Arrakia: Outpost Judo

++Outpost Judo++
Seventy-six Kilometers from Leytan City. Roughly three years after the capture of the city, It remains engulfed in the warp spawned sandstorm. The command elements in the city have only scattered reports from garrisons outside the storm-wall. All forces are operating with only local command elements and support. 

++Fifth Platoon, eighth company, XII Regiment++
-Lieutenant Parker, four squads of ten men. 
-Support element of six Chimeras, four heavy bolter teams


It was another day of standing guard under the unforgiving suns of Arrakia. Private Fox stood upon the walls of Outpost Judo staring out into the endless sea of sand that surrounded the isolated post. The only thing he had to look forward to was the occasional pot-shots taken from Chaos cultists that were encamped a few kilometers out. Their 'raids' had been few and far between as of late, and Fifth Platoon showed signs of lowering morale as their boredom took hold. The Lieutenant attempt to curb this with daily physical training and drills, but the heat of the sun proved to be a strong deterrent even to the officer corps. Lack of communication, mail, supplies, and fresh equipment proved to be an issue as well, with some men openly beginning to modify their kit to accommodate the environment. While this practice was frowned upon by quartermasters, the regimental commander had authorized it directly for men who had been planetside for more than a year. Fox leaned against the bulwark of the permacrete wall, lighting a lho stick and staring down at the sand below, thinking about home and the hellish world he was on now.
A thunderous explosion rattled his teeth as a large chunk of the wall a ways down from his was reduced to rubble. The shock sent him hurtling across the ramparts and face first into the steel walkway. He removed his helmet and squinted into the desert. To his surprise, several plumes of exhaust and sand were being kicked up by rapidly advancing rhinos.
"Contact Eastern Wall! It's the Marines, all hands on deck!"
Alarms rang loudly as men rushed up the wall and into the rubble caused by the breach. The men waited in silence as the rhino's advanced. Lieutenant Parker quickly rushed up to Fox's position. "Status Private?" he inquired calmly
"Six Rhinos sir. Rapidly advancing" Fox replied with some hesitation.
Parker scoffed. "It's just like before, they'll stop about sixty meters out, fire on our position and realize they can't break through, then pull back." he turned to face his men. "Steady yourselves, we've all done this before. Keep discipline and fire once they disembark the vehicles."

The Rhinos roared forward at a breakneck speed not slowing nor stopping. The clouds of sand being kicked up behind them serving as a natural smoke screen only barely keeping up with the vehicles that caused them. Fox's eyes widened as he saw the insignia on the front of the lead Rhino.

"Uh.. Sir."
"Yes Private?"
He choked on his words. "Those.. Those are World Eaters."
Parker panicked as he saw the devouring fangs engulfing an ancient Terran like planet. "By the Emperor.."

With a great roar a Corrupted Land Raider tore through the cloud of sand and smoke toward the Outpost, quickly outpacing the Rhinos and smashing into the breach made by earlier artillery fire. The red and Brass of the tainted vehicle gleaming in the sunlight, Desecrated corpses and skulls littered the behemoth of a tank. Quickly, it's forward ramps dropped. There was a briefest moment of silence before the roar of a dozen chain axes filled the air. A single battle cry was the last thing the defenders of Judo heard.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"

(NSFW) Tales of Infinite Mischief Ep. 3

The Space Marines who waited at the armoury doors had black armour with white aquilas or skulls.  Their knees plates down to their boots were a dark red color and the helmets were a pale green.  One poised a missile launcher to fire at the Valkyrie while the others aimed their boltguns or a bolt pistol.  They allowed the gunship to land on the sky pad without incident.
Grim shut off the engines and got out of the gunship.  He walked over to the Space Marines with arms wide.  Wolfe nervously sat at the heavy bolter emplacement, thumbs hovering over the triggers.  "What's the tech-priest thinking?" he whispered.
"Hopefully, preventing another friendly fire incident," Millard directed the last few words at Jax.  Tense minutes went by as the tech-priest talked with the one wielding a bolt pistol and chainsword.  Finally, he gestured for the rest of the group to come over.
"Captain McCormick of the Steel Nightmares task force on this planet."  He shook Jax's hand.  "Gulliman was persuading me that you were here to kill the traitorous Hive Governor.  He's locked up inside the armoury."
"Why has he not been punished yet?" Titus asked.
"Those blast doors are protecting him.  This squad secured the only entrance to the place, but lack the equipment to punch through the door.  I've recalled a squad from down below to bring a meltagun."
"We might be able to get in there," Jax stated.
"I was just about to mention the air duct.  It's big enough to allow small people through, but too small for even my scouts to move in it."
"We'll take things from here then."  They headed over to the giant hole in the wall where the grate used to be.  A Space Marine lifted Jax up to the entrance.  Wolfe went up after them.  Garvel was about to go when he noticed only Titus was with him.  "Why aren't the rest of you coming?"
"I am too big to fit in there," Gulliman explained.
"You can't get me in another confined space that quickly," Tybalt replied.  Millard was on the other side of the marine squad talking with a boy and girl younger looking than he was, smoking a lho-stick all the while.
"Get going assassin; we don't have time to dawdle.  You need to get your hands dirty for once," Titus said as he shoved Garvel forward.  The assassin got lifted into the vent.
"Now put me up there gently, like a good servant," Titus ordered the marine.  The giant of a person threw Titus so hard at the opening that his face got buried in Garvel's but.  A vicious shove sent the assassin sliding into the person in front of him.  "You will pay for this indignity assassin."
The quartet proceeded along the vent in as noisy a manner as they could.  Jax had his face smashed into the grate at the end so hard that it popped out, and everybody fell onto the floor.  A slow clap accompanied their efforts to get back on their feet.
"To think that these people are whom the Inquisitor sent to kill me."  Jax lunged for cover and peeks over the box of grenades.  The Hive Governor was dressed in a overly long robe of purple and gold.  More troopers like those they met in the dreg quarters earlier were arrayed around him.  They were overshadowed by the presence of someone in the back corner.
"Like I said, she became fearful of the power you could wield," the figure replied.
"Anybody would be," the governor winked, revealing his dark purple eye shadow.  "Guards, prepare these wretches for sacrifice.  Slannesh will simply love the tribute I'm about to offer him."
Hellrifles blast at the wall behind their position.  Titus moved a knife to in his jacket sleeve before he stands up, arms raised.  "I'll do as you wish," he said.
He walked toward the governor, and knelt down in front of him.  "Captain Titus!  How good it is to see you again.  I feared you were still here when I ordered the Arbites to be sacrificed."
"You had them killed?" Titus asked.
"Of course I did; they refused to follow me.  I can not have such impenitence from people who are beneath me in station.  But, you are one of the few noble-blooded in this sector.  I'd hate to lose anyone who is actually worth my attention."
"I am honoured by such words.  And am relieved to hear I no longer have to deal with the Arbites of lower standing or lower class than me."
"Interesting to hear that from you.  Do you desire to become a willing sacrifice to Slannesh?  To be taken into the bosom of the Prince of Pleasure?"
"I do!"  He bowed his head to the ground.  The Hive Governor knelt down, raised Titus' head while removing the hat; and kissed him on the forehead.  A bright pink lipstick mark was left after he withdrew.
The governor was handed a knife from one of his men.  "I will make sure your death is the most beautiful of them all today."
Titus whipped his knife into place and stabbed the governor in the side of the head before his own throat could be slit.  Hellrifles fired on him, but Titus propped the corpse to cover him during the retreat.  Jax and Wolfe threw grenades from the nearby containers.  Explosions ripped the enemy troopers apart.
Within seconds, the firefight was over.  The remaining kill team member was hit with a boltgun shell from behind.  His killer stepped from the shadows, revealing a techmarine in pale light-green armour.  A symbol of an eye with a sword tip pupil imposed over a downward pointing arrow marked his chest plate.
"Big Eye!" Wolfe gasped.
"Thank you for taking care of the governor.  Better he's dead before having a chance to become a sticky situation later," the techmarine said.
"We'll take you down for everyone you caused here!" Jax yelled before he unloaded his autogun on the enemy.  The rounds bounced harmlessly off the techmarine's armour.
"How pathetic."  Big Eye touched the temple of his helmet and teleported away.  Wolfe let out a sigh of relief.  "I think its time we let the others inside," he stated.
Garvel worked on the door controls while the others rummaged through the contents of the room.  The doors hissed open; allowing the others to join in the pilfering.
After half an hour, everyone was outfitted with Vatarian Heavy Plate battlesuits and more heavy weapons for the Valkyrie.  Only when the room was violently shaking did the group cease what they doing.  Gulliman headed outside to observe to goings-on.  A massive explosion occurred very close to the outskirts of the hive city.
"We need to get out of here, NOW!"  He sprinted for the gunship as the others came out.  Another explosion shook the entire complex, knocking everyone off their feet.  They scrambled to the Valkyrie as its engines flared to life.  A slow takeoff preceded the frantic attempt to escape the orbital bombardment.  Massive shells fell down around them as the gunship raced out of the atmosphere, many of the just acquired contents sliding out the back opening.
Over the private vox channel, Gulliman said, "Get your suits on their own air supply.  We're about to break orbit."
Everything in the compartment started floating around when the gunship got into space.  A vessel nearby opened its docking bay for the Valkyrie.  Gulliman eased the plane through the door without too much hassle.  Once the ship landed and they were all on ship's air did anyone leave the Valkyrie.
Outside, a commissar was waiting for them.  "I'm here to bring you worthless sods before my mother," the commissar said as she turned and left the bay, "And welcome to the Breaking Dawn."
The group caught up to her and Jax, having removed his helmet, went up to her and asked, "Hey sugar-tits, what's your name?"
She kicked him in the crouch so hard that the armour was dented afterwards.  A swift punch immediately followed, breaking Jax's arm.  Millard scooped his brother up and helped him walk down the corridor.
"So, not only are you great at maiming people, but you back it up with a smoking hot body and a great butt," Titus said.  The faceplate for his helmet was quickly smashed by her fist.
"Before anyone else asks, I am Commissar Raege," she stated, straightening her uniform.  She led them through the confines of the ship without any incident.  After three decks of travel, they arrived at their destination.  It was a replica of a throne room with two chairs atop a dais.  One large, metal, and golden in colour sat at the center of the display.
Inquisitor McDowell sat in the small wooden seat in front and off to the side of the empty centerpiece.  "Out of all the initiates I sent down there, I never imagined it would the ones I had the least amount of faith in who would accomplish the task.  It's a sad day for the Inquisi..."
"That's it!  I've had enough of this!" Millard yelled as he stormed forward.  Jax lied where he was dropped by his brother.  "You can not just abduct anyone you want to do your job for you!  WHAT GIVES YOU THE EMPEROR-DAMNED rig..."
Millard was silenced by a single shot from an infernus pistol.  His head melted in an instant.  "MILLARD!" Wolfe and Jax screamed.
The Inquisitor stood up, silencing the group.  "The rest of your lives is now dedicated to protecting the God-Emperor's realm to the best of your ability.  That is all he asks of his holy Inquisitors, and now of you."
She left the room, followed shortly by the commissar.

