Solaris lifted himself to his feet, taking his gleaming sword staff from the rack, and strode out the doorway, his recently cleaned armour gleaming in the cold light of the corridor. He strode without thought down the vast network of passageways.
The events of the week previous had been very disturbing. A splinter hive fleet, Draco, had descended upon Durin IV, destroying every defender of the planet. Everyone beside himself and newly risen Chapter Master Causen. But that was not the disturbing thing. A chaos Daemon strike force had been summoned within the facility they had chosen to defend, lead by a Chaos Lord Solaris had faced many years before. Arizon had tracked down Solaris to kill him. Arizon, who he had duelled and cut down many years before, and he had mustered an almighty force to face him. Daemons had spilt from the warp, but more troubling, within the wake of a Tyranid Hive fleet to hunt him down. For the millionth time he decided that revenge must have been the motive, before two seconds later he reconsidered it, dragging out more submerged memories of the lord. But it was useless. There could be motive for the assault other than revenge.
Quickly he probed the warp, meeting nothing but a vast crushing blackness; it had become more potent every day they had been within this Cruiser, the ‘Hidden Blade.’ But that was for good reason. They were hunting down the same Tyranid Hive fleet that had decimated their forces days previously.
They had found a way to destroy the fleet, with minimal loss of life. Only a small ‘kill team’ of ten Space Marines would be required in this do-or-die attempt to annihilate the Tyranid menace.
‘Solaris, we are now within short jump range of the heart of the fleet,’ a voice pierced into his thoughts.
Solaris had made it to the bridge without realising that he had made the journey.
‘Very well… Once again I would like to express my fears for you coming on this endeavour. It is most likely that none will survive the attack, for we need to make it into the heart of the hive ship.’
A marine in ornate wargear who had been standing in the shadows stepped into the light before speaking his opinion.
‘Solaris, I still do not see why we cannot just detonate the viral within the centre of the hive fleet and let it take its toll. The way you have described it, it will decimate their biomass anyway.’
‘The very nature of a Hive fleet is that it is constantly evolving. If a viral is introduced to the system from the outside of the organism, the inner bio-systems will have evolved to be resilient to the virus by the time it reaches where it will do the real damage.’
‘Causen. With your permission I would like to lead this strike force myself. Having already lost one Chapter Master in the last week this would wound our chapter beyond recovery.’
‘*****, as you full well know, I am not your Chapter Master at the current time, merely the Assassin Lord who has taken up the mantle. Shall I not return, I trust that you will be wise enough to take up that position and to lead our chapter?’
The marine nodded, and after a brief silence, left the bridge. Solaris then stepped up alongside Causen.
‘You know that I will not be able to use my powers within the hive fleet. The shadow in the warp will be too strong to breach, plus the instant I do; every organism in the bio-ship will hunt us down and destroy us.’ Solaris said, a grim tone on his voice.
‘I know all too well, but you are a warrior unlike that I have seen before, even without the use of your gifts.’
‘Causen, you have never seen my fight without my gifts, it is the very nature of them that you do not understand. It will be the equivalent of you fighting blind and one handed.’
‘I have faith in you as a warrior and a brother, and that is what matters. Plus, you are the only one that can use this fighter to make the short range jump effectively.’
‘Then we should launch the fighter within the hour. Assemble your finest men, for we will need them when the time comes.’
* * *
Solaris strapped himself into the pilots chair of the prototype fighter as a squad of five other Marines strapped themselves to harnesses on the walls. Causen quickly introduced Solaris to each of the Marines in turn; Hector – wielding a mighty power fist, Pan – a great sword gleaming upon his belt, Xan – bearing a storm shield and a mighty double bladed axe, Leon – carrying a plasma rifle, and a selection of short blades and Hypatos – a storm bolter and combat shield in one hand with a chainsword locked in his other.
‘Ready?’ Solaris asked from the cockpit, his voice carrying a tone of concern.
‘Green,’ the marines chorused back as one, and Solaris activated the craft through the interface to his hood.
It rose off the floor of the hanger as the metal plating underneath opened up, and the instant the gap was wide enough, the ship dropped through the hatch into free space. Quickly he righted the ship as diagnostics filled his mind, and he filed all the irrelevant information while arranging all that he needed to know on the front screen.
An instant later, once he was outside the gravity well of Hidden Blade he activated the warp drive and they vanished through a tear of reality into the warp.
Solaris guided the craft quickly to the somehow peaceful and calm region of chaos before he deactivated the warp drive and closed off his mind from the warp as they rematerialised within real space. Quickly he unstrapped himself from the seat, and manually activated the exterior cameras, a vast and terrifying sight meeting his eyes.
There was no way to describe how ominous the great bio-ship before them looked. A great living triangular mass, ominously the red black colour of the Tyranids sat before them, each portion of its surface living, an organism. From the rear of the ship great tentacles sat, drifting backwards into space, used to withdraw all life from a planet once it was digested.
The other Marines unstrapped themselves, each wielding a wide assortment of weaponry from ancient swords, to mighty fists, ornately crafted bolters and specialist weapons. Causen had picked his bodyguard well, each Marine the veteran of one thousand campaigns. A master of silence, hand to hand combat, and ranged warfare.
Solaris placed more barriers between his mind and the warp before taking another glance out the front projector. One of the great hive ships had turned towards their tiny insignificant craft and was almost upon them, its great bulging ‘hull’ bearing down on them.
‘Prepare for a lightning assault. I believe they can sense us.’ Solaris said, his voice set in a rock hard tone.
‘Brothers, we will get in and out of there in less than an hour, for any longer and we will surely be destroyed. Solaris, as soon as we enter, relay our location to ****** and get them to send the relative coordinates of the Tyranid ichor and spawning pools. We fight hard and fast, and let nothing slow us down.’ Causen ordered, drawing his blade, and dragging his bolter from his shoulder mount.
‘We are inside some kind of digestion bay. Relaying our coordinates now, and prepare for the gauntlet. Solaris drew his swordstaff and a bolt pistol from his belt, unable to use his usual method of ranged combat.
* * *
With a hiss the rear door lowered and the Marines charged out as one, into a knee deep thick sludge their bolters shouldered. Solaris smelt ammonia in the chamber, the smell of rotting flesh, and quickly they made their way through the slime-filled pools towards the opposite edge of the chamber.
The Marines took in everything, the slightly acidic feel of the ooze beneath their feet, the ‘walls’ bulging with great veins running along its edges. And along the wall were a series of doorways, if they could be called back. Great round alcoves were sunk into the wall, closed by a muscle of the red flesh.
Solaris received the coordinates of the nearest ichor distribution and quickly loaded it into their HUDs, little more than one kilometre away, amongst the great organism. One of the honour guard took a step closer to the door, and touched it. An instant later the great muscle slid out of the way, a score of Genestealers lurking on the other side. They reacted an instant later, leaping savagely at the Marines, who filled them full of bolts, the Genestealers not even reaching melee combat. The attack served its purpose however, as a scream of agony echoed throughout the hive mind.
‘Hector, take the lead, and proceed to HUD point beta. Marines fall in behind,’ Causen shouted, ejecting a clip from his bolter, and clipped in a fresh magazine, before cocking the gun.
Hector charged up the corridor, the mighty power fist over his own, crackling with disruptive energy fields, as the other Marines fell in behind. He punched the next ‘door’ rather than using any hesitation, tearing it into ragged strips and leapt through to be confronted with a more organised threat. A brood of Hormogaunts, with paired Warriors was moving towards them at an incredible speed, scything talons glinting menacingly in the light. Once again the Marines opened fire, the bolts tearing the first three ranks into shreds before they hit combat.
Solaris leapt forward, his blade cleaving a space through the first Warriors head as he felt the shockwave of a power fist impact behind him. He continued the sweeping motion in his left hand, cutting a limb off one warrior as the bolt pistol instantly in his right bucked, decapitating another. He felt a splatter of blood impact with his back as the sound of a chain blades roar filled the chamber, as the Hormogaunts were mercilessly cut down. Solaris drew his sword back across the wounded warrior, tearing a great hole into its chest as it roared in pain, before collapsing to the ground, and within an instant they were all dead.
