Chapter 34

The Word Bearers

Blood, she saw blood, an entire valley soaked in it, bodies littering the ground, thousands of dead Imperial Guard and Cultists, their weapons strewn all over the soil, the wrecked forms of Lemon Russ and Predator tanks, the broken barrel of a Basilisk artillery tank, and in the centre, marching with their blood covered banners held high were columns of cultists and traitor guard, lead by the terrifying forms of Chaos Space Marines, the colours of their armour and the forms of Berserkers alongside them marking them as a Legion of Khorne.

The ground shook with the united thudding of their boots, the very ground quaked as a testament to their warped power, they continued their march, singing eerie, terrifying praises of blood and sacrifice to their Chaos god, the massive forms of predator tanks and stolen Imperial vehicles were among them, their armoured hulls covered with dripping layers of blood, and burned bodies.

There was a flash and the scene changed

They were within a city, battling Imperial Guard and PDF units, killing anything in their path, whether they were soldiers of innocent civilians, a mother running with her child in her arms, gunned down by bolter shells from a laughing marine, cultists laughing and shouting praises to their dark gods, cutting down children with their blades and lasguns, a wounded Imperial Guardsmen, lying immobile on the ground, shrapnel imbedded in his back, stabbed by a power-sword.

No building was spared from the destruction, their superstructures pocketed and marked with artillery and orbital fire, some had been turned into piles of rubble, those inside trapped and suffocating under the ruins. Standing on the top of the largest building in the city was the armoured forms of two Chaos warriors, dressed in battle armour with a myriad of ruinous scrolls attached, both holding the twisted forms of Chaos tainted staffs, power-swords sheathed, bolters in their free hands, their eye visors glowing red with the powers of Chaos.

They both looked up to the sky, where she was floating and raising their staffs unleashed powerful blasts of warp energy, the ruinous powers encompassed her, her very nerves burning like she was within lava, she screamed in agony and then there was darkness.

Alana

Alana!!!

Her eyes fluttered open to see the worried expressions of her master, Gabriel and the Healer, both had been meditating with her in one of the many barren chambers of the Reverent Blade, they had leaned much from Revan and his Jedi over the last year, their strengths tripling and their knowledge of force-techniques getting wider, he had helped her in being able to control the visions but every now and then something so serious always gets through, like this one.

"Are you alright" Sasha asked.

"Yes Master Healer I am fine" Alana replied as she put a hand to her pounding forehead "I had another vision, this one felt so real, I must tell Lord Revan at once"

Gabriel nodded and helped her to her feet, using himself as a pillar to keep her steady, she always got so weakened when she had one of her visions, even with the rejuvenation techniques that they learned, he lifted his apprentice up in his arms and headed towards the bridge, where Revan always seemed to be. He felt the worried force touches of the Jedi nearby, they had made so many friends here, he sent them back that they were fine and continued on.

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"Without a doubt" Revan said as he placed his palm against Alana's forehead, gaining her vision in his mind "It is definitely the army of those Sorcerer brothers, I haven't seen them in a hundred years, not since we routed them at Rasengan, they must have returned to the eye and raised another army"

"Who are they" Alana asked, still feeling the after effects of the psychic shock.

"They are known as the Blood Brothers, a duo of sorcerers who have made their name as raiders and fast attackers" he explained "They belong to the traitor legion known as the Word Bearers, one of Khorne's blood legions but they are also sorcerers of the Warmaster, I heard rumours that they fought at the 13th crusade, they may have been on one of the fleets that slipped through the Cadian gate" He began sifting through the vision more thoroughly, this wasn't a battle of the past, after a few moments he found a name to the planet that they were fighting on.

"They're going to strike Kinon" Revan said calmly before rising and walking towards the holo-table, he called up a map of the sector and touched one of the stars, it zoomed into a five planet system, orbiting around a red giant "And that's where we must go, admiral Saul, gather the fleet, prepare the space marines and shadow guard, we'll most likely be going in fighting"

"Shouldn't this be left to the Imperial navy" Mynn asked.

"This is an isolated world that the Imperium doesn't know about" Revan explained "A simple mistake on the charts excluded it and the colonists were forgotten like dozens of other worlds, we stumbled upon them when we were hunting a Dark Eldar force, only to find that they had landed on the planet on a raid, I took a dozen Jedi and a company of space marines down to repel them, afterwards we made a defensive alliance with them, promising them that we would act if they were threatened"

"Such agreements can be troublesome" Admiral Saul added "But they are one of our main supply planets, their small shipyards are more than enough to supply and repair our fleets, plus they are also a serious pool of force-sensitive talent, I guess it can't be helped"

Just then another vision assaulted Alana's senses, she saw the wrecked landscape of a city, smoke and fire filed the red sky, half of the buildings nothing more than mounds of rubble while the other half were just barely standing, explosions, screams, lasfire, bolter rounds and chants that filled the air for miles, eerie, terrifying.

