Editing Chosen of Hecate (section)

==Shortstories==

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===Tyut-Vong Massacre===
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The Surface of Túyet-Vong. 859.M30
The gigantic, flaming greatsword, wielded by the titan of war before him descended with the force of a meteor. The enormous blade crashed against the comparatively tiny Storm Shield attached to the left arm of Radcliff Kaden, Captain of the 14th company of the Chosen of Hecate Legion Astartes. 
A lesser shield and man would have been crumpled to dust immediately, but this particular bulwark had been crafted by none other than Raj Vokar, brother to Kaden’s father Lambach Kropor, and the technological marvels that it possessed were unsurpassed. 
While the powerful relic shield did absorb most of the blow’s power Kaden still felt the bones in his arm and shoulder crunch with the impact.
The Avatar seemed almost comically appalled that one so tiny had dared to survive it’s attack but then roared in what Kaden hoped was pain as he thrust his spear tip into the monster's chest. 
Ignoring this injury the Eldar god of war connected a hammer blow kick that sent the Captain flying several feet to smash through the wall of a ruin that had now been reclaimed by Túyet-Vong’s natural vegetation. 

The deck of Chosen of Hecate Battlebarge, designation The Empusa. 10 hours earlier.
“Three survivors my lord”. The thin and hawkish shipmaster spoke. Delivering her shocking report in the same rigid and professional tone of voice she may use when informing him of the time of day. Though even she could not hide the look of horror in her eyes.
Radcliff Kaden took the news with the dependable stoicism he had become famous for. 
While the rest of the bridge crew was awestruck to learn of the loss of effectively the entire 19th company. Kaden’s keen military mind was already formulating a course of action.
With the destruction of Varinus’ 19th, overall command now fell to Kaden. At his disposal were Polo’s 55th, Brutus’ 27th and his own beloved 14th company. Spread throughout the splinter fleet.
Whatever fate had fallen on the 19th could only be considered the greatest loss of life suffered by the Chosen of Hecate since before their reunion with their Gene-sire. 
Such a massacre could not go unanswered. There would be a reckoning, and the xenos filth of Túyet-Vong would pay dearly. 

The Surface of Túyet-Vong.
Kaden rose from  where he had landed. Red warning symbols were flashing in his helm’s visor. His chest plate was fractured, split and scorched. His thick green robe was charred and in some places still smouldering with the intense heat generated by his monstrous foe. Blood seeped from the cracks in his plate and his shield arm was numb and obviously broken along with his reinforced black carapace ribcage. 
After he had fallen his command squad had moved to engage the Avatar and protect their Captain. The fight there was short lived. By the time Kaden had regained his footing only company champion Theocolyes was still alive. 
Theocolyes stuck at the beast with an expert blow from his Powerfist, a masterful strike that would have destroyed a lesser foe immediately, had it connected. It did not…
The Avatar caught the powerfist in it’s free hand and raised the Chosen Champion off the ground, holding him at eye level. The beast opened its mouth and from within a burst of flame engulfed Theocolyes. The noble warrior’s roar of defiance transformed into a scream of untold agony as his bone white armour blackened and splintered. The Champions eyeballs burst in the intense heat as his flesh was roasted from the bone. The scream pittered out too a choked gurgle and finally silence  as the beast dropped the blackened husk and again turned it’s baleful gaze in the direction of the Captain. 
Sizzling blood dripped from the warlord’s flaming blade as it strode in Kaden’s direction. 

Chosen of Hecate Thunder Hawk Gunship. 5 hours earlier. 
Many among the Legion Astartes disliked Thunder Hawk insertion, something to do with relinquishing your fate to the hands of a pilot and being powerless against being erased from existence by a single, lucky anti air shot, or so he presumed.
Kaden, however vastly preferred the solid dependability of a ship over the sheer unpredictability of teleportation or the bone jarring impact of a drop pod. 
The remaining three Chosen of Hecate companies had mustered in orbit of Túyet-Vong with haste and the fury was palpable, brothers had been lost. Their honor demanded satisfaction and nothing but the total eradication of Túyet-Vong’s Eldar population would satiate that need.
Still something nawed at the back of Kaden’s mind. The Eldar populace of this sector had been almost agreeable until this point. Offering little in the way or resistance and warfare. Túyet-Vong, considered a death world had offered more resistance than the Eldar themselves, so what had changed? How did they now all of a sudden have the resources to wipe out an entire, veteran company?
It felt almost as if they were being drawn in deliberately, the Eldar had an objective yet unrealised by the Imperials and every fibre of Kaden’s keen military mind screamed to him that he was playing into their hands, and yet the honour of the 19th company, and his friend Varinus had to be satisfied. The three remaining companies would make war on Túyet-Vong with a fury uncharacteristic of the Chosen of Hecate. The death world would earn it’s title. 

