Litany of Devotion
Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light
Where there is doubt, I shall sow faith
Where there is shame, I shall point atonement
Where there is rage, I shall show its course
My word in the soul shall be as my bolter in the field.
In the cold void of space, amidst the swirling maelstrom of the Immaterium, a Deathwatch Kill Team hurtled through the depths of the unknown. Led by the venerable Black Templars Chaplain, Brother Durandal, the Kill Team, known as "Ember," consisted of warriors drawn from distant Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes.
As they journeyed through the warp, Brother Shevrim of the Carcharodons, his form adorned with the mutations of his Chapter, stood vigilantly by Durandal's side. "These warp currents are treacherous, brother," Shevrim remarked, his voice tinged with a rasping cadence. "We must remain vigilant lest we be consumed by the darkness."
Sa'kan, the stalwart Salamander, his cybernetic hand gleaming in the dim light of the Kill Team's transport-a Galdius pattern escort called 'The Vaunted', nodded in agreement. "Agreed, brother," he replied, his voice firm yet resolute. "Are there any further details from the inquisitor?"
Durandal turned his head slightly in the direction of the large primaris warrior, "no, we will continue under the premise that nothing has changed." Sa'kan flexed slightly rolling his shoulders, "I do not trust the inquisition at the best of times brother, they believe themselves masters of shadow and secrecy beyond that of Shevrim." The Salamander smirked towards the older shark, the weathered warrior shaking his head lightly at the jest.
Grullor, the resident tech-specialist from the Sons of the Medusa, tended to the intricate machinery, servitors and flitted through the crew that kept their vessel operational. "The warp drives are holding steady for now," Grullor reported, his voice echoing through the cramped confines of the transport. "But we must remain vigilant. The warp is a fickle mistress, and she will not hesitate to betray us if given the chance."
And lastly, Brother Maxus, the newest addition to the Kill Team, a Primaris warrior hailing from the Castellans of the Rift Chapter, eager to prove himself in battle, listened intently to his comrades' words. As the only other Primaris marine among them, Maxus felt the weight of expectation bearing down upon his broad shoulders, his chapter relatively young being a part of Guiliman's Ultima founding.
Durandal surveyed his comrades with a mixture of pride and concern, his gaze lingering on Maxus for a moment longer than the others. "Brother Maxus, tell us of your Chapter and your journey to this moment," he commanded, his voice echoing with the weight of centuries of battle-hardened experience.
Maxus straightened his posture, his eyes meeting Durandal's with unwavering resolve. "The Castellans of the Rift are a proud successor Chapter of the Ultramarines, we were formed as a part of the Ultima Founding." he began, his voice steady despite the lingering sense of unease that gnawed at his insides, Shevrim privately voxxed Sa'kan and Grullor, "never heard of these Castellans seem just as tightly wound as the rest of Guillimans sons." Sa'kan responded simply to the jab, "and you my kinsmen are just as depressing as all the raven sons, he is as he was supposed to be, would you have him change his very nature?" he received a short grunt from the older marine as Durandal looked to them to silence their bickering, it was common in the Watch for new members of Kill teams to not secluded from private vox's especially in the case of such unknown chapters.
"I was born and raised on the world of Tarsis Ultra, where I underwent the rigorous trails of my chapter and new implantation process of a Primaris marine before being called upon to serve the Emperor in the Deathwatch."
Durandal nodded at the short description, his gaze drifting to the swirling vortex of energy that loomed ominously before them. "The emperor has brought you to this moment, Brother Maxus," he declared, his voice resonating with the certainty of conviction. "Together, we shall face whatever horrors await us on the other side and emerge victorious in his name."
And with those words, Maxus braced himself for the oncoming storm of this unknown mission, he was internally reciting litanies and mantras as he noted the other kill team members and how their hearts seemed to fill with grim determination and their minds prepared for the trials that lay ahead. For they were warriors of the Adeptus Astartes, forged in the fires of battle and tempered by the crucible of war. And no matter what awaited them on the other side of the warp, they would face it with courage, honour, and unwavering faith in the Emperor's divine will.
