The Imperial Heroes 'Archive', Tomb World of Solemnace, 999.M41 moments later
Harry Potter, Master of Death
Even as Harry turned to face the strange robotic voice speaking to him, his mind was both admiring and concerned at the feelings he was taking in from his magical senses. He could feel the magical energy surging around him, easily five or six times stronger than that he had ever felt on Earth, but the magic felt… sick for a lack of a better word.
Harry could sense an almost malevolent force in the magic, in fact as he focussed there was more than one malevolence. It was almost like a swarm of magical spiders had laid their webs into the very framework of magic itself, each waiting for an unwitting prey to pull on one of their strings.
Something that Harry would have to look into later, as he finished his turn and found himself facing a muggleborn's worst nightmare. Standing at least a foot taller than Harry, the armoured robot clearly dressed for war as it faced him, dark metal etched in an ominous green light that emanated from the staff in the thing's hand.
"Well thief? I know that you can speak, even if it is not the pitiful language that your race now employs. The only reason I do not strike you down where you stand is that you managed to stop that bell from further damaging my collection, and that your arrival should be technically impossible." There was a dark certainty to the robot's words, and given the almost unfathomable amount of magical energy Harry could feel pouring off of it's staff, he guessed the robot's arrogance wasn't entirely misplaced.
"I apologise for taking the bell without asking for permission, though I would ask that you do not judge me based on the examples of other humans you have encountered and mention with such disdain. Given the unfamiliar surroundings, as well as the fact that my people have never approached the level of technological understanding that would be required to create such items as I see here, it is clear that I am out of my depth culturally speaking." Given that the robot in front of him was clearly humanoid, Harry had considered mentioning it as such an example of humanity's technological prowess in this universe.
But given the robot's disdain of humans, as well as the fact it referred to them as another race rather than using another term, Harry got the feeling such a comment would be met with violent derision. So instead he had focussed on the items around him, the collection of esoteric weapons and armour suspended on various plinths making it clear that this Universe that violence was as much a part of this humanity's history as it had been in his world.
"Interesting…" The robot seemed to war with himself for several moments, though Harry was distracted from focussing on it as the sounds of battle in the distance seemed to be getting closer… much closer in fact.
Given the robot seemed very defensive of his collection of artefacts, Harry got the feeling that letting such conflict continue would not engender any goodwill, especially if as was implied the fighting had broken out because of his arrival.
"Perhaps we should continue this discussion after we deal with whatever is coming this way? I imagine given the noises it sounds like the creatures will not care to protect your artefacts…" That was an understatement, Harry could feel the hunger of the creatures through his magical senses, it's very presence distorting the magic around them even at what must have been dozens of metres.
"Of course, I am glad to see you at least understand the importance of such a collection. This way, quickly…" The mention of the artefacts definitely seemed to be the right approach, the robot relaxing from it's threatening stance and turning away towards the sounds of fighting, leading Harry into a long corridor that seemed to link many similar exhibits together.
Even as they moved down the corridor, the robot breaking into a loping run that seemed to cover more ground with each step than such a movement should be able to achieve, something burst from one of the entrances further down the corridor.
It was easily the size of Fang in body, though it reminded Harry rather viscerally of the Alien movie that Hermione had made them all sit through during their downtime after the war. He barely had time to notice the thing's six limbs included a pair of fore limbs that were effectively talons the length of long swords, before it was tearing towards them at a speed that far outstripped the speed Harry would be able to manage even with magical assistance.
"Reducto!" Though he had no need to vocalise his spells, he had long since mastered silent casting, Harry wasn't going to go all out in front of his temporary ally/enemy if he didn't have to.
He had also chosen a relatively simple spell to test how such spells would react to the different magical environment he found himself in, allowing the magic to channel through the Elder Wand rather than empowering it with his own magic as well. He was glad he did so, as the resulting kickback nearly took him off his feet, the spell not so much a blast of concussive force as a wave of deadly energy that took up half the corridor.
"Interesting power human, though I would remind you that we are here to protect my collection…" The rebuke in the robot's tone was obvious, as the reducto tore up several plinths and the ground itself as it reduced the strange alien to little more than visceral splatter.