The Surface of Túyet-Vong.
The Avatar of Khaine advanced on the ruin and with a monstrous roar it gripped the structures ceiling, tearing the already dilapidated building asunder with a strength unlike anything Kaden had witnessed before. 
Radcliff Kaden was already moving, despite the immense pain movement bought, the captain of the 14th knew that inaction meant immediate death. Already his enhanced physique was adjusting to the pain, clotting as many wounds as it could in order to keep him at top physical performance. 
As the beast leered into the rubble Kaden struck. The tip of his spear, Kobaloi’s Fang, pierced the flaming orb of the Avatar’s left eye, as the monster roared in agony and hatred Kaden did not relent. Again he drove his blade into the creatures chest, raining blow after blow on his hulking opponent, his strikes were methodical, practised to perfection, each strike lacking beauty or grace and yet masterful in their simplicity. Each attack made was blunt and to the point. They were blows designed to kill, for show and flair were not among Kaden’s strengths. 
Yet for all of the Captains skill his enormous opponent showed no sign of faltering, for truly it was an Avatar of war.


The Surface of Túyet-Vong. Several minutes earlier. 
The Warpclaws attached to Kadens command confirmed that before them was the focal point of the Eldar forces. The robed figure stood facing Radcliff and his squad. Around them battle raged as Túyet-Vong burned. The Eldar Wytch was flanked by a bodyguard wearing a lithe, elaborate green plate. Which, in Kaden’s experience, marked the xenos as a Scorpion, An elite warrior not to be underestimated.
The pair seemed calm, despite the destruction being wrought on their forces. Radcliff stood before the pair, in full battle plate the captain easily dwarfed either figure. Still neither balked or faltered.
“You have bought this destruction on yourself xenos” Kaden’s voice boomed through his helmet’s grill. “As the deaths of your people had not been specifically ordered we were happy to allow you safe passage from this planet as it met compliance, however your treachery cannot go unpunished”.
The waifish eldar sorceress moved in front of her bodyguard and stared definitely at the captain.
“Foolish Mon-Keigh” she spat, surprising Kaden with how fluently she spoke the common tongue. “The sacrifice of my people means nothing in the grand web if it means eliminating you here today”.
Faster than Kaden could follow the xenos girl drew a small silver dagger and plunged it into her own chest. Her blood flowed from the wound, but not in a way that was natural. The liquid seemed to dance and flash as it rose into the air. Kaden took a cautious step back as the blood, surely more than could be contained within the small frame of the Wytch, came crashing down. Covering the Scorpion from head to toe. 
The elite eldar warrior quivered and gave a cry, his blood soaked body twisting and contorting unnaturally. The temperature in the immediate area began to rise drastically as the blood turned to fire. The heat was so intense that Kaden had to turn away as the xenos warrior finally sagged and burst. From his corpse a rift had formed and a creature began to emerge. A creature far too large to possibly have fit inside the cocoon that was the Scorpion's body. A towering creature, a monster of fire and death strode from the blood flame. The Avatar of Khaine swung its enormous flaming longsword directly at the Captain of the 14th.

The Surface of Túyet-Vong.
Despite his consummate skill Kaden was swiftly losing ground to the sheer fury of the Avatar. He was beyond exhausted and his ability to do more than barely defend himself was rapidly diminishing. His shield arm was next to useless after the initial hammer blow had broken it in several places. It was all he could do just to dodge and deflect with his spear.
Still the Avatar showed no signs of slowing, the creature raged at the defiance of the mortal before it. Baffled by Kadens inability to just lie down and die. 
Knowing his limit was fast approaching Kaden norrowly sidestepped another swing of the titanic blade, which lodged itself in  a three metre furrow in the earth, charing all the vegetation around it to dust.
Spinning on his heel the stoic captain launched his prized shield from his shattered arm directly at the Avatar's head. His broken bones grinding together agonisingly as he did so.
The monster went to one knee, momentarily stunned as the slab of reinforced ceramite that formed the Aegis of Manaan slammed into its face. 
Already Kaden was moving, what remained of his robes ignited and his armour began to melt like wax as the captain sprinted towards the stricken monster.
Even bent as it was the Avatar was still double the size of an Astartes warrior. Mustering what strength he had left Kaden leapt, ramming Kobaloi’s fang into the creatures remaining eye. The Avatar let out an outlandish wail and reared its head. Clinging to his weapon Kaden was thrown into the air. As gravity reasserted itself and the captain hurtled back towards the now blind monster he wrapped his damaged arm around the monstrous neck of the beast. His armour now so badly melted and damaged the symbols in his helmet had all gone from blaring red warnings to dull grey and dead.
Using his good hand, Kaden ripped his entire satchel of grenades free, he marvelled for only a moment that they had somehow not already exploded in the immense heat before jamming them between the jaws of the giant.
Kaden released his grip and landed heavily on his back, as the Avatar righted itself the captain pulled his Boltgun free. Barely having time to aim the weapon in one hand he unleashed the full magazine. 
Not all the shots hit and of those that did they barely seemed to have any effect. Perhaps only a single bolt hit home inside the creatures throat but it was enough. The bolt detonated the satchel of grenades and the Avatar's head simply disappeared in a ball of flame. The intense heat dropped immediately as the immense body staggered back, one step, then another before finally it came crashing to the ground.

