# Saving of Etraxi IV



## BlackApostleVilhelm (May 14, 2008)

Gabriel, Laertes and Sol: You three have accompanied your sergeant, Broman, to the strategum for a short debriefing with the rest of the squad leaders and veterans of the company. When you arrive you see that a massive hologram shines in the middle of the room, the scarred face of Warsmith Dredos Fellhammer glaring at those assembled within the room. 

*"No message was sent."* the deep gravely tone of his voice sounding harsh coming through the vox speakers. Adriel Verros shook his head, _"We received a call for aid not two weeks ago, if it will please you I will send a copy of the exact message so you can check your systems."_ The tone in the captain's voice sounded nothing like it had earlier when he had spoken with the company of going to their brothers' aid, in fact it sounded like his patience was being drawn thin.

*"That would be appreciated captain, if there is a flaw in one of our systems I want to know about it."* he paused before continuing, *"Yet even though I did not intend to send for aid your arrival is timely. Take care to give the giant abomination of a ship the orks have used a wide berth on your way to Etraxi IV."* and with that the hologram cut out and the astartes present within the room began filing out, appears you guys missed the party.

The four of you are soon approached by Verros and Turiel, both resplendent in their armor, Verros's red plates detailed with golden wings and red ruby blood droplets while Turiel's was a massive set of blood red Tactical Dreadnought Armor. Verros had his black hair shaven, his green eyes like those of a snake, while Turiel's long golden blonde hair was tied into a tight fighter's bun, the deep blue of his one good eye contrasting with his blind white one. 
*
"The Warsmith claims that he did not send out a call for aid but he has allowed us to add our forces to their defense seeing as how we are already here."* Turiel rolls his eyes but says nothing as Verros continues, *"Broman you and your squad will be coming with us to Etraxi IV along with the rest of the company to help prepare the forge world's defenses, the rest of the squads are being sent to the outlying planetary stations to aid in their defenses. Armor up and be at embarkation deck three within the hour." *

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The three of you arm and armor yourself before Baal's Flame reaches Etraxi IV, the remainder of the company taking Stormbirds down to the surface of the massive forge world. 

The Stormbird shakes as it passes through Etraxi IV's violent atmosphere, the massive columns and towers of Erebus Forge only becoming visible as you pass through the forge's titanic shield barrier, the only thing keeping the hostile volcanic atmosphere outside at bay. As you pass through the towering spires you can see thousands of workers and techpriests down below going about their business as if a massive ork horde had not already claimed the two outlying planets of their system. 

The Stormbird lands before its tail ramp opens to let you four, and the other veteran assault squad of the company, out with you. The eight of you march down the ramp to be greeted by the sight of five Astartes armored in Tactical Dreadnought Armor, their steel colored armor and black and yellow chevrons marking them out as members of the IV Legion Astartes, the Iron Warriors. Only one of them has his helmet off and it is clearly the squad's officer, he himself standing at almost half a head taller then the rest of his squad, his golden blonde hair framing his yellow eyes perfectly as it fell down the front of his armor. His face was lean and long like that of a bird of prey,_ "Looks like Raven Guard no?"_ whispers one of the other squad's veterans, Mikael, over the vox. 

The massive astartes slams his fist into his chest, the sound reverberating across the landing pad and silencing any answers to Mikael's comment. Broman approaches the marine before imitating the greeting, *"Greetings brother, I am veteran sergeant Broman along with veteran sergeant Oranos and his men."
*
The Iron Warrior stares at the lot of you for what seems like forever before answering, *"Greetings brothers. I am Shamesu, one of the acting Seige Captains of the Eighth Grand, I have received orders that you and your men are to accompany I and my squad to our Warsmith's debriefing."* Oranos spread his arms, *"Lead the way captain." *Shamesu nodded before turning and making his way off of the landing pad, the rest of his squad and all of you following, Oranos and Broman standing to either side of him while the other Iron Warriors were spread amongst you.

[Ok hopefully that isnt too much information for the opening post. essentially i want you to react to what has happened so far, how do you feel about having to aid your brothers? even though you did not hear the whole conversation it is apparent to all of you that the Iron Warriors, at least their warsmith, are not happy you are here, how does this make you feel? feel free to speak with each other or one of the iron warriors present, i will respond for him in the next update if you choose to do so.]

Zahiel and Kalcius: You two do not accompany your sergeants to the meeting and instead are found by them when they return in the training halls, either dueling a brother marine or simply training by yourself. Either way Hadusa and Telros find you both and tell you to suit up immediately, your two squads are part of a strike force being sent to aid one of the outlying planets, the warsmith intending for the extra arms to help stop the orks in their tracks. 

The two of you suit up and meet your brothers on the embarkation deck before entering your respective Stormbirds. The flight to Etraxi VII is relatively quiet, that is before you enter the space immediately around the planet though, ork and imperial fighters zipping between the wreckage between the ork hulk and three ships now surrounding it and the Imperial fleet that consisted of not just Imperial Army ships but Astartes and Mechanicus as well.

It would seem that the Orks had some reinforcements before you had arrived, the three new ships around the hulk not being in the report that the call for aid had contained, each one massive enough to take out the frigate you had arrived on. Yet as you watch the space battle rage on the Stormbird levels its nose towards the surface of the planet, its speed increasing quickly as it shot down towards the battle below, its target an Iron Warriors' landing zone.

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Kalcius: You and the rest of Telros's squad stand as the Stormbird levels out, its back ramp opening so that you can jump out. Telros activates his massive ornate chainaxe before pointing it at the opening, his other hand wielding a bolt pistol, *"Sergeants of the Blood Angels' Fifth Assault Company this is Captain of the Eighth's Second Company Severus Pyrrhus. I have been informed of your arrival, change your active vox channel to C89-x for combat information and orders."* the captain's deep voice cut out only to be replaced by a bombardment of information as you all switch to the channel you were told to, all kinds of combat information and orders scrolling across your HUD. 

Telros begins to make his way towards the opened ramp, *"Come brothers, we are to aid a Siege Captain by the name of Vilhelm Ironheart, seems he and his men have gotten themselves into a sticky situation."* The sounds of the battle outside fill your ears as you near the door, the ground below you rocketing past you before Telros suddenly leaps out of the opening, you and the others quickly following.

You land on top of a broken hab unit, a small blinking indicator on your HUD telling you that this Ironheart and his men are five hundred yards to your left, multiple ork units between you. Telros walks to the edge of the unit and peers down at a group of orks rushing into the next building, *"Shall we cut them off?"* His jump pack activates and he is soon leaping over to the next hab unit, you following him as you activate your weapons.

[ok a lot to take in for an opening post, lots of information but i have faith you can handle it :grin: for the part when you are in the training cages if you fight anyone is up to you, i leave the details of that part up to you. how do you feel about being called to aid your brothers the iron warriors? what do you know about them? have you fought alongside them before? what do you think about the amount of combat information streaming across your HUD? keep in mind you have not attacked the orks yet, instead you are racing them to the end of the building to cut them off and ambush them which will happen in the next update]

Zahiel: Unfortunately for you and the rest of your squad as your Stormbird nears its target it gets clipped by an ork artillery shell and is forced to crash land on the sixth level of a waste management plant, the smell of human waste attacking your nose as you and the rest of the squad exit the burning bird. The pilot had managed to land it on a large outcropping, the only way down being the catwalks next to it, Hadusa jumping onto them without a word.

As you all begin to make your way down you can hear the sounds of an intense firefight down below you, Hadusa speeding up to get to what he knows is an astartes squad, the tell tale sound of bolters getting louder as you approach. You break out into the sunlight to see a squad of eight IV Legion Astartes accompanied by one in Tactical Dreadnought Armor, his massive armor the base for multiple weapons systems, many of which were firing at the moment. 

You slam your back against cover as bullets riddle past your head, *"Greetings brothers, so good of you to come!"* the massive warrior's voice rumbles out of his vox as he turns to take you in, a round hitting one of his shoulderguards and bouncing off with a ping. Having seen Turiel in his terminator armor before you are well aware of how big an astartes could be while wearing a suit, yet Turiel's suit did not look exactly like this one, this one having more weapons systems integrated into it. The marine wearing the suit had to be massive himself, the armor only serving to increase his immense bulk, his muscles having grown larger to help him in wearing the suit of armor.

*"I am Vilhelm Ironheart, one of the Siege Captains of the Eighth. We have a large group of Orks coming this way that is trying to get to the reactor that powers the shield protecting this settlement, it would please me if you could aid us in stopping them."*

[ok so throwing you right into the action. feel free to take a few potshots at the incoming orks but for now you will only be seeing the front part of the main group that is heading for you. feel free to to speak to your squad mates or with one of the iron warriors present.]

