Knights Radiant

Garren Project Excerpts.

The Garren Project was a combined story writing project on Bolter and Chainsword. It was directed by Capt. Fuzzball. I and many other partcipated. Below is an excerpt that pulls out the Knights Radiant chapter's actions. For the full story you can read it here on Bolter and Chainsword or at the Garren World Crusade, Command HQ (when finished). note: My chapter had the name 'Oracles' when I participated.
This is still in the process of being edited for clarity.

Knights Radiant Actions in the Garren Crusade:

Vengeance, an Executioner class mobile dock and a dozen or so warships of the Astartes floated silently against the black of space. The stars shown as brilliant points of hope. Each one represented another system that the Emperor of Mankind would bless with the rule of the Imperium. The stars shown with malice. Each one represented another system that might be infested with the filth of Xenos, corruption of chaos, or the treachery of heresy.

In the deep blackness, all of space shuttered. A great stream of light burst through from somewhere else, shattering a mile radius of space. Out of this rent, two bright yellow strike cruisers slid along the tunnel of light. As abruptly as it appeared the area of shattered space reknitted itself. The dark of space, again, enfolded all the ships present.

+++ Transmission from Glorious Duty +++

+++ Encryption: Gamma Iota ||Narrow focus ship to ship communication|| +++

+++ Transmission:

Glory to the Emperor!
The Knights Radiant have arrived. Let us, together, smite the enemies of mankind.

+++ End Transmission

QUOTE(captain fuzzball @ Jan 9 2005, 02:22 PM)

...When Kreil and a squad of Errants of Redeption marines stormed in. The assembled Captains and chapter masters stood up in indignation as Kreil pulled out his bolt pistol.
He spoke 'In the name of the Emperor, I arrest Captain Iziha of the Warriors of Vengance and the cammanding officers of the Knights Radiant, don't resist and you may be spared'
paraphrased Iziha exposed Kreil. Kreil vanished.

Chaplain Ifuta, of the Knights Radiant, turned to face the contingent of the Errants of Redemption.
"I assume that I am no longer under arrest?"
When no response was immediately forthcoming, he addressed the assembly.
"Honored Brethren, It is obvious that we cannot rely on the information provided by Inquisitor Kreil. It is imperative that we discover the truth of the situation. Here is what we need to know:
1. Does anyone present have first-hand knowledge of enemy activities. If not, this could be a plan to divert dozens of the Astartes into an ambush or, worse, away from where the enemy intends to strike.
2. If there is enemy activity, where has it been detected? Planet, Continent, City/Region?
3. What is the estimated strength of the forces?
4. What is the true nature of the enemy forces Xenos, Heretical, or Warp-spawned?"

Many of the assembled nodded in silent agreement.

"Once we have this information," Ifuta continued, "we need to determine how best to deploy the Emperor's strength. Massive strike at the heart? Harass to drain its strength before the decisive strike? Exterminatis?
We were brought here under the auspices of the Inquisition. Perhaps falsely, but we still carry that mandate and responsibility. My chapter is new. We have not the long experience or wisdom that some other chapters, here, have. The Knights Radiant will bow to their experienced Brethren in discovering the answers to these questions and work with the entire body on deciding how best to bring the Emperor's wrath to bear."

QUOTE(Kobrakai @ Jan 9 2005, 11:27 AM)

This is Veteran Sergeant Celruda.. X Company 1st Detachment Local PDF forces, defending Outpost 426 on the planet Ulexis. At dawn a attack on our position occured where servants of the plague god Nurgle ...

It only lasted another ten seconds or so before the skirmish was over, Before I could come to terms with the destruction our saviours had vanished...

I am sending a message for possible reinforcements or evacuation... Celruda out.

Brothers,
Now that a scouting force has been sent out, we need to decide how best to proceed.
Outpost 426, at Ulexis, needs to be reinforced. If no other chapter claims the right, the Knights Radiant's 5th company with the strike cruiser, Shooting Star, will reinforce the outpost.

Chaplain Ifuta spoke quietly to the cognitor in the corner. The congnitor, in turn, projected a diagram of the Garren system on the conference room wall. The planets moved and sput about the central star and then stopped.

"This is the curent possitions of the planets of the Garren system". All of the worlds seemed spaced out with no decernible pattern. "Show us the system in 38 days." said Ifuta to the cognitor. The planets shifted and came to rest. Each of the system's 8 planets ended at a cardinal point. "Overlay." commanded Ifuta. An eight pointed star of chaos was superimposed on the system. Each planet lay exactly on a point of the chaos star.

"Brothers, I suspect that there will be a coordinated act on each of the planets of the Garren system in 38 days." Chaplain Ifuta stated flatly. "We will need to discover the intentions of the enemy and prevent it. I wish that we had a true representative of the Order Malleus here. I am not versed enough in the ways of the enemy to determine if the activities on each planet is required to advert the plans of the enemy or if preventing the activities on one of the planets would be enough. I welcome your insight, Brothers."

