In Memoria (40K)

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-12-11 07:40am

"What?" Callidan barked at his informant over the vox. "Repeat that!"

"She's alive my lord. In critical condition at the base hospital. Apparently the pilot had enough skill to turn the crash into a crash landing."

Callidan ran his fingers through his lank, greasy hair. Personal hygene was something he got around to, sometime, and slowly ran down as he was distracted by other matters. "Get me her location," he snarled.

The PsyKing was already off world. He would not be pleased to be dragged back here to finish the job. If, on the other hand, Callidan stepped up and took the initiative necessary to finish the job he would be quite pleased. And, incidently, Callidan would have shown his worthiness for promotion to the next level in the Invisible Crown.

"The base hospital. Don't have her room number."

"Alright," said Callidan. "Make yourself scarce," he said as he cut the link. Getting into the base hospital would be easy enough. All sorts of people had legitimate reasons for being there. The high security around one part of the critical care section would reveal the commodore's location. After that, the job would be easy. He was an Fifth Order Agent of the Invisible Crown. Security troops would fall like wheat before his scythe in combat and that was only necessary if trickery would not serve.

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Getting onto the base was easy enough. There were several firms that made regular deliveries. The PsyKing had already compromised one of the managers. Mind reading had revealed his use of prostitutes and provided suitable black mail material while mind control had ensured obediance. Getting hired and assigned to the appropriate route was easy. It wasn't like the fool knew what really was going to happen. Just to be sure, Callidan killed him and stole his wallet. Just another mugging in the bad part of town.

The gate guards examined his authorization and searched his vehicle for terrorist commandos and bombs. They didn't make much of the unpreposing, brown haired man who was driving. Callidan drove through the base and parked at the hospital loading dock. He abandoned his truck, slipped inside into janitor's closet, and changed into green worker coveralls. He clipped a badge that would withstand only the most basic scruitiney onto his coverals and wandered through the hospital.

Finding the commodore was easy. Black armoured naval security troops had one section completely sealed off. The short-frame autoguns they had slung meant business and their crapace breastplates and helmets the wore over flak armour gave them considerable protection.

He had, to be truthful, been expecting this. Fortunately for him, Tzeentch provides. Inhumanely fast reflexes whipped his autopistol out of before they could react. The first slugs went into the first guard's neck. He began to fall, clutching at the geyser of blood errupting from his throat. The second burst went into the second guard's chestplate. The gun fired very expensive and hard to get armour piercing ammunition at a high velocity.

The guard's breastplate stopped it. The second burst went into the same area as the first. The armour failed and blood poured out. The trooper staggered, but didn't fall. Callidan closed with him lightning quick and pushed his gun barrel out of the way. The weapon fired off a long burst, the barrel heating up and burning his hand. The pair of guards beyond were already bringing their guns to bear.

Bullets smacked into Callidan's living shield, causing him to jerk. One bullet creased his leg and another lodged into his arm. Pink gel oozed from the wounds and began to harden. The assassin fired back, striking one of the guards in the visor. He dropped like a puppet with his strings cut. He fired a burst across the legs of the other and he fell, blood pumping over the floor. Callidan burned the rest of the clip into his chest. He guard jerked under the impact and blood splattered on his armour. Several of the bullets penetrated.

Callidan smashed his bullet shield in the throat with his gun but and pushed him down. He them stomped on the guard's throat and reloaded. Easy. Time mattered now, but he had been blessed with the Withering Stare. Combined with his own cunning, the ability to crush the resistance of the weak willed would make his escape simplicity itself. He opened the room.

A blackened shell of woman lay attached to a host of machines. A sheet covered most of her body. For a second he hesitated. Leaving her to suffer like this might be better than killing her. But no, they might ship her to Adraxis which had the finest medical facilities in the subsector. They might be able to work the necessary miracle. She was looking right at him, her green eyes boring into him.

"Commodore I am here to give you the rewards of knowing Jolan-"

Shots rang out. Pain racked his body and he staggered. More shots. They were coming from Severa. He tried to raise his gun hand but his shoulder was shattered. The gun dropped to the floor. The burned woman stood. None of the machines was truly attached to her. She was reloading the heavy naval pistol in her hands.

The eyes were wrong, he realized. This wasn't Valin. A decoy. He had been duped. Another bullet smashed through his left shoulder and then she blew out his legs. He fell, his body half coated in hardening pink slime. He could hear the sounds of many men running towards the room.

The woman kicked the gun away from him. His body wasn't working. He was as slow as mud and in so much pain. "Commodore Valin has other engagements," she sneared. "But I'm sure she will be interested in what you have to say." He tried to focus the Withering Gaze upon her, but he couldn't muster the concentration. The gloved hands seized him and everything slipped away.

technomage · Post by **technomage** » 2005-12-11 01:19pm

Glad to see she didn't die in the crash. I thought that a woman who survived fighting Black Legionnaires shouldn't die like that.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-12-12 11:52pm

Severa opened her augmentic eye. Her other eye wouldn't open and it hurt. Everything hurt with a dull intensity. The world was fuzzy. She could here the whine and pumping of machines. She was in a hospital of some kind. Hooked up to a lot of machines. It must be bad.

Lieutenant Kelson came and stood over her. "Commodore?" the young man enquired.

Severa tried to speak. Couldn't. Kelson moved a tube to her mouth. She leaned forward and took the tube between blistered lips. She greedily sucked down water. "How bad?" she rasped. Everything must be fuzzy because of painkillers. She still hurt. She didn't want to think of how bad the pain would be without them.

"Commodore your injuries are severe. There was a fire after the crash. You were badly burned. We can keep you alive for a while, but the prognoses, Commodore I'm sorry."

"It was sabotage," she said. She remembered being strapped in as every crucial system and its back up decided to fail. Lights and alarms blazed as the pilot and copilot struggled to keep the ship from burying itself into the ground. Then darkness. Now this. She looked down her arms. The flesh of her arms was blackened and flaking.

"Yes. We found the tech in a closet. Multiple strokes. Possession."

"Send a message to Inquisitor Jolan Gix," she rasped.

Kelson's head shot up. "Ma'am, we may have something on that. Someone tried to finish the job. Our decoy took him out. He mentioned something about a 'Jolan'."

"Still alive?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am, although not for a lack of trying. Not saying anything either."

"Send a message to Gix. Let him know what you found. And arrange transportation."

"Commodore, in your state it is unlikely that you will survive any journey."

"It's unlikely that I'll survive at all," she rasped. "Take me to Adraxis."

"Yes commodore."

"And bring the prisoner as well."

"Yes commodore."

Severa closed her eye. "Let me rest," she said. Oblivion was soon upon her.

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The PsyKing smiled as the spring courier took him out of the system. Gix's lover had been a difficult target and would have known fear before she died. Yes, very satisfying.

The memory would help him pass the long journey. He walked through the luxury suite he had been given and bowed before the silver aquila and kissed it in mockery of true faith. None of the crew knew the truth, although they knew who he served. They just knew him as their pious and true liege-lord, an Imperial Commander, rather than as the Gamesman.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-12-16 07:27am

Lord Admiral Ravensburg is believed to have said: "a ship's a fool to fight a space station." Home to wings of strike craft, torpedo silos, and long range banks a navy space station makes a very poor target indeed. Inquisitor Jolan Gix's ship, the Eternal Will, coasted towards a monstrous edifice that was far more terrible than a mere space station. The Ramilies space fortress was the anchor point of Imperial power in Adraxis. It was a space station writ large, dwarfing even the fleet yards. Four long transcepts extended from the central basillica in a cruciform pattern, each one mounting ship killing guns and launch bays capable of disgorging shuttles or bomber wings.

