THERE IS NO PEACE AMONG THE STARS
The glittering achievements of the Dark Age of Technology have been all but lost, obscured by uncounted centuries of superstition and fear. The worlds of Man are scattered across the galaxy, with vast gulfs of wilderness space separating one from another. But the Age of the Imperium has cast the Emperor's Divine Light across a million worlds. It has established an iron regime only maintained through flesh and blood, endless toil, monumental sacrifice and unthinking loyalty to distant Terra. Man has learned to embrace war as its religion, billions take up arms against a galaxy of foes. Great ships sail the void, their guns charged to rain death upon enemies of the God-Emperor.
Still it is not enough to guard the fragile worlds of man from a cruel and uncaring universe.
Still it is not enough to guard against the unnumbered horrors which lurk upon forgotten worlds, the alien races which prey upon the scattered outposts of humanity and the heretics who dare defy the Emperor's will.
This is the Age of the Imperium. A time of war and carnage among the stars, of great fleets and mighty armies, selfless heroism and blackest infamy.
There is no peace among the stars, only war...
The Cast.
The Imperium Of Mankind
Alexander Harris (Commander Fenris 1st Imperial guard)
Ragnar Blackmane (Commander 1st Company Space Wolves Chapter)
Sven Ironhand (Veteran Captain Space Wolf Space Marine)
Lord Admiral Ravensburg (Commander Battlefleet Gothic, High Lord of Terra)
Captain- Commissar Elias Tannan (Executive officer of the Emperor's Wrath)
Sgt Hanmon Ressik (Former Platoon Commander imperial guard)
Colonel-Commissar Ebram Gaunt (Commanding officer Tanith First and only)
Sgt Brin Milo (Platoon leader 2nd Platoon Sabbat legion)
The Avatar (Voice of the Emperor.)
Sabbat (Goddess of the Sabbat Worlds)
The Chaos Powers.
The Prince (Fallen Angel)
Forget the promise of progress and understanding,
for there is no peace amongst the stars,
only an eternity of carnage and slaughter
and the laughter of thirsting gods.....
In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future there is Only war
Well this is another fine how do you do
He had seen demons and monsters, mutants and the true faces of evil, however even with many years of experience fighting these things he was in no way ready for the true dangers of the outer realms of space and time.
It had been Seven months almost to the day that his voyage had begun, it was a good thing that he had ended up on the world he had, very few other worlds would have accepted him in the way he arrived but the brothers of the chosen of Russ had accepted him and had gradually allowed him their trust and the trust of the entire chapter.
From behind him he could sense the older man that had taken him under the wing of his company and his allies. Captain of the 1st Veteran regiment- he had gone against the tenets of his chapter and taken in a civilian- a 'damaged' one at that and allowed him into the recesses of their fortress monastery- commonly known as The Fang.
Ragnar Blackmane, captain and a lord of the Space wolf marine chapter walked up behind his young compatriot, seven foot tall and encased in ancient but powerful marine armour his shoulders covered by the dark fur of a fenrisian wolf. He dropped his hand onto the young man's shoulder as he looked out into the void of space.
"I've been in space for over a century my friend and it never seems to fail to take my breath away when I look out of the viewing ports. It is preferable to watching Augur screens from inside the ship or the bridge."
"On my world we had only recently started space travel, we'd made it to our moon even sending unmanned probes to planets and moons across the system." He took a breath. "We had never really imagined anything like this ship and the Imperium except in science fiction stories."
"The emperor in his wisdom is responsible for the creation of all he surveys, it is told he is many tens of millennia old. Perhaps he once saw these fictions of types you recognise and built the Imperium in its image."
"Maybe, but our writers never saw a future based like this. We had series based where humans built a utopia where all people try to get along, ally together against common foes. We never guessed that far futures would be war-ridden."
Ragnar looked at his young friend, the man-boy was still quite naive but there was hope for him. He had not been in the Imperium long and it was difficult for him to have his world change so completely, Ragnar remembered his own transition from boy to fenrisian warrior to Emperors chosen warrior. His world had been turned around much like his friends.
"Alexander my friend, time will help you to adjust, the tutorial engines and ships library are at your disposal and I have been asked to give you a message from the wolf priests."
Alexander seemed surprised at that, he had not been well taken to by many of the people of this time and place. The wolf priests had seen him a heretic and said he was a throwback and of little use to the Imperium, however the lord of the wolves Logan Grimnar had stayed the objections of the priests and after a cursory examination had had Alexander taken to one of the VIP rooms of the Fang. He had later been told of the discussions that had been undertaken by the lords of the chapter, that he had been stayed the basic ritual of cleansing and execution.
He had been seen as a kindred spirit by the mages of the chapter, a spirit was awoken many eras before much like that of a wolf sprit of a space wolf marine. A powerful force not unlike that of Ragnar himself was inside him, the divination of the wolf priests and the senses endowed upon those few psykers in the emperor's service had seen the strength of the spirit- not a wolf but something else.
Something Darker.
