Warhammer 40k Lore/Story - The Word Bearers of the Dark Maw

ladies and gentlemen boys and girls hello and welcome to another story slash loss slash narrative slash wherever we're gonna call it video that reps are a little bit thin on the ground at the moment the last one I filmed probably isn't ended gonna end up going on YouTube because there are a few cock-ups and in the process of making it and it wouldn't have been a very good pair up anyway so um as often happens in these periods when I can't get any actual battle reports out there I turned to other 40k things to do and in this case I decided to try and finally finish up a piece of writing I'd been doing her fricken forever now some of you may have seen previously I've done videos like this I did one about the Acheron crusade which is my sort of catch-all term for all my Imperium armies I did one for the Canadian four hundred and fourth that was about Colonel van graff and major Lasky and this is another one that this one is about the chaos boys the word bearers yeah tar Lazzara core barrack Godric all of the dudes the Keith is the sorcerer Judah the greater possessed all of these dudes all of these dudes who appear in the battle reports and what have you they're in this this is a really weird piece to be honest with you it's gonna end up being really really long I think last I checked it was an hour and 45 minutes for the entire narration which I just finished doing the other day and it started off as it was supposed to be just a little tiny little narrative video thing is an intro to the series of games I did with winters on everyone what is SEO I took my word bears over to his channel and we did a series of battle reports both on his main YouTube channel and also on his paid subscription thing called the deployment zone the first of those bowels the first of the three you can see on YouTube and I will put a link to it in the description or in the comments below or something like that I pin pin a comment or something um and the idea was just to do a little preload into that little campaign we did from the word Baris perspective and then it ended up growing and growing and growing and growing and growing until eventually like a couple of months later I had this word document that was fifteen thousand eight hundred words in total I realized I'd written about a quarter of a novel but here it is anyway it's sort of so it serves kind of two purposes really one it is an introduction to that campaign but also it's kind of a bit of an introduction to my word bearers in general all the main characters in the army and a bit of background history about the word bear his legion that's how it starts off and then you get into a sort of story bit and yeah you just you can just listen to it and you'll get the idea so basically that's what this is if you haven't seen these before I recommend you can watch the other ones because they're I think they're pretty good people seem to like them anyway you know um but this is essentially going to be like an audiobook this is something you can listen to while you're painting your own models while you're on the train while you're in the car while you're playing some video games while whatever it is you're doing doesn't matter but this is something you can listen to in the background like your audible audiobooks or or a podcast or whatever something you listen to the background it puts up some moving pictures and things on the screen anyway but yeah they're just there to make it so it's not just a black screen I felt like you know I I owed it that at least that much production value to the whole thing so yeah that's what this video is it's an introduction to the word bearers and my word bear is a short version I guess is they other chapter of the dark more there's loads of chapters that make up the word bear is legion they all have funny names like that because they're named after the constellations in the night skies of their home world of cultures and for some reason the culture scenes named all of their constellations really creepy things like the coiled lash or the throne of judgment and things like that and these guys are these guys are called the Dartmoor and this is their story basically I mean it's all their ongoing story all about reports and stuff you see on the channel but this is kind of an introduction to them if you like so yeah and it's about the four four or five main characters five yeah I think it's five yeah you got gal Drake Foss who's the guys in charge of everything who I'm still trying to build a model for of them in it because he doesn't have a model yeah he never appears on the battlefield you see he kind of just sort of sits up on a spaceship commanding the whole thing he rarely actually goes onto the battlefield which is why he doesn't have a model yet yeah I've Tyler's room he's the first captain he's got the big thunder helmet you've seen him a few times before at least I think you've got Kovarik the first chaplain the dark apostle who you've seen in definitely seen a few times before already you've got the key sis the sorcerer who really does need a new model because he's got that ancient old metal one that looks kind of goofy but hey that's a project for later down the line and you've got the greater possessed I have a few great possessed but there's one in particular who I end up using the most I've decided arbitrarily because I just like that particular model so he always ends up getting used in most of the battles I do and he's done some cool stuff in the past so I decided to work him into the story too and he's called Judah and he's a possessed he's a greater possessed and those are the kind of five main dudes there's a few other stuff like there's a few other guys like I've got a master for possession who really ought to have some background stuff about him as well because I've used him a lot and I recently gave him a new paint job too because I wasn't happy with the old one but anyway so yeah but this story confer can't concerns those five those five I mentioned and yeah I finished all the basic preamble there'll be pictures of the army coming up on the screen during the story segments and you can look at those if you like I don't like to look too closely to be honest with you Mike jobs are like designed to be as quick and nasty as possible so that they look okay on a video camera and but not if you look too closely at them but hey you know there's pictures of them there if you want to see the house I care and yeah that's all I have to say I think at this point so you know get yourself a cup of tea paint some models build some models or try and enjoy your train journey or whatever whatever it is you're doing right now as you're listening to this and enjoy hopefully hopefully it's good I did the same things before like I narrated the whole thing but I also added a few little sound effects here and there to make it feel a bit like her like one of those black library audio dramas a little bit tiny bit so yeah anyway hope you enjoy I'm gonna shut up now and we'll get on with it from the archives of Malthusian Darren scribe of the logos historic of errata executed in 179 in 42 after pleading guilty to charges of heresy betrayal murder damnation a galaxy in flames these things are the legacy of the infamous 17th legion known as the word bearers there is an old Terran saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and never as they'd been more literal that in the case of the sons of log are they hailed once in the long dark of history from the world of cultures this was the planet that the primarch log our our alien matured upon with the guidance of his foster father the priests core Ferrum conscious was a world of deep deserts and ancient faith much of the land was ruled by a theocracy known as the covenant details of this ancient church are lost forever as the planet itself was subject to exterminate us by the ultramarines during the scouring what is known however is that the Covenant worshipped a pantheon of gods known simply as the powers and it was from this cancerous seed of old night that the Horus heresy ultimately grew the word bearers themselves worshiped the god emperor in a time when the emperor still walked the Stars as a man and denied accusations of divinity with a violent reprisal when log Ark was coming of age on cultures he had visions of the coming of the Emperor like his brother Magnus he was a psycho but his power was raw and untamed often a curse as much as a blessing he interpreted his glimpses of the future in the only way his homeworld of cultures had equipped into he believed they were visions from God as he grew from a boy to a man log are gathered devoted followers and eventually would wage a number of bloody religious wars all over cultures to unite his people in preparation for the coming of the god Emperor and of course when the Emperor did indeed arrive the young Primarch felt in finally vindicated the 17th legion once reunited with their gene sire would develop a fanatical devotion to him even by the usual standards of space marines and their pry marks they cast off their old title as the Imperial heralds and became the bearers of the word named after log ours mortal followers and cultures they would join their primark in bringing unity to the scattered tribes of man across the heavens as part of the Emperor's Great Crusade however their conquests were of a different stripe to their cousins in the other legions log are presented the Marshall role assigned to him by his gene father the religious wars of cultures were ugly brutal Affairs that left the primark with a distaste for conflict he favored the diplomatic approach over all others and his conquests would take incredible lengths of time as he ensured the populations of each planet he brought to compliance were thoroughly devoted to the imperial cause with a minimum of bloodshed he was successful in this of all his demigod brethren law garb or the most physical resemblance to the Emperor and more importantly he also shared his father's gift for influencing the masses world's brought to compliance by law gah would become unquestioningly loyal to the emperor of mankind but it was a religious fervor and not the diametrically opposed militant atheism that the Emperor wished to promote in his new Imperium norges justifications for the Emperor's status as a God where many he wrote great philosophical treatises on the subject and would argue his case vociferous lis with those who disagreed he was after all a primark with the mind of a demigod his religion was not one born of ignorance and his arguments were often intellectual rather than irrational it is perhaps because of us that his cult of the lectio divina Tartus found a great deal of support across the fledgling Imperium even beyond the worlds his expeditions conquered and even in spite of the Imperial states wholesale persecution of any form of religion or superstition in the fullness of time and in a great twist of irony this faith would eventually prove to become the state religion of the Imperium of man following the end of the Horus heresy we do not know and will probably never know the precise reasons that the Emperor decided to take action against the 17th Legion some speculate that he could not stand to see his son perverting the Imperial truth and spreading superstition in religion in his name other more cynical Minds might remark that spirituality and mysticism was commonplace in many of the legions such as the space wolves and the white scars and the mechanicals worship of the Emperor as omnis ayah was also officially permitted the source of the Emperor's ire was merely the slowness with which the word bearers carried out his will the truth perhaps lies somewhere in between in either case however he made his displeasure