Well, here I am again. I spent some time fleshing this out and after picking up the Deathwatch role-playing game and some Black Library audio dramas, this came in to life. As always, please review.
The five figures made their way off the Thunderhawk, four of them massive Astartes clad in holy power armor, the fifth was a much smaller and petite woman. Each one was dressed in black, the Marines bore their chapter heraldry on one shoulder pad, the holy silver on the other with the Catechism of the Xenos inscribed on it, while raven livery made up the rest of their colors. The exception was one of the armored warriors had patches of bleached bone white covering portions of his Mark VII Power Armor. Each one of them was alert and taking in every detail of the landing bay as if it second nature to them.
Each one of them was heavily armed, two of the warriors carried bolters, one the standard mark, while the other one had a combi-bolter with a flamer under slung. The other two Astartes carried plasma weapons but their similarities ended then and there. While one carried a Plasma Cannon, the other had a plasma pistol in one hand and a chainsword in the other, with a jump pack idling in the back of him. The woman carried a bolt pistol and an ornate sword in its scabbard at her left side, though given the pristine condition, it was either new or never used in combat.
A new figure entered the flight chamber, his bodyguards at his side. He was a tall thin man, dried auburn hair thin and paled with the sands of time. He wore a heavy blue greatcoat, embroidered with chains and ribbons. A pretender claiming military command, or duly earned in the service of the God Emperor of Mankind through the service of a Guard Regiment?The man's thin face was scared in several places, along with several of his fingers being augmented with steel, lending credence to the latter theory. The Guards at his side wore heavy void suits, concealing any of their identities behind masks and armor.
The Space Marines and their female companion took in the information about their greeter in fine detail. His hand was jerking slightly as he looked at the assembled. A nervous reflex or nerve damage? Assumptions formed in their heads as the man spoke. "I am Rhodes Angelicas McNeil, commander of The Emperor's Shield. To what or whom do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
The woman spoke, her medium length brown hair bobbed as she brought her head back to him. "I am Astrid, captain." She spoke with a conflicting accent, as if considering which one to choose for the current situation. "You are to brink your ship to an immediate halt and no to dock with the orbital station above New Berlin. You are also to submit to an inspection by my squad immediately."
Rhodes looked at her entourage and then back at her. "Four Space Marines is an overkill for a custom inspection is it not? Sorry, but I have perishable cargo on board."
Astrid frowned and crossed her arms. "Then I am sure your cooperation will determine if your cargo wishes to survive."
He pointed one of his mechanical digits at her. "I know your name, madam, but I do not recognize your company. I recognize the shoulder plate of the Flesh Tearers, and this one has the symbol of the Salamanders while the other has the shield of the Storm Wardens. But this one adorns himself with black and silver. Peculiar assemblage, and I find that suspicious. It will take more then a pretty face to halt me." Astrid was beginning to lose her patiences, but she knew the man was being flirtatious with her. She had many suitors comment on her fair skin and freckles before she found her true calling. "By what right do you seek to halt a Rouge Trader on his passage."
Her lips curled into a smirk and produced a long wooden rod, bearing the ornate I of the Inquisition. "You see this? This is my 'I can do what ever the hell I want and get away with it' stick." My retinue are members of the Deathwatch, drawn from the thousands of chapters in the Imperium. The one you cannot identify was raised a warrior of the Black Dragons." She watched with some satisfaction as the man was taken back. "There is no surprise that you have not heard of their organization. Like me, they do not care for the day to day business of the Imperial servants."
The man regained some of his lost confidence and looked at the Inquisitorial representatives. "Then miss, what brings you to my ship then? I can assure you there is nothing extravagant or mundane of my day to day business. I have a hold full of fruit and vegetable from the Agri-world of Shadow. They are only in temporary retardation, not a full stasis mind you. Surely you do not wish for their shipment to spoil?"
"Your mentioning of the Imperial commander is insignificant. Even they bow to the authority of the Inquisition." He was resistant, more then out of simple inconvenience. Astrid decided not to jump to hasty conclusions as many of her fellow inquisitors would have.
But it would appear that one of her retinue had no such patience. Brother Ivan of the Black Dragons steeped forward until he was barely a meter away from the commander of the ship. The Assault sergeant raised his plasma pistol just a fraction. "You misunderstand the Inquisitor. She is not asking for your permission, she is not requesting your grace. By the authority of the Inquisition we have boarded this vessel and by the same authority you will halt your ship and comply to our demands. A true and loyal servant to the Emperor would not be so hesitant in his actions."
Rhodes stayed back and looked to Astrid as if she was going to hold him back from verbally attacking him further. "Brother Ivan is correct, you will comply to our requests and obey our demands. Do I need to raise my voice or will I have to resort to other measures?"