Alexander had told them of his possession of a beast spirit many years beforehand, the fact he had held it down since and had few urges from it had gone a long way to earning the respect of the Wolves. Tests and religious ceremonies had been done around him attempting to discern who or what he was, no alien influence was found and no Chaos taint was evident in his life aura.
"A message?"
"They have reconsidered the demands for your execution, you seem to have intrigued them, and they wish for you to meet at the priest levels tomorrow."
Alexander stood stunned.
"No non Space wolves have ever been requested to join the priests my friend, it is quite an honour. Few people I have known have become priests or even know the inside of their sanctuaries. This is a rare honour Alexander."
"I never realised Lord Blackmane, It's been over half a standard year and I still find it difficult to figure out how and what to do around here. It's a little disorientating."
"I do know the feeling, I've been a Marine for over a hundred years and I still don't know all I really wish to. Even with the tutorial engines, It's still strange for me o come to grips with."
"Yeah, I only wish I could do something to help around here, I feel as If I'm imposing on the hospitality of the Chapter. If I had not once had the spirit of a beast within me there is little chance I would have been accepted here."
Ragnar had no reply to that, the man was right though he was a true warrior he would have been put to death by the ecclesiarchy had the lords of the chapter not had intervened- the lack of proof is not lack of falsehood. In these days of Chaos and war across a million worlds, one man missing is not noticed. Even high officers like Chapter masters and Battlefleet commander will not be missed by much outside the Segmentum of their forces. This frail human would not be missed by anyone, except those few who had known of him In the chapter, funny that a man his size and stature would have faced down such a man as his battle-brother Sven Ironhand without flinching.
Flashback
Two weeks after Alexander's appearance at the Fang Monastery-Fortress, Y976 M41
Ragnar watch as his closest friends Sven and Strybjorn had a tussle, they had fought with and alongside each other for the hundred years the three of them had been Wolves. Their rumble was disturbed when the slight (compared to a Marine) figure appeared inside the doorway to the banquet hall, most of the commotion in the hall stilled as he appeared, he hadn't moved but awaited respectfully for the lord to allow his presence in the hall.
Ragnar motioned his young guest into the chamber, and with head unbowed he strode in, the wolf nodded at this show as it would give the others notice that he would not be bowed by their behaviour. Alexander made his way up to the top table where he had been motioned and sat alongside the lords themselves. Many of the marines were shocked at this almost unheard of breach of protocol that a human- a non imperium citizen would be allowed to fest at the side of a lord of the wolves.
You could see it and even the reduced senses of this human could feel the irritation and aggravation of the veteran marines and the envy of the new scouts and blood fangs of the chapter. He felt his own fear and anger spike and knew the wolves could smell it, pushing it down with a force of will he sat at the end of the table set with a place for him. The basic Marine utensils and dishes were much too big for a normal human so a place was set for him using those usually reserved for dining by dignitaries from the ministorium.
Alexander could feel the eyes, ears and noses probing his position. He looked straight up and at the marines, locking eyes with everyone that would dare to. Many nodded and backed down, some snorted as if he was not worth their time. Some of the veteran marines were amused by the show of bravado, and one….
One decided to try to sort Alexander out and to attempt to put the boy in his place, Ragnar saw this and attempted to intervene, however a elder wolf priest lay his hand upon Ragnar's armour to hold him in his seat. The wolf approaching Alexander was a long term comrade in arms of Ragnar- Sven Ironhand, taken into the fold the same time as the Lord himself had taken it upon himself to 'put the boy in his place.'
Alexander was not ignorant of this fact and waited for the marine to approach, slowly he himself stood adjusting the belt that his equipment now hung upon removing it from his waist, the marine was no longer dressed in his encumbering power armour- but was still much more formidable than many demons Alexander had witnessed. Sven sauntered his way over to the table.
"So you believe you are worthy of being at the head table stripling."
"I don't believe…"
"Oh so you're so bloody confident that you can just walk in and sit down."
"I…"
"Your nothing but fodder for a Guard regiment, No a Bloody Penal guard regiment."
Alexander just looked at Sven, an unimpressed frown on his face. He walked across to the Marine and Tilting his head up looked directly into the eyes of the much bigger man. He did nothing else just looked at Sven, then slowly whispered Just so Sven and a few others at the table could hear.
"Shut up Marine if you have a problem address me and not in front of the Chapter's lords. I am here at the God- Emperors pleasure, You are a servant of the Golden Throne, one of the few chosen Ones- so ACT LIKE IT."
With that Alexander turned on his heel and sat down leaving a dumbstruck Space Wolf standing their stiff as a statue, the look in his eyes changed from the disgusted contempt to amusement. He laughed out loud and howled.
"Damn I like this bloody kid."
Alexander Replied out loud. "I don't really care."
Another Shout from Sven's table, "Neither do we."
Ragnar looked at them and Just nodded, allowed the Small gathering of Wolves to play off each other. It had been a rough few years against the last black crusade and they all needed the morale boost.
End
It was evident however that Alexander had had a bad time adjusting to the time and place he was now interned to, he place, time even the customs and people were too different for him to be at home for. Even Seven months later he had still to find a place for him to be comfortable with, he didn't know if Alexander would ever be at home, especially on such a world as Fenris- one so different as Alexander's home world. He clapped his hand once more on the Young man's shoulder and left the room and his friend in silence.