Within an instant the Marines were moving again, and formed up around the next doorway. Quickly, Hector slammed his fist through it, great ragged strips of flesh, lining the hole that he had created. An instant later a stream of Genestealers tore through the gap to the sound of bolter fire. One dragged Hector, who was the closest, to the ground and back through the portal, while the swarm continued to plough through, exploding with every bolt fired.
Solaris leapt forwards into the horde, his great staff sweeping through the masses of flesh, which continued to fill the fleshy hole. Quickly he launched himself through into the next chamber, cutting a bloody swath through the Genestealers, to be confronted by a terrifying sight. A Broodlord, its black and red chitinous plating gleaming in the dull light stood erect only a few feet away, a blood-soaked blue helmet in one hand, and a power armoured figure underneath his gaze.
The Genestealers moved back, as if the Broodlord was issuing Solaris a challenge, before the rest of the Marines moved into the chamber. Quickly Solaris waved to them to lower their weapons, before dropping into a crouching stance, his swordstaff poised to strike over his head. He understood the challenge that the Broodlord was issuing.
It leapt forward at a lightning pace, limbs flailing out in several odd directions to confuse him. Quickly he dragged his staff up, and blocked the blows with a rapid sweeping motion, before lashing out with the blade, but the Broodlord had already retreated out of range. Quickly he leapt forward, his staff cutting into its chest, a splattering of ichor hitting the ground. He pushed the staff further forwards and felt the crunch of it pushing through the shell on the other side of the beast’s torso. But it continued to stare straight into his face, grabbing the staff, and pulling itself further forwards, into reach of his torso.
An instant later it lashed out at his face as he threw the entire thing backwards, and in one motion drew and fired his bolt pistol. The shell cleaved a hole through its skull, and the beast collapsed to the ground, well and truly dead.
At the same moment the Genestealers leapt forwards and the Marines bolters began to blaze, cutting them down in mid air, and instead of any of the beasts clawing at Solaris, each hit the ground with a dull thump. Quickly he wrenched his staff out of the beast’s torso and approached the next doorway, as the rest of the Marines formed up around him. Quickly he checked the HUD, the pool was little more than 100 metres ahead of them. Solaris quickly cut a great hole through the next doorway, and leapt through to be confronted with a great hulking creature. A Carnifex stood ahead of them in the corridor, bearing two great scythes and two claws, which looked capable of tearing through a Land Raider.
As one the Marines opened fire, great plasma projectiles impacting with the beast as it charged towards them, gaining momentum. The bolts impacted with little or no effect upon the beast, and at the last second the Marines dived out of the way, drawing their blades. Solaris leapt forward his blade impacting with the beast’s chest, but not piercing its thick plating as it lashed at him with two talons. As it turned Pan and Xan both moved in on it, their blades cutting into its legs whilst it swung madly at Solaris in front of it. Quickly it turned, lashing out at the other Marines, trying to encircle it. Xan, leapt backwards, avoiding the lethal blow, which continued into Pan, tearing a great ragged hole through his chest. He collapsed to the ground as each other the other Marines leapt forward, Causen’s Blade tearing into its thigh with his poison-imbued blade while Xan cut down on its tail and Hypatos’s chainsword dug into its torso. It reared up in pain, exposing its neck, and Solaris javelined his weapon into the weak spot, piercing the creature’s skull and destroying its brain. A second later it collapsed forward, the swordstaff being thrusted out the thick skull plate, and remained upright, protruding from the beasts head.
Quickly Leon knelt down beside Pan, and checked his vitals, before shaking his head, and drawing the broadsword from the floor by his side.
After a moments silence, they charged down the corridor once again, as Leon took a Meltabomb from his belt. A second later, in an explosion of fire and magma the fleshy wall leading into the ichor circulation ponds was burnt to nothing, and the Marines charged through, guns shouldered. Before them was a great cavern-like structure, with pools of biomass before them, being circulated throughout the hive ship as elements for the cells. This was where the viral would be unleashed. Quickly Causen reached down to his belt as a tremendous roar echoed throughout the cavern, and the entire wall opposing them split, opening into another corridor.
And out poured the Tyranids, the front few ranks Gaunts, followed by Warriors, and then to the progressively larger beasts, amidst them all, the Hive Tyrant.
Solaris broke down his warp barriers in an instant and entered the warp, to nothing but a crushing shadow; quickly he drew on its strength and threw out his arms, constructing a shimmering field before them amidst the cavern. Causen gave him a shocked look as the shield burst to life, before turning back to the viral, and priming the virus, activating the devise through a series of checks know only by the Chapter Master.
‘I figure the Tyranids already know that we are here, so I guess it doesn’t matter that much if I alert them to our position anymore,’ Solaris spoke out as his voice began to strain.
He continued to draw on the warp as the first Gaunts hit the shield, but the vast amounts of power that he normally drew on were non-existent, the shadow in the warp reducing everything to nothing. He shuddered as the Warriors reached the field, slamming into it, the energy weakening with each blow. Each of the three remaining Honour Guard shouldered their Bolters as Solaris shuddered again, the shimmering wall beginning to lessen, out of existence. There was not enough power in the warp to be harnessed.
‘I need about a minute to unleash the last safety guards,’ Causen spoke up, in deep concentration, tapping away at the miniscule touch pad on the device.
Safeguards had been put on the viral, because it poisoned all biological organisms that it contaminated, causing cells to shrivel up and die, leaving nothing but a blackened crust. A virus like it released on a Space Marine flagship could devastate an entire chapter.
Solaris began to shake, adding his own strength to the shield as the Carnifexs hit it, and the shield faltered, winking out of existence, as Solaris collapsed to the ground, holding his staff as support.
Then the Marines opened fire as one, Gaunts falling in spouts of ichor back into whence they were made. The Warriors tore through the Gaunt ranks, bearing down on the Marines. Solaris watched, on his knees as the Marines drew their blades meeting the Tyranids head on, with no chance of victory. They were truly honourable brothers, each taking great sweeping blows on the Tyranids, felling great beasts with their blades. He watched as three Warriors attacked Leon at one instant, their great talons plunging through his armour into his fleshy chest, and dragging him to the ground.
Causen took another step back, away from the fight as the Tyranids pushed forward and Solaris once again pushed himself to his feet as the Carnifex met the Marines.
‘Five seconds, four, three, two…’
The first Carnifex backhanded Hypatos with one great claw, as another caught him in its jaws, tearing him into two fleshy chunks as Xan weathered several other blows, the protective energies of the Storm Shield leaping to his defence. At that instant Causen took the viral charges, and threw them into the masses of the ichor pools, set on a timer for destruction. The marines would have less than five minutes to leave the Hive ship.
Quickly he drew his blade, and leapt to Xan’s defence, an instant too late as a Carnifex’s great talon cut through his neck, the Marine collapsing to the ground in a pool of blood.
Solaris watched as Causen’s blade bit into one of the Carnifex, and once again tapped into the warp as he saw the Hive Tyrant pushing through the masses towards his Chapter Master.
Once again there was no power to draw on, and he leapt forward to Carson’s aid, his blade lashing out at another monstrous creature as Causen parried one blow, before his bolter burst to life, sending a flurry of shells into his foes neck.
The flesh melted away as the Hellfire rounds hit home, and the great beast collapsed to the ground, its scythes digging into the flesh of the hive ship.
‘We need to get out of here now!’ Solaris yelled, diving under a vicious blow from the nearest beast, digging his swordstaff into its thigh, satisfied with its roar of pain.
‘There is no way that we can outrun this horde. They will cut us down in our retreat.’ Causen called back, his blade cutting down several Gaunts in one swing before he brought his bolter to bare, the Tyranids falling underneath the mutagenic shells in its ammunition drums.
‘Not on my watch…’ Solaris muttered, trying to draw on another source of energy, as he had seen the Eldar Farseers and Ork Wierdboyz do countless times.