Their mission had been simple in its objective: eradicate a growing Ork infestation that threatened to overrun a vital Imperial outpost on the fringes of the Imperium's territory within the Segmentum Obscurus. But what began as a routine purge had quickly escalated into a desperate battle for survival as the forces of Chaos emerged to do battle with the Orks for what little resources could be scavenged and the Tyranids descended upon the beleaguered outpost.
For days, the Kill Team had fought tooth and nail against the encroaching hordes, their bolters roaring and armour servos whirring in the heat of battle. But despite their valiant efforts, the tide of enemies seemed endless, and victory remained elusive.
It was during the darkest hours of the conflict that fate intervened, in the form of a mysterious device unearthed by the Orks in their mindless rampage.
With no other recourse, Durandal made the fateful decision to retreat. "We cannot fight on; we must fall back and warn the wider imperium of this disaster." Durandal surveyed a wrecked transport as Shevrim be-headed an orkoid, "Heretics have been working to get the unknown device working, and the ork mech boyz have clearly done something." Grullor mused. "We can use it as a rally point, have The Vaunted send a transport there?" offered Sa'kan looking down at a small toy in the rubble, the fire was beginning to swell in his chest.
Maxus was cleaning traitor blood from his combat knife when he asked, "what of the good inquisitor? Are we to abandon her?" it was carefully asked, aimed at Durandal. "Yes" came the simple reply as Durandal looked at the young Castellan, "you have limited experience with their ilk so hear this and hear well, they would not hesitate to sell our lives just as easily nor the lives of those innocents who have suffered here, they proclaim they are the emperors shields, they forget who it is that holds the line against their folly when it comes to bite them and for this they shall be humbled." Maxus stared, hard then looked to the other members of the Kill team, Sa'kan met his gaze, "To serve humanity is our purpose, to protect the weak our duty." He quoted. "That is a rather radical outlook for one such as you brother chaplain?" Maxus looked towards the chaplain again. "The idea of the watch is radical, Maxus." Shevrim hadn't even looked up from his work flaying the skin from an ork nob's skull and removing the largest tooth for his necklace, "you sons of Guiliman, you struggle in the watch sometimes, this I have seen, you expect us not of your gene line to conform to your ideas of brotherhood, of a chapter and doctrine."
Maxus felt some of his choler rise at this. "Your rigidness may break you brother, we do not wish this, an unspoken rule in the watch assume the inquisitors are lying, there is a 93.86% chance they have purposefully mislead or informed us on mission critical details." Grullor said putting a hand on him. "Learn to listen to what they are not saying, it will serve well not just in your watch but in future dealings with the inquisition back in your chapter, now come we move to the device, let us see if there's anything that can be done about this failure." Durandal turned to head in the direction of a ruined structure.
Maxus continued to fire, plunging his combat knife into a hormogaunts brain, the battle had turned ill almost immediately, the Kill Team had completed their unspoken objective of recovering the data on device the inquisitor had tried to take, meanwhile she and her retinue were nowhere to be found the control centre showed signs of a battle with the only traces of the inquisitor being a hand. What Maxus and the others had not counted on was a sorcerer, a traitor marine, Shevrim and Grullor recognised the warband as some damned sons of Guiliman thought long lost…this enraged him, he kept focused conserving ammo were he could, The Vaunted was moving into position overhead ready to either extract or eradicate them and the data. The chanting was reaching a fever pitch when an Ork Odd boy yelled something and the device burst to life, Durandals melta pistol fired twice causing the sorcerer to fall back howling as he died, Grullors servo arms whirred as they hacked at the Ork shaman. The beam reached up to the skies when a burst came through from The Vaunted, it was garbled but distressed "H-Lp-u-T-rone!" Maxus looked to his new brothers to see what was to be done he noticed something being said between the Gorgon-son and the old Templar, Durandal looked to his brothers, "Grullor your sure!" "Aye brother Chaplain." Was the Static reply Maxus tried to strain himself to hear more as he held back a deranged cultist Durandal came crashing down with his Crozius on a nearby bio-form and roared at him "go into the device, NOW!" the Kill team turned and ran through the unknown Device, Maxus began to recite a litany internally 'if this to be our end then by the throne may we make such an end…'
They came to a stop at the base of the swirling energies, "it is an emergency teleport of some kind the inquisitor knew this." Grullor spoke, it was not lost on Maxus that this was somehow related to what they had warned him earlier. "The devices activation was done incorrectly and interfered with by the traitors." He explained. "The inquisitor failed brothers; we must destroy the device The Vaunted was lost as well when it was activated." Durandal looked to each one in turn, "Brother I believe it can be stabilised momentarily enough for ourselves to use, I can make no guarantees to our destination." Grullor spoke up. Durandal looked to entrance he could hear the demented screaming of Orkz and traitors mixed with primal roars of the tyranids. "We must try, the sector command must be made aware of what has happened here." He looked to the Gorgon-Son "Go and hurry we have little time." He looked up and around himself trying to discern the best positions and so forth, he began issuing orders.