Two thousand Light Years away.
Segmentum Solar
One year ago
"This crusade must not be allowed to continue." The voice of Lord Admiral Ravensburg, commander of Naval Forces Segmentum Obscurus. "We need to stop them at all costs."
For the first time in almost One Thousand Years The full assembly of the High Lords of Terra had been formed, the five segmentae lords and the avatar of the Almighty God- Emperor himself were convened at the Imperial palace on the ground of Holy Terra Itself.
"The Black crusade is doing very heavy damage to the surrounding sectors of the Cadian system, the gate itself has almost collapsed, and many sectors are under heavy attack."
"The Segmentium Secundus forces are mobilising as we speak they will be there when they can." Responded The Avatar, "The crusade is much larger than any since the great Treachery of Horus ten thousand years ago." The blind wizened man sat back in the hard wooden chair- one that had been the head of the table of the lords since the great crusades over Ten thousand years and one that had sat the emperor for many millennia.
"This black crusade has been foreseen for many years by the Imperium, we have known that the forces of the despoiler would launch and they have. We have allowed the enemy to take the systems they have- they will be destroyed without much preamble when the time is right."
"Much of the Battlefleets in Segmentai Obscurus and Pacificus have been destroyed or heavily damaged over the last few centuries- with other units sent to other Segmentai to reinforce their fleets after encounter with Xenos scum its is my regret that we may not have the power in the fleets to remove the taint of the corrupted from the Gothic and Cadian sectors."
"All will be Well My lord Admiral- we just have to wait. The Emperor protects."
"The Emperor protects."
The Howl of Fenris
Space Marines Battlebarge
Gothic Sector
Segmentum Obscurus
Thirteen Months later
20 Light Years from the Front Lines of the Black Crusade
"Condition Red All hands to battle stations." Across the four kilometre long warship thousands of crewmen , vassals, servants and marines of the Wolves chapter set themselves for battle, along the great flanks of the ancient warship weapons ports slowly opened- torpedoes were loaded into their racks ready for launch, all along the rows of weapons adepts and tech marines prayer over the weapons as had been the custom for time unknown.
All in the name of the God-Emperor.
"My lord whats going on." Asked Alexander, his friend and chapter master Ragnar has called the entire companies of men aboard to arms. He himself was armed with all the equipment and weapons that a marine habitually carried plus one or two others that were his alone.
"We are going into battle young cub, get to the armoury they will issue with appropriate weaponry you may be called upon to prepare yourself for battle."
The evident hate in the elder Wolf's words could only mean one thing- one thing the Space Wolf Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes hated more than anything.
"Chaos."
"Your intuition serves you well my friend, we have reports that a traitor chapter are on their way through the sector we are to hold them off until reinforcements arrive. I am fearful that even the companies of the Sons of Russ will not be able to hold this tide back."
"Then I stand by you my lord Wolf." With that Alexander of Terra ran to the ships armoury readying himself for battle.
The inboard armoury was full to the rafters of the cathedral like munitions bays with weapons adapted and created for use by the Marine chapter, however several areas were for use by the normal sized humans that ran the ship, unlike Arbites and Guard ships there were only a few weapons to choose from, basic Bolt weapons, Las Pistols, chain weapons and a few heavier weapons like shotguns, lasrifles and right at the back a very old but well maintained Meltagun as well as a newer heavy Lasrifle-
Musta come from Cadia before the crusade- damn that's a nice weapon.
Requisitioning both plus a dozen magazines for each as well as a small bolt pistol, to hold as a sidearm in case he needed it he moved to his bunk to check the equipment over.
Resting on his bunk he stripped the lasrifle and Bolt pistol and looked the pieces over, he had been in this nightmare future for a good few months at this point and had been taught the rudiments of field repair and weapon upkeep- he was not a guardsma and definitely not a marine but he had surprised many at the proficiency with weapons during a range test on Fenris. His lasweapons skills were crack shot level and his bolter weapons skill was above that of most regiments well into the range of Arbites special units.
His new eye- implanted by the wolf priests to replace the one he had lost a long time ago in battle had been a lot of help during his retraining with the advanced weaponry he could now use. It allowed his already formidable weapons abilities to expand- he was already as good as the scout troopers of the Tanith first-and-only regiment and had the weapons skills of the Cadian regiments best. He was still hesitant with some weapons but the ones he knew best of all he was among the deadliest human fighters in the Imperium.
The last of his weapons was one given to him by the Scout company's 2nd troop, a chain axe- a former weapon of the commander of the fangs- one who had died in battle recently. It had been bequeathed him by the Wolf veteran as he saw that Alexander had the soul of a warrior and while he couldn't be a Space wolf he should be armed with weapons that were real weapons- not imperial guard basics.
The weapon was one of his proudest possessions and one he looked after meticulously stripping and cleaning it every day since he got it- it was in completely perfect condition- he had gone as far as to check and replace any tooth that was worn or broken- the weapon was in a condition he hadn't been since it left the Adeptus Mechanicus forge world of Mars Two thousand years ago.