They drew on the warp through their companions. He was not attempting to use Causen as a host however, instead pushing himself into the very thing that was assaulting them. The mind of the hive. As he entered he felt an enormous amount of power flow into his system, as the cold orders and panic of the hive mind felt his presence, a million nearby minds, seeking to destroy him. The sheer weight of thoughts overwhelmed him for an instant, but he continued to feed on the power, siphoning it into his staff, storing as much energy as he could into his system. The sheer vastness of the mind was shocking, a million individual thoughts meshed together to drive the menace onwards, a million thoughts all bent on his destruction.
It growled as it bore down on the source of the intrusion of the hive mind, a sense of anger entering its thoughts for an instant whilst it readied its limbs to fight the large blue coloured figure. All it bore was a small staff with a blade on it at its side, but the creature radiated warp energy, and was a surreal threat to the hive. Solaris found his mind wishing the creature on, calling for the Marine’s death. Then, within reach, it raised its bonesword, and slashed downwards.
Solaris launched himself to the side, throwing all connections to the hive mind aside as the bonesword came crashing down upon him. He had almost become lost in the passageway of the mind, not seeing his own death as a threat, through the eyes of the hive, but rather an achievement. He had almost become one of them.
Quickly he rolled to his feet, shaking off the call for his own death he had felt an instant before and leapt at the Hive Tyrant, avoiding the lash of its whip. The beast knocked his blow out of the way, before lunging forward with two of its scything blades. Solaris ducked the blow, drawing on the power flowing through his system, and sent a shockwave into the beasts chest, causing it to stumble backwards as its whip wrapped around his staff. Quickly he drew on the warp, summoning a blue blade, its hue as deep as the light of midnight in his off hand, lashing down at the whip, cutting its feelers off, at the same moment digging his swordstaff into the gap between its armoured plating and its bonded exoskeleton. It roared in fury before lunching at him, all of its blades sweeping through the air. He ducked, the blue sword cutting clean through one of the joints in its talons as he discharged a large amount of the warp energy he had gathered into the beast, which collapsed in an explosion of blue light.
Causen watched in fascination as Solaris summoned the great blue sword, a blade that he had seen before. His own blade cut into a Warrior as he watched Solaris sweep the blade down upon the Hive Tyrant’s talon, cutting clean through the ragged flesh, before his staff exploded within the beasts back, throwing it to the ground, stone dead. The blade dissipated within his hand as he retrieved his swordstaff, and lashed out again at the next nearest threat.
‘We leave now!’ Solaris called out, tapping into the energy stored within his staff as he rose into the air above the masses.
He watched as Causen watched him, and after a brief nod, turned and fled, as a bolt of lightning leapt out, cutting down the Warrior that had attempted to follow him. The hive hesitated for but a moment, before Solaris summoned a flame from nowhere, which grew in magnitude as he fuelled them with unreal powers, which grew into a raging inferno, blackening everything that it touched, the Tyranids cowering backwards from the pain.
Then he dropped to the ground, the fire blazing around him and sprinted forward, leaving the Tyranids in his wake, taking great leaps, and within an instant he was by Causen’s side. His armour was dented, and cut, great chunks of ceramite hanging free revealing freshly clotted wounds caused by the Tyranids blades.
‘How long do we have, before the viral detonates?’ He asked as they charged down the corpse ridden corridors, weapons ready for anything.
‘We have approximately three minutes before it detonates I believe. That gives us plenty of time to launch the ship, and leave.’
‘Barely…’ Solaris muttered as they reached the huge digestion bay, before them, ominously standing a great beast, head lowered, with great white teeth shining in the dull light.
It was of the same build as a Hive Tyrant, but much larger, a great sword and whip, two great blades and a huge cannon wielded in its six mighty limbs. A great tail whipped around behind it, its shape cutting elegant shapes into the air. Solaris cringed, raising his blade over his head as Causen dragged his sword to bear beside him, raising his bolter at the new foe. Then a retinue of massive Warrior Carnifex stepped out from behind it, each bearing four great blades, standing in defence of its master.
Solaris tapped into the warp, dragging all the strength he could from the black emptiness and flooded it into his limbs as he threw a quick phrase to Causen.
‘You take the Carnifexs; I will take the Synapse out.’
With that word he leapt into the air, his blade spearing towards the massive beasts chest, which was promptly parried and diverted, as two blades came sweeping down at him. He leapt to the side, slamming his shaft down on one of the fleshy blades, to no effect but enraging the beast as he avoided another blow from the mighty sword, crafted of the beast’s bones. A bolt of energy leapt from his hand an instant later, cracking one of the bonded ribs of the beast as another flurry of blades lunged at him. With each block a jarring shudder coursed through his arm, shaking his body to his very bones as a cold, intelligent gleam looked down at him from its eyes.
Quickly he leapt into the air, thrusting out his palm, sending shockwave after shockwave of energy coursing into its skull, forcing the beast down. He landed on its shoulder, digging his blade into its plated back, only digging a small nick in his super human strength. An instant later a whip fastened itself around his ankle, and dragged him upside down into the air, his world inverting. As it did so the great bonesword sliced into his left arm, sending a splattering of dark red blood to the ground. He grimaced in pain, dragging energy from his blade and burst into a blue flame, destroying the whip as he fell to the ground with a sharp crunch. The beast shrieked as Solaris rolled to the side, avoiding two great talons, which plunged into the flesh beside him as he threw himself once again to his feat. He lashed out in fury with his blade whilst drawing the warp into him once again and feeding all of the power into his blade. A second later the beast lunged, and ducking under the blow, he javelined the swordstaff into the creatures solid chest with an enormous amount of force. There was a sharp as it glanced off the beast’s chest, leaving nothing but a small crack in the exoskeleton. Quickly Solaris thrust his hand out drawing the warps power once again as a midnight blue blade appeared in his hand, materialising from nothing, and leapt at the beast, ducking under flailing limbs and drove the blade into the breach in the armour, the beast roaring out in agony, as the very matter surrounding the blade disintegrated and an instant later, it dematerialised and Solaris thrust his swordstaff in its place, the enormous amount of energy it contained detonating in an explosion of warp essence, destroying the beasts mind. Quickly he leapt back, as the beast collapsed and turned to Causen, who was limping towards him from the corpse of the third Carnifex dead behind him, its head nothing but a gory spray of blood.
Solaris nodded to him in acknowledgement of the feat as he spoke out, his voice weary and laced with pain.
‘I’ll have to hand you that one. I have never seen a one on one fight with so much style.’
Solaris turned towards the shuttle and activated the rear boarding ramp as he replied, watching the timer tick down on his HUD. They had seconds left before the virus was released.
‘Maybe if you hadn’t been paying so much attention to me, you would have escaped your own fight uninjured. That is no mean feat, bringing down three of those beasts…’
Quickly he strode inside, Causen at his heels and strapped himself into the pilot seat, sealing the boarding ramp. Quickly he activated the engine, and the craft rose off the ground, a great gout of missiles launching from concealed pods, detonating on the interior of the creatures exoskeleton. An instant later the ship was into clear space the hive ship behind it rippling, as the timer on Solaris’s HUD reached zero.
The virus was extremely aggressive, and within a few minutes the hive ship was nothing but a blackened carbon skeleton, before the virus spread through biomaterial channels, and empty space, every single organism in the fleet shrivelling into nothing, but a black husk.
Revenge was theirs.
‘Don’t make the jump yet Solaris…I have something I want to ask you.’
‘Yes?’ he replied, his face set in a look of concentration.
A second later he rose from the cockpits seat and grabbed a med-pack from the medical cupboard of the shuttle and returned to Causen.
‘Take off your armour so that I can attend to your wound effectively then. I will have to fix it myself seems I cannot take you back to the Apothecaries straight away.’
Causen unclasped his cauldrons, followed by his chest plate, and all the guards around his arms, revealing a mass of bleeding wounds and sealed battle scars from campaigns long past.
‘That blue blade that you keep summoning from nothing. I have seen if before.’
‘You were the sergeant who delivered it to Orion then? The one Marine that knows of this blade.’
‘Yes. As soon as I became Chapter Master, the first thing I did was query its location, but the records said that it had been returned to this ship, and kept in the shrine. The records lied. How did you come to possess this blade?’
‘I took it, almost as soon as the blade was returned here. Do you understand this weapons nature?’
‘No, the only thing I know about it is that it is a blade with some aura of the warp about it. Would you care to inform me?’
