Come friend, take your place around the campfire. Do not mind the hounds, they will not bite. You have come seeking knowledge yes? The legends of our masters. Drink, eat, the stories are many and long. Their sagas stretching across many stars, many worlds. Rest your weary bones. I will spin you the tale, the beginning of our masters.
This a fan-production, I do not own anything of Warhammer or Black Library, or make money from it, simply plying words in their universe.
Chapter ONE
A special Founding is what they called it. An experiment by the High Lords of Terra. Our Chapter was chosen; one of us was to leave its ranks. I volunteered, being ready to lay down everything for our brothers. Even my own legacy. Our Chapter Master had proclaimed the news to us Honor Guard, his closest advisors and companions.
The others bowed their heads in silent thanks, that single actions filled with more respect than any mere words could attempt to convey. Our years of brotherhood ended today. The High Lord's decree is that a single Astartes was to set out on his own. Cut off from his Chapter to see if he could build up one of his own.
Silence disturbed only by the humming of sacred power armor weighed heavy over our congregation. Nothing like this had ever been done in the existence of the Adeptus Astartes.
My lord pressed the edict into my hand, resting another on my shoulder as thanks fell from his lips. I had carried many things in my life, but none had ever felt as heavy. Looking into the gaze of the man who had known me for my entire life, the four hundred years I had spilled blood in the Emperor's name.
"You honor us, as you always have brother." He raised his eyes to the others in the hollowed chamber. Mute amber light from the lanterns that hung above casting them in dull shadows.
"We will prepare a mural in your honor, never will your name be forgotten as long as we still hold these halls." The others raised their boots as one and slammed them down into the marble floor, creating new spiderwork cracks to mark their approval of the act.
The satisfaction my name would live on in the Chapters honored history did little to ease the gnawing pit that grew in my gut.
Shortly after I sat in my room alone, deep within the dormitories where my brothers would continue to live. I stared at the scroll in front of me, the box of gold and fine gemstones it came in resting on the desk. Stamped on the front of the box the Aqualla flared proudly, one eye open to the past. I read through the edict in detail, a long list of responsibilities and strange allowances for the task.
I would travel to the eastern side of our Galaxy, many light years north of the proud realms of the Ultramarines. Some feral planet that had been recovered and selected, its name the serial number that the Adeptus Administratum had stamped it with, scribbled into the parchment.
I leave within the day, taking only the weapons and armor I held as a member of the Honor Guard. My battle plate is cleaned of its colors and markings, leaving only mute unpainted gray.
One last time I look around my room, unable to put to words the memories I have created within its confines. My eyes drop to the helmet in my hands, alien and wrong. For the briefest of moments I let the weight of my duty crash down upon my shoulder, to leave my brothers, the home I had known for my entire life, robbed of the chance to be buried within its shrines to the honored dead.
I breathe deep as I let the emotions wrack their way through my hearts before I crush them, bind them and throw them deep within my soul. Then I'm walking through the grand hallways of sculpted blue stone and white marble, taking in the sights that have greeted me at the end of every campaign. Statues of ancient heroes and banners of our greatest crusades. The paintings of our greatest champions, our greatest moments, our greatest failures. For the true meaning to the murals on the ceilings of our halls are known only to those in the Chapter, and now one outsider.
I wonder where they will put mine.
As the grand doors of our main entrance are pulled apart by rumbling machinery deep in the walls the wind outside howled its rage. Walls of rain descend from the heavens, the sound a million small thuds against my ears. Among the clouds lightning crashes down to smite the unworthy, thunder roaring out as heralds of further judgment. A storm, unlike any I had seen on my home planet in two centuries.
Before me members of my Chapter are assembled in full battle plate, their weapons held in salute. Two Companies of Astartes formed a wall of ceramite that went from the grinding doors to the thunderhawk that sat on the worn stone dozens of meters away. They stood as statues besides the wrath that descended upon us, faces I would never see again illuminated by the lightning. Purity seals and cloth flapping wildly in the winds.
I stop at the side doors of the mighty transport and take one last look at my brothers, my Chapter, my life. I knew that I would never return, that this would be my last memory. As one my brothers raised their weapons and roar at the heavens, beating back the rumbling thunder and pouring rain with their voices alone.
I smiled, it would be a good memory.
The door slams shut behind me, steel rods extending into place, locking it shut. The entire craft hummed from the great torrents of heavy raindrops. I made my way towards the front of the thunderhawk, the engines growing louder as they were coaxed into purpose.
From the cockpit a small crew of humans rise in their seats and descended the ladder to kneel before me. The pilot's face is hidden by his headgear he wears.
"Are you the crew of this craft?" They spooked slightly at my voice, deep and bartone, echoing around the adamantium hold. The pilot looks up, speaking loudly over the noise.
"We are my lord, my name is David." I gave each man a nod in return, motioning them to their feet with a hand.
"I look forward to serving with each of you, but let us be off. There is no reason to linger here any longer." They leapt to obey, rising back up the ladder as I made my way to one of the many seats, a single large wood chest placed beside me. Inside my weapons of war sat, my bolt gun and pistols, the power swords I had been gifted upon my induction into the Honor Guard of my Chapter. Old Chapter, I remind myself a moment later.
The thunderhawk roared as it rose through the swirling storm, being thrown about as screaming winds tried to bring us down. Yet the pilot refused to be subdued, rising above the worst of the gales. I felt gravity start to fade and I locked myself into my seat, pulling the throne harness in place with a loud click.
Another few minutes of nothing but the humming of the engines passed until a crackling voice entered the empty space.
"We are approaching our ship my lord. It's the Emperor's Light. It was built around nine hundred years ago in th-" The speaker was interrupted by something thunking against their console and the line went flat. From above me I could hear three voices accusing the comms officer of sprouting useless information. Their behavior amuses me, but it cannot bring a smile to my lips.
For a moment I almost will the image feeds that ran in the ship's cogitators to my helmet, the temptation to look upon my birthplace just once more taints me.
But I cannot.
I won't change the last memory I had of my world that my brothers had provided. Instead I look upon the starships in orbit. There are many, a ring of dockyards and drydocks stretching for kilometers. A horde of repair ships, cargo transporters and personal shuttles flock between the lying leviathans.
Repairs are underway, huge lumens provide light for work crews moving hundreds of tons of metal into place, removing sections of damaged ships. The primary nexus of the station, a four kilometer octagon from which the rest splays out like metal limbs of a sea monster, bristling with macrocannons, las weaponry and defense silos.
Above it all an Imperial Aquila a kilometer wide stretched its wings, stamping this place in the Emperor's name for all to witness. I took heart knowing that the brothers I leave behind are strong, the Chapters ranks filled with stalwart warriors.
