Monday 13 October 2014

Heresy Lists for campaign

Connor pre heresy:
Lords of war:
Kurze 435pts

HQ
Praetor with thunder hammer, lightning claw, iron halo and digital lasers 185pts

Elites
Contemptor with extra close combat weapon 175pts

Troops
Terror squad with extra boltgun 135pts
Terror squad with extra boltgun 135pts
Terror squad with extra boltgun 135pts

Fast Attack
10x Raptors with 2x melta guns 280pts
8x Raptors with plasma pistol 225pts
6x Raptors with plasma pistol 185pts

Luke
Lords of War
Vulkan 425pts

HQ
Praetor with iron halo dragonscale shield, mantle of the eldar drake, digital lasers and paragon blade 190pts
Librarian level 3 with refractor field, artificer armour and dragonscale shield 180pts
Command squad with power weapon 115pts

Elites
5x firedrakes with thunder hammer, dragonscale shield and master with master crafted thunder hammer 350pts

Troops
Tactical squad 150pts
Tactical squad 150pts
Pyroclast squad with power weapon 170pts

Heavy Support
Land raider phobos with armoured ceramite 270pts

Legion list: Ultramarines

HQ
Company Champion with artificer armour, power sword and refractor field 120pts
Praetor with combi-plasma, paragon blade, digital lasers and iron halo 175pts
Navigator 50pts

Elites
Contemptor pattern dreadnought with kheres pattern assault cannon 190pts

Troops
Tactical squad with extra close combat weapon and sergeant with artificer armour 180pts
Legion breacher siege squad with sergeant armed with thunder hammer and artificer armour and squad with melta gun and graviton gun and entire squad with melta bombs 335pts

Lords of War
Marauder Bomber with Inferno bombs 400pts

Allies
HQ
Archmagos Dominus with mechanicum proctiva, cyber familiar, machinator array and abeyant 175pts

Troops
Thallax cohort with photon thruster 160pts

Heavy Support
Myrmidon destructors with irradiation cleanser, conversion beamer and volkite culverin 215pts


Chris
Lords of War
Ferrus Manus 455pts

HQ
Spearhead Centurion 80pts
Iron Father Autek Mor 225pts

Elites
Medusan Immortals with two graviton guns and artificer armour 290pts
2x Apothecaries with artificer armour 110pts
Gorgan Terminators 200pts
Legion dreadnought with multi melta 125pts

Troops
Tactical Squad 150pts
Tactical Squad 150pts

Heavy Support
Predator with lascannon sponsons, magna melta canon, machine spirit and aroured ceramite 215pts


Mike
Lords of War:
Horus 500pts
Lord of skulls with ichor cannon 898pts

HQ
Abaddon with power sword 215pts

Elites
Dreadnought with chainfist, close combat weapon, two melta guns, frag assault launchers and armoured ceramite 200pts

Troops
Tactical squad with extra close combat weapon and artificer armour 180pts

Tuesday 7 October 2014

A crimson harvest



By the time the wolves arrived, the battle was already in full swing. Nobody was sure how it had happened but the forces of chaos had arrived en masse to a deserted world, prompting the other races to investigate. First on the scene were the orks, hoping for a war. Immediately they started to attack the chaos and a full blown war had ensued. The wolves just watched as the two bitter foes struct at each other. Had they not been detected by a reserve force of orks joined by a crude titan, they would have been content to let them destroy themselves and finish the survivors off. The titan opened fire and forced the wolves to retreat to the safety of the nearby mountains, hounded by ork jets pouring black smoke through the otherwise clean skies. It was at this point that the dark eldar made themselves known. In a terrible, albeit impressive, display, they erupted from a webway portal and obliterated the perusing orks. A single dagger hulled raider floated down towards the wolves where Bjorn stepped forward to greet their apparent savior. A single, jade armored figure dropped to the ground before him, completely undeterred by the ancients size.
"Most esteemed one" bowed the stranger, with a mixture of respect and mockery in his tone. "I notice you seem to have some trouble with the other races set upon this planet? Might I suggest a temporary alliance of a mutually beneficial kind?"
Bjorn was taken aback by the forwardness and total lack of fear the stranger had, but he could not deny that right now they needed their help if they wanted to find out what the chaos had found on the planet.
"What would the benefit for us be if we were to allow you to fight alongside us xenos?" Bjorn rumbled through his vox, sounding like thunder itself.
The dark eldar smiled. "Why, the relic of course"
Bjorn was once again surprised, why would they hand them the only prize that could be gained by this fight? "Then what is your benefit?" He questioned.
"The survivors of the enemy races, I want them, and alive. None of your "Emperor's forgiveness" or the like. Alive for us and us only."
Bjorn rumbled. The thought of the traitors living for longer than they should was bad, but whatever the xenos had in store would be far worse if the stories were true. But how could he trust them, when his last encounter had them kidnapping aspirants from Fenris itself. Right now, as much as he hated it, he had no other choice.  "I shall watch you, Xenos" he growled.
"That is all you will be able to do" the stranger smirked, before leaping up onto his craft.

