In Memoria (40K)

[[R_H]]

I love this fanfic, think it's one of, if not the best WH40K fanfic out there. Hats off to IO.

Would archeoflagallents even have a chance against an Eversor?

[Imperial Overlord]

I love this fanfic, think it's one of, if not the best WH40K fanfic out there. Hats off to IO.

Would archeoflagallents even have a chance against an Eversor?

A poor one. They are drug pumped, cyber augmented killing machines equiped with a whole bushel of electroflails, which can inflict severe damage on a lightly armoured assassin.

Of course they are poorly armed, slow, clumsy, and unskilled compared to an Eversor. They're dangerous and take some killing, but not in the Eversor's league.

[Imperial Overlord]

Carnifex Beta loped through the corridors toward his targets. The sanctum's auspex system was relaying data to his autosenses. Inquisitor Brokk would deal with the primary target personally, which left all other targets to Beta. The breach at Hatch C commanded his attention.

There was no data being relayed to him from the auspexes monitoring the breach. Advanced stealth and counter measure technologies were the likely the culprit. That matched the profile of one of Jolan Gix's long time agents, Danell Keys.

Keys had been trained since young childhood as an assassin and was probably augmented with top of the line chemicals and bionics. Weapons and equipment were likely to be top of the line. His skills would be nearly equal to Beta's or higher. Decades of field experience. And total physical inferiority. Beta would prevail in a direct confrontation, probability eighty four percent plus or minus four percent. Keys would be capable of making this calculation and would attempt to dispose of Beta indirectly. Optimal solution was for Keys to die within three seconds of first contact. Probablility seventy three percent, plus or minus seven.

Data feed indicated an armsmen team was being slaughtered by an unknown attacker. A brief data lock as an active refractor field gave the auspexes something to scan. Single attacker. Inhumanely fast. Keys.

Beta broke into a sprint, his Executioner Pistol in hand. Combat zone would be reached in seven seconds. Chemical fury surged into his veins. Time contracted. He rounded the corner.

Keys was there, armoured in form fitting black like an Officio Assassin. Most of auspexes failed to recognize his presence. Combi-pistol in his hand, probably needler and las. Keys was already moving, springing back and bringing his gun to bear. Too slow.

Keys's gun flashed, a the hell beam striking the space Beta had used to occupy. Beta fired. Time oozed forward like molasses. The slug smashed into the wall, but Beta was already correcting his aim. A blur surrounded Keys's form and Beta fired again. The slug took the assassin in the arm, but the refractor field robbed it of the power necessary to penetrate Keys's armour. Then the assassin was around the corner.

Metal spheres bounced around the corner. Beta backflipped away and back around the corner and the grenades detonated, filling the corridor with fire and shrapnel. A few razor edged pieces of metal richotted toward off the walls and toward them. The failed to penetrate his armour.

He was already moving. Keys had beaten the odds and lived, but not for much longer. The corridor was too dangerous an avenue of attack. He activated the powerfield sheathed microblades on the bottom edge of his neurogauntlet. He sliced through his corridor wall and into the adjoining storage room. Quick cuts enlarged the gap and then he was through. He crossed the darkened room in a blink and cut again. One more room to go.

He entered the small bathroom and sliced a gash in the wall. He had a clear view of Keys who looking back right at him. He must have detected the sound of the metal tearing. Beta recognized the weapon in Keys's hand and pulled back. Not fast enough. The assassin fired.

A violet beam so intense that it would blind an unprotected man struck the wall next to the hole. A jet of incandescent gas blasted away as the plasma beam transfered its energy to the wall in a instant. Fast as he was, Beta wasn't quite fast enough. The jet touched his right arm and burned part way through the armour on his forearm before he could jerk completely away. Probable third degree burns. Minor impairment for his right arm.

He tossed a grenade through the hole and backed away. A hellstorm of plasma erupted in the corridor beyond, clearing it. Another series of slices and he was through the wall. He couldn't allow Keys to get far, he was clearly far too clever. Distance blurred as he went at an all out sprint. Estimating renewed contact within ten seconds.