The Eternal Will coasted to the midpoint of one nave and a docking bridge extending, linking the two together. It would be a long time before Naval Security forgot Jolan Gix here. He had fought on those decks alongside their best, lead them into battles and victory. They had remained true while others had betrayed their oaths. They had fought under his leadership and that of the Commodore and the Saint. The battles had already become legend and larger than life.

The honour guard waiting for Jolan Gix was lead by a senior lieutenant. She lead six men black armoured men with their faces hidden behind mirrored visors and hellguns clenched in their hands. She was a tough looking grey-haired woman with a flattened nose, jagged marring the pale skin of her left cheek, and the heavy build of a mastiff. "Inquisitor. I am senior lieutenant Wiyana Glass. Welcome back to Adraxis."

"Thank you lieutenant. Please arrange to have Gard Vikal and Hethor D'eckor escorted to see Commodore Valin."

"As you wish Inquisitor."

"Good. Now you will take me and Batista to the prisoner."

"Immediately," she replied. Glass lead them to transport tube and they boarded the travel capsul. They entered the vehicle and sat down on the bench seats. Glass touched a rune on panel and then another. They began to accelerate rapidly. The capsul hurtled down the length of the transcept and into the basillica.

The capsul reached its destination and they disembarcked. Black armoured naval security troopers stood ready with shotcannons and metal truncheons. They saluted as Wiyana lead them past. She took them past sensors and autoturrets and checkpoint after security checkpoint into dimly lit corridors lined with cells. "Most of these are empty," she said. "Only the most dangerous are to be held here and in most cases that means we shoot them out of hand."

She stopped. "This one was . . . most unusual inquisitor." She produced a data slat from the last checkpoint. "This is what we have been able to determine."

Jolan took the slate and examined it. "Cult tattoos on the ankle, The Rising Phoenix. Hyped reflexes. Coagulating gel for blood. Rapid healing. And the Withering Gaze."

"Sir?" she asked.

"The correct term for his gaze power. Yes this one has been touched by the warp. He's secured?"

"Yes sir. Shackled to the wall, fed through IVs. We removed his teeth with pliers. Didn't want him to suicide by biting off his tongue."

"Good," Gix replied. "Open the door. Remain outside. The security monitors will fail. Don't interfere."

"Yes lord."

A lever was thrown and the thick metal slab slid aside with a grinding noise. Jolan stepped inside, followed by the pale Sanctioned Psyker. The cell was roomy, but not for the prisoner's comfort, but rather to allow several interrogators and their equipment to operate on the prisoner. Callidan was secured by metal cuffs to the far wall. A lumina panel cast stark white light on him from above.

The heretic's body had degenerated in captivity. Muscles had atrophied and several lesions and weals marks his pale flesh. His hair had been hacked off and grown back as corse black stubble. He had a short, ragged beard. A visor obscured his eyes. Jolan reached forward and removed it.

"Gix," he hissed through lips.

"Yes," said Jolan. "When I leave this cell, you will have told me everything there is to know about you and your master."

"No, you will beg for the mercy of death," he lisped. "You should kill yourself now."

"No," said Gix, "I will not be broken by your master's tactics. And you will know it before I am done with you. You have sold yourself to dark powers and have reaped only damnation. The magnitude of your error will be made clear to you before you perish."

The lumina panel flickered for a moment as Jolan exerted his warp talents to shut down the security monitors. While his gifts with what was known as Machine Empathy were weak, especially when compared to such luminaries as Pater Novum, for some things they would suffice. The monitors went dead. What came next would never leave this cell.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-01-03 02:34am

The warp stirred and shifted in response to Jolan's will. Telepathy was an art he had no feel for and little skill, but his studies had left with other alternatives. Stabbing needles of psychic force bored into Calliban's mind. The heretic's body convulsed as they penetrated the shields inplanted in his mind and searing pain overwhelmed him.

Gix manipulated the warp constructs with ease and delicacy. He stabbed into the pain and pleasure centers of the brain with precise control, just enough to trigger a reaction without inflicting permanent damage. Every musle in the heretic's body spasmed.

Batsista's will rushed into heretic's mind. Jolan had torned down the walls to Callidan's mind and was working on breaking his will. Batista fell upon the last barriers in the heretic's mind like a battering ram. There was a moment of fierce resistance and then the battered barrier collapsed. Batista was in.

Implanted kill commands were triggered, intent on killing the heretic by shutting down his body before he could reveal an information. Commands that would shut down his autonomic nervous system that was already pierced by the psychic needles of Jolan Gix.

Callidan went into another spasm of convulsions as the kill commands were frozen. Batista tore through the heretic's mind and memories, taking in everything as Callidan's whole universe became a blazing ball of pain. Finally, Batista nodded. "I have everything inquisitor."

"Good," said Jolan. "The kill commands have been triggered and failed. Too bad for you Callidan. You're going to have to live. Don't worry, I should think of some suitable fate for you."

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Jolan's retinue gathered around the table in the heart of the star fort. Jolan looked up. "Proceed."

Batista cleared his throat and stood. "The heretic called himself Callidan, although his true name was Maric Volpes. He joined a heretic cult, the Heart of the World in an attempt to rise above his labourer origins. Recruited in the The Rising Phoenix and recieved the mark. While serving as a trouble shooter for the cult he caught the attention of one of the Illuminated Masters: The PsyKing."

Melina's eyebrows shot up. "The PsyKing is one of the Illuminated Masters of the Rising Phoenix? We have confirmation that he's part of the leadership of a specific cult?"

"Yes," said Jolan. "There's more. Batista, please continue."

"Callidan became an agent for the Illuminated Masters and was rewarded for it. In the process he dealt with several of them and learned their identities. He also learned the name of the Light of Illumination, the supreme master of the Rising Phoenix."

"Rapin' hell," said Hethor. "The PsyKing has a boss?"

"Until today we didn't even know there was a rank above Illuminated Master," said Jolan.

"The Light of Illumination is called the Gamesman," continued Batista. "Callidan has never met him, but was nearing the point when he would be intiated and recieve an audience. Callidan also knew that this campaign was not ordered by the PsyKing, but by the Gamesman."

There was a moment of silence. "That's what we face," said Jolan Gix. "An organized strike by one of the most powerful and secretive chaos cults in this sector. One with multiple agents of equal power and competency to the PsyKing and a master that can command their obediance. Any suggestions about how we proceed?"

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-02-19 06:48am

Gard Vikal touched the door chime. The door slid open, revealing Inquisitor Gix's personal quarters. The armoured shutter was open and Jolan was staring out the port hole and down upon Adraxis. "Gard."

The dark skinned scientist-physician stepped forward. "My lord inquisitor." His mechadendrites tasted the air. "I must report that the commodore's condition is grave, but treatable with advanced regeneration technology. I remain guardedly optimistic, but until she is put through a regen treatment there is no way to know for sure how she will respond. I suggest prayer on her behalf."

The inquisitor did not turn. "Thank you Gard. You may leave."

"As you wish." He bowed slightly and turned to go.

"Wait." The medicae stopped. Jolan turned. He face was drawn, his skin pale. "I have been remiss. Thank you for your efforts."

"Inquisitor, we all appreciate that you and the commodore are close. Whatever else you are, you are still a man who cares for his friends."

"Thank you Gard."

"You are welcome inquisitor. By your leave."