‘I have encountered this blade, a long time before, in my past life.’
‘When you were a Daemonhunter?’
‘Yes. It was wielded by a mighty Chaos Lord, leading a force of Khorne. Did you know that I had fought alongside the Shadow Blades before?’
‘No.’
‘We fought alongside you in the Garros Incursion. Short, brutal attacks trying to hunt down this lord across Brutia Hive. He wielded a blade a deep blue of the midnight sky, which disintegrated anything that came across its path. All matter just vanished.’
‘We hunted this Lord with you?’
‘You held back the main force of the Daemons, defending major evacuation points and assisting the Planetary Defence Force. We ran dangerous drops into enemy territory, landing at the Lord’s feet, and fighting our way out. Quite like the way your own Shadow Company now operates. However he eluded us for some weeks.’
Solaris placed the gauze plating over Causen’s wound, and injected an amount of anaesthetics to the site of the damage before continuing.
‘It was a joint force of both Shadow Blades and Daemonhunters that finally brought him down. We dropped in, forced the Daemons into the retreat as the final stage of the incursion began, the world tearing itself apart. And you trapped them in a vice, stopping all chance of escape… I killed the lord, my Justicar and your third company Captain wounded moments before, dragging him to the earth and slicing his head from his torso. Minutes later, after I had assisted my Justicar’s healing, I returned to find the blade gone. I thought it had returned to the warp with its master. This blade can cut through anything.’
‘We removed it from the site, and hid it from the Daemonhunters?’
‘Yes. In the wrong hands this blade could cause the fall of our chapter. It carries a great daemon spirit, capable of possessing anyone but those of the sternest mind.’
‘Who was this Chaos Lord?’
‘You met him only a week previously.’
‘Arizon…he had returned for his blade?’
‘He had returned to kill me, to avenge his own death. The fact that I wielded his blade was and does still remain unknown to him.’
‘Then it is over?’
‘I suggest that it is locked in the vault of the Battle Barge ‘Dark Falchion’ along with the rest of the Chapters Artefacts. Even to me I cannot use it under any normal circumstances. The shadow cast over the warp by the Tyranids is the only thing that allows me to use it without being harmed.’
‘Then it shall be so. May I ask about why you were expelled from the Daemonhunters?’
‘No, that secret remains mine. Only when you are truly able to grasp the consequences of what occurred will you be allowed to know. You will find out in due time.’
‘Let us return to the Dark Falchion, and celebrate for the destruction of Hive Fleet Draco.’
‘The Tyranid threat will never fully be extinguished…’ Solaris muttered, an instant before the ship dove into the warp.
‘HUDs down,’ he whispered into the comms, toggling his display so he could see without the red hue. Several other display including blood pressure, a radar and ammunition figures also vanished from his view.
Then, but a second later the first figure strode into view. It was a mere 6’ and wore a skin-tight suit, which fitted to its body perfectly. It also carried a long elegant object, with a hand grip. Its hand was secured over what looked like a trigger. An elongated helmet sat on its head, with an inset area for the face. It was an Eldar Guardian.
‘Ten Guardians, and a Warlock, men, break cover in five!’ a deep voice called over the comms.
Causen shouldered a large rifle, steadying his aim on one of the Guardians and breathed in. Then he pulled the trigger. A huge force pushed back on his shoulder as the first bolt left the rifle. It preceded in its course, decapitating the guardian, before Causen charged out of the doorway, bolter blazing. A shimmering field sprang up around the Guardians and the bolts exploded in mid flight, useless. The Warlock was standing in the middle of the squad, rigidly still, keeping its concentration.
Without a second thought Causen charged forward, leaping into the field and in one motion, crash tackled the sorcerer to the ground. The field broke and within seconds the rest of the Guardians were lying on the ground.
Quickly Causen grasped the sorcerer around the neck and lifted it into the air.
‘What are you after?’ he yelled as he shook it roughly, his voice strained.
‘I am but a mere Warlock, I cannot gleam into the future like a Farseer. I do not understand why we attacked here. Now kill me, and spare me the misery of your company any longer.’
His head was removed from its shoulders.
‘We head back to HQ now,’ Causen remarked, holstering his bolter, before he signalled to his squad to form up. Each of the squad was seven to eight feet tall, covered in huge plate armour, bearing the mighty bolter. Their armour was covered in soot and rubble from a week of warfare, but underneath shone a blue mottled camouflage pattern, spawned from decades of city fighting. Each of their helmets had a triangular grill set in its centre, and two red glowing eyes. They were the Angels of Death. The Space Marines.
‘Thanks for the eyes Herod,’ Causen spoke into his mike.
One of the marines just ahead of him wielding a heavy weapon nodded in acknowledgement.
‘Just doing my duty… how else are we going to get ourselves out of this hell-hole of a world?’ he replied, his tone grim.
* * *
A detachment of the Shadow Hunters second company had been dropped in from orbit two weeks previously, responding to a distress call from the local Planetary Defence Force. They had hit the ground hard – quite literally – right in the middle of the last defence of the PDF fighting off an Eldar strike force. Then their cruiser had been blown out of space by an Eldar cruiser, landing in a flaming wreckage. The Shadow Hunters had not been able to get near the crash site since.
* * *
Causen strode into an underground room, deep within the heart of the hives sewage and hydro systems. He had removed his helmet, revealing a great scar running down his right cheek. His face was set in a look of grim determination.
‘Your mission was a success I trust?’ a grizzly voice asked him calmly.
‘We wiped out a guardian squad, but found out no more of their plans. From what I have gathered there is some greater reason for this. But one thing is for sure. They do not want us to escape.’
Another of the sergeants in the room spoke up. Altivar, the assault squad leader.
‘I say we get to our cruiser, and secure our equipment, before trying to find a way out of this bastard planet.’
‘We are running low on munitions,’ Hadron, the devastator sergeant added, his voice humoured, ‘…as much as I hate to agree with you Altivar.’
‘They are after us, they came here to stop us from leaving, and to ultimately kill us. Assaulting their fortifications would be suicide. There is now way it can be done. Their D-Cannons will tear us to shreds,’ Uriel, the second tactical sergeant added out of the silence.
Then the most formidable figure in the room rose from his seat, his white trim still gleaming in the gloomy darkness. Brother Orion, the second company’s captain. Each of his hands was sheathed in large gauntlets, each with four gleaming blades protruding from them. Lightning claws, the assassins’ blades were only gifted to the second companies captain, but they were much more than ceremonial.
‘We need to get off this rock. That is all we know. Uriel, Hadron and myself will stay here, and defend the nest. Altivar and Causen, you will lead an insurgence into the Eldar lines, and see if you can get into our cruiser – to see why they are keeping us away from it. You should leave before nightfall, in three hours.’
Causen turned and left with Altivar, moving towards the meagre excuse for an armoury.
‘Tactical squad Sigma and assault squad Lambda form up at the armoury,’ Causen said into the open comms, before turning to Altivar, ‘It’s typical, we always seem to be trying to do exactly what they don’t want us to.’
‘Would we be Space Marines if we weren’t?’ Altivar questioned in return, a smile playing across his face.
Causen abruptly turned to enter a large chamber, where crates of munitions were sprawled around the room. Quickly he gathered ten clips for his bolter, various grenades and a meltabomb, before taking a gleaming sword from its mantle on the wall. As the rest of the squad entered he indicated towards the ammunition.
‘Nikias, please bring a missile launcher along with us. I have a feeling we may run into some armour. Herod, you may keep your heavy bolter, and Abrax, can you bring a plasma gun. We could do with a little heat.’
Causen watched as his squads faces all showed grim smiles. Plasma guns had a habit of overheating, and venting superheated plasma into the users face. Abrax had been on the receiving end of this a countless number of times, and this was shown by the charred marks left on his forearms and helmet.
‘We leave before sundown.’
* * *
Causen watched silently as an Eldar patrol strode past outside, scanning the terrain for life. The cruiser had landed in the outskirts of the hive and the Eldar were patrolling it vigorously. They did not want any Marines to enter its structure.
“12 contacts, a Guardian squad with no Warlock,” a voice informed him.