(NSFW) Tales of Infinite Mischief Episode 2 Part 2

"Who are you, and why can I hear you without an earpiece?" the Arbite questioned.
"I am Inquisitor McDowell, and I had drafted each of you to be my Acolytes," she exclaimed, "Each of you have skills that could be put to great use as part of the Inquisition, and it is easier to exert control over you because you have no choice in the matter.
Jax Arkana, you have death warrants on your head for 37 different planets.  Wolfe Arkana, you were convicted of heresy for attacking Arbites in 15 different sub-sectors."
"I will exercise their punishment then," the Arbite piped up.  He whipped his pistol at Jax's head.  A laspistol and lascannon pointed back at his.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you, twinkle toes," Wolfe said.
"You mess with one Arkana, you mess with all Arkanas," Millard added.  All four of them collapse as if they were shocked.
"As you can see, I took the liberty of having shock collars surgically installed in each of you; along with your left eyes and ears so I can see and hear everything that ya'll are doing."  She released the four from the shock effect.
After a moment of composing himself, the Arbite asked, "What gives you the Emperor-given right to..."  He gets shocked again.
"I am an Inquisitor; that gives me the right."
"Why am I here then?"
"Because Cpt. Titus Harlock, I need an Acolyte that can blend in with the well-off of society.  Your family has connections to the Imperial Guard, planetary governors in their debt.  And, you are very easy to blackmail into coercion."
"That's all well-and-good for them, but I haven't done anything to warrant the Inquisition's attention; and I haven't committed any heresy.  So, why I am here?" the tech-priest questioned.
"You were easy to acquire Midkiff.  You were about to kicked out and executed by the Machine Cult for the crime of trying to have sex with a heavy bolter."  Everyone else has their eyes pop open at that suggestion.
"That is completely untrue, for one thing, the barrel on that thing was too small to do anything with."
Garvel waves his hands in a vain attempt to repel that thought.  "If we're done with all of that, can we focus on the task at hand?  Umm, what is our assignment here Inquisitor?"
"I was going to have you all investigate the possibility of the Hive Governor going heretical, but circumstance has forced my hand.  The uprising started at the behest of the Hive Governor; killing millions of the Emperor's loyal subjects before the day was out.  The Arbitrators in the hive were killed to the last person.  Even the Vatarian XI Regiment could do little against them.  But, the Dark Eldar took advantage of the situation and slaughtered the regiment.  Now, the Blood Angels are here to purge the hive city.  And the Steel Nightmares have shown up within the last three weeks.
Simply put, your new mission is to kill the Hive Governor for his crime against the Imperium."
"I will execute the heretic myself," Titus said through gritted teeth.  The Inquisitor decided that was a good enough reason to stop shocking him.  When he recovered, he straightened out his uniform.  "How are we going to get out of here now."
"We can try to get a Valkyrie working," Jax replied.  He looked to the tech-priest to see if it was possible.
"I'll have to check the condition of them both to see if it can be done," he stated.  Grim started rummaging through the remains with assistance from Garvel and Wolfe.  Jax heard something approaching and reacted quickly enough to avoid splinter pistol fire.
Two Dark Eldar Helions flew through the area; one nearly off Tybalt's head.  Those who weren't preoccupied fired back.  Millard's lascannon shot blew up one of the gliders, and the Helion tumbled into a vat of molten metal.  The other swung back around leaped at Jax.  It backhanded him unconscious before another shot from Millard took its head off.
Jax took awhile to wake up and went immediately to swiping the dead guy's weapons.  Wolfe joined the action, scavenging a splinter rifle for himself.  A crackle of static from the radio of the kill-team caught everyone's attention.
...orces are to withdraw....hive-city within twelve hours...lood Angel strike crui...level the whol..........Imperial forces are......twelve hours.
"Robot, we need to get out of here, soon!" Titus exclaimed.
"I am not a robot you imbecile, I am a tech-priest of Mars.  And I can get this thing working if you jackasses would actually do something," Grim stated.
Everybody leapt into action, except for Titus, trying to fix the damage one of the Valkyries had sustained.  Grim directed the project whenever he wasn't busy himself.  Five hours later, the Valkyrie looked better than new; and they stripped the other of any parts that could be taken, including gun emplacements.
Grim did a test to see if the gunship was still air worthy before letting the others stow the spare parts and guns on it.  Jax approached the cockpit, sat down in one of the seats, and tried to grab the flight stick in front of him.  Grim quickly slapped his hands away and yelled, "ONLY I CAN TOUCH KAREN'S CONTROLS RIGHT NOW!"
"Karen?  Who's Karen?"
"She is the Valkyrie.  She gave permission only to me to fly her."  Jax slammed the door behind him.  "I think the tech-priest wants to fuck the gunship."
"Of course he does; he's a robot," Titus interjected.
"I AM NOT A ROBOT YOU WITLESS BABOON!"
The Valkyrie lifted up towards the hole in the ceiling.  They a scene of mass carnage when they got beyond the slums.  Cultists and dregs butchering innocent people while Dark Eldar and Imperial Guardsman fire indiscriminately into the crowds.  Blood Angels leapt high in the sky above it all as their bolters tore everything apart down below.
Engines flared up to propel the gunship away from the scene; Helions pursuing close behind.  Wolfe and Millard man the guns on the sides and open fire on their pursuers; Jax ran to the cockpit and jumped on the vox.  "Any friendly imperial units, this is General Jax Arkana of the Vatarian 3rd Regiment; we have Dark Eldar all around us and we need support."
"This is Captain Tycho of the Blood Angels 3rd Company, what is your business here General?"
"We're here for the Hive Governor."
"Anyone who is trying to protect the traitor will die with him."  Hunters and Stalkers fired on the Valkyrie.  Missiles streaked past and shells exploded all around.
"Hah!  Emperor's Finest; certainly, the Emperor's Finest Fuck-ups."  Jax followed up with a slew of other insults denouncing the honor of the entire Blood Angels chapter.  Yet more missiles were aimed at the Valkyrie as Grim had to yank and juke the gunship all about to avoid the incoming fire.  Titus grabbed a heavy bolter and shot down all of the missiles from the back of the compartment where a hatch should be.
Jax switched channels on the vox caster, hailing anyone else who could answer.  Eventually, someone did.  "Left-tenant Carpenter here; we heard your call for help.  We'll draw the Space Marines' fire away from you, sir."
"May the Emperor be with you, Lieutenant," Jax replied.
The Valkyrie opened up with every gun it had causing a hole to the outside to be blown in the wall.  A prolonged boost to lose anybody else, and the group was free of the hive city.  As they headed to the highest parts of the hive, they couldn't help but notice the massive Imperator-class Titan firing its weapons on the city.
After a brief discussion they deemed the best course of action was to head to the armoury first to prepare to assault the titan.  A few brief minutes later, the Valkyrie headed for a final approach to the armoury runway.  But, a group of Space Marines was already waiting for them.