The servos in his armoured joints had mostly fused and it was only with the greatest of effort that Radcliff Kaden, Chosen of Hecate Captain of the 14th managed to hobble his way back to the slumped form of the Eldar Wytch girl. The fused metal whined and scrapped at the process and Kaden was forced to hold his own weight by using the haft of Kobaloi’s Fang as a makeshift crutch. He was surprised to see the Eldar still drew breath. 
Removing his ruined helm and letting it drop to the heat fused sand. Kaden collapsed more than sat opposite her. “You must have known that eliminating us here would not end it, others would come and they would seek the same vengeance I have already wrought upon your world, so why?”
The girl looked in the direction of his voice with eyes now too stigmatized to actually view him. She drew in a shuddering breath “This was never about your kind Captain Kaden, we sought your demise specifically”.
The only thing that hid Kaden’s shock at this answer was sheer exhaustion. “What do you mean? Why would you sacrifice the lives of your entire world just to get at me? How do you even know my name?”
At first the girl only gave a smile in response, a smile of inconceivable sadness. The wind blowing her now unkempt hair across her face as embers caused by the flames continued, even now, to fall around them. Finally she answered in little more than a hushed whisper.
“We have seen the future you bring Kaden… Your fate will set in motion events that the galaxy will never recover from. Had you fallen here today perhaps that future could have been avoided, but... we… have... failed”
Despite his injuries Radcliff leaned closer to hear as the Eldar’s voice grew weaker. “You have failed xenos. Wherever the Imperium of Man sets it’s gaze you will always fail, for we will unite the stars”.
“Still you do not understand Mon-Keigh, already the one you call Hecate lays her gaze upon your beloved Primarch, and you are destined to become the bait in her final trap” closing her eyes she muttered out the final sentence as the last of her life’s energy fled.
Kaden sat in contemplation for what seemed like hours among the charred ruins that had formed the hardest fought battle of his life, unable to glean what the Eldar girl had implied and no longer able to muster the strength to move the captain let unconsciousness wash over him. 
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===Candle in the Wind===
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Tijo Nosebi ran her fingers through her long, blonde hair, something she did repeatedly when flustered. Lambach’s plan had gone badly. As she knew it would when the Primarch originally bought it to the Legion and now they were on the run without a friend in the world, quite literally.

Tijo had been opposed, as had many of the Chosen of Hecate, there had to be a better way. Perhaps they should have just bitten the bullet and accepted whatever punishment the warmaster deemed necessary. But Lambach was sure he could get his brothers to see his way, he assumed he was closer to them than they were to the Imperium and if they were a problem he'd be able to handle it, so it appeared Lambach Kropor had been wrong.

Tijo, being the captain of the Chosen of Hecate Flagship the Starburst, making her an important member of the Legion was detained with the sixty two Chosen of Hecate warriors who spoke out against Lambach's plan. Not technically prisoners the primarch had informed them, but he could not allow them to interfere with the plans he had laid down. Once everything was set right they would be free to rejoin the Legion, the sixty two had been stipped of their weapons and armour and wore the simple, dark green robes of the Legion. They were kept in an empty hangar bay at Miletus capital spaceport guarded by a single squad of Chosen loyal to the Primarchs cause.

There had been a time when Tijo would have followed Lambach through any hell, The Primarch had practically raised her and trusted her, probably the youngest Captain of the era with the responsibility for one of the most powerful space faring ships in the known galaxy.

