Prologue
748.12.23M35. 2040 Standard Terran Date.*
Lumir dozed at his post. It had been a long day, and his breath came with an effort through the smog of the forgeworld Terriq IV, even with the mask filtering the air. He leaned his swivel chair back and yawned, kicking his feet up on the control panel before him and closed his eyes. An insistant beeping woke him some minutes later, and he yawned and moved toward the panel that was emitting the noise. He flicked off the alarm, and looked at the sensors. A ship had just come out of warp aways out from the forgeworld, and was headed for it.
Finally, The damn transport's a week overdue.
He activated the mike and hailed the ship.
"Terriq IV Dock control to supply ship, enter outer orbit and send ecognition codes, over."
Lumir waited, but there was no response, and the ship did not alter course to enter orbit.
What the hell?
"Computer, get the transport on optical sensors, on screen."
The screen flickered, then showed the transport. Lumir looked at it closely. The bulky transport appeared normal at first, but as the ship grew larger in the screen, Lumir could see the ship was nearly shorn in half, the rear half dangling behind, at a twisted angle. The hull was pockmarked with holes, and the bridge was torn off completely.
The sensors screen beeped again, and he turned to it.
Bloody Feth!
A dozen more ships were appearing out of the warp, and another dozen. In the seconds that Lumir spent looking at the screen in shock, fully a hundred ships had appeared. He shook his head in disbelief, then picked up the mike and hailed the Imperial frigates in orbit.
"Terriq IV Dock Control to Swift Respite and Emperors Light. Incoming ships from out-system, assumed hostiles, I repeat, assumed hostiles. Too many to engage, send distress beacon on all channels, then fall back to nearest Imperial-controlled planet."
"Swift Respite to Terriq IV, How many did you say there were?"
"Emperors Light to Terriq IV, hostiles confirmed, Chaos frigates inbound, tracking 4 destroyers, 2 heavy cruisers... Sacred feth! A battle barge?!"
"Terriq IV to frigates, Get the hell out of here! Theres nothing you can do! We'll tie them up here as long as we can, now go!"
"Swift Respite, taking heavy fire, engines down, main power down, breaches on..."
"Emperors Light charging warp engines, ready in 30 seconds."
Lumir watched the sensors helplessly as the massive Chaos fleet swarmed around the pair of frigates. Swift Respite faded from tactical, as it disintegrated under the combined fire of dozens of ships.
"Emperors Light, warp engines charged, initiating jump."
The Emperors Light disappeared, and the Chaos fleet stopped firing, and slowly rotated into a high orbit. Several massive carriers moved into a lower orbit, and dropped hundreds of landing caft to the surface, and the scattered anti-aircraft guns fired from various parts of the massive factory-world in a futile attempt to stop the inevitable tide of chaos that was upon them. Lumir could only hope that the Emperors Light would make it to Imperial space and bring help soon enough to exterminate the foul chaos presence before they moved on to the next World, for he knew it was already too late for himself and the rest of the men on Terriq IV.
Chapter 1
748.12.26M35. 0926 Standard Terran Date
Vance Drakken fired the last round from his boltgun, then ducked back down behind the twisted metal barricades that he had called home for the last week or so. A lasgun from somewhere a few dozen meters away fired, and a shabby bit of metal boiled a few inches from Vances helmet. He yanked the now empty clip from his rifle and slammed another one home, and scanned the crumbled buildings for the source of fire, the bolter raised. He waved for his brother Marines to stay back and cover him, then darted out of the cover towards the nearest building. Almost instantly, another lasbolt screamed past him, and he ducked again, firing a couple bolts in the general direction of the incoming fire. The firing stopped, and he ran to the building and jumped through a hole that had been blasted in the wall. He raised his bolter again and cleared the room, nothing. He crept to the wall and peered out a window, and saw the heretic. Its was a human, crouching in a second-story room in a building adjacent to the one Vance was in. He raised his bolter, zoomed in on the heretics head, and fired a single bolt. The mans head exploded in a shower of gore, and his lasgun clattered to the streets below.