EDIT: If any of you have questions about anything pertaining to your posts dont hesitate to PM me and ask and ill help you out


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Laertes shadowed Sgt. Broman, walking down the hallways with the rest of his squad toward the strategem. Where Broman and his friend Gabriel walked with purpose and determination, Laertes kept pace out of deference to his leader. He really had no desire to enter this theatre of combat. The last time he had fought next Brothers from the IV Legion, back during his time as a tactical marine, it had not gone well. The Siegemasters focus on defence had left his squad and two others, stranded as they performed a 'tactical retreat', and the Blood Angels had lost 14 Battle-brothers, two of those good friends of his, as they fought their way free of the orkish horde that had surrounded them. His fury at the Thrid Grand Company of the IV legion had not faded in the last century. He still had his lost friends names etched into his right pauldron. Once on the field of battle he would fight with all the heart and skill he could muster, but he had his reservations about the Warriors of the IV and he had already said so to Sgt. Broman. It had been a tense conversation, but in the end Broman knew that Laertes would not have said anything unless he thought it important, and he seemed to file the information away for later. 

Laetres fell in beside Gabriel and shared a brief, genuine smile, as the two entered the strategem. Looking around Laertes couldn't help but noticed that once again his was the last squad to arrive, the other squad leaders and veterans already assembled, Verros and Turiel standing in the center of the room, facing the large holographic projection of Warsmith Dredos Fellhammer. "Dour old bastard,"Laertes thought wondering why Brothers of the Iron Warriors always looked like they had ther mevocks in a vice. Fellhammer's gavely voice was echoing out of the strategems vox speakers, and the volume and quality put Laertes nerves on edge. 

_*"No message was sent,"*_ the Warsmith said, obviously annoyed to be speaking with the assembled marines. 

Watching Captain Verros, Laertes thought he saw his brow furrow in annoyance, and Laertes was glad that he wasn't the only one that seemed to be annoyed by the present situation. _*"We received a call for aid not two weeks ago,"*_ Verros responded, carefully keeping is voice measured and calm,_*" if it will please you I will send a copy of the exact message so you can check your systems."*_ 

_*"That would be appreciated Captain, if there is a flaw in one of our systems I want to know about it."*_ The Warsmith paused and to Laertes he could see the calculating look in the Warsmith's eyes, _*"Yet even though I did not intend to send for aid your arrival is timely. Take care to give the giant abomonation of a ship the orks have used a wide berth on you way to Etraxi IV."*_ With that the hologram cut out and his brothers began to file out of the Strategem, low toned conversations murmurring around the room. 

"Well that was interesting," Laertes commented quietly to Gabriel. "I saw we stay in the back ground, kill some orks, and let the adults fight it out." Thrusting his chin in the direction of Verros and Turiel who where approaching. Verros looked strained by his conversation with the Warsmith, not a good sign that the conversation before Broman's squad's arrival was any more pleasant than what they had just witnessed. Turiel seemed to be taking it all in good humor as usual. Both were already adorned for war, looking resplendant in their armor. 
_
*"The Warsmith claims that he did not send out a call for aid but he has allowed us to add our forces to their defense seeing as how we are already here."* _Laertes had to stifle a chuckle as he saw Turiel roll his eyes behind Verros' back. _*"Broman,"*_ Verros continued addressing the sergeant, _*"you and your squad will be coming with us to Etraxi IV along with the rest of the company to help prepare the forge world's defenses, the rest of the squads are being sent to the outlying planetary stations to aid in their defenses. Armor up and be at embarkation deck three with the hour." * _

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One thing that Laertes enjoyed about being elevated to a veteran was that he had a private room and arming chamber. He could don his equipment in peace, going through his pre-battle rituals in the relative comfort of solace. His armor polished, his bolt pistol cleaned, his power sword sharpened and checked by the tech-marines of the order, its balance perfect. Before pulling on his guantlets he ran his fingers over the names etched in his right shoulder pad "Davios" and "Raphael". His friends would never be forgotten. For thirty years the three men had fought together, now it was up to Laertes to remember. He thought of them often, but more so when he faced the retched orks or in this case found occasion to be deployed next to the Iron Warriors. 

kneeling in his chamber, sword point down, hand braced on its pommel, Laertes said a silent vow to remain true to the Emperor and his primarch. To bring destruction to the enemies of mankind in remembrance of those who had gone before into death's embrace. 

Swinging the blade in several complicated practice forms and it would have been apparent to anyone who would have seen the reasons why Laertes was one of the most accomplished swordsman the Chapter had seen in quite some time. His blade a blur, form to form his body fluid, strength and flexibilty blending together to make an him a whirlwind of death. Sheathing his sword in a single fluid motion, the blade resting comfortably at his belt opposite his bolt pistol. He left his chambers and saw Gabriel and Sol doing the same. It never ceased to amaze him how the three worked together, almost always on the same page and pace. It was why they worked so well together. 

"So brothers," he asked in a sombre tone, "What adventures do you think await us as guests of the IV?"

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Strapped into his grav chair in the Stormbird, Laertes took in all the combat information being uploaded through his HUD in his helm. The ride down to the planet was made in relative silence, only a bit of banter between to two veteran squads via secure channel vox. The turbulent atmosphere rocked the craft back and forth, and if not for the maglock harnesses the marines inside would have been tossed about the craft like wheat before the wind. Looking at the front vid screen Laertes and the rest of the veterans could see the massive spires of Erebus Forge, smoke pouring from hundreds of mile high silos as the forges trudged on with their never ending work. 

Laertes felt the Stormbird touch down and he was glad of the stillness the earth provided. He did so hate being tossed around inside the landing craft. He disembarked with the rest of the Fifth Company Veterans and as soon as his boots hit the ground he felt the quiet purpose that welled up inside of him everytime he entered a campaign. All other doubts and past issues aside, he was here to do the Emperor's work, all else was secondary. Securing his jump pack, as he brothers did, they marched down the causeway and were met by the sight of Five Battle-brothers, clad in Tactical Dreadnought Armor, austere and and sombre in their steel colored armor.

One Battle-Brother, obviously the squads officer, stood waiting on them, helmet pinned in the crook of his arm. The man was massive, standing far above Laertes and a head taller than the others of his squad. His golden blonde hair framed his face, yellow eyes, so common among the Sons of Perturabo, staring at them from a lean, long, pointed face. 

_*"Looks like Raven Guard, no?"*_ Brother Mikael whispered into the vox, and Laertes couldn't help but chuckle aloud, though the sound was muted by his battle helm. Any further comment from his Veteran Brothers was cut short as the Squad leader slammed his fist into his chest, the sound echoing around the landing pad. Sgt. Broman approached the massive warrior and introduced himself saying, _*"Greetings brother, I am Veteran Sergeant Broman, and this is Veteran Sergeant Oranos,*_" indicating his fellow sergeant with a wave of his hand. 

The Iron Warrior Terminator stood staring haughtily at them for what seemed like an age before saying, _*"Greetings brothers. I am Shamesu, one of the acting Seige Captains of the Eighth Grand, I have received orders that you and your men are to accompany I and my squad to our Warsmith's debriefing."*
_
_*"Lead the way Captain,"*_ Sergeant Oranos said, indicating that the Captain should lead on. 

As the Veterans of the Fifth Company feel in behind their leaders, and the warriors that had accompanied Shamesu fell in amongst them, Laertes could not help but feel that they had stepped into a giant beehive. A beehive that impetus childern were lobbing rocks at....


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## Lord Ramo (Apr 12, 2009)

Gabriel matched his sergeants brisked pace as the Veteran squad moved through the corridors of the mighty Blood Angel vessel, heading for the strategum. He walked side by side with his Sergeant Broman, Sol and Laertes moving behind them. In truth the only reason Gabriel walked by the side of Broman was because he was close to Broman as a friend. Once they entered the Strategum, he would drop back a pace to show the seniority of his brother Sergeant.

As they entered the great doors to the Strategum Gabriel dropped back a pace, seeing Laertes flash him a brief smile, Gabriel inclined his head in return. In truth Laertes was one of Gabriel's life long friends, both becoming initiates at the same time and serving in the same squad. Gabriel also nodded to Sol, though he did not expect to have him even acknowledge it. Sol was the old Captain of the Fifth, having fought alongside the Emperor and being an original Terran, like Veteran Sergeant Broman. However he had been wounded and as such had been comatised. He had been removed from his command and it did not sit well with him.

Gabriel turned his attention to the briefing as the Warsmith insisted he had sent no call for aid, and could tell his Captain was growing frustrated and impatient. Personally Gabriel felt insulted by the way the Warsmith talked to his commander, and would have most likely spoken up if he had been present in the room, Gabriel though reminded himself it was none of his business as the convosation finally ended, and Laertes talked to him, quietly. 

*"Well that was interesting, I saw we stay in the back ground, kill some orks, and let the adults fight it out."* He said as the Captain moved towards them. _"A good point brother, my claw sings for the blood of xeno's. First blood will go to Sol though I reckon."_ He said back a smile twitching as it formed slightly to one side. 

