# The Emperor's Fist



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

The war on Coronis IV had lasted almost six years. The populace had all but been destroyed or fled to the southern cities, where the Imperial Guard and Legions of Titans has crushed the heretics against the steel and blood of the Imperium's retribution. Rumour had it that a company of Space Wolves had joined them near Reiksberg. And of course, Reiksburg was the source of the fiercest fighting on Coronis IV, so as the Emperor would have it, Sergeant Kal Volsen's squadren had been sent there. Three tanks strong, it represented the strongest support arm (excluding the Wolves, of course) avalible on the planet.

Volsen walked slowly across the muddy ground. Some spots had been pounded flat by massive tread marks or boot prints. The prefab hanger had been erected a week previously to house the three tanks of Echo Squad. Volsen watched in silence as a Trojan rumbled past and into the hanger. No doubt ferrying more shells for _Titanjaegr_, his pride and joy. The venerable tank was silent as he walked through the door in the hanger, it's massive engine quieted at last. Volsen's main gunner, Veden, was sitting in the dip between the main gun and the heavy bolters.

"How's she?" asked Volsen.

Veden puffed on a bac-stick. "She's fit to roll, sarge. Should be a bit before Thulin gets the left sponson on line, though. There's a problem with the ammo feed."

Volsen sighed. "Alright. Get the rest of the crew up here. The Space Wolves have requested our assistance. Got some problems with the heretic's armor."

Veden choked on the bac-stick. "The Space Marines?"

"Aye, the Space Marines."

Veden flipped the bac-stick over the tank's armor and hopped down, hurrying off to the door.

Volsen eyed the tank as Thulin scuttled away from the heavy bolters. the tech-priest was one of six assigned to Echo, and Volsen knew him as the most spirited of them all. 

"The machine's spirit is live, lord. The weapons are damaged, but will take little time to fix."

Volsen nodded. "Thank you, requisition whatever supplies you need from the squadron's armory."

Thulin nodded and strode away.

The XVI Archeron-pattern Shadowsword sat heavily on the plasteel floor of the hanger, it's main Volcano Cannon stained with soot. The _Titanjaegr_ had been in several major engagements before Coronis IV, and Volsen had told his crew they could keep track of the kills made by the venerable tank by painting a skull icon on the tank's gun mantle. Sixteen skulls grinned at Volsen from the adamantium armor of the Shadowsword. The Acheronian priesthood focused mainly on firepower than accuracy and had replaced the targeters on the secondary turrets with lascannon, placing the targeters co-axial to the Volcano cannon. Volsen smiled as his crew walked in the door, chattering.

"Are we really going to see Space Marines, sarge?" asked Ignis, the driver.

Thulin called over from _Titanjaegr_'s side. "I have it, lord! The ammunition is now fully mobile!"

"Now we are, Ig. Get Teiris and Quest's lads into their rides, and let's head off!"

Ignis smiled. "The Emperor Protects."


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Nice start mate. Very naturlistic and not over done. Looking forward to reading more.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks. I've never seen a story about a Shadowsword, so I figured I'd fill the gap
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The _Titanjaegr_ rumbled heavily over the corpses of hundreds of dead heretics, pushing aside the smoldering remains of a Leman Russ with its massive dozer blade.

"Nice kill Veden!" yelled Volsen into the vox.

"Pah. Not worth a skull, these traitors." retorted Veden.

The Volcano cannon smoked gently as a dozen singed traitors jumped and ran from a trench nearby, throwing away their weapons. Volsen muttered an order into the vox and the heavy bolters spoke, mowing down the heretics. 

To the tank's right, a second Shadowsword, the _Emperor's Sword_, fired it's main weapon into a rumbling Gorgon transport, which promptly erupted in flames. Volsen heard screeching wails as the traitors were cooked instantly in the vehicle. _The Stuff of Legend_, the last tank in Echo Squadron moved across the shell-pocked ground to the left of _Titanjaegr_, it's lascannon moving left and right hungrily.

