Alright people, this is my first published fanfic, so please be nice. I don't mind if you point my mistakes, that would help with my writing.
I guess this is the good place so, here's the disclamer : I don't own Warhammer 40 000 (sadly), if I did, the Tau wouldn't be the punching ball of the universe.
Now, onto my chapter, it is completely OC, so if you want to use it or referre to it (a man can dream), please ask me. By the way, no use flaming about how over cheated they are, cause I know they are, that's why I created them. They don't follow the Codex Astartes, I know that,
but the Black templars and Space wolves don't follow it either, and since they are quite discreet (for space marines that is) no one comes to piss them off. Oh, and of course, it's the first time they deploy so many marines at the same place. Anyway, onto the story now.
In the grim darkness of the far future … there is only war. The 41st millennium is nearing its end, and so may be the Imperium of man. Abbadon, lord of the Black Legion, has launched his thirteenth Black Crusade on the Cadian gate,and the glorious fortresses are nearing their fall. Already, several worlds have been pillaged, their populations slaughtered and enslaved. All hope seems lost.
But the Imperium will not let it stand; the Cadian soldiers are fighting bravely against the beasts that roam the warp, Imperials battalions from across the galaxy are sailing toward war, glory and death; Space Marines from a hundred chapters are coming or already fighting the traitorous legions, Sororitas convents are sending their finest to battle, all of the Imperium is preparing to fight and hold the gate to Holy Terra. And soon, we will join them.
With one last look to my office, I leave, walking in the stone corridors of our fortress, the Valley of Kings on the planet Saqqara, home of our chapter, the Pharaoh's Glory. I am Nephrenka, 57th Lord Pharaoh of the Sethon sector, our own little empire, much like Ultramar. Five stellar systems and a surprisingly high amount of asteroids, not much, but more than enough for our chapter to grow in strength and power. The Toth system shelter two arid worlds, Saqqara and her more savage twin Luxor, the source of the resilient and determined marines of our chapter, as well as Apophis, a dead world that used to hold a Necron tomb; in the Sobek system the hive world Merneferet is an unending source of workers and soldiers, and the forge world Djed-Sut is the industrial heart of the sector, draining resources from the asteroids and planets of the sector as well as from the two gas giants in the system. The Hathor system is home to four farming planets: Naqada, Nekheb, Taremu and Behdet. The Kehpri system holds Shai, a world engulfed in a thick jungle, the colonized world of Per-Medjed and Nehebkau, a cold world covered in ice. The last system, Sekhmet, is nothing more than a group of mines and no one ever named any of it's planets. Those five systems, in the Mordant zone, around halfway between Attila and Kar Duniash, are our home.
The corridors are empty, save from a few servitors that bow to me, I answer with a nod. Almost all of our forces are assembled in the court or on the orbital ring with the fleet and the battalions of the Imperial Guard. Silently, I enter the inner sanctum, pass the large engraved doors, and finally, I reach my destination: the mausoleum of the founder of our chapter, the Golden Lord, Ra, captain of the 13th Company of the Thousand Sons legion. Before the Heresy, his company got caught in a warp storm and they only emerged in the middle of the 35th millennium, just in time to save the Toth system, ironically, from their own former brothers, then Lord Ra and his battle brothers settled here and secured the closest solar systems, creating the Sethon sector. Upon learning of Horus' betrayal, they felt rage, upon learning of their brothers' corruption, they shed tears.
Vowing to never let it happen again, Lord Ra stepped down from his rank and forbid any Psycher to lead the chapter. As they gathered information on the state of the Imperium, they changed the colors of their armors to night blue and began to contact the Imperial authorities, pretending to be a company lost due to a warp storm that had formed a chapter on it's own. The inquisition sent some delegates to inspect the lands, and they met only righteous forces. Soon, the newly founded chapter got three spare terminator armors from Mars, a precious gift for the purge of the traitors, as well as some other precious devices. They expected to find the marines striving to settle, but the battle-hardened veterans of the great crusade knew better. When the Mechanicus envoy arrived, a space station was already built to shelter the chapter's battle barge, the recently rebaptized Fury of Sekhmet, the Fortress-Monastery was already half carved in the Valley of Kings, a recruitment base was built on Luxor and the chapter's standard was floating high. Lord Ra had fallen in the middle of the 36th millennium, taking down a daemon prince of Tzeench, once a sorcerer of the Thousand Sons. Ra, in his immense might, purged the traitor of every piece demonic energy, stripping him of his rank as a daemon prince and killing him. The inquisition wanted to investigate, but when they arrived the chapter had already fallen back. It had been a sad day, truly.
