The Serenity XII Undertaking
Lake tranquil - Serenity XII in the Reef stars today was not anything like its namesake. The once peaceful shores, populated by birdlife and the fishing villages were gone. The wildlife had long been scared away. The village folk that had fished the lake for over three Terran centuries - cruelly butchered or worse at the hands of the Primul invaders. Their intentions…unknown,
The planetary governor, after much debating with his peers, saw no other option than to send for help. Help from the defenders of all inhabited worlds in the Reef. The planetary governor sent for the mighty Iron Snakes of Ithaka.
After many months of waiting, the seasons changing from the harvest to long winter, and the slow and torturous slaughter of the population, a new star appeared in the skies of Serenity XII. The people allowed themselves to hope that the god emperor was coming to save them at last.
And to save them He had - ten of His finest, the mighty Astartes, His 'Angels of Death'. The most feared and elite fighting force the Imperium of man has at its disposal.
Usually a single Astartes warrior is enough to quell a rebellion. Ten could conquer a planet, the ten Brothers now descending to the planet's surface would be more than enough to exterminate the wickedly cruel invaders.
Two weeks ago they had landed. In those two weeks Aesop Squad had cleared the entire dark elder incursion bar one last village. The final stronghold – a small market town called Pike on the shores of lake tranquillity. Fortified and patrolled by a Ravager tank pack, this fight was going to be eventful.
Brother Sergeant Van'd ducked back behind his vantage point and started the short walk down to his squad to discuss battle tactics. Stopping, when his augmented senses heard the wail of a woman.
Van'd dared a look back over the ridge to take a look. And what he saw disgusted him, dozens of the tall, spiky creatures had gathered in the main square, ritually torturing the defenceless girl, before driving a barbed short sword into her chest, ending her misery. The Primul who dealt the killing blow bellowed in his native tongue in triumph.
This had to stop, now – battle tactics out of the window, Van'd had to attack, his goal; to remove the head of the filthy xenos leader.
He jogged back down the butte where the other nine members of Aesop squad were waiting, checking their weapons and armour, ready for the Battle ahead.
Apothecary Stelios was attending to Brother Freeds' wound incurred on their last engagement where a filthy Primul had stabbed him between his chest plate and upper arm armour. The wound was infected, but the metabolism of the Astartes warrior was stopping the infection from felling the Iron clad giant.
The most veteran member of Aesop; older than Van'd himself, Brother Hector, was praising the newest member, Brother Notus for his combat skill, gently reminding him however that he still had the most kills in this undertaking.
Brother Vale was thanking the machine spirit of his multi melta for its continued service, and goading it on to incinerate more Primuls, The remainder of the squad; Brothers Luo, Abbot, Smythe and Oxban, were comparing this undertaking to previous; they couldn't remember the last time they had had an undertaking that let them kill so many Primuls without a single loss.
Each man in Aesop carried his own weapon, which beside Brother Vale, was the holy Bolter, as well as a combat shield attached to his backpack and a short sword maglocked to his leg plate for when his ammunition ran dry or when combat dictated so.
At seeing their leader, each Astartes stopped what they were doing and turned to face the Sergeant. Van'd stopped just before them, looking at each one in turn.
"Brothers, you have made me proud this undertaking, we have earned many battle honours here these last two weeks. The infestation of the Primuls is nearly cleansed. We have one last hurdle my friends. One more push before we can return to the great seas of Ithaka, home!"
The nine marines banged their fists on their chest plates to show their approval. Van'd raised his sword.
"Let us rid this planet of the filthy xenos scum! Aesop squad, on me! Prepare for close combat!"
The men roared, as Van'd turned and began to run through the frozen forest towards Pike and glory. Either side of him, he could see his nine brothers in combat formation. This engagement was going to be interesting indeed.
Aesop cleared the mile between their camp site and the edge of the tree line in less than four minutes. Despite his wound, Freed was still able to keep up, if a little more out of breath than normal. Van'd turned to him.
"Can you continue brother? Or has that Primul disabled my best swordsman?" he said, with a wry smile beneath his armoured helm. Freed chuckled, then hissed as the moving of his rib cage angered the wound.