Chaplain Ifuta sat down.

The Knights Radiant Chaplain Ifuta stood back up.

"Since there was no prior claim, the Knights Radiant will proceed to the system, Allic's Stop. We will reinforce Outpost 426, and investigate the system's planet, Ulexis."

"Inquisitor Kou, we will rendezvous at the outpost."

"Emperor be with you all."

The Chaplain of the Knights Radiant turned and left the conference room. As soon as the doors closed, he voxed his ship, "Prepare the ships. We make way in 15." Three minutes later he was aboard the thunderhawk on the way to Glorious Duty.

Exactly 10 minutes 6 seconds later Glorious Duty and Shooting Star shattered the barrier between normal space and warp space, sliding through the gap.

Space blistered. The blister expanded and streched then burst spewing light and two ships. Reality bled back into the gap leaving no trace of the protuberance. The two ships sliced through space toward the lone planet. As they neared the planet Shooting Star dropped behind Glorious Duty and then matched speed. Glorious Duty plunged into the thin stratosphere, drawing a line of fire across the night sky of Utlexis. The Shooting Star quietly slips into orbit on the daylight side of the planet.

Ulexis was fairly ubiquitous. It could be any of thousands upon thousands of worlds under the authority of the Emperor. Most of the world was frozen poles with a band of temperate climate near the equator. An agricultural world, it provided little in the way of export or tithe. But it was a world of the Imperium of Man, and therefore under the protection of the Emperor.

Chaplain Ifuta commanged "Contact outpost 426". Moments later, Veteran Sergeant Celruda was on the Vox. "Master of Santity, Ifuta of the Knights Radiant chapter of Adaptus Astartes. We are here to answer your call for reinforcement and to bring judgement on the enemies of the Emperor."

"Your answer to our call is most welcome, Chaplain. Landing pad coordinates are being transmitted. I look forward to speaking with you in person." Unexpectedly, the coorinates indicated the southern pole of the planet.

Forty-three minutes later, Chaplain Ifuta and a squad of Space Marine veterans had landedd at the outpost. It appeared a fairly standard outpost for an artic region. The aurora was shining brightly. The thunderhawk was towed off to a sheltered hanger to be serviced and refuled. Chaplain Ifuta and the veterans of the Knights Radiant chapter were led to a small conference room. Veteran Sergeant Gable started the debriefing, outlining the post's full complement of PDF forces, the percentage that was left, what posts were being stationed, which posts were being guarded by servitors. Overall it was a much more bleak picture than Vet. Sgt. Celruda had indicated. Of the post's complement of 300, only about 100 still survived. The Colonel and all officers above the rank of Veteran Sergent had died in the attack. The outpost was an astropathic listening post, placed in the antartic to move it away from the noise of the local population. Fortunatly all of the astropaths had survived the attack. But the defenses would not withstand another determined assault.

Ifuta ordered the veterans to inspect the defenses and provide written advisories for reinforcing the defense. Vet. Sgt. Celruda, now acting Lt. Celruda, asked Ifuta to join him in the previous Colonel's, now his, office. The office showed signs of previous decadance. There were voids on the walls where pictures, awards, hangings, and other decoration had been removed. In thier place was hand drawn organizaiton charts, maps, a list of new security procedures, and other information needed for the tactical command of the outpost. Waiting in the room was also a spindly man in rich robes.
"This is Master Astropath Amos" introduced Lt. Celruda. The astropath bowed slightly. Ifuta returned the gesture with a nod. "The following is held as Secret level Azure-2. I have only become aware of it after the death of the Colonel. Amos..."

"This is no ordinary astropathic listening post. It is a whole array of astropaths and navigators arranged around the antartic in a pattern set out by Ordo Xenos. Each of the astropaths are connected using psyco-active circuitry. The post was designed to track the warp shadow of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan. Hive Fleet Kraken taught us that we must antcipate the moves of this Xenos plague. The survival of this listening post is vital to the survival of the Imperium. Four months ago, we discovered a subtle pattern in the warp. We sent off the information to Ordo Xenos. It appears that they, in turn, passed the information to Ordo Maleus." said Amos

"Two months ago, we recieved a message from Inquisitor Kreil, of Ordo Maleus. He instructed us to prepare for an attack, but failed to specify the enemy. The Colonel did nothing! He did not warn us! He did not shore up the defenses! He did not set patrols! He did nothing!" raged Lt. Celruda. " After the Colonel died, I became aware of the importance of this post, the signal, and the message. I have done the best I could with the resources available. I have set patrols, improved the watches, closed the entrances that could no longer be defended. We welcome any help you can provide, Chaplain." said Lt. Celruda, calming down again.

"We will do all that we can, Leutenant." replied Chaplain Ifuta. The Chaplain extended his hand to the acting Leutenant. The leutenant's hand was engulfed in the space marine's gauntlet, but was heartily accepted.

hip's Captain Satsuma sat in the command chair the Knights Radiant strike cruiser Shooting Star. "Update."