On the battlefield, the stranger was keeping his promise. As the wolves piled into the foray they found every target already beset on. Each time the wolves closed in on their prey something fell would appear and kill the foe. Bjorn himself entered the fray and charged at a horde of orks to see them suddenly fall to the floor convulsing from poison wracking their bodies. Deep in the heart of the chaos lines, Bjorn spotted the stranger midst a group of what could only be described as monsters. At his side a psyker blending perfectly the arts of combat and psychic mastery to destroy her opponents. But the spectacle that was the stranger was nothing short of a masterpiece. Any foe that stepped before him was cut down with merciless efficiency, some unaware they were even dead until he stepped over their headless corpse. Every challenge was met with the simple downward lightning strike of a sword. Within a few short moments the chaos lines had been decimated, the most striking being the group of pathfinders camped inside the nearby tower had taken shots at a looming vindicator and successfully detonated its ammo reserves turning it into a smoldering ruin in seconds. The stranger found himself in front of a pair of titan mockeries. The smaller one before him paid him no heed and was blasting at the wolves who had been forced into hiding in the nearby forest. With a flick of his wrist a nearby duo of talos descended upon the metal walker and began dismantling it piecemeal. This left just the larger one. From atop its parapit, the ork Warlord was bellowing, its flag proudly proclaiming it as a high ranking member of 'eadrippas clan. The stranger ran towards the titan, allowing the wolves terminus ultra to distract it as he reached its abse and began his rapid climb to its peak. At its top amidst a rickety gangway, the two lords faced each other. The titan lurching back and forth unleashing torrents of fire and belching acrid smoke, with the occasional ground shaking shudder as its killkannon fired. The two adversaries eyed each other up before each bellowing a warcry and charging. The ork warboss was far bigger and stronger, each blow a killing strike, but the eldar was far quicker and better trained, and the ork couldn't land a single blow upon its foe. The stranger ducked and pirouetted around the ork titan, leaping from gangways and slashing out at the great ork. Whilst the orks attacks were always missing, the eldar was the exact opposite, and soon all the wounds were taking their toll. The warboss was getting slower, and more sluggish. Soon, the warboss was left a panting, whilst the eldar was as fresh as ever, if not seemingly healthier, its blade dripping with the blood of the warboss. With a final bestial roar, the ork lunged for its foe, but the eldar simply sidestepped the creature and with a flourish decapitated the warboss and let its body crash to the ground. The stranger turned its attention to the titan, but before he could do anything a gleaming blue halo enveloped it and in an instant it disappeared, leaving the eldar hovering momentarily in mid air. As he plummeted to the ground he landed with deadly grace, no harm befalling him, just in time to watch the remnants of the chaos forces be decimated by a charge of helions, dragging their foes into the sky and tearing them apart like carrion, spreading their entrails over their still fighting brothers. The fight was over, and the wolves hadn't even spilt blood. The stranger walked up to Bjorn.
"Told you, you could only watch".

Thursday 2 October 2014

A dark fate

Kha'esh looked upon the system with hunger. So many different foes, so many different tastes of pain awaited them, laid out like a platter before him. He could hardly contain his excitement at the prospect. The pulsing mechanicum planet in the center was of no import or nuisance to him, having far transcended such technology even in something taken for granted as his blast pistol by his side. Each foe had settled on their own planet, surrounding the mechanicum world that was according to vox chatter being nicknamed "The Maw", and each was warring with other factions whilst trying to gain a foothold on The Maw below for its bounty of technology. Kha'esh thought he had been alone among the eldar race until a communication breached through his ships comms systems and revealed that his cousin were here too. It was no matter, he opperated outside of both kin as evident by his rather unusual kabal, containing elements of both species of the eldar. He even had the audacity and courage to keep a dreaded psyker in his midst, and kept her as his courtesan and most trusted adviser. It was because of her that he had been kicked out of Commoragh but he had set up in his own sub dimension and as of yet had remained undetected. He had fled with his kabal and a few loyal rebels including a hellion cult and a ingenious, albeit insane, haemonculus. Kha'esh snapped his attention back to the monitors as he felt the chill over his mind when Abeya walked on to the bridge.
"What is our target then?" her voice slipped into his head without her even moving her lips.
He gave a slight shiver, as he always did when his mind was invaded like that. Love her or not, and as often as she did it, it always felt unpleasant.
"I think them" Kha'esh said, pointing on his display to a large fortified area patrolled by blue-grey enhanced mon-keigh.
"Them it is" Abeya spoke softly. "Do we try out our new tactics?"
"I think we can have some fun, yes"