"Of course I can brother sergeant; I intend to wet my blade a lot more before I die in service to the emperor"
Van'd clapped him on the shoulder, "Then let us earn glory here, Brother Vale…remove their air support" nodding to the Ravager pair that were approaching the east.
"It would be my pleasure" Remarked Vale, hefting the mighty multi melta around to face the oncoming threats.
Van'd issued the order, "On Vales signal, open up on the aircraft then assault the village, show the Primuls no quarter, show them no mercy".
"Yes Brother Sergeant" came the reply in unison from the other nine armoured giants waiting in the tree line.
Vale started the countdown as the skimmers came ever closer.
"On my mark, 3…" The other Astartes raised their Bolters.
"2…" They all held their breath.
"1…" All ten Iron Snakes began to depress their triggers.
"Fire!" All hell broke loose.
Vale sent slug after slug of molten metal towards the lead Ravager, the first impacted on its armoured nose, leaving a deep, melted gash on its prow. The second tore its way down the vehicles port side. Melting stabilisers and an anti grav exhaust. The dark machine violently jerked and rolled out of the sky, impacting with the snowy ground before exploding into a hellish green fireball. The members of the crew who weren't hit by rounds from the Bolters were either crushed by the crashing skimmer or vaporised in the explosion.
The second vehicle; following too close behind and helmed by a distracted pilot, could do nothing to avoid the carnage in front of him.
The skimmer took the brunt of the explosion and was thrown somersaulting fifty metres into the air, throwing its passengers away like children's unwanted rag dolls. Vale shot twice more for good measure at the tumbling vehicle, the first shit going wide, the second impacting in the centre of the ship, tearing it in twine.
Fiery debris rained down around the Iron Snakes. Van'd raised his sword and opened his vox for the whole world to hear.
"For Ithaka! Aesop advance!" His men, leading by example, roared their approval as they charged headlong towards the weak defensive perimeter of the village.
They fired as they ran, rounds impacting on the fleshy targets that presented themselves, curious to see what had happened to their tanks. The fools exploded into fleshy ribbons, losing limbs or their heads.
Luo reached the sloped rockcrete wall first, in one massive leap his bolter was already crowning the top of the wall and fired into the Primuls that were in the way, advancing all the time. The others soon followed suit and within a minute and a half of the first shot being fired, Aesop were within the walls.
"Fan out!" called Van'd, "Meet in the market square!"
They split into five teams of two, Vale and Abbot staying on the wall to provide covering fire. The others headed down side streets and into rotting buildings, to clear the village.
A trio of dark plated Primuls rounded the corner beside Smythe and Oxben and unleashed a hail of splinter fire. Hardened disks deflected of the shoulder guards and thigh armour of the two Astartes as they bent into the crossfire to weather the attack. Splint shards drove themselves into their armour defacing the snake sigils' on their shoulders.
One of the Primuls charged, and received a punch to the face from Oxben, caving in its skull. The remaining two Primuls were dispatched by Smythes cleansing Bolter fire, before the Astartes continued on, deeper into the village.
Hector and Notus breached into the villages church, the walls black and cracked from a fire, a dozen corpses, were piled in the corner, pain etched across their faces. Notus hesitated to look, and then carried on, disgusted. The two warriors advanced down the pews on either side. Aside from the bolter fire that could be heard outside, the inside of the church seemed quiet. Something Hector knew meant trouble.
No sooner had the thought formulated than the shadow next to him detached from the wall, slicing downward in a long silver arc. Hector raised his arm to block the incoming attack out of instinct and lost his hand at the wrist because of it.
Hector screamed; more in rage, than from pain and pushed his bolter into the snarling helmet of the hidden Primul and pulled the trigger on full automatic. Leaving a bloody pulp of mess against the wall and littering the floor with black blood. Notus was fighting a fight of his own, parrying the scythe from the hidden Primul on his side of the church, with his short sword, before driving it deep into the Primuls belly, spilling its guts onto the church floor. The Primul crumpled at the space marines' feet.
"Apothecary!" Cried Notus into the vox, "Brother Hector requires help immediately, rendezvous outside the church, do you copy?"
"Confirmed Brother, we're on our way to you now" replied Stelios.
He and Freed had been clearing the village hall when they were set upon by a dozen foe. Armour scraped and banged against each other, wood splintered, bones crunched, hot blood spilt to the floor.