One down, a world to go...
Vance stood, and chinned his mike control.
"Area cleared. Lets move on."
Vance turned back towards the shamble of metal fragments that his Borther Marines had been sheltering as another half dozen of them, wearing the blue and bloodred power armor of the Crimson Fists. One of them held a banner pole with the chapter banner on it; alothugh Vance normally would have it on his power pack, in the dense, cluttered cityspace they now fought in, it would slow him down immensely.
One of the Marines, a soldier by the name of Drake Vendric, put one hand to his helmet, and held up a finger for quiet. Vance waited, and silently pulled the clip from his bolter, feeding more shells into it to replace the ones he'd used.
"Brother Sergeant Vance, we've been recalled, " Drake said.
"What? By whom?"
"It was the master, he said we were to pack it up and head to the extraction point 3 miles back thataway. Thunderhawk's going to pick us up.." Drake jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
"He give any explanation?"
"Said we were going offworld, but past that, no."
"We better get moving then. Brothers! Gather your equipment, we leave in five."
Odd, why would they send a Thunderhawk to pick up only a squad?
1040 hours
Vance held onto the bar over his head and gazed out the window as the Thunderhawk flew up out of the atmosphere, and towards the orbiting destroyer, Swift Retribution. He peered out at the destroyer; there was another ship docked to it, a frigate, badly damaged. He could barely make out the ships name on the hull, the Emperors Light. He caught a flicker of movement and looked back towards the planet, and saw three other Thunderhawks making their way to the Swift Retribution as well. He glanced around the cramped interior of the dropship, at his Marines, and 3 other squads that had also been picked up.
Why are they pulling us out of here?
The Thunderhawk slowed down, and entered the Destroyers bay, and shuddred as the docking clamps grasped onto it.
Well, I guess i'll find out soon enough.
Chapter 2
748.12.26M35. 1428 Standard Terran Date
Vance stood rigid in his file, his squad behind him in a straight row, unmoving. About a hundred other Crimson Fists stood around him in the somewhat cramped podium, along with the force's two Dreadnoughts, one of which had apparently been brought recently, stood near the back, utterly motionless. As he glanced back and forth at his brother marines, he saw Master Rejius enter from a doorway at the front of the room, and stand before the Marines.
"3 days ago," Master Rejius began, "The forgeworld of Terriq IV was taken over when a fleet of well over a hundred Chaos ships appeared at the systems edge. From what we know, which is very little, no less than twenty five thousand Heretics landed on the world. Lord Inquisitor Lidrus has ordered the largest Space Marine mobilization since the Second Founding to retake the planet. Without that forgeworld, the Imperial regiments, and indeed the marine chapters will fall to the Orks and Heretics that plague this border of the Imperium as the supplies provided by the forgeworld are gone. Therefore, every chapter within a weeks travel has been ordered to send a hundred Marines, and what ships and vehicles they can spare to an assembly point, and to be organized as a single force, to be named the Foe Cleansers."
Five thousand marines to retake a single planet?! There hasnt been a force of Space Marines that large since before Second Founding!
"You, my brethren, are being sent to join this force. This destroyer will soon embark at top warp to the assembly point. Vance Drakken, step forward."
Vance duly stepped forward, wondering what was going on.
"I hereby promote you to Master." Rejius stepped forward to Vance, and handed him a data pad.
"This contains the information we do have on the Heretics that took over Terriq IV, as well as the force you will be commanding."
Rejius stepped back, and turned to address the entire force again.
"My brethren! I wish you the best of luck in this mission. May the Emperor guide your blows and steady your aim." With that, Rejius turned and departed through the door he entered by. The Chaplain, who until now had been standing quietly in the corner, came before them.
"When you depart this room, you must go to this ships armory for the re-marking of your armor. In your case, Vance Drakken," The Chaplain said with a meaningful look, "Your armor will be refitted with wargear suited to your rank. That is all."