Artificial gravity forced itself upon us as we passed through the energy field that separated space and precious air. The thunderhawk sat down and sank slightly, hissing as it released its weight. Only then did I release my locks and grab my belongings as the front doors of the craft opened. Before me the massive main hanger of the Strike Cruiser spreads, running much of the width of the deck, several hundred meters deep. I was surprised to see six other thunderhawks resting on nearby platforms. Between them crewmen weaved and worked, carrying heavy boxes under the sharp gazes of Enginseer's.
Before me the ships armsmen hold a pale imitation of what my brothers had done below, their navy blue uniforms standing out against the metal grays and painted floor of the deck. Sharpened against the dull white light that came from above. I could feel the eyes of every mortal on the floor upon me.
Between the perfect lines of the armsman standing three deep in salute came the masters of the ship. The Captain, a tall man with wide shoulders, his uniform perfect, four medals of distinction dangling from his chest. His graying hair is cut short and a thick beard was well trimmed. A single cybernetic connects from his neck to the back left of his head, an implant at the base of his spine to connect him to the ship, like me to my own armor.
Beside him the ships Tech-priest gave me a single nod, his handcrafted eyes dancing over my plate, running untold calculations and questions. His augmented frame was covered by a long red robe, four nimble cybernetics with metal claws wove about, while other, larger tools sat motionless.
The Astropath gave me a deeper bow, his threadbare robes tight to a small but strong frame. Besides being blind the man was not old or sickly, he would have been handsome, even, by mortal standards, but his eyes were unnerving by the visions that he had seen.
Other officers of note fanned out around their leader. The Master of Arms, the Ship Confessor, the Head Surgeon. Personalities and loyalties that I would have to learn.
The Captain saluted before he spoke, his voice expertly carrying out across the deck.
"Greetings my lord, my name is Alexander Evans, the Captain of this vessel." I held out a hand and clasped his own, dwarfed by my armored gauntlet.
"It is a pleasure Captain. Do you know the manner of my task?" The mortal shook his head, and rested his hands behind his back, the medals on his chest swinging slightly. If he was surprised by my lack of pleasantries, he hid it.
"I do not my lord. Four months ago I was sent orders from the Ultima Segmentum command echelons itself that I was to head to this system and serve the Astartes who boarded my ship in everything he was to ask of us." I pondered this for a moment, gaze trailing over the armsman who stared out the corner of their eyes.
"I am pleased to hear that Captain Alexander. My task is to create a new Chapter of Space Marines." There was a sharp intake of breath from many around, and the Confessor started to whisper a hymn of praise to the Emperor.
"I know this will be a mighty burden to place before you. But I will ask much and more of you and your ship in the coming years." Evans only smiled.
"For such a task my lord, every soul and heart of this ship is yours to command." I made a small motion towards the massive doors that stood behind him.
"I ask then that we start our journey Captain, there is a long road ahead of us and I would begin as soon as possible." He nodded and was quick to personally lead me from the hangers, the other officers following behind. Some, like the Tech-priest, left for their personal domains.
A pair of crewmen took my weapons to a room that was being prepared for me. Our journey to the bridge hastened by the rail system, a luxury that many ships did not have. The small party stepped off the magnetic platform and through a series of locked doors and passages to the long hallway that lead to our destination. The triple steel doors opened with a low rumble, auto turrets whirling in place as they tracked our movement. The Machine Spirits knowing us to be allies.
Inside the bridge spreads out before me, one hundred meters of steel and cables. Many that connected to a massive central holotable that rose in the center of the room. A few steps above that the throne of the ship loomed, dominating over all.
Two staircases rose from the sides, rising to wide balconies that sat heavy with cogitators and datalinks, feeding its masters with constant information. Men and women were plugged into these machines, collaborating this data and only presenting the most critical to the table. The spaces under the balcony were filled with targeting machines and communications hubs.
Alexander climbed the stairs to the holotable, the metal grating pounding under leather and ceramite boots. I looked through the floor to the slaved servitors underneath, constantly churning out more data in ceaseless gargles. At the very top, the Captain stopped before his chair and looked at me. Space, empty and black, sprawled out behind him.
"Your orders my lord." My armors servos hummed as I gave the machine the code of the planet that had come with the edict. This code would be sent to the Warp Drive and the ship's Navigator, who I was not surprised had remained in his tower. They were a reclusive kind.
"Head to the Mandavil Point Captain, we should be underway as soon as possible." Evans barked orders to this helmsman and the ship started to swing, slowly moving its massive bulk through the weightlessness of space.
"Tell me Captain Evans, of the Emperor's Light. That is the ship's name correct?" The old officer nodded, gesturing slightly to the bridge around us.
"I have led the brave souls of the Emperor's Light for fifteen years my lord. We have seen action largely in sector defense. Many a pirate or Ork ship has met its end with the help of our guns." His voice had no problem cutting through the constant low chatter of noise from around us, experienced indeed.
"And before that? Do you know who used this vessel?" He shook his head.
"That information was not available to me, I was a Wing commander of Sword Frigates before taking lead of this ship, captaining a Dauntless Light Cruiser. I understand it is normally an Astartes vessel. But if any markings or signals had graced this ship's halls before, they were scrubbed clean before it came into my hands." I considered that information for a moment, knowing that there was little that would make any Chapter give up a warship of this caliber. I shook myself from such thoughts and turned back to the waiting Captain.
"Well, it is under the command of Astartes once again, and we will do our best to honor its predecessors legacy with our own deeds." Around me the voidsman gave quiet cheers to the proclamation, many in awe at seeing one of my kind, a legend given flesh.
I realized after a moment of silence that I had never taken off my helm, tactical data scrolling passed my eyes in an endless stream. A targeting sigil sitting over an officer's face. I reached up and twisted, the locks disengaging with a hiss as the sealed environment of my armor was broken.
I clipped the helm to my belt and looked through unfiltered lenses at the deck once more. The same dull white light of the hangers, the painted sigils of the cogitators casting a glow over their metal shells and operators. Every pair of eyes was upon my image, seeing beyond the helm to the immortal underneath. Would they see what I did? The tired brown eyes and short gray hair.
A bit of silence descended upon the bridge, the slightest feeling of acceleration weighing upon me. In a few hours time we would reach the Mandavil Point and the next step of our journey would begin.
"I will leave command in your capable hands Captain. If one of your men could show me to the room you mentioned?" I let the question hand between us before Evans' attention snapped to a nearby Midshipman.
"You, bring him to his quarters." His gaze returned to me.
"Command her however you see fit my lord, every soul aboard this ship is yours." I gave him a nod and turned to the Midshipman, a woman in her early twenties, black hair tied in a tight bun and hard blue eyes. A uniform unburdened by medals of distinction. Her voice was fearful, or perhaps nervous as she addressed me.