Freed was noticeably slower than he was usually, the poison was spreading like wild fire in his veins. He ducked, and parried a massive number of attacks; each of which would have skewered a normal human being. But it was never going to be enough. The deadly toxins, despite Stelios' best efforts were taking their toll, Freeds secondary heart succumbing to the alien poison in his blood.
Freed flinched mid strike against one of the witches, his sword becoming lodged halfway through its breast plate. Freed lost the grip on his weapon and bent to a knee, his target, sword still lodged in its body fell to the floor in its death spasm. He gripped his chest above his heart; the Astartes was entering cardiac arrest.
"Freed!" Cried Stelios, watching as another Primul saw its opportunity and acted upon it, the Primul stabbed down into the soft armour behind Freeds' head with its curved knife. Spine severed, it was a mercifully quick death for the Astartes. A warriors death, his body didn't fall, his armour was locked in place.
Stelios raged, dismembering a Primul at the waist before decapitating the one who dealt the killing blow to his dear friend.
Stelios knelt beside the lifeless, still form of Freed and laid him down, ready for the removal of the sacred Progenoid gland, which held the genes of which Iron Snakes are made. He just hoped the gland hadn't also become infected with the poison. He acted quickly; making note to remember to have the gland thoroughly checked when they returned to Karybdis – the fortress moon of Ithaka.
Van'd heard all of it over the vox. He felt the loss of his brother in arms, as did the rest of Aesop. Now however was not the time for mourning,
Van'd ducked as a barrage of rounds splintered the woodwork above his head. Bolter in one hand Van'd turned and shot the Primul who dared to attack the veteran space marine, the explosive round tearing a bloody crater in the Primuls chest.
Luo, carrying the squads' standard, had lost his little finger to splinter fire, and had run out of ammunition himself. Prowling just ahead of his sergeant, shield raised and sword poised to strike like the serpent of which his chapter was named, He skewered any Primuls that got too close.
The fighting for the main square had intensified; an increasing number of Primuls were darting from the shadows trying to make the Iron Snakes their prey, each time meeting a grizzly end. Van'd could see his prize.
A massive Primul, easily a head above the sergeant himself, was directing his minions with a wicked barbed staff. His human victim, who Van'd had seen from the hill top, was sprawled at his feet, and broken into unnatural shapes.
Strange.
Van'd had battled the Primuls countless times on a hundred different worlds, yet he'd never seen such an offering before. The sergeant dismissed it and called over to Luo who was separating a Primul from its leg.
"I'm going for their leader Brother, cover me"
"Aye sergeant, I will hold these beasts at bay" replied Luo. As he uttered the words Oxben and Smythe rounded the corner, their armour slick with enemy blood.
"Oh look…reinforcements, you took your time brothers" said Luo, parrying an attack.
Both Oxben and Smythe had expended their ammunition and had resorted to using their shields and swords. Smythe had the blade of an enemy weapon still embedded in the shields centre. Oxben huffed, "My apologies, we were, otherwise engaged. Brother Sergeant we will Help Luo hold back the tide"
Van'd was already away, cutting Primul warriors in half as they approached him on his steady advance towards their leader.
The tall Primul set his gaze upon Van'd and issued a warning in its mother tongue. The sergeant ignored it and charged, sword raised above his head, ready for a brutal killing blow. The leader parried, sidestepping the attack, raising his staff and smashing Van'd in the chest. His armour cracked under the force of the hammer blow and knocked him back several paces.
Van'd stooped low, altering his fighting stance, lifting his shield to his nose, and jabbed forward with his sword. The Primul parried and swung around aiming for the sergeants' head, he ducked and rolled under the swing, slicing as he did so.
The cut tore into the side Primuls abdomen, sickly black blood began to seep from its armour. The Primul swung again despite its injury, clipping Van'ds head. The force, of the hit, although only glancing the sergeants' helmet, was strong enough to cave the side in, cracking Van'ds eye visor.
He ripped his helmet off and turned to face the Primul leader, standing in an increasing pool of its own blood. It began to cackle.
"Chuu…chuu thiiink huuve huan huuuman..." it sputtered trying to mimic the Astartes language, "huu whill all die heeeere", its life blood running down his leg, the spiky clad Primul started to cackle again.
