A blasted hellscape. Those were the only words Akileus felt could describe the Deimos Peninsula.

He could smell the stench of Chaos before he even set foot on the peninsula. The stench of corruption, decay and blood was noticable from miles away. The very air he breathed felt thick and sluggish before he'd even set foot in this place. And now that he had, he saw just how much damage had been done.

The whole region was completely without vegetation. As far as Akileus could see, which, even with his enhanced senses, was not far, the ground was blasted and red, with not so much as a single tree sticking up from the ground. The earth seemed completely barren, and even seemed to glow, as if the very ground itself had been subject to the foul transformations of Chaos. The stench of rot had only gotten stronger now.

One thing that did not elude Akileus, however, was the fact that even here, in the middle of the gorge that was about to become the Blood Ravens' staging area, there were crude crosses everywhere, with people who, judging by their clothing, had been from all walks of life, nailed to them, the eight-pointed star of Chaos branded on their forehead in a grotesque tribute to the Ruinous Powers. These crosses stretched as far as the eyes could see, and Akileus reeled in disgust. This would be different from Victory Bay. At Victory Bay, they had fought an unnecessary war against those who could have been their allies. This was going to be a righteous slaughter of those who'd turned their backs on the Emperor. This would be war.

"You sense the influence as well, brother Akileus?"

Akileus turned his head to look at Captain Thule, sitting next to him onboard the Land Raider Crusader. He shrugged lightly, currently sitting in a suit of power armor, having left his Tactical Dreadnought Armor in the care of the Techmarines until they could assess the damage the suit had suffered against the Guard. Though he felt liberated by the lighter suit of regular power armor, he felt ever so much more vulnerable without his assault cannon.

"I do, Captain Thule. This whole place seems to eke for a slaughter. As if whatever blasted creatures in the area scream for blood."

"We fight Word Bearers, brother Akileus. Their greatest weapon is their strong ties with the daemonic servants of Chaos. No doubt this place has already seen the touch of those vile creatures."

Akileus nodded. Eliphas the Inheritor, Aeneas had said. Chapter records showed little information about this particular heretic, but like every Space Marine in service of the Imperium, Akileus knew of the progeny of Lorgar.

"We have been given an opportunity to bring justice to the Emperor's foes. Why are you all so glum?", Castor suddenly said, while in the process of examining his plasma gun. Captain Thule looked at him for a second, his one eyebrow slightly raised.

"That is true, Castor, but we must also remember that we fight a campaign here. After this, there will be other battles, other xeno species that must be purged from this world. Even if we fight our archenemy, we must do so cautiously, or we end up taking too many casualties. Unlike nearly every enemy we face on this world, we cannot replenish our forces, and I suspect this will be the hardest fight of all."

Castor nodded. Akileus suspected that Castor had only meant to lighten the mood, but he was known to be a glory hound, and Thule would not abide recklessness in his own command squad, not with so much at stake.

Endymion and Ajas were engaged in their own conversation, evidently discussing the merits of a thunder hammer over a power sword, and what equipment served as the best counterbalance to their respective weapons. It was a heated conversation, and Akileus suspected that the argument would never stop so long as both of them still drew breath.

"Surely, Ajas, even you can appreciate the beauty of a thunder hammer from a perspective of leadership. While the weapon may not be as practical for one-on-one fights as a power sword, you must admit its power as a rallying tool." Endymion said.

"While that may be, Endymion, your rallying point will only do you good if you survive to rally your men. And I seem to remember that we have company banners for rallying," came Ajas' retort.

"Even then, the thunder hammer is a destructive weapon beyond compare, and in a command squad like ours, surely versatility amounts to something."

"I cannot disagree, but that still makes it a weapon with a very singular use."

"Surely you're not arguing that a power sword can destroy a tank."

"With the right equipment, a warrior armed with a power sword can easily deal with tanks."

"And thus we're brought back to the issue of equipment..."

"As much as I appreciate your debates on the finer arts of combat, Ajas, Endymion, you have had this discussion for the last several decades under my command, and you've never reached consensus. Can we, once and for all, reach some sort of consensus on this?" Davian Thule's blunt statement interrupted the conversation.

Both veterans looked at their captain for a second and shook their heads in unison. This was their ritual before an important battle like this. Endymion had told Akileus that it was their way of calming any anxiety before the battle. As Akileus himself knew well himself, the worst part was not the battle, but the waiting before battle. A debate, empty as it might be, was still preferable to silence.