"If you will follow me my lord." I did so, heavy ceramite boots clanking on the steel grating of the floor, changing to a dull thud as we made it to the long hallway that ran from the bridge. For a short time we walked in silence, my steps slow and precise, short enough that she could keep up without struggle.
"Is it true my lord?" I crocked an eyebrow and let my attention drop the woman beside me.
"Is what true?" Her single heart started to beat harder, nervousness seeping into her posture.
"What they say about Space Marines? I've only seen pictographs and paintings, but to see one in person." She paused for a moment. "To see you in person my lord, it recalls the stories of my youth, and I wonder how many of the stories are true."
The ship rumbled slightly as the engines reached a new threshold of output, its reverberations growing stronger. We made it to the grand hallway that ran the length of the ship, a massive segmented route that provided a means of faster travel along the vessel. Above every door sigils that would light up in alarm stood silent next to a golden Aquila stamped into the cold steel.
Stanchions that hold bright lumens light the massive chambers and statues of hooded angels with greatswords line the walls. Banners of the Imperial Navy shift slightly in recycled air.
We travel along its length until departing into one of the hundreds of side passages, veins that pumped humans through the ship and to its extremities.
"It depends on what stories you have been told." She paused for a moment, motioning me a door that groaned slightly as it unbound its metal locks to let us through.
"That your ageless, and crafted from the Primarchs own genes. That you can best a hundred men in unarmed combat." For a single moment, the lives I had crushed with my boots and pulped from life with my fists came to mind, rivers of blood that my Chapter had set loose upon a hundred worlds.
"We are many things, but above all we are warriors of the Emperor, and protectors of Humanity. We are the bulwark against the darkness." She had eager eyes now, the next question falling from her lips.
"Have you taken part in many battles? Have you slain Orks and Eldar? I've only seen Ork ships before, and never an Eldar's." More memories came to the front, screaming greenskins, scrap metal axes rising and falling to hack limbs and rip flesh. The Eldar, graceful, exotic, deadly and not to be trusted beyond pacts for mutual survival.
"I have, the Orks are a more, common threat to the Imperium, their hordes can spring up from anyplace it often seems. The Eldar are trickier, craftier. They are manipulators and sorcerers." Her next question surprised me.
"Which do you think is deadlier?" I thought for a moment, passing by a small group of lesser officers who watched with wide and jealous eyes as we passed.
"Eldar." She asks no more questions and we enter the dormitories of the officers of the ship. My room was nestled among the others. The young Midshipman turned at an Aquila stamped door.
"This is your room my lord, is there anything else I can do for you?" I shook my head but stopped before I opened the door.
"Your name, what is it?" The girl turned and her ice colored eyes looked just a tiny bit guilty.
"Eli my lord. Eli Evans." For a moment she let that statement hang and I almost smiled. It would be just like a Captain of the Imperial Navy to do such a thing.
"Inform your father that I wish to be notified if any communications come from the world before we enter the warp, but that I am otherwise leaving command in his hands." She salutes and I dismiss her with a nod, turning and entering my new chambers.
It is well furnished and I soon found my belongings set upon a wooden table. It had felt, right, to leave my home without my weapons on my person.
The task before me would take patience. The construction of a Chapter of Astartes. The building of a planet to support it and ensure a healthy supply of recruits. I pondered the words of the edicts again, knowing it had named me the Planetary Governor of this world. PDF were within my right to train. A Chapter Fleet would need to be raised. I felt my mind start to scatter and made myself focus, reaching for the ink and paper that was thankfully set on the desk. I had planned to do.
Hours of black ink staining blank pages passed before the alarm for warp travel activated. The speakers of the ship sparked to life, a prayer led by the Confessor against the horrors of the warp crackled out. Blessings against corruption, a reminder to report all suspicious crewmembers to their deck's security officer.
Gellar fields were coaxed into life, a brief tingling in the spine as they enveloped the ship. Then we were swallowed by hell.
There was a sensation of being squeezed as we made the transfer from material to immaterial realms. I shuddered slightly as it passed. It was different every time, but never ceased to bring revulsion to my soul.
Time in the warp is a relative thing. Months can pass aboard a ship while only weeks run in the material. Sometime it is days, years even. Long are the lists of freak accidents upon regards to warp travel. I count the days by the shift bells that sound through the vessel.
I spent much of this time in my chambers, attempting to lay the foundational principles that would make up my Chapter. Leaving but to eat and make idle conversation with some of the leaders of the ship.
The next time I stood on the bridge of the ship was to gaze upon this new home. Seeing any planet from space was to deny its true size, its ultimate vastness denied by distance and mental scope.
The planet was a smudged mixture of gray, green and blue. Massive mountains, formed by crashing tectonic plates from an age long passed formed walls of ni-impassable terrain. Images appeared on the holotable in front of me, the ships scanners going to work mapping the topography.
The mountains gave way to gentler hills and grassland. Passed this, vast forests rose, their canopies a hundred meters above the ground, thick as macrocannons.
There were no great seas on the planet, no great bodies of water save one. From what would one day be known as the World Well water spread in the form of vast rivers. These behemoths splintered a thousand times over, its tendrils reaching every edge of the planet as a million armed squid.
All of this was bathed in light from the G class star that burned at the center of the system. During the night, as the world spun away from the light of the star it was kept in constant glow by three moons that spun in different orbits, each farther from the planet.
"So this is to be our home. At least it's nice to look upon" Alexander said quietly from beside me. The bridge was a bustle of quiet activity, the calculations to bring us into the orbit of the planet done hours ago, now the only thing to do was to wait.
"Have you thought of a name yet my lord?" I ponder his question, watching the planet grow like every other pair of eyes on the bridge.
"I have not given it much thought. I suppose it should have a proper name." I muse about it for a moment, but nothing in my training or experience had gifted me with much creativity beyond the battlefield.
"Tarth." The words came from the daughter of Alexander, the attention of those nearby descending upon her. Her father frowned slightly at her speaking up.
"Why that name Midshipman?" There was recognition in Alexander's gaze, try to hide it as he may. The girl responded with a small grin.
"First thing that came to mind my lord, who can say they have had the honor of naming a Chapter Homeword?" Many on the bridge looked on in mild bafflement and Alexander sighed slightly, but I smiled in amusement.
"Then Tarth it will be. But now I need some of your Armsman to accompany me to the surface. According to my orders, there should be a colony there. I will need their support to continue my plan." The ship's sensors continued to feed information to the holotable, providing an improving image of the planet's surface, the colonies location highlighting upon the holomap as a green rune.
"As many squads as you wish will be yours my lord." I nodded my thanks and turned to leave, orders already racing out ahead of me.