Van'd pointed his sword and at the leader of the Dark Eldar task force. "The only one who is dying here today is you witch!"
The Primul leader hissed, and struck out wildly, trying to crush Van'ds skull for his insubordination. Meeting only the Sergeants round shield. Vand shrugged off the attack, raising his shield high above his head, thrusting his sword beneath the shield and into the Primuls stomach.
The leader of the Primul war band screeched and staggered backwards, clutching its stomach, trying in vain to keep its innards from spilling onto the frosty ground.
With that Van'd raised his sword, and leaped forward, sweeping the blade down at an angle, cleaving the leaders head in two. Black blood jetted from the wound and added yet more gore to the sergeants gunmetal armour.
Little did the sergeant, while victorious, bellowing a mighty war cry, realise that clouds were gathering high above his head.
Over the next twenty minutes Aesop squad cleared up the remnants of the Primul task force who had come to this isolated planet to pillage slaves to take back to Commorragh and mindlessly slaughter the people of Serenity XII who weren't deemed worthy.
Serenity XII had been successfully purged of Dark Eldar, but at a high cost.
Not only had thousands of innocent civilians died, with countless others snatched away to be playthings for their new dark masters in the encounter, an Astartes warrior had also fell in battle, his Progenoid gland – the warriors legacy; was quite possibly tainted.
Aesop squad regrouped in the village square. Sergeant Van'd and Apothercary Stelios pondering over the Primuls sacrificial victim sprawled at their feet. She seemed young; maybe late twenties. Her body had been cut and broken. Indeed, if they didn't know better it almost seemed like a Chaos cult offering to their dark gods.
"Why do you think they did it?" asked Stelios, crouching down to the girl. Dense black clouds began to consolidate above the lake, hemmed in by the surrounding mountains.
"Why do the Primuls do a lot of things Apothecary" replied Van'd, "I cannot even begin to understand the way of the Primuls" he turned away, "Burn the body, may she swim in the endless ocean with the Emperor".
The veteran sergeant looked to his men, milling about in the square, ritually checking each other's armour for any breaches. Those with ammunition spare shared what little they had left throughout the group. Hectors wound had been seen to and cauterised by Stelios, and was currently bragging to Smythe how in fact the Primul that took it was actually as big as a grox…and that there were three of them.
The body of brother Freed lay behind them, arms across his chest. Each man having said their own goodbyes, and was ready to be carried back to the Lander and home.
"The sky grows dark" stated Notus, craning his neck.
"Tis winter Notus, the sky usually grows dark during a storm" heckled Abbot.
Lightning struck the crippled church spire. No thunder sounded. Then again, lightning struck, on the far side of the lake, again soundless.
"Sergeant?" asked Luo.
Before Van'd had chance to answer dozens of lightning strikes occurred around the lakes perimeter. One bolt struck Oxben, whose systems shut down temporarily until they came back online moments later.
A lightning bolt reached out from the skies and struck the disfigured girl on the bridge of her nose. The fleshy human body, unable to take such power, exploded like an over ripe tomato against a wall.
Then silence.
"Aesop…" began Van'd, "I think it's time we depa…"
Van'd didn't even have time to complete his order. The sky boomed; the sound so loud, it was if the God Emperor himself had shouted a warning, the shockwaves were so strong the Astartes were thrown onto their backsides, hands, instinctively reaching to cover their ears.
V'and was deafened, without his helmet for protection, his ear drums took the full force of the sound, his ears bled, the only sound he heard was a high pitched and constant ring.
Staggering to their feet, Luo pointed to the lake.
"By the Emperor, Look!"
Every member of the squad turned to look, Van'd following suit.
The vast lake was draining away, six huge whirlpools forming like those seen in the mediation baths when the water was released.
"What kind of new devilry is this?" said Hector to no-one in particular.
Muffled deep tones were returning to the sergeant, he could hear Stelios seeing to his bleeding ears, commenting about the wound as he did his work.
The lake; previously measuring millions of cubic meters of water was already half empty, it didn't seem like it was going to staunch any time soon.
"Aesop squad, form up, defensive line on me" barked Van'd, ears, still ringing.
His men did so without hesitation. Van'd began to walk to the side of the lake to get a better view, his men following in step, Bolters drawn.