Blood for the blood God!

Blood for the blood God!

Blood…blood…blood…blood!!!

A city in ruins, dismembered bodies of Imperial Guard and civilians everywhere, strewn across the cities tattered streets, in the buildings, on the rooftops, blood flowing like the streams of a river, survivors running in different directions, being chased by the bloodied forms of Chaos marines, their weapons held high and their mechanical voice boxes bellowing those same chants.

A young woman, her robes torn, her lightsabre thrown well away from her reach, at the mercy of a Chaos Berserker, Alana recognised her immediately as a younger version of Sonya, Revan's daughter, her eyes were wide and she was paralyzed with fear, suddenly a blast of force lightning flashed over her head, striking the marine head on, making him stumble back but remaining on his feet.

Revan appeared on the scene, his armoured robes chipped and torn, his face mask broken around his right eye, Alana gasped, the eye was a sickly yellow and the lightning that encompassed his body radiated sorrow and hatred, even the berserker seemed to back off in his presence, he raised his lightsabre, which was the colour of blood over his head and howled an anguished cry. At first Alana didn't know why he was in such agony until she looked behind her, the body of another Jedi, his form cut in two at the abdomen, his lifeless eyes starring up at the blood coloured sky, who he was flashed in her mind, his son.

There was a flash and Revan stood on a mound of bodies, cultists and marines, his mask was off showing eyes of the sickest yellow, his incisor teeth seemed to be twice their original length, his skin was a dead grey from using the dark side of the force and the storm that seemed to be brewing overhead was being conjured by his awesome force ability, rain smashed into the ground, lightning flashed, thunder bellowed.

Alana turned around to see the forms of the two same Sorcerers she saw in her last vision, their armour chipped and scarred, their blood red gazes narrowing into slits, the warp was flowing out of them at a dangerous rate, adding further strength to the storm that was appearing overhead, the unnatural fusing of the warp and the force creating tornados and hurricanes, the ground began to quake, the wind picked up.

It was the dark sides of both meeting and fighting for supremacy

It was Sith versus Chaos in all its terrible glory

Alana was suddenly snapped out of her vision, breathing heavily, the images she had just seen burned into her brain, it was then that she looked straight up at Revan, he was standing next to the holo-table, but his eyes were on her.

"If Alana's vision is accurate" he said "Gather three space marine companies and a division of Shadow Guard, as many Jedi knights and masters as you can without weakening the psychic defences of the fleet, it is more than likely those two have weaker sorcerers with them"

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It was two days later before the fleet arrived at Kinon which was a green world of two savannah covered continents, separated by a massive blue sea, the wildlife here was mostly predatory mammals and reptiles with the seas full of fish and squid, the human population here was ten million and they were all mostly situated on the northern continent, in floating cities armed with old anti-air and lance batteries, its armoured forces were a battalion of CDF and a full regiment of Imperial Guard for each city, in orbit was the shipyards that Revan was talking about, several dozen skeletal forms of dry docks and space stations, a small fleet of destroyer and frigate sized vessels surrounding them along with the impressive forms of three Mars battlecruisers.

"It appears that we got here first" Revan said before a sudden light in the distance caught his attention, there was a dozen red flashes as warp tears opened up, spewing out dozens of warships from small gunships and frigates to massive cruisers, all centred around the unmistakeable form of a Despoiler-class Battleship.

"Radar control" Sonya called from her place beside her father "How many are there?"

"Milady according to these readings there are over twenty small escorts ranging from Infidel and Idolator-classes, six Retaliator-class Cruisers, two Repulse-class Grand Cruisers and a Despoiler-class battleship, they are launching fighters"

"It appears that those two managed to get a hold of a more powerful force than last time" Revan mused as his lightsabre hilt spun in his black gloved hand "This is going to be interesting"

"Lord Revan" the mechanical voice of Brother-Captain Shrull, one of the leaders of the Space Marine legion Black Fists, who was Revan's own legion said, his black and silver armour was a true sight to behold "The 1st, 5th and 10th companies are ready to go, we are at your command"

Revan turned to the Brother-Captain, also dressed for combat with his black battle robes and face mask on, a lightsabre hilt and dual blaster pistols fastened to his belt, Sonya was also dressed for battle, wearing a black, body hugging armoured suit and midnight blue cloak, her lightsabre and hold out blaster also fastened, held against her slender frame by a strap was the unmistakable bulky design of a bolter, which looked out of place on her "Excellent Brother-Captain" Revan said before he turned to his daughter "Sonya, don't tell me your Battlesister company has been beaten on time again?"