(NSFW) The Tales of Infinite Mischief Episode 2 Part 1

With a hail of laspistol fire having just injured Jax, the pysker Tybalt tapped into the Immaterium.  Barely able to cast his power, but, his success was met with the silence of enemy las fire.  "Stupid gun's jammed!" one of the dregs cried out.  Everyone else threw their laspistols off the side of the alcove to the distant floor below.With a great yell, they charged at the group.  Jax dropped to the ground as the others into postion to take aim.  They put up enough fire to slow the dregs down, but hardly of the shots were hitting them.  Sounds of a turbines reverberated across the expanse as Garvel noticed the approach of two Valkyrie gunships.
He shoved Wolfe and Tybalt down as the guns started firing at the position.  Any remaining dregs were torn apart by the machine gun fire.  Jax spotted a black figure on a glider toss a grenade into the back hatch of one of the gunships.  The thing followed the resulting explosion by chucking another grenade up the engine of the same Valkyrie.  A bigger explosion tore the wing right off, and caused the gunship to smash into the other one sending them both crashing to the floor below.
The glider swooped towards the alcove as the figure checked to see if any were still alive.  Jax unleashed a full-auto burst at the entity, but failed to hit anything.  With a smile on its mutilated ashen face, it threw another grenade.  Everyone jumped up and bolted across the narrow walkaway of someone's former home.  The creature laughed the entire time as he flew after them.
Garvel was the first to reach the elevator, but had to wait for the others to show up to get it open.  They rushed inside, Wolfe providing covering fire.  But, he got riddled with splinter shards.  Jax pulled his brother in as the enemy stepped off his glider.
Doors closed and the elevator headed up. "What was that filthy xeno?" Tybalt asked.
"Dark Eldar," the reply came from Garvel.
An explosion sounded above and violently shook the elevator.  It was soon followed by the sounds of snapping wires and the box plummeted down the shaft.  After everyone recovered from the impact, the group found out that doors couldn't be opened.  "How are we supposed to get out?" Garvel asked.
"We're just going to have to wait here for someone to spring us out," Jax answered.
Wolfe was patched up as best as they could manage during the five hour internment in the elevator.  Finally, the sounds of footsteps came nearby.  Jax instinctively started tapping a call for help in guard battlecode.
"Who's in there?"
"General Jax Arkana of the Vatarian 3rd Regiment. We're trapped in this Emperor-forsaken place. Now. GET. US. OUT OF HERE!"
"Jax! What are you doing?" Garvel whispered.
"Trust me.  I've got a plan," Jax whispered back.
"Hang on while we find a way to get these doors open."
While the unknown people worked to get them out, Jax had Garvel carve a general's insignia into Jax's chest plate.
After a laborous effort, the doors were pryed apart.  Jax stepped out and was met with a laspistol aimed at his face.  "I think you're lying to my men about you are," the sergeant said.
Jax straightened up his armor and stood tall before yelling, "How dare you threaten an appointed General of His Holy-Emperor's Imperial Guard.  Are you going to allow your sergeant to commit such an atrocious act of heresy?"
The kill-team troopers look around at each other before firing on their sergeant.
One stepped forth and saluted.  "Sorry for the sarge's over-zealousness."
"You're all forgiven, now get me and my men out of here."
"Right away, sir."  Jax walked by the kill-team as their new leader saluted him again.  The rest of the group was helped out of the elevator, except for Tybalt who had to struggle to climb out.  "If you'll follow us General, we'll escort you out of this dump."
The kill-team led the group through a winding trail amongst the vast amount of rubble and ruins.  Jax learned from them that they were sent by the Hive Governor to purify the lower levels of all life, stating that everyone down there to all be considered heretics.
A quarter-hour of walking time ended in a clearing beyond the wreckage of a couple of Valkyries.  A big carriage with sturdy cables lead to a hole in the ceiling.  "Right this way, sir."
The group was about to step into the carriage as shots rang out from behind them.  Dark Eldar emerged from the rubble and killed the troopers.  They approached with splinter rifles leveled.
Suddenly, another drop pod crashed through the ceiling and onto the lid of one of the nearby cauldrons.  It tore most of cables for the carriage apart on its way down.  Everyone ducked as the cable dropped down upon them.
The hatches for the drop pod popped open, but only three of the occupants were on the side facing away from the molten metal.  The three survivors hit a pile of rubble on the side and rolled down to the floor.
But, the group was too preoccupied battling the Dark Eldar to notice.  Shots zipped between the two sides with hardly any shots connecting.  One of the eldar was repeated hit in her left shoulder.  She was the first to go down.  Jax and Wolfe were growing increasingly frustrated as their guns jammed one after another.
Blasts of las energy barreled past the group.  The rest of the Dark Eldar quickly died; one of them lost its head while the rest of its body was set on fire.
"Looks like I needed to save both of you; yet again," the fresh-faced kid behind them said.
"Millard!" Wolfe exclaimed.  He ran up and hugged his kid brother.  The other two people started to stir.  "Where the bloody-warp are we?" the Arbite asked.
"Planet Vatar, Hive Edgeer, dreg quarters," Garvel answered.
"Why am I down here?  This place is completely beneath my station."
The other, a tech-priest, introduced himself as "Grim" Gulliman.  But, nobody seemed to pay attention as the Arbite got into a heated argument with Wolfe.  Guns were swiftly drawn, and the Arbite found an autogun and a lascannon aimed at his head from the other two Arkana brothers.
A screeching noise blared in their ears; immediately ending their squabble.  "I don't need anymore of my recruits to pointlessly die in this mission," the cold feminine voice stated in their ears.

(NSFW) The Tales of Infinite Mischief Ep. 1

      There was a thunderous crash as a drop pod tore through the roof of a manufactorum and came to a screeching halt on the seventy third floor. The guardsmen Jax and Wolfe Arkana, Tybalt Arl the Psyker from a Feral World, and
Garvel Ramirez the Assassin were shaken out a drug induced sleep by the impact

of the drop pod slamming into the ferrocrete floor. Jax Arkana cleared his

throat "Mates, It looks like we've been Shanghai'd."

Wolfe coughed roughly before agreeing "Too right, brother." Two doors of the drop pod hissed open and Jax and Wolfe stumbled out. As they looked over, Tybalt and Garvel fell out of the pod next to them, clearly unused to the roughness of a combat drop.

The room that the drop pod had wedged itself in had only one door, covered by a sheet

that loosely hung in the frame. On the floors were more sheets that were clearly

in use as beds, with rocks being used as a form of pillow. Whoever lived here

was very poor.

"Where the sod are we? and Who the Sod are you two?" Garvel demanded.

"Jax" Jax answered, followed by Wolfe, "And Wolfe Arkana, III Vatarian Legion. Who the hell are you?"

Tybalt scoffed. "Tybalt Arl, Blade for hire. This is Garvel Ramirez." The

Psyker simply nodded at them.

"Well Tybalt." Jax said, "There are men trapped in this drop pod. It's wedged

into ferrocrete."

Garvel spoke up "There is combat going on nearby. I suggest if we are to help

them we make haste."

The group stood and listened. Sounds of Autoguns and Lasguns trading fire

echoed into the room. The occasional battle cannon would explode followed by

smaller sub explosions.

"There is only one thing we can do." Jax said as he surveyed the drop pod. "We have to put them out of their misery. Anyone have any grenades?" No one spoke up.

"Alright, lets see if we can rig it to explode then." He knelt at the pod's control console and began to pry into it with his knife. There was a bright flash as he was jolted back by electricty.

"Well" Garvel said after a short while "Looks like they're stuck in there."

"Looks like it" Jax agreed as he stood up and brushed himself off. He then leanred against the doorway and peeked outside.

They were in a room that connected to a catwalk. Far below there stood massive couldrons of bubbling magma. Just visible were figures that appeared to be in intense combat.

"Catwalk looks clear. Lets head out." He tore the sheet down that covered the doorway and put it on as a makeshift cloak, then proceeded to pull part of it up as a hood.

"What's that for?" Wolfe asked.

"Just in case. If anything happens we could use it as a tournicate, or paint it up as makeshift camoflauge. " Jax replied as he stepped onto the catwalk followed by the rest of the group.

To their left and right the catwalk continued onward.

"Which way?" Tybalt wondered aloud

"Let's let the Emperor decide." Jax replied and pulled a single throne from his belt and tossed it in the air.

It landed heads-up. "We go right."

As they proceeded down the catwalk, five men dressed in rags approached them carrying battle-axes. The two groups stood and stared at each other before one of the men shouted out "Blood for the blood god!"

"Wait wait wait wait wait!" Jax shouted, and the cultists stopped for a moment. "We're with you guys! Been up here hunting for those damn imperials! Blood for the blood god!"

The cultists talked among themselves for a moment before replying "Kill them! Skulls for the skull throne!"

"Well shit." Garvel stated, and raised his lascarbine to shoot at the oncoming attackers. He clipped one in the arm and made him flinch some. Tybalt opened fire with his snub pistol but the shot went wide. Jax fired his autogun at the oncoming attackers and a miracle happened. One of the rounds detonated a grenade that was on the belt of one of the cultists. Four out of the five cultists were flayed into a red, gorey mess. The remainind cultist continued to charge forward, completely ignoring the fact that his comrades had fallen. Garvel fired at him again but the shot went wide, then proceeded to taunt the cultist mercilessly.

"Were you born this slow, or are you just that out of shape?"

The cultists growled a response and continued to charge him.

Tybalt was silent for a moment before lowering his trousers. He then began to flop his junk around while shouting "Helicopter!"

(After a brief game derailment regarding whether or not we are allowed to helicopter the cultists, it was concluded that it would take a full turn to do.)