[Chris OFarrell]

Inferno pistol?
Or just a straight plasma?

Either way, the hunt is on!

[Imperial Overlord]

Inferno pistol?
Or just a straight plasma?

Either way, the hunt is on!

Straight plasma.

[LadyTevar]

You've got me on the edge of my seat there.

[fusion]

That is intense, really intense. Now, give me more now!!!!

[Hawkwings]

At first I thought it was a real Carnifex and they were really screwed.

Write more! Post it quick!

[Dominus]

Nicely done, IO. I've always liked the writing style you've used to In Memoria's action scenes; it's clipped and tense, and seems perfectly suited for the sort of surgical strikes that Jolan seems to prefer.

Question: is Gix wearing his power armor to this fight? I certainly hope he is...

[Imperial Overlord]

Question: is Gix wearing his power armor to this fight? I certainly hope he is...

Yes. I'll edit to make that clearer.

[Imperial Overlord]

Smoke and the crack of hellgun fire filled the corridor for half a minute before falling silent. Stormtroopers eased forward, the ones in the rear covering the advance of their comrades. The advancing troopers shot the dead twice in the chest as they advanced over the bodies of the dead and dying until the reached the armoured hatch.

One of the Stormtroopers slung his hellgun and approached the hatch. He reached into a pouch and withdrew a melta bomb, attached it to the hatch, and withdrew while his comrades covered him. The Stormtrooper touched the detonation control. White light and waves of heat smashed into the soldiers, sending the temperature in their climate controlled armour momentarily soaring.

One trooper raised his grenade launcher. The drum fed weapon fired six times in rapid succession, sending grenades into the room where they bounced and ricochetted before detonating with dull booms. The rest of the Stormtroopers moved slowly forward.

The room was large and dominated by a massive bank of machinery that made up the far wall. The air was shrouded with green choke gas and the room had been lashed by shrapnel. The bloodied corpses and choking crewmen lay on the deck. The Stormtroopers executed them all without mercy.

Hethor D'eckor entered the room. "Reinforce the perimeter," said Hethor. He looked up and down at the life support machinery. "Let's get this done."

A Stormtrooper approached the machinery and unslung a heavy cannister that he was carrying on his back. "A ship like this will detect the contamination," he warned Hethor.

"I know," said Hethor. "Automatic systems will seal the ship off from the gas. Which in the case of this unit means sealing off the whole front of the ship, effectively isolating it."

"Until they cut there way through."

"By that time this will all be over and what they choose to do won't matter."

"Right." The Stormtrooper walked over to the machinery, studied it for a minute, and then cut a hole in a thick pipe. He attached the cannister to the pipe and fitted a nozel into the hole and then sealed it up. He opened the nozel on the cannister. "The gas is flowing."

"Then let's get on the firing line," said Hethor.

"Sir?"

"Their friends who aren't sealed in the front half of the ship are going to want them back in action as fast as possible. Killing us and undoing your work fill the bill. Batista."

"Yes?" said the psyker.

"Good chance they'll hit us with the witch stuff. Be ready."

"I am," said the psyker. He touched a control on his right vambrace and shivered as a dose of spook was fired into his veins, boosting his psychic abilities. "I am," he repeated.

[Raj Ahten]

Using gas in a Sci Fi ship boarding action has always seemed like it would be a tactic of very limited utility to me. (Unless one is attacking a civilian ship.) Most crews would probably have enviroment suits in case of a hull breach or loss of life support (a good idea I've seen is that when people go to battlestations they put on enviroment suits, heck they can also double as body armor). Heavy compartmentalization would also stifle the use of gas or boarding actions in general.

On a slightly related note, in 40k do they ever build the inside of the ships like bunkers, such as having kill zones with heavy weapons and firing slits built into the design? It would seem a reasable precaution as boarding and perhaps even mutiny are fairly common occurances.