"Well get them next time" Sonya replied with a wink as she put long needles into her flowing black hair, effectively tying it up into a bun "The Jedi squadrons are also ready, Gabriel and Ishta are mobilising the Alliances Stormtrooper legions, looks like we'll get a chance to see these new breeds in action"

Revan smiled behind his face mask before turning to the Admiral "You now what to do" he said "Order all ships to open fire, launch the starfighter squadrons and prepare for a land battle"

Immediately the combined Imperium/Jedi fleet opened fire upon the recently arrived Chaos force, firing lance and plasma fire from their warships and orbital defence platforms, destroying two Infidel escorts and pocketing one of the Retaliators before the Chaos forces could return fire, in the space surrounding the fleets starfighters from both sides engaged each other, creating a magnificent display of flashing lasfire and plumes of explosions, the Reverent Blade stood out from the rest, roaring forward towards the Despoiler battleship and engaging it in a long range battle, lance fire and plasma rained down on their void shields, creating flashes of colour.

From the moment that the battle began Revan sensed that something was wrong, it wasn't like those sorcerers to just send such a large fleet into an area where they would be so easily seen, his first thought was that maybe they were slipping but he quickly dispelled it.

"Admiral send the Freedom and the Independence to the right flank" he said calmly, indicating the two Lunar-class Cruisers to the Blades portside "A few moments later the manoeuvre was complete, the two cruisers had completed their move, taking a small squadron of Imperium Cobras with them and had officially encased the Chaos flotilla in a pincer movement.

"It's not them"

"Milord?"

"They wouldn't have fallen for such a simple move" Revan explained "And they wouldn't have just charged their forces against a more superior defence either" there was a flash of light as combined fire penetrated the hull of another Retaliator,spewing out bodies, equipment and smoke "Which means that they are not within that fleet"

"Then where are they?"

"…There!!!"

There was a warp tear on the other side of the planet and five Slaughter-class Cruisers appeared, their massive bays unleashing a swarm of Thunderhawk transports towards the planets northern continent, Revan gritted his teeth, now they had him in a pincer movement, the old strategist smiled viciously, his Mandalorian blood pumping, an old fashioned game of manoeuvre and outmanoeuvre aye. Those two hadn't changed, they were still thinking on his level.

"Order taskforce Firestorm to make its presence known" Revan ordered crisply "Captain Mynn is going to thoroughly enjoy this"

From the planetary shadow came the flashes of lance and turbolaser fire, catching several of the Thunderhawks head on and turning them into burning balls of fire and debris, from the shadows came the wedge shaped design of the Imperial star destroyer Firestorm, accompanied by a force of four Avenger Gunboat cruisers.

Flank and outflank.

Manoeuvre and outmanoeuvre.

The Reverent Blade was now in a firm dance of death with its Chaos counterpart, both alongside each other and unleashing powerful blasts of energy that were as beautiful as they were deadly, the superstructure of the battleship shook from the lance batteries but the shields and hull armour stood firm, all around them the starfighter battle had degenerated into skirmishes and one-on-one dogfights, blooms and flashes of lasfire dead giveaways on where the heaviest battles were taking place.

Revan turned to look back at the planet, and the battle taking place in its orbit, the Thunderhawks had broken through the atmosphere and were heading towards their assigned Landing Zone, Revan had sent the warning ahead, he knew that the Imperial Guard and PDF were mobilizing but he wasn't sure if it would be enough, the Chaos battleship, which according to its data was called the Blood Dragon was purposefully dragging his battleship and its compliment of space marines and battlesisters away from the planet.

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Reports from scouts confirmed his suspicions, the forces of chaos had landed a sizeable army of ten thousand cultists, traitor guard and chaos marines just outside of the plateau, along with them were dozens of tainted predator tanks, traitor dreadnoughts, basilisk artillery tanks and a number of smaller artillery pieces, their intensions were clear, it was an army built for a mass siege.

