow was very strong knocking antillies off balance he unlocked their blades and then drove it forward with unhuman speed. samuel tried to parry but he was too slow the blade broke his plate, it penetrated his body and he felt it stab one of his hearts. the pain was intense his whole body vibrated with the breaking of his vital organ like he had been lain on a bed of cold steel. however, antillies wasnt concerned for his life, behind the traitor the lion stood tall lion sword in hand, the traitor wound have no chance. as life faded and his eyes closed his mind was at ease. he wouldnt survive the next motion of the lion and thats what mattered, and then it all went black.

 

Antillies stumbled back to conciousness, he was lying on the floor of the chapel, the burning scent of the red smoke had been replaced by the sweet scent of burning lavender, the circle of brothers were standing around him. his mind was groggy and his stomach contents churned within him. he felt the urge to vomit and threw up on the artifical stone floor. wiping his mouth he asked "what was that, was it.. real?, the lion.. i-" he was cut off by namiel " a test brother of your duty to the lion, and now there is another, rise brother" the sargeant rose to his feet "the visions you had were an illusion nothing more, nothing less" said the chaplain; "then who was the man the lion fought?". the chaplain removed his skull helmet exposing his grizzled and scarred face as well as his white hair "his name... is unimportant, he is the man who led some of our number into blasphemy many ages before during the age of the heresy, it is this man who destroyed our home of caliban, and it is he who struck you down in the haze", the scout sargeant was in shock, his hands were shaking, his mind was racing with thoughts, a tear fell from his old eyes as he held back crying refusing to for a moment believe such a reality "no, the dark angels never betrayed, we never would have.. the inquisition would...the emperor.. oh throne." the scout sank to his knees crying in saddness " all true brother, these men who betrayed the lion ran from caliban, they fled and are scattered to the four wind after their war was lost, we refer to them as the fallen angels" chaplain augustus replied. the scouts hands clenched he raised his head up to the chaplain who continued "we all experience what you have, whenever a fallen arises we must seek him out and bring him to answer before the chapter, before the lions justice" as the chaplain spoke ionus rose to his feet and walked over to the circle penetrating it and extended an arm to the scout to pick himself up and then spoke keeping his relic sword in his other hand "now brother what will you do with this knowledge, will you join us in hunting down those that have wronged the lion, those that have turned away, those that have stained our history with the black mark of wickedness, or will you shirk away from such revelations?" the scout sargeant thought about this for a moment, he placed his hand in the gauntlet of the company master. "well brother, do you swear to be loyal to the lion and to the chapter unto death? will you serve our chapter master unto death in this charge?" the scout bowed his head "i... i do company master, i will serve the chapter in this unto death" a clear look of uncertainty following on samuels face; not entirely certain of what he had just agreed too, Ionus continued "and do you swear to never let the truths of this meeting pass your lips?", "i... i do" replied samuel. "then rise veteran brother antillies, rise and be counted amongst the veterans of our chapter" replied ionus. Antillies stood, the chaplain was carrying the wooden box, he broke the seal with a simple knife and opened it, inside rested the robes of a veteran marine. samuel reach into the box and put his hand on the cloth running his hand on the symbol of the guardians of the covenant on its face the only thoughts in samuels head, what in the thress blades of the rock have i gotten into?

 

the next few days aboard the trike cruiser had been filled with prayers, training and drills with his new squad brothers. veteran sargeant Antioch was brutally tough; he accepted no less than exemplar results in combat training and physical tests. he had been issued a set of power armour like all marines upon his elevation from the position of a novice but had never worn it beyond the required training that had to be done post his elevation from novice to sargeant, though he had once or twice tried it on. his sargeant had ordered him to wear it constatly in order to familiarize himself with its operations and to make him comfortable wearing his honored battle plate. he also had taken a conditional oath of silence allowing him to not utter a word unless in battle. in these days he had also spent time learning more about the ways of the veterans their traditions and their mechanisms in combat and though new to his mind he wore them with pride. the truths revealed to him in the ceremony of ascendancy were still fresh in his mind. attempting to speak in private with the chaplain about the things revealed to him had earned him nothing more than the sacrce yes, no, or the more common dead silence. he continued to visit the training halls and living quarters of the initiates from time to time. they would always badger him with questions about power armor and the other veterans and their mysterious behaviors, and about the new brothers he would be working with but he could only shake his head and do no better. it was too incredible, how could he even begin to explain to them the truths within the the gathering, or about the wicked fever dream with lion el'johnson, or the oaths he sworn afterwords on one knee before the company master. it made im angry that he was privy to such knowledge but unable to share it, about what other mysteries he might have also been kept from. secretly he wished he had never learned the things he had, and wished he had stayed amongst his scouts and amonst his ignorance.