The footsteps of the crew running to their posts combined with the noise of the engines and thrusters powering up had been overwhelmed by the weapons systems being powered and the void generators activating. However throughout all this Alexander had been immersed in the preparation of his weapons- only disturbed by the thunder of a fist on his door.
Opening it presented the commander of the 1st Company- his old nemesis and friend Sven Ironhand, seeing the veteran Wolf he just nodded and made his way to the chapter's main chambers- the time for combat was at hand.
Flames of Blood
Sons Of Horus Battle Barge
Chaos Space Marine Fleet
Chaos Warp Gate
Outer Systems
Gothic Sector
Segmentum Obscurus
"My Prince the Fleet is ready to depart- however we have news that a fleet of the False Emperor's loyal marines are insystem."
"What chapter My champion."
"The Sons Of Russ My Prince."
The Prince known only as a member of the Fallen, one of the few that betrayed the Marine chapter known as the Dark Angels. This man had once been nothing more than a scout in his chapter- but his inherent power and favour of the Chaos gods had changed him greatly. Now he was a Daemon prince- one that had led this Black crusade to it's full glory in a short time.
"It is of no consequence, they have maybe four companies that are inbound, we have half a legion. Have chapters three, four and seven destroy their command ships and the battle barges- with them gone the rest of the pitiful defence force will be routed or destroyed."
"Your will be done my master."
Battlefleet Gothic
Thirty standard minutes later…
Battle Enjoined
The Imperial fleet had picked up the enemy fleet one hundred million kilometres from the system, this had allowed them to be battle ready and have all attack craft launched with plenty of time to intercept any ordnance or fighters launched by the enemy forces.
The Emperor Class Battleships- Divine Light and Pride of Cypra Mundi were the first to come face to face with the enemy fleets, six flotillas of Chaos Destroyers had broken of for torpedo runs on Admiral Ravensburg's Command Dreadnaught- the Emperor's Wrath- a new and improved Command Cruiser. The Battleships had seen them and while three groups of Cobras were pouncing from one side the two battlewagons laid down a wall of fire destroying all but one flotilla within seconds- the cobras wiped out the lat ships seconds later.
Then the fleets were in range.
The fleets were massive- Virtually the entire Gothic Sector's naval forces were there Excepting a secondary fleet and port Maw and task forces keeping order, everything that could be scrambled and pulled in- in time had been- including the fleet of the Wolves and a full fleet from their brethren the White Scars Space marine chapter.
Thousands of Capital ships with hundreds of thousands of escorts on each side lumbered and raced into range of the other side- thousands of Lance rounds ripped into each side tearing apart ships and annihilating escorts and those smaller ships unlucky enough to be in their way. Over a Dozen battleships Heavy cruisers and Command ships exploded on either side within seconds, hundreds of Attack craft and destroyers succumbed to their enemy's fire- but these losses were miniscule and barely noticed- the fleets just kept on the push to the enemy ships' flanks.
The Heaviest ships in the imperial fleet had pulled behind in small task groups on either side of the main fleet angling to get a better shot at the enemy forces. However the lest elements of the Main fleet had already engaged and were in the way of the larger ships weapons.- though by imperial doctrine this mattered little as over one hundred twenty ships opened up with the most devastating weapon of the imperial arsenal- the nova cannon.
Over one hundred cannon rounds hit single ships with the rest exploding in amongst groups of smaller escort ships, detonating engines cores and shredding the closest ships to those hit directly. Almost two hundred of the enemies biggest ships and tightly packed escort formations were wiped out within seconds- the carnage was unimaginable but still it stopped neither sides from it's inexorable clash- the Chaos ships ploughing through the ruins of hundreds of their own ships as if they were little more than bugs on a windshield.
Then came the responses from the massive ships of the chaos fleet, few if any of their ships were equipped with the fearsome heavy artillery of the Imperial battleships so had to get in closer- they had reached firing distance even with the continuing bombardment of the Imperial lines. Thousands of torpedoes left every ship in range from the chaos ships, followed closely by a swarm of Attack and assault crafts launched from the huge carriers and cruisers.
In turn the same thing happened amongst the imperial lines- hundreds more nova cannon rounds thundered across to the enemy followed by many more thousands of torpedoes. As the massive bombardments collided torpedoes and attack craft hit each other and their opposites wiping out masses of torpedoes and attack craft- the chaos forces had little regard for those craft and assigned them to shoot down every torpedo they could and then to attack the lines of the Imperial Navy.
Hundreds of torpedoes made it through the massed explosions of the munitions fired by both sides- most were wiped out by the close flying assault craft remaining close to the capital ships, yet more were destroyed by countermeasures from escorts and the bigger ships. However inevitably some torpedoes would make it through the masses of defensive firepower, several dozen rounds and nova rounds got through the defences crippling some ship and destroying many more- shrapnel and wreckage damaging the escorts and cruisers around each damaged ship- reactors overloaded on carriers and exploded ramming other cruisers and battleships.