"As you will." Gard left and Jolan telekinetically hit the door control after he left. So much power and still he felt hopeless. As helpless as he had been as a child on the Black Ships.

There was a chime from his desk. He turned toward it and checked the link to the main logic engine system. A package had arrived for him. Interesting. Who knew he was going to be on Adraxis?

He sent a series of commands that would subject the package to a variety of auspex scans and a full inspection. He then sat down to think. The Rising Phoenix had targeted him personaly and not for direct attack. What were they after? More data was needed. There was a signifigant possibility that this package was from them. Supposing that it wasn't some form of assassination attempt, it might reveal clues. It would also be designed to push him into a particular course of action. He would have to proceed carefuly.

It took a while for the package to clear the exhaustive battery of tests. It contained a simple data crystal. Jolan had it sent to his quarters. And then he waited.

It arrived soon enough. The door chimed and a servitor crafted in the shape of a man wearing baroque armour entered. Jolan dismissed it and inserted the crystal on seperate display. A vid log.

It took a moment for it to sink in what he was seeing. He flashed forward. More horror. And again. It continued. His hand shook as he flicked it off.

He backed away from the desk, literally trembling with rage and grief. Saretta. Bound, connected to arcane machinery and raped by mutants. Hours and hours and hours of it.

"Control," he hissed to himself. Control. He needed it. They were targeting the people he cared about, those that mattered to him. Why? To provoke him into movement ? To intimidate him? Simple, viscious spite?

No, not spite. Too big, too complicated, too much investment. This had to have purpose. Something worth all the effort involved. His enemy was moving against him in force and he was blind. He didn't know its lair, where to find its agents, or what strategems to expect. There blows against him were already laid, although the taunting evidence might be a while in coming. What were they up to?

And then he saw. With a single moment of burning clarity he saw what they were trying to drive him to do. Damn himself. Take a step over the line between radical and heretic and betray the Imperium. And he saw no other way.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-22 04:22am

Jolan inserted the data crystal into the reader and watched as the holo display flicked to life. The expanse of Ultima Segmentum filled the room, a quarter of the galaxy displayed in cool blue lights . Adraxis was marked by a luminous golden dot. Jolan entered a command by tapping on the stacked crystal control slab that made up part of his desk.

Red blots burst like pustules among the cool blue stars. Each one marked documented activity by the Rising Phoenix Cult, one of the most insidious and dangerous cults of the Ruinous Powers in the Ultima Segmentum. It was as elusive as it was dangerous. Jolan typed in another set of commands.

A grotesque purple splotch marred a great swath of the Segmentum, marking the projected reach and influence of the Rising Phoenix. The cult was good at hiding, usually only being discovered after its agents had done their foul work and departed. Many of them had cover identities of Imperial servants and had apparently worked loyally for decades before vanishing and leaving a nightmare in their place.

And now they were targetting him, not merely to kill him, but to make him fall. To make him like they were. He saw the trap waiting for him. He had no means of reaching the cult leaders who were targetting him. The only possible information source that could lead him to them quickly were daemons of the warp, the great and terrible Lords of Change and the all knowing and malevolent Keepers of Secrets.

Such beings, or whatever fraction of their essence he could summon, were beyond his ability to compell. In order to get those answers from them he would have to bargain. To enslave daemons and use them as weapons against the Emperor's enemies, that was the act of a Radical but still within the boundaries of Imperial service according to some. To bargain with the enemies of the Imperium, that was another. The price such daemons would demand would be very high. They would demand the ending of lives, the working of treason, and a descent into depravity.

The Gamesman wanted him to make such a choice. Not once, but several times until there was nothing left of the Imperial Inquisitor but only a self interested sorcerer who consorted with Chaos. This was the real trap.

He would not fall. That line would not be crossed. The Gamesman was several steps ahead. That would have to change or else the best solution for the Imperium might be someone administiring the Emperor's Mercy to Jolan Gix.

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There are many terrible places in the galaxy. From the Eye of Terror to the Inquisition's dungeions, there is no shortage of places where suffering and despair can be found in near endless supply. Reaver's Rock is one of these places.

The pirate base was a hollowed out asteroid with power fields and gravity courtesy of an ancient plasma reactor system in its core. How old the pirate lair was, no one really new. Some suspected it dated back to the Dark Age of Technology, perhaps as a kind of navy base. Whatever its origins, today it was the home of pirates, slavers, and smugglers who prayed on countless races and nations. To them, Imperium of Man was just one of the larger targets.

The PsyKing pushed through the crowds at Akranak's Pit. On a raised arena a kroot with baroque halberd faced a cleaver armed ork in a bloody struggle to the death. Members of a dozen species chanted names and placed bets. As much as he enjoyed pain and suffering, the PsyKing ignored the spectacle. He was here for a higher purpose.

The chaos sorcerer forced his way through the multi-species crowd towards his target. Senior Captain Jengal Steel was not a tall man, but squat and heavily muscled. Only a little fat had attached itself to his frame. The hairy pirate captain was attended by three whores with hair died unnatural colours and six bodyguards. A pink haired whore had her head in his lap while Steel watched the two xenos butcher each other and slammed down drinks.

The bodyguards stopped the PsyKing from approaching any closer. "I have a business proposition!" he shouted over the roar of the crowd and gave the idea a mental push. The leather clad pirate let him get closer to him master.

The crowd gave out a tremendous shoot. The kroot had crippled one of the ork's legs and was now circling it, out of range of the greenskin's cleaver, and stabbing with its halberd. It would be over soon.

Steel looked at him with dark eyes that conveyed no warmth or humanity. "What do you want?" the silk clad pirate bellowed.

"A ship killed. I can give you its origin and destination, as well as its earliest departure time. You can gut the ship and take everything as long as all the passengers die."

"Why should I do this?"

"I'll leave a very large payment with the Ballecays, contingent on certain people dying."

The mention of the middle men caught the senior captain's interest. "How large?"

"How does ten tons of platinum sound?"

"It sounds like you should tell me the name of the ship you want killed."

"The Eternal Will." The Gamesman might want Jolan Gix converted, but the PsyKing didn't. The bastard would then become another rival. He was all in favor of torturing and killing everything that the Inquisitor loved, but when that was done the PsyKing wanted him dead. Now all there was left to do was set up that little incident at Icanius and have Jolan Gix come running into the jaws of the trap.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-22 10:26pm

A servitor with a chassis of burnished brass walked through the halls of the starfort with a stainless steel scrollcase clutched in its hand. The vat grown brain inside of its metallic skull had been electrografted with the plans for the station and was capable of pattern recognition. Beyond that its abilities were rudimentary, but sufficient for its role as a courier.

It stopped at the correct room and tapped the door chime. A moment latter Jolan Gix came to the door. "Alpha-execute-ten-nine," it said.

"Upsilon-twelve-zero," Jolan responded. The servitor extended the scroll case. Jolan took the metal tube. "Dismissed," he commanded.

He returned to his desk and entered a code into the base of the cylander. The lid popped open and Jolan up ended the scroll case. A data crystal slid out. Jolan entered the crystal into the reciever slot in his desk.

More code verifications were demanded in fierce orange letters that floated in the air above the desk. Jolan entered them. The orange letters vanished to be replaced by jade text. The inquisitor leaned back in his chair as he finished reading.

The urgent message from an Ecclesiarch on Icanius regarded a holy vision in which his name had been mentioned. An Emperor sent break in a case as difficult as this, if it was authentic. But if visions were being sent, why was Domina not the one to recieve them? And the timing was suspiciously convienent. He touched the vox transmitter key and began issuing orders.