Commander Bass watched from the viewing platform on the control spire that dominated the centre of the capital, he watched as units of Imperial Guard and PDF ascended the cities protecting walls with lasguns, stubbers, mortars, rocket launchers, sniper rifles and a number of other weapons, the artillery pieces were placed in the cities centre, primed and ready to open fire on his orders, in key positions around the city were the distinct forms of AA guns and surface to air missile sites, also ready to fire upon any enemy aircraft that strayed to near. Further in were yet more units of Imperial Guard and PDF with vehicles including chimera fire tanks, lemon russ battle tanks and sentinel walkers, all ready and waiting.

"Commander" he heard his bodyguard, a Kasrkin say "All is in readiness, let them come, we will crush them"

The commander nodded before bringing his gaze to the sky, where he began to hear the faint roar of aerial fighters and bombers and make out slight black dots, their first wave of attacks would be from the air, a good tactic, but it would be costly with the anti-air weapons that were set in the city.

"So it begins" he murmured to himself "Emperor be with us"

"All guns, open fire"

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From the ridge if his vantage point he looked out over the scene of landing transports and debarking troops, the useless cultists had already fanned out, moving through the savannah towards the city like an unruly mob, behind them were the far more professional traitor guard, marching as one in columns with their lasguns shouldered, to the sides were predator tanks and chimeras, all lead by a squad of Chaos marines and berserkers, that was just the first wave, to test the defensive capabilities of the main city of Kinon.

He turned his head to the sky just as several old aerofighters flew by, armed with old machine guns and rockets, their roar was nearly deafening. Behind them were the slower, bulkier forms of old bombers, armed with several hundred kilos of bombs each, their mission was simply to strafe and bomb the main city, weakening its defences for their ground forces, once Kinon city fell the other, smaller ones would follow suit.

He turned to see the unmistakeable forms of Basilisk artillery tanks, captured during their last raid on an Imperial planet, they moved through the landing zone, other artillery pieces were being carried by cultists and heretics, there was a ridge just outside of the city that would be the perfect striking point.

"Something troubles you my brother" Sorcerer Kahn said as he approached, his twisted staff held firmly in his gloved hands.

"Not at all" Kane replied as he turned to look at their advancing army once again "Surprise is all, I did not foresee Revan and his Jedi to show"

"Perhaps it is fate" his brother replied "Vengeance on him for routing our army a century ago, if I find him I will let him dye slowly, making him watch as I kill those precious to him before his eyes"

"You remember the last time that happened" Kane retorted "He unleashed power that matched our own combined, and knowing his kind he has only gotten stronger as time went by…his powers have probably doubled"

"As have ours" Kahn replied venomously "Let him come, I will crush his skull under my staff and burn him to ashes with the powers of the dark gods"

"Your overconfidence will eventually be your undoing my brother" Kane said, smiling murderously behind his helmet.

"And your cautiousness is yours" Kahn retorted coldly "But I do not have the patience nor the time to match wit with you"

"Yes" Kane agreed "The berserkers and raptors are getting impatient, they call for their hands and blades to be covered in blood, the blood of the corpse emperors followers"

"Let's not keep them waiting then" Kahn replied, he tapped his staff against the ground and started chanting ancient incantations, his twin brother following suit, the sky began to darken with storm clouds as black as night, rain began to cascade down, lightning as red as blood flashed, thunder bellowed. The very ground began to reshape itself to their will, turning from sweeping plains and hills to completely flat ground, the grass and plant life withered and dyed, turning into ash, leaving a charred landscape behind, as the brothers continued their chants, hitting their staffs of the dead soil red veins began to snake out in every direction.

The roars of hundreds of jet-packs signalled the debarking and sudden leaving of the Chaos raptors, at least a hundred and twenty took to the skies, soaring like deadly birds of prey towards a small set of mountains next the city, armed with chain-swords, bolt pistols and power-swords the Blood Brothers planned to use them as shock troops to knock out key anti-air and artillery installations. The chaotic roars of blood curdling laughter that was mixed in with the jet-packs signalled the arrival of the Word Bearer berserkers, dozens of the terrifying warriors began their march towards the outer territories, armed with power-axes and bolt pistols, once one of these crazed marines got a taste of blood they went into a near out of control frenzy, killing anything in site whether they be friend or foe.

With a terrifying smile the brothers turned around, jumped onto the platform of their modified predator tank and watched their army march into the plateau, their fleet should keep Revan busy so that just left the planets PDF and Imperial Guards to defend the population, it would be a magnificent slaughter.

Blood for the blood god Kane began reciting in his mind as the engine of their tank roared to life.