*"The Warsmith claims that he did not send out a call for aid but he has allowed us to add our forces to their defense seeing as how we are already here."* Turiel rolls his eyes but says nothing as Verros continues, *"Broman you and your squad will be coming with us to Etraxi IV along with the rest of the company to help prepare the forge world's defenses, the rest of the squads are being sent to the outlying planetary stations to aid in their defenses. Armor up and be at embarkation deck three within the hour." *
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Gabriel stood quietly in front of his own personal arming chamber, preparing his mind for the coming battle. In battle he normally lost himself to the blood, becoming far to eager and ready to spill blood. It was way he was reprimanded by Broman often, his actions normally put his squad in danger. However he knew he was beginning to control himself now, allowing Sol more of the Limelight being the hot headed member of the squad. 

He donned his armour quickly, muttering to himself as he put each part into position. All of his armour was polished, clean and checked for any damages by him after every battle, since he had become a Veteran, armed with the best wargear available to the Company he found himself having to repair his armour less and less. Gabriel finally took a hold of his mighty power claw, "Angel's Talon" and placed it into position over his left fist. It would make him mighty and a bane to the enemies of the Great Crusade. Finally he attached his oath of the moment to his right pauldron before leaving his armour chamber to find Laertes swinging his sword, practicing with the blade before sheathing it.

Sol was also out of his chamber as Laertes asked, *"So brothers, what adventures do you think await us as guests of the IV?"* Gabriel smiled before he placed his helm on his head, and he put his right hand over his brothers shoulder pad,_ "Well brother, I think that we will find an unwilling host, who is afraid of our abilities and outshine them in the eyes of the Emperor."_ He let out a bark of laughter before turning to Sol, _"Ready brother?"_ It was harder to interact with Sol, he was a mighty warrior, a great tactician, but he was far more secluded after what had happened to him.
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The ride down was everything that Gabriel imagined it would be. Silence enveloped the Stormbird as it plummeted through the atmosphere down towards the Earth, and their battle brothers in need. Gabriel could hear some of his brothers from Veteran Squad Oranos over the secure vox channel, though he kept quiet for the most of it. He looked through the masses of intelligence that came through his hud, marking down anything notable that could be used later as the aircraft shook its way to the ground.

Gabriel released himself from his grav-chair the second the Stormbird stopped moving, his jetpack on his back as he exited behind his Sergeant and Laertes. They were greeted by five hulking Terminators of the IV legion, one of which stood with his helm in his arm, waiting for them. He heard one of his brothers liken him to the Raven Guard and Laertes chuckled over the vox. Gabriel opened a secure link to Laertes and Sol, _"Looks like we got some babysitters for a while. Obviously they are afraid we will get a much higher kill tally and show them up."_

The Sergeants introduced themselves, Gabriel noting down the name in case it was needed later. The squad was to go to the briefing with the Iron Warriors, so be it thought Gabriel as the three squads set off.


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## Santaire (Feb 13, 2011)

Zahiel ducked a swing and lunged. His battle brother parried with only a millisecond to spare and the 2 fell back to circling each other. Zahiel lunged forward but pulled up short so that his brother’s parry missed his blade before he finished the blow, driving the tip of his practice blade into the chest of his brother. He smiled at the man and took his blade back. “Too eager brother but master your impatience and you will make a formidable swordsman,” Zahiel said as the younger astartes returned his smile. As they left the practice cage and placed their weapons back on the racks Zahiel saw Hadusa approaching him. He walked over to the sergeant.

“Time to suit up Zahiel, were going planetside,” Zahiel smiled. “Yes sergeant,” he said and left the training room…
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He walked into his cell and smiled to see his power armour already being readied for use by several serfs. He stepped forward and allowed them to fix the armour into place around his body. He picked up his bolter once it had all been fitted and strapped it into place. He then picked up his bolt pistol, and combat knife and strapped them to his hips. Armed and armoured for war he left his cell and strode down the corridor towards the hangar where the Stormbirds were stored.

He entered the room to see his squad clustered around the entrance of one Stormbird while an assault squad stood round another. He joined his squad and Hadusa nodded a greeting before they entered the Stormbird. Zahiel strapped into the grav seat and then he felt a jolt as the Stormbird left the hangar. He looked out of the viewport and saw 3 massive ships clustered around the space hulk, evidently recently arrived ork reinforcements. Even the smallest of the 3 was more than capable of destroying the small frigate they had arrived in. The planet appeared in the view port and the ship began to flicker with flame as they entered the atmosphere.

Suddenly all the flame vanished and gravity returned with a jolt. Then there was a massive detonation and the Stormbird shook with the impact. It quickly lost altitude and the city appeared. “Be prepared for a hard impact,” came the calm voice of the pilot through the vox. “A bit of an understatement,” muttered one of Zahiel’s brothers. Zahiel could not help but smile but his smile was cut short by a massive thud followed by the sound of shearing metal as they hit the earth. Hadusa was quick to exit, followed closely by Zahiel and the rest of his squad.

They made their way to the sound of sustained gun fire which Hadusa insisted was Imperial. As they approached the source Zahiel spotted a terminator. The warrior was huge even when compared with Turiel in his Tactical Dreadnought armour plating. His armour was covered with weapon systems that spat hails of death at the advancing orks without pause, even as the warrior turned his head to the Blood Angels tactical squad. “Greetings brothers, so good of you to come,” the warrior said in a booming voice. A round bounced off his shoulder and he paused before continuing. "I am Vilhelm Ironheart, one of the Siege Captains of the Eighth. We have a large group of Orks coming this way that is trying to get to the reactor that powers the shield protecting this settlement, it would please me if you could aid us in stopping them."

Hadusa nodded and the squad found defensible positions from which to return fire. Zahiel alone stayed in the open. Heedless of the rounds flying around him he aimed his bolter. He drew a deep breath and held it before exhaling as he fired. In that moment Blood Angel and bolt gun were one. Zahiel aimed again and his bolter spat fire. “One shot, one kill,” he muttered as the ork collapsed with half its head missing. He switched targets and fired again, the bolt catching the charging ork in the chest and flinging it backwards to land in a heap on the floor. Zahiel raised his head and opened fire on full auto, the bolts cutting down orks like wheat before a scythe. He reloaded, dropping the clip and slamming a second home.

He dropped into cover and out of the corner of his eye saw several of the younger members of the squad staring at him in awe. Hadusa merely gave him an approving nod. Zahiel stood and aimed once more and once more his bolter claimed the lives of orks…


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

It should have been him.

The thought, a bitter tendril of idle hatred caressed his scarred mind as he gazed upon the form of his captain.

It was his legion to command, and he would have it back.

He did not envy the astartes his task though, battering against the resolute iron of a warsmith's pride, a task to fray the temper of even the most placid of temperaments. It would not have surprised him if he had indeed not sent the message, a son of Peturabo would rather die than ask for help, their defences able to suck up all but the hardest punishment.

Yet that punishment would come soon, the system needed aid, that much was obvious, readable in the warmsith's dark eyes and the creases of his scars, echoing in the subtle undertones of his voice. Yet his head was held high his voice insistent, no hint of a lie in those gruff tones.

Perhaps he had not sent out the message, their was no reason to lie, if he was privy to the mission briefing he would keep his eyes peeled for the person shitting himself in the corner, eyes low and head bowed in terror. Too risk the wrath of a dishonoured and ashamed astartes was brave, stupid, but it took some balls.

He would keep and eye out for the deceased.

A small mutter fluttered between his the other members of his squad, their placid temperament and good humour drawing them together, his interactions with them often short. their words always good natured, offering him thought and humour to improve his choler, though their kind words rarely did little to break him from his sour memory

He tolerated them both, had to respect them as warriors and comrades, it was the ranks above them that cast a deep shadow over his mind, curled his tongue with a bitter snarl, resenting the status he held.

"A good point brother, my claw sings for the blood of xeno's. First blood will go to Sol though I reckon."

A low grunt cracked from his mouth, a sharp curt mutter of ascension. He would take first blood, perhaps a few shots would take out the back of ork skulls, yet his eyes fell to his hands, devoid of his claws for now, yet soon to be encased in shimmering adamantium, lightening crackling along the edges.

He would kill... cull them like the mindless animals they were. His eyes stared as the captain returned to them, yet his mind dwindled into the past, attention dawdling on a knife edge, kill after kill imprinted upon his mind, replaying in a cyclone of crushing madness, himself at the centre, his claws, his blade, his bolter.

Leading to the one... the one kill that had changed him, that haunted him, that had crushed him, left him clinging to life. 

The immensity of that physique, muscles bulging, a bicep able to exert enough force to crush him whole, with a strange languid grace, covered in shimmering energy.

Yet he was different now, or was he, he still had so much to prove, still yearned for the heat of battle, still through himself in with verve and vigour.

No, he was different, he was older, wiser, the previous battles adding their guidance to his strokes, the weight of command lifted from his shoulders, able to throw himself totally into the slaughter, his mind never elsewhere, fully engaged.

He had edged the tie last time, by strength of will, he had outlived the warboss, oh sweet emperor he wanted another round.

He followed the grunt with a tiny whisper, laced with menace

"If we get anywhere near him, the warboss is mine"
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He always armoured alone, it was his responsibility, his progedy, so often placed with the techmarines for repair and rework, he polished it and cared for it himself.