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Melina slammed down a tumbler that had once contained an amber liquid that was mostly alcohol. She reached for the decanter and filled it up again. "He's leaving me behind!" he shouted.

Hethor took the crystal decanter from her hand and refilled his glass. "I know. He's right to do so."

"Fuck you."

"If you want," he replied. "Good chance that this'll be a trap. He'll need fighters and he'll need someone else elswhere already lookin'. Someone sneaky and good with a lot of agents. That's you," he said pointing a thick finger at her.

They were in her cabin in the Will, which she was somewhat reluctant to leave. The tall crystal vessel had been full when they had begun working their way to towards the bottom. Both of them had amassed a very high tolerance towards alcohol in their time, although Hethor massed signifigantly more. He was also slamming more back, so they were getting to the same place at about the same rate.

"Throne, I hate being left out."

"Life's shit, we both know that." He drained his glass and then refilled it. "He needs you doin' your spymaster shit and that's what ya gotta do."

"Ya," she said and held out her glass. "Refill."

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"Tell me the truth," Severa said from her bed, "how bad is it?"

"Not good," Jolan said. "But at least you look like a human being now. And it was only the first surgery."

"I know," she rasped. "It's nice breathing through lungs again, even if the new throat is sore. The biomagi say that I will be even better than I was."

"Lord Vonrilyental's reconstruction was quite successful."

"I remember. There's a Flag Captain in the Gothic Sector who's a complete wreck. Still commands with direct interface links even though he's confined to an armoured strategium tank. I'm already doing better than he is. I can still command."

"Yes, you can. I have to go soon. Hopefully to get close to the heretics who did this."

"Duty calls then. Go, with my blessings. Burn them all Infernas."

"I will. I look forward to seeing you on a command throne again Sword. Emperor willing, we will speak again."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-23 06:29am

Selanon Kay leaned back in his command throne. Sophisticated MIU links built into his head rest conveyed data from the ship cogitators as the Eternal Will's thrusters fired again, completing their burn away from the titanic Ramilies class Starfort.

"Half power to the main thrusters," ordered the Navigator-Captain. His picked crew touched the surfaces of slabs of stacked crystal arrays and the Eternal Will's mains rumbled to life. The ship moved faster and faster, driven forward by the plume of plasma exhaust expelled from her engine tubes.

Kay checked the data runes. "Bring the engines up to full power." The ship hummed as the engines went from half to full. Selanon checked their course again. Icanius was at the edge of the sector and their existed favorable warp routes most of the way there. The local area around the planet was more turbulent than normal, which required some skill and patience to navigate through.

Kay had no shortage of either traits. There was something eating at the Inquisitor though or Kay was no judge of men. He would wish to make a swift transit and that meant a quick real space burn to a favorable warp current that would quickly carry them most of the way to that unspectacular world.

Kay did not need to consult a library data stack to know that Icanius was a cold world, but not hostile to human life. Its soil was not rich, but the world supported both crops and herding over a large part of its surface. Factory-cities coverted the world's not inconsicerable mineral wealth into usable form. While its tithe of men and material was small compared to hive worlds like Adraxis or Cyrus Gamma, it was quite respectable. Icanian mechanized and armoured regiments did not have the fame that regiments from other worlds like Mordia or Vitria possessed, but they were good troops and well respected by the men who fought with them and the officers who commmanded them.

Selanon Kay rose. "Teel, you have the con. I will begin making preparations for our journey through the warp." The navigator strode off the bridge, heading to his quarters and the ancient and priceless warp-way maps that were contained within.

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Jolan Gix had approached Selanon Kay not merely because of the fire in his heart but also because of his skill as a navigator. It had taken the man merely seventeen days in the warp and twenty-three real time to make the journey to Icanius, an amazing achievement even with a ship like the Eternal Will.

Kay brought the Inquisitorial vessel back into real space at the edge of the system, where the warp stream from Xezan, which he had merged into three days previously, began to grow turbulent and hazardous. The ships surveyors and auspexes probed and sent data back to its cogitators and logic engines. The Eternal Will had emerged within a million kilometers of where Kay had estimated it would which was not a bad result at all considering the uncertainties of the exit into real space.

Thrusters fired and maneuvered the black spire that was the slim sprint trade towards the inner worlds. A sword of plasma shot out of her main engines as the Eternal Will began the last leg of her journey. Her surveyors probed her path for any obstacles or ambushes and her void shields were at a third power to absorb any high speed collisions.

The Eternal Will was not alone. This route was well known to those who frequented the system and to the predators that lurked into the dark. Hiding at low power deeper in the system two pirate vessels spotted the Will's drive flare. Cogitators planned interception routes and marked the points from which the Will's bearing and velocity would make escape impossible. On darkened bridges hardened killers waited as clocks ticked down.

Zero. Reactors were brought up from minimum power and drives were brought on line. On other ships technomagi or task specific servitors would have noted the readings the sudden change in readings. On the Eternal Will, the machine spirit of the ship itself did that work. Warning runes glowed brightly and chimes went off in the bridge.

Kay leaned back and let the mind impulse units send the data into his brain. Concealed ships, one hiding near a far moonlet and the other playing cold and dead in space. Both were powering up their reactors and drives, a process that could not be taken instantaneously. But this data was two light minutes old. They were already moving on his ship.

He activated the ship wide vox. "Battlestations," he announced calmly. "Inquisitor Gix, the captain requests your presence on the bridge."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-24 10:27pm

Selanon Kay looked up as Jolan Gix entered the command deck of the Eternal Will. The bridge of the inquisitor's ship was comparatively plain and crampt compared to other such vessels, a situation resulting from the inquisitor's personal taste, the austere style of the Adraxian ship yards, and the power of the ship's machine spirit which made many crew stations superflous. "Status?" said Gix.

"Two pirate vessels closing," said Kay succinctly. A holo flickered into life between the two men, triggered by the mind impulse units built into Kay's command throne. "They were waiting cold and in hiding. They started powering up their engines and moving on us once our course made escape impossible."

"Options?"

"They aren't eldar vessels. Speed and emmissions are consistent with ships of human design, although they could be xeno designs. Target alpha is smaller and swifter than beta. Probably a converted fast freighter. Target beta is frigate sized, also probably a converted merchant man. Alpha out masses us two to one."

"Options?" Gix asked.

"Surrender will result in us being killed or enslaved and the ship taken. Pirate vessels are typically heavily crewed and it is unlikely that we could win any boarding action. Evasion at this point is impossible."

"Then we fight. I take it we are going to burn for alpha full speed and try to take it out without having to fight beta at the same time."

"Correct inquisitor. With your permission?"

"Do what is necessary captain."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Jengal Steel looked down from his command throne at the bridge crew of the Iron Claw. The Eternal Will was heading straight at the Edran's Revenge. It was a desperate move, but the expected one. The Eternal Will was heavily armed for a craft its size, but the Edran's Revenge was twice the size and had been heavily up gunned after it had been captured and converted into a raider.

"Krell, time until intercept?" he rumbled.

The lean surveyor operator looked up from his screens and consulted the cogitator readouts. The logic engines of the Iron Claw were comparatively well maintained, but its most skilled enginseers could at best do minor repairs and maintenance on the systems of data stacks. cogitators and logic engines that formed the ship's mind. An increasingly complex system of jury-rigging and improvisation kept the ship's systems functioning at the cost of degrading speed and the occassional error. "Gun range with the Revenge in thirty minutes captain. We will be on top of them in fifty."