Volsen climbed down the ladder from the mantlet into the main body of the tank. Ignis and Fredric were side by side in the front, Ignis wrestling with the steering bar, while to his right, Fredric sat in the targeting station, focusing on the radar. Dawson and Raezald were in the far sides of the tank manning the sponsons, while Thulin snored gently next to a panel of lights indicating the Shadowsword's status. Volsen noticed with a smile Thulin had made sure all the lights were green before falling asleep on the floor of the tank.

The tank commander heard a mighty roar from outside, and he stuck his head through the foreward hatch to see the Space Wolves cheering as the heretics routed, throwing away their armor and weapons and running as fast as they could away from the Wolves. A massive grey-armored warrior stood up from his position and raised a huge bloodstained axe. 

"By Fenris, and Russ, lads! The day is ours!" intoned the Wolf Lord (for it could be no other)

The Space Wolves raised another ragged cheer, raising weapons. Volsen noticed that many of them sported trophies on their armor, ranging from laspistols to helmets branded with Chaos stars. Ignis stopped the tank, and the other Shadowswords ground to a halt. 

"By Russ's blade, the traitor scum have been destroyed by His sons! For Russ! For Fenris! For the Wolves!"

The Space Marines cheered a third time, standing from their positions. Volsen turned to his vox-operator, Reiko.

"Radio command. We've taken Reiksburg's outskirts."


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## Atrum Custodis (Nov 2, 2007)

Extremely good.

If only I could write fluff like this lol.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

It's not hard, really. People think I write over weeks and weeks, but I wrote the second part in fifteen minutes. Just plug in a CD and let the WH40K flow through me.

-Dirge

P.S. I'll have a third part up by tonight, another couple tomorrow.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Sorry for double posting lads, but I want to get the third part up before AVP starts.
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Kal Volsen sat wearily at the table in Stahlengrad, the major suburb of Reiksburg. A bar known as The Hydra had a reputation for being stuffed with tankers at all times, but even so, the formidible black Carapace armor used by the Archeron 292nd drew a few stares from the patrons. The rest of his crew, Veden, Ignis, Fredric, Dawson, Raezald, Reiko, Grant, Thulin and Sareas sat a a few tables pulled together along with him. Reiko and Grant were playing Tarot, to the cheers of Thulin and Raezald, while Sareas was tinkering with her augmetics with a wrench attached to her mechadendrites. Fredric was eating his fourth plate of some type of local fish, while Veden was bragging to Dawson about his last super-heavy kill on Armageddon, an Ork Stompa. Volsen recalled with perfect clarity when Dawson had been assigned to replace Mergson (who was laying in a ditch, dead, on Armageddon) as the sponson gunner. Dawson was looking in awe as Veden compared the size of the Stompa (quite exaggerated) to the _Titanjaegr_.

The bartender showed up with another tray of ale, which was heartily accepted by the tank crew. Volsen thanked the man and handed him another wad of Imperial script. The _Titanjaegr_'s crew had been congradulated by the Space Wolves after the battle, and Volsen had been given a medalion by a marine called a Grey Hunter by his fellows. The small amulet was made of Adamantium and was cut into the likeness of the wolf's head of Russ. the crew had all gathered around him to look, and then Ignis had the idea to go check out the local bar, which the rest of the crew took up with gusto.

Volsen sighed, listening to the backround chatter. He heard Thulin and Sareas arguing about _Titanjaegr_'s machine spirirt, whether it was a machine spirit from an older vehicle (The _Titanjaegr_ had been built on Archeron by order of Warmaster Macaroth himself as part of a military contract.) or had been created specifically for the Shadowsword. Volsen remembered the first tank he had commanded, before the _Titanjaegr_. It had been a Leman Russ Vanquisher, a Gryphonne IV varient. Twenty-seven kills later, Command had ordered him to a hanger on Archeron, where he, Ignis, Veden, Thulin, and Raezald had first seen the Shadowsword-pattern tank.