"Passive scans shows about 10 cities on this hemisphere. Glorious Duty is reporting 9 on the opposite side. The cities are spaced out fairly evenly, denoting a planned development for the planet. The planet is maily an agrarian society. Main export are grains to nearby systems. Heat signatures shows normal population signatures except in the city of Mustai" reported the Augury Officer "wich shows no population signatures at all. It also indicates that parts of the city are burning."

"Active scan." commanded Satsuma.

A half hour later, Ship's Capt. Satsuma, Capt. Nakata (in charge of ground forces aboard Shooting Star, and a number of veteran sergeants. To the right of Satsuma was a large stack of partchment containing the information from the active scan. It confirmed the passive scans. Mustai shows no movement. It shows no communications. Some building appeared to be on fire, but there was no obvious battle damage.

"Onomichi, Nobuhiko, and Yasuhumi, you will each take a team and scout the city.

An Oracle thunderhawk gunship circled the city of Mustai. Fires burned here and there. Transport vehicles were abandoned in the street, doors open. Most of the doors to the dwellings were open. The gunship made three quick touchdowns, each time spewing forth armored figures before rising again.

Vet. Sgt. Onomichi led a squad from the north. Vet. Sgt. Nobuhiko duplicated the effort from the southwest. And Vet. Sgt Yasuhumi's squad prceeded from the southeast.

The first thing that Onomichi noticed was the lack of birdsong. He made a note in his mission log. He did not know if avian life was existant on this world or not, but most human worlds had been populated with some form of birds.

The sun was beating down on the city from a cloudless sky, interrupted only by the billowing smoke of several fires throughout the city. Shadows were sharp. The colors were muted. Even the florescent yellow of the Knights Radiant armor appeared to be bleached to a pastel under the sun. Despite the brighness, there was a chill in the air. Not that the power armored soldiers noticed it other than as a number on the environmental readouts. The wind was blowing loose paper and leaves through the streets. The city was empty. No people, no bodies, no animals, no nothing. The shaved scalp of Onomichi crawled. There was no battle damage anywhere.

"Fan out and check the domiciles." ordered Onomichi. The search turned up no people. It was like every person and animal in the city just left.

Nobuhiko's squad was finding the same conditions in the small industrial district. Automated machines were still running, but no one was manning them.
"Check the bunker" nobuhiko ordered. The bunker was empty. All of the emergency supples were still there, unopened.

Yasuhumi's squad prowled through an agricultural district. The huge silos stood silent vigil over the squat warehouses and dingy streets. The few trees that were planted in the area were brown and desicated. "Biological sample" yasuhumi stated to no one in particular, confident that his order would be accomplished.

All three teams proceeded through the city. They advanced slowly, checking for ambushes, but none came. Two hours later, the three teams met in the city plaza. The three team leaders compared notes. Onomichi called for pickup from the thunderhawk. The thunderhawk began a spiral search pattern around the city.

A half hour later they found evidence of a large number of people passing through a grain field headed south. Onomichi called in the report.

The Knights Radiant carried the three squads of marines south, following the trail from the city. The trail was easy to follow, even from the air. Onomichi estimated that the trail was from much more than a thousand people. The trail headed almost directly south only turning aside to cross a river. It passed across fields, decimating the crops the farmers had so lovingly cultivated, leaving only muddy pulp behind. The tail proceeded on and on. Yasuhumi estimated that the trail was at least 2 months old.

The thunderhawk followed the trail to the snow line. Several miles into the snow line, the trail was obscured. The thunderhawk flew on following the straight line the trail had followed.

For hours the thunderhawk flew. While able to obtain orbit, the thunderhawk flew low and slow. Hours passed. The trail became visible at times only to disappear again. At last something was spotted on the horizon. A vast dark blot on the white snow covering the world.

As the thunderhawk drew closer, the dark blot granulated. Onomichi ordered the 'hawk to high altitude. High gain optics showed that the dot were people. Thousands and thousands of people. Almost none of the people had winter gear. Some were in sleeping atire. All had a sickly grey cast to any exposed flesh. They stumbled through the snow without heed for snow drifts or other obstacles.

Onomichi estimated the crowd would take 2 weeks, at thier present speed, to reach the outpost. He ordered the thunderhawk to proceed to the outpost.

Chaplain Ifuta, of the Knights Radiant, smiled grimly to himself. The fortification of Outpost 426 was going well. The empty rooms were sealed with sensors installed. Supplies were reorganized and redistributed. Remote sentry guns were set up in empty corridors and parts of the permiter. Backup communications were established. A list of the remaining Guardsmen was created, with any special training listed. Lt. Celruda was proving to be more than competent, despite his self-effacing manner. He had reoganized the squads so that the necessary areas were patrolled, but each squad received some 'down-time'.

"Incoming aircraft." reported the augury officer. A moment later the comms officer reported that it was the Knights Radiant thunderhawk requesting permission to land. Chaplain Ifuta verified the code and nodded to Lt. Celruda. Lt. Celruda gave permission to land. Moments later the Thunderhawk settled on the pad.