The greatest loss in the first exchanges was an Emperor Class Battleship by the designation of Divine Right- the same capital ship the High Lord Admiral Ravensburg had fought and won the Gothic sector war years beforehand. This only spurred the command crews of the closest ships to attack harder and with greater precision- to avenge their lost comrades and the loss of a much loved and respected command ship.
Bridge of the Emperor's Wrath
Primarch Class Battle Dreadnaught
Flagship 2nd Segmentum Obscurus Imperial Battlefleet
"My Lord Admiral, the assault ships of the fleet are ready to attack. All bombers are fully loaded with Ship destroying warheads and fighters are loaded with Anti-Fighter and Anti Ordinance Missiles. Boarding Shuttles are ready to depart on your order." Captain- Commissar Elias Tannan Executive officer of the Wrath
"Excellent have Escort Flotillas two, seven, sixty four, nineteen and three eighty-four cover the fighters for their runs. Tell them to hit anything they can and then withdraw when torpedo stocks are dried, contact all nova equipped ships and tell them free fire is authorised while they are still in range. All ships are to prepare another torpedo bombardment- have them staggered firing lets see how good the enemy defences really are."
Lord Admiral Ravensburg looked out of his Plasteel Windows at the massed fleet action and smiled grimly, the two sides were too symmetrical in size and combat ability- this would be a close run battle- much too close to be called at this point in time. Nova cannon rounds thundered from the launchers of the closest ships- including those of his own Primarch Class Dreadnaught.
And What a ship over seventy kilometres long with the most advanced and powerful weapons ever designed by Imperial hands, decks upon decks of plasma Launchers, Lance Cannons, Macro Shell Artillery, Torpedo Tubes, Multiple weapons batteries stretching across ass faces of the majestic vessel culminating in the forward turrets of FOUR nova cannons backed up by twenty four Torpedo tubes. No ship short of the planet destroyer of Abaddon himself could come close to destroying this ship- the tech priests of Port Maw, Cypra Mundi and the other Segmentum based battlefleet ship yards had learnt from the mistakes of both sides during that war- it was now almost impossible to destroy the dreadnaught with torpedo barrages that had crippled the massive ships of both sides.
It's Void shields and massive armour was all but invulnerable to torpedoes and in the eventuality torpedoes did get through the defence screen then the ship's own defensive turrets would pick the large missiles off before they hit. It was also believed that the ship could take several impacts from the Nova cannons of the larger ships before it would succumb- however Lord Ravensburg had no wish to test this belief out. In short this new Command Capital ship of the Battlefleet was a true sight to behold, and with several more also on the causeways of the five segmentai these ships would help to drive the enemy fleets of the Orkmada, of Chaos and any Alien scum that threatened the tranquillity of the Imperium.
And now it was ready for it's baptism of fire against the hordes of the betrayer's chosen generals.
"Sir all ships respond ready and are firing."
Across the entire armada of Imperial ships massive bursts of torpedo launchers rippled across the prows away from the destroyers, cruisers and capital ships of the Loyalist forces. Then milliseconds later every Nova cannon in the fleet from the cruisers designed around the cannons to the prows of the heavy warships, battleships and dreadnaughts of the fleet. Many more times the amount from the first salvo as many more ships had entered range and had clear line of sight with the enemy fleet.
This time the enemy armada had been smashed harder than either fleet had yet, over three quarters of all the projectiles entered into the enemy fleet wiping out the entire vanguards of the Chaos fleet and ripping gaping holes deep into the masses lines of armoured prows. Several all the way through
The devastation was immense- over four hundred ships had been destroyed in barely two hours of sustained combat. The Imperials had taken less than a quarter the chaos fleet had, many ships had started to slow and even break off once the core Combat fleet surrounding the Wrath had come into view. The bigger ships with their own task forces had stayed and continued to fight- this battle was far from over.
The battlefleet had been getting closer with each passing second and within hours the full force of all the ships met in close combat, the Heaviest ships could no longer fire their nova cannons or fire their massive torpedoes as they were within minimum firing distance of such weapons.
"Have Groups Necromunda Secundus and Macharius Primus pull back to Nova Range and keep a bombardment on the enemy lines- all escorts with remaining torpedoes are to do the same then engage the traitor escorts."
"Aye Sir."
Across the board ships were dying in their dozens with each minute, escorts caught in capital ship crossfire, suicide ramming by the myriad of crippled Chaos ships, Nova cannon rounds, torpedo spreads- assault craft squadrons letting loose from all side. By this time the last remnants of the rearguards had made their way forward and the full fleet action had begun.
Howl of Fenris
Lower decks
Port Side
Boarding Action
The Wolves' main battlebarge had been boarded a few hours into the fleet battle, with every ship coming into it's range wiped out by the massive plasma bombardment cannons the chaos lords had chosen a full two chapters worth of Space marines to take it from the wolves and to destroy the marine's escort fleet.
The Primary target as with all marine battles was engineering and command centres of the bigger ships, ob board the Howl was no different- one chapter had launched against them and while the escorts and ship's own close in defences had destroyed many assault ships several hundred worth of marines had penetrated the outer hull and started their push into the main sections of the ship- coming face to face with the descendents of their former brethren.