The Land Raider suddenly opened its doors. As the assault hatches on the front blew open, Thule's command squad and Akileus' sternguard squad blasted out the doors, boltguns, bolt pistol and plasma weaponry at the ready from the get-go. Behind them, Akileus could hear the sound of several more ramps opening, and soon enough two Tactical Squads stood ready behind them, already checking for targets and searching for cover. They knew it would not be very long before the Inheritor found them. Captain Thule had chosen not to deploy in full strength, leaving him with about forty marines on the ground supported by two mighty Predator tank, one of each pattern. They were on each side of the Crusader's flank, weapons at the ready. The rest remained behind to be dropped in through orbital insertion or by Drop Pod, as to keep his tactical options open. On top of this, Nicolaus' scout squad had been deployed ahead of time to scour the fields, though they'd not been heard of for quite some time. Akileus suspected that this unholy place had interfered with their communications.

"Hear my warnings, unbelievers, carried to your minds by the power of the Prince of Excess himself!"

Akileus' two hearts jumped. The heretic spoke to them. He could see his fellow marines clutching their heads as well, attempting to shut out the foul voice of the traitor, whomever he was.

"It was most unwise of you, loyalists, to send your untrained ahead. Rest assured that they will not be tormented long. They will be a worthy sacrifice to our gods."

So Nicolaus and his Scouts had been captured. That explained the silence on their part. This did not bode well. They'd have to be rescued.

"Veterans of ten millennia of unholy war wait to grind you beneath the treads of their mighty boots. The chosen of Khorne hunger to add you to their bloody tally! The Blood God himself has marked this land, and he will claim your skulls for his throne. There is no hope in opposing the inevitable. Cower before the might of the Fourth Inheriting!"

As soon as the traitor, no doubt the eponymous Eliphas had finished his speech, Akileus noticed something that caught his eye immediately.

From both sides of the gorge, hundreds of heretics dashed down from both ends of the gorge, cruel blades in one hand and a mixture of laspistols and autoguns in the other. Each of them was clad in a dark red robe with the eight-pointed star branded on their foreheads. They ran down, screaming on the top of their collective lungs, filling the air with noise.

"Do not falter, brothers. This heretic's word will not deter us from our cause, and neither will his army of heretics. We will not fail our Emperor or our unknown father. We will stand our ground, and we will stand victorious." With those words, Captain Thule lifted his power sword in one hand and his bolt pistol in another as he began firing into the horde of heretics continuing undeterred towards the Space Marine lines. Soon enough, the two Tactical Squads began picking their targets with expert precision as well as bolt shells and missiles began detonating amongst the horde, each explosion tearing at least one heretic apart.

Yet the heretics continued onwards, firing las-rounds and autogun shells at the marines, and though their weapons were highly ineffective, the bullets and las-rounds fell like rain over the Space Marines, most of which were still out of cover. One marine fell before the Tactical Marines could seek cover behind their Rhinos.

Then, with a mighty roar of engines, the Land Raider came to life. The hurricane bolter sponsons on both its sides soon began to fire at a blistering pace, sending out bolt shells with the fury of a full Tactical Squad. Meanwhile, the twin-linked assault cannon on its top was also sending out fire at a blistering pace, and more heretics fell, torn into bloody giblets by the fury of the assault cannon.

Some of the cultists broke and fell back then, running away, their screams of fury turned to screams of abject terror. Others continued undeterred in a blood-soaked tide of foes.

It was then that Akileus realized why the earth around them was red. Deimos Peninsula was soaked in the blood of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Imperial citizens, those who had not been willing to submit to the lure of Chaos Gods. Those who had remained faithful had been killed here, their blood sacrificed to appease the hungry gods. His heart sunk at the thought before he lifted his boltgun himself. His sergeant shouted "Dragonfire rounds", and all of them flicked a switch on their boltguns. A second later, the fire selector was in place, and in unison, Akileus and his Sternguard brethren opened fire. Wherever their rounds fell, a gust of flame appeared not soon after, and soon enough, scores of cultists were burning, some falling down, and others charging forward, already far beyond pain. It would not be long until their lines were overrun.

As Akileus continued to fire down the line of heretics with accurate volleys of bolter fire, he could just make out the outline of Captain Thule's command squad, now engaged in close combat with the enemy. Hector lifted the company banner high, and by his side stood Castor, now armed with a combat blade, desperately fending off the heretics that were getting ever closer. Gordian was fighting as well, chainsword in one hand and bolt pistol in the other, taking potshots at the heretics when he was not engaged with one in combat.

It could not be denied, however, that it was Endymion, Thule and Ajas who lead the charge. While Endymion fought primarily with mighty, heavy swings of his Thunder Hammer, knowing that in the tide of heretics swarming them, he would inevitably hit something, Ajas fought with a measure of dexterity and masterful swordsmanship.