Also I continue to dig this fic! I'm thinking Keyes may be able to pull a win, because he is the sort of really devious bastard who pre places command detonated mines or some such to cover his escape if he needs it.

[Imperial Overlord]

Using gas in a Sci Fi ship boarding action has always seemed like it would be a tactic of very limited utility to me. (Unless one is attacking a civilian ship.) Most crews would probably have enviroment suits in case of a hull breach or loss of life support (a good idea I've seen is that when people go to battlestations they put on enviroment suits, heck they can also double as body armor). Heavy compartmentalization would also stifle the use of gas or boarding actions in general.

1) The gas is a delaying tactic designed to slow the deployment of reinforcements from the other end of the ship. They expect the gas to kill no one. They're relying on the compartmentalization to slow the deployment of the Tormentium's crew.

2) Human vessels in 40K are often less than generously equipped with survival suits.

3) This is in combination with a sneak attack. The number of people ready for battle is limited. Again, the gas is delaying measure designed to prevent reinforcements from making a difference until after the important matter is settled.

[Dominus]

This may have already been answered, IO, but what class of vessel does the Tormentium belong to? Is it just a standard "Black Ship" battlecruiser like the Lord Marburg, or something of your own design?

And if Jolan slays Brokk and most of his retainers... is it possible he could take her as a prize, in true Napoleonic War style?

[Imperial Overlord]

This may have already been answered, IO, but what class of vessel does the Tormentium belong to? Is it just a standard "Black Ship" battlecruiser like the Lord Marburg, or something of your own design?

And if Jolan slays Brokk and most of his retainers... is it possible he could take her as a prize, in true Napoleonic War style?

It's a large civilian trading vessel with many upgrades. Essentially a rogue trader cruiser and near equal to an Imperial Navy cruiser. The vessel is technically Inquisition property and too large for the Eternal Will's (which is a heavily automated and signifigantly smaller ship) crew to handle.

[Imperial Overlord]

Brokk's autosenses relayed the advance of the daemonhosts. Gix had unleashed his attack dogs, letting them run through the corridors like starved tigers, killing everything in their path. Brokk had gotten most of his crack armsmen out of their way, but not all. It simply wasn't possible. The daemonhosts were too fast and too lethal. And behind them came Gix and his heavily armoured warrior servitors.

"They're coming," said Brokk as he raised his right hand and its attached grenade launcher. There was a modest stretch of corridor ahead. "Hold position. Ready weapons, fire at will." His four retainers raised their heavy sluggers, large bore drum fed projectile weapons that could punch through armour destroy flesh. The braced the stocks against their shoulders and waited.

They didn't have to wait for long. The daemonhosts loped around the corner at the speed of charging cheetahs. They blurred towards Brokk and his retainers. A hail of shells greeted them.

Gouts of blood burst from gaping wounds. Under the lethal hail muscle was torn apart and bones were shattered. The embedded bullets began to burn with silver fire. The daemonhosts screamed, staggered forward, and then fell. Claws tore at the decking, dragging their broken bodies forward.

The shells that ripped into the daemonhosts' bodies were silver, inscribed with the symbol of the aquila by monks, soaked in holy water, and individually blessed in a ceremony prosided over by priest. They were touched by faith and the power of the warp and more than a match for the daemon's defences. Despite being wounded in a dozen places by the blessed bullets, the daemons still were pulling themselves forward to kill and destroy.

The daemon with the crown of horns floated up, his body sheathed in jade witchfire. More bullets were fired at him, but melted before they impacted. The other daemon pulled himself half upright. Insane mutterings eminated from the mouths in his hands and a meter long barbed tongue emerged from his jaw. The eyes of the horn crowned daemonhosts glowed like stars and jade witchfire poured from them towards Brokk and his retainers.