It protected him in battle, so he protected it outside, ensured it was fully maintained, placed it around himself, the last things to slide into place the great claws, a small flick of his wrist activating the shimmering field that would crush and impale, leave death in his wake as he gouged and slashed.

He found his squadmates together, waiting for him as they moved towards the landing platform, words of excitement, so reminiscent of the early days, the crackling energy of their first engagement. Even a century later, it was still the same, different faces, identical banter flowing seemlessly.

"So brothers," he asked in a sombre tone, "What adventures do you think await us as guests of the IV?"

"Well brother, I think that we will find an unwilling host, who is afraid of our abilities and outshine them in the eyes of the Emperor." 

A sharp bark of laughter cutting through the air as he turned to soul with a sharp question
"Ready brother?" to find Sol's thin eyebrow raised yet he ignored it, sure it was merely bluff bravado, the gentle jibes of a proud legion.

A second low grunt of ascension met the words 

"Ever ready to kill in the name of the emperor"

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5 behemoths greeted them at the ramp of the stormbird and Sol studied each in turn, his eyes fixing finally on the helmless giant. A hawkish nose over pale skin prompted the comment from a member of the other veterans, a likeness to Corax's birds of prey slipping from others lips before his own.

Something about the eyes of the helmless warrior struck a cord with him, his own helm clipped to his belt, he met the gaze hard with a ferocious intensity struggling to ravage through the foreign soul before him.

Something in those eyes spoke to him, something of the future, an edgy harshness to his breath as it caught in his throat.

"Looks like we got some babysitters for a while. Obviously they are afraid we will get a much higher kill tally and show them up."

Gabriel's proud voice slid through the vox and Sol's shortly leashed temper broke in the slightest of snaps, stopping only to place his own helm upon his head so the Iron warrior could not hear his sneering drawl stung along the private vox line

"Afraid? Do not be fooled by public opinion. Admittedly if you say Astartes and Iron in any bar through the imperium, the conversation will turn to Ferrus Manus, stoic and loyal. Discussion of the greatest siege masters turning to Dorn and his imperial Fists, yet the iron warriors are not afraid of us any more than we them. Each warrior will fight with stoicism bravery and honour to make any legion proud, people just fail to recognise it."

He met them both with a hard glare, his voice rising with conviction

"We will do our legion proud and our star will shine as bright as it ever has, we will kill and slaughter with the utmost ferocity. Unwilling and stubborn they may be yet keep your eyes open, we will all learn something before the end of the campaign."

Before them the terminator with the cold eyes introduced himself

"I am Shamesu,"

Reflexively, Sol supressed the smallest of shivers

Shamesu.....


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

The flurry of blades was faster than a mortal eye could perceive, three Astartes slashed at a single target who ducked and weaved through their blows, blocking only one out of every five strikes, almost dancing through the storm. The single figure was an Astartes, armoured in the full regalia of MK IV Maximus style Power Armour, coloured in blood red and two jade green rings circling the eyes of the helmet mag-locked to his belt.

Ducking another strike the Astartes lashed out with the axe in his right hand, disarming his attacker and following up with a punch to the jaw, knocking the fellow Blood Angel against the cage walls of the training area. Leaning back to avoid a retribution strike he twisted with the attack and used the dulled training sword to strike his opponent in the side, aiming it just right so as to cause an imbalance against the armour's joints. The attacker staggered, the brief hesitation giving the Astartes an opening to sweep his legs out from under him with a fast kick to the side of his leg, finishing him off with a blow from the hilt of the training axe to his temple.

The third charged like a bull, abandoning pretence at training in favour of bringing his opponent down. Easily dodging the hasty charge brought about by anger the Astartes struck out with both axe and sword, the powerful blows of the former syncing up with the quick strikes of the latter to create a powerful fighting style. The attacker went down quickly.

The Astartes sighed and examined his beaten foe. Running a hand across his forehead, pushing back the sun blonde hair that had trapped itself across the right side of his face, his lilac eyes were filled with humour as he stared at the fellow Astartes, brought down by his own rage at being bested. True there was shame in such a thing, being bested by an opponent when you had a three to one advantage, but of course with Kalcius Seten as that opponent, the odds took a whole different meaning.

"Brother Leocoil, I keep telling you that your anger is getting in your way. After I took down Brother Temetius you should have attacked my rear, taking advantage of the blindspot and the brief moment that I would have been unable to respond," Kalcius lectured to Leocoil who was rising from the floor, his expression that of a dejected hound who has failed to perform a task that he has been taught many times.

Kalcius offered Leocoil his hand and pulled him up the rest of the way. Brothers Temetius and Erten picked themselves up from the cold training room floor, Kalcius smirked as they left the room along with Leocoil. They would pout for a time but eventually they would be back to challenge him, the three of them had taken a disliking to him on Baal during the aspirant trials, and to this day not one of them had bested him, alone or together. Kalcius actually encouraged it, he enjoyed training against all three in full armour in preparation for actual battle, he liked to be prepared. Though the thought that one day he might have to actually battle brother Astartes was laughable, he still trained in the fashion that one day it could actually happen.

Noticing sergeant Telros standing just at the edge of the room Kalcius shot a grin at him, the sergeant was craggy and weather-beaten where Kalcius was handsome and clear. Kalcius knew what he was here for, it was time to disembark.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Stormbird was level for a moment as Kalcius leaned back and stared upwards into the sky. The bright plumes of colour were explosions, though whether human or Ork deaths he could not tell, though he dearly hoped they were all Orks. The space battle had been immense, and Kalcius appreciated the scale of it even though he knew he was just a single warrior, and in such a situation a single warrior could do very little. It was not at all like the ground, but that was where Kalcius and his brothers could be true Astartes.

The coming battle would be fierce, and for once the Blood Angels were not alone in the battle. Though Kalcius knew that the Blood Angels were the greatest of the Legio Astartes, the other Legions were still great in their own right. The Iron Warriors, the Sons of Perturabo and Olympia were battling against the greenskin hordes on Etraxi IV. Kalcius had heard of the Iron Warriors legendary prowess at siege combat, and so he was surprised that the greenskins were posing such a threat that the Blood Angels had to come to their cousins aid. It was either a horde of immense proportions, and Kalcius greatly wished that that was the case as such a battle would be momentous for the Imperium and the Blood Angels, or the Iron Warriors reputation had been exaggerated.

As the vox erupted into life Kalcius did as he heard and changed the frequency to that of the Iron Warriors. He could hear the battle around him, Astartes reporting breaches by the Orks, war-machines clashing with each other and the general roar that always accompanied mass warfare. It was exhilarating. An Iron Warriors Captain named Severus was informing them of the situation over the vox as Kalcius rose, shutting off the stream of visual information, to stare out of the open ramp of the Stormbird at the battle below that was rife with explosions and the relentless bark of static bolter fire.

Telros stood and made his way to the edge. Kalcius watched as his sergeant strode towards the end of the ramp and outlined the objective. It was relatively simple, they were to aid a captain named Vilhelm Ironheart whose men were in trouble. Kalcius chuckled, Ironheart? That was a stupid name, though fitting for an Iron Warrior he supposed. As Telros leapt from the Stormbird Kalcius was right alongside him.

Hurtling through the air Kalcius activated his jump-pack a fraction later than everybody that followed him, allowing him to land on the broken hab building that loomed below them. As he landed he immediately took in his surroundings, the Iron Warriors were at least five-hundred yards to the left while a howling mob of Orks was barrelling down on them, they stood between the Blood Angels and the Iron Warriors as they charged towards the latter, intent on slaughter.

Telros came up to Kalcius and looked down at the enemy with him. Kalcius turned and smirked inside his helmet, he knew what Telros was going to say before he could even finish his thought. Together Kalcius and Telros leapt into the fray, chainswords roaring.


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## BlackApostleVilhelm (May 14, 2008)

Gabriel, Laertes and Sol: As you follow the Iron Warriors through the forge none of you speak as Shamesu gives you all a brief briefing, *"The massive hulk of a ship that the Orks arrived in was first spotted at the very edge of the Etraxi system four weeks ago. Since then it has made its way to the ninth planet in the system, the Ork horde within quickly overrunning its small defenses and taking the planet, the ship then moving on to the eighth planet where it has been for the past four weeks."* The group turns a corner and suddenly the tight enclosed spaces and walkways of the upper forge open up into a massive artificial canyon, its sides the forge spires and many Manufactorum buildings.

