War for the Sword

[thatguyjames]

Day: -4

With a very deep breath, General Militant Hollis tried his best to banish the headache of having woken up entirely too early. It was summer, nearly the longest day of the year, and he had awoken even before the sun crested the mountains in the distance. That was an hour ago, and it was just now beginning to show itself, a razorblade slit of fiery luminescence.

The coffee helped, but he couldn't focus himself. It had been too many years out of active service to pull off a stunt like this. The men around him, children by comparison, stood at perfect attention. Their bodies, their minds, were perfectly functioning machines. They were not burdened by the slow decline of old age or the years upon years of political maneuvering and the mountains of paperwork.

Hollis had spent the better part of 40 long years working, climbing, crawling, through the ranks. He had forgotten how heavy his badges were now. How long had it been since last he had worn them all? Now, after a lifetime of work, he had risen to the rank of importance that a task such as this deserved...

and he hated it.

******

The transmission had come a week before. Though there was nothing out of the ordinary, the astropathic interpreter had noticed an interesting, if subtle, variation in the technology at the point of origin. The young servant, not a year out of training, spent a night and a day in the dusty archives below the librarium, researching, comparing the signal to those of the ancient technologies of years past.

In the end, he had discovered the pattern to be unique to a crusader ship of the black templar fleet, a pattern thought to no longer be in service. Upon reporting his findings to his superiors, the young lad had hoped to be rewarded for his outstanding work. Hollis shivered at the memory of his screams as he was dragged off by the inquisitors, having been exposed potentially to the taint of chaos. The poor bastard would probably never again see the light of day, if he still lived.

******

And now this.

The message was simple enough:

We are servants of the Imperium of Man.

We approach on a matter of great urgency.

Make ready for war.

Of course they hadn't. The planet of Genis 6 hadn't seen war in over a thousand years, though it hadn't stopped the people from maintaining an active military. The lass time they had let their guard down, the results were disastrous. In the absence of combat, the military had become a parody of its former self, a sort of political playground for men would enjoyed guns and didn't want to grow up.

A thousand years of dawdling and now the possibility of actual war. The implications were unspeakable. The message had been discarded, hoped to be a mistake. It had been considered one until late last night, when the second one arrived:

We are servants of the Imperium of Man.

We have arrived on matter of great urgency.

War has come.

[thatguyjames]

It was almost five in the morning when the general arrived at the designated rally point provided from the transmission. He had nearly a dozen heavily armed men at his side, some of the best soldiers he could muster on such short notice. Their armor gleamed fiercely in the morning sun, polished to a mirror sheen. Their weapons were active and armed, lasguns of the finest construction.

The rally point was a simple open field of no strategic importance. Hollis has been hand picked to lead his men into this field, and it was his sacred duty of office to meet any who approached, take them prisoner, and return with them to a military installation some fifty miles away.

As the armored transport rolled to a stop, Hollis slid out of the passenger front seat, the clamor of boots behind him. The soldiers fell in perfect order behind the commander, their expressionless helmet plates reflection the tree line in the distance.

Hollis came to a stop, looking around the clearing. It was a peaceful morning in the country, birds singing, the trees whispering with the breeze. The venerable general sighed. A minute passed by, then two, then three...

"Sergeant!"

An enormous soldier immediately responded through the vox caster on his shoulder, his voice grainy and metallic.

"Sir!"

"Get a reading on the surrounding area, I want to know what we're dealing with here."

"Yes Sir!"

Hollis waited impatiently as the trooper clicked through a series of menus and readouts on a small handheld device.

"Treeline scans are negative Sir."

"What about beyond the trees?"

"Satellite isn't responding Sir, we've got zero reading."

Hollis felt his stomach lurch.

"How long till we get Satellite?"

The sergeant continued going through menus, trying a different combination of buttons.

"Nothing Sir."

Hollis looked around the clearing. Suddenly the General felt very exposed, and very alone. He fought the urge to step backwards toward the relative safety of the transport. When next he spoke, he voice was noticeably less stern.