Krom stood there, unmoving as a statue. His detachment had been sent to guard the entrance to a great ravine where the space wolves lay encamped. It was a menial job, one of eight packs that lay around the central reserve, where an abandoned dark angel fortress had been occupied by Bjorn and the rest of the wolves. The moon was full, an omen of good luck for the wolves. He knew no attack would come to them this early, each was still reeling from the onslaught of the renegade mechanicum, but it still paid to be vigilant.
"Krom!" came through his vox, followed by a blurt of static.
He stiffened, suddenly aleart, his enhanced senses searching the surroundings, but to no avail.
"This is Krom, what is happening?"
His reply was met with stuttered vox splutter for a few minutes until one line finally made it through.
"The Terra Templars! They are attacking us!"
Krom was aghast, brothers attacking him again? Why would they do something like that? A tinge of fear that all brothers felt when heresy was mentioned caused bile to rise in his mouth. He barely had time to register the thought of heresy when something caught his eye, or rather, the absence did. There was no moon, it had disappeared, and it was cloudless. He scanned the skies, searching for a sign, but there was none, it had simply vanished. His acute eyesight scanned the skies above until he noticed that the stars were still out, but a now distinct circle was the cause of an absence of all light. He stared deeper, and he could swear he saw slight flickers in the dark, like the glint of dark steel. The next thing he knew, an explosion detonated in the heart of the encampment. He had seen no shot, heard no sound but the purple fire erupted from the ground. Krom turned just in time to see a group of bloodclaws get peppered by thousands of sharps of virulent poison shards. They clawed at their suits desperately trying to escape as they inflated inside there suits to the point of bursting before dying an agonizing death, their own armour their tombs. A pair of sleek black hulls descended from above, one smaller than the other, but each spraying death. Some astartes died on the spot, the virulent toxins overworking even their advanced systems as they fell to the ground, some fell to the ground clawing at their skin until there was nothing left and some simply collapsed, foaming at the mouth and unable to move as every vital system shut down. They were the lucky ones. Great nets scooped up victims and were hung from below the sleek hulled craft, ready to carry his brothers to whatever hell hole they came from.
Krom found himself pinned down in a narrow crevice between a few rocks along with a group of grey hunters. The rest of the encampment had regained their composure from the attack and were fighting back, forcing the dark eldar to retreat in their ships to a safer distance whilst still taking shots from above. The astartes regrouped and calculated the losses. The initial group guarding the camp numbered a full 51 astartes. Mostly comprised of three full units of blood claws and two full units of grey hunters alongside krom. Now, few more than twenty were still standing. They scanned the heavens above for signs of their foe, but the next wave came from nowhere. Their was a distinct sound of laughter and howling and the brief shriek of jets before they arrived. A hail of shards assailed them from every direction in a crossfire, instantly felling four astartes, followed by the ravening madmen themselves, shouting out the names of limbs as they swept by with razor sharp hooks, maiming and decapitating as they went. In the midst of the madness, Krom stood strong and with lethal precision shot a pair of the dark eldar from the sky in rapid succession. The astartes took point and with concentrated fire finally drove them off, but the astartes were beginning to run low. Only thirteen were left, and the dark eldar weren't done. A bestial roar echoed around them and suddenly they were beset by hulking monstrosities of flesh and metal. They charged in a frenzied state, ignoring the peppering of explosions on their bodies as they threw themselves at the remaining astartes. Krom launched himself at the nearest and with a swipe of his axe took off its arm. The beast roared and lunged for his head, narrowly missing it. He ducked below the creatures swing and buried his axe hard into the creatures side, but if the creature felt anything it was only more rage. It lashed out again, this time making contact with Krom, sending him flailing through the sky before crashing down a short distance later. He felt splintered ribs and a cracked pauldron but he had no time to examine his wounds as the beast was thundering towards him. He dragged himself to his feet and raised his pistol, firing rapidly at the creatures faceplate. A shot hit home and its head violently snapped upright as it missed its stride and came crashing down in a mess of muscle. Quickly, Krom retrieved his axe from the creatures side and in a fell swoop decapitated it. He looked around expecting the usual cheering of his men, to find only two remained, standing among a pile of dead astartes and a trio of lifeless abominations. His muscles burned, and his hatred flared in his mind. First heresy, now this slaughter. He wanted more, to take the fight to the beings responsible for either atrocity. And all of a sudden, that gift was granted to him. From above, a trio of shapes descended. Great metal constructs with great claws and tentacles hummed as they slowly fell to the ground. A single lithe figure dropped down from one and stood facing Krom. With barely a thought he drew a pistol and in quick succession killed the remaining two astartes. Kroms hatred reached boiling point at the utterly casual killing of his final brothers.
"Ah, mon-keigh. You have fought well... very well in fact. You will make a great addition to our haemonculus labs, I think you will find yourself very much at home there".
None of it made any sense to Krom, but the mocking tone in the xenos filths voice tipped him over the edge. With a bestial roar he ran at the alien, swinging his great axe with two hands in a death blow. But the strike never hit. The alien simply stepped to the side and with a simple motion drew his own slender blade and plunged it deep into Kroms back, shattering his spine. He fell to the ground, paralyzed, as the alien loomed over him.
"Such a shame... I had hoped you would be more. Oh well, maybe once he is done with you, you may be of some use".
And with that, Krom drifted into unconsciousness.