They stood at where the shoreline was before the lake began to drain, looking down into the abyss where the last of the lake water was beginning to dry up. The top of six structures were becoming visible. Each top was obsidian black, and polished to a smooth finish and high sheen. As more became revealed, the enhanced optics of the space marines could make out the pointing between the massive blocks, which glowed an ominous purple.
"What in the name of holy Terra are they? Remarked Notus.
The last of the murky water had drained away through the huge entrances of the structures, all of the resembling the pyramids of legend, each of which were seemingly big enough to drive a Land Raider through. The tips of each of the structures erupted into a ghostly purple light, shining upwards into the heavens.
Van'd, sensing his squads' unease, turned to look at his men, "Steady Brothers" and turned his head in time to see elongated shadows advancing towards the nearest pyramid entrance.
"By the emperor…are they…skeletons?" whispered Smythe.
A line of the creatures marched out of the pyramid entrance, thirty abreast, each holding a glowing rifle, the same colour as that seen on the pyramid structure itself. They continued to file out through the doorway,
Van'd had lost count of how many skeletal men deep the line had become. Similar movements were happening at each of the entrances, each column slowly making their way up the embankments.
As their visors picked out more and more detail, they could see that these hulking men were made of metal. "What madness is this?" asked Abbot, earning himself a stern look from Hector.
"I have a bad feeling about this, Sergeant" noted Stelios, as a levitating barge, floated out of the pyramid opposite them. Riding it looked like another metal skeleton, but this one was different, it was decorated in gold, with a long flowing cloak. Surrounding it, were at least five others. Not as ornately dressed, but each as intimidating.
The line was drawing ever closer. Van'd decided that his curiosity was quenched. He felt uneasy about this new threat; it had to be eliminated at all costs.
"Aesop. My pride for you and your actions today know no bounds. I don't know what the intentions of these robot men are, but I'll be damned if I let them live long enough to find out" his men roared their approval, "Help me destroy them Brothers. For Glory!" the Astartes banged their chest plates, "For Ithaka!" cried Van'd.
"For Ithaka!" bellowed his men.
The skeleton warriors were a mere hundred meters away now.
"Fire until your ammo is expended, head shots only, then engage them in holy combat", roared Hector, lifting his Bolter in his remaining hand.
Each man raised his Bolter, Vale, his multi melta, targeting reticules appearing numerously across their visors. The crosses flashing green immediately to show their targets were in range.
"Fire!" screamed Van'd.
Muzzles of Bolters spat out their ammunition at an incredible rate, the emotionless faces of the Astartes helmets bathed in strobe light.
The first line of these new warriors had fallen, seemingly unaware of the nine giants standing at the lip of the empty lake which they were trudging up.
Massive, hot slugs of molten metal flew out of Vales multi melta in almost a continuous burst. Each shot turned at least another three of the metal men into a heap of hot silver slag.
Metal skulls exploded from impacts from harden tipped, explosive filled bolts. Missed shots would impact on another less fortunate behind the intended target. Circuits fried and electricity spat. The first three lines of these warriors fell, before the Astartes needed to reload.
For most members of Aesop they were loading their last magazine. Only Luo and Abbot had a spare magazine after this.
The marines re-loaded from muscle memory, the experience of thousands of hours on the firing ranges, and countless wars helping make the reload as normal as breathing.
The Astartes fired again into the mass, felling more of the creatures, ritually shooting at the enemies' heads. Notus could have sworn he saw one of the skeletons rise up again after being shot square in the chest by a stray bolter round. But then, there were so many enemies in front f him, it was hard to keep track.
"Where is the sport in this? They're not even fighting back!" remarked Smythe, who had begun to laugh, encouraging Hector and Oxben to follow suit.
It wasn't until their second round of ammunition depleted, the sliders of the Bolters sliding back for the final time did the skeleton warriors even look up. Stellios felt like they were staring into their very souls.
"Draw swords!" shouted Van'd. Only Luo, Abbot continue to fire their Bolters, until their ammunition had been depleted themselves.
"Phalanx!" ordered the Astartes sergeant, each man in turn raising their shields and overlapped each other to form an impenetrable wall.
Combat doctrine, and the fact he couldn't carry a sword, thanks to the bulk of his weapon was Vale. He was the only one exempt from close combat and continued to fire his mighty weapon, the muzzle becoming white hot into the skeletons ranks.