Ignis tapped Volsen on the shoulder, shaking him out of his reverie. 

"We're gonna go, boss. Rez and Fredric are gonna hang around for a bit, play some Tarot with the gents from the 105th Cadian over there."

Ignis pointed to the corner, where Fredric and Raezald were talking happily with a Leman Russ crew from the Cadian tankies in the hanger next to theirs.

Raezald walked up to their discussion. "Yeah. We need some cash, and the keys to the car, dad."

Volsen chuckled. "Just bring yourselves back at a decent hour. We got another assignment the day after next."

Thulin walked past with Reiko. Volsen caught a bit of their concersation.

"That...woman! Who does she think-"

Reiko cut him off abruptly. "Cogs, play nice with the other kids."

Thulin grumbled. 

Volsen gestured at his crew, and together they stepped out of the Hydra, and into the artificial light of the Stahlengrad night.


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## ACoz (Oct 23, 2007)

Good stuff!


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks. I'll have this one, maybe a second, by tonight.
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_Titanjaegr_'s war spirit argued bitterly with Thulin for over an hour before agreeing to replace the second left-side heavy bolter, which was the malfunctioning weapon. The venerable tank's Volcano cannon began to steam at it's muzzle, which caused the ground crews to seek shelter, in case the machine spirit decided to remove the source of it's annoyance. But Thulin suceeded eventually in getting the spirit to accept a new Heavy bolter. Volsen had checked up on him, periodically, and had stood to watch the gun being installed, which calmed the war spirit. The machine held a certain place for Volsen, who, being it's first real commander, had exceeded it's projected abilities of a human. 

Deep inside the Shadowsword, the components making up the spirit's body clicked and whirred. Thulin worked diligently with his mechadendrites as he adjusted the wiring for the new heavy bolter. The war spirit had been dubbed E-2091/04 by the Archeron priesthoods, but Thulin simply knew the spirit as Azulanthis, it's chosen name. The tech-priest's collegues thought him mad, for none of them could hear the Spirit of the _Titanjaegr_ but himself and Volsen. Volsen had eventually come to realize that to disclose the information would result in the loss of his life, and had kept quiet. Thulin, however, felt no restrictions and communed freely with Azulanthis, the two of them quickly forming what could be called a friendship. Volsen had warned Thulin not to tell anyone, as the spirit could so easily be called a demon, and they would all die.

Kal Volsen's crew was busy playing a game of Tarot when he walked into the hanger bay. Ignis and Raezald stood up to meet him.

"Is it true, boss?"

"Yes, lads. It's true."

Raezald and Ignis exchanged a glance. 

"What are we gonna do, sarge?"

Volsen examined his shoes, then looked Ignis in the eye. 

"We have to report to Dunhurst tomorrow, for immediate redeployment."

He turned to his crew.

"Alright lads, listen up!"

Time and experience had tought the _Titanjaegr_'s crew to listen to Volsen immediately, as all activity in the hanger ceased. Thulin climbed out of the hatch and sat on the mantle of the vehicle.

"The forces of the achenemy have taken beck Reiksburg's outskirts. We've had reports of massive troop movement to the south of here. News is, we're abou to be surrounded. Our best bet is to take the sword', and head west. The Space Wolves and defense force will hold Stahlengrad until they're relieved, but Command has decided not to risk the Shadowsword company. We're pulling out."

A massive explosion sounded from outside the hanger, and air raid sirens rose to a wail.

"Too late, servants of the corpse god." spat a voice.

Sergeant Kal Volsen of the Archeron 292nd Armored turned slowly around, to face a group of disfigured mutants, carrying rusted weapondry.

"Time's up."


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Volsen cursed and dove to one side as the traitores opened fire. The rest of the crew dropped and grabbed at sidearms, returning fire. 