“Do not engage unless spotted, we do not want to attract their attention.”
They patrol passed and the Marines piled out onto the street, rushing down an alley, bolters raised, always alert. They travelled down the next street, staying close to the buildings as not to attract attention. Soon they were at the edge of a large square, where the Eldar had set up a base of operations. This was where their frontline for the defence was located – Shuriken Cannons mounted in the buildings and various aspect warriors standing at the ready. They wouldn’t make it through the square alive.
“Herod, can you spot any Rangers in the surrounding buildings.”
There was silence for half a minute before he responded.
“No trace of their signatures,” his voice responded, showing relief.
Rangers were a trained unit of Eldar snipers. They could hide almost anywhere and their aim was accurate enough to target the weaker eye piece of the Space Marine’s armour. Deadly, precise and invisible.
“Altivar, have you located any weakness in the perimeter?”
“No, they have the entire circumference well locked-down. I take it you will require a distraction?”
“Give me five minutes to relocate. We are currently at their main base of operations. It wouldn’t be the easiest place to breach the line.”
“But the most damaging to cause a distraction,” Altivar replied, a humorous edge on his voice, “This could be fun.”
* * *
The roar of multiple Space Marine jump packs sounded in the night, followed by the screech of the Howling Banshee aspect and the dull thuds of fragmentation charges. Causen smirked and watched as the Guardians and Dire Avengers guarding the portion of the perimeter moved off after a brief hesitation. Then he broke cover, crossing the street in two strides before continuing through the ruins of the city.
“Altivar, the entire sector is moving towards you, and we are in. You may evacuate as soon as you need,” Causen informed him via the comms.
He didn’t expect a response, Altivar would be busy. Within seconds the rest of Tactical Squad Sigma was with him and they moved quickly amongst the rubble of what used to exist here. Then they saw the cruiser, stretched out before them, a barren wasteland of nothing stretching out around it from where the shock wave had impacted. A few ruins were still standing.
“Marines, we make for the main loading ramp on this side of the cruiser. There are most likely enemy units watching this wasteland so we will have to get in, grab some armour and get out quickly. Break in three… two…”
At that moment there was a sharp whistle, followed by a boom and one of the Marines collapsed to the ground in a spray of blood. Instinct took over as Causen and the rest of the squad flung themselves to the ground, hugging the cover. As he did so Causen checked his HUD. All of Haemon’s vital signs were strong, except from brain activity.
“Dear Emperor,” he muttered scanning the ship for the source of the sniper.
Then, he spotted a flash, and a second later a bullet pinged off his helmet, as he ducked to the ground once again.
“Herod, lay down some suppressive fire on the sniper’s location. Nikias, send it to its grave.”
As the first heavy bolter crack began to sound however, Causen felt the earth shift underneath him and heard the crack of a tile. He turned to a majestic sight. A twelve foot tall, elegant wraithbone construct was walking through the rubble towards him. It had a large elongated white head, with fragile looking limbs. It was anything but fragile. In its right hand it wielded an eight foot blade, glistening in a blue electricity. It was raised.
“Marines, get to the ship, and take down those snipers. Finish the mission,” Causen yelled whilst leaping to his feat and drawing his blade in one motion. The dire blade came crashing towards him and he leapt to the side, steadying his aim on the construct. He let off several shells before retreating again, moving out of melee range. This only allowed the cannons mounted on its arms to blaze to life, the deadly shurikens impacting with his armour. Quickly he leapt forward, slashing with his blade while he dropped a grenade at its feet. The blade glinted off its armour and Causen landed on his feet, before bracing for the shockwave that would follow. The grenade detonated spraying shrapnel into the wraiths underbelly, not even causing a moment’s hesitation. It did not feel pain like a living being. It strode forward, and lashed out with its sword, which Causen sloppily parried. In the next blow the Wraithlord knocked him to the ground, and his sword clattered out of reach beside him. As he reached out for it the Wraithlord raised it blade one last time, before bringing it crashing down. Then the entire thing froze, solid as a rock. Something had gone wrong with the psychic link with the spirit. Causen breathed more easily for a seconds and grasped his blade just as an armoured gauntlet grabbed his shoulder. “We need to go now,” Abrax said, lifting him to his feet, “The Pathfinders have been eliminated, but Altivar have evacuated. We don’t have very long before the main force arrives.”
“Did we take any casualties?”
“Haemon and Sethos were both hit by the Pathfinders before we could do anything.”
“They will be avenged. By the emperor it will be so.”
Abrax set of briskly towards the ship. But on an afterthought Causen turned around, primed a meltabomb from his belt, and placed it at the Wraithlord’s feet. Then he too took off to the cruiser, which was silhouetted against a dark night sky.
* * *
The six remaining Marines entered the armoury quickly and silently. Nearly all of the transport vehicles had been destroyed in the shock of the crash, or had been disabled by the Eldar in their sweep of the room, however one Rhino was still in working condition and it was quickly switched on and filled with fuel.
“Marines, we have less than five minutes to get out of here. We need weaponry and munitions from the armoury and any other supplies you can acquire. I’m going to do a quick search of the rest of the ship to find out why the Eldar were so intent on not letting us get in here.”
At this, Causen turned on his heel and left making a streamline for the navigation deck. He navigated his way easily through the familiar grey corridors, side passages flashing past in a blur and within several seconds he was standing at the bridge. The crew lay across the floor, their bodies broken and mangled. Not a Space Marine was in sight. Quickly he checked the navigation banks – which were wiped clean. The he moved on, nothing more was of this much interest to a Space Marine. Quickly he sprinted to the Apothecarium to find all of the medical equipment looted, only a few syringes left on the floor. It was not here then… then something in his mind clicked.
The transfer of a dark relic under hushed glances. A chaos artefact of some kind.
The artefact had been stored in the Chapel, and was certainly worth guarding the entire cruiser for, especially if they didn’t know exactly where it was.
“They are after something I would rather not remove, but we have to. A chaos artefact – a deep blue sword. I will retrieve it in a couple of minutes and then we must be out of this place. Before they get here.” Causen called into his radio.
“You have thirty seconds; they’re cutting through the hanger door now. And we can hear them storming the corridor.”
“Finish loading the Rhino and then bunker down. Don’t switch it on.”
Causen broke from his run and entered the Chapel, his weapons sheathed and his helmet hanging at his side. The blade was hidden in plain sight, a Shadow Blade motif, replacing the relic blade of one of the chapter masters statues lining the wall. Quickly Causen removed the blade and sheathed it on his belt, drawing his power weapon. He then dashed back into the corridor.
* * *
Herod sat behind one of the destroyed Rhinos, his heavy bolter slung in his arms.
"Marines! Supressive fire now!" he called out, spinning around the side of the tank.
He jammed the trigger down, and massive bolter rounds began to spew forth from it, covering the corridor with enough fire to cause the most hesitant attacker to charge forward. He kept a view on the hanger door out of the corner of his vision which was now heating up. It had been made to sustain itself against a space bombardment, so something large must have been cutting through. Then he saw a cylindrical object soar out of the corridor. Quickly he dimmed his visor, as the flash bang detonated, before he quickly switched it back up to full and continued to pelt the corridor with rounds. Nothing had been achieved by the explosive…
“Warp Spiders have materialised within the hanger door!” Abrax called out, as Herod saw a plasma bolt flash through his vision – his visor crackling due to the interference.
Suddenly the side of the Rhino was pelted with energy from the Warp spiders, before once again Herod pivoted around the corner of the Rhino, Heavy Bolter blazing. A Warp Spider leapt forward, teleporting every time Herod drew a bead on him to another trajectory. It was 20 metres away, then 10, before it vanished entirely. He turned to see the Spider perched above him, Web Cannons raised. Then its head vanished in a red puff, its body clattering limp to the ground.
“Get into the Rhino!” Causen called out to them, leaping forward in great strides.
The engine burst to life, a great roar echoing throughout the launch bay, and the Marines piled in one after the other. Within seconds Causen was the only Marine not in the tank, and it took off, rolling towards the outer hanger door.
