FIRST COMPANY STRIKE FORCES |
STRIKE FORCE DOGS OF WAR By Aaron Lovejoy |
Formerly these sons of Lion El'Jonson, the fiercest of the Dark Angels, had stood guard over the Emperor and his palace on Terra. They were betrayed and sent far away to the outer reaches of the Imperium, out past the Ghost Stars somewhere in the Usurus Meridian. They were given a beautiful fortress called Dementia Crosas, but were left there to rot. They knew nothing of the Horus Heresy nor of the traitor legions roaming the galaxy, and they had no clue as to why the Emperor had sent them there. The truth was that Horus had spread rumors amongst the Inquisitors and Imperial Missionaries on Terra of a great betrayal which would be led by these Dark Angels. Upon hearing these rumors the Emperor quickly dispatched the Dark Angels to the far off planet of Dementia. |
Their orders were to maintain silence until contacted, but weeks turned into years and years became decades. Finally Grand Master Magnus ordered Chaplain James and about 200 marines to take the chapter's only Battle Barge, the Olympus, and go for help. As the Olympus dropped into the warp the Emperor's light went dark and the ship's navigators screamed in terror. The ship was not to be seen by human eyes for another thousand years. Back at the fortress, Dementia Crosas, the sky darkened as the Huge Battle Barges of the Blood Angels descended from the sky. The garrison cheered at what they thought was their relief but it was a trap. Over 400 Dark Angels were lined up outside of the Battle Barges as if to leave and then were massacred. Grand Marshal Magnus was labeled a heretic and tortured. His lifeless body was hung on a cross outside the Fortress Dementia Crosas' walls. The Fortresses and surrounding areas were then turned into an Imperial waste facility the likes of which the galaxy had never seen. Four thousand cargo barges came and dropped their rotting, rusting payloads over Dementia Crosas. A small outpost was left behind to run the junk yard. |
These images have been reproduced with the kind permission of Aaron Lovejoy |