known on the world of ker ker was the home of the great metropolis of monarchia known to the word bearers as the perfect City it represented the peak of law God's vision a paradise of golden spires great cathedrals churches and chapels vast statues and palaces it was a living breathing shrine to the worship of the god emperor and so it was chosen as the perfect place to make an example of the 13th Legion the ultramarines under direction of the Emperor and his loyal right-hand Malka door the city light began an orbital assaults upon ker and its great cities monarchia being principal among them the citizenry were delivered a notice of eviction at the point of a bolt gun ordering the entire city to evacuate within three days we do not know precisely how this plan was put together and who individually was responsible monarchia alone was a gigantic subcontinent sized sprawl let alone the other great cities of ker and to expect the population to willingly leave their homes in a mere three days Qwest of an unknown occupying force was probably wishful thinking at best and a callous disregard for human life at worst as such with the dawn of the third day when orbital strikes obliterated the perfect city much of its population was vaporized along with their homes the 17th legion arrived shortly afterwards after hearing confusing distress calls begging for their aid upon arrival and without explanation the entire Legion was ordered to assemble in the ruins of monarchia city centre and it was here that the Emperor revealed himself for them using his incredible psychic will he made every last one of them kneel along with their primer and hear the words of his disapproval a word bearers humiliation was total and carried out under the watchful gaze of their cousins and the ultramarines has added insult it would create a rift between the two legions that would never heal in the years that followed the word bearers did indeed give up their worship of the god emperor but it slowly began to be replaced with something new core Ferrum now elevated to superhuman status even in his advanced years continued to advise the ever more distraught more gar core Ferren had never truly given up worship of what he called the old faith he served his adopted demigods son as dutifully as ever but Catherine had always looked with a cynical eye at the Emperor and the other pry marks he was always a man of ambition and forever a contrarian even when he was merely a mortal priest wandering the desert in exile he suggested to log our along with his co-conspirator first chaplain Erebus but the Legion should return to the old ways to the old methods to what he called the primordial truths the Primark was that first enraged at the very suggestion but eventually after much persuasion I'm around to the idea this was when the 17th is true road to damnation again log ah and his legion began a new journey travelling across the Stars seeking the truth behind reality searching for the reason why so many worlds across the galaxy shared similar beliefs and similar superstitions clans of humanity that had grown in isolation from one another on worlds uncounted were worshiping the same gods and log are had to know why in his mind humanity needed faith and the Emperor's harsh lesson had not convinced him otherwise it was the peculiar quality that set us apart from the animal and the alien The Binding glue that kept the psyche of a species held together in the face of a vast and uncaring universe to logout nothing was more important than the truth that lay at the heart of the human race a truth that the Emperor had kept from him it was the pursuit of this that brought him to the eye of terror the grave birth of the chaos God's longish the ancient heart of the once-proud Eldar Empire where the unreality of the warp bled like a wound into the physical plane of our universe log our and his sons went into the I stared into the abyss and the abyss to quote an ancient Terran philosopher stared back it showed them things visions of past of the future yet to come it showed them lies it showed them truths and it gave them a choice log are made it and the Legion followed good intentions gave way to a brutal necessity in the face of the reality of their situation while the wider Imperium had to be made aware of the Emperor's lies it could not be done without inevitable bloodshed and so plans were made for a century or more the word bearers continued to fight the Great Crusade bringing world after world to compliance in the name of the Imperium but in each case the seeds of heresy were sown among stay popular so that when the time came a thousand worlds would rise up and chant the death of the false emperor Erebus the first chaplain of the Legion and one of law gars closest advisors went to join the war master Horus to gain his trust and gently nudge him towards the path of Hale's only Horus could bring enough of the legions to his side to make a potential civil war winnable and through the machinations of Erebus and his supporters the war master would inevitably fall the rest is of course history the word bearers have ever proven to be the most dedicated servants of the Dark Gods in the long millennia since while other legions have fractured and dissolved in the violent centuries of the long war the Seventeenth have stayed strong and unified in their faith at least by traitor standards anyway on a Thousand worlds across a hundred battle fronts they bring the word of log r to the miserable populace of the Imperium enslaved to a faith that the word bearers were responsible for spreading in the first place the irony at least is not lost on them for where many of the traitor legionaries hold nothing but spite in their rotten arts for servants of the false Emperor many word bearers instead have pity where some would see the galaxy burn the word bearers would see it save where some would seek to rule humanity under a spiked metal fist there are some still in the 17th who dream of a mankind ascended a species unified with the gods of their own creation of a galaxy where reality in the material cease to become meaningful distinction it is this particular quality that has ever made the bearers of the word the most dangerous of enemies they are not motivated merely by the petty desire for vengeance by bloody-minded ambition and not by a blind faith in a throne bound and aloof deity they instead are filled with the wrath of the righteous but the will of men who believed themselves to be the saviors of mankind as the 41st millennium comes to a close as new alien threats like the tyranide and the nekron rise from the darkness between the stars never before of the 17th legion been more determined to see their mission fulfilled the fate of the species hangs in the balance the elder created a god in the height of their power and hubris when they looked upon its face they turned away and doomed themselves to a slow painful extinction what the word bearers and the emperor have in common is a desire to avoid that fate the emperor had his way and it failed his grand design destroyed by his wayward son the word bearers have their way too to embrace chaos to become one with it to become molded by it to ascend the mantle of mankind's true potential by not pushing the warp away but instead by merging the spiritual and the physical the warp is many things but to them most importantly it is a piece of us a natural part of the species inseparable from us like a shadow it is the luminous matter from which souls are made it is the joy of birth and the grief of death it is the muse of the artist it is the sanctity of honored Brotherhood and the mother of invention it is the music of the spheres and the trillion souls of mankind are the instruments in its beautiful than terrible Symphony to shy away from it will lead humanity to that path of slow extermination of the Eldar know so well and so the people of the Imperium must be made to see the truth of it all must be laid bare and the species must finally take that fateful step beyond the curtain of reality if it is to survive the coming horrors to the word bearers stakes could not possibly be any higher and so no sacrifice is too great no price too high and no line will remain uncrossed in the pursuit of mankind's salvation they believe that they are right that the Imperium is wrong and will allow nothing and no one to stand in their way that is the dream at least the idea that once marched millions of men to war against their own Emperor a reality is a different thing indeed there are many among the ranks that keep the faith who might be described as true believers it could certainly be argued to have been the case in the days of the Horus heresy but the last ten thousand years have not been kind to any one of the nine legions while the 17 for fared better than most they still represent the cracked an embittered husk of what once was many have bled every last drop of their humanity upon the altar of the long war many others have become more occupied with the pursuit of power and status some doggedly march on bound by their twisted notions of oath and honor and the need to ensure that all the death all the depravity and atrocity and pain was not in vain some stopped caring long ago but fight on merely because it is their purpose to do so and without purpose and brotherhood a Space Marine is a lonely broken creature indeed it is this eclectic mix of The Melancholy and the mad the ambitious and the righteous the broken and the reforged that make up the chapter of the dark Moor as it does so many other woman named originally for one of the many constellations in the night skies above cultures the dark Moor is a vast host of the 17th Legion that operates in the Ultima segment and based out of a warp storm with which they share their name today they live in that distant speck of light that the people of cultures once appeared at in the Twilight hours long ago the chapters destiny was quite literally written in the heavens from the time of their founding and it is in that place that they have lived and fought and died in the thousands of years since the end of the Horus heresy but the final act of the long war having begun with the cicatrix mela dictum the great rift having speared its way across the stars the dark more have spilled forth from their lair in the storm and begun to conquer once again just as in days of old the worlds of the ultima segment hymn ring to their ancient battle cry through the jaws of death into the mouth of hell and the brothers of the moor are the ones who lead the charge tal Ezra was dreaming dreaming of days gone by of claw and Fang of blade and flame of artillery pounding like great doors slamming in the earth he dreamed of ghosts tearing at his own corpse like hungry dogs of smoke and ashes from worlds whose names none lived to remember he dreamed of old enemies old friends and those who would eventually prove to be both he dreamed of times and places in his past and occasionally of parts he has yet to tread tonight for a while his dreams took him back as they sometimes did to the chambers of lugar aurelion aboard the fidelity flex the legions flagship Talas rep met his Primark face-to-face only a handful of times this was one of them the hallway ended at a pair of massive golden doors carved upon them in loving detail with a diorama of the Emperor's arrival on cultures in exquisite detail he could make out the forms of log R and it int in supplication Magnus staring reverently down at his kneeling brother and the Emperor himself but the master of mankind's back was the 17th Legion the Imperial heralds as they were called then virtually none of those legionary still lived Tallis Roux was a collision like many of his brothers who still survived in the days of his dream it was an infant when the Emperor