The Chaplain left through the door that Master Rejius had, and the room was silent. Vance turned, and led his squad through a side door and made his way to the armory.
1544 Hours
Vance, now in his quarters, his armor being re-fitted at the armory, lay down on his bunk. He felt strangely alone, being used to a cramped barracks with his squad, rather than the empty, roomy quarters of a Master. He ran his hand over his centimeter-long dark brown hair, then picked up the data pad, and switched it on. He felt the floor lurch, then come to a slight vibrating as the ships warp engines initiated. He tapped the space on the screen labelled "ROSTERS LIST", and it showed a list of men and vehicles. He scanned down the list. He had a total of 250 Marines under his command; 200 footman, 50 crew. He checked the Chapters that they had come from. Ravenwing, his own Crimson Fists, Blood Angels, and Dark Angels. Quite a variety... He scrolled down to the vehicle listings. Twenty Land Speeders, including five of each Tornado and Typhoon varients, two Predator Destructors, five Dreadnoughts, and 5 of something he had never heard of before, "Purgers". He tapped the name, and a file and blueprint filled the screen. At first it seemed like a normal Dreadnought, but as he looked closer, he saw some very large, previously unheardof changes. It had a power fist on each arm, similar to a Furioso class, but slung under each arm was an assualt cannon, and mounted on the left shoulder was a Lascannon. As he looked down farther, he saw that instead of the basic single-segment leg, this one was jointed, giving the Dreadnought a much higher stance. He skimmed down to the file, and glanced over it. It had an extra ten centimeters of Ceramite over most of it, and it was triple the density of even the most venerable Dreadnoughts.
What in the Emperors name are they expecting to find on Terriq IV?! This thing is powerful enough to take out a small army all of its own, let alone with a 5000 Marine escort and no less than four others of itself! What arent they telling us?
Chapter 3
748.12.28M35. 0615 Standard Terran Date
Vance was roused by a light tapping on his quarters door. He blinked twice, then climbed out of the cot. The new Force Commander strode to the door and opened it, revealing another Marine, bearing a datapad.
"Yes, brother?" said Vance, waving for the Marine to come in. The Marine handed him the datapad, and said;
"Your armor has been fully refitted, your orders are to go to the Armory and examine it. After that, you are requested on the bridge at the earliest convenient time." The Marine saluted him, then turned and left the room again. Vance looked down at the pad. It displayed a schematic of his refitted armor. Not much seemed to have been changed; an extra 5mm of Ceramite had been painted onto it, the Chapter Banner had been replaced with that of the Foe Cleansers, and the armor had been repainted; Black and Blue, lined with silver to symbolize his rank. His bolt pistol had been replaced, the new one made of more dense material, and with a slightly longer barrel; it was the master-crafted weapon fit for a Force Commander. His chainsword was still there, but a Power sword was added to his arsenal, he supposed it was standard. The power pack was more efficient, generated half again the power, and the motors running the joints of the armor were much more powerful, he'd have to get used to that later. He set it down next the the pad he had been given the previous night, and set off towards the armory.
0637 Hours
Vance opened the door to the armory, and watched as a Servitor applied a protective sealant over the fresh coat on his armor. He walked over and stood next to it. At least they kept the beaked helmet... he thought to himself. The Servitor turned, and moved to the next suit; after all, there was half a hundred other suits that required the re-painting of task-force colors. He pressed a control on the console next to the suit, and its scaffold lowered it to the floor, and the back of the suit opened like a flower, inviting him in. He stepped into it, and it closed on him tightly, air pumps sealing it. He tested out the movement. It was very swift, easy movement compared to his last suit, the new motors had more effect than he originally thought they would. The optics in the helmet adjusted to his own vision in a second, not the slow whirring of his old armor. He stepped out of the scaffold, and the gyroscopes in the legs kept him perfectly balanced. He brought up the time on his helmets display, 0649. Better get going to the bridge. He chinned the release, and the suit opened up again, and he walked off out of the armory, a pair of Servitors coming up to the armor and setting it back into the scaffold.