The commander of the ship chuckled, "Of course, I meant no harm. Now if you will follow me I will help you speed your inspection in any way I can."
Ivan lowered is pistol and smiled beneath his blackened Mark VI helmet. "Your cooperation is dually noted. When we leave, open your void shields to allow our gunship to exit." When Rhodes gave his nod, Ivan activated his vox link to the Thunderhawk. "Pilate, take off and remain at a sixty kilometers away from the ship and await further orders" There was a pause as the Black Dragon considered something. "Inform us in five minutes if she has not halted her advance."
"Affirmative." Their pilot responded. The six figures then began their journey into the ship. As they walked down the hallway, they examined the rest of the ship. It was surprisingly clean, like a chapel to the Immortal Emperor. Every bolt, fitting, and metal was polished to a gleam. The ship was nothing more then a cargo hold with an engine, crew quarters and gun turrets. The Kill-Team took in all of the information, looking for places of ambush, escape, and shortcuts.
They reached one of the primary holds, filled with many massive containers, each five meters long and twice as high. Heavily robed figures worked above them in the cranes and dim light. Even with their helmets and enhanced vision, the warriors of the Deathwatch could not make out their features. Each one had the same manner of protection of their faces, but they were not doing any work that would warrant such. Rhodes gestured to the containers. "Aha, the fruits of my labor, if you would."
"How many?" Astrid asked.
"Seven hundred in total. Most in this hold and the other hundred in secondary holds across the length of my ship. Please, forgive me Inquisitor, but I do not understand the purpose of this inspection. What warrants the Inquisition to inspect my ship?"
A new voice, Brother Cain of the Flesh Tearers spoke up. His voice was grated, his vocal cords replaced after combat with an Ork warboss. "You visited Omega Io some time ago." It was not a question.
The Rouge Trader paused for a moment and thought. "Why... yes. But that was nearly three years ago. A dull, dull moon."
The Flesh Tearer growled. "Then I am sure you would love to know that it is a lot duller now. The Inquisition executed Exterminatus of Omega Io. Irreversible Xeno population and contamination. Orbital bombardment turned it into a lifeless rock." The Flesh Tearer spoke as if he had witnessed such a deed. In fact, they all had.
Extermanatus was both a proud thing to watch, but it also had a heavy heart to view it. It meant one planet was destroyed, more often then not never to be used again. The Orbital Strike of this one eliminated the entirety of the atmosphere, exposing the planet to the hard vacuum of space. Those who had not died in the bombardments froze to death in a matter of minutes. The planet would eventually be colonized by artificial hubs to mine the planet's resources, but four billion souls were sent to the Emperor on the Golden Throne of Terra for their judgment.
The commander of the ship swallowed hard. It was not uncommon when was reminded of the Inquisition's final sanction. But there was more then fear on his face, there was a hint of genuine concern. "You think something has come aboard here? Surely we would have found it in the past... three years?"
Astrid spoke. "Then that is the purpose of the inspection, weather you are comfortable with it or not."
"Very well, waste your time if you must. If you need me, contact one of my crew." He turned around and left with some undue haste it appeared. Astrid held Ivan's shoulder pad, holding him back from following the man. He reluctantly stopped and they examined the area around them.
After a while, Astrid spoke again. "You know the alien we seek. Genestealers. If one of them slipped on board then any number of the crew is contaminated. Stay vigilant." The Marines needed no more words when the words were said. Genestealers, of all Xenos in the Imperium, they were perhaps the most foul. Impregnation their genes in the human hosts and giving their mutation off to the next generation. In four generations, a pure-strain is born and the cycle begins anew. "Brother Ha'sen, what do your senses tell you?"
Astrid had served with the Inquisition since the age of eighteen, after she had finished her basic training on Cadia. While others would have gone to the Imperial Guard regiments, she was selected by the Emperor's most holy Inquisition to carry out His will. Now in her twenty second year of life, she spent much of her time learning each of the strengths and weaknesses of her kill team. She had learned form experience not to underestimate the eye of a Devastator, especially Ha'sen.
The Salamander looked around and came close to one of the containers. Thumbing through much of the information he shrugged. "I may not be one of the sacred Tech-preists of Mars, but this container was set into its retardation three hundred and seven days ago. Said state is to collapse in four hours."
Astrid groaned momentary to herself. "Yes, those are the facts but what do they mean?"
"Imperial command likes their fruit really fresh?" Brand, Apothecary of the Storm Wardens and the comic of the group, jibed. Astrid made a weird nasal noise as if trying to suppress a laugh, while Ha'sen and Ivan chuckled. Cain refrained from laughing, the constant jokes and puns Brand said from time to time was beginning to become more of an annoyance than anything else.