Upon my entrance to the grand hallway I see two squads of armsman standing a short distance away. They snap attention at my approach, dressed in battle fatigues of splotchy green and brown. Weapons slung over their shoulders are polished, but still hold the small signs of battle damage. The officer saluted and spoke.
"My Lord, we were informed you wished to journey to Tarth. We are under orders to escort you planet side." I was impressed by the speed by which the orders of the bridge had been acted upon and nodded to the officer.
"I do. I hope that the colony we find is peaceful, but its current state is unknown. I may need support should it be compromised."
"If there's any trouble we will make sure it will be of no concern for you. If the threat proves too great we are made of Helikian steel." The man proudly raised his head to meet my eyes. "We do not bend easily no matter the odds. That is if the foe is too numerous for you to handle" I motioned with a gesture for them to follow, and started down the mighty route. Statues of angels watch as we pass.
"I hope that it will not come to that. What is your name Armsman?"
"Sergeant Munzn of Moon Squad milord. I've served on this ship for six years." A look of curiosity flashed in Munsn's eyes. "What is on this planet Tanth? Cannibals, mutants or traitors?"
"We do not know, and that is why we are going in prepared." We made our way to the hanger, the mighty adamantium slabs that protected the hanger during battle slowly opening, the smell of ozone filling the deck as the energy fields that held the void at bay increased in power. The planet coming into view. I made my way to the same thunderhawk as I had before, its engines already primed. The armsman loaded in behind me, making no fuss about the too large seats and lack of human harness.
"Pilot David, take us down."
The craft rumbled as it lifted, landing gear retraction and thick plates sliding over the openings. The engines grew louder as air was sucked through massive fans and blasted out, we went forward, the machine changing its propulsion as oxygen vanished from its systems.
We descended through the atmosphere as a comet racing through the daylight, the ceramite that wrapped around the transport protecting us from the heat of entry. Data from the sensors of the thunderhawk scrolled through my helmet feed, readings about the air quality and temperature.
The colony was nestled in the center of a half circle of mountains that enveloped a two hundred fifty thousand kilometer chuck of land. That which wasn't braced against the mountains was faced with one of the monstrous rivers of the planet. From the cameras on the outside of the transport I could see the colony as we flew overhead, a large collection of squat buildings and walls. It was, unimpressive, I thought for a moment, the thunderhawk landing in a small clearing inside the compound. Hundreds of people emerged from within, threadbare clothing and gnarled well worked hands.
The door of the thunderhawk lowers with a hiss of pressurizing air and I descend the ramp soon after, the armsman forming into rank behind me. The colonists, more gathering in the space between their rockcrete homes, parted ways as their leader came forward.
He was a large man, stocky from a life of work. An Imperial Guard tattoo under one eye. He was wary, a las-pistol unfastened in its holster, but his hands rested on his waist. A targeting rune hovered over his head for a moment before I dismissed it, already having a count of both humans in the area, and possible defensive locations if things went poorly. He, like many others, were wide eyed upon seeing me, making the sign of the Aquila and bowing.
"My lord Space Marine, you honor us with your visit. My name is Eric Abistos, I am the lord of this settlement." He paused for a moment. "I must apologize, I was not expecting your arrival and do not know why you are here. We have had no visitors since our founding, thirty years ago." They had been here for that long? I looked at the people around us more closely. There were youths mixed in among the crowd. Babies and children held in arms and hiding behind skirts.
"There is no need to apologize. I will be blunt. I have come here to build a Chapter of Space Marines, to safeguard this sector of space and the wider Imperium. I am now the ruler of this world by the orders of the High Lords of Terra." Eric wasted no time in sinking to his knees, as did the others around him.
"We have long awaited the day our founders words would come true, that we would be the builders of an empire." I pondered that for a few seconds, wondering just how far back this plan had been put into motion. Nothing in the Imperium was done quickly.
"And builders of an empire you will be." From my waist I reached into a pouch and withdrew a copy of the scroll that sat in its gilded box in my chambers. The scribes in the library on the ship had been more than willing to make copies, even if they insisted the paper and ink be blessed by the priests onboard.
"This is the full extent of my orders, I would like to discuss them with you, so that we may go forward together in this endeavor. I am a foreigner to this planet, there is much you can tell me." Eric's wrinkled face pulled into a grin, having risen to take the scroll with both hands.
"It would be my honor my lord, if we may speak more inside." I nodded and turned to the armsman behind me.
"Sergeant Munzn, if you could take your men and make a report on the defenses here. Afterwards, you may stay on the planet if you so wish, I will need soldiers here as well." The man saluted and started giving orders as I followed Eric into his home. I had to duck to get inside, then slightly hunched to move around.
A fire burned in the center of the room, smoke curling into a small hole cut into the ceiling. The furnishings were sparse, a table laden with weathered books and knick knacks sat pushed up against the wall, a chair of rich red wood settled against it.
A few pictures were placed on the table under a carved wooden Aquila of rich red. I peered at them as I settled myself before the hearth, a metal grill over the crackling flames. It was Eric, years younger, sergeant markings upon his flack armor. All of them grinned for the photo, Eric's arms thrown around his nearest companions. The retired soldier hovered nearby.
"I am sorry for the discomfort my lord, I had never expected to host one such as yourself." I simply waved off his concern and looked to the crackling flames.
"You have no reason to apologize Eric. You would not have foreseen this."
The man flashed a awkward smile and busied himself in another room, the clink of metal and the pouring of liquid before he came back with a large wooden tray of bread and meat, a blue drink sitting inside a steel cup. He placed the meat over the fire, filling the room with its flavor and offered me the tray. I took a cup and reached up to unlock my helm, Eric staring for a few seconds before taking back his eyes.
"I am sorry if the drink is strange to you my lord, we make it from small fruit trees that grow within the mighty roots of the forests, they are a parasitic species, burrowing into the larger trunks and stealing nutrients. At least, that's what we think happens." I gave the drink a small sip and was pleased by the sweet earthy taste. But now it was time to get to work.
"You said you have been here for some years Eric, can you tell me why your colony was founded?" Eric nodded as he turned the meat on the fire over, sizzling as uncooked flesh met heated metal.
"We were founded thirty years ago by a Rogue Trader, he was paid by the Adeptus Administratum to transport a few hundred colonists to this planet and provide us with enough materials and supplies until we became self sufficient. I had just left my Regiment and was looking for work. I agreed to lead the colony, even if I had not expected to be at its head for this long." He paused for a moment, memories churning behind his gaze.
"We never saw him again. Never made it back after he dropped us on the planet, and we have been struggling to grow since ." I could not say I was surprised by the Traders behavior, in all my dealings with them, it was not often they acted in anything but self interest.