"Engines, increase speed." A fight between the Revenge and the Eternal Will would be too close for his taste. Better to stack the odds and minimize damage to his other vessel.

"We are already at macsimum acceleration," the green scaled Zarhult at the engineering lisped.

Human engineering tended to build things tough, especially ships. The pirate vessel had sacrificed cargo space for more plasma reactors to power weapons, shields, and engines. The modified engines could take the strain of running at higher power than they had been originally designed to take, although that increased the chance of system failure and the strain on the system. Captain Steel was prepaired to take those risks.

"Increase acceleration five percent," Steel ordered. "Close on that ship. I want my prize."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-25 05:51am

The cold blue ball of the gas giant Penitas was dead ahead. The planet's captured collection of asteroids, ice crystals, and small moons girded its equator like a wrestler's belt. Edran's Revenge had used the content's of the Penitas' ring as cover, but had now left it behind as its engines drove it on an intercept course with the Eternal Will. On both ships preperation for battle had commenced.

Edran's Revenge had been a slim sprint trader and was still recognizable as one. Like others of her kind she was swift and sturdy with several small defence turrets and a pair of larger turrets mounting powerful lasers and macro cannons on her dorsal surface. Cargo space had been sacrificed to add in another plasma reactor to power the extra shield generator blisters and the additional heavy dorsal macro cannon turret that had been added to her hull in the bays at Reaver's Rock. Her hull had been weakened by cutting new holes in it to add bays for boarding pods and grapplers along her flanks.

She outmassed Eternal Will two to one and had been up armed and up shielded. Her captain, a harridan in a gold mask by the name of Nareena Hast, was confident of victory over even an upgraded vessel and not without reason. She wanted the glory that came with taking the vessel unsupported. One day Jengal Steel's grip over his pirates would slip and on that day she intended to open his veins and seize power.

Selanon Kay watched the indicator runes marked the distance. The Eternal Will had been built for the Inquisition using the most powerful technologies available to the archmagi on Mars before recieving the workings of the arcane technosorceries practiced in the Adraxian shipyards. The pirates would only have access to renegade and half trained enginseers at best. It was his one advantage. It had to be enough.

"Turn thirty five degree port," he ordered. "Unsheath all gun ports. Target oncoming vessel."

As the Eternal Will turned its flank toward the pirate ship, adamantine shutters along her flanks opened up to reveal three gun ports on either side. Armoured cables connected the lasers to banks of capacitors and to the ships main power grid. On top the two dorsal turrets and their deadly arnamanet of heavy fusion beams turned to track the pirate vessel. Highly capable surveyors sent data to the ships powerful logic engines. Firing solutions were produced almost immediately and autotargetting systems corrected the weapon's aim.

"Weapons locked on target," replied Master Gunner ban Isili. "Ready to fire on your command."

"Fire." Laser beams streaked through the void and impacted on the foreward shields of Edran's Revenge, forming bursts of lightning where they struck void shields. Unlike an Imperial cruiser, the pirate vessel did not not possess heavy armour plating and extremely powerful forward shield generators. Some of the energy was deflected off the void shields, but most of it was delivered to the target.

Then the lasers fired again. And again. The archeotech capacitors and power transmition systems permitted the laser banks to fire at full power with a recharge time measured in a mere handful of seconds. Then the fusion beamers fired their blinding intense beams and lightning crawled over the front hemisphere of Edran's Revenge's shield bubble.

The pirate vessel weathered the storm of incoming fire and kept on coming. Her surveyors were not as sophisticated, her logic engines not as reliable, but Edran's Revenge was heavily armed and could fight. The dorsal turrets opened up with a volley of macro cannon shells and a spray of laser fire.

More than half the shots missed, passing nearby the sleek Inquisitional vessel or exploding nearby. The remainder pelted the voids shields and created a sheet of lighting that covered the Eternal Will's starboard side. The Eternal Will's starboard batteries continued to fire, pounding down the void shields of the Revenge with peerless accuracy as the fusion beamers charged up for another blast.

Data streamed directly into Kay's brain showing immenent collapse of void shields on both ships. "Continue firing all batteries. Target the fusion beams for massed fire against the target's dorsal batteries on my mark."

"Fusion beams at eighty six percent power and rising. Targeting enemy gun batteries. Target . . . locked. Ready to fire on your mark."

"Fire." Intense beams of energy erupted from the barrels of the Eternal Will's dorsal turrets and flashed through space to strike one point on the Revenge's shields. The coordinated strike by heavy beams tore through the void shields and blew apart the middle turret in a fraction of a second before boring through the hull and penetrated to the ship's insides.

Ammunition and capacitors exploded under the intense heat that turned steel to gas. Fuel and oxygen lines were severed, sending a jet of flame gushing out of the wound into space and waves of fire through the corridors. Emergency doors slammed shut in all but two places as poor maitenance caught up the Revenge. The pace of fire from her remaining turrets fell off.

The Eternal Will crossed her T with her broadside's blazing. Lasers burned holes in the Revenge's hull as the void shields struggled to regenerate from the severe pounding they had taken. The Eternal Will arced toward Penitas's ring as Revenge limped along its course and the Iron Claw closed from the stern. The weaker foe had been defeated but soon the stronger would be upon them.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-26 05:09am

Jengal Steel snarled as Edran's Revenge drifted away from the Eternal Will. Hast's ship was still under power, but her void shields were weak and a fire was raging on her decks. The rogue trader had to be packing a stupendous arsenal to rip up Hast's ship that badly.

But the fight had cost it. Power had been diverted from engines and her course altered. Hast's ship had been wounded, not crippled and would still be of use latter in the fight. Iron Claw was closing on the smaller ship and it wouldn't be long until her gun decks were in range.

The Iron Claw out massed the Revenge by nearly two to one and the Eternal Will by nearly four to one. Her sides were studded with grapple launchers, boarding pods, anti ordinance guns, and clusters of missle tubes. Four turrets mounting dual macro cannons studded the pirate's dorsal surface. A pair of xeno designed heavy mass drivers poked out from the reaver's prow. She could go gun deck to gun deck with anything short of a Sword class frigate and even the latter would know it had been in a hard fight.

The Eternal Will was using Penitas's own gravity to quickly enter the planet's debris ring. The ship was angling for an escape using the ring as a feeble shield while it tried to sling shot around the gas giant. It wasn't enough. At best, the Eternal Will was delaying the inevitable.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hethor double checked the seals on Domina's armour. "All good Sister."

"Thank you," she replied. The Sororitas reached down and picked up the heavy flammer unit attached to the fuel tank on her back pack.

"No problem. Done the checks often enough for Gix." The veteran was wearing carapace armour and had a hellgun slung over his shoulder.

"If it comes down to boarding we will be greatly outnumbered."

"Nothing new about that," said Hethor. "You had best pull your weight though."

Her helmet swivvled to stare at the veteran. "Are you joking with me?"

"Hells no. You Sororitas claim to be all shit hot. Now you've got to prove it."

"Do not fear. Leave that to our enemies. The Emperor is with us and our enemies shall burn."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Jolan Gix stomped onto the bridge, encased in power armour. Data relays from the ships cogitators to his armour autosenses had kept the inquisitor informed of the tide of battle. "Inquisitor, I have a few moments but please make it quick," said Kay.

"These ice fragments can't possibly shield us from that ship."

"They won't inquisitor, but it will to make more difficult for them to fire accuarately at us. They already have to deal with our jammers and the gas giant's radiation belts and pirate surveyors are usually of poor quality. I'm grasping at slivers inquisitor. Or at least that's what I want them to think."