came to the great sounds of cultures in the wake of the religious wars and he remembered nothing of the time that had come before he'd only known the new faith for his entire life until the great betrayal of monarchia anyway in the dream however that was a long time ago the date al ezra met his primarch for the final time was after the great pilgrimage mere weeks before the war must his massacre of the loyalists in his ranks at his fan three choirs sang in adjacent temples their sad harmonies echoing up and down the hallway feeling as much a part of the ship as the rumble of its engines or the hum of the killer filled there was an air of melancholy over the whole place the shadows seemed to grow deeper color leading away from his surroundings the great golden mural of the Emperor was dulled and coated with a thin layer of dust it had not been attended to in years it sparkled once and what felt like a previous lifetime Tally's removed closer meaning to blow some of the dust off he had no love for the emperor left in his heart not after everything that had transpired and everything that he'd learned but he still believed in respect and in his mind the Emperor deserved some whatever else he was he was still the master of mankind as he finished the thought the door began to creak open first Chaplin Erebus emerged from within an expression of naked irritation on his face that was quickly suppressed as soon as he saw the captain stood there you can go in now the Primark is waiting for you he said with but the faintest hint of a sneer Talas row said not a word but instead saluted with the fist of unity across its chest it was best not to engage the feared first chaplain in conversation even on a good day and judging by his expression this was not a good day the door slammed shut behind him as he entered and the aroma of incense reached his nostrils the pry marks chambers were well decorated though perhaps not as much as one might expect there are very few luminal Globes lit in here instead most of the light came from old fashioned candelabras positioned on various side tables the scented synth candles could burn for days if required each wall of the chamber was a bookshelf reaching up to at least 15 feet high and populated with tomes uncounted many of which were penned by log are himself in one corner was a huge bed virtually never used an affectation likely designed by a mortal servant to the legion ignorant of a pre-marked physiology and needs in a great chair at an even greater desk sat log R himself surrounded by piles of books a quill in his hand and dressed in simple robes of gray an echo of the priests of the old faith on cultures Tallis rah immediately took a knee as he saw his Jean father face-to-face to witness one of the pry marks in the flesh always had a peculiar effect on those unused to their presence it is difficult to truly describe but perhaps the simplest way to put it is that to have one of these beautiful giant demigods look you directly in the eye as they always seem to do and seemingly offer you approval build immortal even a Space Marine with a tremendous sense of self-worth one five minute conversation with Lord our alien could cure a man of depression it had been said as ty laser annealed he did not doubt it for a second arise my son came Lord God's voice smooth and clear as glass you were you wish to speak to me my lord toddlers were forced out the question he was having some difficulty accepting the truth of him don't be so surprised I like to meet all of my sons when I can especially my captains congratulations on your new rank by the way you had my personal recommendation tell Ezra felt as though he'd been struck by a thunder hammer he was at a loss for words as his half-formed attempted a thank you indicated log our rumble doubt a chuckle that relieved some of the tension I have not had a good laugh in weeks Tallis rrah I suppose seeing the hero of Deneb rendered incapable of speech is what it took a smile could have melted ceramide out of my sons in the dark more fair the loss of the first company was a terrible blow I mourn their loss though it was not in vain log are turned and patted a stack of tomes bound in black leather we learned much did we not they died so that we might learn the truth milord we will remember them the chapter is getting back on its feet with no small thanks to the ministrations of the chaplains I think that most of us are merely itching to begin the great work the waiting is difficult I can appreciate them I feel it too replied logger tapping a hand on his heart you know how much I value the truth though sadly necessity has made Liars of us all of late lugar rose from his chair and paced across the room where he began searching for a book on one of the shelves tell Ezra was surprised the primal did not know where it was even a lowliest artist was usually blessed with an eidetic memory as if reading his thoughts log are clarified I should really tidy my books myself the menials do it for me and they never file things sensibly he subsequently pulled the time in question from the shelf and sat back down at his desk tellers were glanced at the writing on the spine a treatise on the great prophets Cain Tazz n Sloan art and nuraghe by hierarch toll Qaddafi if floor gar noticed his curious gaze he made no mention of it Erebus tells me the war master is ready to set events in motion the first blow will be struck at its van soon we can step from the detestable shadows and into the light Tala Zahra hesitated for a minute unsure if he should ask the question that had been preying on his mind for weeks he realized he had to so do I take that to mean there's no chance for peace we must spread the truth by force Laure gars expression hardened no chance whatsoever it saddens me to admitted my son but the emperor will never permit our truth to be heard you've seen the visions of the past as well as I this Imperium is built on the foundation of his fundamental lies he will see us all subject to an edict of obliteration before he lets our message be heard and I will not see my son's go the way of he trailed off Thalia raised an eyebrow it's funny he continued here we are plotting to overthrow my father's Empire and yet I still give pause before speaking of my forgotten brothers he fixed a letter with a stare that lanced into the captain like a shard of ice I must ask you something very important much will depend on your answer Tallis ruff stared back there was the faintest aura of red around floor guards words the small talk was over captain very soon the moment shall come when you will be forced to choose between your Emperor and your legion the fact that he said Legion and not Primark did not escape Tallis Rose attention there will be no bystanders in the war to come you must choose your Emperor or your family you are an honorable man tell Ezra I need to hear your answer he thought back to the mural of the emperor clothed in glory and power now neglected and forgotten he thought of the visions he'd seen in the great eye and he thought of his brothers [Music] he placed a hand over his heart and looked his Primarch directly in the eye family milord always my family dog our beamed and put a hand on his jean son's shoulder Thank You Terra do not be concerned I did not doubt you for a second I nearly had to prove someone wrong and I'm delighted to say that you have a Primark leaned back in his great chair you may return to your brothers now tell Ezra but before you go I have one last piece of advice I do not know when we shall meet again so I shall share it with you now lead your brothers cautiously take no great risks let your decisions be ruled by patience fate sings many songs and I am yet to discover which one bears the notes of truth this rebellion of ours could be over in a few short years or it could last 10,000 try to survive Tallis rrah but one day a very long time from now the legion may need men like you suddenly and without warning Talas refined himself elsewhere normally in dreams such an abrupt and bizarre transition would feel quite ordinary but this was different he was lucid now there was an intruder he found himself on a beach black volcanic sand stretched for miles around a bay towering conifers swayed in the breeze behind him above an outcropping of rocks there was no grass that family of plants had yet to evolve on the world upon which he now stood to his front an azure sea stretched to the horizon beneath the sunny sky with just the rank scattering of clouds it always found a totally cloudless sky to be strangely oppressive doubtless because he'd grown up in the desert what is this he called out he knew exactly who he was talking to and only a prime ten thousand years ago give or take it's been a while the reply came with that reverberating future echo of which for some reason seemed to be the norm for psychic communication it gave tile esra a headache a happy memory of yours Lachesis I suppose so you may not remember the 344 expeditionary fleet came here during the Great Crusade it was if I recall home to the Eldar they called it a maiden world I believe something like that anyway I never could master that awful hissing tongue of Earth I remember grumbled toddlers were appearing around all was still safer a volcano on the horizon that smoked gently into the sky and the waves that lapped on the shore I was in one of the first assault claws that made Planet four we lost a lot of legionaries there the xenos were waiting for us difficult to take by surprise the elder why are we here I like this place did you know that old Earth once looked like this long before the beginning of recorded history I was never much of a historian acclaimed tar lesra his arms folded I know I think once upon a time I accused you of being a blunt instrument the following day you had that hammer of yours forged a smile formed in the corner of town Asura's mouth and people say you have no sense of humor but I digress terror looked just like this place once and one day a long time from now I am sure in donea Prime will look just like Terra I enjoy being reminded of how big the universe is and how small we all are helps me keep perspective or all sorcerers amateur philosophers or is that just you you wound me came the voice from behind him this time tada hand to see the qisas stood there with a ghost of a smile on his lips and warp like dancing mischievously in his eyes I happen to consider myself an amateur theologian as well Tallis retorted huh well at least we can agree on the amateur part Lachesis frowned in mock disapproval he was incapable of taking anything in life seriously or so it seemed the captain sometimes it was a great reliever of tension and other times it was an irritation without equal we making our way towards the point of this conversation rah did tell Ezra wearily brother would it hurt you to just appreciate the view for once and I mean really appreciated now dissecting it into flanking positions area cover and fields of fire we are more than just killing machines Tala Ezra shook his head whatever helps you sleep at night speaking of which in a rare occasion of solemnity the qisas gaze met his there is beauty in this universe as well as horror tell Ezra cackle huh amateur poet as well as it fine I'll get to the point the environment changed between blinks of Talas resides the captain and the sorceress stood as gods amidst a miniature solar system a large red Sun burned at the center surrounded by a collection of planets tiny lights flickered in orbit around the moons of a gas giant and others at the edge of the system on seeing these Talas rrah understood these ships this must be the medical point he said pointing at the collection of miniature flames that burned like candles near the edge sort of their soul fires I'm giving a representation