"Did the mon-keigh believe the false recordings?"
"Yes my lord, the mon-keigh will be at war with their brothers in no time"
"Good, all is according to plan".

Thursday 11 September 2014

The nightmare

The writhing black shadow of Kurze stood hunched on the outcrop, gazing out over the assembled Dark Angels. They were fools, all of them. He had sent out a false distress signal and they had believed it, and here they were, like lambs to a slaughter. His face twitched with uncontrolled spasms of murderous rage. He could feel his warband behind him, eager to attack. It was almost time, all he awaited was the arrival of the enemies commander, a worthy foe. He had tracked them since the devastating attack by the orks where they had been all but wiped out. This was all that was left of them, and they believed they were heading into an extraction point. Finally, he saw his prey. A lone speeder zoomed into view, bristling with guns and surrounded by a force field that pulsated different hues of misty darkness. It was time. With a simple motion he stood upright, and he unleashed hell upon his foes. The first over the outcrop were his bikers, storming forwards in a surge aiming straight for the assembled ravenwing, wanting to test themselves upon the imperiums finest. At there front, a chaos sorcerer sending out bolts of eldritch fire into their midst. Behind them came the raptors, launching themselves forward with screaming jump-packs, leaving black contrails behind them blotting out the sun. The ravenwing turned in response, and unleashed a storm of bolter fire, but it wasn't enough. The raving madmen were pockmarked by explosions but it didn't slow a single one. They fell upon the ravenwing like a storm upon thatch. Lightning claws and chainswords fell upon the astartes and they fell like wheat from a scythe. No amount of "holy protection" could save them. It was nothing short of a complete slaughter, the likes of which would make the stomach of any mortal man empty. Strings of entails hung from lightning claws, and the ripped open ribcages of the ravenwing were displayed on the front of the bikes in mockery of angels.
Sammael could do nothing but stare in disbelief at the utter destruction the night lords brought. He watched the first of only two surviving squads of ravenwing get butchered with no warning, and now watched as their remains were paraded around the battlefield as trophies. He felt his mouth fill with bile and his head fill with rage at their defilement. It all happened so fast, the moment they had appeared he had ran back to sableclaw, by the time he was mounted and it was in the sky, the destruction had started. He watched as a hooded and robed figure surrounded by darkness stood motionless like a ghost upon an outcrop of rock overlooking the battlefield. He could have sworn it was watching him, his every move. He blinked and the figure was gone, leaving Sammael to be unsure whether or not he had even seen the ghostly spectre. He turned his attention back to the battlefield. The surviving ravenwing had feigned a retreat lead by the black knights, leading the first group of raptors into a trap which beyond all expectation worked, and within seconds a hail of bolter and plasma fire engulfed the raging warriors and they fell where they stood. Briefly, the ravenwing reformed alongside the knights and lead a charge against the second group of raptors, but before they could the air filled with lightning as a group of terminators arrived, spraying destruction in every direction. The battle was in full swing now, and the dark angels were grossly outmatched. The slower and less mobile forces of the night lords had arrived with a vindicator and dreadnought entering the foray. With a quick touch of the consoles in front of him, Sammael ordered the only other land speeder with him to attack the now closing in vindicator, and he himself split off to attack the dreadnought. Within seconds, both craft were at the rear of their targets, and a few missiles and storm of assault canon shells later both were quickly out of commission, the dreadnought sending screams of rage into the sky. He turned back to the battefield to see a horrific sight. The spectre was back, this time standing in the midst of a pile of dead bodies, with a single astartes raised above his head, talons holding the limp corpse in place, the corpse of what he realized was the ravenwing company champion, looking like a child in his hands. Only sammael, his co-pilot and the other speeder were left, the rest of his force was nothing more than gore on the spectres claws. The rest of his force mercilessly gutting the dead remains of the ravenwing and stealing armour and weapons. The spectre beckoned him, a challenge. Sammael turned to his co-pilot and instructed him and the other speeder to escape to another extraction spot, and handed him the ravenblade. He then dismounted, and walked towards his fate. The closer he got, the closer Sammael realized this was no astartes, he was huge. A daemon prince surely he thought. The spectre had the ghostly outline of an astartes, in perfect proportion, but gave off a fear of such dread that even he, an astartes, felt fear for the first time. He found he was trembling, the idea that he could be afraid confounded him, he was an astartes, the most perfect warrior in the universe yet here he was, genuinely afraid. He had cast greater daemons than this back into the warm so why was this one so special? And then, with an almighty screech that his questions were answered. It was over in an instant, a bright piercing light from the heavens and all of a sudden the night lords bikers were gone, erased from existence with the power of the ancient gods. A great craft descended from the heavens, too large to hover by all laws of physics but there it was. Another flash and a portal errupted from nowhere, and a solitary figure walked out, thin and lithe. Sparks of lightning crackling from his outstretched blade. A few seconds later two groups of hulking warriors appeared from the gates, followed by a gigantic lithe titan, and any remaining night lords were sent to another dimension by the ancient powers contained within there weapons. Alone stood the spectre, now robbed of his cloak of shadow. The realization of what he was looking at did nothing to relive the fear of his foe, only heighten it. Before him, stood a primarch. Not just any primarch, but Kurze. He was over twice the height of him, with jet black hear and a single red streak at the fore. A single nervous twitch on the  side of his mouth and suddenly he was in front of him. Sammael quickly feinted to the left, but not quick enough, a great gouge tore through his armour and ripped off his left pauldron. He sprinted towards the dead body of the champion and took up his calliban blade, just in time to deflect another blow, the strength sending him sprawling. He lept to his feet, but too slow. His claw was heading straight for his head, a deathblow. All of a sudden a blade blocked it before him, the tall figure standing beside him. Kurze snarled at the interruption. "Eldrad" he snarled before striking again, his lightning fast blow was countered once again by the eldar, and Sammael realized he now had a chance. He swung at Kurze with all his strength at the same moment as Eldrad, but to no avail. The primarch parried both blows with ease, spinning as if he weighed nothing and breaking apart from the duel. The primarch easily outclassed both fighters but the duel would allow more troops to arrive in support. With a grin, Kurze activated his jump pack and screamed off into the night, disappearing in seconds. The sound of cruel laughter following in his wake.