In the center of the canyon stood what could only be your destination, a massive fortress made of metal glinted in the orange light of the forge's fires. A bridge large enough to fit two Rhinos led all the way from an open area to your left up to the entrance of the fortress, this seeming to be the only way in other than possibly Stormbird or some kind of air transport. As you follow Shamesu as he heads towards the bridge he continues speaking, *"The Eighth's Captain of the Second, Severus Pyrrhus, and our other Siege Captain, Vilhelm Ironheart, are on Etraxi VIII leading its defences..." 
*
*"How are they doing?"* asked Oranos, the old veteran's scarred, craggy face and long white hair open to the air, his helm locked at his waist. Shamesu's eyes narrowed before he answered, *"They have held a force three times their size for three weeks, they have done well, but they are slowly being pushed back. They have given us enough time to evacuate the citizens on the other planets' outposts and move them here where they can continue to work and will be much safer should this horde get any closer."*

By now you are almost across the bridge, any doubt in your mind that the fortress belonged to the Iron Warriors vanishing as you see the massive banner of the IV Legio Astartes hanging high above a set of huge steel and adamantine doors large enough to fit a Titan through them. Above the doors a saying is inscribed in a language you do not recognize, it reads; _Ut filii Olympia, factum ex ossibus suis in ferrum. Donec firmamentum in altum ignes plasmat ipsa nobis ad pugnam et in nomine gloriosi imperatoris, quem debemus fidelitatem et immortales virtutem. Ut sequi patrem nostrum per astra forti malleo contra inimicos suos homines, qui stant coram nobis penitus et.

Legio IV Astartes Nichil obstant! Ferrum Intus! Ferrum Sine!_

You guess it is written in Olympian which resembles an ancient form of Gothic, do you wonder what it says? Whatever it means it gives you something to think about as you enter the massive doors and step inside the fortress.

-------------------------------------

You all stand inside a strategum that was easily twice the size of the one on your ship, yet there are very few occupants within, a few Iron Warriors and Imperial Army officers taking up the massive space along with a few Blood Angels. In the middle of the room is a 3D map of the battle taking place on Etraxi VIII, numerous notes along the sides blinking with information as they were replaced with newer information, the current occupants of the room surrounding the map.

You see the back of Verros standing next to an Iron Warrior in uniquely crafted armor and as you approach him Shamesu says something in Olympian, the Iron Warrior turning to take you in. His armor was baroque in design yet still sported the steel, black and yellow coloring of his brothers, his face so weathered and scarred it looked like it was cracking. Yellow eyes with green specks bored into you from their perch in a bald head, *"Are you the last?"* he asked Shamesu.

The captain nods, *"Yes Warsmith, you may begin."* Dredos Fellhammer stares at you all as if scolding you for being the last ones in before beginning his briefing. Verros nods at you all as Fellhammer explains in detail what has happened, the estimated number of the Ork horde and that more may be coming, *"So you see brothers, if three other ships arrived in only three weeks I suspect more will come, and soon. This means we need to be ready for them which is why I will be sending the majority of your men to the other planets to aid in slowing the horde down on its way here."* 
*
"The defenses will not hold."* said a cold robotic voice from the left side of the table, a tech priest stood hunched over in red robes, his body shaking. One look from Fellhammer silenced the tech priest and seemed to increase his shaking, *"Tell your fool of an Archmagos that his pessimism is not welcome."* He continues before finally finishing the briefing, you lot finding out you are going to be sent to Etraxi VI to bolster the Astartes presence there.

[phew. ok so now that the briefing is over those in the room are now talking to each other in small groups. you can speak to each other, Turiel, Verros, either of your sergeants, Shamesu, Warsmith Fellhammer, the frightened tech priest or the captain of the Eighth's First Company Barok. or if you wish you can reflect on what you have seen and heard so far. if you have any questions feel free to ask.] 

Kalcius: You race just behind Telros as the squad runs through the top floor of the building that the orks were rushing through. The sounds of heavy gunfire opening up being accompanied by gutteral ork yelling, the greenskin had reached the Iron Warriors. 

Telros begins to slow down before putting his hand up to stop the squad, he looks out a window down at the scene below, the eight man strong Iron Warrior squad had been joined by one of your own Tactical squads. You can see a marine in a strange looking set of tactical dreadnought armor colored in the IV Legio's livery, automated weapons systems firing hails of death at the oncoming greenskin. *"Telros, this is Hadusa, we are reinforcing the Iron Warriors' position but we need to hold for a while longer so they can finish the defences in this area."* Telros nods before pointing over at the sides of the buildings, *"Quick attacks only. Strike and kill before taking off to the next building, you all know the drill, hit and run."* a rocket takes off from the terminator and impacts an ork carrying a makeshift flamethrower, the resulting explosion shaking the building you are in. 

Telros laughs before saying, *"And watch out for crossfire."* he leaps out of a window and down at the greenskin, hacking two heads off before taking off again into the air. You follow your sergeants orders and cut down a few greenskin before leaping into a building for some cover, yet before you can even recover from landing a huge slab of green muscle slams into your side and tackles you through a wall. The force of the hit makes your head spin before you finally regain yourself and are able to push the massive ork off of you with a kick to the chest, it bellows in rage before charging you again, a set of huge powered claws on each hand.

[ok so this guy you cannot kill in one post, that will be the next update. im allowing you to kill three greenskin before meeting this lovable guy so have fun with them, heads rolling etc because this guy will be hard to kill. if you have any questions pm me.]

Zahiel: You hear a guttural roar as the force you are to defeat gets nearer and nearer, eventually opening fire as the orks rush out of cover and straight into the killzone you and the Iron Warriors have set up. The first wave is gunned down with little to no effort on your part but soon the tide of enemies seems to increase, more and more orks appearing after killing only one. 

You, one of your brothers, and two Iron Warriors are located on the top floor of a building that partially surrounds the small courtyard you are all defending. As you fire down at the orks you can see Astartes on the other side of the courtyard doing the same, and those that are left down in the courtyard behind all kinds of cover.

While the fire fight rages on you notice Assault Marines using hit and run tactics on the horde to help dwindle their numbers, their blood red armor marking them as your blood brothers, Blood Angels. Yet an explosion on the other side of the building draws the attention of you and an Iron Warrior, the two of you going to see what had caused it. You reach a set of stairs and look down to see a group of large orks wielding axes and large claws rushing up the steps to try and outflank your brothers in the courtyard.

You and the Iron Warrior rush back to your brothers and set up an ambush, springing it when the orks reach your position. A lucky bolter round catches one in the face and kills it instantly, blowing its brains out as it fell to the ground, the ork behind it hacking his axe down on one of the Iron Warriors' shoulders and severing his arm with ease.

[ok so these guys are tough, right now there are three, all will take more than one post to kill but as of right now you only have one coming after you and it is wielding a axe with a makeshift shield. you will not kill it in this post, that will be the next update. if you have any questions pm me.]


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

_*"Afraid? Do not be fooled by public opinion. Admittedly if you say Astartes and Iron in any bar through the imperium, the conversation will turn to Ferrus Manus, stoic and loyal. Discussion of the greatest siege masters turning to Dorn and his imperial Fists, yet the iron warriors are not afraid of us any more than we them. Each warrior will fight with stoicism bravery and honour to make any legion proud, people just fail to recognise it."*_

Sol Said in response to Gabriel's ribbing.

_*"We will do our legion proud and our star will shine as bright as it ever has, we will kill and slaughter with the utmost ferocity. Unwilling and stubborn they may be yet keep your eyes open, we will all learn something before the end of the campaign."*_

"Peace brother,"Laertes interjected over their secure vox line as they walked,"I am sure no offense was intended, but my experiences with the Iron Warriors have shown me that they value themselves above any others. We will do our legion proud, of this I have no doubt, but whether or not they do right by us remains to be seen. Hush now, the Grand Captain Shamesu seems to be giving us an update of the situation."

_*"The massive hulk of a ship that the Orks arrived in was first spotted at the very edge of the Etraxi system four weeks ago,"*_ Shamesu began_*,"Since then it has made its way to the ninth planet in the system, the Ork horde within quickly overrunning its small defenses and taking the planet, the ship then moving on to the eighth planet where it has been for the past four weeks."*_ 

Laertes took in their surroundings as they walked and turning a corner in the cramped hallway of the Forge, they walked into a massive artifical canyon, made up of forge spires and manufactorum buildings, at the end of the canyon, directly in the center, was a massive fortress of metal. A large bridge, wide enough for two rhinos to travel side by side, lead from an open area up to the fortress entrance and it appeared that this was the only land route into the fortress. The warriors of the IV could hold out in that fortress for a very long time. Captain Shamesu turned toward the bridge and continued walking up to the mighty structure.

_*"The Eighth's Captain of the Second, Severus Pyrrhus, and our other Siege Captain, Vilhelm Ironheart, are on Etraxi VIII leading its defences..."*_ he continued.

_*"How are they doing?"*_ Sgt. Oranos asked, his helm secured to his belt, the grizzled veteran's, craggy face and long white hair open to the elements. 

Shamesu's eyes narrowed in obvoius irritation at the question before saying_*,"They have held a force three times their size for three weeks, they have done well, but they are slowly being pushed back. They have given us enough time to evacuate the citizens on the other planets' outposts and move them here where they can continue to work and will be much safer should this horde get any closer."*_

The ring of ceramite boots on metal indicated that they were crossing across the mighty bridge into the fortress, and Laertes looked up to see the massive banner of the IV Legion displayed proudly over the doors that could allow a titan entrance into the fortress. Its surface inscribed with a longs statement that appeared to be in Olympian. Laertes only vaguely wondered what the saying meant, before following the rest of the group through the giant doorway and into the fortress proper.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shamesu lead the group into a very large strategum that was, to Laertes suprise, mostly empty. A few high ranking Iron Warriors and Imperial army officers were moving around the room taking their seats and speaking together in low voices. The center of the room was dominated by a huge holodisply rendering a 3D map of the battle that was evidently occuring on Etraxi VIII. Blinking dots and notations constantly changing and moving as the battle progressed, giving the command here real time updated information. 