 

Antillies sat on his bed his power armor hummed as his only companion, its temperature regulations offering a warm consolation to the awkwardness of his predicament. a lesser man would have run to the inquistion, or to terra itself with news of such things, but he felt complacent within their own guilt. the dark angels, the sons of caliban, bronze lions, storm swords, angels of revelation so many battle broters were involved in this. this truth was bigger than him, than anyone. to speak would be his end, the end of the dark angels and successors, the end of humanity. he lost much sleep thinking on such things, he stared at the simple cupbaord next to his bed, on top of it was items he had collected over his years of service, an old copy of the hymns the reclusiarch used to sing in the chapels long since replaced with a new edition, the bullet he had fired from his sniper rifle that had felled an ork nob about to slay the dreadnaught elder brother mavius, a fragment of armor from a guardsmen he had sat for 9 hours in a trench section with during the siege of malachar, and a fragment of stone from their fortress monastery back on mortikah IIV. there was also a ring, it had been his blood fathers and a gift he had retained since his days as a child. he reach over and picked up the ring in his gauntleted fist and stared at its simple glimmer, his father had worn it his whole life before he passed on shortly before he was taken as an initiate, he remembered how he used to clean it every day with a rag, but now the simple golden hoop had grown dull, the shine had been replaced by the grit of dirt from a hundred battlefields he had nearly lost it, and the stains of his blood and those of others. it made him remember how he used to hate his decision to become a son of the lion, he felt as horrible as he did nowhe placed the ring back on top of the simple metal box and stood up, he turned to leave to go find his brother and then the door opened. ad his whole squad walked in. he gave them a blank stare and backed up to accomodae their entire ten bodies some sat down on their cots, others stood, sargeant antoich was with them. he approached samuel and then spoke in his raspy aged voice " brother we must make you aware of another truth, we are travelling to battle, we are travelling to fight those that stole our relics, their may be a fallen amongst them. i need to be able to trust you on the field, will you follow your oaths?" antillies stared the man in his one human eye, he had lost the other many years ago and had opted to not have a bionic optic and responded with as much confidence as he could muster "yes sargeant i wll honor my oaths, i will follow your every order and action". there was that word again fallen. it was like a stone in his stomach it bothered him to hear it again. he still didnt understand why everyone in his squad hated the fallen so much, they were traitors and of that there was no question about their priority but they despized them, it made them yell in anger, one brother had even punched him when he had asked him about it before taking his oath of silence.  it was clear the foe made them very very angry indeed.

 

p5. the immitation game

 

There it hung in space, the chunk of rock the prisoner had spoken of to namiel, the asteroid was colossal in size, and it was cratered, it was like the face of a wrinkled old man, and the single facility on its surface was like an unsightly cyst. the asteroid grew in size as did th facility, it was a fort of some kind, it grew even larger and ionus immedeately recognized it or at least what it was ment to immitate, it was the fortress of luther, like the fortress of the rock itself it had a large central keep and thick outer walls, the monastery walls were covered in metal plating and towers boasted what were probably gun emplacements, anti warship defenses effectively didnt exist however a hanger bay loomed around the asteroid's edge as it rotated on an axis barely making this entrance visible from their angle of approach. the asteroid was part of a debris field, chunks of ships, and other chunks of space rock floated freely around  the bound to oaths he pike nosed front shunting much of the debris to one side or crushing it on impact. "scans?" asked ionus. his bloodkin artemis's response was concise "the rock is rich with dense metals and it resonates radiation and heat scans are impossible beyond topography; i do however note small ground emplacements". "emplacements?" ionus inquired to his brother "gun emplacements, bunkers, trivial at best for us the space dock to the side is large enough to house thunderhawks at best".

