A particularly controversial take on warhammer 40,000, breaking a few rules that some warhammer loyalists may not be happy about, please don't take it personally.
Chapter One
"Incoming, target has a lock!"
"Launch photon pods, now!"
Three Tau mantas careened through empty space at many thousand miles per hour, but speed barely mattered with a chaos squadron of bombers on their tail, the Tau were low on ammo, low on fuel and low on options.
"Fire the main railguns!" The ethereal in command cried.
"My Lord, the main guns are currently recharging, they'll need another ten minutes.
"Hell Talon fighter bomber closing in!" a side gunner practically screamed through his comm. Before being blown apart in a vicious cycle of smoke, fire and blood. There was a cataclysmic explosion as chaos dreadclaw assault pods boarded one of the three vast manta carrier ships and the commander onboard activated the self-destruct process.
"They're closing in on us!" The third co-pilot on board reported.
"Do we have any escape options?" the ethereal asked over his shoulder.
A hell talon chaos fighter bomber pulled up directly in front of the cockpit, then turned round to face them, travelling backwards at over 6000 mph. The ethereal gasped as he looked into the eyes of evil, but he refused to be reduced to a quivering ball of fear. He brought his staff down to the floor with a thud and roared, "Firing line!" His mouth creased, his tonsils vibrating in their blue fleshy cage. A unit of pathfinders converged around him as he held his breath and closed his eyes. Bright blue light filled his vision through closed eyes as twelve Rail rifles opened fire, obliterating the cockpit windows and the pilot who was sitting smugly in the ship across from them. There was a huge boom and the entire manta shook from side to side when the large fighter-bomber smashed into them, there was a sharp creaking sound as the cockpit window doors creaked closed and they were able to breathe again.
"Oxygen levels?" the ethereal gasped.
"57% my Lord," the pilot reported, and then handed the ethereal his helmet; the pilot was trained in filtering air in situations like this. "Here, my Lord, it may not suit the robes but at least you won't have a heart attack!"
"Thank-you," he gasped and wrenched the helmet on, "do you see anything on the radar?"
"Wait… yes! We are on a direct course to the Bask'n custodian."
"Good", the ethereal said and breathed a sigh of relief. "Full speed ahead."
When they came within two miles of the boarding deck, the custodian's two main guns came online, two huge bright blue pulse rounds ricocheted through the sky, lightly skimming the manta and colliding with a whole row of ten fighter-bombers, causing an explosion quite alike to an atomic bomb.
The manta slowed down as it began the docking procedure and the ethereal was on the exit ramp before they had even finished their safety checks. It was quite a sight, the custodian. It was the first Bask'n custodian of its time; Bask'n was one of few septs to own such revolutionary technology, their mother sept, Vior'la, which owned about ten or more, such was the size of the Tau air caste. T'au owned 30+. The custodian was on a slow expeditionary course towards the edge of the galaxy and wanted to try a new machine; which could mean a change of history entirely.
The custodian itself had two wings, which were triangular in shape, and not particularly long in comparison with the main body, which had attached to it; a command tower, a dome in which warriors lived, and three huge engines that had warp speed potential. Protruding from the front of the custodian ahead of the dome were two simply huge cannons. Each the size of forty mantas, these were the largest weapons in the galaxy and could tear chunks in planets.
Outside, the second manta just came into dock as the ethereal reached the command tower to find himself face to face with a commander holding a huge blade; Commander Farsight, the legendary Ork killer. He nodded with respect and the ethereal nodded back. He was an exile from T'au, but Vior'la had found him and sent him here in an effort to clear his name.
"We must escape," the ethereal announced to his fellow brothers.
"What better way to test our new device?"
"But it could self-destruct!"
"It would take us to a different time period entirely though, and according to my research, if they try to follow us through, they'll be lost in a different time period."
"But who says we'll go back in time?"
"You'll have to trust my judgement…"