Chapter 2 Lion of the Void
Time/Place 081 008.M42 / Battle Barge "Courage of Carolus" The Crusading Fortress Monastery of The Imperial Lions Astartes Chapter.
Chapter Master Gustavus Carl paced his office with grim determination. The last few years had been an insane mix of despair and hope. Cadia had fallen and the galaxy was bisected by this Emperor damned Giant Warp Rift. Yet his Primarch had returned and there were rumors of entire legions worth of Astartes on the march to save the Galaxy. He like nearly all Chapter Masters had not taken orders from anyone since his ascension to the rank, this situation changed with the Primarchs Return. Astropathic signals reached him every day with clear concise orders for his Chapter. The Lord Commander had assigned the Imperial Lions (due to them being nearby) and the surviving Astartes Praeses the duty to find all surviving elements of Battlefleet Cadia and the other Naval elements scattered in the wake of the 13th Black Crusade.
While already possessing a powerful Chapter-Fleet this duty had swelled their force rather considerably. They had gone from a minor Fleet chapter to what was steadily becoming a ramshackle Imperial Battlegroup. Thankfully they had not encountered any Chaos Fleets, just a few scattered raider craft. This absence was due to the fact that almost every warp-capable craft in service to the dark powers was headed to the front of this "Indomitus Crusade"
Lion-Fleet, as this migrant military force was becoming known, had another less formal duty, aside from gathering lost Imperials. They stopped in countless terrorized Imperial Systems to reassure them that "No the Emperor still lives, yes one of his Sons has risen, and yes hope had returned to an Imperium long bereft of it." The next system they intended to stop by was Turba. Home to a Hive World that Gustavus figured would be the location of another chunk of the scattered fleets the hunted. After a rough Warp Jump (all too common thanks to the Great Rift) The Lion-Fleet entered the system and headed to the location of Turba Prime. Almost immediately they knew something was terribly wrong.
Time/Place 090 008.M42 / Edge of the Turba System.
Gustavus exited his office and moved at transhuman speed to the Bridge as klaxons wailed and The Lion-Fleet engaged emergency maneuvers. They had warped into the middle of an Asteroid field. With Stern fury, he used his centuries of naval experiences to guide his fleet to safety. The fleet looked worse for wear, but no crippling blows. As the ships regrouped The Chapter Master approached his chief navigator and asked with a voice filled with harsh discipline how in the Emperor's name did he manage to warp them into an Asteroid field. The cowering Navigator explained how in all their charts and records that there should be nothing here. Annoyed at the Imperium's...questionable infrastructure Gustavus ordered his Astropaths to make contact with Turba Prime.
The Astropath became startled as he reached into the Empyrean and felt nothing. No Astropath nor even a single soul was in this system aside from them. Becoming increasingly worried The Chapter Master Ordered them to launch Augur Probs, prepare long range scans and ready for an attack at any time. After hours of physical and metaphysical searching, they realized this once vibrant system was utterly Dead, not a soul or ship could be found.
Slowly approaching Turba Prime the Hive World came into view. Hive worlds were always unpleasant sights but this was worse. Huge lash marks stretched across the world's surface as if a celestial Cat O'Nine tails had whipped its crust. Hive Spires still stretched into the skies but were gutted off all valuable material. Some lay toppled and others seemed to have been picked up and tossed like a child's toy. The most horrifying mark upon this planet was a massive gaping wound in the world that seemed like something had bitten a chunk out of it.
Orbiting around the husk of Turba Prime The Lion-Fleet bombarded the world with every form of scan and concluded that the world was truly dead and empty of any movement or immaterial threats. The cause of this tragedy needed to be found so Third Captain Johan lead a Squadron of Astartes to the dead worlds surface. The Thunderhawk faced little atmospheric resistance, the world's once thick and noxious atmosphere was reduced to a thin layer, as if some great lung had breathed it all in. The Smog that once blanketed the world had settled leaving a thick layer of soot and filth on the surface. The Gunship landed in what had once been a capital square. This was a world of dust. Everything was cloaked in it and the Astartes padded through it carefully, while scanning and documenting all they observed.