That was when it happened.
The newly formed front rank of the metal skeleton warriors raised their weapons, and discharged their Gauss ammunition into the rank of the Emperors finest.
What had saved most of the marines was the fact they were hidden behind their shields, the intense energy deflecting away from those who held their defensive weapons high.
Vale though had no such protection. Several of the energies from the ungodly weapons hit him at once. The mighty warrior was effectively flayed alive, molecule by molecule; everything that made Vale, Vale was sucked back into the weapons that shot their deadly force. He never even had time to react, only scream.
The others who weren't trying to hold back the tide of purple fire watched in abject horror, as they saw Vale melt before their very eyes.
Fractions of a second later, the multi melta in Vales hands exploded – unable to withstand the punishment of being shot by such intense energy. The ancient weapon exploded with the force and heat of a small sun.
Abbot, who was closest, simply vaporised in a muffled curse, three of seven remaining members of squad Aesop were thrown into the mass of approaching skeletal warriors.
Metal squealed as the heavy Astartes landed on the metal creatures, crushing some outright, and knocking another half dozen over, like humanoid bowling pins.
Van'd, Hector, Stelios and Notus were on their feet in an instant, still at the lip of the lake, "Charge!" bellowed Van;d – hoping to save the three members of his squad that were thrown into the throng of lifeless warriors. The soon found themselves chopping and hacking their way into the mass, soon finding themselves surrounded.
Smythe was the fourth member of Aesop squad to die this day, unconscious from the blast; his still form was evaporated as one of the skeletal warriors set upon him with its Gauss weapon.
Oxben, having seen his longest friend disintegrate in front of his him, shoulder barged into the skeleton that took his friends life and ripped its head off, before beating another into its basic circuitry with the lifeless skull in his hands.
Luo, still on the floor swiped with his short sword, hacking through several metal legs in one fell swoop, the soulless bodies toppling to the floor around him. Pouncing to his feet, he hacked a path towards Oxben, going berserk in front of him.
Luo carved his way through the throng to find that Oxben had thrown his makeshift weapon into the ranks and had found his sword amongst the silt. The Astartes was chopping two handed like a lumberjack would a tree, standing on an ever increasing mound of skeletal warriors.
Too far away for any of the space marines to see the command Barge carrying the leader had stopped, becoming a spectator to what was happening further up the line. The slow had displeased him, he wanted to reclaim this world in the name of the his millennia dead father,
He looked to the closest of his brothers. Without a word said between them, the brother-bodyguard knew instantly what his leader and once blood sibling desired. He raised his ancient halberd and bellowed a command in their ancient language.
Hector and Stelios were fighting side by side, as was the sergeant and Notus.
Van'd inwardly cursed. How could things have gone so wrong in such a short space of time? He'd lost three of his best in a matter of minutes against this countless foe, and still they came. He heard something cry out far away, but was too busy to pay it much heed.
When something odd happened.
As one, the skeletal men retreated a step back and weapons still trained on Van'ds Snakes.
The Astartes warriors, mid attack, only managed to connect with air, as their targets, suddenly stepped out of reach.
Recovering, the warriors of the Iron Snakes attempted to swipe again, when the air round them fizzed. Hector and Van'd had witnessed such things before from the mighty Notable squad Skypio in their lumbering Terminator armour, and knew what was about to happen.
"Teleporters!" yelled Hector, eyes wide in terror.
In a flash of blue light, a new kind of skeletal warrior stood in front of each man. Long blue staffs in their hands. They had barely materialised when they swung the weapons with grace and connected with those not quick enough to react with this new foe.
Luo, was struck in the head. The force of the impact crushing his skull as if it was aluminium can. The squads standard bearer sagged to his knees and fell to the ground. Squad standard slopping into the damp mud beneath him.
Notus, the newest member of the squad raised his shield for it to be splintered into fragments. Breaking his forearm. He winced, then attacked out, lunging at his opponent with his good arm.
Oxben, while putting up a valiant fight, managing to remove one of this new enemy's accursed arm, was shocked to see it lash out at him with its remaining arm, spearing the space marine through the chest.