"What a waste of time. Everyone back to the... what the hell is that?"

Off in the distance, a streak of light began to trace it's way across the sky, towards the earth. One of the soldiers stepped forward, bringing a powerful pair of binoculars to his face.

"Well soldier, what is that."

The man swallowed hard before responding. His breath had begun to increase in pacing.

"It's...It's the satellite Sir."

[thatguyjames]

Hollis turned to his men, yelling to run for the transport. But as his voice left his mouth, it was swallowed up by the thunderous explosion behind him. He didn't have to issue the order to hit the deck.

The earth tore the air in a cloud of dirt and grass, leaving only the towering figure of the drop pod that occupied the hold it had just created. Hollis and his men looked up at the massive machine, sitting perfectly still for a moment before another round of explosions sent their heads to the ground again.

The charges went off in rapid succession, revealing the giants within. Stepping out onto the field, ten space marines drew their weapons, rapidly surveying the field. They were clad in tan and red, save for the two at the front, both clad in liquid black power armor. One carried no noticeable weapons, while the other hefted twin blue blades, casting a halo around him in the grass.

Hollis stood up quickly, brushing himself off, as did the others. He had read about space marines as a boy, but he had never seen them in real life.

The ten marine approached quickly, their enormous weapons still drawn, still waiting for Hollis to make his intentions known. Hollis saluted smartly to the two men in black, who easily dwarfed him by more than two feet. The unarmed man stepped forward, nodding to Hollis.

His voice carried over a hidden external vox speaker, amplified and low, almost growling.

"You are the planetary loyalists?"

Hollis hesitated, not sure how to respond.

"I am Lord Militant of the South Yerrin Continent, decorated as acting general of Genis 6."

The unarmed man nodded, turning to his honor guard.

"He's part of the Empire alright, can't give a fecking straight answer."

Hollis gasped.

"You! I demand you apologize for that incense. I have been apart of this man's army for forty years and I will not be treated..."

"I am Marshal Michael Daniel Antonius of the Dawnstrike Crusade from the Jerlas system. I have come here to offer a diplomatic courtesy, not exchange pleasantries."

Hollis stiffened at the tone of the man's voice. He had worked too long to be pushed around.

"And what courtesy did you hope to extend to me Marshal?"

Hollis' belligerent tone of voice was not lost on the man who stood before him. He took noticeably longer to respond, most likely to hold his temper in check.

"You and all your men will surrender immediately and unconditionally to our forces so long as we are here on this planet. Food, fuel, men, resources of any kind, will be at our permanent disposal and your infrastructure will report directly to us at every level of command. Furthermore, you will do as you are told at every juncture, without hesitation."

Hollis' face had become beet red with rage.

"You presume to come down here, and take everything we have worked for."

Daniel shook his head.

"No General, you will give it to us, and if you live through this, and after we have taken what we need to continue on, we will give it back."

Hollis quivered with anger, reaching for his las pistol. The other soldiers quickly drew their weapons, pointing unsteady barrels as the giant armored men who stood before them. Daniel sighed to himself.

Before a single shot was fired, Daniel's arm shot up, the twin lightning claws extending out instantly. Hollis froze where he stood, as did every soldier he commanded. Hollis' exposed neck was now between two massive blades of Daniel's lightning claw. Flashes of electricity danced up and down the blades, almost kissing the neck of the very pale general. To either side, all his men found themselves in similar situations, their necks dangerously close to the tips of Templar swords. Daniel spoke again, patiently this time.

"Immediately and without condition general. Either you give, or we take. There is no time to explain, there is no time to negotiate. You can die here, now, or you can save your planet. Choose wisely. "

General Hollis didn't have to think on the matter for very long.

[thatguyjames]

Day: -2

The mighty shadow of a thunderhawk gunship darkened the entire airport. Though it was one of the largest the planet had to offer, it was almost too small to contain even 1 of the mighty space marine craft. Heraldry of every color paraded through: Cyan, Black, Silver, but predominately one could see the deep emerald of the dark angels and the shining tan of the Templars.