Thursday 14 August 2014

'eadrippas revenge


Sammael strained in the seat of Sableclaw, the battle was going poorly. His high vantage point let him see the swirling mass down below. His army had been investigating reports of rogue mechanicum actions in the sector when without warning an ork Rok had crashed through the heavens. They were immediately beset upon and the ravenwing had been on the back foot since the start. Even the arrival of the local forces trio of knights hadn't proven to be such a boone as he had hoped. They proved effective at first, the two paladins cutting a vast swathe through the orks at least allowing the ravenwing some time to recuperate, but it was a temporary respite as the orks unleashed a fully fledged battle titan of there own and in a short space of time destroyed one of the paladins and left the other and the errant damaged, there shielding barely holding. Sammael had ordered a retreat to a waiting recovery zone where their orbiting cruiser had dropped a rapid ascent space ladder to assist in recovering the troops. They knew it was not a fight they could win, just a retreat they would force the enemy to take great cost in every step they took. Sammael had witnessed the ork leader, one who had aptly named himself 'eadrippa. A brute of an ork that took delight in his namesake, charging any and all signs of leadership within the Dark Angels ranks. But more scary was that this ork was cunning, not a mere violant barbarian.

A flashbang as sableclaws night halo deflected an incoming rocket forced sammael back to the action. The small craft nimbly avoiding enemy fire and flying too low for flakk guns to bring to bear. Bursts of heavy bolter and assault canon fire ripped through the orks like invisible talons, but it was like dropping bolter casings into a canyon. He searched for any sign of 'eadrippa, but of him there was no sign. Far to his flank, the pair of knights were also fighting a fiery retreat. Great blasts of heat turned enemy walkers to molten slag, whilst crater sized explosions tore apart orks by the dozen as the paladin fired. The orks were massing in there general direction, unable to keep up with the rapid retreat of the ravenwing. Only groups of bikers were capable of harassing the ravenwings retreat. The knights however were on unsure footing, and fighting and retreating was a much slower process. It was during this massing that 'eadrippa made himself known. He charged at the paladin, headlong and bellowing a challenge to its princeps. In response, the paladin activated its giant chainblade and struck out at the ork warboss. In an act of what could only be viewed as incredible, even by astartes standards, the warboss dodged the whirling blade of death and ran between its legs. With a mighty cry, the warboss reached up with its massive claw and crushed the giant walkers ankle-hydraulics with ease. The knight lurched and fell to its knee, crippled by the blow. Its battle cannon now wedged in the dirt in a struggle to keep it upright, its chainblade still desperately swiping away at the orks, shredding them in swathes. 'Eadrippa emerged from the titan to stand before it, roaring with laughter as it was too close to swipe at.
"Look boyz! It kneels before me hahaha! Is this not proof that I am the greatest?!"
He then walked casually forwards towards the titans cockpit as it frantically tried to stand up. The nearby errant desperately trying to help his comrade but the arrival of the stompa that had already claimed one of his kin sent him running to the space anchor, shields at maximum to his rear as he fled what would be a pointless sacrifice. 'Eadrippa grapped the crew compartment and tore it off, exposing the princeps inside. He enjoyed the sheer look of terror on the mans face, savored it just long enough and then slowly reached inside. He placed the half-blunt buzz saw seated at the base of his claw against the mans head, watching the princeps look of sheer horror as he realized what was about to happen. With a laugh, 'eadrippa activated the saw and the mans head became mulch in seconds.
"Scrap the remains boyz! Turn it into a Gorkanaught and please da godz!"

Sammael could do nothing but wince, such ruthlessness made him swallow down bile. But nothing could be done here, the orks had won but the ravenwing had retreated with minimal losses. They would not forget what had happened here today, and nor would the last remaining knight.

