"Prepare to repel boarders" Battle fleet vengeance had arrived precisely at the correct co-ordinates. Positioned at the head of the clear path through the asteroid field, they blocked any escape for the trapped enemy fleet. Hunter destroyers and strike cruisers entered the cleared path aiming for the heart of the chaos fleet in disarray. A veritable swarm of torpedoes preceded their charge, every ship capable of launching the ordnance had done so. There was little the renegade fleet could do to out manoeuvre the oncoming rush of death. Explosions blossomed from each and every enemy warship the raiders being blown apart by multiple hits from the massive rocket boosted space torpedoes. But mixed within the swarm of torpedoes was another greater threat to the forces of evil. Ten boarding torpedoes were swinging their way deftly through the hail of ordnance, hidden within the safety of massed torpedoes. They contained the entire first company of the angels of vengeance chapter, clad in their black power armour, an extremely rare occasion. Fully half of the boarding torpedoes targeted the command bridge of the eviscerator. The others smashed in to various critical sectors namely the generatorium and engine drive sections. With a massive clang the torpedo burrowed its nose in to the adamantium hull of the bridge, the melta cutters automatically activating and burning their way through the hull. Explosive charges then blew the rest of the wall away and the nose cone opened disgorging black armoured space marines. With practiced drill the men of the first company deployed, methodically surveying the chamber of their arrival. Strages activated his auspex and stated "we are two chambers north of our destination" and pointed towards the tail of the ship. Palidor and Taboden led the way as the strike team of half company strength quickly advanced towards the next chamber. As they entered the massive auditorium which led to the bridge they met the first resistance. The enemy was not prepared for their arrival and died not knowing who their attackers were. Controlled burst of bolter fire painted the floor with the red of heretic gore. Bodies were torn apart by the fusillade as the angels advanced with precision. Strages warned of the oncoming rush just as the mutant and renegade horde burst through from the opposite end. In the spacious auditorium they faced each other from the ends of the chamber for a moment. Then the horde charged with an inhuman howl. Palidor and Taboden calmed their men though the men of the first company required no such effort. At his command, the elite warriors of the angles of vengeance let loose a volley which ripped through the front ranks of the oncoming horde. The impact of the heavy projectiles lifting those struck bodily off the floor and flung them in to the second wave. For a moment time slowed as the ranks smashed in to each other, then the horde continued again, the sheer momentum of their charge carrying them forward. A second volley and then a third continued. The men were not firing on automatic, but with precise single shots, each one finding a target. The volume of fire was so great that the horde was brought to a stand still midway across the hall. That was the moment when lexicanium Ramden issued a warning. No sooner had his words been uttered the end of the corridor shimmered and fell beasts emerged. "Chaos furies! Fire at will!" screamed Palidor, unsheathing his anointed power sword in expectation of the coming close-quarters battle. As the fire power of the strike force changed directions towards the chaos beasts, the mutant horde recovered and began their advance. The beasts were riddled with a veritable shower of steel and their physical forms began to dissolve. The squads formed in to two lines without any orders being passed, the rear ones targeting the chaos beasts while the front row re-directed their fire on the mutants. Grenades burst shredding the mutants in to fleshy giblets. Then a few of the furies were upon them. Taboden leaped to meet them the holy Crozius Arcanum swinging in a wide arc despatching the first one back to its place in hell. Palidor decapitated the second one even as the rest of the pack fell upon the front row. Unnatural talons decapitated veteran warriors with single strokes. Many fell, cut in to pieces but the rest held. They had a mission. They would fulfil it. Palidor and Taboden leaped in to the fray their mighty power weapons despatching the fell beasts with every stroke. Ramden stood resolute, eldritch fire erupting from his staff and burning two of the beasts to cinders. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared the rest dissolved in to the immaterium, banished by the resolution of the defenders. Yet they had no time for respite, for the renegade horde, reinforced from the bridge was almost upon them. Strages unfurled the banner that he had held in his arms. "Angels of vengeance, behold the sacred standard of retribution!" Every angel who could hold a weapon aloft felt rejuvenated. An eerie feeling of strength and determination permeated their surroundings. With stoicism so renowned in the unforgiven every bolter opened fire. Firing so rapidly but single shots at each time, the sudden increase in their firepower completely overawed the assaulting heretics. Plasma blasts seared the floor incinerating the attackers where they stood. More grenades fragmented limbs and decapitated heads. A massive blast wracked the whole ship as Palidor received confirmation from the other teams. The ship was dead in space and powerless to defend itself. "Vengeance is our watchword!" he screamed at the top of his voice, his men echoing the sentiment through their external vox-casters. Swinging his blood encrusted power sword he charged in to the wallowing mutant horde, cleaving his way through to the entrance that led to the bridge. There was no pause at the entrance. In one fluid motion the Angels of Vengeance charged through, close behind their commander. As they poured in to the dark and dreary centre to the blasphemous warship, they came face to face with a massive figure. Clad in deep dark blue terminator armour, lightning talons flexing expectantly stood the enormous figure of Bowdane. In the back ground stood three men with robes, armed with power weapons and plasma weaponry. "Retribution is at hand, traitors" Palidor growled at the enemy. "prepare to face the emperor's wrath" Bowdane scowled. His plans shattered, his ship dead in space, he had little to celebrate. But he would make the emperor's young puppies pay for their folly. The chamber thundered to the sounds of gunfire, of plasma blasts, or flesh burning, mutant screams and the roar of martial courage. Metal clashed on metal as power weapons cleaved limbs clean off their sockets. Bowdane lay a flurry of blows on Palidor, the master of the vengeance chapter barely able to counter the unnatural force of the traitor. Taboden swung his mighty Crozius, clearing a bloody path towards the robed men who slowly retreated towards the end of the chamber, seeking an exit. The warriors of the first company waded in to the battle dealing death at every stroke, manoeuvring through the confused fighting to cut off any escape. They saw their battle brothers fall, some apart by blasts from the archaic plasma pistols in the hands of the heretics, others pulled down by the sheer weight of the gibbering horde. Palidor felt his leg give as the full weight of a misdirected energy blast seared through his knees. At the same moment the air in the chamber crackled with energy. Bowdane needed no invitation, always ready to exploit any weakness he swung a vicious blow aimed at cutting Palidor in two. His blow never landed as the form of epistolary Vardis appeared, clad in terminator armour, his power fist clenched over the taloned arm of Bowdane. The surprised Bowdane turned around just in time to see his nemesis thrust the sanctified force staff with all his might in to his face. As the purity of the force weapon collided with the rank corruption of Bowdane's soul it imploded with an unbelievable force. As the smoke cleared and the dust settled, few men remained standing in the chamber. |
CHAPTER XVIII: VENGEANCE IS OUR WATCHWORD Chronicled By ( Shadow Guard ) |
GATHERING OF ANGELS |
This section provides the narrative history of the events that took place during the Gathering of Angels campaign conducted by the Inner Circle, during Abaddon's Thirteenth Black Crusade. 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! |