Moving Swiftly and silently they reached a grand boulevard in the Hive, where they encountered a truly obscene sight. The Astartes under Johan's command were all hardened warriors but this was a new horror the cosmos had to show them. Stretching nearly a hundred feet from end to end and as tall as three Astartes was a titanic mass of bones. Some intact others shards, it was a mountain of desecrated human corpses. Johan signaled Brother Jakthund to examine the bones. Jakthund served the Deathwatch for 83 Terran years and he knew all too well what jaws had cleaved these bones, what claws had eviscerated the Emperors Flock. In a hushed voice he said "Tyranids, these are victims of Tyranids but…. Wrong somehow."
The Imperial Lions primarily fought in Segmentum Pacificus so only a few ex-Deathwatch members among them had directly fought the Tyranids but they all knew the horror of the beasts that had wreaked such a vicious toll on two first founding chapters. "How are they wrong Jakthund?" asked Johan, "Bite angles are odd, weird teeth and claw locations, and these bone piles? Never seen their like. Whatever these things are they're related to the 'Nids but not them." Just then one of the Assault Marines sent to scout Voxed the rest of the squad "Sir you better come look at this" The Marine was Standing atop a Massive Steel Beam that had fallen off a Hive and overlooked the bone pile. Johan joined him and looked down, the sight made a rare curse escaped his lips "Emperor Damn it" The Bones were not just in a pile but in a pattern. It formed a circle that looked like a coiling beast but with outcroppings of bones as eight points. The Mark was some sort of hybrid of the Ouroboros of the Genestealers and the Star of Chaos.
Time/Place 004 009.M42 / Orbit of Turba Prime
After frantically returning to the fleet Third Captain Johan briefed Chapter Master Gustavus Carl, the 1st company and the four other Captains that were part of the Lion-Fleet. The News was dire. Tyranids and Chaos together was an unthinkable abomination that the Imperium could not afford to face. They would document as much as they could and get this information to the Imperium if anybody could stop this new threat than Lord Guilliman could.
Techpriests lead by a lone Magos biologis explored the world and scoured its surviving archives. The Lion-Fleet was beginning to calm and had sent Astropathic messages about a "New Threat" they had discovered. They feared to send more details, for in these dark times none can be trusted and this information could not be allowed to be intercepted. For four months they tedious searched the planet below. This time came to an end as The Lion-Fleet faced a new threat. A Chaos fleet was approaching, the screeching mad Psychic signals were not exactly subtle and the Lion-Fleet had plenty of warning, but the Magos refused to evacuate showing the stubbornness infamous in the priesthood of Mars.
The Lion-Fleet hid in the shadow of Turba Primes Moon after laying minefields and other fun surprises for the Traitors. Five light seconds away from their position a Warp rift opened and spat out a Fleet of Lost and Damned vessels. These were not Corrupted Astartes (much to Gustavus relief) but lesser mortal servants of Chaos. Ordered to Hold Fire. The forty or so Vessels of the Lion-Fleet watched Chaos Pirates scream towards Turba Prime. The Chaotic ships cared not for strategy or sanity and smashed through the mind fields and Asteroid traps without a thought to their casualties. They were reduced to a few crippled bleeding vessels within an hour, and well before they reached the Moon. Just when Gustavus was considering giving the order to open fire on the stragglers A second portal opened. The First thing through it was a Chaos Battleship. The main fleet had arrived after the escorts cleared the way for them...
Time/Place 005 009.M42 / Orbit of Turba Primes moon
Gustavus Cursed the Traitors. He had faced more than his share of Damned Fleets and he was confident they would emerge victorious but not without casualties he had hoped to avoid. The Lion-fleet still hidden behind the Moon, moved to battle formation and awaited the Heretic Fleet to move into firing range. Forty battle scarred Imperial vessels ranging from Astartes Battle-Barge to Viper Escorts prepared to face the Chaotic Battle Fleet. It was composed of a single Battleship of the Changer of Ways, Six Grand Cruisers marked in Slaanesh's name, Seven Cruisers of Nurgle and eight escorts roaring for blood and skulls.