"You think we waste our time here? Perhaps you all wish for New Berlin to share the same fate as Omega Io." Cain growled at them and the laughing ceased, and the scion of Sanguineous looked around. "But I am forced to admit, our Inquisitorial Masters have drawn us away from more obvious threats. I for one would rather be out against the recent Tau expansion, or on the front lines against the Hive Fleet."
Astrid shook her head. "It is never a waste of time securing the realms of the Emperor. Especial here. Follow me and watch closely." She strode down the hallway and pointed out the data-crystals that were attached to each of the pods. "Look, each one of these show decreasing time of storage. Look, activated one hundred and four Terran days ago. And this one is three hundred more. Even with a warp inclement Navigator, a ship this size could make the trip from Shadow to New Berlin in less then ninety days. The oldest is more then a year old!"
Cain growled underneath his helm. "The master of this ship has lied to us! We will find him and confront him with our examinations. By the Emperor and the Angel of Blood, he will tell us the truth or he will suffer at the hands of the Inquisition for impeding our duties!"
Brand shrugged. "You carry out judgment too swiftly Cain. While I do not doubt that Rhodes is hiding something from us... he is a Rouge Trader after all. And they are just as famous for their silver tongues as they are their wealth though the Imperium."
Ha'sen looked back to Astrid. "While it may be a crime to smuggle contraband or sell overly ripe fruit, it is not a concern for the Deathwatch. But there is something else here. Astrid, what do you believe?"
She growled to herself, thinking hard. "The ship went to Omega Io before the Genestealers' cult came to power. I believe if we will check the records of the ship we will find that Rhodes made several trips to Omega Io over the years. Each time he would take aboard a new strain of Genestealers, and soon he would have more then enough to infect a hive."
"Vulkan's anvil... At least seven hundred of the beasts." Ha'sen murmured to himself.
The vox crackled and the voice of Pilate came into their ears. "Milady, the ship has not arrested her velocity as per your instruction. Cain readied his bolter which drew the attention of the crew. Ivan placed his hand on his brother's right pauldron. His eagerness for battle was laudable in most cases. But in their current situation
"Then out duty is clear. We have forty minutes until the ship reaches docks with the orbital platform. From there Rhodes will surely unleash them. Hundreds of thousands of lives will be brought to an end. We need to begin the purge now. Ha'sen, your plasma cannon can take out a container with every shot or there about."
Ha'sen looked to his heavy weapon and then back to the huge flask on his back. "I have perhaps sixteen shots, what about the other six hundred and eighty four?"
Astrid shook her head. "And I am sure that Rhodes and the crew would not stand by idly as we complete our work. Cain, open battle is not always the answer." Cain was about to object but Alyssa held her finger up to him. "We will not let this pass by either. We will conclude our inspection and once we are a safe distance away we will order the station to open fire on the ship. The ship and the despicable crew will be obliterated by the guns." The announcement silenced any debate and she walked over to Ha'sen and gave his weapon a gentle pat. "Sometimes even a Plasma Cannon is not a big enough weapon."
Ha'sen shrugged. "I never had any complaints about it." She smiled and the kill team followed behind her. They appeared to be calm, but inside they were on edge. Seven hundred Genestealers shared the ship with them in addition to the hostile crew, they had to get off as soon as possible. If the Genestealers awoke with even a third of their number, they would not last long with their current armaments. Their primary duty was to destroy the ship by any means necessary, everything was secondary, even their own lives. But she would not spend their lives fruitlessly. She had also became aware that there were more then double the crew when they first arrived, and they had given up all work they were doing before hand. They were now utterly focused on the tasks of the kill team.
"Pilate, bring the gunship in for landing." She said into her vox. "We will be leaving soon." As soon as the words left her mouth the door they were going to leave through slammed shut, the sound of locks closing. Their hearts went cold for a moment as they realized the situation. The ship's master had no intention of them leaving.
Compelled by the psychic command of their alien masters, the ship's crew fired on the Kill-Team as one. Las shots and shotgun shells ricocheted from their armor as the Marines and Astrid broke apart to find cover. The rouse revealed, the five felt some relief as they could engage in righteous battle once more. Cain was the first to engage , brining his combi-bolter to bear. He fired off single bolts into the swaths of enemies. The mass reactive shells blew their targets into bloody chunks and it was then revealed why they wore such clothing.
They had domed craniums, large bulbous yellow eyes and purplish skin. Many concealed extra arms or clawed tipped digits under their robes. Astrid raised her own pistol and swapped magazines. "Unarmored targets, use the metal storm rounds you were given." Cain nodded and switched to his secondary magazine on his combi-bolter. The metal storm ammunition was not like a standard bolt round, which detonated inside the target, but exploded a few meters from the target to shower them with hot fragmentation. She picked her shots, each round from her pistol shredding the flesh and robes of the infected. The bodies of the dead and dying slumped to the ground as bleeding ribbons.