The cultist skid to a halt and covered his eyes. Jax took the oppurtinity to stab his bayonette through through the jaw and up through the skull of the cultist. After using his boot to scrape the cultists off the bayonette, he chuckled.

Garvel joined in the chuckling. "Tybalt fucked with his mind, You literally mind fucked him."

"Fitting death for a cultist." Wolfe added.

After continuing down the catwalk, the group came upon a staircase.

"Well gents'" Garvel began "It looks like we've quite a long walk down ahead of us."

Unbeknownst to the group, they were on the seventy sixth floor. They walked down seventy five flights of stairs to the bottom floor. Once at the bottom Jax, Garvel, and Tybalt all collapsed in a series of pants and gasps. "Fuck. Fuck. That was something awful." Wolfe could only throw up as he gasped for air.

"Never" Jax began to catch his breathe "Again."

As the group was still catching its breathe, a low rumbling filled the chamber and everything seemed to shake slightly.

"Oh no" Wolfe muttered

"No, no, no, no." Jax agreed

"What?" Garvel asked

As if one cue a Leman Russ Battle Tank rounded the corner and began firing battle cannon shells at them. Missing several which resulted in a few of the magma couldrons being cracked open.

"Just can't get a break, can we?" Jax shouted as they began to run back up the flights of stairs. Suddenly, a lascannon tore into the side of the leman russ and caused it to explode. The explosion fully knocked over one of the magma cauldrons, spilling its contents over all over the ground and melting the lower levels of the stairs.

"Well. That went well." Garvel stated.

"Mhmm." Tybalt agreed.

"You know, I used to work in these factory dregs as a lad. Every twelve floors is an access door to a freight elevator." Wolfe remebered.

"Yeah, thats right. We can get to a freight elevator and hitch a ride to the surface." Jax Agreed.

So they climbed up to the twelfth floor and began following the catwalk again.

"Wait!" Tybalt cried, startling the rest of the group. "There are people ahead!"

Jax raised his Autogun and crept along the catwalk. "Do you sense they are hostile?"

Tybalt was silent for a moment. "No, They seem... afraid."

As Jax, Wolfe, Garvel, And Tybalt crept up on the cowering dregs.

"Don't hurt us! By the Emperor, Don't hurt us!" One of them cried

"Relax" Jax said, and gave them some rations. "What planet are we on?"

The dreg looked confused. "We're on Vatar.. where else would we be?"

"Good. Still at home. What hive?" Jax asked

"Edgeer Hive" The dreg responded hesitantly

"What happened here" Garvel asked one of the dregs.

The dreg took a deep breathe before speaking. "We started the work day this morning just like every other day. About mid day as the lunch bell rang, half of the workers pulled rifles and weapons out and began gunning everyone down at random. It... it was awful! Everyone was screaming... a-and running! I saw my family killed by a mutant with a makeshift axe!" The dreg began sobbing uncontrollably.

"What happened to the XI Legion? They should be here restoring order." Jax asked

"They.. They were killed by dark figures with faces pale as ash, with ears as pointed as knives. They're dead, every single one is dead!" The dreg cried. "I can never forget what hell i've seen today!"

Jax Knelt down close to the dreg. "Do you require the Emperor's Benediction?"

"Oh please! I need the Emperor's help!" The dreg sobbed

"Kneel down in prayer. All of you."

The three dregs knelt down and began praying. Jax put an autogun round into each of their heads. He then knelt down and removed a pair of welding goggles with an Aquila stamped on the side. "Might come in handy. Lets get a move on."

As they continued to walk along the catwalk, it bent into a partially destroyed alcove and then out the other side. As Jax stepped into the alcove, A shot rang out and clipped him in the cheek. He fell back bleeding severely on the face, cursing all the while.

To Be Continued...

My To-Do list for today

1. Wrestle my dog Caesar back into his collar. He's not exactly small, and as strong as.. well.. a strong dog
2. Paint some things for warhammer, take pics
3. Finish a battle report
4. Take the trash which Caesar has so KINDLY distributed all throughout my home
5. Realize that i'vebeen up for near 48 hours and Crash. Hard.
6. Wake up and read my Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer
7. Get a snack
8. Work on thesis to Prove the existence of the Alpha Legion
9. finally beat DoW 2 now that I've got it working properply
10. Ragequit DoW 2 because of Tyranids
11. Or orks
12. Fantasize about having another cruiser in Battlefleet Gothic.
13. Accidentally break one of my models, swear profusely
14. Mentally Summon Doomrider.
15. Do Cocaine. COCAINE.
16. Topple the Imperium with Doomrider while Simultaniously pleasuring three women
17. Wake up several hours later realizing that steps 14-16 were a dream
18. Ragequit being awake and go back to sleep, only to be woken up early early sunday morning

15 Easy Steps to making 3AM Tea

1. Get thirsty, but don't feel like getting up yet
2. Still thirsty, try to ignore the face that you're getting thirsty
3. Say screw it, get up and go look in the fridge for ten minutes but to no avail. Return to you seat
4. Give up and go look again, this time have an idea of what sounds good. Some nice warm tea
5. Get a mug and put water in it
6. Realize that you don't remember where you put your tea bags
7. Ask your cat where the bags are
8. Realize your cat is a selfish asshole and wouldn't tell you even if he knew where they were
9. Fight off your cat attacking your feet as you search each cupboard
10. Find tea
11. Realize what you found is green tea, and keep looking
12. Find the proper tea
13 Get the mug of water and nuke it in the microwave
14. Once finished, carefully remove the mug and put tea bags in it
15. Wait about five minutes, add sugar, stir, and enjoy

Arrakian Accord pt 5, Battle for Leto Highway

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41

Harkonnen IV System; Planet Arrakia

Days on planet: 15

Situation: Optimal
"Wake up Aelgafar." The voice was soft, yet authoritative. "Major, it's time to wake up." Carpenter felt a sharp pain in his arm and he felt energy flow into him.

A different voice, more hostile, spoke along with a prod in his side. "Oi! Major. Wake up. It's time to get your sorry arse on the line."

Aelgafar slowly raised his hand and used an all too familiar gesture. There was a chuckle of laughter followed by a good humored response.

"Glad to see you're alright, Major. I was starting to get worried for a second there."

He sat up and opened his eyes slowly to let them adjust to the light. He was inside a tent. His tent. Every belonging was in it's normal position, the only difference was when he looked outside the tent flap, there was a mountain range in the desert instead of the desert. He then looked at the two figures who had been attempting to wake him. The first voice belonged to Captain Ulysses. The second one to Sergeant Rielly.

Ulysses spoke first. "We're glad you're awake Major. There is a Major operation going on and The Inquisitor wanted every man who could hold a lasgun or autogun available."

Carpenter rubbed his neck and stood up. "Major Operation, Captain?"

Rielly answered this time. "Yes sir. The Black Legion is attempting to break out of Leton. The Inquisition scraped up two entire companies of space marines to try and hold back their assault."

Aelgafar walked out of the tent and was amazed at their surroundings. Far to the east and in front of the distant mountain range, columns of smoke raised high into the sky from the capital city. It was unnerving to the think of all the death that was taking place there. Rielly and Ulysses emerged from the tent as well and observed the same columns of smoke that continuously rose. "It's horrible, isn't it sir? There were well over a hundred thousand civilians in that city. All either dead, enslaved, or followers of chaos now." Aelgafar felt a strange feeling when Ulysses finished his sentence. A feeling of unnatural serenity. He shook it just as quickly as it came, and he felt anger fill his mind and heart. This anger though, also did not feel natural. Like it was not his own. He felt the anger at himself for not killing more of the traitors. He felt anger at his men for being slow to act against the Black Legion. He just felt angry at it all. Only one thought prevailed in his mind through the anger, and this thought felt like it was fuelled by the anger.

"We have to stop them." He whispered.

Rielly placed his hand on his shoulder. "Sir?"

"We have to stop them Rielly. We have to put a halt to the Black Legion here and now before that" He pointed towards the capital city "Becomes common on this planet."

Ulysses replied before Rielly could. "That's why we're here sir. We have a company from the Steel Nightmares, a Company from the Steel Sabres. (That is the name of the Former "Renegade Marines" chapter. The player finally decided that he would be a proper chapter instead of a Gaggle of random marines.) and our entire company has been called up to this battle as well."

Carpenter thought for a moment. "What of the Thunder Dragons? Were they not also deployed on this planet?"

"Yes sir, ther are. However, we lost contact with them after the First battle of Melange. They are presumed cut off due to sandstorms and enemy contacts."

"Damn. We could have used them here. Estimated enemy strength?"

"Early estimates say that at least five companies, all mechanized, have deployed into the area."

Aelgafar saw a black strip along the ground in the distance. He notioned to it and looked at Rielly. "What is that?"

"That is Leto Highway sir. It is the only way to get vehicles into the desert and other cities. If you're not on that asphalt when you leave the region, your vehicle sinks right into the sand."

"So that's why they chose here to break out. Interesting."

"Yes sir. This is the only highway that leads into the capital from this direction. The only other one is to the direct south of the capital, and it leads into Melange. Nothing so far has come back from that town, be it Imperial or Traitor."

"Good. Natural buffer zone then. When are we expecting to ride out an meet the Black Legion?"

"Tomorrow, Sir."