* * *
Causen reached the doorway to see a Warp Spider hulking over Herod, and his Bolt Pistol was in his hand in an instant. The next one the Eldar was dead. Quickly he continued forward as the Rhino started to lumber towards the hanger door. With great strides he caught the tank, and leapt onto its helm and rapped quickly on the top hatch. It opened and a hand reached out to help him in but the help was quickly rejected.
“Hand me a rocket launcher please,” he requested, and quickly he stood crouched on the top of the tank, rocket barrel raised.
A large chunk of the door fell outwards to reveal a Wraithlord, hefting a large Vibro cannon on their shoulders. Quickly it dropped the demolition instrument and hefted a large sword from its back. The sword would tear through the tank like a knife through butter, but he wouldn’t let that happen. The first missile left the barrel, winding an elegant trail of smoke through the air and an instant later a second followed it. The first impacted hard, and the construct stumbled backwards before the second overthrew its balance and it fell over backwards, landing with a heavy thud. Then, at that instant the Rhino ploughed through the lines of Eldar outside the hanger bay, as they leapt out of the way of the Space Marine’s wrath. Quickly Causen dropped the missile launcher back inside the top hatch and requested a second weapon.
Quickly he received a long barrelled rifle and hefted it to his shoulder, dropping to his knee. He scanned the remains of the Cruiser and his sights locked onto 5 anti-armour emplacements. Efficiently, with 10 well placed shells to the head, each of the emplacements were down, without unleashing a single shot. Causen breathed a sigh of relief before dropping through the top hatch, to joining his battle brothers.
“I believe you actually managed to hit every target, Causen, what was it last time, only 5 out of 10?” Abrax piped up, a smile forming on his un-helmed face.
Causen also unlatched his helm, a smile on his face, before he head butted Abrax, dead on the centre of his cranium. Abrax fell, to the ground before standing back up, a smile playing across his face.
“Well said brother.”
* * *
Causen scanned their new stocks of munitions alongside shelves stacked with layer upon layer of Imperial weaponry. They had returned to the hideout and driven the whole rhino inside the underground sewer system before unloading crate after crate of their cargo without another conflict. Assault Squad Gamma had dropped through one of the many hatches several hours later, their armour battered and their bodies worn. They had lost two casualties to the Eldar in the distraction, having sprung one of the largest traps the Eldar had pulled in the courtyard. Then the sergeants had conversed. They were to make a series of raids on the Eldar forces, trying to probe the location of the Farseer from their actions, for once the Farseer was destroyed, the forces would be left leaderless and aimless, and would be easy prey. Causen turned and drew a Power Fist off a mantle on the wall. Causen preferred to use a Power Weapon than a Power Fist, as the fist was too bulky and cumbersome for his liking. However Nikias, his explosives expert took great pleasure in the over powered fist and its raw power. He also drew a Combi-Plasma and some alternate ammunition from crates along the eastern wall. On a second thought as he left the room he clipped three Meltabombs to his belt.
‘Tactical Squad Sigma, form up on me in the Armoury for debriefing.’ He called into the Vox whilst pacing into the centre of the room.
Within several minutes all of Sigma were assembled around him in a tight circle.
‘Brothers, we have fought a long campaign here, and the rest of our company is due here in a week. Of course with the Warp in the state it is in it could be anywhere between a day and a month. We are now restocked in all of our ammunition stores, and we will be performing a series of raids on the Eldar emplacements to scry the position of their Farseer. This will be dangerous as we will most likely be marching into several traps in these raids. Men, I want you to restock your stores of ammunition, as well as any other weaponry you would like now, and keep them with you. We will probably be leaving soon.’
The Marines eagerly walked around the side of the room, Herod restocking his Heavy Bolter and Abrax his plasma cells.
‘Nikias, I believe I have something you would appreciate.’ Causen said as he watched him scanning the wall of the room.
He drew the giant gauntlet and fist from behind his back and flung it across the room to Nikias, who caught it with a start. A smile widened across his face as he slipped it over his hand and turned the device on, great crackling arcs of energy leaping out from its edges.
‘Why do I not fear the Eldar Wraithlords so much anymore?’ Aeton joked taking a Meltagun from the shelf and slinging it over his shoulder with a laugh.
‘I guess its cause Nikias is twice as scary as that wraith construct with that disproportional fist on,’ Returned Phrenicos, whilst attaching an Auspex to his belt.
‘Ok brothers, go get some rest while Uriel and his Marines look after our backs.
* * *
Causen’s eyes snapped open as a dull thud pierced the relative silence, and in seconds he was on his feet, Combi Plasma in hand. He quickly scanned his quarters, before taking Barak from its mount on his wall, quickly he assembled the rest of his wargear before activating his vox.
‘Uriel, what is happening?’
There was a moment’s pause before the reply.
‘This is Brother Beniamin. Uriel has been incapacitated. The Eldar have found us, they have breached the Eastern wing.’
A second later Orion’s cool voice spoke over the intercom.
‘Marines, evacuation plan B, we proceed out of the Western Wing to “The Fortress.” Hadron, can you collect all of the ammunition we recently acquired. I believe it may be of use to us.’
“The Fortress” was the name the Marines had given to a nearby monastery which they had reinforced as a reconnaissance post.
‘Sigma, form up along the inner Eastern gate, I will meet you there to hold off for the remainder of Lambda Squad have time to evacuate. We will form the rear guard.’
He received green acknowledgement lights from each of his members and was in seconds at the doorway, Bolter raised to his shoulder. A long corridor with several side rooms was stretched out before him with a sharp bend at the end which rose to the surface. That is where Lambda should have been posted. A single Marine body was lying motionless on the ground, a great chunk of his torso simply missing.
‘Lambda, where are you?’
Silence.
‘Lambda!?’
‘Causen, we are in full retreat, will be at the inner Eastern gate shortly. We have a large number of Aspect Warrior opposition, no larger constructs that I have seen.’
At that second three Marines rounded the corner, each sporting a dozen piercings in their armour and several bloody wounds.
‘Beniamin, where is the rest of your squad?’
Without turning he continued down the corridor.
‘They are all casualties, the Eldar overwhelmed our position. ‘
‘Emperor protect us…’ he muttered under his breath as the first Howling Banshee rounded the corner, blade shimmering in the low light.
He loaded in a clip of his newly acquired Kraken rounds, and fired a single shot at the first female Eldar, the bullets improved penetration cleaving a hole straight through its skull. Then with their characteristic scream the rest of the squad rounded the corner, pistols raised. Bolters blazed to life as the rest of Sigma brought their bolters to bear, cutting down the Banshees before they were half way down the corridor. The only reason that Marines ever lost a battle was through being out numbered, but when placed in a bottleneck, numbers did not matter. The Marines would be able to hold off for as long as they needed.
At that moment a full squad of Dire Avengers, lead by a Warlock rounded the corner, unleashing a storm of micro shurikens upon the Marines. Causen pulled his head in behind the doorway, signalling to Abrax to take the first shot. Once the last of the blades had streamed through the doorway Abrax stepped into the open and pulled the trigger twice, two crackling balls of plasma screaming down the corridor. Both dissipated into nothing as a great field of energy leapt up around the Avengers shielding them from the deadly projectiles. Causen continued with a series of bolts from his own rifle as the rest of the Marines opened fire, bolts exploding against nothing once they reached the enemy, causing no damage whatsoever. Causen slung his rifle back around his shoulder and signalled to Nikias to follow him as he unsheathed his blade from his scabbard and drew a pair of fragmentation grenades from his belt. He pulled the pins in the same motion as sliding them through the doorway and once he heard their muffled explosion leapt into the settling dust, Nikias on his heels. He leapt into the air, spearing the first Avenger to the ground whilst sweeping Barak around decapitating another. Then he turned to the Exarch raising his bolt pistol and charged forward. The bolts ricochet off the shimmering shield that leapt up around him as Causen brought Barak crashing down towards its head. Their blades met in a shower of sparks and he continued in his series of blows, each one purposefully blocked by the master warrior. He moved backwards circling his opponent and caught a glance of Nikias backhanding one of a few remaining Avengers, shattering almost every bone in its slender body. Causen turned back to his opponent, blade placed defensively in front of his chest. The Exarch leapt forward in a flurry of well practiced blows, each more outrageous than the last, but they achieved their purpose, Causen losing his footing and stumbling backwards. The Exarch leapt forward, its blade poised to strike him through the throat as he lashed out with Barak while in the process of falling. The blade met no resistance, but the scent of burnt flesh indicated that it had met his foe, and Causen felt a body land beside him, unmoving.