of our destination as best I can for you to interpret so it's the people on the ships that I'm seeing the cases smoked precisely you're sharper than you look brother Tala Zahra ignored the jibe are you able to see all this a combination of my own talents and an astro Pathak choir that I borrowed Talas row raised an eyebrow I'm genuinely impressed you should be replied sorcerer flatly it's giving me quite the headache so this is the 13th fleet yes well about half of it the ships that aren't engaged with the war master anyway judging by the concentration of souls there are at least a few heavily populated ships probably full of civilians tell Ezra rubbed his chin I don't like it I'd rather be fighting the main battle crippled in their warships there's little challenge to be heard here privately he also disliked that the butchery of civilians would fault him he chose not to share that part before realizing whom he was talking to Lachesis replied with a sickly smile after all this time you still haven't gotten any better at shielding your thoughts you are too honest for your own good someone around his got to be the largest one is known as the face of the see the never born recognize it it hasn't history suddenly the qisas his features became wracked with pain and effort What's Wrong child Azra instinctively reached for his Mara clocked Thunder hammer before remembering that he was still asleep they have a psycho among them librarian I'm sure he has detected my presence and is fighting back against it I have to end this seance I need to focus my mind entirely on the enemy you need to wake up tile Azra we're about to arrive there will be a meeting in strategic that's what I came here to tell you this will teach you for not getting straight to the point chortle the captain the qisas spat a curse just for that I'm going to wake you up Tala Ezra groaned and braced himself the warp boiled and rippled around the colossal form of the throne of obsidian the great vessel existing as an inky silhouette against a canvas of impossible colours squid-like eyes as big as continents peered from the swirling morass memories and nightmares given sentient form swirled around like flocks of bats while ghostly jaws the size of cities closed around the defiant physical hull of the ship before dissolving into nothingness the throne cared not for the warps insanity it had its purpose and it drove onwards with a will of iron the colossal Gloriana class battleship was of a type not seen since the days of the Horus heresy a prehistoric predator hailing from the time shrouded in myth not often did the throne of obsidian leave its position at high anchor deep within the moor ever since the end of the great rebellion it held caught the demonic shipyards of our colors like the colossal silent monarch watching and judging its subject as the fleet's came and went today however it was leaving the depths of the warp storm for the first time in centuries the galaxy was changing the horns of battle were echoing across the great abyss between the physical plane and the immaterial and the Great Beast had heard the call a Leviathan of the ancient world was slowly making its pilgrimage back to the realm of mortals the Beast knifed its way through the warp its form that of a serrated Arrowhead it did not merely pass through space it tore its way through like a blade through flesh it bled with malign purpose from end to end a single sharp sword in the void quite unlike the blocky utilitarian designs of the Imperial Navy ugly in appearance and crude in their operation the throne of obsidian was a relic of a time when form and function blended together with single-minded purpose it was nearing its destination deep within under metres of thick armored flesh the dimly lit corridors and great icon embellished halls were abuzz with activity the air was scented with the tang of blood and incense as the Legionaries and their mortal servants made their final preparations in the temples choirs of the Damned sang their discordant songs on the neglected waste processing decks tribes of mutants held great and revolting feasts in honor of the wise masters above the mysterious armory decks closed to the rank-and-file clattered and rumbled hideous machines that were partly mechanical and partly demonic produced munitions of both mundane and mutated natures and below it all underneath the hundreds of decks came the echo of great bells tolling in the deep like a shark with the scent of prey in the water the ship's heartbeat was quickening its pace increasing in the hallowed halls of the barracks deck burst captain tell Ezra awoke with a scream most people make the assumption that the word bearers worship the dark gods with a fanatical zeal approaching that of the servants of the god emperors minister 'm this might be true in many cases but not in others like any faith affairs is a fractured broken self contradictory creation with a hundred viewpoints from a hundred factions and in their particular case there is no central authority the gods speak for themselves and mortals listen if they have the stomach for it as for the gods they are fickle malevolent beings whose whims change in whose tempers flare being hungry reflections of our collective Lord's psyche they could never be anything more or anything less thus many worshippers of the chaos gods treat them with a similar kind of caution and respect to that of the ancient pagans of Old Earth one cannot trust the powers of the warp just as one cannot truly trust mankind itself in any aggregate sense thus it is all the more important to keep the faith and remain in their good graces it is an old saying amongst the ranks of the 17th Legion that one should not ignore the truth merely because it scares you it is for this reason but tal Ezra upon waking and dressing did what he always did he prayed first to the war God anointing himself with dust from the world of calve then the god of death with water taken from the toxins seized of Bach artists next the God of fate with ashes taken from a Nokia and finally a black sticky blood of a champion of the 3rd Legion who died in exquisite agony to honor the Prince in addition to these and in recognition of the Pantheon as a whole he marked the sacred symbol of the octet upon his forehead with a red dye that originated from the place of his birth the city of gray flowers on cultures each substance held a personal significance each one relating to a formative event in his own life it was an important element of the ceremony as the gods thrive on emotional bonds that mortals place on the world around them he muttered a few words known only to himself and then summoned his disciples to begin fitting his armor he decided to go directly to the ship's bridge rather than the strategic when he arrived he found the command throne empty the Lord tenebrous was elsewhere at present it was a cavernous space whose walls were decorated with leering gargoyles and grotesque sand huge murals depicting gods and demons each slightly alive with the barest hint of movement possessing eyes that followed passers-by if one were to lean close enough one might hear the golden figures rasp their names from the ether great pillars reached up to the ceiling disappearing into the darkness each laced with baroque stylings and iconography there were eight in total marking the points of the octet nothing was constructed by the word bearers without treating ritual significance with the same level of importance as structural integrity every meter every inch every wall and floor were all painstakingly measured calculated and designed to incorporate the symbology and numerology of the powers it might seem strange to some but it was nothing the architects of the god Emperor did not do in their own contrasting fashion indeed humans have always incorporated such visual language into their great works from the earliest temples of the Bronze Age to the gloomy halls of the dark Moore's flagship light bled from a hundred screens mounted upon a hundred ancient cogitate errs the machines functioned long past their usual lifespan with the help of the immortal touch of the immaterial it worked its ethereal fingers into circuit boards hard drives and machine spirits ebonics craft code both benign and malevolent coursing through them like a cancer at the end there was a great window at least fifty feet high fashioned after those found in ancient cathedrals though there was no stained glass here the colors came from the naked warp itself it was composed of several layers of transparent armor composites created with a mixture of both traditional science and the practiced crafts of the warp Smith's it served the purpose of shielding the lesser servants of the legion from the true insanity that lay beyond the ship's hull while still allowing the immaterial unlight to spill onto the command deck Tallis Roux always tried not to stare too closely at the outside anyway just to be safe beyond the window lay the roiling tides of the war and stretching under it was the greater part of the ship miles of blackened metal hull fashioned into spikes and crenellated battlements rolled on words like foothills each lined with hundreds of point defense turrets and cannon batteries fashioned into cathedral spires looking out of the great window was like looking at the skyline of a city and the throne was a city in truth home to hundreds of thousands of souls the bearers of the word the Lost and Damned the mutants the demons the angry spirits of those who came before and the flickering echoes of futures yet to come it was a twisted metropolis of which no accurate map existed with a real met the Unreal and generations had been born lived and died in a metal world that was both a sanctuary and a tomb outside the skyline of spires and battlements tapered away in the distance to the great RAM at the front topped with the figurehead of an angel wearing an eight-pointed crown the ram was one of the ships deadliest weapons though usually taken advantage of only in times of great need many were the Imperial frigates and cruisers that have been dashed upon the RAM splitting apart as their backs were broken mechanical guts spilling into the vacuum tell Ezra could even remember some of their names the Defiant the furious eagle the scion of macragge and the wrath of deliverance to name but a few each had been sliced through like a bullet through glass none aboard those unfortunate vessels survived before the great window there was a platform resembling a pulpit with stairs leading up to it at the top stood the hulking form of the only man aboard who did gaze out into the madness of his own will Talas row climbed the steps until he stood just a few feet away then spoke in ancient cultures in greetings of the new day Jude are the estar t's did not turn to face him continuing instead to stare into the imperium he stood a good few feet higher than tar lesra even accounting for the steps his shoulders were wider his arms more powerful his legs had more joints than a mortal man and the very surface of his armor plates moved like muscles when he spoke he did not remove his helmet its box grille instead moved like a mouth farewell to the old Tara this was a ritual the two had undergone four years uncounted hours catheter today he slumbers came the reply the journey nears its end his guidance on the path is no longer required Judah was what the Imperials in their ignorance called possessed he had many names the first among the legions were named galvo back by the Primark log are then following them came the vara yawl and the Lupo Kai of the 16th Legion now in these latter days they were widespread among all of the nine legions many called them 2nd born and this was the name Tallis referred thank you for the safe passage for me he said without a