Prologue (The Planet of McLeod III): Brother-Captain Hezekiah's blue blade crackled with energy. Sparks flew as he parried his enemy's weapon. Hananiah's decimated squad lay at his feet; the lifeless forms of once vigorous marines were intermixed with the corpses of dead aliens. Emperor give me strength, Hezekiah prayed as he brought his energy blade around in a slashing arc. The dracon skillfully countered the blow. The alien thrust its serrated weapon forward with in-human grace and speed. The wounded captain was barley able to block the blow. Metal on metal screeched as the twisted weapon clanged against the marine-sword's handguard. Despite his hard-pressed fight, Hezekiah still was able to sense the approach of Brother-Sergeant Mishael's squad. The highly disciplined Space Marines of the Dark Angel's Chapter held their fire while they steadily advanced.The xeno's serrated weapon again slashed up. The blade arced towards Hezekiah's helmet with blinding speed. The embattled captain raised his power sword forward to parry the strike. The alien subtly altered the path of its weapon. Hezekiah, off balanced and slowed by his wounds, was unable to block the blow. Swiftly the dark fiend swung the edge of its accursed blade down. The poisoned black blade arced towards the marine's legs. It drove deep into Hezekiah's leg armor. The ancient ceramite, forged in hives of Mars during the Great Crusade, was split open like a piece of ripe fruit. The blade continued cutting into Hezekiah's leg and Larraman cells rushed to the wound to staunch the bleeding. Pain threatened to overwhelm Hezekiah as the eldar's tainted blade sliced through muscle and ligaments. The blade's destructive journey only stopped, imbedded in the marine's genetically enhanced femur. Pain-killing opiates and anti-toxins were immediately injected into the Hezekiah's bloodstream. The battle-hardened captain continued to fight despite the deadly toxins coursing through his body. Hezekiah recited the Litanites of Calming to control the spasms affecting his body. The eldar lord began to cackle as the marine commander dropped down to one knee. The alien's taunts filled Hezekiah with righteous fury. "For the Lion!" the marine roared as he struck up with his consecrated sword. Powered by the enhanced muscles and augmenting servos, the glowing blade towards drove towards the shadow-encased creature. Powered by the marine's skill and a little bit of luck, the burning blade pierced the dark technology surrounding the foul creature. The swirl of shadows protecting the darcon subsided. The Imperial weapon had easily rent the alien mesh armor. Its burning tip was embedded in the alien's chestplate. Flesh smoked and the xeno howled out to its dark masters. With a snarl, the dark lord kicked out with its jewel-encrusted boot and pushed itself off of the blade. Spitting blood as it spit-out obscenities in its foul language; it gazed downward at its wound. Gesturing to its last remaining bodyguard, the vile creature turned and ran back towards its alien skimmer. Heeding its master's command, the dark-armored incubi raced forward and slashed across with its punisher. The heavy two-handed polearm cleaved deep into Hezekiah's left reactive shoulder-pad. The alien's strike obliterated the white-winged sword cast onto the armor's surface. The shock of the massive damage was too much for the ancient armor's machine spirit. Warning icons flashed inside of his helmet as primary and back-up neuro-link systems failed. He is my shield, prayed Hezekiah as the creature brought its weapon up for a final killing stroke. Brother-Sergeant Mishael's two-round burst from his bolter annihilated the grinning death mask. The alien's helmet and the skull behind disintegrated in a billowing mist of bone shards and brain matter. The rest of Mishael's sixth squad continued towards the fleeing darcon. Hezekiah smiled grimly as he watched the rest of his marines shredded the xeno scum's cohorts. Mass reactive shells burst from consecrated bolters. Each round found its mark and the barrage tore gapping holes into the ranks of the fleeing dark eldar. Brother Helez, one of the marines in Mishaels' squad, ran up to the commander. With his armored hand, he reached down. Grasping Hezekiah's hand with his own, he aided his battered captain off the ground. "Thank you, brother," intoned Hezekiah. "For the Lion, Captain" was Helez's response. Hezekiah used his tongue to manually override his armor's damaged communications spirit. With a quick flick, he opened a second channel. It was an incoming transmission from Bother-Sergeant Jeremiah. "Brother-Captain Hezekiah, what are your orders? The raiders are fleeing to the northwest. Their mounted squads are rapidly leaving our sensors' maximum range. All of their warriors on foot have been eliminated by the Ravenwing attachment. Should we pursue the skimmers?" "Consolidate around the remaining Whirlwind, Brother-Sergeant," replied Hezekiah as he coughed up blood. "Securing the landing zone is our primary objective." With another flick of his tongue, Hezekiah contacted the orbiting Divinitus Duci. Struggling to maintain consciousness, he requested immediate Thunderhawk evacuation for the wounded marines in his care. Ruefully, he also added a private apology to Brother Raziel. The Techmarine aboard the strike cruiser would not appreciate the damage to the captain's revered ancient armor. After his message was sent, Hezekiah's world began to quickly fade to darkness. It is the Emperor's will, was his last thought as darkness closed around his mind. Part One (Three standard days prior): Brother-Captain Hezekiah strode down the corridor of the Dark Angels strike cruiser, the Divinitus Duci. The cruiser had slipped from the warp two days ago and was a half-standard day away from its final destination. The baroque battleship was carrying elements of the Dark Angel's Fifth and Second Companies inside its stately shell. The strike force had been dispatched to the third planet of the McLeod system, deep inside of Segmentum Obscurus. Astropaths aboard the Chapter's fortress monastery had intercepted a plea from the Imperial Governor Culhart of McLeod III. The local PDF had been decimated by the suppression of a chaos uprising. After the successful cleansing, the hardy natives had been unable to cope with an insurgence of alien slave raids. Since the planet had provided a clutch of recruits to the chapter a few centuries prior, the Dark Angels had deemed it a matter of honor to assist the locals. Hezekiah stopped at the entrance to the cruiser's reliquary and admired the ornate blast doors. Reaching out with his power gauntleted hand, he touched the intricate etchings. The delicate engravings, craved lovingly by a forgotten artisan, marked the room as a holy place. He then depressed the activation rune and the door opened with a barley audible hiss. The sweet smell of incense filled his nostrils as Hezekiah reverently entered the sanctum through the threshold. The force's commander was kneeling in deep prayer before the golden shrine. The ancient altar was in the cast in the shape of a giant winged sword. Engraved on its glittering surface were many images of the beloved Primarch. Most prominent was an image of the All Father embracing the Lion 'El Johnson at their first meeting on Caliban. Father and son re-united, it also marked the beginning of the schism that would tear the old Legion apart. The weathered marine wore only a simply robe made of coarse linen. A deep scar broke the back of his white crew-cut hair. His deep expressive eyes were hidden behind his closed eyelids. His lips moved as he silently prayed for the Emperor's guidance and for the well being of the marines under his command. Hezekiah knelt beside this powerful man of faith. Hezekiah began to silently recite the litanies he had been taught since the day he had been taken by the "sky-warriors" almost two and a half centuries before. |
PURGE THE XENOS By Trent Hoffman |
EPICS OF REDEMPTION |