0703 Hours
Vance stepped into the bridge, the Navigator in a raised pier in the center, hardwired into the ship itself, hands and feet unconciously moving, its eyes doing a continuous rapid flitting, as if it could see something, many things, that no one else could. He saw three other tall figures, standing towards the front of the bridge. He walked towards them, and upon seeing their insignia, he saluted. They returned it, and he lowered his hand.
"Vance Drakken, reporting as requested," he said with all the dignity he could muster. By the insignia on the uniforms they wore, one of them was an Inquisitor, another was a Company Librarian, and the third was an Imperial assassin. The Inquisitor only gave him a hard glare, the Assassin only gazed absent-mindedly at the Navigator, but the Librarian gave him a nod.
"Good. We have been waiting. Was your armor functioning properly, Brother?" asked the Librarian.
"Yes, Brother. As far as I could tell, it was working perfectly."
"Good," interrupted the Inquisitor, "Then we can move on to more pressing matters. The heretical forces of Chaos have taken over a crucial part of this sector, there is no time for nattering on about armor. You, I take it, have been fully informed on the situation, and your new rank, Space Marine?"
"Yes sir, I-"
"Good. We are approaching a rendezvous point, at which we will meet with several dozen other Capital class ships, and an Ultramarines Battle Barge. From there, we are going to jump directly into Terriq IV's orbit, and drop every Marine we have onto the surface, and procceed to engage any Chaos ships still in orbit. You, and a selected 4 other Force Commanders will be leading the ground assualt. After you have cleansed the-"
"Sirs, we are coming up on a debris field between us and the rendezvous point. Profiles match that of a known Chaos destroyer. Drop out of warp?" The Navigators lips were moving, but the sound issued from a speaker at the nearest console. The Inquisitor gave him a hateful stare, brinking on rage for the interruption. The Librarian broke the silence.
"Yes. Drop out of warp 100 kilometers from the wreckage."
The ship shuddered as the massive vessel dropped out of warp. The blank screens that had lined the walls now danced with images of black space, many focussed on larger pieces of debris. Vance looked at a screen intently. The assassin, still utterly silent, strode across to a different screen, examining it intently. Even the Inquisitor, despite himself, gazed at the screens, now rotating between wreckage.
"This wasnt caused by weapons. Look at that hull, its been carved at. Also, there. If I didnt know better, I'd say it'd self-destructed." said the librarian, peering intently at a screen. "But no Chaos vessel has ever been known to deliberately destroy itself. What could have driven them to do such a thing?"
Chapter 4
748.12.28M35. 0824 Standard Terran Date
Vance stood lightly on the tattered deck of the heretical vessel, two Marines from his old squad, Drake, who had recently been promoted to Sergeant, and Xander, master with a Flamer, stood behind him, along with a pair of Marines from other chapters, whom he did not know. The Inquisitor, accompanied by a Techpriest and a pair of servitors, floated forward along the hall. The artificial gravity, if this ship had any to begin with, had been damaged or destroyed, apparently.
"Vance," the Inquisitor said in a gravelly voice through his rebreather, "Take your men and head to the engines. If they're still active, scrap them. If not, report back. I'll take the Techpriest to the bridge and see if I can find a clue as to what caused this."
Vance nodded, and waved to his men, the other two Marines stayed and started setting up a transmitter. Xander and Drake pushed off, and floated toward the aft of the ship, and Vance followed.
0849
Vance reached a door, tried to pull it open, to no avail. He pushed back a little, and pulled out his power sword, activated it, and sliced through the doors hinges, and pulled the door again. This time, it floated idly out of it's frame, and Vance went around it, followed shortly by his two men. He looked around, and saw the shaking form of a human in blood-red robes ahead. He moved toward it, and it jerked, saw him, and pushed away, muttering fearfully to himself.