For almost 36 hours now, the ports of the world had been busy, unloading tanks and troops of loyalist marines. The planetary armed forces had been ordered back to city border to protect the population of the planet. Very begrudgingly, they had done so.

Surveying a map of planet from his landraider, Daniel gave detailed instructions to his men. By his estimate, it would be less than two days before the forces of chaos arrived to challenge the loyalists for control of the planet. Two days and they still hadn't found what they were looking for in the first place.

"Any luck Marshal?"

Daniel stood quietly from his display screen. Standing in a halo from the outside light, he could see the outline of a mighty space marine.

"Lord Azrael, we have yet to locate the sword, but we've narrowed down the areas to search in considerably."

Indicating three green points on the display screen, Daniel continued.

"By days end, we'll know if the sword is in sector one. With any luck, we'll be able to claim it and bring our battle to a more suitable planet. If not, orders are to sweep sector 2 tomorrow, and sector 3 the following day."

Nodding silently, Azrael watched with intense eyes.

"Well done Marshal, you do your men proud."

Daniel bowed slightly.

"For the Emperor."

Azrael smiled, putting a hand on the young marine's shoulder.

"For the Emperor."

[thatguyjames]

Day 3:

Daniel gasped as a mortar shell exploded nearby, sending him to his knees.

The sounds of battle were finally dying down. With a heavily grunt, Daniel got back on his feet, physically exhausted, but driven on by the coming victory.

For three days he had fought the forces of chaos relentlessly, and for three days he and his men had been driven to a stalemate. While the other chapters presences waxed and waned, only the Templars and the Dark Angels had remained.

For Daniel, this was the culmination of years of work and war. He had easily visited two dozen systems, countless planets, and fought on numberless more in the name of the sword which was now only 150 feet behind him. How many nights had he lost sleep? How many days had been swallowed up by his quest? He pushed the thoughts from his mind. He would reflect later, when this task was done.

Ahead, yet another group of khornates were engaged in combat. Daniel had seen much blood these past few days, and most of it belonged to either his men or these men. His lightning claws blazing with energy, he leaped into the fray, slicing into the men who had ceaselessly fought him for almost 72 hours. With the help of a dreadnought of the Iron Hands, they made short work of the berzerkers.

The dreadnought clamored on, unleashing a salvo of assault cannon rounds into a distant target.

Standing still, Daniel was overtaken by the sheer sense of fatigue that he had been fighting for days and nights. Surrounded by his sword brethren, his champion at his side, he tapped the comm link on his helmet.

"Excaliber to me, we've got a delivery to make."

As the thundering treads of a Land Raider came into view, the men looked around. There was always a sense of uncertainty in a battle of this magnitude. Perhaps there was more fighting to be done, more help to issue to the allies. But things were getting quiet now, a sense of peace beginning to settle. Daniel's battle instincts told him he was almost done here. crushing dead bodies and debris, the Land Raider rolled up.

Daniel looked over to his right, seeing the man who had saved his life this day.

"Grand Master! Come share my transport."

The bulk of the silver terminator turned slowly, looking at the young Marshal. His face was grim, but his voice kind.

"You go now Daniel Antonius, you have your missions we have ours. We will meet up later. For the Emperor."

"For the Emperor!"

Running up the runway to his personal transport, Daniel sighed as he sat down, the strain of his armor finally receding slightly. His head throbbed with pain and fatigue. All he could do was try to breathe. And suddenly, in the middle of all the emotions and thoughts, he found himself laughing. His men looked at him, their faces showing obvious concern. Daniel leaned back in his harness, still laughing.

"Well think about it lads, we've all done the combat simulator. The big bloody sword they give you, and you sit down of the bench and all you can do is try to breathe, and here we are doing it all over again."