Along one of the mile long central corridors dozens of fire fights and close combat skirmishes had sprung up, Wolf vs. Son, Imperial vs. Traitor. A few of the normal humans had also begun the repulse counter attack, few were capable of doing much- however it allowed the wolves their chances to hit and kill the enemy marines.
"This is not a good day to be here." Mumbled Alexander as he released another melta charge into the enemy ranks- he was gratified to see his weapon was of some use against the traitor marines. A few more rounds were sent into the enemy ranks before his weapon's charge was depleted, dropping it to his feet he shouldered his heavy lasrifle and started firing into the throng of chaos marines storming the great hall of the Barge.
His blasts hit many of the charging marines and beastmen doing little damage but for a few fortuitous strikes in the few weakpoints in the armour of either creature out of the corner of his eye he watched one of the ship's vassals a small by well bulked older man he didn't know the name of pick up his discarded Melta rifle and install a new magazine into the priming chamber. Dropping down next to Alexander he grabbed the laser rifle as it ran dry and gave back the Melta rifle.
The more powerful weapon was of much more use against the chaos forces than any other guard issue weapon, each charge at full power could rent a hole into the adamantium/ceremite of a marine's armour. Alexander used this weapons ability to do so to great effect, several space marines that had turned their backs on the normal unmodified humans learnt from their folly as several went down under his constant stream of fire. Backed up by the stream of laser fire from his new cohort and several other members of the crew they succeeded in disabling or distracting several of the traitor forces allowing the heavier guns and weapons of the Space Wolves to come into action.
Pieces of the corrupted armours of the Chaos marines were thrown across the room by the ferocity of the wolves' assault, one such marine had it's helm ripped away by a single stroke of the blade of Ragnar. Alongside him his closest battlebrothers- those of his 1st company stood shoulder to shoulder with him slashing at anything Chaos driven and firing whatever weapons were to hand when they got a clear shot..
The unrelenting weapons fire of both marine and unchanged man killed over a dozen chaos for no losses of their own, the clash and thrusting of the hand weapons dismembered even more- however luck turned against the servants of the emperor with the loss of one then two then over half a dozen battle hardened warriors. The chaos forces just pushed forward driving the defenders back towards the barricades the vassals had set up along the hallways of the ship.
The remaining wolves pulled back to behind the barricades alongside those already fighting the chaos force, a dozen smaller men ran up to the marines handing them standard issue marine weapons- within seconds, plasma rifles, storm bolters, las cannons, grenades and the rapid fire of the guard weapons thundered into the enemy force. The entire column several rows back were destroyed by the overwhelming force of the barrage, slowly fire returned from the other side hammering and shattering the barriers that had been built up by the defending forces. On one side Alexander could see four of his troops drop entire pieces of their bodies blown away by direct hits from heavy bolter shells. Two more Space wolves were killed by the massed enemy weapons fire- they had no choice they pulled back and away from the incoming horde.
The enemy now had a foothold inside the Wolves' battle barge, across multiple hull breaches across the many decks of the massive ship entire companies of the ancient chapter found themselves face to face with their mortal enemies in the forms of entire chapters worth of Traitor marines. Even with the ships impressive defences and it's complement of Marines and marine vassals- the forces arrayed against the Imperial servants was much more than they could handle.
"Pull Back, all units pull back to armoury deck primus, well reset the defensive perimeter there." A voice came over the vox units and beads of the fighting troops- the voice of the Wolf commander Logan Grimnar had sounded a retreat into the warrens of the battle barge. By sections the group pulled back- unlike many troops of the Imperium the vassals of the Wolves and the Wolves themselves had the tactical fortitude to cover each other like the armies of ancient times.
"You heard him, all units pull back." Shouted Alexander as he volleyed another salvo from his Meltagun, by section the two platoons, Maine and Human both covering th others to the massive Vacuum tight Adamantium doors to the next section. Three more armsmen were lost and one scout injured with the loss of his left arm from the elbow down. With a sound of heavy metal against metal the doors slammed shut and sealed- this gave the Imperium servants a slight breathing space. The new section had been fortified by members of the ships crew, techmarines and vassals for the eventuality that they would have to pull back from the boarding points. Several fireteams had set up nearby with massive turreted and tripod mounted Bolters, plasma cannons and one or two missile launchers- known in Guard circles as Tread-Fethers.
"Blackmane to bridge."
"Bridge, status report Captain."
"My lord we've lost the portside breach, sector sixteen by nine. Platoons one four and nine with vassal platoon reinforcements have converged at defence position three, sector sixteen by eleven."
"Very well Captain. Keep my apprised. Platoons seven and sixteen of third company are enroute to reinforce your position. Six terminators are also en route."
"Understood Bridge Blackmane out."
Entire platoons from other areas of the ship that had fought off the boarders or were no longer needed elsewhere had made their way to the upper decks and anywhere else the enemy had infiltrated the ship. Weapons were unslung from shoulders and packs, groups went into the fortifications and set in for the attack which they knew would be soon in coming.