She had loved him for it. Everything had changed with the death of Radcliff Kaden, he had always been Lambach’s steady guide and most trusted advisor. But most of all Kaden had been Lambach’s best friend. Tijo missed the man dearly and was certain that had his death been avoided so too could the mess that was now brewing on the surface of Miletus. Tijo agreed with Lambach that Kaden's death was the fault of the Emperors short sightedness and egotistical hypocrisy as did every single member of the Chosen, but there had to be a better way. From the sounds of it Lambach was now engaged in battle with the Silver Blades and the Titan Marchers, the thought was unthinkable.

Suddenly one of the guards spoke.

"The Primarch has ordered a full retreat, we are to make our way into orbit and break free of the SIlver Blades fleet by any means necessary".

With that the guard squad simply left, leaving Tijo and the sixty two to their own fates.  Warpclaw Parthenios was the highest ranking member among them so naturally the Chosen turned to him for advice.

"If we stay here we are like to be slaughtered, it may be hard to differentiate friend from foe after what our Father has done" the Sergeant informed them. "We need to get to a lifter and get off planet, there is an armoury close to the hanger where we may find some weapons that will suffice. However we have not got the time to locate and adorn armour. The real question is how will we escape the system?"  

"Cerastes" Tijo murmured, more to herself than anyone but the Warpclaw, with his enhanced hearing picked it up.

"What was that girl?" he demanded, disdain for her presence amongst the Astartes evident in his voice.

"I am a Master of the fleet, my lord" Tijo shot back.

"Not anymore girl, you were Lambach’s pet before all this, and now? The Starburst is not likely to wait for us."

"I am still the Master of a Space faring vessel, aye, not as grand as Starburst but my original ship the Cerastes is likely still in orbit. It was repurposed as a civilian carrier but I’d wager still has some fight. If you and your men can get me on board I can get us out of the system, unless you'd rather stay here and die?"

Parthenios turned to the men, his men.

"We're moving out, we get as many weapons as we can from the stores and make for a lander, our priority is to protect the Captain" Parthenios nodded to Tijo by way of apology. 
"And what do we do when or if we actually reach this ship" Brother Demertes asked.

"A fine question Demertes, and one I have no answer for at this time, for now marines we have our mission, form into loose squads and let's secure ourselves some transport."

The group made way to the armoury with little hassle. Locating not nearly enough weapons to arm each of them. Twenty three Bolters and Eleven Bolt Pistols were all that remained as far as ranged weaponry was to be had,with precious little ammunition. As Well as a box of Fragmentation Grenades and most Importantly a Power Spear. Dividing the weapons as best he could Parthenios took the spear himself but eschewed a ranged weapon. Tijo also managed to find a rack of Lasguns, far too small to be made use of by the Astartes, Tijo felt safer with the firearm despite being painfully aware that it would be of little to no help if they actually were forced to fight.

"Ship Master" Parthenios beckoned her over, "Again I wish to apologise for the way I treated you earlier, this is a stressful time for us all, but it was no excuse for the disrespect I showed you".
Tijo accepted the apology with a light hearted smile on her pretty face, "Don't let it worry you, I've been digging my heels in against your stubborn lot for as long as I can remember. You do your job and I'll do mine. Deal? Mind if I ask what the plan is from here? Do you have anyone who can fly a Storm Bird?"

"Amongst our numbers we have several specialists that we can call upon, two techmarines, Brothers Twain and Gerahost both able pilots. An apothecary, Brother Bonfiglioli and possibly most importantly a neophyte by the name of Torrens who was being psychically groomed. Before all this he would have risen swiftly in the legion."
 
"Well that's handy, now we just need to get through potentially three hostile forces, get a bird and hope we can locate my ship, take control of that and get out of the system before the Blades pound us into oblivion. Easy..."

"Also" Parthenios began

"Of course there's an also..."

"Bonfiglioli informs me there is a storage of gene-seed close by, he believes and I agree that we should check  this storage and if possible rescue as much of it as we can, if the Legion survives the Primarch may need it to rebuild"

"That's a big IF Warpclaw..."

The plan was simple enough, Bonfiglioli and Gerahost would take eight men with them, each armed with a Bolt Pistol, they would attempt to gain access to the Gene-Vault nearby. They had ten minutes to get there, gather as much gene-seed as they could and make it back to the hangar. Meanwhile Parthenios would take the rest of the complement “acquire” a Storm Bird and hold it for the time given to the other group, but they could wait no longer. If the Gene-seed group took any longer than that they would have to be left behind. Each man knew they were about to be forced to face off against their former cousins and perhaps even their brothers, the mood did not sit well but what they intended had to be done.

