Fulgrim freed
Desperate defiance
Fulgrim POV
Fulgrim was left speechless off what was in the last stasis chamber, the figure was almost as tall as Fulgrim was and wore a majestic and regal suit of gold armour, it was one of the emperor's bodyguards, a custodes.
What am I going to do? If that custodes knows me he will rightfully kill me the moment he gets free, I would not fault him for it.
Fulgrim deliberated about his options, should he just leave him? No, he quickly discarded that train of thinking. He knew what he had to do.
Fulgrim drew his power sword and shattered the console like shattering a plate, it sparked and fried with released Xenos energy and the stasis field sputtered and died.
The golden giant fell to his knees and gasping for the dry air in the Xenos warehouse could be heard from his helmet. It took merely a second for him to regain his senses as he was a custodes, their mental strength was unparalleled. His firm grip on his guardian spear never loosened and he turned his helmet from side to side to survey his environment.
His grip on the spear tightened as he recognised the architecture, it was Xenos. Fulgrim stood with his sword guard down and waited for the custodes to look at him. The custodes soon turned his eyes towards the primarch and their gazes met. Fulgrims was kind and regal but even he could not hide his discomfort. The custodes simply stared at him and for a long while, he seemed puzzled, but with a loud bark of raw anger swung at the primarch. Fulgrim was fast with the block and met the custodes guardian spear, the space marine blade met the superior craftsmanship of the spear and began to buckle. After the intense fighting Fulgrim had been in early and its years in the stasis field it was beginning to lose its durability.
Instead of attacking back Fulgrim locked blades with the Custodes and said loud enough to echo the wall in between the beeping of the now-set charges.
-I AM NOT YOUR ENEMY CUSTODIAN!
The Astartes and mortals in the room looked at the golden warrior and Fulgrim locking blades and were awestruck. These Foul Xenos had ensnared one of the 10.000 in this unholy prison, but why were they fighting?
The pressure did not relent on the blade and it began shifting closer to the breaking point and Fulgrim knew that it would not last much longer.
Fulgrim pushed the Custodes back with all his might and managed to dislodge the sword bind. He again yelled at the golden-clad warrior.
-I have received a vision from my father, please allow me the time to talk.
The regal and proud notes were gone from his voice and a begging and pleading one had taken its place. This made the custodes pause and slightly lower his spear.
A gruff voice came from the gilded helmet's respirator, it was harsh and condemning.
-What could the emperor possibly want from you?! You traitorous cur!
Fulgrim reeled back as if hit by a bolter shell, he had tried to avoid the memories of his traitorous past but they came back with a vengeance, and his mind yet again reeled as the vision of the beheaded body of Manus laid on the fields of Istvan 4.
The Imperials around him hesitantly levied their weapons at Fulgrim, the words of the custodes were representative of the emperor himself and not doing so would be tantamount to heresy. But the man had been fighting valiantly on the front lines for them.
Fulgrim looked down for a while and thought that just dying now would be what he deserved but he could still feel the fire that the emperor lit in his chest. So he raised his gaze and said aloud.
-I Received in my awakening here, a vision from my father that I must escape this foul place and return to the imperium to face my father's justice.
The people gathered around here held their aim true and prepared to fire at the traitor.
-I Am Fulgrim, the disgraced, the former lord of the III legio Astartes and traitor to the emperor and I have returned to my senses after 10.000 years. I have no right to ask this of truly upstanding men and women of the imperium. But I beg for clemency and the privilege of helping you escape. If I were you, I would have me gunned down, executed like a mongrel, for I deserve nothing more. Fulgrim fell to his knees in front of the custodes still towering over the mortals in the giant warehouse.
I received my father's voice and I ask for the right as a primarch to aid your escape.
The crowd of mortals began murmuring and threw insults at the kneeling primarch, the Astartes were for once struck silent and the custodian simply raised his spear and swung at the primarch.
-The simple lies of the traitor. the custodes spat
Fulgrim saw the blade fall at his head but didn't move, he could not harm this custodes. How could he hurt this servant of the emperor? '
I've killed too many, I cannot bring myself to kill him or any of the others, I will never harm another imperial again if I do that to survive then I'm no different than the demon that took my flesh.