The attack came soon enough, the corridor shook with an explosive concussion, followed by several more until the massive Vacuum doors leading to the lost corridor exploded into shards followed by the enemy troops behind it. The Imperial counterfire was intense and accurate, unlike the chaos forces who fought with fury and little tactical sense. This allowed the smaller but well co-ordinated force of Imperials to hold off the enemy push, however even the best trained force could only hold the fight for so long. The heavy weapons overheated and shit down, rockets were used and depleted- the stormbolters and las weapons of the troops ran low and stopped and all too soon ammo became scarce.
As the heavy weapons fire petered out the chaos horde got braver and charged the encampment of the Imperial forces. Again as before massed weapons fire took out the front of the enemy force but barely blunted the attack force and again the loyal forces of Mankind fought hand to hand against the enemy force. However this opportunity the chaos were determined not to be denied- as more forces came upon the defenders the ship's vassals had to get into the rough and fight hand to hand.
Many of these men had very little or no chance against the massive and mutated force they were fighting against, over a dozen men and women of the ship's human crew were killed within seconds. The remaining force tried to defend themselves alongside the marines but finally group by group or one by one they were being killed, several realising they had little to lose picked up grenades and flung themselves into the enemy essentially becoming human bombs- taking out entire reinforcement groups of chaos forces and allowing the marines to forge a stronger more solid defence.
The remaining human fighters kept on fighting tooth and nail against claws, talons and chaos transfigured monstrosities that would give many of them nightmares for a long time in some cases the remainder of their lives.
Alexander fired another blast at point blank range into a chaos thing that had attacked his position, following it up with another salvo hitting and maiming if not killing several more scuttling things. His meltarifle overheated and shut down leaving him with only his sidearm and chain axe to fight with. From what he could see the bolter would be of little use against the heavier enemy force and so settled for his Axe.
Setting it to full speed he pushed himself up from his crouched position and swung at the closest enemy creature, the teeth of the axe ripped the creature's arm off and crewed deep into it's carapace. Pulling back he bisected the next and swung back decapitating the first attacker, dripping with Ichor the chains of the Axe ripped into yet another attacker and so the carnage went on.
All across the massive expanse of the corridors and passages the marines, scouts and armsmen were fighting like the spirits of the primarchs had entered them, dozens of enemy troops fell. Chaos beasts were ripped apart, warp things scattered before the wake of the space wolves and their supporters- however as was inevitable the tables turned once again against the Imperials as more and more losses depleted their ranks. The worst loss of four marines and their terminator back up were destroyed within minutes of each other, seeing there was little they could do to stop the enemy advance Ragnar called for a retreat.
Alexander heard the call as he killed the last of the latest batch of enemy around him, checking on his rifle he noticed something odd, the overheat had fused shut part of the powering mechanism and a strange hum was emitting. Turning to his cohort beside him he asked him what would happen with a rifle that had been fused that way, the answer was not very thrilling.
"It would overload and explode taking anything within several square meters with it, more if it has a grenade launcher attached."
Alexander hunched down and tried to remove the malfunctioning power pack, from the corner of his eye he saw a rusty standard issue Guard bayonet swinging towards him. Using the rifle as a sjield he disarmed the enemy and smashed it across the head with the butt of the rifle exploding it's decayed head. The knife however had ripped deep into the rifle and jammed the pack in place, there was no removing it now. However it could be used for a good reason.
Knowing he had minutes maybe less he hunkered down and strapped the last four of his power packs to the gun, its hum had turned into a high squeal that hurt his ears and caused the pixels inside his eyepiece to flicker randomly. Grabbing it by the strap he took several steps back and spun it, letting go it flew quite a distance into the biggest throng of enemy creatures seconds before it exploded.
When it did the entire room froze as the massive wave of destruction consumed the areas forward of the defences and even into the corridor they had lost before, the explosion destroyed what was left of the doorway as well as dozens of creatures on all sides. Several chaos marines were injured but none killed- the best news however was that none of the allied soldiers were hurt and within seconds had got back to fighting dismembering, killing or destroying all enemies within reach ass to not allow them to regroup or recover. Twenty five seconds after detonation the entire main corridor had been cleared as well as much of the forward corridor, some of the chaos beats were still being stopped, the last large groups had been destroyed using a combination of plasma rifle packs and tube charges tied together much like the Melta rifle had.
However Alexander of Terra had not been conscious to see the victory his actions had led to
Flames of Blood
Sons Of Horus Battle Barge
Chaos Space Marine Fleet
"What do you mean the attack on their barges failed?" The Prince was angry, in his many years as a champion he had never been defeated in one single day against the false emperor's puny Marines. His forces had always taken the barges and many a marine prisoner and this single chapter had crushed his attempts across the entire battlegroup. Displeased was not a harsh enough word to describe the Prince's displeasure at this time, he grasped his servants neck in a massive gauntleted fist and squeezed. The Priest-Marine gasped for breath as he felt the bones of his throat grind together and his muscles contract under the claw like appendage, then as suddenly as the Prince had grasped his neck it was released and the marine scrabbled away from the demonic champion.
"They…" He croaked trying to clear his throat, "They managed to destroy entire groups of our beasts with some kind of explosive. The biggest explosion we recorded killed over sixty of our best warbeats."
"Hmmm."
