Tower of Angels The calamitous events at Caliban dumb founded even the battle hardened veterans of the Dark Angels legion. The deathly silence that descended in the Caliban system was thunderous in their ears. No one moved for moments that seemed an eternity. Their thoughts were all focused on one question. What of their Primarch? Grandmaster Leudegran broke from his reverie. His stunned disbelief turned to determined anger. He looked around his command chamber on the Pride of Caliban. "Brother Dark Angels!" his voice boomed over every chamber and vault in each and every ship of the fleet. "You have seen a second tragedy come to pass. We have been betrayed by our own brethren! We shall not stray from the path of our father, for we are the true sons of the lion!" "Activate contingency plan "Divine Relief Sextus Two!" Klaxons blared and purgatory bells rang across the fleet. With grim determination the Dark Angels allowed their relentless training to overcome their initial shock and grief over their loss. The Dark Angel fleet rapidly deployed in to system wide blockade positions. No one would be allowed in to the system to see what had transpired until they had determined the outcome on the floating asteroid. Leudegran himself embarked on a thunderhawk gunship as a secondary assault force deployed from the battlebarges and headed towards the floating asteroid. As they approached the asteroid they were amazed to find that it was in fact a large chunk of their own home planet. In fact the main citadel and Fortress monastery of the Dark Angels, where the Primarch had landed to lead the assault, could be seen nearly intact. The asteroid was essentially a floating bedrock of Caliban, protected by the massive force fields and void shields which protected the Fortress it had alone withstood the maelstrom of the empyrean. Hope rose within the assault group as the thunderhawks made an assault landing. Out poured the might of the Dark Angels, ready for combat and eager for news of their primarch. Instead all they found was death and destruction. Throwing caution to the wind Leudegran charged up to the main citadel, his honour guard following closely. Combat teams spread out to secure the perimeter as more Dark Angels landed. After hours of searching they finally broke through the rubble to the command chamber. There they found, babbling like a child, the arch heretic Luther. He was overcome by grief and close to madness. Incoherently he repeated half sentences. Leudegran ordered his honour guard to secure him and amidst great secrecy transported him to the "Pride of Caliban". Only a few would know of Luther's survival until they gleaned the whereabouts of the primarch. From the ramblings of Luther it had become evident that the primarch had been struck down by sorcerous chaos fuelled energy and that the Lion Sword had indeed been broken as it absorbed the main impact. In addition, the primarch seems to have been carried away by the enigmatic incumbents of the deep caverns of Caliban, the Watchers. The watchers were rarely seen above ground and almost exclusive within the deep caverns beneath the main fortress monastery of Caliban. They had posed no threat and had previously only communicated with the primarch. No one could glean the significance of their actions. What was clear was that the Lion Sword and the Lion himself had vanished. The Lion Helm had been reverently recovered and preserved aboard the "Pride of Caliban". END OF CHAPTER V |
CHAPTER V THE DAMNATION OF CALIBAN Chronicled By ( Shadow Guard ) |
APOCRYPHA CALIBAN |
This entire section is one attempt to describe the long history of the Dark Angels in a linear form. Every known piece of history and event based on GW publications has been written in my own words and linked together in a reasonably plausible manner by additional fiction. This is in no way the official GW version nor is it in anyway an attempt to infringe on their IP. There are many versions of imperial history buried within the sands of time and this is but just one of them. Read on if you dare! |