Luckily, two more waves of his wand had Harry summon a protego shield in the path of the reducto, the shield emanating an almost entrancing array of colours and tones as it intercepted the wave of force with an audible crash. Then, even as the robot decapitated two more of the aliens with a speed and skill that was clearly inhuman, Harry muttered a reparo under his breath.
Harry noticed that the repair spell was much harder than the reducto spell had been, as if the very magic in the air was resisting the attempt, but as the shattered floor reformed perfectly around them he saw the robot look around appreciatively.
There was no more time to discuss things between them however, as literally dozens more of the aliens poured forth from the side entrance to the corridor, as if they were being drawn in their direction. Given the strange disruption of magic that seemed to grow in strength as more of them approached, Harry couldn't help but think that it might indeed be the case.
But given he could now hear the sounds of battle more clearly, and amongst the gunfire and skittering roars the sounds of human screaming, Harry decided it was probably better that the aliens focus was on him and his robot acquaintance for the moment.
He could work out why there were other humans here later…
!"£$%^&*()_+
The 'Fall of Tyran' Exhibit, Tomb World of Solemnace, 999.M41 two minutes earlier
Velex Martanis, Lieutenant of the 17th Indigan Praefects Imperial Guardsmen Regiment
"Concentrate fire on the big bastards men, flamers and grenadiers to deal with the smaller filth!" Velex wasn't entirely sure whether her squad had been blessed or cursed by the Emperor, her mind still more than a little blurry on the details.
One minute she had been leading a last stand on the planet of Hyrax, the foul Xenos having slowly overwhelmed the Imperial defenders through sheer numbers. Then a strange darkness had surrounded her position, and she had a vague recollection of a voice like that of a Techpriest saying something that she couldn't quite make out from behind her.
"Lieutenant, this isn't looking good! Whatever the hell brought us here has got the rest of these idiots acting like they've had too much Ryncol and then done a grav jump!" Her second in command, Sergeant Poranix, seemed to have coped with their abrupt change in location relatively well, though the rest of her men were struggling with dizziness and mental fatigue that was impeding their abilities.
It was only because they were emplaced on a high wall that seemed to be the third line of defences that they had survived the opening minutes, the mismatched array of Imperial Guard forces that made up the first two lines of defences had been overwhelmed by the Tyranids before they had a chance to recover.
"Look to the Emperor Sergeant! Whatever these foul beasts are, he will provide those that are faithful with the tools to defeat them." This line came from a Commissar that hadn't been with Velex's regiment, and given he wasn't familiar with the Tyranids it seemed he hadn't even been transported from the same sector as the rest of them.
But given he had used his power sword to deal with a pair of Leapers that had clawed their way up to the top of the wall moments before with comparative ease, Velex wasn't going to argue her disagreement with his dogma. To native Indigans, the Emperor wasn't watching over them or anything as stupid as that, such a focus would be a waste of his attention given the multitude of enemies that were arrayed against the Imperium. Better he spend his time saving the Imperium as a whole, rather than watching over individual Guardsmen.
"Frag grenades, base of the wall, on my mark! Shift fire to range 100, Grenadiers, repeating salvo on my mark.". Even as she unclipped one of her grenades, Velex was still firing her lasgun down into the mass of Tyranids that were swarming towards them over the clearly artificial snowy ground.
Such was the hard earned experience of her regiment, against the Tyranids there was no respite, no chance to pause and strategise. As the three grenadiers on the wall fired off another round of grenades towards the now overrun line of trenches about one hundred metres from the wall, there wasn't going to be a better chance for them to clear out the nearest Tyranids and restore a vague semblance of order.
"Now!" Though they had used the majority of their ordinance during the defence of Hyrax, more than a dozen Guardsmen still had grenades that they dropped over the lip of the wall and down into the mass of claws and teeth raging below.
There was a pause for a second, in which time another Leaper made it up onto the wall, talons taking one of the recovering Guardsmen from another regiment in the shoulder and piercing his flak armour like it was made of script paper. To their credit, none of her Guardsmen let themselves be distracted from firing over the wall even as a trio of Guardsmen armed with shotguns and close combat weapons closed in on the Leaper even as it threw it's original prey from the wall with a screech.
