Legion of Shadows, Book 4: The Scars of War Chapter 1: Prologue, a Warhammer + Naruto Crossover fanfic

Prologue: The first week

'Another boring day' Muttered a comms specialist within the borders of Elementian space. The sounds of the usual channel chat echoed around the network, this individuals job aspect was not too much considering that the youth was merely doing this as part of their learning experience within the Elementia academy.

Many within the communication hub, apart from the commanding officers and such, were mostly students whom wished to pursue a better job prospect within the Elementia technologica. Even now, as the youth was listening in on the comms chat, he dreamed of someday walking alongside legends like Alabast, Pietro Polendina, The revered and sometimes questionable scientist Orochimaru and those senior mechanicum personnel whom teach more complex theories.

Although, their incessant about their culture of this "machine spirit" and their faith in some supposed god of the machine is a bit of a turn off. Hope I don't get too many classes in those

The sounds of many personnel within the building was a normal static to the youth's mind, as they pulled their sight towards the expansion of space beyond the planets. He always enjoyed his gaze upon the stars, knowing that there were countless planets just like theirs within the vast galaxy.

Who knows how many people are out there. Thinking like I am about one day travelling the galaxy, exploring for possible new life. Maybe even finding love out there in the vast beyond.

His thoughts and daydreaming was pulled away when he noticed an incoming warp transit signal from his vector. Identifying the vessel only took a few seconds as his light radar picked up it's designation and class among the various databases within Elementia.

That's weird... There wasn't any schedule for any Imperial war class vessels for today... a training exercise perhaps?

Nonetheless, he opened up a vox channel with the vessel, acquiring it's vessel name and identification number along with it's various systems.

'Imperial cruiser "Designation 250-Alpha-Delta". This is Elementia tower Delta, We receive you on Radar, state your approach vector and business. Over'

By this point, the youth expects the usual chatter that the command vessel gives and then he directs them to a more specialised tower approach, yet this time he only hears the sound of static. He finds this weird but notices the vessel has not diverted from it's projection nor has acknowledged his hail.

He tries again

' Cruiser 250-Alpha Delta. This is Elementia tower delta. State your vector and business. Over'

A few seconds pass, yet no response hail is given by the vessel.

The youth signals to his commanding tower officer that he is encountering an issue as they walk begrudgingly towards the youth.

'What is it now?' His superior says, their tone flat yet a tinge of annoyance was upon their lips

'Sir. I have a Imperial war class vessel in my quadrant. I have hailed them twice, no response on either hails'

The superior grunts as they picked up the spare headset, this one was tuned into the channel that the youth was on as they opened up a comms link.

'Cruiser 250- Alpha Delta. This is Elementia tower delta. State your vector. Over'

To the confusion of both individuals, only silence greets them. The senior tries to diagnose if there is a comms issue with their systems, yet his terminal shows that all the systems are in working order, the last diagnostic check showed that the system was operating within acceptable parameters.

'Sir... what is our protocol?' the youth asked, their tone confused as they had never encountered this .

'Just stay right there boy. Try and get a response if you can, I will call it in'

The sounds of the youth continued to echo the same response to the vessel, while his senior hailed Port Antemurale to prepare their combat vessels as a precaution.

The chatter within the communication hub started to die down as word spread, already the gossiping of people and chatter about something different made the day just a little bit exciting for those whom only expected the norm, even after the months of extensive drills and training simulations they had all been subjected to fell into monotony after the first few months.

'Cruiser 250- Alpha Delta. This is Elementia tower delta. State your vector. Over'

'Cruiser 250- Alpha Delta. This is Elementia tower delta. Can any of you even bloody hear me, give me something. Over'

The youth was now feeling aggravated. His hails, which have been so far silent pushed his patience to the limit, yet something deep within his subconscious thought was pulling itself into the limelight, a thought that he didn't realize he would think about.

This is not right, they should have at least heard me by now.

'Cruiser 250 Alpha delta... please... can you just please respond... for the love of all that is humanity... please respond... over!'

The communication hub was silent as the youth has just said that in a rather loud tone, yet people were watching in anticipation. Nervousness was prevalent across the board as many others tried opened their communicators to the frequency, listening in.

Yet what was said next, would bring a cold chill to all those whom listened.

'BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!'

The youth was blasted with the sounds of a high pitch scream as he pulled the headphones away from his ears, blood started to seep from them as he could only hear the sounds of a blaring tone. He opened his eyes after flinching to see the hub alive with personnel trying to contact everyone they could within Elementia proper, as the sounds of multiple warnings blared across the screens.

'I have eyes on ten... no twenty... no fifty unidentified vessels. Coming from the north west'

'I have eyes on my screen. My radar is full!'