Friday 8 August 2014

chapter fall



Jacen stood there, reeling from the blast. His ships warning sensors were on full alert. The screen showed multiple breaches along the hull, and many signals showing the intruders were inside. It had taken them completely unawares. The moment they had cleared the hungry planets atmosphere, a ship shrouded in some unknown technology appeared beside them and opened fire. Kreig had immediately run off to the nearest breach with his squad of terminators in a desperate hope to protect the ship, the two chapters odds a pushed aside for now, united against a common foe. The ship rocked again against the onslaught.
"Librarian, the ships shields are being completely bypassed, and our astopaths and navigators can't signal anything, and our guns have been silent the moment the ship appeared, we have been rendered useless sir"
Jacens face wrinkled, what on earth could do such a thing. Before he could ponder that thought, his vox exploded with a hiss of static before he heard the unmistakable shouting of Kreig.
"Brother, we can't hold much longer down here, I have not seen our opponents once through the battle haze and our visors refuse to work, we are fighting helmet-less and can't see further than our hands, its like the machine spirits are rebelling against us. We are heading to the hanger bay, tell the rest of the ship to regroup there"
With that the static went. Jacen was glad that at the very least the vox was still working. He went over to the ship vox panel and after a burst of static it died down and let him speak.
"All warriors, this is Librarian Jacen, fall back to the hanger bay, I repeat fall back to the hanger bay and regroup there"
Jacen turned to the ships captain.
"Ma'am, I will head down to aide them in any way I can, close the blast shields behind you. If you need me contact me via astropath"
She nodded and he stormed out of the bridge, his elite bodyguard close in tow. As the great blast doors slid closed, he was surrounded by near silence, only broken by the occasional spats of gunfire from distant parts of the ship and the occasional boom when the enemy ship opened fire. He paused for a moment before hurrying down a nearby corridor to the maintenance ladders. The time for safety was not now, and so without a second thought they simply jumped down the great shaft, hurtling to the next level in the blink of an eye. This way they rapidly arrived at the hanger level, only to find the door sealed shut. His bodyguard braced themselves against it and tried to force it open but to no avail. Seeing no other option, Jacen reached into the warp, his eyes glowed red and his veins shone like lava before he unleashed a torrent of heat, reducing the door to molten slag in seconds. What lay before them was a nightmare. The surviving astartes, barely two hundred combined from both chapters now, were holed up in a corner of the hanger with a makeshift barricade. Surrounding them were hundreds of what at first appeared to be humans, but twisted, augmented and utterly relentless. Bolter shells tore great chunks out of them, but they ignored it completely. Only the total dismemberment would stop them. There guns, whilst not as rapid firing as the astartes bolter shared the stopping power, and every few shots a precious astartes would fall wounded, or worse.
Howling in frustration, Jacen hurled himself at the nearest bunch, his bodyguard joining in and reveling in unleashing their battle rage, great bone protrusions extending from there arms as they impaled and decapitated the augmented men. Jacens sword rose and fell, eldritch lightning leapt from his fingers and rolling fires erupted from his mouth, he was an avatar of death. But no matter what he did, a few continued to get back up. The augmented men were beginning to realize the new threat, but they were already among them, and were too slow to react. But soon Jacen realized they were not only impervious to pain, but also there human bodies belayed there superhuman strength. A trio of them grabbed one of his bodyguard and lifted him into the air, whilst a third smashed each of the astartes limbs to pulp before the four of them tore his torso in half as the brother screamed in agony and helplessness. The sight enraged Jacen but it also distracted him long enough for another augmented man to sneak behind him and with all its strength it lashed out. The strike hit Jacen in the ribs, his armour split and his ribs cracked and he was left struggling for breath at the floor, an baroque weapon aimed at his head, before he could cry out the augmented man disappeared in a storm of gore. Where it had been now stood Kreig, thunder hammer and storm shield in hand.
"Thought you would need a hand brother" Kreig smirked whilst helping him up.
"Oh I never thought I would want to hear that from you captain" he laughed.
Between them they set about the continual destruction of the augmented men, bolter fire licking from the makeshift defense post and the now two remaining bodyguard ripping a fell toll among them. Soon there were only a few left. Jacen raised his hand to turn a trio into a smouldering husk, and then watched as the now only remaining bodyguard tore another to pieces, roaring in victory. Before he could celebrate more he disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. Stunned, Jacen turned to meet the new threat, blindly launching a grief and anger filled ball of fire towards his target. There was a great explosion and the room fell silent. When the smoke began to clear, he finally saw what he was facing. Standing at the other end of the vast hanger, was the unmistakable shape of a Magos. A lord of the mechanicum. A hulking scarab like machine grafted to his  back made him tower over his subordinates, who in turn towered over an astartes. Quickly Jacen turned to Krieg.