hint of humor there was a time a long time ago when Talas row had hated and resented the creature that shared his friends skin he thought Judah was being used like a puppet and on more than one occasion tyler szura came close to ending the second borns life the process of two souls acclimating to a single form however is a lengthy one it comes with changes that take years to manifest fully as the host learns to accommodate the intruder and the demon learns what it means not only to inhabit a physical form but too slowly comprehend what it actually means to be mortal in return the host gains something of a spark of divinity and learns to see things as they never born do eventually when the pair had settled into what might pass for a healthier relationship things changed the demon for its part finally earned Kyle Ezra's respect when it saved his life he thought back to that vial of third Legion blood he kept in his quarters it came from that day kapha Tet and Judah served together as the ship's navigator both peering into the tides and Eddie's of the warp with the demon finding the path and the man translating that information to something the vessel could use this symbiosis along with the blessing of the powers meant that the throne of obsidian could navigate the immaterial faster and more efficiently than any imperial vessel could ever dream of this very fact had won them many battles in which a lesser ship with a lesser navigator would have met its doom I'm sure he will appreciate the thanks as always did ours voice was that of a ragged old man he was ancient by now certainly the oldest second-born Talas rue was aware of him chronologically the oldest legionary in the chapter though he was effectively immune to the ravages of time while he shared his form with calf that he was now a creature of the war which meant he was shaped and formed by whim and emotion rather than biology judaa felt old in his soul and so this is how he appeared they shared a comfortable silence for a while the warps lights flickering across their faces to the sound of quiet murmurs from the surface and the dull clanging of the great Bell was at the top of the hour then Tyler Ezra finally spoke can you see them the other ships are join us oh I see some which they never born the wreck of nice our mighty host is indeed making its way through the warp as we speak oh mighty a faint note of desperation sang in his voice a hundred ships at least I cannot be precise replied Judah his mind elsewhere names rest the captain chadar grunted uncomfortably Lieber gorgeous cameo valediction osiris bossiest wind fire Fang mother of hell she knows no fear others - I cannot list them all many of those sounded familiar more than Talas recurred have hoped for those are some very old alliances being honored amused are you surprised but little I'm just an old legionary began GDR and typically modest fashion I know little of the grand politics of the nine legions and care for them even less however I think in this case it is not so much a question of honour and more that the blood of a favorite praise in the water in the halls millet but never born said that lease method or do you mean Jedi did not often share his unique insights there are spirits that have not walked the mortal realm in thousands of years that are making their way to this place one in particular moves with a speed and will if it scares even me who mentioned tell Ezra not entirely sure if he wanted to know you do not know him and I did not wish to utter his name here the captain nodded probably for the best he paced back and forth flexing gauntleted hands Jed I interrupted him after a few moments what VIX is your first captain Talas ro hesitated for a moment and then eventually decided to share Judah was a creature of oaths and vows or at least he was since joining with Kathy Ted in this the two worst Artie's were similar he was the one soul on the throne of obsidian that Talas rafael he could trust completely Jude ah I think I'm going to die soon the second-born continued to stare out of the window and moved by his comrades words for a good this time you mean tell Ezra nodded what makes you say this a feeling when I've not been able to shake for weeks I always took you for someone who dumped in cold fact on the contrary fact only takes you so far you know that better than I do respecting my intuitions has kept me alive for a very long time if Judah was capable of smiling he would have until now apparently until now tal has repeated with a frown at last Judah turned to face his captain for just a moment I will look for you in the sea of souls brother make the bus that's bleed before you go the crook of a smile appeared on Tallis rows weathered and scarred features they'll do more than bleed Judah made a husky coughing sound that once upon a time had been a laugh that's the spirit but don't despair you could after all be wrong the bones of the ship came alive with a shudder for a moment and the warps light died replaced with a canvass of stars the bells ceased their tolling the fleet had arrived it was time for tal lesra to leave farewell jha'dur he said making his way down the steps the second-born turned back to the window goodbye old wolf when Tolliver arrived at the strategic that was already quite a crowd it had been a long time since he saw so many a star T's gathered for a meeting like this a haunted echo of how things used to be in the old days there were happier days to be sure but as he often reminded himself they were lived in the shadow of blissful ignorance in the center was the great hollow lytic table humming with power but display occasionally flickering as it projected a model of the solar system in pinkish red below through the meshed deckplates Talas recurred c menials and slave crew working away at cogitated intercepting new data and feeding it via wafers into the machines that drove the great device above he was reminded of a hive of insects above in galleries near the ceiling and on rows upon rows of raised benches fashioned in the likeness of church pews gathered the bearers of the word captains and chaplains champions and sorcerers as well as the many wizened masters of more esoteric disciplines the warps mints masters of possession diviners second-born ship masters and astra paths navigators lords discordant and many many more besides most had come aboard from the other vessels in the fleet for this meeting via shuttles teleportation and other much less conventional means as the great hosts of ships gathered in the shadowy outskirts of the system among their number were the sigils of chapters he had not seen in many a century he saw the burning skull of the tri-fold crown the mace and gauntlet of the star of judgment and the gruesome banners of the flayed hand there were more besides delegations from the osseous throne the crescent moon and the coiled lash above all of them hung great banners depicting the Obsidian fangs of his own chapter the dark more as he peered around he realized that it was not just brothers of the 17th that gathered here today priests of the true mechanic 'm scuttled on steel legs like arachnids and here and there he caught glimpses of foreign colors a sorcerer of the thousand suns flanked by his silent rubric a glared down from the galleries a war Smith of the iron warriors more machine than man scanned the room while his servo arms fidgeted restlessly gathered towards the center in the first row was a delegation from the war masters own Black Legion waiting patiently for the proceedings to begin boss cliques could be heard from their helmets as they discussed unknown plans amongst themselves sat across from them was Lachesis smirking and engaging in some form of staring contest with his opposite number in black next to him was the dark moors first chaplain Corps Varick he was ignoring everyone his eyes were closed and he was muttering something under his breath Tallis rrah took his seat between them there was no greeting 10 millennia of brotherhood it raises even the pretense of such formality and these two were not born of the old ways like Judah and himself as the captain took his seat Kovarik grunted and opened his eyes his face was handsome by the awkward disproportion standards of the Astarte 'he's his skin was not the networked latticed scar tissue that Tallis ruse was and neither did it have the sorceress Lea immaculate appearance of Lachesis what he did possess however was one single heap cut down the right side of his face from eyebrow to mouth a weapon that left the mark was of a nature that meant the wound never fully healed the mutants are clogging up the waste processes again said Kovarik without the slightest fanfare I know Tallis are applied to the tired sigh I was planning to take a squad down there and clear the vermin out seems like a waste Kovarik said scratching his chin I was considering throwing them into boarding torpedoes and firing them at the Loyalists with the opening salvo the qisas chimed in at this point with a trickle of laughter ha ha yes that'll impress the other war vans allowing the tip of the spear to be led by the goat Ben from Dec 46 even Talas are cracked a smile at that one Cove Eric just shrugged Lachesis continued as he scanned the room on that note this gathering is larger than I thought it would be lord Erebus is not so easily ignored replied Kovarik with ever-present confidence neither is the war master remarked Lachesis side eyeing his brothers while still facing the black Legionnaires opposite them what delightful patrons we have grumble thar Lazar as he leaned forward his gauntleted fingers steepled his elbows resting on his thighs that's a diplomatic way of putting it at the Lachesis with a smoke Tallis rot scowled the sorcerer was skimming his thoughts again he could feel it he was used to it but that didn't mean he had to like it he changed the subject back to the wider gathering there's a few debts of vengeance to be paid amongst this law accounted a few ships captured at the Battle of gal mech among our number i imagine someone made extra sure to bring them our legions love poetic justice certainly hasn't dulled over the years childhood Lucas's core Varrick grunted I wish I could say the same for our sense of purpose inclines its head at the Black Legion Warriors I envy them sometimes you know there are a legion of mongrels but they have such motivation motivation had dumped you out of an airlock when you're not looking brother tell Ezra as ever was unimpressed they're all Creed is to reject any oath I've ever made I wouldn't trust them to die if I cut off their heads that last remark attracted the attention of a few of them Tallis rustad right back his face a glowering statue and I wouldn't trust you not to start a war with our allies even if I replaced all your weapons with plastic cutlery remarked the sorcerer Kovarik made a snort of restrained laughter and Talas relief lt'll s imposing the black Legionnaires resumed their private conversation you do have a point though the first chaplain conceded there are apostles among their ranks at once war our own crimson and who still preach from the book of log ah that sort of thing makes my skin each tradition was as important to the bearers of the word as their faith was even irreverent Lachesis had maintained his loyalty to his brothers over the years and that was saying something for his part the sorcerer merely nodded in agreement before changing the subject this conversation is boring where is Erebus both he and tile ezra looked to their brother chaplain for an answer the dark apostles as some called them or a tight-knit Brotherhood in their own right and the only ones truly privy to the innermost workings of the Legion and it's politics he's not coming to the meeting Kovarik explained levelly my understanding