Captain Verros was over to the side, speaking with an Iron Warrior in uniquely crafted armor, and both Verros and the Iron Warrior seemed to be agitated in their stance and manner. "I have a bad feeling about this entire campaign,"Laertes thought to himself,"Something is amiss." He could feel it in his bones. 

Shamesu approached the Iron Warrior and said something to him in Olympain, and the Warrior turned, his baroque armor unpainted save the black and yellow coloring of the Iron Warriors. Laertes recognized the weathered and scarred face of Warsmith Fellhammer. He was no prettier in person than he had been on the holo-display. His yellow eyes seemed to bore into the the newly arrived group as he asked,"Are you the last?"

Shamesu responded with a nod, _*"Yes Warsmith, you may begin."*_ 

Laertes noticed Captain Verros nod in their direction and he listened as the Warsmith outlined everthing that had been happening in the sustem, the disposition of his forces, the estimated numbers of Orks, including estimates of reinforcements that may still be coming towards the system based on scouting reports. _*"So you see brothers, if three other ships arrived in only three weeks I suspect that more will be coming and soon. This means we need to be ready for them which is why I will be sending a majority of your men to the other planets to aid in slowing the horde down on its way here." *_

Laertes' eyes narrowed behind his visor. Things were beginnig to feel familiar. The Blood Angels would take to the front line as the Iron Warriors hid behind their fortress walls. He said nothing of his feelings to the others, but he would definitely be talking to Gabriel about it when he had the chance.

A new voice, cold and robotic echoed into the conversation from the far side of the table, _*"The defenses will not hold."*_ Laertes peered around the holo-display and saw a tech-priest, clad in red robes, hunched and shaking. It was as if the very act of speaking in such company frightened the priest. 

_*"Tell your fool of an Archmagos that his pessimism is not walcome,"*_Fellhammer snapped at the priest, sending the hunched form into further convulsions.

_*"You and your men are going to be sent to Etraxi VI, Captain Verros. A transport is already awaiting you. You are all dismissed."*_ He said with a contemptous wave of his hand. Laertes could almost feel Verros indignation at such treatment, but his captain remained silent, giving a stiff nod of assent and understanding. 

Laertes couldn't help but feel disdain for the Iron Warriors. He they were, answering a call for aid, and they were being treated like an unwanted cousin showing up to dinner. He seethed in anger at the Warsmith's treatment of his company. But forced himself to push that rage to the side. He was here to fight for the Empire, not for the Iron Warriors. That man did not command him, Verros did. Taking a deep breath he turned to Verros and Turiel, and asked,"What are your orders sir? Should we depart immediately, or should we stay and enjoy some more of the Iron Warriors wonderful hospitality?" The last he said so that only Verros and Turiel could hear him, sarcasm dripping from every word.


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## Lord Ramo (Apr 12, 2009)

"Afraid? Do not be fooled by public opinion. Admittedly if you say Astartes and Iron in any bar through the imperium, the conversation will turn to Ferrus Manus, stoic and loyal. Discussion of the greatest siege masters turning to Dorn and his imperial Fists, yet the iron warriors are not afraid of us any more than we them. Each warrior will fight with stoicism bravery and honour to make any legion proud, people just fail to recognise it."

Sol turned to face Gabriel and Laertes, Gabriel staring back at him, though one could not tell seeing as they both still wore their helms.

"We will do our legion proud and our star will shine as bright as it ever has, we will kill and slaughter with the utmost ferocity. Unwilling and stubborn they may be yet keep your eyes open, we will all learn something before the end of the campaign."

Sol replied angrily to Gabriel's words as he took the harmless jibe at the Iron Warriors over the top. Gabriel kept his face straight afterwards as Laertes spoke, trying to soothe his brothers anger. Laertes spoke with sense as usual, trying to direct the attention back to the seige captain and his small briefing on what was happening here. Gabriel diverted his attention back to the Siege captain as they walked, absorbing all the information that he spoke off.

"The massive hulk of a ship that the Orks arrived in was first spotted at the very edge of the Etraxi system four weeks ago," Shamesu began,"Since then it has made its way to the ninth planet in the system, the Ork horde within quickly overrunning its small defenses and taking the planet, the ship then moving on to the eighth planet where it has been for the past four weeks." 

He paused as the groups of veterans entered an artificial canyon, Gabriel couldn't help but admire the craftmanship and sheer size of this place. Forges, spires and manufactorum buildings dotted the canyon, enough to hold probably millions of workers Gabriel thought to himself. Each spire and building was a testament to the Great Crusade, and the Emperor's mission to unite mankind Gabriel thought to himself. But however wondrous these were they came short of the huge fortress in the center. The sheer size of the fortress told Gabriel of the craftsmanship of his brothers. There seemed to be only one route in, a great bridge, large enough so that two rhinos could drive side by side. Surely the orks would never be able to take the fortress.

"The Eighth's Captain of the Second, Severus Pyrrhus, and our other Siege Captain, Vilhelm Ironheart, are on Etraxi VIII leading its defences..." Shamesu continued,drawing Gabriel back to reality.

"How are they doing?" Sgt. Oranos interjected, helm off as he led his group of veteran alongside the others. 

Shamesu's eyes narrowed at the question before saying,"They have held a force three times their size for three weeks, they have done well, but they are slowly being pushed back. They have given us enough time to evacuate the citizens on the other planets' outposts and move them here where they can continue to work and will be much safer should this horde get any closer."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group entered the fortress, moving through its large halls which seemed emptier than they should be. Soon they reached the strategum, which seemed to be very empty, only some Iron Warriors and Imperial army officers dotted around the room talking in hushed voices. They were led to a hologram, where their captain was stood with an Iron Warrior in uniquely crafted armour. 

As the group approached Shamesu spoke in Olympian to his Warsmith, who asked if they were the last group, getting a nod of affirmation in return. "So you see brothers, if three other ships arrived in only three weeks I suspect that more will be coming and soon. This means we need to be ready for them which is why I will be sending a majority of your men to the other planets to aid in slowing the horde down on its way here." The warsmith started, Gabriel looking at the large hologram as he spoke, going through the information gave to him. 

Suddenly a voice interjected, and the Astartes attention was directed to a tech priest as he spoke, saying the defences would not hold. Gabriel was interested in his opinion, by the Iron Warrior Warsmith shot it down quickly, and angrily, causing the tech-priest to shrink in fear. Finally the Warsmith finished, telling them that they would be sent to Etraxi VI. Gabriel did not like what was happening, it seemed though there were elements of the Eight Grand Company off world fighting they were content to sit in their fortress and allow the Blood Angels to take casualties. Laertes moved to speak with the Captain and Turiel, whilst Gabriel made a line towards Shamesu, "Siege Captain Shamesu,how many astartes can fit in your magnificent fortress?" He wanted to draw him into convosation, so that he could try and lift answers from him about what was going on here.


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## deathbringer (Feb 19, 2009)

They strode, a tear drop of blood red surrounded by giants of iron, the escort so close to being a guard, hostility seering from the iron clad giants. 

They do not want us here, this is their home, their moment to fight and die for the emperor. Perhaps they do fear us, fear that we will steal their moment, confound the purity of their glorious demise.

The tragic beauty of their lives and deaths lingered in the very words, the bitter elegance of the words enscribed above the door, sewn into the banner. The words traced patterns in his mind, all but incomprehensible, yet still touching his bitter soul with suprising familiarity, the last 4 words striking a chord.

He could guess their meaning and he hissed in a low growl

"Iron within, Iron without"

A true motto, a call to the longevity of the iron warriors, the bitter hardness of their hearts and bodies, even in a situation so dire, so desperate.

The forge rippled with hostile energy, the pounding of hammer on steel a dull metronome to their march, the sparks that flew a pure display of power and might.

They will fight us until the respect us, iron unwavering until the heat of battle, until the heat of the forge.

The briefing was short, the warsmith's heated rage and irritation at their presence, at the situation at the confounded mess spilling over onto a techpriest who quaked and shivered, bitter desperation rippling through his mind, his fears only repressed by the warsmith's savage ferocity

Sol's eyes fixed upon him, snapping too him and holding his gaze with ferocious intensity even as the warmsith proceeded, orders handed out eyes glowing like seering steel as he turned away. Gabriel, engaged Shamesu in halted conversation, Laertes letting out a bitter snarl as he turned to his captain, gripes of the situation, of the hostility flooding from twisted lips.

Sol moved away, siddling through gaps, past a giant in terminator plate, cold dead eyes fixing on him and Sol met his gaze with his own hard cold fury.

Terminators, the pride of the emperors elite, judged as the best, yet they were slower, giant behemoths with the strength to crush his skull instilled within the servos of their first.