'I have eyes on a full radar! What the hell is happening!'

'Sir! Antemurale is mobilizing the fleet. But the numbers are climbing!'

'Tell elementia command to issue a system wide red alert... We are being elevated to DEFCON 1 people. This is not a drill!'

The sirens within the communication station blared across the complex, as the space beyond showed hundreds of warp openings happening. The youth could only watch in horror as more ships arrived within the system, even as the various stealth systems activated within the communication station.

Yet that did not stop the enemy from sending a hail of torpedoes screaming across space, where their station was last seen.

'Everyone! Get to the life boats! Evacuate now!'

The sounds of panicked personnel and their rush to their emergency life vessels was all the youth could hear as he was being pushed towards a life raft.

In the end, the sounds of explosions and instantaneous depressurization echoed across the station, as the flood of Imperial vessels flooded the stars.

-0-

Terraria was a hot-zone battleground.

The planetary defense systems were alight with the sounds of thunderous discharge, the skies above the worlds were alight with the sights of thousands of drop ships, as the fleet ships of the Imperial vessels were alight with the firing of massive atmospheric guns.

The great cities of the planet issued massive evacuation orders, even as the planetary forces rallied within these massive cities, weathering the all out war being conducted upon their doorsteps.

The largest of them, Vierra; had her massive walls and planetary dust shields holding against a constant barrage of orbital fire, lines of artillery shelled the open planes around the city as the forces of the deranged and mad organized into massive tidal hordes, their cries of blood and rage echoing across the planes, even as the firing continued into the night.

'Contact! East side wall! 400 yards!'

'Enemies to the north! Incoming shells!'

'Incoming horde! Coming from the west!'

'We need fire support and we need it now!'

Winter Schnee scanned the hellscape before her, in all her service she had never imagined the magnitude of destruction wrought upon her world, yet she issued orders and commands with a cold steel tone and a calm demeanor.

'Fire command' she said 'Initialize strafing runs at these locations. Give me priority of the most hostile area's. I am moving to the front'

Gunships dropped lines of high explosives against the incoming horde, their shock waves making the earth shudder at it's force, while Winter moved to another hotly contested zone.

When she arrived, she noticed the enemy had managed to scale the initial wall, their numbers were beyond counting as the cries of berserking madmen echoed across.

The fighting was fierce, as blood was spilled across all of it's surface, the battle cries of desperate defenders along with the maddening shouts of the enemy before her.

The symbol of the Schnee family crest glowed a mighty white, as hundreds of thousands of all manner of creatures and humanoid personnel emerged from it's glow, their forms a pale blue yet struck the enemy all the same. Winter rushed into the fighting, her saber cutting down enemies with a precision and grace that few could hope to match.

'Hold the line! Fight! Fight for your right to live!' She bellowed out as the line started to slowly push back the tide of enemies.

Artillery fire pummeled the outer part of the advancing horde as the sounds of gunfire and shells rumbled the area, yet Winter rushed forward anyway. A stray fragment of shell gashed her eye, yet even through the blood and pain she pushed onward, her face set in a snarl of anger as her hatred was focused upon this enemy.

It would take ten hours of brutal close assaults and firing lines until the initial horde was destroyed from the walls, ten hours of the most brutal fighting Elementia had seen in centuries.

Yet this was merely one of her worlds, for the others were suffering the same fate, brave defenders holding out while an enemy whom suffered casualties in the tens of thousands continued to add to the meat grinder.

The first days of the assault of Elementia had gone well underway.

-0-

Real-space churned as a great tear opened.

From the wound, a massive ship screamed out from it. It's speed ungodly fast as the vessel was being subjected to all manner of forces.

'Burn the bloody retro's! Slow us down Right now!' screamed the captain.

The ship was alight with the burning of flames, as it's speed started to descend at a rapid pace, it's scanners had noticed it had been flung into a star system, as it's projection put it colliding towards a nearby planet. The systems groaned as the ship started to regain control of it's speed, yet the captain knew it was not going to be enough.

'High energy turn us away from the planet! Get us full power to the engines!'

The massive vessel ignited it's engines in a full inferno, the sheer momentum from it's exit from the warp was slowly being reduced, until the mighty vessel had finally gained some semblance of stability.

'Everyone alright?' the Captain said across the comms, various checks from the crews were said as they performed their checks.

'I'm going to the observation deck! I got to check' the captain said as he rushed towards observation deck 1-alpha, where he saw the lying form of his friend and primarch of their legion.

'Naruto'

Naruto was still unconscious, his eyes were exhibiting rapid eye movement. Inari, captain of the Will of Fire which had just barely made it out of the crushing tides of the warp called in a medical team to help his friend.