Getting up, I look one last time at the sarcophagus of our great leader, embalmed following the traditions of our home world. Leaving the tomb, I visit our chapter's museum where trophies of our greatest victories are held. Seeing those relics, I remember our moments of glory. The Helm of Abjuration, the helmet of the sorcerer lord leading the Thousand Sons when our brothers first arrived, the oversized scull of the Ork Bigboss Bonebreaka whose whaag they had defeated in space, seizing a space hulk at this occasion, the still glowing blade of the Golden Lord, undented despite the furious attacks of his foes, the last Mechanicus emblem remaining from the fleet sent our way when our techmarines stopped respecting their foolish believes, the armor of a fallen custodian, found with the remains of a shattered expeditionary fleet of the Great Crusade, the first prototype of our plasma carbines. Slowly, I go to the relics I know the best. The first is the head of the Necron Lord that arose from Apophis, I was barely a scout back then, but I still managed to kill a good bit of those monsters. Then, there are the broken remains of a Tau exo-armor, the commander I killed, which granted me my rank as a captain. Finally, there is the scull of a great carnifex, the killer of my predecessor. Following this battle against the minor Hive Fleet Shezmu, I became the Pharaoh. For 500 years I have lead my brethren, and today I will take them to a new battlefield.
Then, I quickly join my quarters, my servitors waiting patiently for me. I feel a smile come to my lips, Khu seems especially happy today, maybe his wife gave him a good new. On the contrary of other chapters, we don't transform our servitors into mindless machines, instead we give them small exo-armors to help them in their tasks; we let them be human because it helps us to remember why we fight. Stripping from my traditional clothes, I begin to put my armor on with their help, the dark blue ceramic plates quickly assembled to each other, the golden Ankh proudly displayed in the dim light, leaving only my head exposed. Lastly, I put on my white mantle and, with a last goodbye, step out of the room. Once more, I walk in those empty corridors, but this time it is to face my men, my warriors, my brothers. I arrived on a balcony, looking over the court. The beige buildings carved out of the rock surround us; I can see the entrance, guarded by two statues of astartes, 50 feet tall each, and beyond, the desert. Looking down on the court, I can see 500 marines and as many scouts, 30 feet below, looking at me. I know there are far more eyes locked on me, my speech is transmitted to the armies in orbit. Looking at my right I see the captains of the 5 companies before me, Amun-Ra our Forge Lord and Head Librarian, and the Great Chaplain Anubis, both bearing names of the local gods. To my left, I see the generals of the 56 battalions that will fight by our side, wearing their armors and advanced laser weaponry. Then, I look back to my brothers below.
"Brothers! The great betrayer has returned! Abbadon is leading a new Black Crusade against the Cadian gate! We failed to reach the gate in time during the last Crusade, but this time we will be there to fight them! Arise, sons the desert! Take arms sons of Menrneferet! The righteous fury of our beloved Emperor will guide our hands! Let fear strike them as we descend upon them with all the fury of the Great Crusade! We will crush them under plasma and laser! We will purge them with fire and rage! We will kill them with swords and spears! For the Golden Lord! For Terra! For the Emperor! And for Mankind!"
A mighty roar arises, shaking the very walls of the fortress, a roar of rage, bravery, faith and dedication. The generals are shocked in amazement, it is normal, few can stay stoic when we scream our determination to protect the children of man.