It was tactics and experience earned in blood and death, the moment those on the wall stopped shooting outward, the enemies would capitalise on the window they were offered and the line would shatter. The next second the grenades blew in a wave of Xenos blood and guts, the literal piles of Xenos that had been climbing the wall dislodged and collapsing into the open area away from the wall.
Unfortunately, that bought them time, rather than turned the course of this strange battle, with literally hundreds more of the foul Xenos visible pouring towards their defences, having finished slaughtering the Guardsmen based further out. And as her lasgun clicked dry, Velex knew she had only one magazine remaining on her.
"Sergeant, take five and try and find some ammo, take it from anyone not ready to fight if you have to!" Velex could see the Sergeant out of the corner of her eye as she reloaded her weapon, the man having just pulverised the Leaper's upper torso with a pair of shotgun rounds, but he was already moving to follow her latest order even as blood dripped from a slash he had received to the side of the face.
While five less men on the wall reduced her available firepower, it was worth it if they could find even one crate of laspacks, or even better some more grenades.
"I will go with them Lieutenant, any who are not ready to stand in defence of the Imperium will be made an example of, one way or another." The Commissar's comment made a lot of sense, there were very few things that could motivate a Guardsman to fight better than a Commissar stood at their back.
"Understood Commissar, we will hold until your return…" with the smoke of the grenades beginning to settle, Velex could see more Tyranids charging towards them, but it was less than she expected given the mass of flesh she could see further in the distance.
It was almost as if the Tyranids were being distracted, drawn away to something else, and if it was another Imperial defensive position she could only give thanks for their sacrifice. Disciplined fire from her troopers was focussed on anything that moved in the mass of corpses below them, but Velex was focussed on the remnants of the Command section of the Trench she could see some hundred metres from the wall.
"I need rope!" It was an insane idea, one that Velex wouldn't even consider for a second.
But as a Guardsman two down from her, dressed in an unfamiliar uniform that reminded Velex more of arctic survival gear rather than combat armour, seemed to respond to her cry with stepping back and grabbing his backpack, Velex knew there was no time to second guess herself.
"What's your name, Guardsman?" The Guardsman seemed surprised at being addressed directly, though he waited until he pulled out the requested length of rope before jumping to a somewhat sloppy salute.
"Conscript Mattis Lieutenant, 13th Grovan Engineers. What are these things? Last thing I remember I was on a ship headed to the Calixia Sector." It seemed like a couple of her other Guardsmen had understood her crazy scheme, as along the wall four other ropes were being readied, several groups of guardsmen playing verbal games of chance to determine who would be the volunteers for the scavenging run.
"Well Conscript, I need you bracing this rope as securely as you can, and when I shout you need to jump off the wall into the courtyard… you understand?" It was clear he didn't, not fully, but he nodded regardless and Velex knew another Guardsman would be gripping the rope as well, so that should be enough.
"Once more into the jungle Prafects!" The Regimental call was copied from half a hundred throats, Velex taking the lead as she used Mattis' readied knee to push up and over the wall as a wave of flames poured down onto the mound of Tyranid corpses for a second to try and clear their path.
She wasted no time going down slowly, using the rope as a brake against her flak gloves on her descent rather than as an actual climbing system. Landing on top of the Tyranid corpses, Velex took a moment to find her footing as the other members of her 'squad' joined her. Three of them were Praefects like her, but to her surprise the last volunteer was armoured in carapace armour and armed with a helgun of all things.
Such a powerful weapon was proved useful a moment later as three leapers thrashed their way out of the corpses in front of them, the first barely having time to screech it's fury towards them before it's head was removed by a pinpoint helgun round to one of its eyes. The second fell to supporting fire from up on the wall, the third leaping at Velex with murder in it's eyes, though it's leap merely removed its capacity to dodge as she planted a flurry of lasgun rounds in its chest area while she ducked under its talons.
"We got it Lieutenant, let's move!" Two of her men would stay at the base of the wall, securing their route back for as long as they could, while Velex led the others forward.
"Let's move, no stopping for anything!" It was difficult to move quickly on the Tyranid corpses, but thankfully there weren't so many as to form an actual carpet of corpses just yet, so they reached the clearer section of ground some twenty metres from the wall in a matter of seconds.