Knights Radiant Council Meeting.

Chaplain Ifuta, Capt. Nakata, Vet. Sgts. Onomichi, Nobuhiko, and Yasuhumi, and other select Knights Radiant along with Lt. Celruda met in the outpost's conference room. Ship's Captains Satsuma, Tang, and other command staff were linked via secure crytpovox.

"The situation is grave." stated Capt. Nakata. "The Knights Radiant, even with the added strength of the PDF, do not have the manpower to repel 100,000 attackers. We have 2 companies. That is about 200 Space Marines plus support equipment. The PDF is reduced from the last attack and can only field a like number. Lt. Celruda indicates that most of the armor was destroyed during the last encounter. Even though we are the emperor's chosen, Space Marines, we cannot each account for 500. We need options."

"The PDF can account for our number, perhaps twice our number, but no more." Stated Lt. Celruda. "However, we are streched thin protecting the outpost. I will not leave this duty unless ordered to do so by the Planetary Governor himself."

"Nor should you. I believe the best place for the PDF forces is right where they are. Devotion to duty is both admirable and powerful. The Knights Radiant do not underestimate it." Said Chaplain Ifuta in warm tones.

The meeting went on for hours. Plans of the outpost were reviewed. Maps of the surrounding areas were studied. Overflights of the other cities were ordered, as well as a search pattern for the area surrounding the outpost.

At last it was decided that some rest, reflection, and prayer was needed.

A sickly grey mass crept forward. It shuttered as it moved. Closer. Closer. The Knights Radiant stood mere specks before the mass. Suddenly, a star streaked across the heavens. The grey mass twitched and shook as the leading edge of it errupted, like bubbles in a boiling pot. Bright beams of light fell from heaven. They punched through the ice the grey mass was creeping upon. The ice ruptured and the grey mass fell into the sea.
The vision shifted to Outpost 426. A sickly green hand reached out. It grabbed the outpost and crushed it utterly.


Chaplain Ifuta awoke in a cold sweat. Telltale icons indicated that both his hearts had shown elevated rates. He immediatly contacted Librarian Amano. The Librarian had the same vision.

Vet. Sgt. Yasuhumi, of the Knights Radiant, stood at the edge of a vast plain of ice. His battle brothers stood in a line stretching left and right for hundreds of yards. Each one stood at the ready, ignoring the bitter cold. Their yellow and orange armor fluorescing in the bright winter sun.

On the opposite horizon was a dark cloud that covered the snow. It moved in a creeping, shambling motion. No natural cloud, this. It was composed of thousands upon thousands of people. Or rather, what was once people. Through mag-viewers it could be seen that each one was sickly grey-green. Pustuals and open sores covered their faces. These, once loyal, citizens of the Imperium were now nothing but mindless zombies. The zombies had no will, no choice. They moved at the whim of some throne-forsaken sorcerer. On they came. Over ninety thousand. Trudge. Stutter. Limp. Moving with a single purpose.

Sgt. Yasuhumi opened this vox. "Damocles 1. Now."
A star fell from heaven. It left a fiery streak, slowly cutting across the sky.
Sgt. Yasuhumi nodded to Sgt. Mhlume. Sgt. Mhlume pressed a small button on his auspex.
Great plumes of steam erupted in front of the line of Knights Radiant. All along the edges of the ice plain. Hundreds of meltabombs had been planted along the edge of the ice plain. Now they burned deep into the ice. And then the star struck, dead center of the plain. Huge chunks of ice were thrown into the air. Water thrown up from under the ice rained down on the Space Marines. Bodies fell from the sky, never to rise again. The marines hurried to make sure that each body was destroyed. Eight minutes later all was calm. Only steam rose from the newly unsealed ocean surface.

"We better get back." Sgt. Yasuhumi stated. He switched vox channels and called for the thunderhawks.

+System: Allic's Stop+
+Operating Forces: Knights Radiant, PDF (Ulexis, Outpost 426)+

A sleek, black, stealthed ship sliped through folds between our universe and the warp. Not so much as a glimmer of light escaped. Huge, passive scanning wings unfolded in the quiet of space and just as quietly refolded. The Obsidian shielded engines flared for a brief second and the small craft shot through space toward Ulexis. Some hours later, the craft deployed grav chutes and slid to a halt. A smaller craft detached itself and sped on toward the planet.

Inquisitor Kou answered the challenge from Glorious Duty and proceeded toward Outpost 426. The thunderhawk screamed out of the sky. It twisted in mid-air and splashed flames against the outpost landing pad, coming to a halt only inches above the ground. The engines whined and popped as they spun down and cooled. With a hiss, the hatch opened and the inquisitor jumped down before the ramp had deployed. Inquisitor Kou was striking with shoulder length curly hair, a long brown greatcoat, a broad rimmed hat and a multicolored striped scarf. His broad smile was disarming, but the powersword and plasma pistol in his belt were not.