"The moons," said Gix.

"Yes. There's a few tricks I can play with moons that they won't expect."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-27 03:43am

"Change course and pursue!" Nareena Hast screamed through the amplifier grill of her gold mask. "I want that ship's captain brought before me broken and flayed!"

"Course change in progress," shouted a burly officer at the helm.

"Status!" Hast barked.

"Maneuvering at eighty percent normal," the helmsman replied. Hast didn't recieve bad news well but hiding anything fed her paranoia and that was worse.

"Magos!"

The heretic enginseer on the bridge had never been part of the Adeptus Mechanicus, but had learned many secrets of technosorcery through his apprenticeship as well as personal trial and error. "We took damage to the power grid, fuel lines, and maneuvering grid. A fire still rages on three decks. All damage control teams and available crew members are needed to ensure containment."

"I dont' want excuses, I want result! I want those bastards hanging on hooks!" As Hast raged at her crew and the wounded ship slowly changed course to chase the Eternal Will. The Iron Claw was closing the distance between it and the Inquistion vessel as the Eternal Will attempted to take cover in the ice ring. Hast cackled. It wouldn't save them.

On the command throne of the Iron Claw, Jengal Steel wasn't so sure. The Eternal Will's course was taking put it close to one of the moons. The ice ring wasn't enough to save the vessel, not from the Iron Claw, but there were tricks one could play with moons. Sling shot maneuvers, concealed course changes, and taking cover were all possible.

Whoever the captain of the Eternal Will was, he was too sharp and his ship too good to take chances. He had bloodied Nareena's nose and would do the same to him if he got a chance. No point in giving it to him. The damage he had done already was going to cost.

"Give me every available bit of thrust you can without blowing out the mains," he snarled. "I want them caught before they reach that moon. Weapons?"

"Still out of effective range captain. They have too much lead time to alter course. We aren't going to score enough hits to matter against their shields."

"Increasing thrust," said the helmsman as warning dials slid over to the red range. The ship rumbled and groaned in protest as even more plasma was blasted out its old and battered engine tubes."

"Weapons?!" he barked.

"Recalibrating," came the reply. The cogitator at his station hummed as it relayed data from the logic engines and displayed the results in glowing runes. "We will reach the outside of effective firing range in three minutes. By the time they will reach the moon we will have them under heavy bombardment."

"Good." Steel was looking forward to taking that ship. It would be a fine addition to his growing fleet as soon as the incovienent passengers were dealth with.

"Fire as weapons come into range. Hit them and keep on hitting them."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Eternal Will shuddered. "What was that?" Gix asked.

"Enemy mass driver hitting our void shields," said Kay. The mind impulse units were relaying data to him constantly. "We're on the edge of their effective range. If they keep this up, they'll eventually overload our void shields."

"Does this alter your plans captain?"

"No, it does not. At this range their accuracy is poor and our shields are very good. They won't be able to do nearly enough damage to us in the amount of time we'll be exposed to their fire. A more serious concern is that the alpha target is limping back into play. That may screw everything up."

"I think I see what you are up to captain. This escape maneuver will still buy us time away from beta, correct?"

"Yes."

"Do you see a better move?"

"Not that we can execute."

"Then do it. We'll finish alpha and then we'll figure out what to do with beta."

"Aye Inquisitor. All hands, brace for emergency course change!"

Kadaeux · Post by **Kadaeux** » 2006-03-28 04:23am

WHERE IS THE REST? You got me hooked

get on with it..

and where can I join in this sort of RP?

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-28 04:40am

The original RP thread is :For the Love of the Emperor!

The follow up game (moving slow as mud in part due to the absence of our beloved Petro) is: Librium Arcana

Kadaeux · Post by **Kadaeux** » 2006-03-28 04:50am

You could easily get GW to have this published you know, it's better than some WH40k Novels i've read.

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2006-03-28 05:08am

Seriously. I might not post after each chapter, but I read them as rapidly as you post them...

Umbras · Post by **Umbras** » 2006-03-28 05:23am

I have been bugging him on occasion to submit his stuff, I have been a fan since I started gaming with him, he has a great imagination and a flair for writing.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-28 05:46am

I am not innactive on the submissions front.

And thank you for the feedback and kind words.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-28 07:49pm

Jengal Steel watched the main repeater screen as his target took the hammering his guns dished out and and kept on going. The shields on the Eternal Will were just too damn strong. Maneuvering thrusters had fired, changing the vessels orientation and then the main drive burned.

"Navigation!" he barked. "Calculate their new course and adjust to intercept." The bastards were going for a slingshot maneuver, probably one to set them into an orbit where they could more effectively utilize Penitas's own gravity for an escape course.

"Entering data from surveyors into cogitator now," replied the pirate. "Main logic engines working." There was a moment of painful silence broken only by breathing and the hum of machinery. "Results coming in. Reverse course slingshot."

"Impossible!" Steel barked. "Not at their velocity. Even with an emergency burn! Put it through again!"

There was another painful moment. "Result confirmed."

"The stresses will break that ship," he muttered angrily.

"Orders?" asked the helmsman.

"Adjust course and get a message to the Hag. Let her know that they're coming back."

------------------------------------------------------------------

Nareena Hast glowered at the display. "They're coming back, the stupid bastards. Gunnery crews to stand by."

The gunnery crews were ready. The terrible fire raging in Edran's Revenge's corridors had finally been extinguished and damage control teams were now working on repair rather than containment. The surviving gunnery crews had conscripted regular crew members to assist in the brute force work of loading shells into the ammo conveyors.

Ahead of them the Eternal Will had completed its slingshot around the nameless moon of Penitas and was heading towards them. Straggling behind it was Iron Claw, trying valiantly but vainly to catch the swifter vessel after Selanon Kay had given him the slip. If the Revenge could wound or slow the Will for long enough, then the Iron Claw could get into the fight. Nareena Hast had no itention of that happening. By the time Iron Claw arrived, she meant to have the Will's crew hanging on meat hooks.

This time the Eternal Will had to challenge Edran's Revenge head on if it wanted to continue accelerating. Any course change would cost them if they wanted to escape Iron Claw. The surviving macro cannon and laser batteries came to bear on the Eternal Will's approximate position.

An blinding bright beam hammered the pirate's void shields as the Eternal Will struck. Hast snarled. "Open fire!" The gunner knew that they were beyond the range where his weapons could be accurately be brought to bear, but obeyed. Beams of coherent light and titanic explosions filled the space around the Eternal Will. There were no direct hits and her void shields shrugged off the barrage.

Inside Edran's Revenge capacitor banks whined as they charged up for another volley and grunting men hauled on chains to move shells into positions on a half functional automated loading system. A grinding moan filled the upper decks as motors shifted mammoth guns to bear on the Eternal Will's new position.

The ships exchanged another volley of fire as they closed. Power was channelled away from the engines to feed the guns and void shields. Hits hammered each ship as the distance seperating them shrank and their shields struggled to dump energy and recover capacity as they continued to pour fire into one another. It was a duel the already wounded Edran's Revenge was slowly losing, but the pirate ship was larger than the Inquisitorial vessel and as tough as all human space craft. The fight would not end just because her void shields failed.

The fusion beams struck the aft hull and the prow of the Revenge, overloading her void shields in a blast of sheet lightning. The guns went silent as they cooled and their capacitor banks were charged for another volley. The Revenge struck back.

A macro cannon shell exploded in a blast of atomic fury over the Eternal Will's aft section. A moment latter a volley from the Revenge's heavy laser batteries smashed through the locally weakened void shields and into the engineering section.