"You have done well for yourself in that time Eric, the people here owe you much." The aged man smiled and he rose to his feet, heading over to the desk placed in the corner of the room. When he returned he handed me a large stack of papers.
"I used to serve in the guard, when I was just a boy. I have compiled a list of what we know about the planet and its ecosystem but…" He paused, and I frowned at the raw fear that radiated off the man for a moment.
"I know when I say this you may think me, cowardly, my lord. But we do not journey far outside these walls for good reason." My brow dipped in slight concern. There were many monsters among the stars that could make a man look back in such terror, and I had little desire to face one.
"There are, beasts, on this world that call the mountains home, they are its masters, its lords. Massive creatures of scales and fangs. Drakes, we call them" He handed me a sketched image and I gazed at it for a moment. It reminded me of the dragons that were found on some worlds, but this creature lacked wings. Its neck and tail were thicker, its scales overlapping armor and slightly curved claws made to rend flesh.
I could imagine what such natural weapons could do to unarmored humans, gazing at the image for a long minute before I looked back to Eric. He busied himself with taking the cooked meat off the fire, his hands trembling slightly.
"What happened?" It was clear from the way his eyes flickered to mine he knew I had noticed his actions. He took a moment to collect himself before speaking.
"We had a second colony once. We had grown in size and wanted to establish a second outpost deeper in the forest. They came in the middle of the day, two of them, without warning or prompting. They slaughtered every person inside the compound, crushed its buildings to dust and then walked back into the forest without a care. My wife was there. But… they spared me, and I will never forget the look of feral hate that filled those eyes." I was intrigued by these beasts but didn't press further, wondering if the story could be exaggerated by past trauma experienced in war.
But if this beast was the king of the land, then perhaps it would be wise to pay its kingdom a visit. My armor thrummed in restrained power as I rose from my place on the floor and Eric was quick to rise with me.
"What are you planning to do lord?" I grasp my helm and place it back on, data scrolling through my vision as I turn to the small doorway.
"I am going to see these creatures you've spoken off." Eric froze, horror flashing across his face before he started after me.
"But, that's suicide. Those monsters are too strong, too aggressive, they will kill you my lord!"
My helmet turned to peer down at the mortal man.
"I am an Adeptus Astartes Eric, I do not die so easily." I say with a slight smile to ease his worry before I step back into the light of the day and look beyond the massive forests that grew on all sides of the colony. The mountains rose there, jagged fangs of gray stone and snow. Between the two curving lines of upheaved rock there was one that stood out beyond the others. Even from two hundred kilometers away I could see the clouds that swirled around its peak, wisps of white that covered it in shadow. It was a lonely sentinel, a spire among its siblings.
I spent half an hour organizing the distribution of materials and necessities from the ship, as well as the dispatching of a few more squads of armsman. I left Sargent Munzn in charge of the new arrivals.
Then, to the fearful looks of the colonists, I departed the safety of their walls and entered the shadowed forests of Tarth.
Seven meters thick around their base, the massive trees towered upwards into the sky, their thick canopies choking much of the sunlight from the forest floor. I raised one hand to a giant that grew out from the ground and ran my hand along the thick bark, my ceramite gauntlet trailing its surface, rough but not sharp. The wind shifted, bringing with it new scents and information, the light above dancing through the leaves in rays of gold.
These bits of light did little to feed the undergrowth, some minor ferns growing here and there, alongside a thick carpet of grass shoots. The smaller plants that Eric had spoken of were in abundance however, plumes of green that sat heavy with blue or red fruit on the trunks and roots of their massive relatives.
I reached out and plucked one of the fruits from its stem, twisting off my helmet and taking a bite. Sweet watery flesh spread across my tongue, a thick band of black seeds at the core.
Underfoot the ground was littered with the half meter leaves from above, falling and tumbling before resting eternal. Microorganisms breaking them down and returning them to the soil. Mushrooms of vivid purple and yellow grew among the decaying plantlife. It carried with it an earthy smell. I plucked these two from the ground and ate, wincing at the taste of some, those which my body told me was poisonous.
Among the rustle of leaves I could hear the wildlife dance around me, tiny bugs with twelve legs and fierce jaws that spat some kind of acid battled along the root systems that grew upwards from the soil, small birds swooped among the wide spaces between the trees even as predators ran along the floor, picking off the rodents that fed on the insects.
My armor registered all of this and more uncaring, but an alarm flared when a fast moving shadow passed overhead. I snapped my bolt pistols up in pure instinct, targeting signals held over the chest of a massive avian that flew over my head. Its wingspan almost six meters. Before I could observe further it vanished with a heave of powerful wings and dove up through the canopy, the terrified screaming of an unfortunate creature fading into the air.
Tarth was filled with life, brutal, uncaring life.
A new sound came across my senses, the soft roar of rushing water. I momentarily strayed from the route I had been following and went to my left. A small river fell a few meters in a short waterfall, screaming around the hollowed underside of a tree. Once falling, it continued a lazy pattern through the forest. I went to the edge and knelt geneforged eyes piercing their depths.
The water was flowing towards the mountains, uphill, away from its larger sibling. I had seen many things in my long life, worlds where mountains floated from strange magnetic minerals that hung them suspended in the sky. Deep ravines that cut through the mantles of planets, cities wedged in cracks their depths. What kind of natural force could push against a planet's gravity like this?
I did not know, and I found myself dipping my hand into the waters to cup it to my mouth. The water was not sweet or bitter, it tasted of minerals and marine life. The slightest hint of volcanic rock.
I look back into its waters, seeing the roots of the large trees that stood sentinel burrowing into it, sucking the water from the source. Fish of many kinds danced through the protection, hiding from larger predators that couldn't dash into the tangled plant life. Something large and fast skirted along my vision, hidden by the murk.
Rising from where I knelt and replaced my helm, filing away the detail for study in the future, whenever I found the time among my other, more pressing duties.
Journeying through this land was not a fast affair, sometimes the roots of the trees were thick through the forest floor, rising in great tangled bunches almost a meter high. I was often forced to climb over these small obstacles or find ways around them, paths taken by beasts that called this place home.
When night started to fall I did nothing to stop my pace, the light provided was more than enough for me to continue my journey. I looked up at the orbiting rocks through the dancing leaves, one was covered in green smudges, perhaps some kind of life. Another was white, barren and devoid of anything. The last, only visible because of the missing stars behind it, was dark and gray, its surface too far away and too dim for me to make out any features.
As the last bits of sunlight faded from behind the world the forest refused to be lulled into sleep. Small insects with glowing abdomens lit my path, thousands of them descending from nests that sat on the sides of the large trees. They poured out of these like little rivers of light, spreading their wings and flying. I smiled at the sight, pleased that such a world would be my own. I wondered if my brother would have appreciated the sight as much as I was.