"My lord do we send another attack they are damaged and many of their troops are lost, another strike may defeat them."
"No. They have defeated my men and therefore I shall spare them for this moment, however if we are to ever come across this ship again we shall take it and twist the people on board to the wills of the changer of ways."
"Yes my lord."
"Call the retreat to the Marine fleet, we shall retire to the main conflagration against Battlefleet Gothic. Some interesting sport may yet be had."
Across the entire system broken chaos ships were annihilated by their brethren, the remaining Chaos ships broke off and out of the system into warp gates sprung upon by warp magic. The remaining Space Marine convoy of ships fired a few ineffectual shots only grazing a few ships and crippling another that soon exploded over a void generator breach.
Howl of Fenris
Space Marine Battle Barge
Bridge
"My lord." The Wolf pilot of the battle barge stood to attention as he addressed the Great Wolf himself. "The Corrupted fleet has left the system, our Astropaths believe they are on their way to the Gothic sector battle."
"How many of our ships can follow."
" A dozen strike ships two battle ships and the Lord of Fenris can proceed the rest of the convoy is too damaged to continue we have to return to Port Maw for refit and repair."
"Damn those Chaos scum. Detach those ships capable of battle and send them to reinforce Ravensburg's fleet, the rest of the convoy retire to the docks at Port Maw." For the first time in many years, the Great Wolf of the Space Wolves Astartes chamber felt his age.
Bridge of the Emperor's Wrath
Primarch Class Battle Dreadnaught
Flagship 2nd Segmentum Obscurus Imperial Battlefleet
aka BATTLEFLEET GOTHIC
The Ship rocked with a impact of over a half dozen torpedo impacts, the ships of both sides had pulled back from the engagement to open up the gun ranges. The impacts from the enemies weapons were getting quite sporadic as their weapons and engines were crippled by the expert shots of the Imperial Navy, however the Chaos navy had started to come about and continue the engagement with the appearance of a Space marine Battlebarge corrupted and ruined by chaos magic.
Across the Augur Viewers of the Dreadnaught's bridge several ships exploded under massed Lance fire, while smaller defensive ships and escorts were ripped apart by multiple waves of Attack craft. The Massive shapes of two space marine battle barges came into view and started pummelling the Wrath with massed Bombardment cannon fire. The quad Nova cannons responded ripping into the largest enemy ships as well as the marine barges, however many hits were accepted by smaller ships and those vessels hit exploded immediately, a lucky two strike hit from an enemy lance battery disabled a single nova cannon. A massive plasma salvo from the Wrath's Escort Battlecruiser destroyed the already damaged enemy battleship.
Lord Admiral Ravensburg's command was still in the fight however, a secondary group of Battleships seconded to his command from the 3rd Battlegroup had arrived and started pouring fire into the enemy ship in front of them. The dozen nova cannons attached to the Mars and lunar cruisers were giving an account of their own; the three Apocalypse battleships Ripped apart a concentration of Carnage class cruisers with their own weapons. However the Spearheads of both fleets had blunted the other and few gains were being made by either side, the ships that had run from the battles had returned breaking through the flank protection and hitting several of the close formation near the centre of the Armada.
Those ships had been destroyed in short order but the devastation they had caused had been immense, the close formations had hit each other and many ships had been lost to friendly fire and collisions as had been lost to enemy fire. Fortunately the experience flotilla commanders had managed to pull the ships out of the melee and into some order of fighting trim. The battle was a stalemate even with the arrival of the Marine ships from both sides, Torpedoes and lances still rained upon the force of the enemies of both sides, nova cannons and bombardment cannons ripped gaping holes into ships and destroyed escorts and attack craft by the dozen.
Over a hundred thousand ships had been lost in the battle so far, and it was still only just beginning. For the next few days the ship to ship combat would rip the ships apart crippling seemingly indestructible Battlewagons, weapons bristling platforms, speedy escorts and entire wings of support craft would cease to exist in massive crossfires. Battleship squadron of twenty craft or more would plunge into the melee attempting to break through to encircle the enemy would be wiped out within minutes by a dozen their number stitching the armoured prows of the massive ships with counterfire. Chaos fireships and boarding torpedoes would plough into the enemy attempting to destroy or capture Imperial ships to use against their fellows and be wiped out by the escorts.
Ten thousand ships were lost a single hour across a line over six AUs long and many millions of kilometres deep one every axis, out of control battleships would explode shattering the closest ships or running on into the enemy ships ripping through them with Adamantium armoured prows. Vessels fused together by impacts span into the void shedding debris and riding inexorably out into the depths of space.
The massed debris of tens of thousands of lost vessels now covered a incredible full light year in all direction, bodies ripped apart and blood flash frozen by the depths of space mingled with adamantium prows and the remnants of plasma drives. Pieces of what used to be void shield generators pulsed with the little power still left in their coils. The losses of this one battle eclipsed many wars since the beginning of the Imperium, with the end of this battle it may be that neither side would be able to recover lost crewmen or officers, or worse any of the few remaining intact or merely crippled battlewagons of the Imperial or Chaos fleets.
It was now the fourth day of the battle.