COMING HOME-CHAPTER ONE
The Thunderhawk Gunship darted towards the war-torn planet of Armageddon. The silver-plated machine flew silently through space as inside it, the super human men of the Adeptus Astartes waited patiently. Suddenly a voice barked over the communications.
"Zeta. Come in Zeta, this is Alpha."
"We hear you Alpha," responded Onar, former captain of the Imperial Fist's 6th. He had joined the Deathwatch nine years ago, and soon he'd be reunited with his chapter. He would soon be aboard the Phalanx and be part of Chapter Master Vladimir Pugh's Honour Guard.
"Here are your objectives," continued Alpha. "You are to infiltrate an Ork base just east of Hive Tempestora and destroy the Ork AA gun. All that is known about the gun is that it's called 'Da 'And Uf Mork'. Its shape and size however are unknown but you must work quickly. That gun is protected by a void shield and is taking out our orbital ships at an alarming rate. You must infiltrate the base when the void shield is down to recharge. You only have one shot at this. Don't mess this up."
"When have we let you down?" No sooner did Onar speak were the comms cut.
"Typical of Alpha," cried Severian, the Novamarine was checking his ammunitions in his modified boltgun. Only the Deathwatch and high Inquisitors have access to the best war gear there is to offer.
"Aye," came a response from the other side of the chamber. The owner of the voice was Vyren, a White Scar veteran. This was his second time fighting over Armageddon against the brutish Orks. Vyren had been part of serious of hit and run attacks against large hordes of Orks. It was thrilling. Six full squads of bikes rushing towards the enemy changing direction before the Orks realised they were under attack and with sufficiently less warriors.
"I wonder if anyone knows who he is," pondered Targo - the teams heavy. The twin scythes on his right pauldron marked him as a Scythes of the Emperor. "What do you make of it Varlock?"
The Iron Hand sat at the back of the chamber and shook his head, without saying a word.
"Ok, everyone hang on. We're entering orbit now," cried the pilot. The Thunderhawk thrusters screamed as it entered orbit; the hull glowing red as it cut through the atmosphere. A little while later the Thunderhawk touched down on the dirty surface of Armageddon, the ceramite armoured warriors quickly disembarked before the Thunderhawk left them.
"The fort is two miles north west of here," Severian stated looking at his auspex.
"Good, we can get this over and done with," Onar whispered to himself. "Ok, we have 2 hours to get this done. I don't want any hold ups so suppressers on and avoid confrontations if possible."
"Let's do this," replied Targo eagerly.
Onar darted towards a rock. There was a surprisingly high number of rocks in this area of the wastelands. In fact there were plenty to hide a full Space Marine in power armour. This didn't matter, however, as the Deathwatch team were invisible thanks to the cover of darkness. It was almost midnight.
"Are you in position?" Demanded Onar over the comm link. A serious of replies proved they were ready to advance. The Astartes had managed to travel the two miles in no less than five minutes, and the void shield around the Ork base would soon deactivate. Until then they must wait. The Imperial Fist looked at the countdown clock in his helmet lens. 1:54:32, 31, 30. Damn we're running out of time, he thought. He looked at his silenced bolt pistol. His usual weapon, a storm bolter, was attached to his utility belt as there was no use for it while they were undetected. Then suddenly the shields went down, but before they were completely gone team Zeta were sprinting towards it.
In a dry tone, Targo bellowed. "What is that smell?"
"Orks. That's the sort of smell you get with that sort of lifestyle," responded Severian.
"Nothing more revolting in the galaxy," announced Vyren and as always, Varlock remained silent.