The mighty warrior gurgled a curse as the staff drove deeper through his torso, bringing the skeletal warrior closer. Oxben, with his last remaining strength, punched it in the face, breaking off its metal jaw. The metal man retaliated in kind and broke the Astartes' neck, turning it sickeningly back on itself.
Stelios was the next to fall. Hard as he might he couldn't land a single blow on the warrior in front of him. The beast swept the long staff down onto the Apothecaries head. The strength of the blow snapped the spine of the old man, driving his head partially into his chest before his lifeless body fell to the ground.
Van'd screamed in rage. This was a disaster, not only had he lost over half his men, he'd lost the squad standard, and his apothecary.
He decapitated the warrior in front of him triumphant. There was only one thing they could do now.
"Fall back! Fall back and consolidate!"
He turned to see Notus struggling against the warrior in front of him. And dived in to help, chopping his way through the several metal warriors carrying the glowing weapons to get to his inductee.
Sword raised, as he did with the Primul leader he jumped, and sliced down. Too late the metal warrior turned to see the Astartes fling towards him. His entire body was cut into two pieces.
"Move boy! Back up the slope!" shouted Van'd. "Hector! On me!"
Hector finished cutting the metal close combat warrior into three pieces and stepped back, shield still raised in front of him with his handless arm and was soon beside Van'd and Notus' side."
The fell back as one, Hector in the centre, shield raised was protected on his flanks by his two battle brothers.
The three remaining metal warriors who had killed Luo, Oxben and Stelios, shrieked and advanced upon the Astartes quickly. Behind them the parade of gauss weapon carrying skeletons restarted their march up the hill.
Knowing they were outnumbered, and outgunned, Van'd spoke softly, eyes remaining on their advancing enemies. "Notus"
"Notus, you must fall back to the Lander. Warn our brothers' back home of what has happened here, that they must raise the full Fratery to defeat this foe."
"I can't do that Brother Sergeant. I cannot leave you two here willingly to die" stated Notus flatly.
"That was a direct order from your sergeant, brother" growled Hector, eyes transfixed on the sight before him.
"Go Notus" reassured Van'd, "Give me your sword" The newest member of Aesop begrudgingly did as he was told and swapped swords with his sergeant. "You are squad leader now. Continue the glorious name of Aesop and our deeds here back to Ithaka".
Notus nodded, turned and sprinted back up the last few meters of silt and stood at the lakes crest to look upon his Brothers one last time.
"Go Now!" Roared Van'd.
With that, seeing that one of their pray was escaping. The metal, staff wielding warriors pounced. One tried to leap over the two remaining veterens of Aesop. But was cut in half mid air by the turning Van'd.
The other two metal men crashed into the two remaining Astartes. One impaled on Van'ds backward stroke of his sword. The other crashed into hector, both falling in a heap on the floor.
In an instant the close combat warrior was u, poised to spear hector on the ground. It didn't realise something had gone wrong until it noticed its face was in the mud, looking up at the sky, the rest of its body falling onto its decapitated head.
"I had him you realise Van'd" said Hector scrabbling to his feet.
"I know friend, I was merely hoping to up my tally to beat your total"
Hector let out a chuckle, "I lost count anyway…shall we start again Brother, first one of us to be at the Emperors side loses?"
Van'd let out a throaty laugh, "Your on!".
The two mighty Astates, His 'Angels of Death'. The most feared and elite fighting force the Imperium of man has at its disposal, charged into the mass of skeletal warrior who continued to advance up the slope.
Both were stripped molecule by molecule by a mass ranked fire from the emotionless metal men before they could land the first strike.
Meanwhile, Notus, the last of Aesop, ran.
Those armoured Giants had been tougher than Vicaz – the leader of the Necron warriors that now sought to reclaim this star system in the name of his father as it had belonged to countless millennia ago, had imagined.
They had even felled six of his brothers' elite Vanguard. No matter. Hundreds more would fill their places.
He turned and looked to his five brothers. They each took a knee and bowed before their leader, the one they had sworn an oath to protect at all costs so long ago.
This system is ours, thought Vicaz, and turned to watch his warriors burn the village that the giants had stood before.
Light-years away, across the vastness of space, in his humble room in the Fortress monastery on Karybdis, Petrok awoke with a scream in a cold sweat, frost covered every surface.
He had to inform Chapter Master Seydon at once.