"Excellent. Ulysses, Order your men to eat a hardy meal tonight. As well as a good night's sleep. Rielly, what is our supply situation?"

"Truthfully sir, with what we could salvage from wreckage around this area. We have enough ammunition to supply three companies for a few days."

Carpenter was taken aback. "THREE companies, Rielly? And what wreckage?"

"Well sir, from what we ascertain, this is where the Imperial PDF forces who fled the city got cut down. Not all of them, but certainly quite a few. The supplies were left abandoned along with a few working Half-ton trucks."

"Outstanding then! Make sure that each trooper is issued at least twice his normal ammunition supply. If we are facing five companies of Traitor marines, we'll need every shot."

"Yes sir. Oh, and I believe The Inquisitor wanted you in the command tent when you woke up. Its the largest tent at the very centre of camp. You can't miss it, sir." With those final words, Rielly vanished to do his assigned duties, Leaving Carpenter standing in between rows of tents.

He passed various guardsmen long the way to the command tent. None of them stopped what they were doing to salute him. Good men, he thought. They remembered not to ever salute in an active warzone due to possible enemy snipers. Most of them did nod or acknowledge his passing with a simple wave. Good men indeed. He tried not to think about how many men would be lost before this Warp-damned campaign was over. As he approached the command tent, he was intercepted by two Astarted clad in Black amour with red legs and green helmets. "Identify yourself." One demanded.

"Major Carpenter." Aelgafar replied.

The Astartes froze for a moment, no doubt talking into a vox link inside of his helmet. "You may proceed." He stated, and both of them cleared out of his way and back to their original positions.

When Aelgafar entered the Tent, he could feel the tension in the air. There were two Astartes standing with the Inquisitor who Aelgafar had met before. "Ah, Major. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever recover from your... fatigue."

"What, and miss this lovely outing you have planned for us? Not a chance."

The Inquisitor smirked under his hood. "Good to see that your attitude hasn't suffered any. Good. We'll need you in this upcoming battle." He motioned to the Astartes on his left. This one was clad in the same armour as the guards outside. "This is Chapter Master Holt of the Steel Nightmares. He and his Astartes will be advancing up the centre in an attempt at breaking the main advance of the Black Legion." He then motioned to the Astartes to his right. This Space Marine's armour was completely grey, save for black shoulder pauldrons and metallic trimmings. "This is Chapter Master Troy Armstrong of the Steel Sabres. He and his chapter will be advancing up the left flank to preform a blocking manuvoure to prevent any further extensions of the traitor's lines." Both of the Chapter Masters nodded respectfully. That was quite a display of respect coming from the Space Marines. To even be acknowledged by an Astartes commander was highly uncommon.

"I'm assuming that would leave my company to advance up the right flank and ensure that no hostile reinforcements are brought up?"

The Inquisitor seemed suprised. "Yes, that is correct Major. Your duties will also involve ranged support with your battle tanks." He looked at the two Chapter masters and dismissed them both with a wave of his hand. Aelgafar was now alone with the Inquisitor.

"So, Major. From what the Medics tell me, you're completely fit to fight."

"Yes, Inquisitor."

"It leaves one to wonder how you survived your trek through the desert. Would you care to shed some light on how you managed to survive?"

"I kept going, Inquisitor."

"We found you in the midst of a sandstorm, miles away from the original objective. MaiLai is quite a ways away from where we are now. How did you know which direction to go?"

"I didn't, Inquisitor."

The Inquisitor looked him over for a moment before speaking. "Is there anything I should know, Aelgafar?"

"No, Inquisitor. Only that I am here now and ready to assume command of my Company."

The Inquisitor pulled back his hood to reveal his face. He had dirty blond hair and purple eyes with skin that said he'd spent a lot of time in the sun. There were wrinkles on his face. Not from age, but from what looked like years of stress. "Nimorol, Major. Inquisitor Nimorol." He reached into a compartment on his armor and pulled out a flask, offering it to Aelgafar.

Aelgafar took it and took a swig. The Amasec was strong enough to make him cringe. Nimorol spoke up. "It's Cadian. Hard to find this far away from the gate, but damn worth the cost."

Aelgafar cleared his throat with a cough before he replied. "Didn't think Inquisitors drank."

"You'd be surprised at the number of things we do that others do not expect. I would ask you to have a seat."

He sat down and Aelgafar did the same. Nimorol took the flask and had a long drink before returning it to it's compartment. "Truthfully Major, we're a half-step away from losing this planet. If the Black Legion breaks through here, there is nowhere else we could have a proper chance at stopping them. This is it. This is our one shot to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. It's simple numbers. They have more, and will continue to get more so long as the warp portals they came in on stay open. There is currently a debate on what units could go in to kill the chaos sorcerers who keep the portals open"

Aelgafar was surprised at Nimorol's openness. "Why are you telling me this? Is this not information better left with the Astartes?"

Nimorol looked grim. "Because your unit is under consideration of being sent in."

Aelgafar felt himself go pale. "A company of guardsmen is no match for a Traitor Legion and it's foul sorcery!"

Nimorol was unmoved at the outburst, in fact, he suspected it. "Sacrifices must be made if Victory is to be achieved, Aelgafar. Just as the 3rd Calvalry Ensured that the Black Legion was unable to take the eastern highway."


"What do you mean by that?"

"They fought the Black Legion in the city of Voge to buy time for us to seal the mountain pass that led out of the area. They were cornered and they knew it. But they also knew what was at stake."

Aelgafar felt the urge to strike Nimorol at that moment more than ever. He placed his hand on the hilt of his saber and fought the muscles not to draw it and strike out.

"Do you not approve of what's happening here? Well too bad Aelgafar. It's a simple fact: The Black Legion will stop at nothing to take this planet and if they do they will eventually move on to the entire system. If we do not stop them then all of this," Nimorol waved his hands around "all of this would be for nothing."

Aelgafar didn't immediately reply. He simply stood and stared out of a nearby window flap. "I do understand, Inquisitor Nimorol. I understand all too well at what this victory will cost. Don't you worry about my men tomorrow. They'll be ready. You make sure that the end is justified by all the means." With those closing words, he left the tent to prepare for the next day.

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41

Harkonnen IV System; Planet Arrakia

Days on planet: 16

Situation: Stable
 
It was early morning when Imperial forces deployed near the highway to intercept the chaos convoy. Major Carpenter rode atop the tank Von Sica to the ambush point. There was no vox chatter this morning, each unit knew what their mission was and what to do. He looked through his night vision scope in the direction of the highway. Sure enough, there was a line of Black Legion Rhinos trudging along. He felt the tank stop with a slight jerk, and he climbed out of the cupola and stood behind with his advisors.
A nearby vanquisher was training it's sights on an enemy Vindicator. He walked over behind the tank and opened a small compartment near the engine. It contained a field telephone that had a direct link to the tank commander. He held it to his ear.
"Sergeant Zale, here."
"This is Major Carpenter. We fire the opening shot in this Op. Make it count." He promptly returned the telephone to its housing and all was silent for a moment. Then the Vanquisher fired.

A brilliant explosion lit the sky as the enemy tank went up in flames. The Vanquisher round had pierced the ammo stores of the siege vehicle and caused a lethal explosion. It was beautiful.

The convoy skid to a halt and began to disgorge Traitor Astartes who promptly began to return fire in the direction of the loyalists. The traitors began to pick off loyalist Astartes from the centre line. His radioman strode up to him as the rest of the 2nd company tanks opened fire.
"Major Carpenter Sir, Vox for you."
"Thank you, Harvey." He took the vox headset and put it on. "Carpenter here."
"Major, this is Holt. one of my dreadnaughts just took a direct hit. He has been taken out of action and completely immobilized and has a weapon destroyed. We need your armour to focus on the centre section. The left flank is holding nicely, but we're threatening to be overrun in the centre."
"Copy that, will direct armour fire to centre column."

"All tanks, fire on targets in the centre line. The Astartes are requesting support, show them what we're made of." The various tanks of 2nd Company rotated their turrets and began firing against targets in the centre. The sentinels that were providing escort for the tanks began to also unleash torrents of autocannon fire at the nearest of the rhinos in an attempt to cripple it before it could disgorge it's lethal occupants.


Fire began to ricochet off the front of the tanks as the rhinos drew closer. "Get down!" Carpenter's voice was almost drown out as the lead tank erupted into flames from a stray lascannon blast. Carpenter glanced up from his position to try and catch a glance at his attackers. All he saw was a plasma blast coming straight toward him. Time seemed to move in slow motion as he jumped away from the incoming round. It erupted into a brilliant plasma flash behind him and he was propelled into the side of another tank. Captain Ulysses ran over to him as he lay curled up on the ground in pain. "Major are you alright!?" Aelgafar let out a stream of curses that made Ulysses flinch. Aelgafar had a death grip on his stomach. There was blood pouring from under his hands. "Oh damnation. Medic!"
Sergeant Rielly saw the one who fired the plasma blast. He led his Veterans against the traitor squad. "Take those bastards down men! Throw the demo charge and fire at full auto!" He and his men unleashed a helltorrent of lasgun fire against the traitor marine squad. Rielly was close enough to hear the traitor's voices over the lasgun fire. Before the traitors could raise their own boltguns in response fire, he heaved a large demolitions charge at the traitors and their rhino. It exploded with devastating effect, effectively destroying the entire squad in one blast.