He picked himself up quickly drawing his sword once again.
‘You fight honourably human. Well met.’ An alien voice foreign to his mind, the Exarch breating heavily on the ground, its chest split open from the wound.
‘Please ease my suffering so I may return to my Craftworld?’ It continued to ask, its breath heaving under the effort.
Quickly he put the xeno to rest before turning back to Nikias who was circling around the Warlock. Nikias leapt at it, swinging his Power Fist forward as it crackled with surreal energy. The Warlock took the impact to the chest, in a resounding thud as his runic armour shattered, splintering under the forceful impact. The entire torso of the psyche caved in, and he died in an instant.
Then something dawned on Causen. No more Eldar forces had assaulted them since the Dire Avengers had charged around the corner. Then he heard it, an almost mechanical marching echoing down the corridor. No Eldar forces would make that much noise, they were too nimble and soft footed to even be heard by Space Marines. No Eldar but the Wraith constructs that was…but a Wraithlord would not fit in these enclosed spaces, leaving but one option, the Wraithguard.
‘Men, form up behind the gateway, and ready all of the heavy weapons that we possess.’
‘Causen, we need several more minutes before we have removed everything we need to.’ Orion called over the radio, his voice stern.
They moved into positions within the Eastern wings protective alcoves, before cocking their rifles. Then the first strode around the corner. It had a massively elongated head, with a stout body, limbs comparable to a Space Marine. The real threat however was the weapon it wielded in its arms. Each was capable of tearing a hole into the warp, disregarding the resilience of Space Marine armour, rather just tearing the very fabric of reality apart, and everything in its path. Causen shouldered his Combi Bolter and let off the crackling ball of energy, as the rest of the marines opened fire, heavy bolter, rocket launcher and bolter rounds impacting with the lead wraith. Quickly he reloaded his rifle as the dust cleared to see the construct still marching forward, covered in various battle scars.
‘Fire again!’ Causen shouted as he unleashed fire upon the machine, this time Vengeance rounds impacting with their foes armour.
These rounds were made to pierce Space Marine armour, their unstable cores able to bore through the toughest shielding. They simply impacted its carapace, barely penetrating the outer shell as the rest of the second volley impacted, and it stumbled to the ground under the sheer weight of fire. Aeton levelled his Meltagun one last time upon the creature, and doused it in a molten mess, melting its central crystalline cortex. Then the next four strode around the corner, followed by another Warlock, hefting a mighty Witchblade.
Causen swore under his breath once again levelling his bolter upon the on comers. Quickly he jammed down the trigger, his bolter tearing into the closest target, but it kept advancing through the oncoming explosives, trudging forward in grim silence. There were a few seconds silence before the construct’s cannons lit, tearing a hole between reality and the warp. Quickly he pulled back around the corner to face an entire squad of Warp Spiders, spread out, covering the ground behind them.
‘Retreat!’ he called as the first grenade exploded, and he raised his rifle at the Eldar threat, firing a salvo of shells into their wake.
The Marines turned as one, bolters blazing, but they were buffeted with an incredible amount of fire. Causen fired into their ranks, watching as Phrenicos fell beside him, his helmeted head torn from his battered torso. Quickly Causen primed and threw a grenade behind him, whilst drawing his blade, and leaping forward at the Spiders. He cut into one, as another shout called from behind him, another brother falling to the savage assault. He cut into ones torso, his blade drawing clumps of blood from its chest, before his chest was torn open through concentrated enemy fire. His blade still in motion, he felled one more enemy before he collapsed to the ground, the blood pouring from his chest.
* * *
He awoke on a sturdy wooden table, his chest plate removed and his chest a bloody, clotted mess. Pain surged through his limbs, and a dim light streamed in through a crack in the covered window behind him. But the pain was a positive. It meant he was alive.
‘Sir, how are you feeling? You took a fair pounding back there.’
It was Abrax, the side of his helmet clearly singed through plasma backfire.
‘The others? Are they alright?’
‘Nikias and Herod also made it out, they managed to drag your corpse away once Orion arrived.’
‘We will take our revenge… Then we are at the outpost, about to be sieged by the Eldar at any moment?’
‘That seems to be our position…’
‘Then let them come, we will be ready.’
He sat up, and winced as his chest tore at itself, still in a state of disrepair after his fall.
‘How long until I will be able to fight?’
‘Your torso still needs another two hours of self repair, even with our drug administration. You are scheduled for your next dosage now.’
Once again his vision blurred, and he collapsed to the desk with a large thud.
* * *
Causen woke to the sound of bolter fire, and quickly sat upright. His chest plate was re-attached, and as he moved, daggers no longer tore into his side. Quickly he armed his bolter, and drew his blade. Quickly he moved to the entrance archway, to find an incredible sight stretched out before him.
Sixteen Marines stood behind barricades as an entire Eldar force formed into position just outside of bolter range, led by the mysterious Farseer. Then the Farseer, followed by his seer council stepped forward into no man’s land, walking out to meet their Space Marine foe.
Orion stepped from behind his barricade, followed as the other squad leaders, and within an instant Causen was at their side, striding, with his sword drawn in hand.
‘Shadow Lord Orion,’ the Farseer spoke, its voice layered, mystic and harsh tones woven through each other like thread in a cloth.
‘Farseer, to what may I owe your acquaintance?’ Orion spoke back, his voice free of fear.
‘You have in your company a Chaos artefact that is not meant to fall into the wrong hands. We want you to surrender it to us, so that we may remove it from temptations way.’
‘The blade we secured from the mighty Tzeentch Sorcerer? We hold it as a trophy of our triumphs, and for our Librarians to unlock its power.’
‘Do you know what that blade is capable of?’
‘No, but I am going to find out.’
‘Surrender the blade and we will leave you in piece.’
‘Never’
‘Then you will die!’
The Farseer’s eyes lit a brilliant blue and each of the four marines was thrown backwards through a mighty force. Causen cringed, as a force simultaneously entered his mind, pushing in to crush the life from him. He hit the ground, and called fire, as an instant later his mind was released, and he stood to his feet. The Eldar moved forward as one, whilst great arcs of energy leapt from the Farseer’s hands towards the fortified Marines.
Quickly Causen returned to his defences, to find not all of his brothers had returned. Beniamin and Hadron lay lifeless on the rocky ground, no physical damage done to their bodies, but no life left in their minds.
Quickly he raised his bolter, and added to the outgoing fire as first a wave of Guardians charged forward, thousands of Shurikens cutting through the air like knifes. They were cut down, but an instant later an Aspect wave replaced them, Howling Banshees and Dire Avengers leaping forwards in bounds. But as soon as he began to fire upon the new threat, squads of Warp Spiders materialised within the fortifications. These were followed by Striking Scorpions, leaping from the dark ridges of the fortress and Swooping Hawks landing from the sky. The Marines were being cut down mercilessly through sheer weight of opposition and in that instant Causen knew what he must do. He leapt from the barricade and charged forward, drawing his blade covering the ground between himself and the Farseer in less than a second.
‘Gamma, on me!’ he shouted, his blade sweeping towards his foes head.
It met the Farseer’s Witchblade with a metallic clang, before he launched into a series of attacks, each blow a reaction from the previous parry. Vaguely he noticed the remanets of Gamma crashing into the Warlocks around them, but all his might was focussed on the Farseer. Then it raised its off hand, and without a moments delay, threw him into the ground with nothing but warp power. As he struggled to his feet, Orion took his place, his Assassins blade sweeping through the air towards the alien psyker. It met the Farseer’s witchblade with a sharp crack, as great arcs of lightning leapt from its eyes, dissipating on Orion’s iron halo. Quickly Causen drew his bolter, and began to blaze a path through the xenos between himself and his captain, blade in hand.
‘Lambda and Psi down’ he heard Abrax’s voice in the comms as he fought with all his might to move, but an instant later he saw the flame in the sky.