Parthenios' group met little resistance as they made their way towards the hanger. They saw mostly panicked and confused mortals running for shelter and only a few squads of Chosen who had far bigger problems than Tijo's motley bodyguard but they could hear bolter fire very close by.  Opening the blast doors to the hangar revealed why.

Hundreds of Chosen of Hecate Marines staged a fighting retreat towards the grounded storm birds, harried by Astartes of the Silver Blades Legion. Tijo's group had the advantage of being close to the ships with no real hindrance to getting them on board. The hard part now would be defending their transport from attack by the Silver Blades and indeed, their own brothers while they waited for Bonfiglioli, they were severely out gunned and in addition had no armour to defend themselves. In a concentrated fight they would be slaughtered.

Parthenios ushered his men on board the nearest Storm Bird hoping against hope that his power armoured brothers would defend the Storm bird without realising who was on board.

"Demertes, make sure the Ship Master is safely secured, her safety is our chief concern if any of us wish to make it out of here alive, Twain get this bird ready to fly, as soon as the Apothecary returns we take off".

Demertes scooped Tijo into his arms as easily if he were lifting a toddler, no matter how long she lived amongst them being physically handled by an Astartes was always an intimidating prospect. 

"I am sorry Lady Tijo" the legionnaire assured her, "but the restraints in a Storm Bird were not made for someone as... tiny as yourself, and we will already be well above capacity. Our lack of armour is perhaps a blessing in that regard". Demertes strapped Tijo into a harness that was ridiculously too big for her then hunched himself over her protectively, shielding her from any potential incoming hazards. 

Shots were pinging off the armoured hull now. The Silver Blades had noticed the unarmoured and hence easy targets presented by Parthenios' men. Two went down without so much as a scream their bodies pulped by mass reactive shells. The rest of the wayward Chosen dived for whatever cover could be found. Twain made his way to the cockpit and began the process of igniting the engines and preparing the bird for take off as soon as Bonfiglioli returned. Fortunately there were five more bolters on board and the Astartes who managed to get their hands on one were swift to add their fire to the fray. Desperately trying to dissuade any Silver Blades who tried to storm them.

Parthenios stepped forward to meet the first Blade to reach the ramp, with no armour it seemed a foregone conclusion the Warpclaw could not possibly hope to match the Silver Blade in strength or speed. He parried the first two blows sent his way but the third took his right arm off at the elbow, howling in pain the Warpclaw lept back and his brothers closed around him, lighting the Silver Blade legionnaire with bolt fire. The Blade staggered and toppled backwards. 

Six more of Parthenios' Chosen went down, their unarmoured bodies bursting like ripe melons in the ensuing firefight.

"We can't hold much longer we need to take off soon" Twain called from the cockpit.

Almost on cue Bonfiglioli, Gerahost and three remaining Legionnaires, each carrying bulky black boxes, assuredly filled with precious gene-seed, appeared at the hangar doors.

"Give them cover brothers, they potentially carry the future of our Legion with them" Parthenios yelled.

Those with remaining ammunition poured their firepower into the ranks of the Silver Blades forcing them to take cover. One of Bonfiglioli's group took a round to the side of the head, showering his brothers in red ichor as he tumbled, the precious cargo he carried spilling to the floor, a horrendous waste but there was no time to collect the crates contents as the four remaining marines sprinted for the Storm bird.

As the small group thundered up the landing ramp Parthenios gave Twain the order to take off. Powerful engines burned as the ship rocketed out of the hangar, Twain and Gerahost being painfully aware that proper protocols had not been met and the machine spirit of their steed had not been  properly roused. Small arms fire pinged off the hull as the ship climbed but fortunately nothing heavier.

Bonfiglioli did his best to tend to the wounded with his limited supplies as the small ship breached the atmosphere. With little effort Twain was able to lock onto the Cerastes. As a civilian hauler the frigate had been largely ignored by the combined Silver Blades and Titan Marchers fleet, a relief to Parthenios then that his cousins from the other chapter would not stoop to harming innocents in their quest for vengeance.The human crew were terrified and confused and readily agreed to let the Astartes board apparently in the hopes of gaining some kind of direction. Though in truth Parthenios was anything but certain of the path they must now take. 

Cradling the stump of his right arm the Warpclaw approached the Shipmaster. Tijo was settling in well to the captain's throne of the ship, she had missed the simple nature of her first command even while she conquered entire systems from the helm of the mighty Starburst. 

