This is only 'original' in the loosest sense of the word. Obviously it's all from 40K. Some events and descriptions were cribbed straight from the FFG RPG books. One Space Marine is from a fan chapter that was shut down by executive order from GW. The Main event, as it were, was inspired from one of Elheru's 40K fanfics. All that said if you copy and paste it I will order my Shroomtruppen to firebomb your internets with White Phosphorous. Something to bear in mind is that this was all written at work, it's a bit rough. My guy is Katahdin. On to the main event.
Loyal Even Unto Death
Part One
The watch fortress hung within the inky blackness of space, its great docking jetties expanding kilometers out from the central Citadel. A dozen vessels, ranging from Inquisitorial frigates, to strike cruisers to two battlebarges, lay pierside. One, however, deviated distinctly from the Astartes vessels that were docked. It was a star galleon, an armed trading vessel dating to the days of the Great Crusade. Only the most ancient of mercantile houses operated such vessels, and they were used nearly exclusively by Rogue Traders.
Techmarine Katahdin, late of the Reclaimers, had aided the Forgemaster in guiding the colossal vessel into dock. The Rogue Trader and his retinue had quickly made for an audience with the Watch Captain, all but ignoring the chapter serfs and even the battle-brothers who passed them in the passegeways. Out of all the Imperium’s subjects, only Rogue Traders would move amongst the Angels of Death. Well, them and Inquisitors. As it was, Katahdin stared out the portal, his helm removed and his augmented eyes studying the magnificent vessel. Even from a distance one could make out the works of art dedicated to the Emperor inlaid upon the hull in white gold. A massive relief of the Omnessiah strangling a serpent with his bare hands. Katahdin became aware of a battle-brother walking up behind him, and his servo arm twisted, the optics observing Brother Horace, he replaced his Helm and spoke.
“Beautiful, is it not Horace? You will not find a shipwright anywhere that can build them anymore.”
Horace stepped forward to the left of Katahdin. The matte-black of his right pauldron marked him as a Black Shield, an Astartes who had left his chapter. Even more puzzling, he wore the Imperialis Honour, the award for those who showed the greatest loyalty, proudly across his chestplate. No one, save the Watch Captain and perhaps the staff of the Librarium, knew the identity of his original chapter. Despite this, he got along well enough with the other members of the Deathwatch.
“Your vox is disabled Brother Katahdin.”
“I didn’t want to be bothered while I meditated on the Starlight, brother.” Katahdin nodded to the Star Galleon “If there was a true emergency, I would know.”
“Well, the Captain wants you in the briefing room. It seems the Rogue Trader has created a mission for us.”
“Captain Baldwin has already decided to act on his audience?”
“The vessel arrived 5 hours ago brother.”
“Oh.” Katahdin checked his chronometer. “So she did.”
The two turned and marched towards the briefing hall. Their steps fell into sync automatically, just like any of the trillions of professional soldiers would on the million worlds of the Imperium of Man. Passing through a great door of nalwood, the two entered the Ossuary. This cavernous room held the remains of foes defeated by the Marines of the Watch Fortress. There, as large as any primarch, the skeleton of the Ork Warboss SmasNutz. Over there, a score of wraith guard clustered around a Wraithlord. These were the smaller trophies, behind them loomed the desiccated carcasses of Tyranid Biotitans, and playing in the shadows, an Eldar Revenant Titan. Beyond these better known deviants were uncountable other species. Those with psychic sensitivity reported that the Ossuary was a clamor of cries of pain, calls for help, and the worst of curses in a legion of dead Xenos tongues.
The two exited the Ossuary, and entered the Grand Cathedral. The great space was typically used for large gatherings of the brothers of the Fortress, as well as the Inquisitorial personnel stationed there. In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future Captains Call could not be escaped. But the Grand Cathedral had been seldom used in the past decade, as the demands of the crusade sapped ever more resources and left the Watch Fortress increasingly empty. Horace and Katahdin made for a small nave underneath the pulpit, and entered the briefing room where Captain Baldwin was standing with a handful of others. Brotehr Bruno, a Champion of the Black Templars and the leader of Katahdin & Horaces Kill-team glowered at the two. Before he could say anything a hoarse voice rattled from a darkened corner.