Lt. Celruda and a small honor guard approached the Inquitor. "I am Acting Lt. Celruda. Welcome to Imperial Outpost 426, Ulexis. You will excuse me, but I must ask for identification."
Inquisitor Kou's eyes hardened for a second, then softened. "Of course, Lieutenant." Kou replied. He streached out his hand and envoked the electro-tatoo, of Ordo Hereticus, that was his badge of office.
"Hereticus?" asked Lt. Celruda.
"On loan to Malleus. Here is the paperwork." Inq. Kou said as he pulled a small sheaf of parchment from his pocket. Dozens of seals were attached to the bottom and back of the documents. Lt. Ceruda examined the papers looking for errors. But he had no idea what he was looking for. After a short time, he handed the papers back to the Inquisitor.
"I wouldn't know if these are genuine or false. Since your transponder codes checked out, I will have to assume they are correct." said Celruda with a small laugh. The Inquisitor smiled at the candor. "Please come this way." Celruda said and led the way into the outpost.

Inquisitor Kou no more than reached the conference room when red lights began to flash all over the outpost.

Chaplain Ifuta turned on the room vox.
Lt. Celruda commanded "Report."
"Sgt. Krendle here. Remote sensors picked up movement about 2 clicks out. Magna Vox did not find anything. Could be a sensor malfunction. But, Sir, I checked those sensors myself yesterday. I would bet my life that they are working."
"Very good, Krendle. Move the outpost to high alert. Let me know if anything else develops. Celruda out." said Celruda. "Well, gentilemen, it looks like it may be starting early."

+System: Allic's Stop+
+Operating Forces: Knights Radiant, PDF (Ulexis, Outpost 426)+

Inquisitor Kou had been decending stairs for the last 45 minutes. He had started counting, but had lost count about 10 minutes ago. The stairway was illuminated with ancient glow tubes at each landing. The light from the glow tubes failed to reach the mid point of each flight of stairs, so there was about 10 stairs on each flight that he traversed in the darkness. On and on. Down and down he decended, zigzagging into the depths.

The stairs finally ended at a vault-like wall. Inquisitor Kou quickly entered the inquisition passcode. The indicator flamed red. He tried another code. Again, the indicator flared red. Inquisitor Kou paced and finally approached the consol again. He entered an ancient code that was no longer used by the inquisition. The indicator shone green through the accumlated grime on the light. A deep boom sounded and a hiss of air pressure adjustment. Heavy doors slid left and right. Beyond the doors was a vast expanse.

Ancient glow tubes flickered to life. There was a sudden, oppressive, mental presence. Suspended above anti-grav platforms, anchored by wires were hundres of astropaths. They slowly rotated, deep in a coma-like condition. Above each one was a porcupine of probes. Feeding tubes also hung from an elaborate harnes to some of the astropaths.

"Throne protect them." Kou murmmered to himself. He turned to the panel next to the door and called up the ancient security hymns. He entered the current inquisitional passwords and sealed the door.

He then made a slow survey of the chamber. It was larger than he imagined. He followed the outer chamber a quarter of the way around to find an archway that lead to another chamber, also was filled with floating astropaths.

Inquisitor Kuo finally completed the circuit of the astropath chambers. All was quiet. By his count, 700 astropaths were...installed here. But everything was quiet.

Hundreds of feet above the inquisitor, things were not so quiet. Lt. Celruda was directing his men in a desperate fight. Dozens of sickly green, powerarmored troops were approaching. Celruda was directing the few heavy weapons to open fire on them, but even so, the toll was alarmingly low.

"Fix bayonetts" cried Lt. Celruda. A cacophany of quiet clicks could be heard between the bursts of heavy bolter fire and the scream of lascannons charging.

On charged the Chaos Marines of the Death Guard. A miasma of flies buzzing around them, even in the subzero temperatures. From the injured marines spilled worms and maggots, only to be frozen moments later. As the Chaos Marines reached the range of thier bolters, they were met with a rain of coherient light from the lasguns of the Planetary Defense Forces. Several of the armored giants fell unnoticed. Like a arms of a massive milipede, they raised thier bolters and fired. For every 4 shots fired, 3 guardsmen fell. In three bounding leaps, the green armored warriors reached the walls of the outpost, only to have the ground beneath them errupt. Six more of the armored giants fell. The next line of marines did not hesitate. They stepped on the remains of the dead marines and placed small round devices to the wall before running 10 paces and hitting the ground. Two more of the sickly green marines fell to lasgun fire.

A small sun emerged from the wall of the outpost. When the light faded, there was only molten metal and men where a 20' section of the outpost wall was a second ago.

Before the spots in the eyes of the remaining PDF forces eyes could clear, the Chaos Marines were through the gap and into the outpost. They pushed past the doors and into the stairwell leading down to the bowels of the station.

Deep in the astropath vault, Inquisitor Kou heard the sound of ceramite boots on steel steps. He dashed over to the ancient monitors. The decrepet monitors showed a grainy black and white image of Space Marines decending with as much alarcity as possible.