“Reports are that Lambach… my father is in full retreat and has been branded an outlaw, with the damage he has inflicted to his brothers legions I doubt they will welcome us with open arms and rejoining the Chosen fleet seems almost impossible, from what we can ascertain our Fathers space faring retreat is being covered by what appears to be swarms of insects. No doubt some further sorcery worked by Lambach”.

Tijo accepted this information without looking up from her work.

“The crew of this ship are not warriors Warpclaw, they are not trained and drilled to legion standards. We cannot expect much from them, but we owe them their safety. Thanks to the trust they place in us we have this ship and we must act fast if we to avoid being discovered for much longer. We need you to make a call right now, what are we going to do?”

Parthenios’ brow furrowed as he weighed up the options before him, what was the best course of action to take? After a minute he spoke.

“Do you remember, shipmaster, our time with the Dusk Phantoms? You would have been only a small child at the time, but both you and I had the chance to meet with Lord Gyahdred”

“Aye, meeting a Primarch is not something you soon forget Warpclaw and even amongst Primarchs the Dusk Phantom is an... interesting character.” A small smile played across the captain’s pretty face as she dawned on what Parthenios was about to suggest. Few of Lambach’s brothers had understood Lambach’s tolerance of Tijo as a child, save perhaps the Iron Bear and the eccentric master of the Phantoms. Tijo recalled being immensely amused by his many strange mannerisms.

“The Erlkoning, he likes to be called” Parthenios mused, “I have sworn brothers amongst that legion captain, I am certain we will find shelter from this storm amongst their number. Until we know exactly what is happening. We can at very least carry word of what has transpired here”.

“Setting a course for Ryamtscho system Warpclaw.” Tijo gave the order to the bridge crew to begin plotting exactly how they were going to get out of this current mess in one piece, but at least now, they had an objective. “Gyahdred does make the most interesting toys.”
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===Swordbreaker===
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“She’s called Swordbreaker Cap’n”. Higgens, the pilot of the small transport cutter voxed. 
Bruno, who was in fact not a captain, merely a squad sergeant  of the Astral Wardens Legion of Space Marines, stared out the porthole at the derelict ship. It was a Sword-Class Frigate. 
The Swordbreaker was only small compared to many of the ships in his Legion’s fleet, but was still large enough to house a full hundred man company of Astartes. It could easily house their small craft. 
However the ship appeared hobbled and dark. It drifted listlessly through the void, like the corpse of a giant whale in the ocean.
“I have run a preliminary scan Cap’n, no signs of life. Her codifers identify her as belonging to the Pale Hounds, no reports on the status of the rest of her fleet”
Bruno stroked his chin and considered this information. What had befallen the crew of the Swordbreaker? A ship big enough to house an entire company floating dead in the proverbial water. What impact could he and the four men under his command possibly have in aiding the vessel? What was this ship doing so far from home?
Still, the Pale Hounds were allies, elusive and uncooperative, but allies nonetheless. Bruno would not ignore their plight. 
With an exasperated sigh the sergeant pulled his helmet visor over his eyes and hefted his shield and breaching shotgun. 
“Pull ‘er in Higg, we’ll go take a look’n’see” 

Getting on board the Swordbreaker was simple enough, some breaching charges in the right places had gained them entry to the frigate. 
Bruno was not sure what to expect once inside, but he certainly had not expected this. The Swordbreaker appeared empty. Utterly void of life. Not to say there were not signs of a struggle. Blood caked the walls, scorch marks where fire had burned before the oxygen ran out and battle damage was evident on every surface.
“Where the hell are the bodies”? Voxxed Knox.
“Let’s find out. Knox, Beattie secure the crew quarters and report what you find. Higg, Coop you’re with me. We’ll see if we can reach the command deck”.

The command deck was similarly ravaged, if anything far more intensely so. Still there were no signs of what had transpired. Even the Servitors were absent. 
“Higgens get on the comms, I wanna know the last thing they tried to transmit. Cooper find out where they came from or where they were goin’”.
Bruno crouched by a console to inspect a particularly heinous gash carved into the framework.
His keen eye ran over the damage.
“This was done by a power claw, Astartes grade, but it seems heavier, more riggid, not sure how that is exactly”
“Cap’n I got something’ here, puttin’ ‘em on the voxx” Higgens pressed a few buttons and Bruno’s helm filled with the sound of battle, orders being shouted by Astartes officers, mortals screaming in terror. Yet no sound at all from whatever enemy they fought. 
“This was over a week ago and it trails off. Records are saying there were twenty five Astartes on this boat” Higgens continued as the sounds of battle trailed off.
“Over a week ago? Then who set the ships auto course for the nearest planet less than two days ago?” Cooper asked from his work station.
Before Bruno could reply the voxx chimed again.
“Sir” came the gruff voice of the Terran born Beattie “We’ve found the crew, you’re going to want to see this” 