Daniel starting laughing again, his voice being joined by the others.

*We arrive sir*

Slapping their helmets back on, the group emerged from the land raider, surrounded by initiates and neophytes. There, in the middle of them all, was the sword in the stone. Daniel felt a rush of relief to see it finally just a few yards away.

"Has anyone tried to pull it?"

"No Brother, as per your orders it has remained untouched."

"Well Brother, you're a better man than I am."

Daniel reached down to the hilt and grabbed it with both hands. Though he couldn't be sure he thought for a moment he felt the grip get warm, even through his armored fingers. With everything he had, Daniel pulled.

The sound of steel sliding cleanly against stone was perhaps the sweetest sound the Marshal had ever heard. Standing tall, he held the sword high for all to see. The sounds of cheers filled the air as the Templars raised their fists to the sky.

As the celebration began, the sound of approaching tanks turned heads to the north. A bleached bone land raider pulled up beside the Templar one, it's front doors opening. Azrael walked out slowly, holding his side as he did. Behind him, two deadly veterans stood watch, armed and ready to strike. Azrael walked straight through to Daniel.

"You have found your prize, and so have I. This planet is saved and now we must depart."

Daniel nodded slowly, still in shock over having pulled the sword. Azrael smiled, recognizing the distant gleam in the Marshal's eye. Turning to the emperor's champion, he spoke quietly.

"Look after him."

The bloody knight lowered his head in reverence.

"Always, Lord Azrael."

Daniel clasped hands with the mighty chapter master once before he turned and returned to his land raider. As he walked up the front bay, the land raider began turning to head back north even as the doors shut.

And for just one moment, Daniel could have sworn he saw someone chained in the back. A dark angel whose robes were not the traditional bone white, but rather a stain of purest black.

[thatguyjames]

This was just an outline of the battle from my perspective. Any who played, feel free to add your own details to the story. The way I wrote it, day 1-3 are the 3 battles. Imperial's made planetfall a week beforehand, and chaos probably arrive just as the fight started.

[Lord Dacius]

The next step.

“Get lord Dacius to the transport, he has been grievously wounded” the renegade marine shouted. Dacius had tried his luck against forces of the imperium three times, and three times he had been beaten by the unmovable deathwing terminators, and his quarry Interrogator Chaplain Solstice. In the final encounter he managed to wound the Dark Angel, with a backhanded sweep of his daemon weapon “Castor’s wrath”.

His task on this forsaken world unaccomplished, Dacius would now have to give chase to the Angels of Caliban. For it was his vow given to the lord of change himself, that he would gather the Fallen Dark Angels, and bring them to his citadel on the deamonworld of Castor. There they would be safe from the Dark Angels. To achieve these ends Dacius had come to this world from a vision given to him by his dark master. The vision showed a black armored figure, standing on a mighty hill drawing a large sword from a black stone. When news came to him that there were Dark Angels on the planet, he diverted his search for the fallen angel, to eliminate the deathwing and their interrogator chaplain.

Battered and defeated, Dacius turned his attention to his next lead. Doubtless he would encounter the Dark angels, and now with a
between the Black Templars, and the Dark Angels, he had a new force he would have to contend with. Though through this battle not all had gone poorly, he had made an unlikely ally in a war band of renegades dedicated to Khorne. He would keep these strong fighters in high regard, as they were a devastating assault force to supplement his war band's heavy firepower.

As the land raider, and the remaining rhino apcs rolled towards the landing zone his personally apothecary looking over him, finding him to be relatively unharmed, aside from a pair of broken legs, and several cracked vertebrae, doubtless from the accursed thunder hammers of the deathwing. Amidst the roar of the engines, a strange whisper came to him. “ Dacius, seek thou the sword, it is more important than you know”

“Return to the ship, signal our comrades and inform them of our departure, we shall need their assistance in the coming months” spoke a hoarse breathed Dacius.

His first encounter with the templars and the Dark Angels had not gone well. He would not make the same mistakes twice.