The Apothecarion had sent three squads towards the observation deck, at the sight of their primarch on the ground they did not hesitate to administer medical aid.

It was a few tense minutes of applying healing chakra and such, yet the crews were thankful when Naruto opened his eyes.

'Inari?' Naruto muttered

'Big bro... your alive. I thought you were a goner there'

'Hows the ship?' Naruto asked, his voice quiet 'Is she safe?'

'She is out of danger... you did it. You got us out'

'I am glad' Naruto said, his eyes unfocused 'I'm a little tired. Wake me up in ten minutes'

Inari had to give a slight chuckle at the casual attitude Naruto was giving for such a harrowing event. He gave his friend one last look as the astartes carried their primarch back to the apothecarion to recover.

Inari made his way back towards the command deck, the sounds of crews scrambling across the area made him pause in concern.

'Status' Inari asked

'Thandesious is okay. He says the warp had shaken him up but he is okay for the moment. We are giving him medical treatment as we speak. But that is the good news'

'What is the bad news?'

'He gave us a sitrep about the warp... and it's bad.'

'Details cadet! I need details'

'He says he can't see the astronomican... and the warps tides are just getting more chaotic'

Inari paused in concern at that information, realising a reality that many within the ship were not prepared for.

Without the warp and the astronomican, they had no way of returning to Elementia.

They were stuck here, in the middle of nowhere.

-0-

The Will of Fire settled itself above the nearest planet.

Initial scans showed the planet was unidentified by Imperial expeditions, yet the atmosphere composition was the most desirable of all the planets within the system. Yet Inari was merely looking at the planet from space and realised it was of a particular size.

'Is it me... or is that planet's biosphere... artificial looking?' Inari asked his command staff.

'According to these readings, this planet had not been inhabited for untold millennia. But I understand why you would think so, with the strange bio signatures and strange composition of the planets surface captain'

Inari's scans and biological surveys showed elevated metal compositions that were much denser than a naturally formed planet. Looking more in detail he noticed weird metallic readings being done that confounded even his most senior analyst.

'Is the planet safe for us to establish a base of operations?' he asked.

'According to these readings. Atmospheric composition is of prime quality, the air should be good to breathe'

'Then lets start establishing a base of operations on the planet. And figure out how we are going to fix this mess'

'Aye Captain'

He looked on as hundreds of drop ships, along with pre fabricated pods entered the atmosphere, all the while he asked for details about his friend whom was still recovering within the medical wing of the ship.

The first personnel upon the planet had weapons armed, they noticed the plains area they had picked as an initial landing site and scanned for potential hostile forces.

The sounds of thrusters and drop vessels accompanied the first recon units, builders used clones to speed the process in which welding and fabrication was being done, with the results of a functional base established in only four hours.

Meanwhile, recon forces were scanning the local area's. Chief among them was a jungle biodome that contained an assortment of fauna and flora that were not archived or documented, yet it seemed to those on the ground that none of the fauna was naturally hostile.

'recon squad 22 to overlord. Copy'

'This is overlord. Send your traffic'

'Initial scouting of biome area commencing. No signs of hostile fauna in vicinity. Requesting additional clearance to proceed ahead'

'That is a negative 22. Report back to base for debrief and updated mission parameters. Over'

'Understood. recon squad 22 Returning. Out'

Naruto was within the newly established command center, along with those within the Will of Fire whom were in charge of her various systems and functions, the scene before him was heated.

'Without the beacon to guide us through the warp. We are stuck here! We should just consolidate on this planet and wait it out until the warp is stable'

'And just let our homes to die?! There must be some way for us to get back?!'

'Unless you got another way of interstellar travel! Then we are up a creek with nothing!'

'And your just giving up! Just like that?'

'What are we supposed to do? We are grounded... simple as that. The best thing we can do is take inventory of what we got. Get what we need from this planet and just wait it out'

The room was heated with the crewmembers debating and discussing of their current plan of action, with those within high command were in discussion on where they were in the current galaxy and what kind of world they ended up upon.

'Do we have a general location of where we are?' Naruto asked

'Navigational charts put us somewhere in Segmentum Obscurus, almost bordering Ultima'

'The warp pushed us that far off course?' asked one of the navigational seniors

'It was a stroke of luck that we even got out of that mess to begin with. In all my years I have never seen such a thing happen'

'Well count ourselves damn lucky we got out of that mess. But now we are stuck here with no way to get back to Elementia'

'recon Squad 25 to overlord. Come in Overlord'

The hail from the network silenced the operations tent, as the operator used the communicator.