is that he left the Lord Anubis in charge of the overall strategy he is matters of ritual to attend to in the meantime doesn't want to show his face more like grumbled Tallis rah he was no great fan of the legions first chaplain and he didn't much care Hewitt is there anything left of his face these days used to the qisas idly it does explain why we haven't started yet though gal Drac does like to keep people waiting just as the final word parted from his lips the main entranceway darkened filled by the hulking figure of anistar teased in terminator plate forgive the expression muttered Lucas's quietly but speak of the devil gal drag vos was the chapter master of the dark more known by his official title as the lord tenebrous he had ruled the chapter since the dark days of the great war Godric had remained in his position of power far longer than many of his contemporaries a feat he had accomplished not through martial prowess but through shrewd judgment and a remarkable capacity to inspire fear in those who ostensibly knew no fear Tallis ro was well aware that his three subordinates cor Varrick Lachesis and himself were picked by ghoul dreck because for all their vices none could be described as ambitious Tallis rue was bound by his traditions and his caution Kovarik sought power in realms other than the material and the sorcerer Lachesis loathed the burden of command and the very idea of being in charge he was also a psycho but for the most part could be relied upon a rare commodity indeed Godric surveyed this strategy as a gentle hush began to descend his eyes were a piercing icy blue his brow formed a perpetual frown of judgment his bald head was tattooed with traditional cultures and cuneiform script in his right hand he carried spite a massive Croesus Maul taken from the death grip of one of the Imperium champions during the siege of terror so the story went anyway none were brave enough or stupid enough to directly ask the chapter master himself it saw more use as his personal barrage of office than it did on the battlefield but though guard rec was reputed to be a skilled warrior he never did any fighting himself but a subordinate could do for him Tallis Roux had decided long ago that a chapter master probably does not survive for 10 millennia without adopting that kind of attitude it also meant that gal dreck was entirely unpredictable virtually nobody in the nine legions knew the measure of his ability as a warrior beyond vague rumors this worked very much in his favor Godric began pacing over to the Hollow Earth table his Terminator armor servos clunking and wearing as he went the hush falling over the chamber became an uncomfortable silence he passed his three left tenants offering a small nod of respect before stopping at the table Tallis reciprocated the gesture but was under no illusions Godric was the sort of man that would vent this entire chamber into space along with everyone in it including his left talents if doing so offered a tangible benefit he knew this because similar such events had already occurred in his left hand gaol direct carried his personal data slate and as everyone watched quietly he fiddled with the pad for a few lengthy moments he was making them wait a little longer finally he placed it down on the table and spoke he did not raise his voice it forced his audience to listen all the more closely this is the gulf of Athena he began there were no introductions no pleasantries no formalities everyone in this chamber knew who he was and why they were all here Godric Voss never wasted time with a hand gesture the hollow lifts lit up with the image of a star map depicting the local region of the segment it still displayed all names and sectors from the Great Crusade rather than the new designations that have been reassigned by the Imperium this large area of space was once a single unbroken region until the war master broke the firmament and tore the Imperium asunder now it is in two distinct halves our half and their half there's over simplification had an air of condescension about it that was probably intentional we have learned through various means that in the nearby Acheron sector a large alien fleet has been defeated and forced to retreat we learn sometime afterwards that this alien fleet was a tendril of what we now have come to know in these latter centuries as the great davara I need hardly elaborate on the threat this species poses as both mortals and the warp whisper tidings of its coming even scares some of the never born very few things do this should be all the indication needed that the threat should be taken seriously the hollow lithic display changed again showing pictographs and diagrams of various alien organisms where the Imperials forces having pushed back this hive fleet it seeks new targets elsewhere it has selected us or to be more precise our region of the Gulf my chapter recently had the unpleasant experience of uncovering a hostile cult on one of our worlds a cult which we now know springs up in the pre lude to the arrival of one of these high fleets the hollow life changed once more displaying pics and video taken from the recent rebellion around this whole sector alien jaws are starting to close taking this region was no easy task it was hard fought and the war master has intimated that it is crucial to his overall strategy it must not be allowed to fall he impresses upon us that while we were all would prefer to be prosecuting the forces of the false Emperor's Imperium if we ignore this threat and the final victory at terror may prove to be short-lived I am well aware that many of you care little for the words of the war master nor for the defense of this region I respect that view but must nevertheless explain the strategic situation finally the display changed to a graphic representing the solar system the Imperium has struggled badly to hold back this particular foe however we are not the Imperium we have access to powers and allies beyond the comprehension of the increasingly desperate loyalists at this there was a quiet murmur of agreement from the ranks of listeners these powers however require acts of sacrifice the gods give nothing to us for free as such lord Arabists has called all of us to this place to this specific system as it is home not only to a well populated and poorly defended moon but also because it is the present anchor of a hated foe the 13th fleet they will be added to the sacrifice required to raise the forces needed for what is to come presently the war master himself engages the vanguard of their fleet while we attack the true objective of the civilian ships and the moon itself that is the strategic overview now for the tactical at the press of a button on Godric's data slight blinking runes representing fleet vessels flickered into existence on the display in one day and three Terran standard hours the largest guns of our fleet will be in range of the enemy assuming they move to intercept us which I am reliably informed they have already begun to do for the benefit of those amongst you who are not familiar with this particular foe I shall give you a brief overview they call themselves the 13th or sons of the 13th interchangeably the name is of little relevance and it is not to be confused with 13th Legion that we all know so well it is our understanding that they were for a number of millennia considered by the Imperium to be renegades though quite and probably in recent years have been welcomed back into the fold as a result of this they are accustomed to self-sufficiency and are typically adapted hiding themselves from the reach of their more powerful enemies my fellow brothers of the 17th will no doubt recall their utter ly disastrous attempt at attacking our Forge weld at gal MEC in centuries past it is this event I speculate that forced them to become much more timid and reserved in their operations gal drake's pact the word timid like it was a curse through a combination of the war masters aggressive maneuvering and good fortune on our part we have managed to pin down their fleet in one space and engage it on two fronts as I already explained Abaddon presently engages their vanguard while we attack the stern he gestured again in the Hollow Earth display zoomed in on the enemy fleet this task should prove easy enough our own ships are far better equipped for boarding actions and our shock troops are without equal their contingence of naval arms Minh and loyalists to start ease will prove little match this was not false pride on display tell Ezra had participated in many boarding actions against loyalist forces and the dark Moor were masters in that particular field of warfare on the defense the throne of obsidian was impregnable if attackers were to get past the point defense batteries and the thick metal hide of the ship they would find themselves inside an engineered labyrinth of shifting bunk corridors navigable only by the word bearers themselves all of them were laced with kill zones designed through various secret means to destroy both the bodies and the minds of any intruders when the tables were turned the dark moors elite terminators and second-born could storm an enemy vessel within minutes using pinpoint teleport strikes and practiced sorcery to arrive at the heart of an enemy ship with overwhelming force rare was the day that Godric did not capture an enemy ship once he had set his eyes upon it the chapter master further magnified the display focusing on one specific enemy vessel that dwarfed all the others this is a universal mask conveyor it is believed to house a vast quantity of civilians who have taken up residence on its decks in a nomadic fashion the destruction of this vessels population has been designated as our prime objective in the first phase of the attack its name is the face of the sea Talas Roo stiffened at the mention of the name he felt quite sure he'd heard it somewhere before gal Drac continued the briefing our tactics will not be subtle I aim will be to punch through the incoming screen of escorts and make directly for the civilian fleet whereupon we shall begin boarding operations the mass conveyor will prove to be the most troublesome objective as it is most likely to house a large garrison force it's great size will also present some obstacles however I believe it may also prove a weakness the ship's reactors are massive and will not prove too difficult to sabotage in such a way as to cause a total meltdown and the destruction of the entire vessel gal Drake gestured in Tyler's Rah's direction almost catching him off guard my lord of first company tell Ezra shall command this attack he gave Talia and almost imperceptible nod indicating that the first captain should speak up he stood and pasted over to the Hollow Earth regarding his audience he gave the gathering a brief rundown of the tactical plan for boarding the enemy mass conveyor and the attack on the reactors it was very dry in truth he had no great gift for oratory like the legions apostles did when he was done Godric continued the briefing delving into specifics and detailed tack plan the various ships in the fleet it went on for some time the reality was that while Godric always commanded with the authority of a legion praetor of old that kind of discipline was a thing of the past the best they could hope for was that the various war bands would at least keep their end of the bargain and tried to fire more shells at the enemy than at each other there had already been more than a few incidents reported across the fleet before they arrived there were very few ER starties in the nine legions that could coax any level of coordination from such a large collection of allies and to his credit Garak was one of them finally after a number of hours the meeting came to an end the chapter master stood