Granted, it felt like agonising minutes to her adrenaline fuelled mind, but as lasgun fire poured down onto the Xenos between them and the Guard Command point she couldn't help but grin slightly.
The rush that came with this kind of fight, life or death balanced on a knife edge, this was what Prafects lived for. In fact, she remembered as she was forced to dodge to one side as a Leaper landed in front of her, riddled with holes from the repeated lasgun fire, it was something that the training officers back on Indigan had cautioned them against repeatedly.
It was well documented that Indigan veterans began to act even more recklessly in combat, as they tried to experience the rush for as long as possible.
There was a scream from her right, the Indigan Guardsman that had accompanied grabbed by one of the Warrior type Tyranids, the thing literally ripping him in half even as he slammed his bayoneted rifle into its maw. That left her with just the unfamiliar Guardsman, who had taken down three of the Tyranids blocking their path without breaking from their running pace.
Reaching the Command post and sliding into it as the foul projectiles of the Tyranids filled the air around her, Velex was focussed on the things that she had seen from the wall. Several large ammo boxes littered the Command centre, as well as the remains of the Guardsmen that had undoubtedly been stationed here.
The serial codes that were etched into the side of the cases were not ones that she was familiar with, once more highlighting the concerning manner that they had been dropped into, but she could still make out which ones contained powerpacks rather than other ammunition.
The Stormtrooper, or at least that was what she assumed he was, slid into the command bunker a moment later, working to apply sterilising gel from his med-pack to a wound in his lower abdomen that still had a needle the size of her finger sticking out of it. Unfortunately, Velex couldn't afford to give him help, as she rushed to the nearest ammo crate and tore open it's lid.
The first crate was useless, containing drum style power packs that wouldn't fit her mens weapons, though thankfully the second contained the long type powerpacks that would work.
"Here, help me tip this!" To his credit, the Stormtrooper didn't even hesitate as he moved over to help her tip the crate.
Given the crate contained almost 200 powerpacks, it was going to be a challenge to even lift the thing with just the two of them, let alone carry it back at any speed. Velex knew that sacrificing about half of her little treasure trove might come back to haunt her in an hour or so, but she had to focus on surviving the next couple of minutes first.
Five seconds later they were climbing out of the command post and running the gauntlet once more, though in truth it was more of a shambling jog rather than a run this time. Having stowed her lasgun on her back to free up an arm, Velex regretted not grabbing a pistol of some type from inside the command centre, as she was left with the horrible feeling of being effectively unarmed in a warzone.
The cries of the Tyranids were louder now, and the fire from the walls was slowly becoming more sporadic, her men no doubt having to husband their remaining shots as best they could. If it wasn't for the Stormtrooper's Helpistol, which he wielded with the same unerring accuracy as it's larger cousin, there is no way they would have made it back to the wall, though as she frantically tied the two ropes that would lift the crate to the top of the wall, she could feel the approaching Leaper as it screamed its hatred towards her.
"Lift!" The command came as she ducked, a moment later than she would have liked as the Leaper's talon slammed into the stock of her lasgun and sent her slamming into and then off the ferrocrete of the wall.
Her ears rang and her head swam as she rolled to her feet, in time to see the second of the Guardsmen that had stayed to secure the wall went down with one of the Xenos' living ammunition burrowing into his face. The ropes shot up the wall, dragging their precious cargo and the Stormtrooper who had managed to grab one up at a speed that the Leapers couldn't predict or match.
Unfortunately, her plan to secure extra ammunition wouldn't help her as she saw the skittering approach of dozens more Tyranids, and if they did what she thought with the ropes the chances of them dropping another down in time to save her were very small indeed.
While she had disparaged the way the Commissar had spoken of the Emperor watching over them earlier, Velex really wouldn't mind being proved wrong right now…
!"£$%^&*()_+
?, Tomb World of Solemnace, 999.M41
?, ?
It was cold as he awoke, though he did not remember going to sleep. In fact, the last thing he remembered was cutting down one of the traitorous dogs that had turned against the Imperium under the guise of 'saving it'.