'This is overlord. Send your traffic'

'We have visual on an unusual structure. Not of Imperial or any alien in the archives. Be advised'

'Confirm recon. Enable your optics for analysing'

'Confirmed'

The holographic projector inside the tent flared to life as the structure was broadcasted upon the table. It's structure was unlike any of them had seen, a black, almost obsidian metal jutted itself out of the ground, intrinsic markings of an unknown language were scribbled across the surface, yet the analysing equipment were merely giving out errors in terms of it's composition and what kind of chemical elements it was made from.

Naruto could feel an itch on the back of his head, yet he chose to ignore it for the time being.

'Overlord, do we have confirmation on what this is?'

'That is a negative 25, our scanners are giving us only errors on what this is. We do not have any archival data on what this is. Treat object as UO'

'understood. Proceeding with caution towards the structure'

The operations tent were in anticipation as the recon squad continued to advance upon the unknown structure, as they got closer towards it they realised the true scale of what they were looking at.

The object was mostly buried within the ground, yet even this piece of structure towered over even the local fauna and hills of dirt surrounding the recon squad, the projection showed that the symbols were more intricate and numerous when the recon squad got closer towards the unidentified object.

Naruto could now feel the back of his head flare, yet he only gave a minor grunt as he continued his sights upon the structure.

'Overlord. I am about to touch the object. Be advised'

The first scout member slowly placed his hand upon the surface, yet was confused as he could feel it was an almost unnatural cold touch even in such moderate climate, he pulled out his backpack as he fished out an extraction kit, complete with a diamond tipped plasteel drill head.

The sounds of grinding metal and screeching echoed across the clearing, yet the scout member was surprised to find resistance upon his drill bit, he applied a bit more force and to his surprise the drill head snapped clean, while the surface of the object only suffered minor to superficial damage.

'Command... This thing is made of a metal that just scuffed my drill bit. Whatever it's made of it is strong as all hell'

The scout carefully swept the pieces of the unknown material and the broken pieces of diamond and plasteel into a container, as he planted a locator beacon upon the object and turned the device on.

'Returning to base, prepare an analysing crew for the samples'

'Acknowledged 25, return with all haste'

'Copy that Overlord. Squad 25 out'

The command tent was alight now with the excitement and trepidation about this discovery, while Naruto could not help but feel something... familiar about it, yet the itch in his head was starting to become an annoyance.

-0-

Terraria was being swarmed with the rabble of the mad and berserk, yet continued to hold despite this.

Yet on Elementia Prime itself, the true quality of the enemies force was making it's mark upon a legions home world, as the raining of drop pods, these of a once bone white dripped with blood as their colours were stained crimson.

'BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!'

Twelfth squad took to the impromptu barriers built from quick applications of earth jutsu, as they trained their boltguns upon the line of frothing astartes that came upon their lines. These recruits, Whom were merely doing combat drills merely a few days ago were being forced into a grinding battle against battle hardened and crazed world eater berserkers.

A young astartes, this one being part of the new recruitments looked upon the field and trained their boltgun towards the line of frothing, crazed astartes that rushed their position, from her size and shape she was of a female astartes, yet she levelled her boltgun and applied almost pinpoint precision upon her targets, shot after shot appeared almost unnatural as they found vulnerable points in the armour, yet she grunted in frustration as she felt the telltale signs of an empty magazine.

She did a quick magazine change yet found her boltgun to jam on the initial cartridge, yet before she could clear the breach the sound of a roaring axe was the only warning she had before she ducked under an overhead swing.

Scrambling out of her cover, she tried to clear the breach on her boltgun yet it was cut in half by the astartes in front of her, his roar of hatred and bloodlust filling her with a profound sense of dread.

'KILL KILL KILL!'

In an act of desperation, she pushed chakra into the gloves of her hands as she took a fighting stance, her face showing nothing as she watched her enemy with an uncanny focus, the traitor swing his axe wide, hoping to catch her off guard with a vicious backhand, yet she moved into his body, her hand pushing into his chest area as a blast of chakra exploded out from the back plating.

The astartes staggered, looking as though they were about to fall, yet before the astartes could relax the axe came back, knocking the helmet off the astartes as she staggered upon the ground, her black hair, which came down past her shoulders parted away to show pale purple eyes, veins covering the sides as she looked upon the traitor with a look of contempt.

The world eater, though their body was failing still stood up as their mouth frothed forth blood, the young woman astartes, her eyes now focused upon the traitor rushed into his chest, her hands lighting with chakra as she delivered a series of devastating blows against his chest area, which left the traitor falling back upon the ground, blood flowing from his mouth as they took their final breath.

The splattering of gunfire forced her back to cover, as a dozen world eaters peppered her location with reactive shells, she grunted in frustration as she leaped back across the impromptu barricade.