A brief cheer went up on the command deck of the Revenge. The Eternal Will's retaliation was swift. Both turrets of fusion beamers locked onto the same spot. The combined beams bored through armour, hardened bulkheads, and the plasma reactors themselves. The pirate vessel blew itself in half, clouds of cooling plasma and chunks of metal drifting away from the wreckage.

"Damage report!" Kay barked.

"Engineering here. Two thruster tubes rendered inoperable. Allow them to cool while drifting and we can perform the necessary rites to return them to service in a day or so."

"We don't have a day," said Kay. They also couldn't afford to drift. He cut the vox link. "Inquisitor, outrunning target beta just became impossible."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-30 02:03am

"Options Navigator-Captain?" asked Jolan Gix calmly.

"We cannot outrun target beta. Beta is twice the size of alpha and heavily armed. Entering the warp represents a grave risk to the ship, but it remains an option of last resort."

"Typical pirate tactics?" Gix

"Varies, but since they use human pattern ships they will likely attempt to wound are ship, force a boarding action, and kill or enslave us. The Eternal Will represents a great prize for them."

"Even if they have orders to kill us?"

"Probably. The ship is still a great prize."

"Good," said Gix. "Then there is a greater chance of this working. Turn us around and engage the enemy craft directly. Minimum power wasted on weapons fire, but maintain full charge on all weapons system. Void shields and evasive action are to be priorities."

"You mean to close with the enemy, while suffering a minimum amount of damage."

"Correct. Execute my orders."

"Your will." The Eternal Will fired maneuvering jets and turned to face the oncoming pirate vessel. The main drive fired, beginning the process of killing its velocity and carying the ship towards the Iron Claw.

"Inquisitor, I beg you, if you have a plan share it now so we may properly execute it."

"The course is to be as close to the enemy vessel and not be a collision course as possible." He activated his voxcaster. "Gard, I need you on the bridge."

He resumed his address to the captain. "As we reach the closest point to the enemy vessel, we'll need precise action within a limited time frame. The machine spirit of the ship is the best choice to execute the maneuver. No one on board knows the machine spirit better than Gard."

The bridge door cycled open. "Inquisitor," said Gard, "I am at your disposal."

"I need to you to prepare instructions for the machine spirit. It is to bring the ship as close as possible to the enemy vessel and use the ship's arnament to disable the enemy ship's weapons."

"As you command Inquisitor. From my analysis of the enemy ship, its void shields will be able to withstand a full volley by our weapons unless the shields are already near critical and by the current power system priorities I deem that unlikely."

"Are you familiar with operations of the Adeptus Titanicus?"

"The Mechanicus who operate titans? Only in passing."

"We're going to borrow from them. And that's why we need the ship's weapon to fire in a very narrow window of opportunity."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"They're coming at us," said the surveyor operator. "Their main engine output is reduced."

"So the Hag hurt them before she lost my ship," Jengal Steel muttered. "They're trying to run past us and get to the inner system before we can change course and catch them." He smiled showing a mouth half full of metal teeth. It wasn't going to work.

"Fire braking thrusters when we enter weapon range. Master Gunner, stand by with macro cannon bombardment. Bring down their void shields. Crews to boarding stations. Arm harpoons."

The two ships closed on each other. The batteries of macro cannons on the Iron Claw opened up, filling the space around the Eternal Will with atomic explosions. The Imperial ship fired maneuvering thrusters at seemingly randomly intervals as it closed, creating an evasive pattern that allowed it to avoid much of the bombardment as it closed.

The Eternal Will struck back with occassional blasts from its fusion beamers, sending sheets of lightning flashing over the Iron Claw's void shields with every hit. The void shields of the Inquisitorial vessel neared critical as the two vessels neared the passing point.

"Turn over command to the machine spirit on my mark," ordered Selanon Kay as the Iron Claw loomed on the display. "Now."

The two vessels were merely a dozen kilometers apart when the machine spirit fired maneuvering thrusters and targeted the Iron Claw's macro cannon batteries. The Eternal Will abruptly shifted towards the pirate vessel as the two ships sped towards each other.

As the two ships passed barely one hundred meters seperating them, the bubbles of their void shields merged. For a fraction of a second the ships were naked to each other. For the machine spirit of the Eternal Will this was plenty of time. The laser cannons burned into the missle tubes on the Iron Claw's flank, burning through armour, igniting fuel, and opening the weapon bays to space. The fusion beams obliterated two of the four macro cannon batteries on the Iron Claw's dorsal surface in blasts unbearable heat.

A few shots from the flickered by the Eternal Will as it passed and then the ship's luck ran out. Eight grapple launchers fired. Two hit, slamming spears with pop out barbs into the Eternal Will's hull connected to the Iron Claw by massive adamantine chains. Magnetic grappler fields of xenos origin kicked in as the chains took up the strain of holding the Eternal Will.

"Inquistor," said Selanon Kay. "We've been grappled. Stand by. The enemy means to board us." A cluster of boarding pods left the side of the Iron Claw. "Correction. Boarding pods on the way."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-03-31 06:26am

Four boarding pods blasted into space from the side of the Iron Claw. The defence turrets on the side of the Eternal Will blew two of the craft to scrap before they reached the Imperial ship. Boarding claws locked on and laser cutters powered up as they prepared to breach the Eternal Will's hull.

As they did so, the magnetic grapplers and the harpoon lines retracted, bringing the Eternal Will in close enough to use boarding corridor and far too close for it use its arnament on the Iron Claw without risking damaging itself. Inside the hull of the pirate ship, hundred of battle hungry pirates armed themselves with a variety of weapons. Shotguns, vibropikes, lasguns, cut down autorifles, cleavers, flamers, flechette sprayers, and grenade launchers were among the most common weapons carried by the disparate band of rogues.

The boarding pods were different. Each of them contained a war pack of Czur. The Imperium had wiped out their core worlds nearly eight millenia ago, reducing them to a few scattered colonies and drifting space travellers. Hatred had been their racial religion for eight millenia. They were more than eager to share to kill humans for profit.

They were a stocky species, averaging about one point six meters at their should hunch. Their necks thrust their bear like muzzles forward and they were covered in short, thick fur. Their clawed, six fingered hands held shields of ceramite plate and las carbines. More plate covered their torsos, the outside of their limbs, and the top of their heads and muzzles. Rebreather masks dangled around their throats. Ropes of saliva dripped from their jaws as they salivated at the prospect of killing.

Jolan Gix exited the bridge, Gard Vikal in tow. The Inquisitor activated his vox. "Hethor, you are in charge of repelling boarders. Commissar Nofield is his second. Domina, meet me and Gard in the teleportation chamber. Danell?"

"Your will Inquisitor."

"Use your judgement. Kill the enemy and create chaos as you see fit. The rest of you, you know your chain of command. Kill the unclean and the xenos scum."

As the inquisitor spoke the last part of the hull gave way under the cutters of the first boarding pod. A blast of compressed steam blew the hull section into the ship. A pair of steam powered launchers sent grenades scattering into the interior of the ship. They detonated with a dull whump and sent high velocity shrapnel flying. The war pack, twenty strong, poured out of the tight space they had been confined in. There was no one to greet them, not even the mangled bodies of the dead.

They growled in frustration. One of the pack leaders in the center of the mass barked an order and they trotted down one side of the corridor, weapons at the ready. An armoured hatch blocked their way, but they were quite familiar with the operation of human technology.