 

Ionus turn around, and looked at a holomap on a wall next this his blood brother and examined what he was looking at. already his mind was racing with ideas of approaching the fortress and penetrating its walls. in its history the rocks basic fortress design had been replicated several times to build monasteries and outposts by the unforgiven, they offered impressive angles of fire for defenders and left nothing but the most hellish of approaches for the enemy, to date only 11 times had a fortress of such designs ever been taken by an enemy but not without sustaining incredible casualties and great difficulty. it also was such a puzzle for ionus, the enemy ransacks legion crypts, and they ran away in a thunderhawk, and now they have their own copy of the rock floating in space. the ship got closer still to the asteroid and suddenly it came to an unexpected stop. ionus turned around, "artmeis why have you stopped?". artmeis brought up a video pict from the rear of the ship and another asteroid behind them. then the asteroid started to move and what ionus saw made his hairs stand on edge, two ships on the edge of the field of trash were approaching their strike cruiser. warning alarms sounded off a signal that the enmy had raised shields and was charging weapons. "that is a scorpion pattern corvette brother" artemis said, already he was urging the vessel to rotate itself around to face its foes, the shields went up at artemis's command. "order the fighter escort to deploy immedeately get our two squadrons in the air, charge weapons, all hands brace for incoming fire and-". he was cut off by the shudder of the bound to oaths as the first shot struck her shields, a heavy laser battery had slammed into the barrier with great force and it was enough to shudder the ship. xiphon fighters deployed, relics of a bygone age they banked off and then raced dead ahead towards the enemy vessels. the enemy was a large cargo hauler is blocky frame had been modified by plates of metal bolted on its hull and had small laser batteries added to its superstructure, she lumbered along slowly lagging behind her bigger brother a long abandoned corvette model, her anciet nose was flat and thick, she bristled with lasers and missle batteries a small fighter bay had been added to her port side from which a wing of a dozen fighters had left her cavity to meet the approaching silver hunters. they were largely just as old as the ship they spilled out of, ancient mismatched models barely flyable one plane taking off and exploded barely having left its nest.

 

The barrage of fire continued the bound to oaths machine spirit was growing angered by the violence still too large and slow to turn around to fight back forcing her to weather the assault of the enemy corvette, artemis struggling to keep the machine spirits rage in check. the fighters finally met eachother. like a storm of swords the xiphons fell on the enemy, breaking off into two teams the seasoned pilots roled and bobbed between lasers and manually fired missles. their lascannons opened up blasting two fighters into exploding wrecks, one fighter lost a wing and went spinning off into the void of space. the enemy turned around to try and hold the xiphons in place but the covenant fighters were seasoned veterans of dozens of years of battle and they rolled and banked hard to avoid the snare. as the violent catfight took place between the three lumbering giants the bound to oaths finally came around the machine spirit was like an inferno, its gun batteries barked with ferocious anger the cargo hauler was the first vessel struck by the machine spirits anger. the cargo haulers shields were only very basic unable to withstand the firepower of a dedicated warship. the barrier of energy broke and the lasers cut deep gashes on the vessels front and sides, the command bridge was cut into pieces.  Artemis struggled to keep the bound to oaths machine spirit in check. he managed to wrestle free control from the omnissiahs creation, his muscles and mind strained as he ordered the vessel into an arcing movement towards the vessels. words of the hymn of control left his lips as did his best to keep the machines internal system in check. the ship lumbered forth grudgingly, the missle batteries finally came to range and artemis discharged some of their lethal payload. torpedoes ripped forth and slammed into the cargo vessel blasting away chunks of plating, a single torpedo bit deep into the hull of the vessel and detonated inside,  blasting away a huge pocket into the ship, bodies were lifted up into the void as the vessel leaked atmosphere, the ship began to list away trying to escape further punishment. the corvette continued to advance though, the vessel was moving to match the motions of the bound to oaths.

 

as the titanic warships exchanged blasts of lightning and shot at one another the xiphons had done their lethal work, the enemys fighters were shredded to debris, est eterna squadron had lost one of its vessels to battle damage, his wings had been shredded by an auto-laser his missle pods had been damaged and the explosion blasted the fighter apart, a second fighers pilot had one of his engine thrusters damaged by flying through debris and he was forced to begin gliding back home. the four remaining fighters fell on the escort corvette hugging its  bulk to avoid it shooting them effectively; they peppered it with lascannons and what missles they had left, their attacks were largely ineffective but they served as a distraction and unwanted harassment, heavy ship plates were scratched and pocket-marked, one pilot struck a rotating cannon battery before screaming away the shot struck the ammo stores cooking them off, the battery was engulfed in flames before the void starved it of oxygen. the enemy responded with short ranged rotary cannons one xiphon was blasted apart flying a bad trajectory as it was pulling away from the ship forcing the three remaining fighters to fly away and for the moment they relented.

 

 

[aura_enchanted]

update bump, some proof reading and part 4 added

[aura_enchanted]

update bump