She saw the bodies of some of her squamates next to her, as she scrambled to grab hold of another boltgun, the dust vox upon her ear echoing out messages from others within the general area near her.

'This is acting sergeant Hanabi, enemy forces have breached section 5-01, request any backup to bolster the line. Over!'

'Confirm Sergeant, resources are scarce as of this point, we are redirecting squad fourteen and fifteen to your position, hold out as long as you can.'

Hanabi Hyuuga gave a quick acknowledgement as she levelled her boltgun at the traitors, her veins bulged across the sides of her head as she placed a dozen boltgun shells into the eyes of the enemy traitors that tried to take her before, their deaths almost instant due to the uncanny marksmanship she displayed.

Behind her position, merely a few kilometres away, stood the gates of Konoha, as she was being hammered by extensive artillery barrages, the dust powered shield across the area of the city shuddered as fighting was being done all across the area.

Astartes were fighting astartes, as the streets ran red with the blood of loyalist and traitors, firing lines of astartes levelled punishing barrages of bolter shells while the hacking of others were being heard across the sounds of the fighting and dying. Across a dozen different area's the astartes of the tenth through twelfth companies of the shadow foxes were fighting their first true battle, yet the tides of inexperience paved the way for the world eaters to cause immense havoc among their ranks.

Yet shinobi are those who endure such trials, becoming stronger from it.

These astartes, the survivors of such a brutal and bloody battlefield were being tempered by such acts of savagery, as they implemented tactics and plans that were prepared for such scenarios, yet being modified to suit the situation they face around every corner.

Some area's of Konoha were being targeted the heaviest, these were being held back by the more senior of the legion staff that remained, chief among these places was the holdout of Konoha hospital, where the fiercest fighting and the most experienced of the world eaters had made their slaughtering ground.

Chief among these, were the battalion of red butchers that became the forward vanguard to assault the facility, yet it was here that the most experienced and strongest of shinobi and astartes held back the tide of bloodshed.

'Target on the left flank! Suppress!'

'I need some fire on these guys! Someone give me something!'

'Hold the damn point! They must not breach the hospital!'

Chouji Akimichi towered above the hospital, his form thanks to his family's jutsu, which he was using to devastating effect. Rows of red butchers fell to his mighty swings as they focused obscene amounts of firepower against him, yet even this was not enough to shake him from his position.

'Stand your ground! You are citizens of Konoha, citizens of Elementia. Stand and fight!'

Each strike from his mighty weapon caused the death of at least one red butcher, yet even with his strength and those he leads, the enemy still managed to breach area's of the hospital, where the corridors are alight with seals and the sounds of gunfire.

Shadow foxes made impromptu barriers and obstacles against the tide of world eaters, yet the fighting remained fierce within the hospital grounds.

'Changing Mag!'

'Suppression fire!'

'Reloading!'

Firing jutsu!'

Beyond these, within the rooms shielded by seals and such, another struggle was happening, as the sounds of pain and screams of females echoed across the area, while those of the medical staff were giving words of encouragement, even as the sound of gunfire echoed outside.

'Listen to me... you have to push!'

'I...I can't... I can't... It's too much... it's Aargh!' the sounds of crying and pain filled moans echoed in these room as their occupants were in such an extreme pain, something that they had never imagined as they could only cry out.

'I can see the head now!... Look at me... Breathe... steady breaths'

The female within the bed took sharp breaths as the pains of her labour pains were intense, she gave cries of pain as she tried to push her abdomen, yet the pain still continued to climb.

'You almost have this! You just need to give one more push! Just one more'

The astartes screamed her lungs as she gave all she could, yet the sound of crying made the pain almost fade as the sounds of another echoed around the room, the female was exhausted, sweat and tears within her eyes, yet the sound of crying made her shed tears of happiness.

'Congratulations... it's a girl' the nurse said, as she gave a quick application of water jutsu to clean the child, the new mother looked upon her infant with tears flowing, even as the sounds of gunfire echoed just past the seal barrier. These seals would have the strength to hold back even the most severe breach. Yet while these miracles were happening, the sounds of fighting and dying echoed across the halls of the hospital and around Konoha.

Yet the same scenario was happening across the planet, as the great hidden villages were being assaulted by a traitorous legion.

All the while, the figure of a daemonic being looked upon the suffering and death with a look of demented glee, as even the hammering of the nails within his head fell silent to the satisfaction of watching a legion die.

-0-

Sasuke looked on with an almost bored look, as he witnessed Roboute proclaim his Imperium secundus. After the pomp and grandeur of the ceremonies and the herald of Sanguinius as regent of this second "Imperium" the second company captain had all he could tolerate from such festivities.