Shevrim waited in the Shadows near the entrance he'd most likely die first but at least he'd kill the filth as it entered and buy his brothers more time, at least that was the thought until a bell chime was heard cutting the tension in the room immediately. "What in his name..." Sa'kan trailed off looking to him, he shrugged in response. "It is working brothers, we have a few moments." There was actual excitement in the Cyborgs voice, "All of you through now, Grullor the det controls!" Durandal bellowed, as he did, the Kill Team with a sense of trepidation weighing heavy upon their hearts, giving what they were sure was to be final look to one another plunged headlong into the swirling vortex of energy, their fate hanging in the balance.
"I'm just very wary that once you start military operations in any country, it's very difficult to predict what the outcome is." - Abdallah II
Commander Shepard stood on the bridge of the SSV Normandy, her eyes fixed on the holographic display showing the trajectory of their ship. They were en-route to Eden Prime, responding to a distress call from the human colony under attack by the Geth. Tension hung in the air as the crew prepared for the impending mission. 'Jenkins acting excited but the Kids shitting himself' she looked over at where Anderson and Nilus were conversing as the ship hurtled through the void of space, Shepard couldn't shake the feeling of unease gnawing at her gut. Something felt off, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. 'Just as humanity unearths a beacon and puts forth a Spectre candidate, it all goes sideways and the geth invade?' she was moving to the helm were Joker and Kaiden were conversing.
As she walked up, she noticed a small commotion was happening near a sensory station. "What's going on here?" She asked walking up behind the 3 specialists, they crowded around a workstation babbling and throwing in jargon. "There's a blip on Eden Prime mam we're reading all the way out here on the edge of the system, never seen anything like it before." The man in the chair offered, Shepard frowned and leaned closer trying her best to discern what it was, she got an update alert on her omni tool letting her know it was time to get ready for deployment. "Let Captain Anderson know about this and send me a copy of this immediately." She said turning looking at the message she bit her lip, 'it just doesn't make sense it's really fubar'.
"What's up commander?" Kaidan looked over as Jenkins triple checked his suit, Shepard shook her head re focusing. "Not sure, looks like some interference from the distress signal maybe?" she said trying to interpret what she was seeing. "Never seen anything like it before though…" she trailed off. Jenkins step forward over eager, "Could it be an energy weapon? Maybe the Geth have something new they deployed." he looked between the 2 more experienced officers, "can't know for sure till were down there." Replied Kaiden with a soft smile trying to calm down the younger man, Shepard humoured him a bit. "If it is I don't think it's the Geth. We'll keep an eye out for it while we're down there."
There was a sense of foreboding as the Normandy drifted towards Eden Prime, Anderson contacted her as they entered the atmosphere, "we detected something large out there Shepard, whatever it is it's got the Geth worried, the Normandy will be trying to get a look at it, so be careful down there we might not be able to respond quick enough." "Yessir." She replied, they were walking towards the ramp so that she and the team could be set down, she gave Kaiden one last look, then they jumped.