The lead Czur spun the wheel and pushed the hatch open revealing more corridor and a T shaped junction. Crouched down in the T junction, using the wall as cover, was Hethor D'eckor. The big man fired a frag grenade from the underbarrel launcher of his hell carbine a the bulkhead beside the the Czur. The blast sprayed the tough aliens with shrapnel that penetrated deeply into an exposed flesh that was unlucky enough to come in contact with it.

The Czur howled, but they were still constrainted by the choke point. Hethor couldn't tell if he killed any or even if he'd seriously injured them, but that was the nature of battle. The lead Czur, blood mingled with his fur, had let his shield slip. Hethor put a tight burst into his upper torso. The first two high powered las pulses burned and cracked the breastplate. The second pair punched through the weakened armour and blew apart flesh. The Czur evidently kept something important their as it toppled forward.

The Czur behind it roared forward, sending pulses from their carbines all over the corridor. The one behind them pitched a sinister metal ball off th wall opposite Hethor. A loud boom filled the corridor as the war pack eagerly pressed ahead, lusting for the kill.

Dominus · Post by **Dominus** » 2006-04-02 07:36pm

This is truly excellent work. You should talk to GW about publishing this.

I may not post as often as I'd like, but I've read each and every installment without fail. Keep up the good work.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-04-03 01:52am

Jolan waited for the armoured door to slide open and strode into the teleportation chamber. A drum fed grenade launcher was clenched in his armoured hands. Domina was there, her dark blue power armour marked with Sororitas emblems. A bolt pistol and monoedged knife were attached to her thighs and she held a massive flamer in her armoured hands. "I am ready," she said.

Jolan turned towards the armoured window. "Gard?"

The vox crackled. "Setting coordinates inquistor. Any preferences to where you end up?"

"Near where they are mounting boarding operations, but not among them. Side corridor where we can mount a counter attack."

"As you wish. I think I've found something suitable. If you and Domina would step on the platform we can begin."

They climbed onto the thick disc of the teleportation platform. "Initiate," said Gix. The air swam and distorted and they were gone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hethor staggered down the corridor. His armour and refractor field had protected him from the worst of the concussion bomb, but the whole ship still threatened to spin around him. A hand clamped down on his arm.

"Here," said Mikal Camron. "Come on." The young officer threw the veteran's arm over his shoulder and grabbed Hethor around the waist "Help's here." Blind grenades burst behind them. Strong arms grabbed Hethor and helped him forward and around the bend. Camron's troopers were set up in the intersection to cover the corridor. The swirling smoke of the blind grenades was disrupted by more bangs from detonating concussion bombs.

"'bout time you got here," Hethor growled. "Stormtrooper glory boys. Never on time for the party."

The war pack charged through the cloud of smoke, their carbines firing and filling the corridor with las blasts. Hellguns answered back. Bursts of high intensity las fire tore the ceramite battle shields to pieces and then cratered and penetrated the armour behind them to find vulnerable flesh.

The Cruz roared and charged. Despite their stocky bodies and heavy burdens, they were quite swift. The leaders of the war pack fell and then the ones behind them fell. The Cruz's own carbines took their toll. Several troopers took hits that burned deep holes armour, but didn't penetrate. One unlucky bastard took a las bolt in the throat and fell almost decapitated by the shot.

Frag grenades fired low mutilated three Cruz in sprays of lethal shrapnel, but most of them recieved only minor injuries thanks to their shields and armour. They crashed into melee with guns blazing and curved serrated blades in their hands.

"For the Emperor!" Camron roared, bolt pistol in one hand and chainsword in the other.

"The Emperor!" the troopers roared back as they fired point blank at their enemies, smashed them with rifle butts, and drew monoedged blades for close in fighting.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-04-04 10:18pm

The second boarding pod containing a Cruz war pack breached the hull of the Eternal Will. The docking collar sealed the breach and the Cruz poured out onto a long bay. The opposite wall was lined with thick power cables that fed power to the las cannon capacitors and the void shield generators. Except for the Cruz, it was empty.

Snarling they headed for the closest door. The closest Cruz was about five meters from it when it slid open to reveal two servitors clad in black metal. The smaller one had a heavy stub gun replacing its right arm and cruel claws instead of a left hand. An ammo feed cable lead to its back.

The other was larger and its whole body deformed to accomodate and support the heavy bolter built into its right shoulder. Targeting beams from the heads of both servitors floated over the Cruz in a brief moment before they opened fire.

The heavy, armour piercing slugs from the stubbers chewed up ceramite shields and armour, but it provided some protecttion. The diamanite tipped, high velocity heavy bolter rounds punched right through to blow enormous holes in flesh. The reports of the guns echoed throughout the bay as the servitors hammered the Cruz with a lethal storm of metal.

The front rank disintrigrated into bloody gobs of flesh and fur under the hammer. Las beams struck the servitors and cratered their armour, but did not stop them. A concussion bomb rolled out from the panicking mass and blew the stubber servitor off of its feet. The other kept firing. The war pack broke and both servitors continued firing into the Cruz's exposed backs. None of them made it back to the boarding pod.

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Camron but a bolt into a Cruz's skull at point blank range. The rocket powered slug punched through the ursinoid's skull easily and detonated in its brain. It fell over, blood and grey matter leaking out its ears. Another Cruz shield punched the young officer, knocking him down. It raised its serrated blade to finish him.

Hethor's bolt pistol put a round between its mid ribs and another under the armpit. The Cruz toppled as the big veteran entered the fray. A short burst blew a shield to pieces. The second burst wrecked his breastplate and then blew open his chest.

Hethor's archeotech power sword cut through Cruz blades, shields, and limbs. The Cruz on the flanks of the war pack howled as arms were severed and the pack mired in disarray. The storm troopers rallied as Hethor emptied what was left of his clip into a Cruz in a spray of blood and bone chips. Hethor lunged and ran another Cruz through.

Hethor sliced off the wrist of another Cruz, dropping the six fingered hand and its blade to the deck. His next blow sliced off a chunk of its shield and the follow up went through the Cruz's should and deep into its chest. The Cruz fell. Hethor looked around. They were all dead.

His limbs felt heavy all of a sudden. "Treat wounds and reload," he ordered. "This isn't the last of those xenos bastards."

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Domina and Jolan materialized in flash of light. They were in a corridor near a very large gallery. Jolan advanced toward it and Domina was just a step behind him.

The corridor connected to a gantry catwalk midway up the wall. Spread out in front of them was a gridwork of catwalks above and around a pair of extendable boarding corridors. The gantries allowed troops to take up positions to fire down on boarders if the corridors were taken by a counter attack and allowed a lot of troops to be mustered and pushed into the tubes.

At least a hundred pirates, mostly human, were massed on the floor and the catwalks. Some of the pirates were just noticing the intruders. Too late.

Jolan opened up on the nearest cluster on the catwalk with the grenade launcher. Thump. Thump. Thump. Two frag grenades hit flesh, a third hit the railing. The blasts drove shrapnel into exposed flesh and through light armour at close range. The five pirates were nearly torn in half. Blood sprayed down to the deck and the mangled meat hit the ground.

Domina hauled the heavy flamer to the edge of the catwalk and angled it down. Gouts of thrice blessed promethium descended upon the pirates below as she fanned the spray against the mass of pirates. There were more loud thumps and the crack of detonating grenades as Jolan continued to kill. From beneath her came screams of pain, fear, and rage as pirates tried to dodge out of the way or fired weapons up at her.

Bullets and las blasts struck around them. Most missed. There were a few flashes as Jolan's conversion field kicked in. Armour was knicked and gouged. The battle had begun in earnest.