'What a waste of time and energy' Sasuke muttered 'To be better spent finding a way to re-establish communications'

'Captain. Lord Guilliman is trying' Konohamaru said, his tone somewhat hesitant as his captain snorted.

'More like he is trying to make his little Ultramar a second Empire. We should be focussing on returning to Elementia'

'Is there something that interest you. Captain Sasuke?' another voice said as Konohamaru made himself sparse from the room.

Sasuke looked upon the face of Roboute, the man looked upon the Uchiha with a barely held contempt, yet Sasuke merely looked at him with an uninterested look. Standing beside him, the form of Sanguinius merely looked on in concern.

'For someone whom prides themselves on the task of administration. I find your lack of solution finding... disappointing' Sasuke said, a snarky undertone within his words.

'Why you ungrateful little...' Guilliman said, his hand almost within striking distance towards Sasuke, a hand would hold back the two as the form of Sanguinius stood in between them.

'Sasuke. Roboute, now is not the time to be in conflict. I understand your frustration at Caith brother, but that should not be focused on a loyal comrade of the Imperium'

'Hmph... then I will take my leave' Guiliman said, his form walking away as Sanguinius placed his hand upon his weathered face.

'Can you at least try and play nice?' Sanguinius asked, his face tired.

'It is not my issue that the man cannot face his own faults. Ever the perfectionist, yet no skin when critiqued by those of his equal'

'I understand what you mean Sasuke. But for the time being we need to be a collective front.'

'And what of you Sanguinius? The astronomican is unable to be seen. We are stranded away from our homes, and you had been chosen to lead a people whom are strangers. What of your thoughts?' Sasuke said, his voice calm yet a caring undertone was within.

'I... I do not know' Sanguinius admitted, his tone quiet, even as Sasuke placed his hand upon his shoulder, a look of understanding upon his face as the pair looked upon each other in silence.

'I see the lord Regent is busy deliberating upon his task' spoke of another voice, one Sasuke knew reluctantly.

Standing before the duo, a great figure stood, their form majestic and strong as their face was of withered stone and unflinching steel, his flowing blonde hair and facial features put this man above others, as his stature and size placed him as equal to his angelic brother.

'Lion... What news do you bring lord protector?' Sanguinius asked, his tone formal yet inquisitive.

'Traitor forces have been seen mobilizing on Sotha, we have been receiving astropathic messages of unusual enemy tactics...unique terror tactics'

'Konrad' Sanguinius muttered

'Aye brother. With your blessing, I will deploy my forces to apprehend the traitor, and protect the Pharos'

Sasuke listened with a barely held restraint, the only reason many Imperial forces were able to travel within this space was due to that mysterious artefact, yet many did not know where or how it came to be.

'Then you have my consent Lion' Sanguinius said 'gather what you need along with Roboute's men. Perhaps we can salvage this situation to our advantage'

'With your permission Sanguinius. I wish to add my company's strength to the coming battle' Sasuke said, his tone stalwart.

'And what would the remnants of an elementian force. A company only a third of it's original strength, would add to the might of two legions?' Lion said, his tone dour.

'You face against the Night lords. They are specialist in terror and guerilla tactics are they not? Our legion has extensive skills in such categories. After all the best way to catch a killer is with another... right?' Sasuke said, his tone smug as he looked upon the primarch with no hesitation or fear.

'He is right Lion' Sanguinius said 'Sasuke's company would certainly reduce the casualties upon yours and Roboute's legion. After all we need all we can to ensure our success'

'But of course lord regent. As you command' Lion said, his tone formal as he gave his leave.

Sanguinius and Sasuke still remained in the room, yet Sasuke just gave a sigh

'Now I kinda wished that was Roboute now. At least with him he doesn't feel like someone whom would kill me without hesitation'

'I know my brother can be a little... extreme Sasuke' Sanguinius said 'But he means well, we all do'

'I hope so Sanguinius... I hope so' Sasuke said, his eye looking outwards

-0-

On the ashes of Isstvan IV, silence echoed across the land.

The lands across the world were devastated, the ground filled with a rotting smell that was repugnant as the colour of bloated green left the ground unable to grow life, the wrecks of rusted metal and hollowed vehicles were prevalent across the surface, yet the sounds of footsteps still echoed across the ruins as astartes from the traitors continued their patrol sweeps, their eyes eager to feast upon the blood of their fellow astartes whom hid beneath the planets surface.

The legions were scattered across the planet, their strongholds were established underground near the lower surface, these base of operations were almost warm to nearly hot in temperature, the only way for them to evade any thermal readings from the traitors and be discovered.