My armor's autosense picked up the tiny flutter of wings as new species revealed themselves to me, a bird the size of my palm diving through the horde of swirling insects. Large eyes made to pick up the light, a long and thin beak snapping at its dinner. This was not the only species that made food from the light bugs, rodents with their own enlarged eyes leapt from the forest floor and sides of trees, little hands grasping and blunted teeth tearing at insect flesh.
A branch snapped a dozen meters to my left and my helmet turned towards the sound. Crouching through the darkness is what could have at passed for ancient terran baboon, but this was no such creature anymore.
Four arms that ended in blunt claws spread out from its sides, lower limbs with large feet made to grasp branches stopped at the stick break. A thick carpet of fur clad its body, its mouth stretching to showcase mostly fanged teeth, blood speckled incisors protruding out from pink gums.
Two thick tails almost three meters in length rose from behind it, at their very ends, small bonelike protrusions. This animal had not noticed me as I had noticed it, or it simply did not care, its natural weapon suddenly striking forward and spearing a leaping rodent. It squeaked in pain for one moment before the beasts jaws came down around it and started to rip it apart. It paused, large knife shaped ears that grew from its head swiveling slightly before its eyes suddenly turned towards me, my suit blowing a bit of warm air from its exhaust ports.
It dashed towards the closest tree and fled up it, fast for an animal of thick muscle. It used its limbs to pull aggressively upwards, tails pushing it as the tips dove downwards. In twenty seconds it was back at the top of the forest, sharing its bounty with the one other of its kind there, young squeaking to be fed.
Now more knowledgeable of the beasts above me I often turned my attention upwards as I walked, seeing the small family groups huddling within the massive sprawling branches that filled the canopy above.
The night was in full swing, birds and animals visible through the faint moonlight, huddled together against a cold wind. Away from the bioluminescent mushrooms and streaming rivers of light bugs the mood of the woods changed. Its towering lords felt less welcoming, more watchful as I traversed under them.
The ground dipped, trailing a few meters lower. Water splashing under my feet, a few dozen centimeters of murky plant covered liquid. Fed by the drops that flowed from a tiny mountain stream. A amphibious creature, skin moist, patchwork brown and green. It croaked at me, a high pitched warbling that shattered the somber scene.
When daylight broke there was a flurry of activity as the animals of the day and night both fed while the light bugs retreated into their shelled homes, safe from predators. I could start to see through the forest around me to the mountains beyond.
I exited the sentinels watch as the sun began to rise in the sky, finally free from their twisting paths and hidden ways. Here the roots had yet to dig into the soil, the ground starting to gently heave and buck as it grew closer to the mountains. It was a kind of steppe, but one fed by small rivers that speared through its swaying grass.
The forests had some hold along the river banks, but the trees here were smaller and less dense, providing shade to the animals of the plains. Short thick grass grew alongside fields of brilliant flowers that ran up and down the gradual slopes, short stocky shrubs that laid filled with small bright red berries. Burrowing rodents climbed atop the gray rocks that poked out from the ground, eyes peeled for predators. Their fur brown with black stripes, small round ears upon a narrow skull. I looked passed this to a massive herd that made its way across the hill side.
Descended from old terran bovidae, these creatures had adapted to life on the move, stocky legs covered in dirt supported a bulky frame that was covered in thick grey shaggy fur. A helmet of bone grew down to their noses and curled around their heads to form horns. Even from here I could hear the mighty thud as two bulls bellowed and charged one another, crashing together again and again in a fight for dominance. Their battle ripped up the earth around them, ravaging a patch of swaying flowers.
I grew closer to these mighty beasts, the largest bulls standing almost two and a half meters at the shoulder. I paid them little mind, the lumbering herbivores ate the grass around them before moving onwards, a migratory herd that roamed the space between the forests and mountains.
I judged the distance between me and my destination and set myself in a quick jog, a sprinting pace for a human that I could maintain for long stretches of time. I raced past the baying heard, my armor's servo's thrumming with power, the beasts heads rising and more calls echoing as they saw this gray figure pounding passed them. By midday I had crossed much of the steppe, the terrain starting to rise upwards more and fall less. Large rocks that poked out of the ground became commonplace.
Now free of the illusions of distance the true size of the mighty stone sentinels become clearer to me, the mountains that slopped around the area to my right and left towards the river before fading into hills rise a kilometer and half upwards the steppe. The sentinel I walked towards, six.
It was not the largest mountain I had ever seen, nothing compared to the mightiest bastion outside of the Imperial Palace, the Fang. But it had the advantage of rising from little elevation above the surface of the world's water system. It was six kilometers of pure towering stone.
As I finally hit the foothills of the mountains I caught my very first bit of what kind of beasts laid above me. The body of a bull was torn apart in the dirt, its flesh ripped with fangs and claws. The kill was perhaps a day old, flies covered the dried flesh and scavengers raced away as I neared. Angry birds cawed at me from above.
I took a bite of the flesh and let my Omophagea begin to work. Memories from a bestial perspective filled my mind, a lifetime of wandering the plains of the planet in search of food. At the end of its life, fear clouded over all, terror as the herd fled from the mountain monsters. Fangs as long as man's arm flashing in my sight before the memories faded.
So that was a drake.
I left the stinking corpse behind and started upwards, through the grass and shrubs that grew in the dirt, painting the mountain green for the first few hundred meters before the dirt faded and only pure stone remained. This part of the climb was easy, the slopes, while harsher than the hills below, were nothing to Astartes, and I made good time.
I was quick to recognize the paths of worn stone, smoothed by scales and claws. I held no fear of attack, the size of the Drake I had seen that killed the steppe beast was not of such a size that I could not kill.
Soon the rocks started to slant higher, the path I follow growing narrower in places when the claw marks head to places I cannot follow without a jump pack. My hands rise to grip at stone and my boots touch into places that I have to carve with my power sword, cutting grooves into flat rock one hand hold at a time. I am still a kilometers from the top. With snail-like progress I manage to climb my way to a better location, seeing a ledge to rest upon.
I lift myself up and over the edge, breathing the thin mountain air through soft laboring breaths. Hours of climbing and cutting paths had been taxing. With one last great intake I stand to my feet and look around. The mountain is shored back two hundred meters in a rough circle, as if a cylinder had lowered from the heavens and cut a chunk of the mountain away.
What remained was a strange enclosure, natural enough to be ignorable but lingering in the realm of unbelievable. High above the awning stone resumed its uninterrupted climb, a notch cut in the mountainside.
My sensorium runes flashed into warning. I drew my weapon, training my bolt pistol upon the threat.