He did not know where he was, and looking around he realised he couldn't see anything, merely blackness tinged with lights off in the distance of varying intensities and a deep sorrowful bell ringing and echoing around the dark space around him. As he thought about the lights though, he found himself standing on a battlefield of sorts, on a wall overlooking a mass of horrific Xenos that he had trouble imagining could be real for a moment…
As doubt flickered in his mind for a moment, he remembered the teachings of the Emperor and the doubts that had led many of his fellows to turn to the whims of Chaos, determination and faith in humanity crushing that moment of weakness as he viewed what stood before him. Everything was in slow motion, though he could tell that these Guardsmen were going to lose this fight.
That would not happen if he could help it, he had sworn to stand and defend the Imperium against any threat, Chaos tainted or otherwise. Without truly understanding what he was doing, he found himself stood over an elite Guardsman who was lying against the parapet of the wall, the light from him that had shone like a beacon moments before quickly fading as blood poured from the wound in his stomach.
This one's faith was strong. He could use that, and show these Xenos what it meant to stand against the Defenders of the Imperium. With a thought, he was merging with the Elite Guardsman as a flash of light washed over the battlefield.
It was time for Colonel Dietrich Gerstahl to go to war again…
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Palace of Possibilities, Realm of Chaos, 999.M41
Tzeentch, Changer of Ways and Chaos God
It started with a tolling bell, an insignificant sound that somehow reverberated throughout his realm like a warning. Though before he had a chance to investigate this curiosity, as everything in his realm was his to command and he had not ordered any such noise to be emitted, he was drawn to the sudden cries of his Oracle, young Fateweaver screaming out words that were unintelligible even to him as demonic blood poured from his eyes on both of his heads.
Tzeentch could feel the shift that had caused his favoured minion such distress even as he tried and failed to pinpoint it's source. Something had changed within the threads of fate, similarly to the ripples that had been caused by the arrival of the first Tyranid ship into the Milky Way all those millenia ago.
Even now, he could foresee thousands of his crafted schemes and plans torn apart at the seams by some unseen force, and for a moment he felt a fury that threatened to overwhelm his calculating nature. But he was above such primitive emotions unlike his barbaric 'brother', and even as he watched Kairos collapse and heard the worried cries of his other minions as they rushed to his aid Tzeentch smiled and began to plot anew.
There was a reason he had thrown Kairos into the Well of Eternity and not attempted to grasp the knowledge of the future as he had been so tempted to do all those years ago. It was for much the same reason he spent as much of his time and energy plotting to aid the forces of the Imperium as he did against them. Knowledge of the true future, of understanding everything that was, is or will be, took all of the fun and surprises out of the Game he played.
And if there was one thing Tzeentch took the greatest of glee in, it was when something happened that surprised even him…
A/N: So, I took a risk and did a short section in the guise of a Chaos God, one that is depicted in so many ways that it is both easy and impossible to characterise him correctly.
But I wanted to start highlighting the impact that Harry would have on those that 'know' the future of the 41st Millenium, and I couldn't think of a better way to highlight those ripples than wreaking havoc on Kairos Fateweaver. He is one of my most disliked Warhammer 40k characters, simply because the only way he is ever really defeated is 'well...Plot?', so effectively giving him something of a demonic brain aneurysm as the knowledge of the future is somewhat torn from his mind is fun.
Because Harry isn't of this reality, he doesn't 'fit' into the Well of Eternity's threads of Fate, meaning he will at first be unpredictable to those that read the future using this method or similar methods. Which in a way will frustrate the Chaos Gods more than slightly, given Harry will definitely not be up for the whole 'join us and ascend to a genocidal demon thing', but also provide at least one of them with more than a little amusement as he stomps on the carefully planned plots and schemes of more than one race.
Also, we have the introduction of a couple of Guardsmen OCs. Primarily these guys will serve as Harry's introduction to the Imperium, as well as helping to highlight the somewhat chaotic method that Trazyn uses to populate his 'collections'. Let me know what you think, and am more than happy to receive a couple of suggestions for other Guard Regiments (none of this Astra Militarum nonsense!), as long as they are reasonable and somewhat realistic suggestions. Keep in mind any Guardsmen that are too fanatical are probably not going to live beyond the next couple of chapters, what with dealing with Harry being an unsanctioned psyker and of course Trazyn leading them towards Cadia eventually.
Anyway, let me know what you think as always guys!
Review lots to make it clear what's working and what isn't!
Defias Out!