The squad reconvened on Beatties location in the hangar bay. The site that greeted them was shocking. Thousand’s of human corpses lined the floor. All seemingly dumped here after whichever massacre had taken place. An enormous funeral pyre. More concerning though were the glimpses of power armoured bodies strewn among the dead. Dumped with the same lack of ceremony as the mortals, their precious gene-seed unharvested.
The hangar, bereft of any of the smaller spacecraft that could usually be located, was nearly filled with nothing more than these corpses.
“Whole damn crew’s probably here Cap’n, what the hell coulda done this?” Higgens pulled the corpse of a female flight officer from the tangle. “Looks like they didn’t even get a chance to scramble their fighters… So where the hell are they?”
“This ain’t right sir, what’re your orders?” Knox asked taking in the scene in quite disbelief. 
“We gotta do what we can for our battle brothers” Bruno answered “Knox I know you’re no real Apothecary but you’re the closest we got. You and Beattie dig through, there should be twenty five Pale Hounds in all this, do your best to harvest their seed. We’ll deliver it to the legion ourselves with a full report of what we’ve found here. Higg get back to the bridge, find out which planet this lump is aimed at, and whatever else you can find. Coop you’re coming with me, we’re gonna overload the core and blow this ship up soon as the others are done. Let me know the second something goes awry”.

Knox dragged the fifth corpse of a Pale Hound from the pile, Even his superhuman strength and endurance were being tested by the effort. There were just so many dead. Beattie, being terran born lacked the same respect for the mortal populace as most other Wardens and simply flung the smaller corpses aside to reach his targets. The Terran was roughly hip deep in  corpses when he gave a start.
“Knox, this one is alive” 
Instantly onguard Knox brought his shotgun up and locked it to it’s shield brace.
“Higg said there was no returns of life on this rig, can you confirm?”
As he said this he watched as a young man, covered in gore rose to his feet in front of the Terran. Knox reached out to the man with his psychic sensitivity, peering into the man’s thoughts. His mind filled with darkness. Endless, eternal, darkness. There was no thoughts, no emotion. Immediately he knew this man to be dead, yet he could not deny the man was moving. 
“Beattie, get out of there” The Warden bellowed as he noticed the entire pile of corpses begin to twitch and move. He fired his weapon. The round took the man in front of Beattie in the chest, blowing the once mortals corpse to smithereens. 
Beattie attempted to extricate himself but was soon lost from Knox’s sight as the writhing corpses simply engulfed the Terran in the masses. Over the voxx Beattie’s roars of defiance could be heard for several seconds before  ending in a strangled gurgle. Knox continued firing until his weapon was spent, in an attempt to blow a hole through the mass of flesh and free his  brother. Then he began beating against them with his shield, easily pulping the fleshy, animated remains of the mortals. 
Behind him the corpses of the Pale Hounds rose to their feet... 

In the Command Bridge Higgens worked diligently, he’d always had a way with ships. He knew them like the back of his own hands, even before he’d been risen to the ranks of an Astartes. His fingers flew across control consoles frantically searching for any information he could find about what had happened to the crew, his brow furrowed in confusion. The records of battle they had listened to earlier, as Knox had said were logged over a week ago. The death of the Pale Hounds commander Yarvis was clearly documented early in the conflict. And yet, only two days ago Yarvis had locked in the command for the Swordbreaker to set a course for the nearest habitable planet. It simply did not make sense. 
Just as Higgens opened the channel to voice these concerns to Bruno he heard the bellows of Beattie come across and abruptly end, followed by Knox’s yells of fury and the sound of gunfire. 
It was then that Higgens noticed the temperature of the room. During the exchange on the voxx the temperature had risen to an unpleasant hight. The next thing he noticed was the horrific stench. Far worse than that of the hangars corpse pile. He simply could not match it to anything he had ever smelt before in his life. Even his super-human resistances were overwhelmed and he fell to his knees, hacking bile into his helm. 
Mustering the strength just to look up was monumental in its own right. The walls of the Command Deck dripped with condensation, or was that... pus?
The pustules slid to the floor, taking on the form of squat creatures. With wicked, toothy grins and rusted, cruel looking blades. These tiny creatures cappered towards the staggered Marine. Emitting an awful gurgled sound, that Higgens realized was laughter.
They stabbed at him with their foul weapons, most clattering harmlessly against his warplate but those that penetrated burned with infection. The wounds immediately bursting with infection from already rotten flesh.  
Mustering all of his strength Higgens surged to his feet and channeled his will into a force of pure energy. It pushed the tiny creatures back, crushing them and popping them between the pressure of his will and the iron shod walls of the Swordbreaker.
More creatures appeared from the walls, these ones larger, the tiny knives of those that came before replaced by rusted greatswords. Twice more Higgens hurled back his attackers with force of will alone, and when that failed he reaped a toll on them with his shotgun. For each attacker slain though two more took their place. Gore slick blades effortlessly parted his armour as the shotguns ammo drum ran dry with a click, click, click. 