None of them seemed to be able to match the enflamed zealotry of Davian Thule, however. Eliphas' open challenge seemed to have steered the normally calm, measured Captain Thule into a holy frenzy. Thule had discarded his bolt pistol and had taken a two-handed grip on his blade, striking with furious blows that knew little finesse. The sword of Alexian the Hero was almost completely red, slick with the blood of the scores of people who lay before the command squad in a mound.

Yet for all their fury, the command squad was getting overwhelmed. For each of the frenzied, bloodthirsty heretics they killed, three more took their place, and still they came streaming down the hill, unfazed by the massive amounts of fire the marine strike force was bringing to bear.

It was then that Akileus' sergeant, a Space Marine named Antenor, sheathed his boltgun. Without so much as a word, he lifted the heavy power fist he used as an emergency weapon and pointed towards the command squad. Without a word, the Sternguard squad drew their sidearms and combat blades, and battle was joined. Inspired by the sudden charge of the Sternguard, one of the Tactical Squads followed suit, while the other stayed in position. Akileus swore he could make out Sergeant Tarkus at the very front of the squad, instructing a marine armed with a heavy bolter.

Then, battle was joined. Akileus charged into a heretic, lamenting once more the loss of his suit of Terminator armor as the first impact was noticably less potent than he would have wished. He drove his combat blade through the back of a cultist, killing it instantaneously, and immediately brought his blade up to parry another. Though Akileus did not have the same training as his Vanguard brethren, he was no slouch with his combat blade. None of them were.

His squad had already ripped itself into the cultist horde, tearing at it with blades when the heretics were close, and with close-range bolt pistol fire whenever they were not. With twenty power-armored marines now engaged in melee, the tide of cultists seemed less overwhelming, if no less endless.

"Captain Thule to Litany of Fury. Summon the ancients!"

The sound of the Captain's voice lightened Akileus' spirits immensely. The Fourth Company's Dreadnoughts would no doubt turn the tide of this battle. He grabbed his combat knife in reverse grip and slashed open the throat of a heretic, bringing up his power-armored hand to parry the blow of another. The heretics' weapons were by no means powerful, but he still chastised himself for taking the risk. There was no need to be foolish.

He took a moment of opportunity to survey the battlefield. One of his own squad mates had gone down, a mono-edged blade through his throat. Akileus was not sure if he still breathed until one of his other squad members pulled out the blade and the downed marine jerked slightly. He'd need medical attention immediately after the fight. He saw three tactical marines fall as well, two of them with blasted power armor, one with several blades embedded in his armpit.

It was still no use. Even with the added combat ability of the Sternguard and the tactical squad, the line was still too weak. There was no way they would hold against these many cultists with this little fire support. They needed to bolster the line quickly.

Then suddenly, he heard the first shriek. Like the sound of a missile hitting the ground, the first drop pod struck the ground, crushing untold numbers of heretics in its descent. Instantly the drop pod's doors crashed outward, and out marched a mighty Dreadnought, armed with an assault cannon in place of its left arm and a power fist in its right, under which was slung what was unmistakably a heavy flamer. The walker then hammered its close combat weapon downward, causing the ground to tremble, as it let out its first burst of promethium. Immediately, a dozen heretics perished in the flames, their bodies singed beyond recognition. The massive form then charged forward towards Captain Thule, stomping on or knocking back anything that stood in its way.

"I come to kill...the enemies of man", the Dreadnought said.

"Venerable Brother Glaucus." With this sudden moment of respite in the heat of battle, Captain Thule seemed to regain his composure. For a second it even looked like he was smiling.

Glaucus had been captain of the Fourth Company long ago, long before even Captain Thule's predecessor. Though far from one of the oldest dreadnoughts in the chapter, he was nonetheless a venerated figure amongst the Fourth Company.

The massive figure turned from Thule again and lifted his assault cannon, bringing death amongst the tightly packed cultists, much as the Land Raider's assault cannon had done before. Whenever any heretics got close to him, a feat which Akileus could only attribute to sheer luck, Glaucus was more than able to handle them with his power fist.

The presence of the dreadnought on the battlefield seemed to have had a reinvigorating effect on the marines on the ground. The tactical squads, now disengaged from their combat duties, feeling that a dreadnought would no doubt be more destructive than they would ever be in close combat, began opening fire with renewed vigor, their bolters felling even more of the cultists. Akileus' squad also disengaged, and though they only numbered four marines now, the Sternguard still took a heavy toll on the enemy.