It was a drake. Taller than I was, a full three meters from talons to the top of its horned skull. Slitted bestial eyes filled with alien intelligence gazed upon me, almost uninterested. I slip one of my blades from its sheath.
The Drake rises, six meters from nose to tail tip, thick overlapping scales more akin to plates of armor moved as muscles stretched and contracted, five taloned fingers came from its forelegs, its back legs more pawlike, shorter claws and made for grip and running. It drew closer, nose sucking in air as its eyes narrowed, a second membrane flickering over orange orbs.
It sinks deeper into its crouch, muscles bulging under skin and the rumble of its chest grows deeper. Its jaws part and a hooked tongue snakes across long jagged fangs.
With a building roar it charges, the ground quaking as it thunders across the rock. I flicked the activation switch of my blade, lighting blue energy enveloped the metal.
I ducked under its first swing, slashing at the arm as it sails overhead. Instead of cutting deep as I had expected, it does little damage to the creature's scales. I pounded backwards, creating distance, bolt pistol barking. It ducks under the first bolts, tanking shells that glance off or explode on its scales, leaving cracks and burn marks.
My second heart is beating now, combat stims dripping into my blood. They bring with them a rush of focus. My senses heighten, the instants between seconds stretch just a moment longer. My magazine ran empty before my back hits the rock wall. I slammed a fresh one home, rising it again as the beast descended, pain driving it to new heights of aggression.
I deflected its first swipe, turned away the other by a burst of bolt shells. Its jaws opened over me, saliva falling upon my helmet. I swing my blade hand, curled in a fist, into its descending jaws. Flesh split as soft scales met ceramite and steel. Blood sprays onto my helmet. The beast staggered with the blow, spinning faster than its size allowed to slap me with its tail. I try to step away from the blow. Rock scrapes loudly against my back.
My armor flares alarm a heartbeat before impact. Ceramite cracks, metal bends, microfiber bundles spasm and flesh bruises. I'm sent tumbling along the smooth rock, sucking air back into my compressed lungs. I turn my slide into a roll, coming back onto my feet. My pistol is barking before I'm up, possible weak points being targeted and prompted. My bio readouts tell me that I have several cracked ribs.
I blinked them all away as it falls upon me, through my block and raking its claws against my chestplate. The material cracks under its blows.
I raise my blade and tried to stab into its jaw. It had grown wise to my tricks, dodging around the blow, sinking the left half my torso in its jaws. Puncture runes flash, one wet fang driving through my eyepiece, its tip centimeters from my eye.
I club at its eye with my pistol, snarling, refusing to be beaten by such a beast. Both my hearts are thundering now, the blood that dribbles along the inside of my body suit smells of combat stims and iron.
I felt something soft under my blind strikes and the beast howls around my ears, muted by my helm. My teeth still rattle. I felt myself lifted,stability stolen as hot breath washes over me, a straining roar thundering from its gullet as I'm thrown.
Again I go grinding across the stone, finding my feet and unleashing another punishing salvo of bolt shells. It takes them on the chest, more pockets of cracked and bleeding armor. But still it does not puncture. I mutter a curse and lock my pistol to my side, drawing my second blade.
A new approach would be needed, and I charged the beast as my own fury is made physical by the scream that blasts from my vox grill. We meet in a titanic clash of scales and ceramite. I lower my shoulder at impact, driving its edge into the bruised and cracked plate scales. Armor splinters, shards fly wide as the side of my ruined helm is splattered in gore.
The muscles in its back legs bunch as its claws gouge into the stone, pushing back against me as its talons rake at my arms and sides. I sink two blows against the weakened armor of its chest. Ducking and deflecting its chaotic attacks. I catch claws along the width of my blade and turn outside the blow, swinging with my second sword at its eyes and jaw. It tries to catch me with its tail, I dodge back, creating distance.
It's bleeding now, both bright red and thick crimson mixing together upon the stone. Both of us are committed to ending this now, no more running, no more chasing.
Its orange eyes are blazing with life, besides the meager wounds that pump its life to dribble along scales, it has only a mind for the present, for the battle. We meet again, blade to claw.
Its talons scrape away half the golden Aquila on my chestplate. I thrust my blade deep into its chest, but the angle is wrong and I miss the heart.
It pushes me off it just as fangs came crashing down. I lifted my arm and shoved my blade deep into its open mouth, its jaws crunching down on my pauldron and puncturing the armor between my neck and shoulder piece. I ignored the pain, driving the blade deeper and thrusting it out the back of the beast's skull. It goes slack, dragging me to the floor with its eyes rolled up in its head.
It takes two tries to remove myself from its heavy bulk, the fiber bundles under ceramite plates have been torn, my backpack spits and wines slightly from puncture damage and torn wires. Metal digs into my flesh where it has been pushed inwards, drying blood sticks to the inside of my undersuit, freezing quickly where exposed.
I raise a hand to my helmet and thumb the release, pulling it off with a twist. I breath deep the freezing air, letting the pain that comes with it return me to the task I have yet to complete. Spit laced with blood bubbles on the stone as I remove it from my tongue. I have minor internal bleeding, but from what blow I do not know.
I looked down at the corpse and now understand some of the fear that had come from Eric. Such a beast, as small as it was, was a terrible thing for a mortal with little in weapons to behold. I held the dead drake in my regard for several minutes, watching as thick red blood pooled from its mouth, staining the gray rock. Fierce orange eyes hold me in ill regard, even in death.
I sheathed my blades and kneel beside it, taking out the combat knife I had held since being a scout and dug out the largest of the front fangs. Twenty five centimeters of bone.
It has been a habit of mine to take a small memento from every world I fought upon, unless circumstances had made it impossible. I stashed the item away in a pouch along the back of my belt.
Ritual compete I turn my gaze to continuing my climb. Flakes of snow pepper my armor as gusts of wind blow down from the mountain top. Heavy clouds above finally beginning to loose their burdens.
While I looked, the sun had begun to fall behind the mountain, its golden rays peeking around the towering stone. A great shadow cut across the land, their peaks as fangs that grew and grew across the plains and forest. Consuming all in the darkness.
The horizon was a dark purple, the other side of a wave of black that consumed the land. When it settled it left Tarth a shadowed place, the clouds that settled over us blocking the moon's glow.
It carried with it a heaviness, far from the colorful place of day.
I pulled myself away from the scene and continued my search, what little glow seeped from the clouds enough light to work by.
I found a worn path up the mountain upon the left side. More snow rushed down the edges from above, more of it packing upon the winding trail that spiraled towards the sky. Boots crunching the ice I ignored the lingering wounds and weariness that hovered on the edge of my mind. My breath swirled around my head, bringing licks of warmth stolen by the gathering snowstorm.