The flames died a meter from Brokk's retainers. "Pariah garbage!" the daemon howled. Brokk fired two rounds from his grenade launcher. Black dust erupted from the shells and coated the daemonhosts. The fire around the horn crowned daemon died and both of them screamed. Their skin bubbled and sloughed away and muscles dissolved under the power of the psyk out grenades.

"Move up," said Brokk. "And switch to anti-armour slugs." Gix's servitors would be upon them soon. He cycled new grenades into his launcher and drew his psycannon. The daemons' convulsions worsened as the Untouchables came closer.

Brokk put a round in the crowned daemonhost's chest and the explosion blew out half the daemon's ribcage in a spray of fluid and a second round exploded it's head. Brokk then shot the other daemonhost in the head and chest. "Let's finish Gix and get this overwith," he rumbled.

Gix and his servitors were advancing towards the corner, close combat servitors leading. The carapace armour of his Untouchables was tough, but it wouldn't stand up to massed bolter fire and Gix had a lot of bolters with him. His servitors would take a lot of killing before they fell. In theory, Gix still had a good chance.

Brokk stepped around the corridor, still protected by the warp disrupting aura of his Untouchables. Bolter shells from the lead servitors struck the walls around him and smacked into his armour. The two trailing heavy bolter servitors stopped and braced themselves in preparation for firing. Targeting sensors mounted in their heads painted Brokk.

Brokk's grenade launcher barked and a pair of shells detonated among the servitors. Blue light and crackling electricty flared around the servitors. Lightning wreathed the servitors and a blinding flash eminated from Jolan's armour as his conversion field transformed the disruptive energy pulse of the haywire grenades into harmless light.

The servitors did not enjoy such formidable force field defences. Systems crucial to their combat effectiveness were burned out and disabled, despite their extensive hardening. The lead servitors crashed to the deck and the heavy weapon models were frozen to the deck like statues.

"You lose Gix," said Brokk as he raised his psycannon and opened fire.

[Raj Ahten]

Using gas in a Sci Fi ship boarding action has always seemed like it would be a tactic of very limited utility to me. (Unless one is attacking a civilian ship.) Most crews would probably have enviroment suits in case of a hull breach or loss of life support (a good idea I've seen is that when people go to battlestations they put on enviroment suits, heck they can also double as body armor). Heavy compartmentalization would also stifle the use of gas or boarding actions in general.

1) The gas is a delaying tactic designed to slow the deployment of reinforcements from the other end of the ship. They expect the gas to kill no one. They're relying on the compartmentalization to slow the deployment of the Tormentium's crew.

2) Human vessels in 40K are often less than generously equipped with survival suits.

3) This is in combination with a sneak attack. The number of people ready for battle is limited. Again, the gas is delaying measure designed to prevent reinforcements from making a difference until after the important matter is settled.

Thanks forr clarifying the tactics for me. I was actually wondering about point #2, as some 40k ships use chains and human labour to reload their guns. Those in charge probably just consider the majority of the crew completely expendable.

Edit: and they don't have the suits required to outfit everyone as well.

[fusion]

Imperial Overlord

The shells that ripped into the daemonhosts' bodies were silver, inscribed with the symbol of the aquila by monks, soaked in holy water, and individually blessed in a ceremony prosided over by priest.

Soaked in water, silver soaked in holy water? Metal in water is soaked? I am confused...

[Imperial Overlord]

Imperial Overlord

The shells that ripped into the daemonhosts' bodies were silver, inscribed with the symbol of the aquila by monks, soaked in holy water, and individually blessed in a ceremony prosided over by priest.

Soaked in water, silver soaked in holy water? Metal in water is soaked? I am confused...

Prolonged, ritual immersion with blessed water. The holyness of the water is suppossed to permeat the the shells. Obviously, the metal isn't literally suffused with water, but it is suppossed to receive some of the spiritual properties of the water. So soaked.

Just your typical primitive mammal superstitious ritual that would be meaningless without the warp.

[Dominus]

"You lose Gix," said Brokk as he raised his psycannon and opened fire.