"Why are the Knights Radiant in such a hurry to get down here?" he asked himself. Then, he noticed the sholderpads. The symbol was not the iconistic, rising comet of the Knights Radiant. These were Chaos Marines. He quickly checed the surface augry. It showed the dead and the 20' breach in the outpost wall. He quickly tapped a long string of codes and was answered by a deep, solid, crack. The chamber was sealed as best it could be sealed.

After a frantic search of several seconds, he found the dust-covered communications panel. He quickly adjusted the controls, breaking some of them in his haste. "Foxglove!" He yelled into the microphone. There was no response. Again, he yelled "Foxglove!". But again the equipment was silent. He toggeled the power off-on, off-on, until the switch broke in the on position.

He was a representative of the Holy Inquisition. But what could one man do against a dozen of the foul, betrayers, that were once the Emperor's finest?
Faith is our shield.
Duty is our life.
Death is our offering.

Beneath Outpost 426, Ulexis, Allic's Stop System

The footsteps outside of the massive wall stopped ringing on the steps. Inquisitor Kou heard the tones for failed access codes. Then all was quiet. The vid-augries showed the green armored Chaos Marines attaching small devices to the door.

Outside, the PDF forces had gathered thier wounded and dead. They were forming for what they knew would be thier last act of heroism, a charge against the Chaos Marines.

A roar sounded above them and a Thunderhawk gunship fell from the sky, breaking on jets of fire at the last moment. Twenty Space Marines jumped out of the lowering ship, thier florescing yellow and orange armor almost blinding in the winter sun. One of them broke off and approached the PDF forces. "Get the wounded on to the Thunderhawk, our Apothecary will tend to them." he said and ran toward the entrance the rest of the marines had just past through.

Vet. Sgt. Onomichi made a quick assessment of the stairwell. Grenades could not be reliably droped to the bottom of the shaft due to overlap of the stairs. There would be no way to avoid making noise on the old steel steps. "Flamers to the front. Move at pace." he said quietly. And they proceeded down the stairwell with all the speed they could manage.

Far below the corrupted marines of the Death Guard were planting thier remaining meltabombs on the huge door. As one they turned at the loud, metalic clanging of armored boots on steel steps.

Beneath Outpost 426, Ulexis, Allic's Stop System

Six of the Deathguard turned and climbed the steel steps, their green cermaite boots leaving a trail of slime on the treads.

Far above, Vet. Sgt. Onomichi notices the added noise of the ascending Chaos Marines and signaled for the squad to be cautious.

Minutes stretched like hours as they descended into the depths of the station. A bolter shell exploded against a stair a flight down. The shell was immediately answered by two gouts of liquid fire, which was in turn answered by a scream.

Bolters sang and boots rang as the two groups of super-humans rushed to engage each other. Bolters chipped armor and chainswords gouged arms and legs. Fire sprayed across the already burning shaft.

The weakened stairwell suddenly gave way dropping the bodies of the righteous and unrighteous indiscriminately. The dead and living fell through two flights of metal steps, before a lower flight caught their fall. The already smoky hall was suddenly filled with light, smoke and the smell of burning metal.

Down below the Chaos marines examined the partially melted vault door. The still glowing metal was unsuitable to safely attach more meltabombs to. "We wait." stated one in a quiet, commanding voice.

Beneath Outpost 426, Ulexis, Allic's Stop System

Vet. Sgt. Onomichi raised himself up from the bent and burning stairwell. A few quick bolter shots into the less armored neck coupling of the Chaos Marines ensured that they would stay down and that the corrupted progenitor gland would not be harvested. Two other Knights Radiant also rose from the burning mess of steel, ceramite and flesh. Far too few.

"Tomo, secure the bodies of our battle brothers on the landing above and join us as quick as you can. Sama, you're with me." Onomichi said. The two started down the stairwell, as Tomo begain rigging a pully to raise the fallen marines.

Down below, the six remaining Deathguard heard the bolter shots and the clanging on the stairs.

Deathguard Sgt. Gruman spoke quietly into the televox implant, trying to raise the Chaos Marines above. After several, failed attempts, he turned to his compatriates and simply said "Make Ready." Five of the six Chaos Marines checked thier rusted, slime covered, but very functional bolters. The sixth one checked the vault door and begain placing meltabombs on the slowly cooling door.

As Onomichi and Sama rounded the last flight of the stairwell, the air became fluid with the mini-rockets that were bolter shells. Thier blessed armor deflected most of the shells, but others found weak spots and penetrated. The shells, not mere lead, but miniature bombs exploded within the flesh of the Space Marines. Even the enhanced muscles of the Emperor's Finest were shreaded by the explosive bolts. Both marines fell down the stairwell to the feet of the awaiting Deathguard. Ceramite boots kicked the marines onto thier backs. The five Deathguard were immediatly bathed in unlit promethium from Sama’s damaged flamer. A single bolter round from Sgt. Onomichi impacted against a Chaos Marine's armor and exploded. There was a 1/10th second gap that seemed like minutes. Then the five Chaos Marines errupted in flames. The meltabombs ignited in sympathy, filling the shaft with light, smoke and heat. The flames consumed everything in thier path. The steel steps melted, as did armor and flesh.