"The 5th, 8th, 16th, 17th and 21st companies will stay behind and protect the sector along with the scouts, the chapter's future must be preserved. I will lead the 45 other companies in battle. Even their corrupted gods will fail to protect these betrayers from the just retribution of their sins! To war!"
One last mighty roar shook the heavens, and everyone went to their task. With Anubis at my right and Amun-Ra at my left, I guide the generals through the corridors, and onto the hangar. There, we embark on the thunderhawks, the aircrafts taking us quickly off the planet and toward the fleet. In a matter of minutes, we reach the landing bay of our flagship, the Fury of Sekhmet. The old ship looks anew; we took good care of our legacy, and no matter how many battles we fought or how many damages it sustained, we always repaired it, for the Emperor himself walked its corridors. Reaching the bridge, standing where, millennia ago the Emperor did, I gaze upon our fleet. The last ships are detaching from the majestic orbital ring floating above the equator of Saqqara. 8 battle barges, 14 strike cruisers, 2 Emperor battleships, 4 Mars class battlecruisers, 2 Ghotic class and 2 Armageddon class, over 16 Dauntless light cruisers and around 40 Firestorm frigates. Our sector escaped war for a long time; its power is at its peak. Soon, the fleet is ready, and we open the rift to cross the warp. On the bridges of the fleet, our archivists step forth, using their might to cut through the power of the Dark Gods, creating a safe route for use to take. At my right, Amun-Ra smirk, swatting daemons like they were flies, like many of his students. Our chapter is blessed with powerful yet very stable psychers, and to this day, none betrayed us. Maybe it is because of the Golden Lord, maybe it is because they also work as our techmarines. Looking toward the Immaterium, I manage to see some daemons struggling in vain against the power of our archivist. With a smirk, I leave the bridge. We can only bide our time until we arrive at Cadia.
Two weeks have passed, and soon, we will fall upon the traitors and slaughter them to the last. As I step onto the bridge, Amun-Ra looks at me from the corner of his eye, and as I nod to him, he smiles. In an instant, the warp is shredded and we jump back into the Materium. Immediately, alerts begin to ring, the mighty reactors of the fleet begin to roar as we charge our enemy through the Void.
"How long until we are at shooting range?
- We do not know my Lord, the system is heavily perturbed, it could take us a week.
- That is too long.
- And that is why the Emperor will help us."
I look over Amun-Ra quizzically, not sure of what he means. His eyes are bright blue, he is using his powers, but for what? Hearing gasps of surprise from the crew, I turn. By the Emperor! Glorious golden wings have appeared on the ships of our fleet, and we begin to accelerate!
"Let's show them that their doom is coming! Let them know that the Emperor is on our side! Let them know that the Great Crusade is revived!"
With this last mighty roar, Amun-Ra send us at tremendous speed toward the enemy, closing in barely two minutes what would have taken a week.
"My Lord, enemy in range in 1 minute!
- All fighters prepare for battle!
- Artillerymen, report to your batteries immediately!
- Attention all crew, we are entering war zone, you are required to your stations immediately!
- Battle brothers! This is the day! Show them no mercy! To your drop pods!"
Frantic activity engulfed the bridge.
"All ships awaiting order. Enemy at range in three … Two … One …"
For an instant, an eerie silence reign over the bridge, everyone is tensed, expecting the storm to come. Then, in a murmur, I let out my order.
"Destroy them … for the Emperor."
Simultaneously all the heavy batteries of our fleet begin spitting their hateful power upon the heretics, fighters squadrons are launched, torpedoes are launches, Lance batteries are fired. A magnificent display of power. The chaos fleet did not expect our sudden appearance and is completely blindsided. Soon, our drop pods will rain over the enemy of man, our plasma will eradicate them, purifying Cadia of their twisted presence. And they Shall know fear.
Well, here's the thing, hope you like it, hit the review button please, speak freely, I won't be offended if you flame, flames help to improve (just writing that hurt).
Just so you know, every name used in this story is from ancient egypt, either from gods or from towns (appart from the 40k official background of course), I did a lot of research to find them, hope you like it.
Thanks for reading, hoping to see you soon.
Bye.