Cooper placed the last melta charge. “Ready to blow sir”
“Soon as we get the word from the others Coop, we’ll set a five minute timer and hightail it”
The next thing Bruno knew Cooper’s head folded back. His arms and legs snapped backwards. With the sound of shattering bones Cooper folded into a perfect cube before turning into a green spark and floating to the ground as a pile of ash.
Bruno spun on the spot, reflexively bringing up a kine shield of will power. Without even the time to think Bruno fired his shotgun on full auto. Pumping all twelve rounds into the figure that had appeared behind them. 
The creature looked like it was once an Astartes, but now it was malformed into something completely different. It had a bestial face, like that of a rodent. Huge leathery wings unfurled from the creatures back. It’s left arm ended it what could once have been a power claw but now a malformed, twisted parody of what it used to be. It’s armour was pale, bone white, trimmed with obsidian black. A tattered, dark green cowl cloaked its body, the hood worn low over it’s beady, rat like eyes. Bruno recognised the iconography worn on the shoulder plate as that of the Chosen of Hecate legion.
Snarling and oozing a green pus from the wounds inflicted by Bruno’s shotgun. The creature laughed.
“A cute trick, little Warden” It hissed. “I respect the power your legion wields immensely” 
“What the hell are you?” Bruno roared, frantically reloading his shotgun. 
“I am Atreus Thyestes and I am the Lord of Death and Decay. I shall bring exactly that to this region little Warden and as amused as I am by your tricks I cannot allow you to interfere”.
Behind Atreus, Bruno noticed the colours of his Legion. Knox and Beattie had managed to get behind the twisted Chosen of Hecate sorcerer. 
“I dunno what happened to you pal, but this ends now”. With that Bruno bought his gun up again and fired. The shells tore great chunks and rents from the Chosen’s armour and flesh. Black coagulated blood sloshed against the walls in a vile spray. Still the creature wheezed in laughter.
“Boys bring this thing down” Bruno screamed.
“Indeed, let us end this game” Atreus hissed and at his gesture the two members of Bruno’s squad moved past. Shambling in their movements. Their armour, Bruno could now see was torn and broken in a dozen places. Blood oozed from greant rents. The two arisen Wardens lunged to attack their former sergeant. Smashing their fists into Bruno’s kine shield. Both were clearly dead and yet still they attacked with a frenzied vigor.
“Enough of that” Atreus said, almost dismissively. Tapping his powered claw against the shield which burst like a bubble.
The revenant Wardens clawed at Bruno, trying to drag him down and bludgeon him with their fists.
“It has been fun, little Warden but playtime is over” Atreus rammed his claw into Bruno’s chest. Tearing a huge, fatal furrow through the Ceremite. Immediately Knox and Beattie hammered their fists into the wound tearing out great handfuls of flesh. 
“Fear not, for when they are done with you, I will rise you up again, to serve as a puppet to a different master”. The rat faced lich hissed.
Time seemed to slow for Bruno as his blood spilled in great torrents from his body. His former brothers indiscriminately ripping into him. Bruno knew with a certainty that he was dead, but yet he had not failed. His shotgun hung limply in his fist and he turned his head to see the charges placed by Cooper. As the last of his strength fled the Astral Wardens sergeant raised his gun, ghostly and pale, pulling his consciousness from his own corpse. Bruno knew he had scant moments. He aimed the ghostly gun at the melta charge. 
“Hasta luego” Bruno uttered through blood caked lips, and pulled the trigger.
The shells impacted with the Melta bomb and Atreus howled in fury in the split second before he was engulfed in the resulting explosion.

The void of space outside the Swordbreaker was lit in a flash as the ship came apart. It’s core ruptured. The spark of the ship’s death was brief in the great void. None would know of the sacrifice made. The Swordbreaker and it’s crew were officially designated as lost in the warp, like so many others.     
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{{Warmasters Triumvirate}}