"Let free the retribution of the Emperor!" Cain yelled as he fired off his bolter. "Suffer not the alien to live! Purge the lost and the damned! We will avenge the dead of Omega Io!" Despite his blood lust, it was quite clear that Cain was a skilled combatant, fighting with a cold calculated rage built up against the enemies of Humanity.
"Ivan, get ready to engage in single combat. Heavy weapons coming from the catwalks above." The Black Dragon nodded as he slammed his pistol back into his holster and drew his two chainswords. He then allowed his bone blades, the trade mark of his chapter, come free from his armor. "Brand, provide covering fire for the advance. And Ha'sen, what the hell are you doing?" Astrid ordered as she moved to another container cover. The Salamander was performing some rites to appease the machine spirit of the plasma cannon. He looked back to her and grunted.
"Powering up. You don't want to rush this Inquisitor, a fail safe breech is exactly the last thing we need at the moment." Astrid nodded and heard a noise come from behind her. She spun around with her bolt pistol and saw the face of Rhodes on the data-crystal behind her.
"I do not think that you are a fool, Inquisitor Astrid. So return the same respect. The moment you held my vessel, I knew my precious cargo was engendered. Did you think I would blindly pass into the range of the guns from the station? Your arrival came with some concern I must be honest. But it matters not. It matters not, the Fellowship of the Reach will not be so easily thwarted. We have laid claim to New Berlin, and we will rule there as we have ruled Omega Io. You speak of revenge? What are four billions deaths to you? My kin... my comrades, and the world that worshiped they as their saviors cry out for justice!"
Astrid's blood froze in her veins as she realized that Rhodes was no pawn of mind control, but a willing servant of the abominations. She did not know, did not want to know what kind of unholy bargains a man like him would make for such allies. To turn against your own blood and damn worlds to extinction. Such things were for later concern. She leaned her face in to the crystal and produced a fist. "You have damned yourself, Rhodes. When these hands send you off to the Emperor himself, he will spit on your soul and the boast you have will only waste your air when you are judged screaming." She slammed it into the face, shattering the crystal into a thousand pieces.
A more immediate concern was heavy weapons being aimed by three armed hybrids. She fired but her metal storm rounds cluttered uselessly against the hull of the crane. "Ha'sen, now!"
Ha'sen strode forward and primmed his cannon to overcharge, it would fire three shots of ammo in one, but it would bring the crane down. "Into the Fires of Battle, unto the Anvil of War!" He fired off the shot, which slammed into the crane. It exploded and portions of the crane turned into melted slag killing many who were using the piece of equipment for cover. It soon toppled over due to the the lack of structural integrity, pitching dozens more down into their deaths.
Ha'sen withdrew back to cover to allow his weapon to cool and Ivan charged forward, his jump pack active. "FIRE AND BONE, BROTHERS!" The jump pack sprang forward, carrying the vanguard with wings of fire. He landed on the catwalk and slashed out with his chainswords, gutting the enemy where they stood. Bolter rounds sang past him with clean precision and las beams flickered harmlessly off his armor. A lucky bullet hit his helmet, chipping some of the paint away. He spun around and brought his left chainsword down on the skull, exposing grey matter and bone. He slammed his boot into the next foe, and drove his adamantium bone blades into the chest of the next. The half human hybrid lashed out with claw tipped hands in vein but ultimately expired in the hands of the battle brother. He spired and slammed one of his chainswords back into it's sheath and produced his plasma pistol as a handful of hybrids raised their lasguns.
A storm of bolter fire from beneath turned them to raged corpses. He saw Brand with his bolt pistol beneath him and the Black Dragon smirked. He looked around and fired at the stragglers he could find. The rest of the kill team came up the stairs to him. The crew that was present seemed to have been killed off and they spent no time wasted in refilling their spent magazines. "It appears are foes have fled for the moment." Brand said as he slammed a fresh bolt magazine home.
Ivan snarled, "The Emperor has given us victory." No sooner had the words been spilled, the data-crystals on all of the chambers went red and they began to activate.
"Thoughts of victory seem to be premature." Ha'sen said as the tops of the chambers began to open, sprouting a fog of cryo. "How long until these beasts can be battle ready?"
Astrid shook her head. "Little to no time at all. I served on an Ice planet and they uncovered a Warrior in permafrost. It attacked them with in half a minute of being cut free."
Cain growled. "And these are not even full stasis. Attack is immanent, brothers."
Ha'sen shrugged and fired his cannon into one of the pods beginning to open, incinerating it on impact. "One down."
Six hundred and ninety-nine to go. Astrid though in her head.