Unexpectedly, the chaos rhinos began to surge forward against the Imperial lines. 2nd Company was slowly being forced to retreat back, else they would be crushed under the treads of the oncoming vehicles. Seeing the threat of a broken line, Chapter Master Armstrong pushed his men forward on the left flank. They drove hard into the Traitor lines and broke several hostile squads and forced them to retreat. Chapter Master Holt urged his men up the centre and began a grueling counter attack against the Black Legion mechanized infantry.

The Guardsmen of 2nd Company had pulled back to form a defensive line around the forward aid station that held Major Carpenter. The Armour stayed on the forward line to help the Astartes fight off the Chaos assault.

Explosions rattled the earth and the constant chatter of heavy bolter fire filled the air as the intense battle continued on throughout the day. It wasn't until around noon on the next day that things began to wither down to only an occasional bolter shot. The Imperials had held the highway at the cost of well over a hundred warriors. The wounded numbered in the dozens and the cries of the dying were echoing throughout the battlefield. The cost was much too high to be considered anything less than a Pyrrhic Victory.

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41

Harkonnen IV System; Planet Arrakia
Days on planet: 23

 Situation: Stable, In need of relief

      Aelgafar lay in a hospital bed being examined by constant sensors. He was in an constant, dull pain from the plasma that had caused his stomach to burn to the point of opening. The medics had sewn up but it didn't hold. It wasn't long until he was put into sedation and when he awoke, his abdomen muscles were replaced with cybernetic augmentations. He fell into shock when he first realized it and had to be put back into sedation. When he finally woke up, he started for long periods of time at his new abdomen. It was during one such staring session that Inquisitor Nimorol visited him. He sat at the foot of the bed and also looked at the augmentation. "You can thank me for that, Major. I used my resources to secure you Augmentations worthy of a Techpriest."
Aelgafar looked up at him. "It takes getting used to, I suppose."
Nimorol nodded. "That it does. Well, you'll have plenty of time to adjust during your next deployment."
He gave a puzzling look to the inquisitor. "Next deployment?"
Nimorol stood up. "You and the remains of your company are being deployed to Outpost Idaho. It provides the much needed water to a large portion of settlements in this region. It should be a relatively easy mission. Guard duty combined with rest and relaxation. You leave in the morning, and will be there within two days. I hope you enjoy yourself out there, Major."



Arrakian Accord pt 4.

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41

Harkonnen IV System; Planet Arrakia
Days on planet: 13

Situation: Critical



From the diary of Major Carpenter: We hit another sandstorm, so I Picked up reading the service record again. At some point after Golgotha, he was an Imperial Guard Commander without an Imperial guard unit. His requests to Cadian Command for a new regiment had all been denied, and he was unable to transfer to another unit. He met up with an Inquisitor from the Ordo Malleus at some point in his medicae treatments. The name of the guy was erased. Typical. Whatever the details of the meeting were, they involved him getting incredibly high quality treatment for his injuries in exchange for disappearing and working for the inquisition. I did some searching, and other than his medicae release forms, there is not a single mention of Captain Peach again until the battle of Tyrok fields! To top things of, when he was finally mentioned again in the after action report of the battle, he had gained an entirely new regiment and carried the title of Field Marshall. Whatever happened to him in those years of inquisitorial service had really paid off. He was entirely different from the man who lost his regiment on Golgotha. Unrelated note. Just heard the Engine cut out, going to talk to the driver.

Aelgafar climbed out of his seat and knocked on the small hatch that separated the passenger compartment and the driver compartment. There was no reply so he tried knocking again. No reply. He eased open the hatch and peered inside the driver's compartment. The Sergeant and his driver were gone. He went inside the compartment and looked around for any sign of where they could be. The front hatch was open and there was the tattered remains of Imperial fatigues strewn about the front of the Chimera. "No. It can't be like this" Carpenter whispered to himself. "It can't be this way." He checked the fuel reading for the vehicle. It read 19%. "Alright, I can work with this." He sat down at the controls for the Chimera and tried to start it back up, but to no success. A light flashed on the console indicating that there was a problem with the electrical box. "It's always some damn thing." He moved over to the electrical box and pried it open with his combat knife.

"By the Emperor.." He gasped. The inside of the box had been shot and fried to the point of uselessness. There was only one weapon that could leave damages like that. An Imperial Laspistol. "Frak!" He punched the wall of the chimera then reeled back in pain holding his hand. "Of course. Frakking metal box of an APC." Aelgafar climbed out of the front hatch of the chimera and into the harsh desert sun.

He took a deep breathe and looked around for any sign of the chimera's crew. There was a single set of footprints leading off to the east. "Frak" he muttered as he returned to the chimera to salvage what he could. Before he left, he sent out a call on the emergency vox caster that was attached to the top of the turret. "This is Major Carpenter of the XII Vatarian Legion. The chimera I had commandeered is inoperable. Separated from any kind of Imperial Forces. Heading due north from my current position. Emperor be with me."

The desert heat scorched Carpenter's lungs with each heaving breathe he took. He had long since abandoned his flak jacket and wore only the fatigues that were underneath. "By the Emperor, who would live in a place like this?" He asked himself as he began to drag his feet. The chimera he abandoned had long since left his view, and was now only a glimmer in the far, far distance. Aelgafar tripped over something cropping up out of the sand. He turned around and dug around it and let out a gasp of surprise. It was the driver of the chimera, there was a hole in the skull from a small weapon. The sergeant was still nowhere to be seen. He kept very attentive as he walked onward.

It felt like an eternity of walking. The sun was now setting and the winds were picking up. There was a sandstorm coming. Carpenter fell to his knees and unbuckled his pistol's holster and sabre's scabbard. They weighed too much for him to carry them any farther. He tried to stand but quickly fell onto his face instead. He could begin to feel the tiny needles of the sandstorm drawing closing. "Emperor" He gasped "Emperor help me! I have served you well, have I not!?" The winds of the sandstorm began to screech as they drew ever closer and swirled around him. "Emperor what must I do to serve you!?" The only reply was the sandstorm encircling him and he could feel the layers of his fatigues begin to rip away, and his skin became bloodied as it was ripped open by the wind. His cries of anguish became hateful. "Damn you Emperor! You sit and watch as I lay and die! How many souls must fade away before you act!?" He began to hate the Emperor. He hated everything about the Emperor, he hated the Inquisition, He hated Terra, He hated the Priests, He hated them all. "You are nothing but a corpse! A corpse! The horror that men commit in your name is a testament of how fallen you truly are! The horrors, of the horrors! You are nothing but a false god! Damn you, and damn your imperium!" He screamed those words into the sandstorm. His voice pulled from him as he was enveloped in the blackness of pain and suffering. Then it all stopped. All the pain, all the suffering, his anguish ceased to exist in one fell being. He felt strength fill his muscles as a light seemed to flicked in front him just out of reach. As he began to crawl after it, it moved away from him.

"C-Come back!" he cried desperatly as it kept moving away from him. He continued to follow it until it vanished. He felt his strength dwindle away again, and felt the familiar pain of the sandstorm. No longer wishing to fight death, he simply gave up. His rescuer was gone, and he was to be lost here in this Arrakian desert. He felt a rumbling through the sand. "It must be a Sand Wrym." He thought. As suddenly as it began, the rumbling stopped. Out of nowhere he heard a familiar voice. "Sir? Major Carpenter, is that you?" He struggled to look up and saw the familiar outline of Sergeant Rielly. He was rescued. "First squad dismount! Get the major inside NOW! Don't worry sir, you'll be alright."

As he felt himself being carried inside the cramped innards of a chimera, he heard something unusual. Something from deep within his own brain. He heard a voice, and it only had one thing to say. "You belong to me Aelgafar. You always have, you simply did not know it. You will always belong to me. Now embrace the cold darkness of sleep. When you awaken, your true purpose will reveal itself."

Arrakian Accord Pt 3.

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41

Harkonnen IV System; Planet Arrakia
Days on planet: 12

Situation: Critical



They were all gone. The Leman Russ Von Sica and its crew, as well as Major Carpenter, were all alone. At some point in the last few days the chain that held them in place within the convoy had snapped, and they unknowningly strayed far off course. From what they could scrape up navigation wise, they were about a hundred kilometres away from the target village. The tank's commander had long given up trying to raise anyone on the vox. It simply did not have the range to be trying to link back up with any kind of force. "Alright. We have a general Idea of where we're going. Take us out Sergeant." Before he could hear the sergeant's reply, Carpenter got back up into the cupola and surveyed the area with binoculars. Far off in the distance, he saw what looked like a few structures. The directional compass on the binoculars said east. "Sergeant, bearing one-oh-five. We have what looks like Imperial PreFab structures. adjust the course so that we pass by them at a close distance."