A wave of heat passed Tomo as he secured the last Battle Brother on the landing. A second later a wave of searing light, much hotter, was pushed up the shaft followed by another wave of flame. The steel stairs and landing sagged, but held. However, the stairs below him, weakened by the heat, collapsed. The marine sighed and started carrying one of the fallen Battle Brothers toward the surface. He called to have an Apothicary meet him at the top.

Beneth Outpost 426, Ulexis, Allic's Stop System

Inquistor Kou awoke amid flames and smoke. The blast doors had been melted through. The stairwell was filled with melted and crumpled steel stairs. He could make out the bodies of over a dozen space marines; some in green armor, some in yellow and orange. None were moving.

He looked around the chamber. There seemed to be flames everywhere. He stared with horror as he saw the feeding tubes were aflame and were pumping burning nutrient into some of the psychers.

He tried to stand up, but fell back on his face. Looking down, he saw that he had no foot to stand on, literally! On one leg the flesh and bone had been melted away. The Inquisitor reached in his medical kit and injected himself with a potent blend of stimulants, antibiotics, and pain killers. He would pay dearly for it later, but for now he could act. He bound his wounds carefully, but quickly.

The wounded Inquisitor crawled across the floor to the ancient console. There was an ancient wheeled chair sitting there, caked with dust. He pulled himself up on to it and pushed off with his good leg toward a fire extinguisher he spied. The wheels did not turn. Instead the chair dumped the Inquisitor, uncerimoneously, on the back of his head. Kou suppressed a verbal curse, it would not do to envoke anything unwanted.

Inquisitor Kou climbed to one foot and hopped toward the extinguisher. It was also covered with dust, but appeared to still carry a charge. He spent the next several minutes putting out the flames. Several of the astropaths had died of flames and smoke.

Unseen, a black crystal, amid the ruins of the blast doors, started to glow green.

Outpost 426, Ulexis, Allic's Stop System
Tomo reached the top of the stairwell with the injured battle brother. Apothicary Maki was waiting. he directed Tomo to the outpost's small medical room. "I'll take care of him. Take two battle brothers and bring up the rest" said Maki and then he turned to his work.

Deep under Outpost 426.

In the astropathic sensor vault, Inquisitor Kou sat down. Beads of sweat fell from his forehead and nose. He was weaker than he thought. Putting out the fire had drained him of all his remaining strength. Darkness stole upon him and swallowed him whole.

The black crystal continued to glow with an eerie light. Suddenly, with a flash of shadow, five huge figures appeared. Taller than a man. Broader than a space marine in power armor. Five, terrors stood turning slowly from one side to the next. The silence was as thick as the miasma seeping from the ancient terminators. They spread out, each one approaching and examining an astropath before moving on to the next one. Seemingly at random a bolter shot rang out, ending a life.

An hour later, they completed thier sweep. Returning to the crystal, one of them lifted a small canister and placed it in the middle of the chamber. The lights changed on the container and a purple mist sprayed from its' sides. The huge, armored giants gathered around the green glowing stone and vanished.

Inquisitor Kou pushed off the wall with his good leg. This time his chair rolled to a halt next to the canister. The Inquisitor pressed a combination of studs on the panel, atop the canister. The gas abruptly stopped. But the damage had been done. The astropaths heads were expanding at a visible rate. Thier fingers and toes were elongating into tentacles. Thier faces were contorted in pain. Growling in anger, the Kou pointed his inferno pistol at the canister and pulled the trigger. The canister exploded, throwing the Inquisitor deeper into the chamber. The feeding lines caught fire and quickly spread. Burning feed tubes guided the fire down into the astropaths. Hundreds of bodies were burning now. The Inquistor covered his face with a rebreather mask, but it was too late. He could feel his body changing. He was lost. He was victim to mutation, the very scourge that he had fought to cleanse his entire life. As he lay dieing, he heard the burning astropaths began to whisper. One, then another, and another. Each one in unison with the others. "They're comming. The Devourer is comming." On and on it went, louder and louder as more astropaths joined it. It beat against his mind. Then the chorus slowly faded as the astropaths died from flame and smoke. Inquisitor Kou looked down at his hands, now blasphemous tentacles. He was dying. The light was fading. His mind opened. He saw across the warp. Far in the distance, against the black of warpspace was a darker shadow. The shadow was smooth and glided effortlessly through the boiling warp. He was drawn to it. Across nonspace he flew, closer and closer to the shadow. It was huge, dwarfing everything else in the warp. As he drew closer, his mind started to fracture; the shadow was the result of a single, powerful mind. The shadow engulfed him.