Yet the hardest task fell to the runners, astartes whom volunteered to establish communication devices upon the surface, these men and women were the lifeline for the legions, making communication possible across the vast distance of the planet without the enemy able to intercept their lines, yet they were also used as smugglers for wounded or injured astartes whom could not receive aid from the base of operations that they had been stuck within.

One of these groups, twenty strong astartes, were being lead across the landscape by a pair, their animal like traits denoting them as faunus, yet the duo held an almost uncanny sense as they guided this group to a nearby hiding shelter.

'How is he?' asked one of them, this astartes a female. Her eyes of gold looking onward as the crew helped settle an astartes whom was gravely wounded.

'He is stable. His organs are keeping him alive but he is running out of time. What is our ETA to the base?'

'To my knowledge' the second astartes said, their form was a male as they looked upon the group, his golden hair making him stand out from the rest 'The entrance should be around here. We just need to confirm the extract is safe'

'Understood. Thank you both, sergeant Blake, sergeant Sun'

Blake Belladona and Sun Wukong nodded to the group as they moved out from the hiding spot, their sounds silent to even enhanced astartes hearing. Making their way towards the entrance point, they spotted a roving patrol of traitors.

They numbered only five, with one of them being painted red with gore and blood, their face filled with dreads of mechanical origins that made the marine twitch in almost unbridled rage.

Targets, five total. One Berserker. We got to take them out quietly Sun said through sign language towards Blake, she gave a small nod as the pair took position around the group.

The fight took only mere seconds, the group all were dealt with through the application of clones and stealth, a swift blade to the throat silencing the group, the hardest challenge for the two was the frothing berserker whom shrugged off the throat slash and tried to rip at Blake's throat.

A quick application of ice dust upon Sun's blade, shoved into the astartes solved that problem, as the marine was frozen stiff by the ungodly cold of the chakra dust, a sudden strike from Blake shattered the Berserker, freeing Blake from it's hold as she dusted off pieces of frozen flesh from her armour.

'Thank that none of them was either alpha or night lord... Don't want a repeat of that fight three weeks ago' Sun said, cleaning his weaponry as he looked upon Blake with a smile, she blushed in embarrassment as she was self conscious of her look.

Blake took out a specialized laser and shined it into a specific spot, as the group of twenty astartes made their way towards the duo, seeing the bodies before them, some were impressed at how efficient the pair were.

Eventually, the group gathered within an inconspicuous mound of earth, as Blake applied her chakra upon a stone laying above the ground, it glowed with a blue aura as the earth made way softly, a wide corridor showing itself as the group continued onward, with the duo staying behind to watch the mount return to normal.

Blake looked onward as the group dissipated underneath the surface, yet she rushed to an area just away from the mound as the sound of her vomiting up her food echoed across the ruin.

Sun rushed towards Blake, bile upon her lips as she tried to take deep breaths, she could feel her body was in minor pain, yet it was significant to effect her balance as she tried to steady herself.

'Easy Blake... easy' Sun said, a look of concern upon his face as he looked at the vomit pile.

'Blake... this is a big concern. You have been like this for nearly four months. You need to see an apothecary'

'I... I am fine Sun... I have gotten used to it' Blake said, her body twitching as another spasm made her vomit another round onto the ground.

'This is not healthy Blake. I know we are astartes, but I am genuinely concerned for you'

'It doesn't matter. What matters is that we complete our objectives. It has been long enough that we have been stranded here on this forsaken planet'

Sun could only watch on as his significant other pushed herself, even as something clearly was going on with her. Much like those whom had returned to elementia during the first wave of the malady.

He could only look on in concern, even as Blake continued on in silent pain.

-0-

The command tent was alive with the frantic operations of individuals, while Naruto was merely looking onwards at the projections before him.

His head was starting to itch fiercely, as though something within him was calling out from a deep part of his soul, yet he continued to ignore it for now as the focus of the group was placed upon the holo projection of the material that was excavated.

'Imperial archives have a similar match, the substance is known as Blackstone. A very rare material that is the strongest known substance in our archives.'

'So how did this material, which is stronger than even composite adamantium, managed to make it's way to this backwater planet?' asked one of the senior technologica staff, confusion upon their face as the composition of the material fluctuated among known chemical elements.

'To that regard... we don't know'

'And what of the structure itself? Do we know of it's purpose?'

'To that regard... again... we don't know. All that we know is useless to try and work upon'

'There must be something about this structure' said one of the senior staff, pointing towards the structure that had been scanned by the scouting units recently 'Do we even know it's origins? What it was used for? Do we know anything?'

'the only conclusive answer we have is that the structure is primarily made of Blackstone. To it's purpose and such... that is still up for debate' one of the senior technicians said.