"This is not a battle we can win, right now the very ground we stand on is now against us, get to the thunderhawks, and travel to the nearest water rich planet you can find, they rely on technology for there power and will find little there. I will delay them as much as possible, but if it seems like I am lost, leave me and save yourselves. Understand?"
Kreig nodded, though Jacen could see his reluctance and being able to face this foe directly. He ran off in the direction of the surviving astartes, and Jacen began his slow walk to the Magos. The fact they weren't opening fire on him both concerned him, and comforted him. If they had no reason to talk he would be dead by now, he could see the great weaponry held by the hulking myrmidons. At least now he knew the nature of the augmented men, they were tech thralls, and the magos was clearly leader of the hungry world. It sent a shiver down Jacens spine to realize the power this man could wield. By the time he had crossed the hanger to confront the Magos, he could hear the powering up of thunderhawks. He looked at the magos, the twisted combination of man and machine.
"I am Librarian Jacen, of the astartes dragon kin. Why have you deemed fit to attack us magos?"
The lord stared at him for a moment, before a sudden burst of static erupted from its vocal ports. It was laughing, and that was even more unnerving.
"Tell me.... what is it like for an astartes to feel hopelessness?"
Jacen was taken aback by the question.
"What do you mean?"
As if by some unspoken command, a myrmidon raised his archaic weapon and fired at the furthest thunderhawk, the weapons beam getting stronger and stronger, producing a loud keening wail that only rose in volume and pitch the further it went until it struck the flyer. In an instant the ship, already fully laden, exploded. In quick succession the other myrmidon fired its own gun, what appeared to be a heavily modified plasma cannon, into the remnants of the ship. A flash of green told Jacen this was the gun that atomized his last bodyguard. These were weapons of a bygone era of unlimited power.
"By which I mean, how does it feel to know you are all about to die... for nothing, and with no hope?" The magos quipped. Another burst of static, which this time was interrupted. It looked shocked, and turned to look at Jacen.
"What are you doing?"
Before Jacen could respond that he was not doing anything, a great flash lit up the hanger. Standing between Jacen and the Magos, stood the mighty form of Bjorn. With a mighty roar and single sweep the myrmidons were no more, and he turned on the thallax bodyguard of the magos, who now was sprouting panicked binary to his troops. Gates opened and more thallax, myrmidons and thralls poured out, but more flashes announced the arrival of more space wolves, at its head was a group of terminator armored wolf guard, who set to work attacking the nearest foes with cries of glee and laughter. The remaining dragon kin and terra templars exited the thunderhawks and joined in, not ones to relinquish a good fight. Krieg smiled as he crashed into the nearest thallax.
Jacen realized this was now Bjorns fight witht he Magos and headed off in the direction of Kreig, sending spouts of lightning into the thralls and thallax, short circuiting their delicate cybernetic brains. As he reached Kreig he watched as he wrestled one down to the ground before stamping on its cybernetic core and destroying it.
"You seem to be enjoying this Kreig" Jacen shouted as he fried a group of thralls.
"How can i not, their heads are so high, a single swing makes them go so far!" Kreig bellowed as he made good on his quote and sent a thallax head clattering off into the distance.
Meanwhile, bjorn had gotten to his prey, but the Magos had no fear. He raised his hands and strange devises unleashed searing beams of utmost darkness into Bjorn, sending him crashing to a knee.
"You may be a hero of the Imperium Bjorn, but you are still a machine, and I am the lord of all machines!" the Magos babbled, raising his hands for another strike, but before he could Bjorn send out a burst of broiling flame, taking the Magos by surprise. Before he could compose himself, Bjorn had him in his claw.
"You are not my lord, Magos" Bjorn growled, so deep his external vox clipped the words.
"Not yet" the Magos replied, and with a smile an integral teleported vanished him out of Bjorns grip.
Bjorn roared in frustration, and turned the nearby bodies into naught but dust. As he turned around he saw battle was done. But he had arrived too late from the distress call, the dragon kin chapter was so low in strength they would never be a chapter again, only to be absorbed into others or to fight on as a crusade until they died.
Jacen looked out at scene whilst Kreig came up to him.
"My chapter took heavy loss here. My planet will not gain sufficient recruits for a long time. I can only dread to think what crosses your mind now" Kreig said, his voice laden with grief.
"I do not have a chapter anymore. I have not even got a company. I have but sixty-three men left, and a pair of dreadnought chassis with nobody to inter. I already know what my chapter want, we spoke of this day happening, but not so soon. We will crusade until life leaves us"