Famous last words, traitor scum.

Hurry up and update, IO; I really can't stand cliffhangers.

[Imperial Overlord]

Carnifex Beta hunted Danell Keys through the corridors of the Tormentium. Gix's assassin had a head start, but the lightning fast operative was no match for Beta's speed. The assassin had bolted out of the sanctum, which was the only path open for him. He would attempt to evade Beta and then to execute a trap or ambush.

Bodies were sprawled around a corridor intersection, a half dozen crewmen killed by Keys earlier. Their blood was congealing in pools over the deck. Beta slowed and looked for bloody foot prints. There was no sign. Keys had to have come this way.

He could only have cleared the carnage with a running long jump, which meant that Keys could have only gone one way. Carnifex cleared the bodies with a standing jump and loped down the corridor after Keys, slowing his movements because this was the optimal zone of Keys to set an ambush. Nothing.

Bioscanner readings indicated a dozen life forms ahead. They would have to be targets otherwise Keys would have terminated. He had gathered reinforcements. Beta blurred forward. This is what he had been made for.

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

"Moving up to the sanctum area," Shala Nofield said into her vox. Best to let the boss that reinforcements were coming. With a hand motion she directed four Stormtroopers to secure the intersection ahead of them.

"Abort," Keys's voice rasped over the vox. "Nofield, get your people out of there. Now."

"Keys? What-" A slug thrower roared and the two lead Stormtroopers fell.

"Grenade!" someone yelled. A small sphere bounced off the wall and detonated in roiling cloud of plasma that engulfed two Stormtroopers. Shala's visor darkened momentarily, protecting her vision. Another grenade detonated behind the first, further blocking the corridor until the plasma receeded.

"Chambers, Selton, reinforce the rear!" she yelled. "Keys!" she shouted into her vox. "What are we facing?"

"Eversor," he said in a tone of voice remenescent of a doctor delivering a terminatal prognosis.

"What in the warp is an Eversor?" she asked.

"Shrine Assassin."

"Oh Throne." Then the ceiling behind her vanished in a blinding white flash. Melta bomb, she thought. Something like a handful of pebbles bounced down from above. Grenades.

The blind grenades detonated and filled the corridor with black smoke, heat blooms, and electronic jamming. The crack of hellguns and the report of a heavy pistol filled the darkness. So did the cries of the dying.

She backed away from the blind clouds, bolt pistol and chainsword in hand. The killing was occuring on the other side of the blind clouds and the plasma fields still hemmed her and the three other Stormtroopers with her in.

Then the shooting stopped and the Eversor was through the blind cloud, rolling along the deck before leaping at her men. They were dying even as she tried to bring her weapons to bear. He was so fast.

Staller's chest exploded when two shots blew through his breastplate. Another slug went through Markan's visor. A blurring strike crushed Voldrone's chest. She was alone now. And she had her shot.

Her bolter barked and her chainsword swung down. Impossibly the Eversor wasn't there when she fired. Instead he was upon her, his gauntlet smashing her bolt pistol to scrap as he stepped inside the swing of her chainsword. I'm dead, she thought.

The muzzle of the Executioner Pistol slammed against her gorget and the Eversor pulled the trigger.

[Chris OFarrell]

Ouch.

Well we can always hope she is linked upto a "dead man" melta-bomb or something

[gunldesnapper]

This is the finest 40k fan fic ive come across. I came to these boards just to continue reading this mans work. Any chance of you coming to the new BL boards?

[Imperial Overlord]

This is the finest 40k fan fic ive come across. I came to these boards just to continue reading this mans work. Any chance of you coming to the new BL boards?

Yes.

[Vehrec]

Ouch.

Well we can always hope she is linked up to a "dead man" melta-bomb or something

Yeah, that's about the best chance scenario, but it's very unlikely. And anyways, even if she had hit the Evensor, they explode when they die. I'm serious, it's in the rules.