once again before the assembly after lengthy contributions from the members of other war bands he iured the ranks of visitors with his piercing glare one last time taking their measure return to your ships make your preparations the enemy will intercept us soon afterwards when the hole had cleared out and only the Lord tenebrous and his three lieutenants remained tell Ezra spoke up something had been bothering him milord with your permission I would like to make an adjustment to the plan gal direct narrowed his eyes why did you not mention this earlier the others don't need to know go on Thomas Roe took up the data slate left on the table and gestured to the holodeck display may I godrick nodded the first captain fiddled with the controls until an earlier diagram of the face of the seed glowed above them the reactors are much too obvious to tell you whatever garrison forces the loyalists will have will concentrate the vast majority of their men around the entrances to the reactor halls gal dreck I'd the display carefully where else then the bridge I imagine that's also well defended not the bridge retorted tell Ezra the atmospheric processes guard Rex eyes immediately lit up but once so old his mind was still Quicksilver fast you mean we should suffocate them it's certainly an idea he left the sentence hanging waiting for more Tallis Rey obliged this vessel is a universal mass conveyor not a warship its massive and as far as we're aware has become something of a floating city it's transporting thousands of civilians not titan legions that means it's emergency infrastructure will be lacking while our own vessel could survive a blow to its atmospheric processes this one could not somewhat survive by managing to access emergency rebreathers and backup processors but it won't be enough that vessel was never designed to house so many people thousands would perish muttered gal dreck though not disapprovingly hundreds of thousands directed tell Ezra it would leave the vessel intact the Lord tenebrous glanced at the hollow life seemingly working it out in his head he would find no fault Tallis Rahad already planned it out meticulously as he saw it the greatest advantages but that it would come unexpected and would reduce casualties amongst his own men those civilians were doomed whatever happened their fate wasn't his concern very well first captain it is a sound plan I suppose you'll be commanding the strike force that attacks the processors gal dreck stared unblinking much would depend on what Talas reset next know were lured the other war bands will be attack in the reactors in the bridge as per the original plan I should join them in that fight otherwise my absence will be noted it could cause all sorts of problems huh core barrack should lead the attack on the processes it's dead he turned and gestured to the dark apostle who said nothing merely offering a slow nod in reply he clearly found this entire exchange deeply fascinating very well concluded gal Drac although I wouldn't worry about the other war bands too much only we here on this ship will be leading the assault on the face of the sea the others will be busy Oh Lachesis raised an eyebrow speaking for the first time since the briefing ended and how is that I've made some changes to the plan of my own said gal Drac with a sly smile um join me on the bridge I'll explain it there several hours later both fleets met partway between the Mandeville Point and the moon that served as the loyalists anchor Tallis rostered beside gal directs command throne and watched the opening moves at the battle play out with him makah Varrick and Lachesis as well as members of the other war bands that have remained aboard the Black Legion Ares and the iron warriors among them the chaos fleet formed an arrowhead the jagged form of the throne of obsidian leading it at the tip the loyalists formed a blockade turning broadside towards their attackers and waiting both fleets maneuvered at multiple elevations trying to gain fields of fire on their enemies vulnerable quarters void warfare took place in all three dimensions and sometimes a fourth in the form of the war as well judaa was once again ensconced upon his pulpit it's mine slave to the ship gal dreck spoke from his command throne upon the raised dais at the center of the Great Chamber are you ready da the second born merely bowed slightly in reply good replied gal drag forward batteries open fire the ship shook in the deckplates beneath their feet rumbled as macro cannons and lance batteries loosed their opening volley towards the loyalists outside the great window the void caught fire the loyalists responded in kind their gun batteries shooting a hail of massive munitions that scattered amongst the chaos vessels like shrapnel from a grenade the throne of obsidian being the largest target took several hits and outside the void shields flared in rainbows of color some torpedoes got through most hitting in non-critical locations but the shock waves could still be felt and the muffled boom of distant explosions on the lower decks echoed up the passageways like drums from the deep one more volley commanded gal Drac and then we jump sure enough when the great guns thudded away once again gal dreck signal to Judah with but a small delay the stars outside were torn asunder by bolts of white energy and plumes of warp fire the warp drive thundered below them and a conduit to the immaterial opened they were well past the mandible point for any ordinary ship to try this would result in certain suicide but the throne of obsidian was not any ordinary ship and it had no ordinary navigator Talas remoted a quick prayer practiced as they we're in this maneuver without the pantheon on their side it would still be doomed to failure microwarp jumps were not an impossibility their own terminators teleported across to an enemy ship using a similar method but just as an unfortunate border might find his molecular structure merged with that of a bulkhead so might this ship find itself in the middle of the Sun they plunged into the warp tell Ezra held his breath what followed was a blur as the warps light filled the chamber it was over as quickly as it began or at least it seemed so time held no meaning within the bounds of the immaterial they could have been in there for weeks or longer the ship vomited out into real the grasping tendrils of incorporeal sentient matter shrinking behind it as the conduit closed report RAL gal dreck a serf in robes of filthy gray spoke up from the pinkish glow of his cogitated display coordinates within acceptable parameters my lord fleets are behind us civilian ships in front no notable chronological difference a wolfish grin creased gal directs features and Talas recurred not help but curl his own lip in satisfaction all judah had not led them down and neither had the gods the throne of obsidian had successfully jumped past the enemy battle line and now found itself within striking distance of the civilian fleet completely unopposed like a flock of sheep with a tiger suddenly in their midst there was nothing they could do but scatter in terror gal dreck inclined his head towards Tallis rrah and the others it's time hundreds of a starties and legions of cult followers slaves mutants and everything in between lined the open space of the great embarkation decks Talas rostered beside his brothers at the head of their company he rested his hands on the pommel of his great Warhammer the head fashioned in the form of a snarling dragon rested against the floor keep me posted as the assault continues if anything goes wrong I'll find my way to the reactor and detonate if I can the plan will work said Lachesis just try not to get yourself killed Tala Ezra grinned will you miss me sorcerer Lachesis raised an eyebrow not especially but I dread to think which half-wit will rise to lead the first company in your place once he's done killing all the other candidates I'm going to take that as a yes Kovarik cleared his throat and fatica Lee bravas before we embark i wish to address the company and our allies do you do boast offered tell Ezra gesturing to the assemble the starties Cove Erik stepped forward making his way up onto a raised platform built for unloading cargo the ranks of Kaos Marines slowly turned to face the dark apostle they're a motley bunch clad in suits of crimson armor cannibalized and modified adorned with fetishes holy script horns and spikes your star tease had long been called the Angels of Death but never have they truly looked the part more than they did in this day and age nevertheless seeing his battle company assembled in this way brought with it a wave of something that he grudgingly admitted was nostalgia it wasn't quite the same as the old days when the Legion lined these decks in orderly ranks preparing for the next orbital assault in the Emperor's Great Crusade but the first time in millenia was pretty close up on the platform once Kovarik was satisfied he had their attention he began to speak brothers of the 17th sand cousins from other legions it is a little-known fact but by Imperial calendars today marks the anniversary of the siege of Terra it was a day of both our greatest triumphs and our darkest failure by today's end it is my hope that it will also mark a new victory 10,000 years ago in our combined strength we brought the tyrant to his knees and today we remind his servants how we made that possible all of you who hear me now united in faith and vengeance all you who hail from legions living and dead whole and fractured are today bound as brothers with black steel and burning spirit bend to your tasks grasp the sword sharpen the axe load your Baltar's and land this final strike bring ruin bring death bring fire and blood but while long has been the wait today you conquer by your hands is truth delivered by burning blade is the like us down under the warps light and the gaze of the gods prove today your worth mark your target fix it with a terrible stare and when the charge comes cry out for the Fallen that did not live to share this day cry for freedom cry for salvation and cry for the reckoning long awaited cry vengeance and death to the false emperor with a roaring chorus every man in the company echoed the ancient battle cry thrusting Baltar's swords malls axes and fists into the air the chant quickly reached those across the deck that had not even heard the speech and in a wave thousands bellowed for the tyrants doom their cries reverberating around the Cathedral make space through all the jaws of death roared the dark apostle into the mouth of hell came the reply from the brothers of the dark Moor when the excitement had calmed down Tallis ragab the order to embark and the estar teased began to file out see you both on the other side said co-vary with a nod to the captain and the sorcerer before marching off to join his strike force where does he pull that stuff from the King says mused tell Ezra shrugged the man has a talent for speeches what can I say just as you have a talent for violence he bowed in reply well I thank you brother it wasn't supposed to be a compliment blunt instrument remember Tallis reshef that his great hammer in one hand and peered at the angry dragon head have I ever told you that the casus was a girl's name or natured terror I thought you said you weren't much of a historian and I thought you were a mind reader you're losing your touch your sake I hope not Tally's ria allowed the sorcerer to have the last word he lifted up his hammer rested it's half than his shoulder and stepped onto the boarding ramp of his assault ram his chosen waited for him inside they said nothing but nodded with quiet respect when all aboard he banged twice on the bulkhead between the troop bay in the cockpit the creature within that served as a pilot silently