"Monsters, everywhere, monsters... They'll get you too! Your false emperor will not save you! Blood will be spilt, Khorne will be pleased... It cannot-"
Vance put a bolt through him, sending blood spattering. The corpse sailed upward, bounced off the ceiling, and became lodged between pipes. Vance turned back to the room. There. It had to be the engine, or at least the uppermost part of it.
"Drake, get some explosives prepared, and leave it here on a timer, then we can get back to the Inquisitor."
Drake pushed off, catching himself on a railing, and unclipped a couple of pouched from his belt, hit something on them, and set them against the engine. He shoved off, and Vance helped him slow down and stop again. He turned, waved for Xander and Drake to follow him, and pushed back off through the door. H saw something out of the corner of his eye, and grabbed the handle at the last minute, and wrenched himself back into the room. A pile of simmering, violet ooze lay smeared against one of the walls. It seems to be filled with small, writhing forms.
"What in hell..."
He pulled himself along the wall toward it, and stopped near it. One of the forms stopped momentarily, and then lurched, breaking through the surface of the ooze, small teeth snarling, black skin rough with carapace-like skin, and leapt at Vance. He swung his powersword back around, neatly slicing it in half. Both halves continued to wriggle, but they were moving away.
"Xander! Get over here and torch this," Vance said, indicating the ooze smear on the wall. He pushed back, and went out the door. He heard a 'whoof' sound as the flamer spit burning fuels over the stain, then Xander and Drake appeared in the frame behind him.
0913
Vance were the other marines sat idly at the breach where they had entered the ship, next to the transmitter, when the Inquisitor, Techpriest, and Servitors came out from the corridor they had departed from earlier.
"The log confirms that they came from Terriq IV, but it doesn't say anything about why it was abandoned. Nor why there is no trace of crew aboard." the Inquisitor said placidly.
"We found one of them alive in the engine room, ranting. I killed him of course, but he was speaking of monsters. We also saw a smear on the wall that appeared to be breeding small, aggressive creatures. We purged that as well."
"I see. A pity that there is little other trace left here. We'll go back to the Swift Retribution, the beacon will warn stray ships away from the remains."
Chapter 5
748.12.28M35. 1132 Standard Terran Date
As the shuttle thrummed softly, moving away from the foul derelict, a beam from the Swift Retribution, and another, along with a half-dozen missiles silently demolished the vessel. The Inquisitor and techpriest were in the forward compartment of the shuttle, Vance and the other Space Marines held the overhead rails idly, and the servitors were atrapped, and also plugged into the rear part of the shuttle. The tiny ship rocked slightly as the silent shockwave from the Heretics ship passed over it. Xander shifted uneasily beside Vance.
"You seem troubled, Brother," Vance stated.
"Yes. Those, that... What we saw on the ship. I don't think the Hereitcs created it, if they could create things that would destroy their own ships, they would be gone by now. This whole incident, the ship, this massive gathering of Marines, the attack, the strange equipment and weapons in the armory of the Retribution... I am disturbed by it all. Forgive me, I should not speak such fears."
Xander grew silent, and looked away. Vance said nothing, but within the privacy of his own mind, he had some of the same doubts.
748.1.04M35. 1454 Standard Terran Date
The last week of the voyage since the encounter with the Chaotic vessel had passed uneventfully. The rendezvous had gone according to plan, and the Space Marine force, five thousand strong, moved through the warp to Terriq IV. Vance had been moved onto the Battle Barge Virtuous, formerly an Imperial Fist vessel. There he had drilled with his command of 250 men, learning each of their tactics, how they fought best. The sarcophagi from the 4 dreadnoughts he had command of had been painstakingly removed, and placed into the more massive frames of what the battalion had nicknamed the 'Titan's little brother'. The nickname fit, as the huge dreadnought variant stood half again as tall, with lower legs added to the standard Dreadnought Chassis. The battalion had few heavy tanks, only a pair of Predators. Most of the crew was manning a large fleet of Land Speeders. Vance had requested this; tanks would be ill-suited to maneuver through a battle-torn Forgeworld. Xander had proven himself worthy of a Sergeants position. Vance was somewhat saddened by this, for now both Drake and Xander were removed from his command squad to serve as Squad leaders.