A great ball of fire had punched through the clouds, and was plummeting towards their position, throwing out a fiery wake.
‘Nikias and Herod down, it’s just me back here, moving to your position.’ He heard Abrax call once again, and he turned to see him brought to the ground by a squad of Striking Scorpions, their blades tearing into his shell. Only Altivar, Orion and himself were still standing, and they were going to be crushed through weight of numbers of the Eldar force. But they would not go down without a fight
Then the flaming ball hit, a great shockwave kicking out from the ground, knocking everyone in the vicinity off their feet. The orb then erupted in an inferno of fire, licking out in all directions, charring the earth a dirty black.
TEN YEARS EARLIER
Mathew landed with a dull thump inside the hanger bay, quickly summoning stronger barriers around his mind. They were searching from him, and they would destroy him mercilessly for something which he had not done. But it was beyond reasoning with them now. He was labelled a traitor, and that was as much as they needed to know. He reached the end of the hanger bay drew his swordstaff, plunging it into the plasteel reinforced doorway. Within seconds he had cut straight through the door, and entered the room with the prototype flyer. Its backswept wings cut meanly through the space and quickly he activated the ship, its eyrie blue lights flickering on, and the boarding ramp lowered to the ground. Quickly he ran up the ramp, unclasped his helm and placed his bolter and staff inside the weapons locker, before continuing into the cockpit. Then, without a seconds hesitation he hit the ignition. Immediately the roof opened up into a war torn sky, fighters strafing units on the ground, and hunting each other in vicious dogfights. At once he plotted a course into space and sat back, as the ship accelerated at an incredible rate, and within thirty seconds he was in space. Then the communications console burst to life.
‘Unidentified aircraft, identify yourself or you will be shot down.’
Mathew considered his options for a second before he replied.
‘This is Justicar Jacob. I am in pursuit of the Chaos Lord who initiated this invasion.’
The reply was immediate.
‘We have no chaos fighters on our scanners, what is your identification code?’
Matt hesitated, before drawing the psycho-conductive helmet from the pilot’s seat and placed it over his head. Suddenly he felt the control of the vehicle flood through his system, as his mind linked with the machine through the warp matrix.
‘You will be destroyed.’
‘Good luck,’ he muttered as his mouth spread into a rough grin.
Quickly he brought up a system map, and highlighted the jump parameters, where he would be far enough from the planets gravity well to make the jump into warp space. Suddenly four red blips appeared on his radar, moving closer on the radar.
He began influencing the warp a second later, drawing matter together behind the tail of his craft whilst summoning shields around the rest of the ship. A second later they opened fire.
Great bolts of energy leapt from their fighters towards him opening great gaping holes in his armour as he continued to draw the matter. When it reached the size of a golf ball, he propelled it backwards into the enemy craft, piercing its cockpit, which continued to explode outwards, the pilot exploding in a red puff. Quickly he guided the first craft into a second, which crumpled into its brother, crushing its pilot instantaneously. The other two fighters copped enough shrapnel from the collision that they had to pull back, leaking energy, oxygen or coolant through great gouges in their carapaces
He continued unassailed to the jump zone, not considered a vital objective due to the small ships incapacity of warp travel. There they were wrong however, as the small craft had been designed for jumps, allowing for the fact that it would have a warp capable pilot, a psyker.
Seconds later he left reality.
PRESENT TIME
Causen’s visor dampened the brightness of the flames as the Eldar fell to the fire, it piercing their formidable armour. For its worth, Causen watched as the exterior temperature of his suit rose to 800 degrees whilst he remained cool in the interior. Then suddenly they died down, the wrath of the firestorm gone. Orion was sprawled on the ground, his armour blackened before the Farseer and his Seer Council who had weathered the storm. Altivar sat crouched further from the impact his armour baring the same black scorch marks.
A figure emerged from the depth of the impact crater, its power armour black as the night, the only variation in its tone, the red glow of its visor. In its right hand it bore an inverted swordstaff, the blade glowing an eyrie blue against the blackened ground. This was no Marine from any chapter under the emperors light, and yet the craft of its helm was familiar, crafted like the ancient helms of old. Causen stood to his feet and surveyed their surroundings, only the Farseer and her retinue had survived the impact, the rest of the Eldar force lying singed and broken on the ground, not stirring amongst the rubble.
The figure stepped out of the crater, and surveyed its surroundings before addressing the Farseer.
‘Witch, you have lost, your force has been decimated, and if you do not leave now you will be destroyed,’ he said, in a stern voice, commanding an aura of power.
‘Librarian, your power cannot possibly match my own. You will be crushed under heel if that is what it takes to return the relic these Marines hold to its rightful owner.’
‘I believe you underestimate my power, witch.’
‘I believe you overestimate your power, you are only a modest psyker, not even worthy of a Warlock. Your mind will be crushed.’
‘Then what are you waiting for, witch?’
At that moment two of the huge Eldar constructs, Wraithlords appeared in a violent flash of light, both wielding one of the tremendous dire swords. Causen stepped forward, before receiving a warning glance from the Marine and stood still, watching as the two machinations got closer to it. In an instant the black clad figure leapt into action, and in an instant his blade was embedded in the cortex of the first machination, and he planted his feet firmly on its smooth head. Half a second later he thrust out his free hand, as the second began to advance forward, a bolt of energy throwing it to the ground, as he thrust his blade in deeper to the first, which exploded in a bolt of energy, and the construct collapsed to the ground, its rune stones shattered.
Silence reigned for a moment before the Farseer spoke.
‘Very impressive marine.’
‘That was just the beginning, leave now, or I will hunt down every Eldar being on this planet.’
‘You would have to get through me first, and no Space Marine can match me in the warps power.’
The Marine threw his sword staff to the ground with a harsh clattering sound, before his visors display darkened, and a second later the Farseer’s eyes lit up in a brilliant blue light. The marine stumbled backwards for a second, before pushing himself forward, towards the enemy psyker, a great war being fought within their minds. The strain began to show on the Farseer’s face as the silence dragged on, bulges appearing on the veins in its forehead, before all of a sudden it collapsed to the ground, dead. A second later the five remaining seer council leapt forward, witchblades drawn. The warriors swordstaff leapt to his hands at the same time as Causen leapt forward and Orion rose from the ground, and leapt into the fray, blade sizzling through the warm air. Within seconds the Eldar had been dispatched, and nothing was left of the offensive force.
‘We owe you a great debt warrior. What is your name?’
The warrior hesitated for a second, as if considering his options before, unclasping his helm and replying.
‘I am Librarian Solaris. My services are yours to command.’
He raised his swordstaff to Orion who took the weapon, examining it before returning it to Solaris.
‘You bear a great weapon Solaris, and yet I know its craft. It bears the same style of the Nemesis Force Weapons of the Grey Knights Space Marines Chapter.’
Solaris’s eyes widened for an instant before settling into an even stare.
‘And this poses me a question Solaris. What could have caused your expulsion from the Grey Knights? The only way to leave a chapter is through death, or being deemed a heretic, and you are most certainly not dead.’
He hesitated a second before replying.
‘I was betrayed by my brother, who decreed that I had turned to chaos. I fled the Grey Knights in service of the Emperor. I assure you that my motives are pure. No Grey Knight has ever turned to chaos, and none ever will.’
‘What rank were you within the Grey Knight hierarchy? You fight with incredible skill, and it appears your warp powers are without rival. I would not expect this kind of skill to come from any less than a Veteran.’
‘I was an inductee when I fled, but that was some years ago now. I took refuge in a death world, and have intensely studied the art of the Librarian since then. I have not faced another psyker in many years. May I enter into your chapter?’
‘You will become a brother Librarian, under but one condition. You submit yourself to testing by our Librarians, Chaplains and Apothecaries before you are inducted so that we may be sure of your motives.’
‘As you wish, may I ask your name?’
‘Orion, Assassin Lord Orion, and this is my brother, Tactical Sergeant Causen.’
‘When is evac?’
They will be here by sundown, and then your screening shall begin. No-one shall know your origin. No-one shall know of your past. No-one will know anything other than the fact that you are a master psyker and warrior.
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