"Captain Thule to Litany of Fury. We need to press our advantage. Deploy Avitus' Devastators!"


Soon enough, two drop pods fell down from the sky. As one of them blew its hatches, Devastator Squad Avitus, each member of the five-man squad carrying heavy bolters, quickly ran into cover and braced their heavy weapons. Soon enough, the thumping of the heavy calibre bolt shells joined the choir of death. From the other squad, on the other hand, Captain Gaius disembarked. Flanking him were the new five remaining members of the originally ten-man sized squad of Vanguard Veterans. Each of them carried the same equipment as their commander, a power sword in one hand and a storm shield in the other. Gaius himself wore the Fist of the Father and a storm shield as well. He lifted the sacred power fist and pointed a finger outward. Before he even had the time to say a battle cry, the Vanguard Veterans joined the fray.

It was a thing of beauty when the heavily armed veterans joined the fray. The devastating charge of six synchronized, power-armored bodies, coupled with the accurate placement of a series of frag grenades gave them ample room to charge, and as soon as the veterans had joined the fray, there was no doubt they would win. Gaius pushed himself forward with mighty swings of his power fist, while the vanguard veterans went forward with their shields extended in front, stabbing or executing smaller swings, shoulder to shoulder, gradually pushing the heretics back until they had enough room to fight properly. Now united in the fray with Davian Thule's command squad, the enemy was slowly being pushed back. The tide was finally turning.

Then, as if they had suddenly all had the same dawning realization, what remained of the sorely decimated horde fell back. It started as a few isolated incidents, people running back to avoid the dreadnought's flames or the Land Raider's bolters, but then slowly, but surely, it started. Soon enough, they were all fleeing, yelling and crying incoherently as they fled the scene of the battle, no doubt to be executed by their masters. Akileus found it hard to care for their fates. They'd chosen the eight pointed star. They'd slaughtered their own people. There was no mercy in Akileus' heart reserved for the traitor.

"Gordian, see to the wounded. Thule to Litany of Fury, we require an Apothecarion on the ground. We have got six marines in urgent need of medical attention, and three that require the recovery of their gene-seed"

Six? Before, Akileus had only counted one wounded marine, his own squad mate. As the dust settled, however, he noticed that Hector and Castor had both suffered grievous blows. Hector's helmet was destroyed, and half of his right cheek was missing after a sword went clear through it. Castor had several wounds on his shoulder, one of the creaks in his power armor opened by numerous sword blows. The arm hung limply by his side. Though both would live, it would take extensive surgery.

Two of Tarkus' tactical marines had been wounded as well, their body armor penetrated by a proverbial rain of lasgun fire that Akileus was not convinced even Terminator Armor would have held against. Small autogun pellets had embedded themselves in their flesh as well, and no doubt they would need to be treated for infection. There was no telling what kind of unholy warp-dabbling was afoot here, and they couldn't risk open wounds in an environment so touched by the Dark Gods.

"Armory to squad Antenor, your Terminator Armor is ready. Extraction is coming to bring you to the Litany of Fury, that you may be properly equipped,", Akileus' vox blared.

"Acknowledged, armory. Awaiting extraction", Antenor replied. He looked back at the remnants of his squad as they now were. Each of them had dented power armor in many places, scorched patches where their power armor's grey color was visible, and a few of them had superficial wounds that their Larraman's cells would quickly heal. They had gotten away with less casualties than Akileus would have expected, even from a veteran squad.

"Now if only we'd been slightly better we wouldn't have needed the help of our so-called vanguard veteran brothers, eh?" Antenor said, removing his helmet so the others could see the wide grin on his face. Antenor was not one to remain morose for long.

"The techmarines could've just given me an assault cannon and I would have routed the heretics on my own", Akileus said, half in jest and half in a serious tone. He could not wait to be back in a suit of heavier armor.

"Akileus, if they'd given you an assault cannon, Captain Thule's cape would have so many holes in it you'd think an ork had aimed for his head."

"You wound me, Antenor."

Akileus could feel the adrenaline of the battle slowly eking out of his body as the argument continued.

This was going to be the decisive battle for Kronus. All other engagements, he believed, would be secondary to this. This would be the last great push for control over this accursed world.

They would halt the Inheriting in its tracks on Kronus, no matter the cost.


Yay, I managed to get this chapter out in less than the space of a human lifetime!

I originally wanted to do something special with this chapter, but that was pushed back to later in the story. For now, I just wanted to get another chapter of Space Marines fighting out there before we move on to some more dialogue-heavy chapters. Looking forward to it. As, I hope, are you.