As they got closer, Carpenter could see there was much more than just the few structures. It was the ruins of an entire city, and there was still a battle raging from somewhere within the depths of the ruins. "Sergeant Yrmi, take us into the city. Slowly. Sponson gunners on alert here." The Von Sica crept down a ruined street, passing occasionally under the shadow of a ruined high-rise. As the street grew much narrower, buildings began to creep upwards into the sky. The echos of whatever battle was being raged became louder and disorienting. Suddenly, an Astartes with Jet black armour ran into the street in front of them. Before Carpenter could bring the tank's pintle mounted storm bolter to bear, the Space Marine was cut down by an unseen lasgun. Carpenter jumped down off the Von Sica and inspected the marine. Black Legion. "Who goes there?" The voice rang out of an alleyway nearby. He decided it would be wise to respond truthfully. "Major Aelgafar Carpenter. Vatarian XII Legion, Second Company!" There was a brief silence before a man in Dark Green flak and camoflauge fatigues stepped out of the shadows. "Guardsman Henri Chesaney. Arrakian 3rd Calvalry. Follow me, sir. I'll take you to my CO."

One street over, it was a hellscape. Wrecked vehicles were strewn about. Burnt out chimeras, half incinirated chaos predators, husks of leman russ tanks, anything an Imperial commander could bring to bear had it's place among the wreckage somewhere. Carpenter followed the Guardsmen up the street and was suprised to find the area opened up into what he highly suspected to have been a park at some point. Trenches had been dug and what was left of the 3rd was dug in around one central bunker. Being led through the trenches, carpenter truly saw the situation of the third. Men who had bled out while manning their rifle positions, empty ammunition boxes strewn about, shell cases coated the ground next to unexploded munitions. Aelgafar wondered how anyone could hold out in these conditions. Just beyond the trenches was an area filled with the dead of the Black Legion and Guard alike. In some places where the trench had collapesed, bodies were being used to hold up the walls and form a type of cover.

When he finally reached the centre bunker he was suprised to see the entrance was not a door, but a hole that had been blown open on one side. "Sir, go inside and down there stairs to operations. Colonel Marlow will want to see you." Having said that, the young trooper took off to return to his original position. Aelgafar reached onto his belt and pulled off a small radio. "Carpenter to Von Sica, Return to base. There is no way you can get through these buildings now that i'm on the other side." There was a slight pause before a reply was heard. "Yes Major. Also, good luck out there." Carpenter put his radio away and headed inside the bunker. He was being entirely ignored by the troopers manning the defences. Dedication, he thought. To what was the question. Survival? The Homeworld? Their Colonel? Who could tell. He took a moment to look over these men and what little peice of land they had paid in blood for. All out beyond the trenches was proof that the third hadn't just been sitting on the sidelines. The dead easily numbered in the thousands, and the occasional cry of pain hinted that there were survivors out in the sea of bodies who didn't have the good fortune to die, nor the luxury of being rescued. The men of the Third were grim. They wore tattered uniforms and battered armour. Their faces bore a stoic expression of men who highly suspected they were to die in that very moment. Then Aelgafar saw something that burned into his mind more than any great daemon of the warp ever could. He saw a soldier take off his helmet and step up out of the trench and was handed a strange case. He took the case and climbed up to a flat spot next to the central bunker. The case opened and the trooper took out a beaten and battered string viola. And then he began to play. Something about the scene burned into Aelgafar's mind. Surrounded by the worst kinds of death, surrounded by pain of unimaginable levels, This man was playing to mourne the dead. Carpenter rushed to get to the lower levels of the bunker, for he simply could not hold the sight in any longer.

"Colonel Marlow of the 3rd Calvalry?" The man who hunched over the operations table stood and turned toward a saluting Major Carpenter. He spoke in a raspy voice. "Yeah, that's me." He saluted back to put Carpenter at ease before continuing. "Who are you and what is your purpose here?" Carpenter adjusted his Beret and spoke. "Major Aelgafar Carpenter of the Vatarian XII Legion, 2nd company. I'm looking for a Field Marshall Peach, sir." Colonel Marlow simply stared at him as a response. He bore the same stoic face and spoke without hope. His uniform resembled that of his men's, and he looked unshaven for at least a week. "Well Major, the man you're looking for isn't here. We've been out of contact since the invasion." Carpenter cleared his throat. "Well sir, my company has been sending out vox signals since we landed to try an-" Marlow cut him short. "Major why do you think we've been out of contact with Peach? Our transmitter got blown to the warp in the first few hours of invasion. We only have short range vox. On top of that, whenever Baelstrom and his lot came through here in the first few days, he ordered all spare equipment to be loaded onto his chimeras and wheeled transports." "Baelstrom sir?" "Yeah. He runs the Capital City's PDF. From what I hear he let the Astartes get blown to hell while he and his men held at his field HQ." He looked back at his maps. "You know you can't stay here. In a couple of hours the Black Legion will attack again. They've managed to push us back to this position by doing that. Street by street, building by building, they pushed us back. We've run out of everything." Aelgafar took a step forward. "Sir, I hate to have to be asking this, but I'll need transport if this position is unable to be held until I can request for one. It is vital I get to the village of MaiLai." Marlow sighed and looked into his datapad. "Do you know why this is a Calvalry Regiment, Major?" Before Carpenter could reply, Marlow continued. "Up until about two thousand years ago, this unit was entirely mounted up on horses. We carried everything we needed for battle. We traded our hunting lances and horses for Chimeras and Multilasers. It may not look it now, but before all this began" he notioned around him at the bunker and trenches. "the entire regiment was able to be transported by our dedicated chimera force." he took a breathe. "We only have one Chimera remaining. Ony one. It can be found on the eastern defensive wall. I'll leave it up to you to decide to take it or not." He set down his datapad and began walking our of the bunker followed closely by Aelgafar. He stopped at the entrance of the bunker and took a long look at his men. "This will all be for nothing if can't stop the Black Legion. Major, I hope you find the Field Marshall, If anyone could stem this heretical tide, it's him. Emperor help us if he can't. You have a Chimera to requisition. I'll leave you to it." Marlow turned and went back into the depths of the bunker, leaving Aelgafar standing there speechless.

The only chimera avalible to the 3rd Calvalry was currently in use. What Colonel Marlow failed to mention was that it was being used to evacuate the wounded. Aelgafar stood in the hatch of the chimera staring inside at the wounded guardsmen who occupied the vehicle. Carpenter stopped the vehicle's commander as he was passing. "Sergeant, where is this chimera going?"
"Fort dix, sir."
"Where is that in relation to MaiLai?"
 "Opposite end of the region, sir."
 Aelgafar became quiet and the sergeant went back to inspecting the chimera before he was to make one last run to evacuate the wounded. From somewhere in the city, the war drums and war cries of the black Legion could be heard starting up. The Men of the Third began to hastily prepare their positions for the next wave of Traitor Marines that would undoubtly overrun their position. "Sergeant. Unload the wounded." The sergeant looked at him, as did all the wounded in the chimera. "Sir?!" Aelgafar cleared his throat. "You heard me Sergeant. Unload the wounded, and make ready to punch out of here." There was a pause before the sergeant began to help the wounded unload. Each wounded man stared at him with mixtures of hatred and silent pleas for reconsiderment. After they were unloaded and he got into the back of the chimera, he made eye contact with only one of them as the rear hatch was closed. He heard the Sergeant's voice over the intercom. "So, MaiLai then?" Carpenter pushed the talk button to reply. "Yes, MaiLai."
"Rodger that. MaiLai. It'll be about two days."
 "Alright, Sergeant."

From the diary of Major Carpenter: Note to self, Request that Segmentum Command recognize the 3rd Arrakian Calvalry as heroes of the Arrakian War. Emperor protect them all. Their leader, a Colonel Marlow, seemed to think that Field Marshall Peach is the Key to all this. I hope he's right. Not particularly in the mood to do this vox-recording stuff. Not after men who are much better than I gave their life so that I may complete my mission. Major Aelgafar Carpenter, Signing off for now.

The Arrakian Accord. Pt 2.

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41

Harkonnen IV System; Planet Arrakia
Days on planet: 9

Situation: Nominal



From the diary of Major Carpenter: We set off early this morning, before the sun could even come up. I could swear that half of our expidition was falling asleep while we loaded up the convoy, so I authorised the troops to sleep in the chimeras in shifts. That should at least make sure in the event of attack that we're all well rested. The Inquisitor gave me a complete copy of Peach's Dossier. I breifly looked it over before my duties got the best of me. Field Marshall AlausPeach. Cadian by birth huh, then what's he doing out here? This is hundreds of lightyears away from the Cadian gate. Graduated the Kasr Derth Military Academy top of his class. Made captain only two years later. Damn, it took me four years to get out of the leuitenant ranks. Fought beside Creed at Tyrok Fields, and was a potential candidate for Lord Castellan until he stepped down. Frak, how could he let a small chaos incursion overrun the entire planet's garrison?

Major Carpenter stood upon the high cupola of the Leman Russ Von Sica. Normally Commisar Rio would be in the same place, but he had moved further down the convoy to ensure that no Guardsmen were acting out of line. He could really appreciate the strength of the leman russ. Even now as he was only in the cupola, the roars and vibrations of the mighty engine made him feel unstoppable. "Sir, I just took a look at the nav-data. There might be a problem." Carpenter turned to see that Rielly had ran up to the tank and mounted one of the track guards. "Problem, Sergeant?" Rielly glanced at the datapad he was holding and nodded with a sombre look on his face. "Yes sir. This current direction is both leading us several Kilometres off course, and also in the direction of a pretty fierce sandstorm." Carpenter turned and activated the cupola's vox. "Inquisitor, Are you aware that your acotyles are leading us off course and into a sandstorm?" The reply was almost instantanious. "Yes Major, I do. We are stopping about a Kilometre from here and chaining the vehicles together. Our speed will not exceed 20kph. Do not question my methods, lest you find yourself wanting." The vox cut out and Carpenter swore to himself aloud. "What's the word, Major?" Rielly asked. "Have the vehicle crews get ready to chain us all together. Any troopers that opted to ride atop the tanks or chimeras, have them inside within the next half hour. The good Inquisitor I'm sure will order this shortly, but I want everyone to be ready beforehand. Hop to it." Rielly saluted quickly then dropped off the tread guard and began running down the convoy line relaying orders. He dropped inside the turret of the Russ, and closed the hatch.