The blade swung at lightning speed at the kneeling primarch and he simply let it fall, the moment the blade struck the head of the primarch, it erupted in a golden light. The guardian spear bounced off the primarch naked flesh.
The crowd was struck by the brilliant light, it burned with the strength of a thousand suns, but it did not burn, it was soothing, and it brought relief to aching wounds.
The light washed over the crowd then dissipated, before the last vestiges of light were gone a voice boomed in the heads of the imperials in the room.
My son is needed once again.
The voice dissipated once the message was sent, Everyone except the custodes knelt after the voice and mass prayer could be heard from the mass.
The Emperor speaks….he has seen our plight…..we thank the god-emperor….. May his blessing guide our shells…..allow our sacrifice oh benevolent god-emperor. The cacophony of voices was ended after a man with a big hat, and an emblem with the skull with three lines began speaking and leading a prayer among the mortals of the group.
Fulgrim was stunned at the display of outright worship at his father, this was not the future he envisioned. Fulgrim looked and it seemed even the Astartes were praying.
He rose from his blooded and scarred knees to once again look at the custodian and the group.
-I am not a man to whom you owe allegiance, but I ask that you allow me to lead you till the escape, after the danger has passed I will surrender myself fully, to the mercy of my father.
The custodes replied,
Fulgrim per the order of the emperor of man I shall follow you until we are off this Xenos world, then I shall bring you to Terra to face judgment. The voice was clear and without hesitation, regardless of the reason the emperor himself had saved Fulgrim and the Emperor's order would be obeyed.
The man with the skull Rosario stepped up and said.
I do not like this, but the emperor's word was clear, Fulgrim is needed and I shall reluctant as I may be, follow you. I am inquisitor Armand Furterbite, and I swear that if you step even an inch out of line, I will send you blighted soul to oblivion.
Fulgrim answered simply with not a hint of pride in his voice.
I would not fault you, I do not know what your organisation is but that isn't important, I will answer for my crimes after I get you off this Xenos world. We have no more time brave soldiers, The charges will go off we need to leave for the group, holding the hangar. I will take point and the custodian shall protect the flank.
The mass of over 150 people, began to move towards the other group by using their location. The mass of soldiers now included 45 different Astartes, 1 inquisitor and 4 of his bodyguards, and a hundred different types of PDF regiment and guardsmen.
The group left the room with Fulgrim and a group of Astartes with power shields in front protecting the mortals within, the group was packed tightly as they moved through the corridors.
After they had just gotten out of the door that Fulgrim had busted through a voice came over the comm network. The voice was gruff and commanding, but also straight to the point.
-We are holding the enemy back at the rallying point but we cannot hold much longer our ammunition is running low.
Fulgrim listened intently to Creed's voice and considered his options. Fulgrim answered Creed with five words.
-How long can you hold?
The answer came not five seconds later.
-We can hold for at least another ten minutes if the resistance does not get worse, but if we fall back and risk damage to the craft then we could hold with fewer casualties for roughly 25.
Fulgrim mulled over the choice and answered back as quickly.
-Pull your forces back to the second layer of defence, and we will make haste to reinforce your defence.
The custode interjected
-Would it not be wiser to protect the means of escape rather than the lives of the defenders?
Creed answers courtly
-I agree, that holding the forward position would allow for better chances of escape.
Fulgrim answered back with finality
-We will not leave this place with a fraction of the people we could, I will not allow these Xenos to claim even a single more loyal soldier than necessary, now pull back!
-Understood, Creed out!
The comms cut out after that, and Fulgrim's group made haste towards the hangar as the time window would not wait for them.
Creed POV
The defences were arrayed around the 3 entranceways into the hangar.
The north which they had just come from was the most easily defensible, it had two large metal outcroppings on both sides which allowed suppressing fire from above, this is where Creed put the lesser forces such as the PDF and the more wounded troops, would most likely buckle under the constant pressure of a Necron attack, Creed would have put them as reserve forces but he did not have the manpower to spare, so to ensure their devotion to the defence the one and only commissar was put in charge. Debris and inactive vessels were used to secure the doorway and the northern bastion was created. Here most of the Deathwatch elements as well as the more professional human troops were placed as this was the only entre that was large enough for enemy vehicles and larger troops to get inside.