Tuesday 29 July 2014

The great beast

The moment the races were pulled through the gas filled atmosphere they realized what the planet truly was. A forge world. And not a normal one, but a rampant forge world far out of the imperiams fold. The entire planet was a gigantic sprawling city, with spires jutting out into the sky like spears trying to thrust into the heart of space. At it's epicenter was a great circular gravity well, bathing the surrounding cities in an eerie pulsating blue glow. The planet was sentient, and hungry.
High above the planet, the eldar watched the jaws of oblivion begin to close shut around the armies that would have waged war upon them. It was hardly a spectacle to see so many die, afterall they had witnessed and in sometimes organized the entire genocide of entire races, a few ships was hardly a pinprick in the universe. But the planet fascinated them, something had gone awry during its construction, and it had grown some level of sentience, and they could feel it, even up in there lofty positions, and it scared them. It was after many hours of staring in awe at the great planet that Eldrad finally returned, and not alone. At first they thought he must be casting some ward and quickly the other seers readied themselves for defense, but it was not so. Standing behind Eldrad, was the figure of what could only be described as an angel. It was Baharroth, the cry of the wind, the guardian angel of the Eldar. It was then that the farseers realized truly the threat of the planet. If it consumed those ships, it would finally have enough of the precious materials needed to ensure the entire planet would be come a fully mobile sentient space station, something no race could endure. Despite knowing it would cost a vast amount of their number to die, the farseers solembly entered the crystal dome and began there enchantment. As one they began, and as they began the great gravity well began to falter.
Quickly the other races realized the pull was weakening and all made haste for the atmosphere, and soon scattered themselves in the surrounding planetary system. Afraid of the planet, but sorely tempted by its secrets. And so the races settled down on nearby planets, in sight of the great red beast, and settled for war against both the other races who sought to kill them or take the prize. The eldar, thankless for saving them and having lost all but 3 of there farseers, set themselves up on the outskirts, knowing there would be more than one conflict to come there way.
Deep in the red planets core, lights flickered on. Binary code flashed throughout an otherwise dark room. Ancient technologies that should better be left alone was activated, and archetech from the darkest days of the imperium powered up. The planet readied itself for war, and its master let out his first smile in centuries. Finally, it was almost ready.