Yet he was fast, whilst they lumbered, he jetted across the night sky, plummeted to earth a whirlwind of steel.

He would like to fight a terminator one day, to prove the value of speed against strength, of running blood against resolute iron.

He paused yet moved on not breaking the terminators soulful deep gaze til he stood before the techpriest. who still quivered and rocked from the warmsiths onslaught.

His voice was a lilting melody, honest and open, without hatred though he towered above the priest, the mortal meeting his gaze.

"Your pessism may earn the warsmith's ire yet I have always preffered to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Perhaps I have not been amonsgst the denizens of Mars long enough to dismiss their judgement. Is their something the warsmith holds back, or something you hold back from the warsmith that makes you doubt the ability of the emperors angels?


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Kalcius leapt to keep pace with Sergeant Telros as the squad charged through the building, the area was rife with the sounds of bolter fire and primitive Ork war chants. Kalcius smirked, the former was like music while the latter... well it would be silenced soon enough. Though one sound was clear above the others, the battle cries and screams of pain of the Iron Warriors, they were under heavy assault. It was time for blood to be spilt.

Telros slowed down, his hand raised to stop the Assault Squad. Kalcius stopped but took a step forward to see what he was looking at. Below the Iron Warriors were fighting hard, but Kalcius could make out figures in the red of the IX Legion, reinforcements had arrived. It would be good to take to the field alongside fellow Blood Angels, Kalcius didn't think that his being around the Iron Warriors for long would improve relations between the Legions. One of the Iron Warriors was armoured in a suit of Tactical Dreadnought armour, his automated weaponry spitting hails of death into the greenskins, entire Orkish bodies were blown apart in showers of gore, such a sight warmed Kalcius's heart, even if he didn't personally care for Terminator armour. It was far too bulky and prevented an Astartes from soaring in the sky like a Son of Sanguinius was meant to.

As the Sergeant leapt from the window and landed effortlessly Kalcius was already behind him, not needing any prompting to take to the skies and slaughter greenskins all in one graceful move. Kalcius dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, both axe and blade in hand, and quickly blocked a hasty strike by an Ork boy whose rusty knife broke in half on contact with the Blood Angel's chainaxe. The revving teeth quickly tore into the Ork's forehead, hacking through brain and bone as it severed through the greenskin's face and through his skull. Ripping the blade free Kalcius leapt forward and decapitated another Ork in a single strike, it never saw him coming. Kalcius relished such skill that he could perform, to end an enemy without it ever seeing its killer was sublime. A third Ork met its death as Kalcius drove his chainaxe into its side and tore through its spine while his chainsword lashed out and completely severed its right arm.

The entire affair took less than eight seconds and by the ninth Kalcius was in the air again, leaping into the blown open window of a hab-building. As soon as he landed Kalcius prepared to take off again, but before he could even turn his head a huge force tackled him from the side, sending the Blood Angel into the opposite wall. His head spinning Kalcius quickly righted himself, shaking his head clear and seeing his attacker. The Ork was huge, and from an Astartes that really meant something. Easily 10ft tall its overly muscled arms both bore huge snapping claws that looked fit for a junk pile, yet sparkled with orange energy across their length, Kalcius knew that they would have no trouble tearing through his armour and flesh. Its helmet was a spiky slab of metal with two large horns rearing upwards, both covered in blood. Kalcius quickly examined his foe's armour, it was poorly made and covered in patches of leather but it was mostly metal with large jagged spikes erupting from the frame.

Sparing no time the Nob bellowed an ugly cry and charged, its claws snapping at Kalcius who leapt to his right and lashed out, bringing his chainaxe down in a heavy arc into the greenskin's arm. Its cry was sharp but the blade did little damage before Kalcius was forced to rip it free and leap back. Blocking a quick jab by the beast, who's speed was remarkable despite its lumbering bulk, with his chainsword Kalcius began matching the Ork blow for blow, but strength was on the greenskin's side.


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## Santaire (Feb 13, 2011)

(So sorry about this, I completely forgot)

Zahiel heard a guttural roar above the thunder of bolters. Soon after he heard it the orks made a concentrated rush on his position. For every one he killed 2 more took his place. The squad withdrew slowly, covering each other with hails of bolter rounds. Zahiel reloaded his bolter and just at that moment the orks made another rush. Only one made it and lashed out at him. Zahiel ducked under the blow and drew his combat knife. He leapt forward, jamming the blade to the hilt in the ork’s brain before he ripped it free and sheathed it. The tide was endless and so the Blood Angels and Iron Warriors fell back.

Zahiel ended up in a building with 1 of his squad members and 2 Iron Warriors. They rained fire down on the orks and Zahiel spotted several other groups doing so as well. There was also a Blood Angels assault squad performing hit and run attacks. An explosion on the other side of the building drew his attention and Zahiel and one of the Iron Warriors went to check it out. What they found was a set of stairs leading to the courtyard that contained 4 veteran orks who proceeded to make their way forward. Zahiel and the Iron Warrior rushed back to their brothers and the 4 of them set up an ambush. The orks charged up the stairs to be met by a hail of bolter rounds. A lucky shot caught one of them in the face and he collapsed, leaving 3 to fight. One of them hacked the arm off one of the Iron Warriors.

It was about to finish the job when Zahiel tackled it, slamming his armoured weight into its side and knocking it to the floor. He drew his dagger and hammered the blade downwards. The tip glanced off the ork’s armoured pauldron and Zahiel rolled away, coming to his feet before leaping forward again. Then it was a wrestling match with Blood Angel against ork. Zahiel strained and slowly the dagger began to move towards the ork’s head. He pushed harder and it moved a little further. The ork strained and slowly began to push the dagger away. Zahiel punched it in the face but it only grinned and pushed further until the dagger was an even distance between them…


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## BlackApostleVilhelm (May 14, 2008)

[Gentlemen I apologize sincerely for making you all wait so long for this update, life has a way of keeping you extremely busy when you want to post an update, hope you all enjoy :biggrin:]

Laertes: As you finish your statement it becomes clear to you that while Turiel got a laugh out of it, Verros on the other hand did not, *"Our brothers may wear their pride more than other legions but they have a right to be angered at our presence."* Turiel's eyes narrowed, *"And how is that?"* he asked. Verros motioned for the two of you to follow him as he made his way to a grav lift, the platform bobbing lightly as the three of you stepped onto it. 

The captain stayed silent as the grav lift whistled upwards, the few seconds it took to reach its destination ending with a sudden stop and a small ring as the door you stopped in front of slides open. Verros steps through and out onto part of the fortress's battlements, the two of you following, *"Our brothers are not angered because we have come to aid them, quite the contrary actually, they welcome the aid for it is sorely needed."* As he walks you can see the massive defense guns of the fortress in all their splendor, huge artillery pieces and massive cannons spaced in between anti-aircraft and anti-infantry emplacements.

*"Our brothers are insistent that they did not send a request for aid, and I believe them. When we arrived the Warsmith told me that he had traced the signal back here to Erebus Forge, but like he had insisted, it had indeed not come from anyone within the Eighth Grand."* He stops and looks out over the forge's spires, *"They need more time to decode the whole message but the Warsmith believes there is a traitor amongst those who are the heads of this system, and the fact that that person got a message out without them noticing it has made our brothers feel vulnerable, and there's only one way that our brothers in the fourth legio respond to things that make them feel vulnerable." *

Turiel had a wicked smile on his face, *"Kill them?"* he jested, but Verros shook his head, *"No brother, the Iron Warriors do not simply kill their enemies, they crush them until there is nothing left but dust." *

Gabriel: *"Well, it can hold two grand companies at full strength, but it was meant to be maned by a much smaller force. I believe two thousand Imperial Army soldiers or two hundred Astartes could man the defenses quite easily, at the moment though we have twice as many guardsmen stationed here and a quarter of that Astartes amount, the good majority of them being the techmarines who keep the fortress running."* as he talks the siege captain's demeanor begins to change from his original cold harshness to a warmer, friendlier tone.

*"Ninety percent of the Eighth is currently in battle or awaiting the Ork horde to reach them within the next day. The orks literally seem to have endless numbers pouring out of that disgusting ship, which is why our previous plan was to simply slow them until we could salvage what we could and sabotage what we couldn't."* Suddenly he does something that you do not expect, he smiles at you, *"But since you and your brothers arrived we have the extra manpower that we need to be able to take the attack to them." *

Sol: The small techpriest's violent shaking begins to settle, the tone in your voice putting him into a less nerve wracked state, *"We...well we simply do not have a big enough force lord. The orks pour endlessly out of their hulk without stopping, we do not have enough forces to hold our lines and also attack their ships in a manner that would destroy them, for now we are simply holding them at bay."* he shrugs, his red robes shifting slightly, the metal pieces on his hands clinking lightly as he nervously played with them. 

His voice gets low, *"There is also a snake in our midst lord, one who seeks to cripple and humiliate my masters in the IV Legio. He...." *the techpriest was cut off by a voice that sounded like grinding stone, the massive astartes that appeared behind him completely dwarfing his frail body, *"Redivivus, I believe the Archmagos needs you."* the techpriest's violent shaking returned as he answered, *"Yes lord Barok."* If you had ever seen the priests of mars move quickly you could comfortably say that you had never seen one move that fast out of a room before.