The eastern one was the smallest concern, it was only big enough for an Astartes to fit through and could easily be suppressed from a catwalk further towards the centre where the makeshift command centre was. Here the scout marines were placed so they could survey the battlefield and provide intel directly to the astartes command as well as to Creed. They could also lend covering fire to retreating troops and lay fire on any of the three entrances.
The west was the biggest threat, it was not defensible in the same manner as the north, it was a large gate big enough for enemy heavy infantry but would not allow vehicles of any kind through. It had no way of defence that gave the imperials any benefit. It was the entrance to one of the walkways which overlooked the hangar, this did not allow for the room to pack in defenders only a small contingent of elites, it could not be lost to the enemy because it would give free rein to imperial defenders. So at each side of the door, the assault marines from the blood Ravens were stationed, as well as the two heavy melee deathwatch members both wielding thunderhammers.
The Necrons came slowly at first, but like a mighty mechanical tide, the Necrons had upped the pressure on the defiant imperial defence. The first necrons were felled by the spacemarine devastators in short order, but the Necrons just kept on pushing and after the third wave of Necron warriors had fallen, Creed decided to pull these heavy weapons back to await a truly worthy target. The Necrons were assailing all three entrees into the hangar at once, putting constant pressure on Creed to redeploy his imperial guard contingent where it was needed. First, the north began to buckle after a torrential barrage suppressed the north bastion, but after a charge from the deathwatch, the Necron warriors were put to the sword.
The Necrons seemed to take notice of the lessened firepower and used this opportunity to reach further in the hanger and began striking back, the first to fall was an assault marine, he hailed from the blood ravens, Harkon had sustained wounds in the fighting earlier which slowed him down just enough for a destroyer to fire upon him, the hit was square in the chest, Harkon melted into a red and black sludge which seeped through the gantry onto the ground below. This enraged the marines around him and they charged the destroyer which was soon after hacked into scrap metal by their chainswords.
The charge was successful but the destroyer had backup and two more marines were hit and wounded, one lost an arm whilst the other was hit in the back, destroying his jump pack and causing it to explode nearly seconds after detaching from the marine, the explosion caused hot shards of plasteel to come shooting in every direction, this caused small injuries to the mortals close to the western barricade. Small burns stretched across the marine's armour but it held up against the barrage of shrapnel.
These losses forced the assault marines to pull back to regroup near the back lines which was the cue for the deathwatch thunderhammers to pull in and finish the two other destroyers. This continued with small victories and mostly bloodlessly on the imperial side. Once in a while the less experienced troops would get overconfident and get hit either resulting in a wound or casualty. Creed looked over the battlefield and was increasingly concerned both from the obvious orbital bombardment, he did not know who the culprit was and did not attempt to reach them as this was a dangerous gamble at best and almost suicidal at worst. But that mystery would be revealed in due time as the survivors would find out for themselves who or what was bombarding the planet.
But what he could not put out from his mind was the relative ease of the defence, this was a Necron Hangar with what seemed like working imperial vehicles and only light aggression, this simply did not make any sense.
There is something wrong here, any halfway competent commander could stop this ragtag group of escapes without major issues, so why does it seem that we are all waiting for the other shoe to drop?
Creed raised his voice and addressed his impromptu guard, Cassian.
-Can you see something I cannot? Why is the enemy going easy on us?
Cassian replied swiftly and with the same amount of concern in his voice.
-No Castellan, I'm having trouble grasping the logic of this approach, they should Without a doubt be aware of our escape and yet the response is sorely lacking.
Cassian lowered his gaze and surveyed the surroundings and again settled his gaze on the northern entrance as if in a trance.
Creed turned away from the salamander and towards the 3 techpreists and asked with some urgency.
-Are you able to repair the craft, I cannot promise any amount of time and we most certainly do not have any time for useless theorizing.
A clipped binary conversation could be heard being held between the three. The senior Techpriest turned to the Castellan and responded slightly exasperatedly.