“I’m glad you could join us Brother Katahdin.”
Chaplain Ernesto, Formerly of the Flesh Tearers, stepped closer to the central Hololith projection. Early in his career in the Deathwatch Ernesto had battled a Slann Mystic, and in the ensuing slaughter his armour had become stained with the ichor of the Xenos. No amount of cleaning or maintenance would remove the stains, and his appearance was a terrifying one to most mortals. Even amongst the Astartes it created a sensation of unease.
“My apologies Chaplain, I was in meditation.”
“Hmmph! Your distraction with baubles will put your brothers in danger one day. You will serve 3 days in the penitence chamber while we are enroute to our next mission.”
Captain Baldwin glanced at Ernesto, and Katahdin had the feeling that Baldwin wanted to override the Chaplain, but was choosing not to in front of the others. Instead, he tapped the hololith controls and stylized “I” of the Inquisition disappeared, and a detailed image of a starship appeared. Katahdin leaned forward.
“This is a composite of auspex and visual scans taken by the master of the Starlight. Techmarine Katahdin, do you recognize it?”
It was a battlebarge, by the hull was smooth save for the towering navigators spires. The proportions were wrong as well, it did not meet the standard pattern. It was bigger, much bigger. At least thrice as long with a main hull that had twice the beam…Katahdin exhaled as he finally identified the class of vessel.
“A Centauri-pattern BattleBarge! Used during the Great Crusade, the design was lost after the Archenemy destroyed the yards at Proxima Centauri. This, this is a find. I don’t believe a single vessel remains in loyalist hands.” Katahdin peered at the image. “Some hull damage, but otherwise in remarkable condition. I’m surprised the crew of the Starlight didn’t try to loot…ah.”
Baldwin had moved his gauntlets along the image of the battlebarge, twisting it and enlarging an area. A mycetic spore was lodged near the base of the navigation spires. The name of the vessel, Le Roi Soleil, could barely be made out. There was nothing to indicate which chapter it belonged to originally, though. When Baldwin “released” his grip the image flipped back to default, and Katahdin could see that what he had assumed to be random image artifacts floating off to the side were in fact derelict spores. At least there appeared to have been only one that impacted the ship…
“The vessel is located in orbit of a super-Jovian with an unremarkable atmosphere, which in turn orbits a brown dwarf below the Galactic plane…here.” Baldwin tapped the controls to indicate where on the sector map it was. “It doesn’t even have a proper designation. The odds are very good that it has been orbiting there for thousands of years. Forgemaster Eriksson recommended Bruno’s Kill-team join Chaplain Ernesto’s force, as your knowledge of the eras cogitator designs will be of great use in the recovery of the vessel.”
“Forgive me Captain but…the Forgemaster is more qualified…”
“He is going as well. He is in the Vaults making preparetions. Revered Ancient Culhwch served on a Centauri-pattern Battlebarge before he was entombed. That is all, gather your equipment and proceed to the Resolute, Captain Jervis is preparing for departure. Chaplain, a word…”
Spoiler
----
Loyal Even Unto Death
Part Two
The Resolute approached the sole planet of the unnamed and undesignated brown dwarf. The super-jovian had about 150% the mass of Jupiter, and it’s atmosphere was a greenish-blue. It was thoroughly unremarkable, and it’s satellites were just as unremarkable. A score of asteroids and comets. And spores. Mycetic spores, perhaps millions of them. Even a hundred thousands kilometers away the servitor-controlled lascannons that operated as the Resolutes close in weapons systems lit off. The system was below the galactic plane, and it was clear a Tyranid fleet tendril had passed through here, apparently finding nothing of value and withering for lack of resources.
“Le Roi Soleil is located where we were expecting her to be.” Erikssons voice was weak, as if it wasn’t used often. The ancient forgemaster of the Fortress was plugged directly into the primary auspex cogitator of the Resolute, and was only using his vocal chords for the benefit of the others in the briefing room. If he had his way he would only be conversing in lingua-technis to Katahdin. “Myself, Techmarine Katahdin, and Revered Ancient Culhwch believe that here,” a detailed holo of a small landing bay adjacent to the Navigator quarters appeared, “is the optimal point of ingress. There is a damage control management locker in the landing bay control room, which will allow Techmarine Katahdin to gain a overview of the condition of the ship. The command bridge is two decks up, which will be the primary objective of Chaplain Ernesto’s squad. I will be accompanying the Chaplain. Inquisitor?”