These were not new foes for Gustavus and he had slain many a chaotic fleet and knew the tactics so their course of actions shocked him. While still three light seconds away and well outside of their ability to accurately hit a vessel the Chaos Fleet opened fire. Lances scoured the surface of the Moon and macro shells flew. "Impossible how do they know where we are?" Gustavus ordered evasive actions as the Lion-Fleet exited the Moon's shadow. He had hoped to keep them ready for later but seeing the element of surprise was lost he ordered his secret weapon unleashed. The two Nova Cannons his fleet possessed fired in unison. Flares of holy fire brightened the void as the Chaos fleet reeled from the blast. Two of their escorts and one of their Grand Cruisers had been ripped in half by the Cannons but the rest of the Chaos fleet still came firing seemingly randomly at the moon and at Imperial forces.
As the began the battle in earnest the Courage of Carolus's Vox began to get messages from the planet's surface. The Magos was attempting to contact them. All but a one signal Corp officer ignored the data transmitted, they were too focused on the ensuing battle. This Officer read the message and bolted from his position to make his way through the ship and to any Astartes who would listen. The battle was going well, Macro Cannons had pelted the Chaos fleet who had just seemed to notice the Imperial Presence even after the Nova Barrage. Blasts of heat and light colored the unforgiving void as the twin fleets battled. After hours of the usual tense long distance warfare that is Void Combat, the message made its way to Gustavus. It was short but beyond horrifying. "Turba Prime does not have a Moon, RUN" Gustavus just had time to roar an order for his fleet to move before a titanic arm of warped flesh broke through the Moon's Crust and crushed a straggling Light Cruisers.
Time/Place 005 009.M42 / Orbit of the Devouring World.
The Light Cruiser was plucked out of orbit by a tendril and smashed into the "moon" in a great ball of plasma. It all became crystal clear. The Chaos Fleet had not known they were there. The Moon had been their target from the very beginning. Chunks of Stone the size of Countries broke off of what had been thought to be a Moon. Some crashed into Turba others flew into the void. A mass of tentacles erupted from the gaping hole. The Arms moved with surprising fluidity reaching out to grab Vessels of both fleets that now circled the world focusing as much firepower onto it as each other. Shells and Beams tore at the Devouring Worlds Crust. If the beast even noticed the bombardment it did not Care.
A Maddened Khornate Escort Changed direction unexpectable and dived towards the center of the tendrils. Every Vox Channel it could transmit on heard the last moments of the ship "YOU WILL BLEED FOR ME CREATURE! BY KHORNE I SHALL RIP YOU AND TEAR YOU! YOUR SKULL MUST BE MASSIVE AND IT SHALL BE GIFTED TO MY GOD! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" Five Megatons of Wrath rammed into the Beast and detonated in a blast of hate and fury. The Devouring World tentacles began to thrash as the base of them was burned by warp-tainted plasma. They flailed taking half a dozen ships with it. It was as if it was screaming in agony. No...not if, The Chief Librarian of the Imperial Lions was the first to realize that the beast really was letting out a Psychic scream of such volume that even those not touched by the Immaterium could hear it.
At his insistence, the Lion-Fleet activated their Gellar Field, a bizarre thing to do in real space but would be quickly proved to be the correct decision. Its buffer of sanity muffled the scream that rose in volume until cultists aboard the Chaos fleet began to collapse in violent fits as their body and minds ruptured from the raw power of the "Moon". The Chief Librarian a wise veteran known as Polhem lead the other Librarians and sanctioned Psykers in the fleet in an effort to form a mental Shield around the Lion-Fleet as reality itself began to rupture from the psychic pressure of the wailing moon. A Warp Rift tore open and the Devouring World escaped into it. The Chaos Fleet dove after it like Sharks chasing a wounded whale.
The Rift eventually closed naturally and the Lion-fleet began nursing its wounds. After picking up the Magos and his retinue who had thankfully survived the impacts on Turba Prime in a series of bunkers the scarred Fleet prepared to make with all due haste to the frontlines of the Indomitus Crusade to inform the Imperium of the monster growing in the Halo Stars.