Editing The World Engine

A gloriously epic and totally [[awesome]] fight between the [[Space Marines]] and the [[Necrons]].  This story is reminiscent of the glorious days of yore, when Space Marines where real heros and when the enemy brought something new and ungodly to the table, the Imperium went balls-to-the-wall and risked total failure on a crazy awesome plan.

An untainted jem hidden in the annuls of the 5th Edition Space Marine Codex, no sight of [[Matt Ward|Wardian]] stupidity or Ultrahmahreen fanwank exist here.  Only awesome.


== Tell me a story, Grandpa ==

The ''World Engine'' was a planet-sized Necron space vessel that set out when the [[Necron Lord]] of the [[[Tomb World]] Borsis was usurped by Necronian politics (this was written in the 5th Ed Marine Codex, mind you!) and the revolutionaries, presumably led by Tut Guevara, took the WHOLE TOMB WORLD for a little joyride.  They appeared in the Vidar Subsector at the close of M41, beginning their reign by Death-Starring the Agri Worlds of Gaios Prime and Gaios Tertio of all life, using the largest [[Gauss]] weapons known to man.

The [[Imperium]] got its act together uncharacteristically promptly, and sent the whole sector's fleet, and detachments from fifteen Space Marine chapters, including the [[Ultramarines]], the [[Astral Knights]], the [[Invaders]], and the [[Aurora Chapters]] to head off the ''World Engine'' at Safehold before the Necron punks could get any further.

Now, the main problem with the assault was that the ''Giant Ball of Haetraep'' had [[what|Void Shields]] (Necrons use relatively primitive warp technology now?) so powerful that not even ''that many'' ships could do anything to it.  No torpedoes, no Drop Pods, not even Nova Cannons could touch the thing.  It also blocked all teleportation attempts, killing the two full squads of Terminators the Invaders sent to infiltrate it.  All the while, the Necrons happily blasted away at the Imperial fleet, destroying and crippling dozens of ships.


But then something wonderful happened.


Chapter Master Artor Amhrad of the Astral Knights decided that he would be awesome today.  


Chapter Master Artor Amhrad of the Astral Knights decided that if weapons can't break the shield, maybe something bigger would.  He brought his battle barge, ''Tempestus'', around to bear, fired up the engines, and rammed it directly into the World Engine.

And it totally worked.  He sent the entire Astral Knights chapter down into the World Engine via mass Drop Pod, now that his ship was through the shield.  The Astral Knights proceeded to kick the collective buttocks' of [[awesome|a worlds worth of Necrons over a 100-hour period]].  They blew up every generator, weapons battery, supply depot, and command node as they went, too; because Chapter Master Artor Amhrad had a plan.

Chapter Master Artor Amhrad was going to overload the WHOLE PLANET.

At the final battle, only Artor Amhrad and five other Marines were left standing, while the surrounding fleet continued to pound on the still-impenetrable shielding while being slaughtered by the still-mostly-operable Gauss batteries.  The team finally hit the Central Command Tomb after ''one hundred hours of continuous fighting.''  After presumably strangling Tut Guevara to death with his bare hands and beating the sorry scrapheap's head in, Chapter Master Artor Amhrad planted meltabombs all over the Command Tomb, blowing it, himself, and his five remaining, finest marines to kingdom come.  And with that last act, Chapter Master Artor Amhrad had both ended the Astral Knights Chapter, and saved the Imperium from this unstoppable foe.  Because, Chapter Master Artor Amhrad and his noble Spaced Marine teams destroyed so many generators and command nodes that when the Central Node exploded, the power couldn't regulate itself fast enough, backed up, and blew out the whole shielding array, most of the remaining weapons, and several other critical systems in a glorious chain reaction.

Then the Imperial Fleet saw that the ''World Engine's'' shields were down, they let everything they had fly, and promptly [[exterminatus|EXTERMINATUSED]] [[awesome|THE THING WITH CYCLONE TORPEDOES!!!!!]]


The after-mission report was similarly filled with win.  The fleet made remained in orbit for several weeks after, not because they were searching for any remaining Necrons, mind you.  No, they were letting the Adeptus Mechanicus ''actually sift through the wreckage for useful stuff.''  And, the Ultramarines salvaged the wreck of the ''Tempestus'' themselves, towing it down to make planetfall on the recently-harvested dead world Safehold, to raise an Imperial Shrine ''inside the wreck'' dedicated to ''each'' of the last 772 Marines of the Astral Knights Chapter who fought and died to cripple the World Engine.  Every one of them got a personal statue inside the shrine.  And despite the fact that only about nine scavengers still live on the entire planet to this day, the shrine is personally guarded but ''volunteers'' from each of the 14 Space Marine chapters that fought alongside the Astral Knights.


== External Links ==

* [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/World_Engine The epic story, laid out in full at the 'factual" 40K wiki.]