-Castellan you will not interrupt our holy work! The machine spirit has been in hibernation for millennia, This holy relic requires a deft hand. But we will be able to coax the holy spirit to aid us soon.
The Techpriest without waiting for a response returned to the hymns and prayers without giving Creed any more thought.
Creed did not take insult from the famously curt mechanics adepts, but the worry about their circumstances did not disappear. This was exasperated by the loud whine of something coming from the Northern Entre. It was only a little later that a message came over the intercom from the northern defenders.
-Castellan? A Necron battle construct has been spotted making its way towards the gate with Necron warriors in escort!
-Understood commissar, do you have a description?
-yes sir, It's a giant construct walking on thin metal legs with a shelled and armoured head. A small pause in between the hectic reports. Sir the weapon on top is charging up. ITS ABOUT TO FIRE!
Merely seconds later the left side on the northern barricade explodes flinging mordians and kriegsmen around, killing some and disorientating the rest, the deathwatch had the foresight to hunker down away from the fire and they immediately respond by firing back with everything at their disposal. The heavy bolter cuts down swaths of the mechanical skeletons whilst the las cannon fires at double speed to wound the mechanical behemoth. Guardsmen on both sides ran to save the wounded and pulled them to safety getting most to cover but some were cut down by the Necrons before being able to be saved.
Creed surveyed the situation and turned to his bodyguard with some small amount of urgency and worry in his voice.
-Cassian I need you down there, I can handle my safety, go and aid your brothers!
The Giant in black turns and looks around seeming to evaluate the options, seconds later he grunts through his vox grill in agreement and brings his giant hammer up and charges down to the northern passage.
At the same time, the other two entries start erupting in gunfire, which immediately forces the small number of reserves to head back to their posts.
This is only going to get worse exponentially, I need to check with their progress.
Creed used his comm bead to Speak with the other team directly.
-We are holding the enemy back at the rallying point but we cannot hold much longer our ammunition is running low.
Creed had yet to hear from the other team since the comms got cut out when presumably they began fighting something, so the other team might well be dead. But the comm sparked into life and a curt reply came back from the giant.
-How long can you hold?
It was a difficult question to answer but Creed looked over the intense fighting at all three entrees and shortened the amount of time he thought by half.
If I pulled back however we could buy more time with fewer casualties. But it would risk damaging the means of escape.
Creed decided to give both options.
-We can hold for at least another ten minutes if the resistance does not get worse, but if we fall back and risk damage to the craft then we could hold with fewer casualties for roughly 25.
The response came quickly but also ended up being the more surprising of the two.
-Pull your forces back to the second layer of defence, and we will make haste to reinforce your defence.
A new and commanding voice that he had not heard before came over the comm.
-Would it not be wiser to protect the means of escape rather than the lives of the defenders?
Creed found himself agreeing with this person, it would result in more casualties but if the craft was destroyed or incapacitated then it would not matter as their fates would be all but sealed.
Creed answered back affirming his agreement with this assessment.
-I agree holding the forward position would allow for better chances of escape.
He did not like ordering men to sacrifice their lives for the greater whole but in times of need, especially in situations like this sacrifice would be necessary. But the response came with a voice drenched in righteous fury.
-We will not leave this place with a fraction of the people we could, I will not allow these Xenos to claim even a single more loyal soldier than necessary, now pull back!
Creed felt he needed to disagree but as the man was his impromptu commanding officer, creed simply answered back in the affirmative.
-Understood, Creed out!
The Deathwatch were busy fighting off the main Necron force whilst the mortals provided covering and suppressing power, even the PDF elements were adding to the defence. Occasionally even killing a Necron warrior.
Cassian was pinned at the barricade waiting for the opportunity to engage the Necrons in melee, firing his sidearm whilst waiting.
Switching quickly to short-range communications creed calmly but authoritatively called the fallback signal. With that the human defenders started slowly moving back to a more consolidated position where the entire human host could hold as one force, it did have the drawback that it allowed the Necrons into the Hangar where they could damage their vessel.
After the normal humans had withdrawn the Astartes under enemy Gauss Cannon fire began pulling away to the main defensive line. Some few were hit and wounded but the fighting retreat was mostly bloodless.