I followed the claw worn way, gladdened by its width. Boots clunking heavy on the mountain I ignored the scrape of scales that carried off the summit above me. There were more of those creatures up there, but how many I needed to know. The very real possibility of a quick exit loomed in the back of my mind.
I plunge boldly into the freezing fog of the veil, visibility dropping, thin layers of ice forming and cracking upon my armor, leaving only the warm powerpack clear. Small clumps of ice formed across my hair.
I pierced the mist and stepped upon the mountaintop. The light of the moons shined with their full intensity, the tops of the clouds made ethereal by the glow. Perched among this sea of white the frozen earth loomed larger than ever, darker, shadowed.
The same half bowl shape from below rose above again. As if a wave had crested and turned to rock. Caves in their dozens dotted the mountain top, out of them came drakes.
Much bigger drakes.
My sensorium pinged movement behind me, one of them slinking through the vail to block my escape. Others circled left and right, predators pondering what had entered their lair before they lunged for a kill.
My lips turn upwards in a silent snarl, combat stims again plunging me into an adrenaline infused state of ready.
A rumbling that shakes the mountain stops all of us dead. My armors threat system spikes, a huge signature appearing from the largest of caves. The other drakes nearby lose their aggressive posture, becoming meek and passive. They back a dozen paces away, making room for whatever is coming.
The ground thuds, a shaking of the earth I have not felt for a century at least. Not since I last did battle alongside the mighty war engines of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The creature that comes from the mouth of the mountain is just as grand as any warmachine. Towering over every other drake by meters, it is large as a Reaver Battle Titan. It swings its head around the scene, great billowing bursts of white flushing from its nostrils.
Its gaze settles upon me, inquisitive as an eyelid blinks lazily. Slowly it rests itself upon the ground, earth rattling, the auto-stabilizers in my armor activating to keep me upright.
A voice, a rumbling presence of a greater will drives through my mind, its weight dominating and heavy.
"You carry the blood of my own. Why?" She breathes the words through my skull, boulders sliding through wet sand, dragging her thoughts across my mind. I wanted to vomit, sweat freezing across my brow as I struggled to remain upright. My hands are heavy, my tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth. I worked my jaw into a response, the pressure growing, my nose bleeds.
"Defended myself." I offer her, the memories of the encounter plucked as they passed at the head of my thoughts.
Psyker. My soul recoils at its touch. Amusement radiating from her. I try to shield my thoughts, but like a child picking apart a clam shell, she pries the answers from the shelves of my sanctum.
In a rush the pressure fades, the cool balm of calm easing my struggling consciousness. Our link stays, but her mind is hidden beneath layers I could not even attempt to see through. The strange connection taints me, mind sharing an ability for those with genetic traits different than my own. She retreats further, touching only the bare sides of my consciousness.
"Get out of my head." I spit, my blood alive with rage at my soul being defiled in such a way. She does not sever the bond.
"You are ignorant of what you have accomplished." The voice responds, still with that frustrating amusement.
"I have accomplished nothing yet." Her claws, stained with eaons of hunting and bloodshed, tapped on the stone.
"Killing one of my own is not such a small feat." Her gaze surveys those of her children that surround us, a loose circle of statues.
"Even one as small as you have taken from me." I expected anger, for her to snort and smear me across the rock. But the blow never came, never did she rise from her lazed position.
"Why have you come here." The question grounds me, unsure of her intent.
"I am a Space Marine, a warrior in the Emperor's Imperium. I have been tasked with building a new Chapter of my kind. I have chosen to make our home here, on this mountain." I say the last words with rising confidence, resolving to show no more weakness to this Queen of drakes.
"Upon this mountain?" The amusement is back, tainted by a long slumbering pride slowly rising from the depths.
"Upon this mountain." I square my feet and ignore the wind that tugs at my ice covered hair. Here above the cloudline, a demigod of its kind conducted business with a bloodied warrior from the heavens.
"You have come here seeking my permission?"
"I was not aware you existed."
"That does not matter. It is my mountain."
"I ask it of you then. Ensure your children do not savage my people" Something unpleasant ran the length of our still touching minds. Weakness. People should be strong, capable.
"I will ensure the hunting grounds are moved." She offered nothing else, a minute passing in silence as the snow grew around my boots, small mounds reflecting light from overhead moons.
Great sapphire eyes blinked lazy in the darkness, shining in controlled power. They saw all, the domain that this mountain oversaw was a thing of improbable magnitude.
Psyker.
Those great eyes narrowed again as the word was spat across our link. A tongue of flesh shredding barbs licked away the blood of a recent feast.
"I have something for you. A reward. The first. The least." Her great bulk shifted and dipped inside her cave. When it returned, something glowed between her grand spireld crown of horns.
An egg, large as a melon, the eldric energies used to keep it aloft glowing dully on its rough outer shell. The queen dipped her head slightly and lowered it to me. I feared touching it, having been so enveloped in raw psychic power.
But I dared not refuse the gift, and took it with both hands.
"My gift to you, Space Marine. A companion to accompany you in your wars for your Imperium."
I looked down at the thing in my hands. Such a creature? To be my companion? A returning gust of wind stabbed to where the flesh bare to the elements still clung to warmth. Astartes' physiques would not die of simple cold.
"Why." I demand, confused by this change in the pace of our meeting.
Something changes in her gaze, a moment of stillness as the force of her presence withers around her, leaving only the remnants of ancient glory and struggle.
"Because an oath is an oath. We do not break them."
"What? Who asked this of you?"
"It no longer matters. Such time has passed that only duty remains when the why has been lost."
She regained her posture, a cloak of power and awe woven upon her skin returning in its full glory. I wanted to press her further upon this ancient pact but knew I would not get far. If anything, she had grown colder after the omission, clinging to her as the frost did the rocks, permanent and unremovable.
"So be it." I return, looking down again to the gift in my hands.
I doubted I would find much companionship with a creature that had dealt me such harm, but I knew she would know if I discarded it further down the trail. Even the barest idea of it made her eye twitch, her jaw grinding slightly.
No, that would not be the correct path.
So instead I discard the idea and hold the egg closer, adjusting my grip into something less standoff.
"My thanks, drake Queen. I will grow to appreciate it." She regards me with unamused eyes and rises, our meeting over. As I turn to leave, dismissed with a turned head, I feel her overwhelming presence invade me again.
"The name of your brotherhood, what will it be?" I stop and ponder her question. It is a serious one, the name of a Chapter is its very heart, a finally rallying cry and oath of strength. It would be copied by scribes upon a thousand worlds, if they sacrifice enough.
"The Iron Drakes."
I'll say this. We've come a long way from that first Grox fight ladies and gentleman, we've come a long way. Hope you've enjoyed the first re-written chapter of the founding, more to come. Feedback is appreciated. Until next time, stay happy.