Plans were being said across the room as the talking became more heated and debating, yet Naruto was merely looking at the structure on the holo projection with an almost unfocused gaze, Inari looked at his big brother with concern as he could see the primarch was now fully zoned out.

'Naruto? You still there?'

'What are you?' Naruto muttered, yet he gripped his head as a spike of pain shot thorough his mind, forcing him onto the floor.

Naruto was being flooded with images, or times long past and of events that had happened, a cry within the room made the group look on in silence as the primarch was breathing heavy, his grunts of pain being heard over the mutterings of his voice.

'What...what is it?... is it... is it a temple?'

flashes of monuments to gods flashed within his mind, as a legion of metal marched along the plains, ships beyond counting flooded space as the exchange of ungodly destruction blasted it's way across the stars.

'Is it... An enemy stronghold?'

More scenes, this of sentience and machinery clashing, particles of energy facing against the powers of the warp, a monumental clash of forces as the blood and oil of all flowed across the landscape.

His vision was pulled outwards, into the great beyond as he watch a pulse of energy, it reached a crescendo of violence before the screams of the immaterium was silenced, until the ripples of the warp had stilled from the blast.

'A weapon!' Naruto said, as his sight and vision returned to him, he looked up to the concerned faces of all within the command tent, until he walked towards the projection, remembering the structure within these memories.

'It is a weapon' Naruto said, his voice clear even among the mutterings of the crew.

'How do you know lord Naruto? Mankind has never seen such a structure before'

'I... I have been given something... something within my very soul. It is memories and knowledge. Of ancient times long before us'

Gasp across the room echoed as many were in disbelief at what he was saying, with some of the senior mechanicum personnel upon his vessel talking of such impossibility.

'Lord Naruto. What you speak of could not be true. For that would put that knowledge as older than anything mankind has ever known, even older than your father, our blessed Omnissiah'

'I know you would not believe me, but it is the truth. I swear it'

'Say you do speak of the truth my lord. Then what was the purpose of this "weapon"?'

The room was silent as Naruto gave out a sigh, realising that the truth was the best option.

'If my memories are correct... then this weapon was specifically designed... to fight and suppress the warp'

The sounds of buzzing and more hushed talking echoed across the room, while Naruto looked upon the structure with hardened eyes, perhaps it was merely a stroke of luck that allowed them to arrive on this world.

-0-

'ENERGY SIGNATURES DETECTED'

The figure looked on with a look of frustration, their face yet unable to show this due to it's unique composition.

They walked towards the console that issued this warning, metallic eyes gazing upon the report with a look of boredom.

'what now? I had just sorted out that blasted problem and now another pops up in it's place'

The figure's fingers, these of cold metal. Glanced upon the holo projections upon their control panel, at first the figure was merely annoyed yet the readings upon his sensory array made his mood start to take a turn for the better.

'Ohh... these readings are rather interesting. Yet somehow familiar'

Another being entered the room where the individual was, yet theirs was a more cruder version of body, they looked upon the figure with cold, unflinching eyes as he was still looking on in fascination at the information given to him.

'And... last known location of this reading is... Ohh... interesting. So the reading was outpost Omega-154287, rather interesting'

'WHAT IS YOUR COMMAND MY LORD' the console said, as the sounds of moving footsteps echoed across the antechamber connected to the figure's little console area.

'Begin initial awakening of sector 227-534 on outpost Omega-154287. Establish connection with the local lord within that sector. And initiate another scan for the unique energy signature.'

'THY WILL BE DONE'

The figure was positively beaming, if their face could show it, with the prospects of discovery, even as multiple figures moved in formation behind him under the watchful scene of creatures applying mechanical repairs upon their various metallic bodies. He walked upon his throne, a rather grand looking seat as he watched from the side of his vision a smaller projection showing him the results of his actions.

'A new Discovery, and an ancient energy reading I have not seen in lifetimes... Ohh how exciting!'

The figure looked upon his hands, as flashes of memories echoed within his metallic mind, yet the images were hazy or corrupted.

'It has been such a long time since then... When had I last added something completely new to my collection? I don't seem to remember... Ohh well'

The sounds of shifting rooms and massive sections of the area were in construction, to the metallic clicking and groans of automated system, yet the figure merely looked on in excitement for what he was going to discover.

As the wheels of time continued to grind ever forward.

-0-

Authors Notes:

Well howdy there people.

Welcome to the fourth book in my series. This one is going to be events following within Elementia and to those of the shadow foxes that I feel are worthy of being discovered.

I hope ppl are buckled up, and ready to taste my unique take on events within the Heresy, I and I hope you all like it :)

As always, don't expect a time schedule with this story, this is merely a hobby for me and I treat it as such.

Anyway... till next time