They were only a few hours out, now, from Terriq IV, with no encounters so far. Vance was suited up, and his command loaded into the Drop Pods. Vance was to remain on the bridge until better nature of the situation was determined. He was frustrated by this; he should be in the first Drop Pod to lead his men into battle, but the Inquisitors orders were strict. To lose a commander in the heat of opening battle would be critically damaging to the morale of the Marines. Thusly, Vance stood on the deck of the bridge of the Virtuous as the colossal vessel shuddered out of warp. The planet, gray with the haze of battle, and the smog of the factories, can into view through the massive ports. Debris filled the orbit, reflecting the blood-red light of the sun. A group of fifteen or so Chaos vessels, no bigger than Frigates, was already at full speed towards the Battle Barge and the other Imperial ships, which were beginning to drop out of warp around the Virtuous.
The Captain of the Virtuouswas a guant old man, who's hair would be gray if he had had any. His features were normally gloomy and depressed, but now, a hint of smile bordered his lips. "So few? Why, with the Virtuous alone, we could've smoten them from the Emperors skies! What of the reports of hundreds of Chaos?!" He turned to the Tactical officer. "Remove them from my sight."
"Yes sir!" A bone-rattling thrum started up from the deck beneath Vance's feet. A wide, deep green beam erupted from the nose of the Virtuous and swept across the first five of the Chaos ships, erasing them from the sensor screen to Vance's left. A series of missiles blasted the next wave of ships to pieces, and beams from the other Imperial ships quickly handled the rest.
"Ha! It seems this fleet of yours was unnecassary!" cackled the Captain to the Inquisitor, who until now had been standing broodingly to one side of the bridge, concealed beneath the high collar of his coat. "This battle is already won!"
"Don't be so hasty. It is not won until the planets surface is ours, and that will not happen until Vance, here," The Inquisitor waved one hand at the Space Marine commander, "And the others like him have cleansed the Heretics from this planet. Even then, victory will not be ours until the planets factories are online again, and supporting the needy armies in this sector. Begin launching the drop pods." He turned and left the bridge, his footsteps echoing.
Epilogue
The sounds of battle were everywhere, as they had been for the last several weeks. Lumir, face grimy, clothes ragged, eyes wide and panicky, shouldered his way through the door. The Heretics and the monsters had been fighting for weeks, almost all of the Imperial soldiers had died, nearly on the first day. Lumir had fled, into the sewers of the massive city-planet, living off of the occasional bit of trash that proved not to rancid for sustenance. he hadn't seen another human for a full week, since he left the patrol of horribly outnumbered Guardsmen in fear of the impending battle. As far as he knew, he was the only human left alive anywhere on the planet. All that had fought had died, most that had hid were found. And you aren't out of it yet... Lumir thought to himself.
One of the monsters had spotted him, and he'd been fleeing it for fully three hours now. Sweat beads cut a trail through the dirt on his face as he ran down another hallway. He could hear the scuttling of the monster behind him, echoing down the passage. A moan escaped his lips, and he threw himself through a side door, shutting it, and fumbling with the lock. A clawed hand blasted through the door, and as Lumir looked down, he saw it penetrating his chest. He gasped, to far into shock to feel the pain as hte door swung open, and the beast let go. He fell to his knees, and the last things he saw were the features of the creature that killed him; the bulbous, glistening head, with the long tongue flailing out in front; the four long arms, with massive claws on each of four fingers, one hand of which was dripping blood- his blood; the deep purple color of the beast. And then there was nothing.
*: 748.12.23M35. 2040 Standard Terran Date, "728"=year, "12"=month, "23"=day, "M35"=millenium, "2040"=time (military time)