Inquisitor Sheremetev stepped forward. The man was well into his 3rd century of service to the Ordos Xenos, and was wearing an immaculate set of silver artificer armour. His body was riddled with cybernetic implants that mimicked the black carapace organ of the Astartes, and moved smoothy despite the bulky armour.
“I will be arriving with Revered Ancient Culhwch aboard Cutlass-1. After environmental conditions are verified as safe, Leftenant McGill will arrive with his platoon of Stormtroopers. Our goal is to ensure that Le Roi Soleil will be secure from all security threats before the fortress tech-adepts arrive with their repair crews. That is all.”
“Brother Katahdin?”
Katahdin’s voice warbled up through the vox. “I have teleported a servo skull into the target bay. I am transmitting the feed now.” The composite image was replaced with a video feed of the interior of the bay. It was very nearly pitch black, save for a few blinking lights along control terminals and the beam from the luminator attached to the servo skull. Along the inboard bulkhead there was an engraving of a giant eye with lightning bolts erupting from it.
“Is that…” Ernesto hissed, fearing the worst.
“Possibly. Brother Katahdin, expand the beam of the luminator.” Eriksson ordered. The Servo Skull backed up and expanded the beam. The large eye was revealed to be the warp eye of a profile of a navigator. There was a noticeable easing of the tension in the briefing room. A ship previously used by the Black Legion would have been corrupted to the point of being unusable by the Imperium. The skull moved about, exposing a luxury yacht that obviously had belonged to the navigators on the barge, and finally there was a door to the control room to the landing bay, as well as a hatch to the rest of the ships. More lights on more consoles. “There is power on the ship. The Mark19 plasma reactors are truly as resilient as the stories say. Brothers, now is as good as time as any to go.” With that Eriksson disconnected from the cogitator and left the compartment.
Chaplain Ernesto scowled. Iron Father Knut Eriksson was even worse than Katahdin at showing proper decorum. While Katahdin would on occasion express regret for not showing his betters the proper respect, the ancient forgemaster just couldn’t care less about offending Chaplains or Inquisitors. Captain Baldwin encouraged such improprieties by turning a blind eye so long as the fortress manufactorum performed as expected. He activated the 1MC and spoke to Captain Jervis, the master of the Resolute.
“Captain, we will be departing shortly.”
There was terse acknowledgement, and Ernesto followed Eriksson out. Sheremetev had already left for the aft landing bay to board the stormraven carrying Culhwch. By the time he reached the teleportarium his squad had already stepped upon the pad. Bruno and his team were clustered around Kathdin, looking at the feed from the servo skull. As soon as Ernesto stepped onto the pad, Katahdin spoke.
“I am ready to initiate transport Forgemaster.”
“Brother Katahdin, I am the leader of the expedition in the absence of Inquisitor Sheremetev.” Ernesto growled.
“Of course Chaplain.” There was a silence in the compartment with only the sound of ships machinery breaching it. The Magos who was responsible for the care of the teleportarium looked between the two, then leaned forward and tapped out a command. The Squad disappeared in flash of light.
== ==
“Atmospheric conditions are near vacuum.” Juniper reported. He swung his heavy flamer about, whose pilot light was feebly attempting extract oxygen from the compartment. With a sigh he cut the pilot light off and raised his powerglove, which was crackling with energy and providing light to allow his Terminator suits autosenses to function. The squad moved forward to a hatch that led to an adjoining passageway. One of Erikssons servo arms reached out and tapped the buttons next to hatch, and with a hiss the door opened. The entire ship was built to allow a primarch to move through easily, and when Culhwch arrived the dreadnought would be able to squeeze through easily enough. The six entered the passageway.