acknowledged the ramp came up the engines spooled and very shortly the craft lifted off and shot out of the hangar the assault ram was a simple primitive craft in both form and function the qisas had often pointed out that it suited tell Ezra perfectly he didn't disagree the craft was designed for one purpose flying straight at the enemy opening fire with a magnum melter and as the name suggested ramming into the side of the enemy ship to disgorge its lethal passengers tell Ezra and his chosen were fastened into the troop compartments with restraint harnesses there were no portholes or windows just the dim glow of red lighting that flickered occasionally and the rumble of the engines now came the weight it didn't talk much his men were all briefed and they remained calm and professional some of them mumbled prayers to themselves but that was it other war bands at this very moment were no doubt whooping and hollering working themselves into killing frenzies before they hit the enemy ship that was not his way it never had been he surrounded himself with warriors who took a similar view even though other commanders found them sinister and untrustworthy a metallic inhuman voice croaked over the speaker's 30 seconds tal lazora glanced around his visor display ammunition loaded power supply fully charged vacuum seals holding oxygen adequate for mission parameters all the self tests came back positive with the exception of those he already knew were faulty none were critical systems they could be fixed later there was a thundering buzzing sound that reverberated through the hull the unmistakable sound of the craft Magna melter opening fire burning a hole in the outer hull of the enemy ship for them to puncture through turn seconds gurgled the voice again he braced the bang was tremendous like the entire compartment had exploded his power armor and the harness absorbed most of the shock but even after doing this hundreds of times it still never failed to send him reeling still coming to his senses Tallis were smashed his fists into the release switch and off came the harness is chosen did the same the assault ramps came down what met them was not hail of Baal to fire nor flames screams nor the sounds of battle instead the cold vacuum of space and silence the RAM had penetrated into a maintenance tunnel within the outer flesh of the ship rotating red emergency beacons pulsed in redundant warning behind the Kaos Marines was the assault RAM and the hole in the hull with it torn open on its way in in front of them was carnage shrapnel hydraulic fluid oil and blood floated about and so did the bodies suspended like broken marionettes now the artificial gravity had failed most were workers in colored overalls some were naval arms men wearing blue grey flak armor most would have been killed by the pressure wave of the Rams impact the rest were consumed by the sudden vacuum as tar leras cohort advanced they pushed the corpses aside many of them mangled beyond recognition or diced apart by razor sharp chunks of adamantium harsh red light from the Sun and the contrasting inky shadows painted everything lending the scene a hellish quality the word bearers found themselves right at home the only sounds he could hear with the clunking of his own magnetized boot heels on the deck plates and the occasional breathing sounds from his squad over the Vox link as they tripped the built-in noise gates he gripped his Kombi melter pointing the muzzle down the hall his path boards illuminated in the halogen glow of his shoulder mounted lamp on this occasion he brought the weapon not so much for combat but for burning through any intractable bulkheads that sought to bar their passage as they moved through the wreckage something large floated out of the shadows before them everyone coltd Baltar's and pistols swinging immediately to target the Hulk that moved into view it was no starties one of the loyalists blue armor white helmet no distinctive markings it was strange these ones for sure it had several pieces of rebar protruding from its shattered chest plate the symbol of the Imperial Aquila was cracked in half a piece of twisted metal protruding from its breast in poetic fashion all black droplets of blood radiated from wounds Talas row was unsurprised to discover on closer inspection that the space marine was still alive it's super human anatomy clinging on and fighting the incredible trauma of its injuries it that was the word there used for loyalists in this day and age these were not tall Ezra's cousins from the days of the Great Crusade these was psycho indoctrinated creatures bred for blind loyalty by a crumbling and paranoid regime they were a withered shadow of their forebears a mockery of the Emperor's vision and beneath contempt or sympathy you raised his melter and with a silent flash of light reduced the starties to floating gobbets of slag his walk speed clicked it was brother donek the newest of his chosen but by far the most deadly he turned to face him they did not speak aloud as the loyalists were likely monitoring frequencies across the ship trying to pinpoint the locations of the invaders instead donek voiced his thoughts via 17th Legion battle sign or spectres indicate in life signs past the next airlock one heartbeat human the chosen waved the scanner and fatica Lee in the direction he was talking about Tallis run nodded and signed to the rest of the squad to stack up at the airlock at the end of the corridor he led the way with donek at his side the young warrior in question had gained Talas attention as a teenager both for being a remarkably accomplished killer for his age and for being entirely free of mutation making him an ideal candidate for receiving some of the chapters critically limited stocks of untainted gene seed the investment had paid for itself many times over in the decades since they reached the door it was marked with warning symbols hazard stripes and notices written in a variant of Gothic he didn't recognize the language had understandably changed much over the last 10 millennia by now it had evolved past a point where Tallis recurred understand it anymore donek fiddled with the control panel still functional he signed get ready it opened they stepped in blood was floating in the air someone had escaped through here orange beacon lights on the walls of the airlock flashed and the faint hiss that grew progressively louder both atmosphere and sound returned finally he felt a great weight to press down on him as the artificial gravity made his presence felt altogether it felt rather like emerging from underwater the inner doors slowly crawled open there was only darkness beyond Talas repress eaded through with the others in tow their lamp packs illuminating their passage beyond was another corridor lit by emergency lumens all was cold steel gray broken up by brass fittings on bulkheads Aquila effigies and the pipes and ducts that ran overhead for the first time they could hear the sounds of distant gunfire reverberating down the hall towards them along the floor a trail of blood led to a sorry specimen sacked propped up against the opposite wall it was a naval arms Minh his bluish black armor caked in red with shrapnel embedded in his chest he was alive still croaking frantically for breath Talas rasam eyes that his injuries indicated a lung was probably punctured his vacuum mask was popped open flopping by his cheek probably to try and breathe easier he must have been in extreme pain because it took him a moment to even notice the intruders when he did one arm clawed for a shotgun by his leg and he actually managed to fire it a slug sparked harmlessly off of Tyler's wrist breastplate his chosen did not react instead sweeping the corridor to the left and right they knew this wretched mortal prosed no threat the captain paced over to the arms Minh and kicked the shotgun away the man's eyes seemed to glaze over after that eyes dropping to the floor in resignation he should have just left him there and moved on but he didn't the man's futile act of defiance actually impressed him in some small way swear fealty and be saved he said aloud he doubted the man would understand but it was worth a try their gazes met the man coughed blood down his chin but said nothing Neal and live he repeated the man sputtered all words simple enough to bridge the dialect gap between them we do not Bend Talas ro nodded curtly and leveled his combi weapon the loud crack echoed down the hall moments later they heard another sound running feet loud metal boots clanking on deck plates coming from a junction in the corridor a hundred yards away definitely more Space Marines nor friendly side donek they heard your shot no active mercy goes unpunished he thought to himself positions burn out he signed back the chosen did is commanded he released the mag lock on his hammer gripping it in one hand it's familiar weight and balance was a comfort he flicked the activation rune and the enemy emerged they were clad in blue like the fallen brother from earlier helmet stark white red eye lenses glowing in the gloom the first of them began to raise his weapon that was quickly dropped his helmet caving into the impact of a crack and round from donek spittle Tala Ezra fired his melter at the next to hitting them both in a line spraying molten metal over their comrades as they went down he glanced over his shoulder at the chosen motor charge now brother tor beck obliged darting out from behind a bulkhead to lob a cylindrical bomb down the corridor in a flash of light in a crack of thunder the Loyalists disappeared the shooting stopped Tallis Rodino ate a second longer move up let's finish this in a single fluid movement he emerged from cover mag locked his Kombi melted to his leg and hefted his Warhammer in both hands he ran forwards into the smoke that shrouded the hallway orange flames licked about him making the Smaug flicker in a disorientating fashion he found his first victim still alive crawling along the deck plating both legs melted beneath the knees he swung the hammer like a golf club crumpling the wounded Marines helmet and knocking the head attached to it flying in one blow the other chosen followed behind bolt guns snapping at other wounded survivors after a few more meters tall Ezra skidded to a halt the melted charge had collapsed the floor beneath the center of the blast leaving a huge hole leading to another maintenance tunnel below he'd nearly fallen in still molten metal glowed and dripped from the rim onto the deck beneath with his boot he pushed a nearby corpse into the hole and it hit the bottom with a clang the deck below looks solid let's go he declared and jumped down this was how the battle for the face of the sea began three decks above Cove Eric led a host of possessed into the atmospheric processing chambers on the bridge Lachesis and his cabal of sorcerers tore open a conduit to the warp emerging from it alongside a horde of the never born ripping and tearing through crewmen and Space Marines alike from the command deck on the friend of obsidian Godric collated reports directed fire and quietly monitored the battles progress with a furrowed brow below him the great bells tolled and in the deepest chamber on the lowest level of the eight fold temple behind two massive golden doors Lord Erebus conducted his Orchestra of horrors none who looked upon it lived but there were some who heard it laughter endless thirsting laughter [Music]

Channel: SorcererDave

Views: 17,643

Keywords: SorcererDave, gaming, 40k, word bearers, warhammer, ultramarines, horus heresy, chapter, audiobook, narrative, lore, story, lorgar, erebus, kor phaeron, space marines, chaos, chaos marines, heretic astartes

Id: xFhsPJqlLsI

Length: 113min 0sec (6780 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 25 2019