A single, mumbled word escaped the Inquisitor's lips as he died. "Leviathan."

Allic's Stop System, Glorious Duty orbiting Ulexis.


"Chaplain Ifuta, ship's auspex indicates tranporter activity under Outpost 426." reported Specialist Wau.

"Thank you. Did you pinpoint it's transmission source?" asked Ifuta.

"No, Lord Chaplain. The transmission was too brief." answered Specialist Wau.

"Keep scanning."

"Yes, Master".

- - - - -

An hour later

"Another transport, Chaplain! I have the destination. 98% chance that it was the origin of the first transport, sir."

"Good. Provide the coordinates our transporter tech-chapel." Ifuta pressed a stud on the station altar. "Operation Quill ... Go!"

- - - - -

Abord the battlecruiser Lymphatic Revolt, five huge, armored, giants suddenly appeared. Thier bright yellow and orange livery was illuminated in the dark chamber by the burning gasses of two assault cannons. The servitor at the control altar was rendered into patches of flesh and scrap metal no larger than it's withered hand.

A quick auspex scan and the five giants approached the fall bulkhead. As one, they reached out an oversized fist and peeled the wall to the floor. A single shell felled the only occupant of the hallway.

The five stalked down the hallway toward the largest power-source scanned.

- - - - -

The engines of Glorious Duty and Shooting Star both lit in the same minute. Both ships turned in graceful arcs worthy of an aqua-ballet. Each purched atop a mile long pillar of nuclear fire, they quickly gained speed and purpose. Thier clear destination: the battlecruiser Lymphatic Revolt.

- - - - -

The dead lay strewn across the corridore.
"Unholy abominations. I will have to reconcecrate this armor in the morn." grumbled Brother Koyama.
Sergeant Kaneda gestured for silence. He knew that he led a team of five space marines fitted in precious Terminator Armor. The entire chapter only owned ten such suits. A single loss would be a mighty blow to the chapter. Master of Sanctity, Ifuta was taking an awful risk. Kaneda did not intend to let him down.

- - - - -

Glorious Duty cut its engines. The mighty ship slowly rotated on its axis. Across its great length mighty erruptions could be seen.

Shooting Star continued toward the target gaining speed with every second. It crossed the course of Lymphatic Revolt, ahead and slightly above the battlecruiser's trajectory. Fire and coherient light lept from both ships.

Shooting Star took damage on three decks.

Lymphatic Revolt sustained all damage to one location. The hole looked small on the huge spear of metal that was the Revolt. But the primary sensor array and secondary bridge were no more.

Shooting Star continued past; a meteor thrown across heaven.

- - - - - -

Ten minutes later five drop pods slammed into Lymphatic Revolt. A whole army of yellow and orange figures leapt out. Each team headed a different direction.

- - - - - -

Alarms were sounding all over the Revolt. Ombecki, the Ship's Master, was frantic. He stormed around the bridge gathering information and shouting orders. The Cult Terminis were called to perform the roll that the Tactical Dreadought Armor was designed for, repultion of boarding parties. Every Chaos Space Marine was ordered to back them up.

- - - - - -

The Knights Radiant Terminators had reached a huge, adamantium, blast door.
Sergeant Kaneda mearly nodded.
Two of the giants peeled back the outer wall. Atmosphere rushed by as sirens roared and suddenly went quiet in the new vacuum. The five crawled outside the ship.

- - - - - -

Vet. Sgt. Onomichi had been cutting power, communication, and control lines as they proceeded along the length of the vessel. Now they were pinned down by two squads of Chaos Marines. The silent, ancient cannons provided ample cover, but also limited thier options.

Allic's Stop System, Glorious Duty orbiting Ulexis.

The Oracle Terminators carefully strode along the outside of the hull. Step by careful step they crept, trusting to the magnetic clamps of thier boots to keep them from flying off into space. An eternity of 5 minutes later they halted. As one, they punched thier powerfists through the hull and ripped back the hull. Loose papers, and tools flew out with the venting atmosphere. When the last of the gasses had escaped, they pulled themselves through the hole.

The Terminators pulled themselves through the rent to land heavily, but silently on the deck. The warp engine altars rose in large, ornate stacks. Behind the stacks was a huge curved wall. They placed meltabombs across the surface in a carefully measured pattern.

Five minutes later. Sgt. Kaneda sent a signal and the Terminators climbed jumped out the hole in the celing.

- - - - -

Tiny dots were flying off the Lymphatic Revolt, like water droplets from a shaking dog. The Lymphatic Revolt did not shutter or buckle. Rather a whole, blacker than space, open in the rear of the ship and the rear third of the ship ceased to exist.

Glorious Duty and Shooting Star errupted in fire. Eight seconds later the remains of Lymphatic Revolt disentigrated.

- - - - -

Sgt. Kaneda signaled. Shuttles began picking up the marines that had reciently assaulted the Chaos ship.

- - - - -

Twenty minutes later, Glorious Duty and Shooting Star jumped for the Garren system.