“Area immediately adjacent to the bay appears clear of major infestation.” Said Jacques. “We are proceeding to the command bridge.” The corridor in contrast to the bay, which had console lights here and there, the passageway was pitch black save for the light generated by the crackling of power weapons. The was a flash in the bay as Brunos squad arrived. Ernesto activated his vox.
xxWe will be passing the spore impact site Bruno, maintain vigilance.xx
xxUnderstood Chaplain. Techmarine Katahdin is studying the cogitators in the bay control room.XX.
The squad moved aft for half a kilometer when Geoffrey suddenly spoke.
“Brothers…”
There was a rattle and a genestealer pushed off from the ceiling screeching. Stanisław’s chainfist cut into one of the arms. His stormbolter blew the head off.
==
The report of the stormbolter echoed down the corridor. Before Bruno could activate his vox, Ernestos voice came across the net.
xxContact made with genestealers. Only one.xx
There’s some good news. Odds are just the one spore impacted then. Bruno thought. xxUnderstood Chaplainxx. He turned to Katahdin.
“Any idea who this vessel belong to, brother?”
“No.” said Katahdin irritably. “The firewalls on the cogitators are quite impressive. I can tell you that the navigator house assigned to this vessel was that of Nicephoros, an extinct house. Reactors 2 & 4 still have power, and will be able to take a load of 20% of capacity. That will be more than sufficient to bring the vessel back to the Fortress under its own power. While there is some battle damage, I believe that the ship is mostly…switched off.”
Bruno stepped around Katahdin and looked at a metal schematic of a floor 4 decks down. LEDs remained lit under the name(Bruno assumed it was the name, the lettering was archaic and worn away) of a large compartment.
“Katahdin, what do these lights mean? The compartment has power?”
“Sí. It’s a stasis pod chamber next to one of the apothecriums. I suspect it has had continuous power for thousands of years. According to the damage control board it is sealed tight.”
“Stasis? The battle brothers who served on this vessel may still be on it? Can you get the lifts operating between here and there?”
“Sí, but perhaps we should wait until…”
“Chaplain Ernesto is busy. Horace, Gregor, Conrad, with me. Angelo, stay with Techmarine Katahdin.”
The devastator raised his multimelta in acknowledgement. The 4 other Marines left.
==
“7 Bodies.” Juniper said. “With the one Stanisław killed that makes 8. That should be it.” He held his crackling power glove up, the light dancing on the bulkhead. “Chaplain, look at the weapon damage patterns.”
Ernesto moved to the front, and glanced at the remains floating in the low gravity and the marks on the walls. “Splinter weapons. Dark Eldar. The genestealers themselves have been recently killed.” He clicked on his vox. xxBruno, we’ve encountered evidence of Dark Eldar. We are proceeding to the bridge.XX
xxRoger.xx Brunos voice sounded a bit tinny, but otherwise clear. The 6 moved on, and arrived at the bridge shortly. Eriksson performed the rite of entry and the doors slid open.
==
Bruno arrived at admantine doors with a Helix engraved on them, and cursed. The keypad was unlit.
xxKatahdin, can you open the hatch to the stasis room?xx
xxDoing so now.xx
The doors slid apart and the 4 entered. Bruno had his power sword and storm shield raised and equipped, while Horace flicked the activation rune on his chainsword, with his plasma pistol primed. Conrad and Haus aimed their bolters carefully. They had entered a large compartment with 5 rows of stasis pods…and a pod close by was open with water vapour emanating from it.
“I do not recognize your legion colors, brothers.” Came a gruff but not unkind voice. The 4 turned towards the corner. A Astartes was standing there, wearing armour of pearl white and blue pauldrons. Bruno’s eyes landed on the legion emblem. The other stasis pods in the compartment began to open.
xxChaplain, we have a situationxx
==
xxChap---av---tionxx
xxWhat? What is it Bruno?xx
Kathdins voice cut it. xxI am boosting the signal Chaplain, Bruno took Horace, Gregor Haus, and Conrad with him to investigate a compartment.xx
Ernesto sighed xxWhat compartment? Why wasn’t I told?xx
“Ernesto…” Came Geoffrey’s rasping voice. “We have a situation.” He was standing at the commanders chair, and held his crackling force staff over the pauldron of the corpse of the Astartes who had expired there.
The legion emblem was that of a planet in the jaws of a great beast. The XII Legion. The World Eaters.