You look at the marine who Redivivus had refered to as Barok and can clearly see the markings of First Captain, yet he wore no terminator armor like so many of the other Iron Warriors you had seen so far. Instead he wore what looked like to be specialized artificer armor, most likely Olympian made, the armor made to be worn by only a master in siege craft.* "First Captain Barok of the Iron Warriors Eighth Grand, I would like to apologize for the attitude of the men, there are certain fears that were sitting at the back of their heads that have now been made real by your presence. They simply do not know how to react."*

Kalcius: Unfortunately the commotion caused by the duel between you and the nob catches the attention of some of his companions, a fairly large group of sluggaz leaping up the steps towards the sound of the battle, lucky for you three Blood Angels and one Iron Warrior happened to hear the fight too and had come to investigate. The nob’s attention gets pulled to the coming Astartes and you take the opening, aiming to slice its head off, but the large ork manages to move faster than you anticipated and instead your chainsword slices through its arm at the elbow. You step in to finish it off but are beaten to the punch by the Iron Warrior who had come to aid you, he powers his shoulder into the beast’s chest and the two of them disappear through a wall.

As the orks cascade out of the stairwell and into the surrounding rooms they were met with precise bursts of bolter fire, red and pink explosions accompanied by pained yelps and cries of rage as greenskin after greenskin was cut down. You feel a strong hand grab your shoulderplate and pull you out of the way of the oncoming tide, for a brief moment you see a flash of red, one of your brothers pulled you to safety? The idea of one of your brothers aiding you shatters as the same red fist that had pulled you out of the oncoming horde pulls you through a doorframe that buckles and collapses, its small opening not made to fit an Astartes, let alone one with a jump pack.

You manage to free yourself from the powerful grip and turn to see the nob who you had been dueling with moments before, its face and body drenched in its own and Astartes blood, the body of the Iron Warrior nowhere to be seen. The nob’s arm hangs torn and mangled at its side, multiple craters wept blood and pus down its chest, the product of close range bolter rounds slamming into it at full speed. It bellows at you before charging, its one good arm still wielding an activated power klaw.


[ok so you are in a small bedroom type room with this thing, it only has one arm to use and it's severely injured, that does not mean it will not be hard to kill. Im giving you permission to kill it in this post but it wont be easy.]

Zahiel: The ork’s raw strength begins to beat yours, the dagger slowly getting closer and closer to your face, the serrations in the blade scratching against the surface of your helm. But before the blade can reach your face the nob is knocked off its feet by one of your brothers, the blur of red power armor disappearing as the nob tossed the Blood Angel through the doorframe next to him, the nob bellows in rage as it turns back to you.

[Ok im giving you permission to kill the nob, but like i said above, it wont be an easy one to kill, have some fun with it. once you are finished with the duel the marine that had saved you returns and is standing in the doorway]

As the nob's lifeblood leaves its veins the battle brother who had saved you appears in the same shattered doorway he had involuntarily used to leave, *“Come brother, our cousins need our aid.”* He motions for you to follow him, the two of you sprinting down a hallway and out onto a balcony that looked over the battle below, the killzone that had been set up by the Iron Warriors now nonexistent.

You can see that the orks’ endless numbers had eventually overrun the other Astartes in the buildings across the courtyard from you, Captain Ironheart now taking the brunt of the assault. *“Come! We must stop the orks!”* As the two of you make your way down to the courtyard you pick up three Iron Warriors along the way, your five strong group bursting out of the hab complex with a hail of bolter fire, cutting down orks as you make your way towards the rest of your brothers and the Iron Warriors. 

*“We must make our way into the waste management plant! Our assets in this area have been secured!”* the Siege Captain’s booming voice resounding throughout the courtyard. Without a second thought the lot of you rush into the plant, an Iron Warrior stopping briefly to place charges on the doorway before sprinting after you. As you follow one of your brothers you wonder why they are retreating, are they not known for standing and fighting no matter the costs? The Siege Captain did say that their assets had been secured but this sudden turning tail and running from the enemy does not seem like normal behavior for your cousins. How does running from the battle feel to you? Will you voice your opinion?


[ok so if you guys have any questions feel free to PM me and I will be happy to help. i will be posting another update, larger then this one, very quickly once everyone has posted so that we can catch up at where we should be for the Rp. Once again I apologize for the very long wait!]


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## Santaire (Feb 13, 2011)

The blade gradually moved towards the impassive visor. The Blood Angel strained at it, heaving with all his strength but the ork was ever so slightly stronger than him and so pushed the blade back all the way until it was scraping his face plate. A red painted arm wrapped around the ork’s chest and heaved it backwards, relieving the pressure on the combat blade. The nob spun and grabbed its new attacker, hefting him before throwing him through another doorway. From the flash of red the Blood Angel knew it was one of his battle brothers and, taking advantage of the distraction, he pulled in both legs before thrusting them upwards. His armoured heels slammed into the ork’s chin and lifted it a few centimetres off the floor. The marine rolled to his feet and crouched low.

With a sudden burst of speed and ferocity he lunged forward. The serrated dagger punctured skin and muscle before jamming in the ork’s upper arm. The beast roared with pain and anger and the Blood Angel howled with it. He lost himself to the fury and suddenly all traces of his personality were sealed within a small dark box of oblivion at the back of his mind. The rest was filled by hate. He was a blur of blood red motion. An armoured foot lashed out, slamming into the side of a knee before the Blood Angel’s own knee arced round to slam into the ork’s chest as it half fell. It stumbled back and he slammed a series of hammer blows into its chest. However its resistance was formidable and it refused to die.

The Blood Angel dropped to the ground and spun, one leg extended. The foot slammed into the side of its ankle and it tripped. He rose smoothly and ripped the dagger out as he did so. He slammed the dagger downwards, pinning the ork to the ground. He walked over and picked up his boltgun. He stood above the beast and pointed it one handed at its head. There was a gun shot, a faint whiff of gun powder and a hollow clack as the slide slammed back into place…


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Where Turiel chuckled at Laertes' statement, Verros met his words with stoic features and quiet words, _"Our brothers may wear their pride more than other legions but the have a right to be angered at our presence,"_ the Captain said. Laertes knew that his Captain gave him more leway than most to speak his mind, but he heard the quiet rebuke for what it was and closed his mouth, his reply stiffled before it was given breath. Turiel however spoke, asking the question for both of them, _"and how is that?"_ his tone skepitcal. Verros looked around the room and motioned for Laertes and Turiel to follow him, and made his way to the grav lift. He saw that Gabriel was speaking with Captain Shamesu and thought that if anyone could get information out of the man it would be his friend. With a sigh he stepped into the lift with Verros and Turiel. 

The whistling of the lift was all that Laertes heard for duration of their trip upwards, and with a lurch the lift stopped and with a quiet ring the doors slid open to reveal the expanse of the fortress' battlements. It was only after making sure that they were alone did Verros continue to speak. _"Our brothers are not angered because we have come to aid them, quite to the contrary actually, they welcome the aid for it is sorely needed."_ The statement confused Laertes. If their assistance was so needed why the cold shouldered welcome from their brothers of the IV? Why ostricize those who have come to your aid regardless of the circumstances of their arrival. It made no sense to him, though, he must confess, little the Iron Warriors did made sense to him. 

Falling into step with Verros the trio walked around the battlements, massive defense guns reslendent in the sunlight. Laertes could see that the amount of fire power the Iron Warriors had here could level an invading force. The huge artillery pieces and massive cannons spaced and alternating between anti-infantry and anti-aircraft. He begrudingly had to respect the Iv for their skills in seige craft. This was an impressive fortress to be sure. 

_"Our brothers are insistent that they did not send a request for aid, and I believe them. When we arrived the Warsmith told me that he had traced the signal back here to Erebus Forge, but like he had insisted, it had indeed not come from anyone within the Eighth Grand."_ Verros stopped, his pensive gaze taking in the spires of the fortress and the landscape beyond, _"They need more time to decode the whole message but the Warsmith believes there is a traitor amongst those who are the heads of this system, and the fact that that person got a message out without them noticing it has made our brothers feel vulnerable, and there's only one way that our brothers in the fourth legio respond to things that make them feel vulnerable."_ 

_"Kill them?"_ Turiel responded with a chuckle and Laertes barked out a laugh in kind. Verros however did not laugh, his features becoming more passive and remote, _"No brother, the Iron Warriors do not simply kill their enemies, the crush them until there is nothing left but dust."_ The cold certainty of his statement took Laertes humor and squashed it. The severity of the situation coming to clear light in his mind. If their was a traitor here on Etraxi, then things would be even more interesting than he had originally thought. Orks, Traitors, and old grudges, not a good combination in his book.... not a good combination at all. Laertes directed his gaze at the landscape surrounding the fortress as his captain had done seconds ago, and could not help but wonder what this campaign held in store for them.


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