Days on planet: 11

Situation: Delayed



From the diary of Major Carpenter: We've been in the storm for about two days now. As of last night, we halted the convoy in order to wait for the storm to pass so we can get our bearings. I can hear the sands whipping against the hull of the tank, sounds like hell out there. The tank crew have donned their earplugs and are all fast asleep, as per my orders. No sense in staying awake for days at a time through this. Accoring to what sattelite reports we managed to recieve before the storm cut us off, this stom is cross-continent. It won't let up for a while. Why would anyone want to live here? Between the storm and the Sand Wyrms that keep pounding against the hull trying to get to the meal inside, this place is a death world! There were reports from our preliminary patrols that there are beasts that dwell under the sand. Some are supposedly as large as a baneblade, and they dig these massive trapdoors that when prey goes over, the spring up and could easily pull something as big as a Leman Russ down to it's death. And Peach had been Assigned here. Someone wanted him gone. I looked into the record more as well. If what I read is correct, he would have to be older than Yarrick! Some time before Tyrok Fields, his Regiment was deployed to Golgotha with Yarrick. He was unable to go due to an injury sustained during warp travel. We all know what happened on that planet. What would that be like, having the whole regiment wiped out except you. It changed him. According to Medicae reports he became more reclusive and yet also more impulsive. No one blamed him for not being with his men, but I'm willing to bet that he considers it the geatest dishonour he has ever done. I'm cutting off the recorder for now. Spending another hour on shift, then waking up the acting sergeant to take over. Major Carpenter signing off.

The Arrakian Accord. Pt 1.

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41

Harkonnen IV System; Planet Arrakia
Days on planet: 7

Situation: Stable



　

　

It was another humid morning on the planet of Arrakia. Early morning drills had just finished and 2nd Company was going about it's daily routine at a hastily constructed field headquarters. They had made planetfall a week ago and had been setting up defensive positions ever since. Major Carpenter stepped out of his tent and was almost immediatly greeted by his adjutent and long time friend, First Sergeant Rielly. "Good morning sir." Carpenter yawned back his reply. "Good morning Rielly. Agenda for today?" Rielly handed him a datapad with only a handful of words. Same orders as before, Hold fast and Dig in. "Same game as before. Sit tight and hole up." He paused for a moment before stepping off in the direction of the mess tent. "I'm getting breakfast. You're more than welcome to join me."
"Thank you sir."

After breakfast the officers of 2nd Company got together into the Chapel, which doubled as the operations room. The officers were chatting amongst themselves unter a clear, commanding voice called the room to attention. Major carpenter moved quickly to stand in front of the room and cleared his throat. "Alright Gentlemen. Unfortunatly the orders of the day are the same as the others. However a situation may or may not be developing. As you all know the Commander of this planet's garrisons is a man called Field Marshall Peach. He was last heard from two days ago when his mobile field HQ came under fire from chaos cultists in a village area that was thought to be secure. All attempts to contact him, or anyone under his command for that matter, have been met with silence. This can mean one of three things. One, His position is overrun and we can no longer count on the support of planetary PDF. Two, his transmitter was taken out and it is simply a mechanical problem. Or three, He has fallen to the temptations of Chaos. The third one is highly unlikely though." He motioned for the windows to be covered. As they were, a holomap of the area appeared with two blips over a wide area. He pointed to one blip. "This is our position. The other blip, approximatly three days from here, is the village that Peach was last reported in. If we are unable to ma-" The door to the chapel slammed open and as large as an Astartes entered with haste, followed by various individuals. All bore the seal of the Inquisition. The lead man stopped in front of Major carpenter and held up his inquisitorial seal. "Major, by order of the Ordo Malleus, I am taking command here."

The room was silent. Major Carpenter looked furious. "You've got to be frakking me! There is no Heresy amongst my company!" The Inquisitor was unmoved. "Calm yourself major. I do not seek Heresy amongst your or your men. I merely require additional forces for my mission." Carpenter thought for a moment before he replied. "What mission do you have, Inquisitor?" "I am to find the Field Marshall for the planetary garrison here. It has been decided by the Inquisition that his survival is of utmost importance if we are to secure this planet from the Arch-traitor Abbadon." Carpenter looked the man over, then to his platoon commanders. "Inquisitor, will two platoons plus chimeras and a single Leman Russ tank be enough of a contribution? We aren't exactly a regiment out here." The Inquisitor thought this over for a moment. "Very well. My collegues and I leave the day after tomorrow. Have your men ready to depart by then." He promptly turned and left, all the while being followed by his Acotyles. "Alright." Carpenter sighed openly. "Captain Uylesses, take out second and third platoons. I know it'll be a bit of a strain on the chain of command, but that's why i've decided to go with you." Before any objections could be raised, he held up a hand. "Zip it. All of you. This won't be the first time you operate without me, and it won't be the last. While I'm gone just follow SOP's." Dismissed, all of you.

Short Story, 2nd Company Deployment

(The following takes place between the first and second battle of Arrakia)
Segmentum Tempestus 997.M41

Fetian System, Planet Maracha




　

It was another quiet morning at the Vatarian XII's Field Command headquarters in the southern hemisphere of Maracha. Lord-General Von Sica sat in his command tent patiently awaiting the arrival of the Legion's six company commanders. He heard footsteps outside his tent as Knight Commander Zaros entered swiftly and snapped to attention. "Sir, Reporting as ordered." Von Sica motioned him to sit in a chair next to him. "Come now Zaros, no need for the formalities of rank today." The knight commander hesitated for a moment then sat down. "The other company commanders should be along shortly." Zaros took a breath before he spoke. "Sir, the other commanders are unavailable. As you only made planetfall yesterday, it seemed fitting to fill you in today after a night's rest." The General seemed to go still for a moment before uttering a simple "Continue." "Well sir, My own first Company is tied up retaking the Pass to the north. companies four, five, and six are in the hive of Del-Onigrav trying to secure a space port to bring down heavier firepower. Company three is trying to clear an Oasis due west of here from an ork Infestation. Early reports are saying it's like a miniature death world there." "What about second Company?" Zaros showed a small hint of uneasiness across his face. "Well sir, They are here but they just came off the line a few days ago. They were the spearhead for the invasion. Pretty badly beaten up and quite.. Irregular." "Irregular, Zaros?" He nodded. "Yes sir. Since making planetfall they have made alterations to their uniform, Began to carry non-issue equipment, Have become less engaged in the formalities of rank, an-" The general raised a hand to cut him off. "They have adapted to the war that is being fought here, Zaros. You may not understand having come from an Academy, But when a unit fights a war as vicious as the one here it begins to adapt in order to survive. Think Zaros. Between the unholy heat, the ork raids at day, chaos incursions at night, and daily shellings, They must do what they deem necessary to survive. Give me the company records." "Yes sir." Zaros handed him a datapad with the Legion Information on it.
Vatarian Armed Forces, 8th Battlegroup

XII Legion, 2nd Company 'Backbreakers'

Current Deployment: Marachan Crusade

Previous Actions: Damocles Gulf Crusade, Kieldar Rebellion, Daratar Offensive, Siege of Grotzka

Decorations: Honour Company (x8), Occupation Medallion (x2), Assault Commendation (x8), Multiple Unit Citations

Commanding Officer: Major Aelgafar Carpenter
"Zaros, what do you know about Major Carpenter." Zaros scratched his chin. "Only what I know sir. Former Royal Marine. Taught at the Airborne Academy after that. Over three dozen decorations, No record of ever having lost a position, No record of ever having a man being declared MIA either. Met him once. He's a bit.. off." The general nodded. "To be expected. I believe i've made my choice." "Choice, sir?" "As of 0047 this morning, the planet of Arrakia has come under major threat from the Forces of Chaos. The capital has been overrun, and the PDF, along with Astartes and Localized Regiments are fighting a guerilla war in the countryside. They have called for any and all available reinforcements. I intend to Oblige them." Zaros looked shocked. "Sir!? We are barely holding the line here, and you intend to send a company, An entire company off planet?! The VII Legion is already being beaten back by the heretics on this planet and you intend to weaken our forces even more?" General Von Sica stood and spoke loudly. "Do not think because I do away with formalities that you may disrespect me so! If Arrakia falls, as does our supply line! And if that falls there is no point in continuing this lovely little war of ours! If we can assist in defending Arrakia, they will be more than obliged to send us reinforcements and the aid we so desperately need." Zaros began to speak but the General cut him off. "I do not need to hear any more of your comments. Inform Carpenter he is to pull his men back to the Naval Lifters at once. They are off planet by sunset. Dismissed."