One of the mutants spasmed as an autopistol blew the side of it's head off. The largest creature, one of it's arms ending in a massive claw, threw it's followers back towards the melee, roaring. Volsen put a careful shot through the eye of this creature, which seemed only to anger it. He saw Reiko get cut down through massed lasfire, and Grant take a shot to the arm. 

Suddenly, the entire band of mutants erupted in mulit-colored blood and limbs, spattering the ground and the crew as _Titanjaegr_'s heavy bolter entered the fray. The leader let out one final groan, and then it's head exploded. 

Volsen stood up slowly, spattered with gore.

His crew followed suit, supporting the injured Grant.

"Did we lose anybody?"

"Reiko's dead, boss. Grant's hurt, but he looks to be OK."

Volsen nodded. Thulin emerged from the hatch of the tank.

"Thank you."

Thulin gave a look of passing confusion, and then gave Volsen a thumbs-up and disappeared back into the Shadowsword's depths.

Veden put his hand on Volsen's shoulder and gave him a gentle nudge forward. 

"Come on, boss. West, you said?"


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

great stuff. i see you take a lot of your names from WWII. 

Titanjaegr - King Tiger
Stahlngrad - Stalingrad
Reiksburg - sounds particularly Russian/German

nice work, i look foward to reading more


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## cerrakoth (Nov 7, 2007)

This is great=] you kick ass at fluff dirge!


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks everybody. I like to write short stories in my spare time. 
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_Titanjaegr_'s massive weight smashed straight through the smaller embankments, it's dozer blade making short work of them. The larger ones required the Shadowsword to either move around them, or go through or over them. Volsen didn't like climbing steep slopes in a tank. It made him dizzy. The entire tank tilted upwards, and gravity pushed them down. Instead, he had Ignis fit the tank with a huge, custom-made dozer blade, allowing them to go though all but the largest obstacles.

Kal Volsen sat in the commander's seat in the mantlet of the tank, listening to the slow rumble of the engines. They had made good headway, and had recieved word _The Stuff of Legend_ had also made it out of Stahlengrad, heading southwest, towards the last few Imperial positions to the south of Reiksburg. Most of the contacts he was recieving on the vox were coming from Bhrandenberg, to the west. Volsen sighed. The entire Reiksburg campaign had been a flop to begin with, he supposed. The lord general trusting too much in the Space Wolves to crush the opposition quickly. The Archeronian tankies practiced what was known as the Blitzkrieg, or Lightning War, in ancient Archeronese. Unfortunately, the Archeron tanks on the planet numbered exactly 23, his Shadowswords, and two companies of Leman Russ tanks. The first company had been obliterated in the first week of the Reiksburg battle, the second had been whittled down until the last tank was destroyed a day before Kal Volsen had arrived.

Down in the body of the tank, Thulin was muttering to himself, and tinkering with _Titanjaegr_'s drive, trying to garner more speed from the venerable tank. At last he simply folded up his mechadendrites and pounded his fist against the engine hatch.

"Azulanthis, damn it!"

The crew looked up from their stations.

Thulin gulped, and looked at Volsen quickly.

"Er, excuse me."

The crew turned away, muttering.

As if the curse had worked, the engine suddenly roared like a wounded dragon, and the tank lurched forward. Ignis grabbed the throttle, and pulled it back. 

"Dang, cogs, whatever you did, we're bookin' now!"

Thulin looked pleased with himself, and shot a smug look at Sareas, who eventually handed him a piece of Imperial script, rolling her eyes.

Volsen smiled. The competition amongst the priesthoods on Archeron made the forges extremely reliable, nothing the priests made would break naturally.

Of course, war didn't exactly fit into _Natural_ circumstances.

With the death of Reiko, Volsen had eventually taken over his radar duties, scanning the beeping round screen every time he passed the vacant station. Volsen had lost men before, on Armageddon, on Murder, and even on Archeron itself, when Orks had threatened his world.

After six hours of driving, Volsen had given Ignis a break. The driver had climbed into the commander's seat, and fell asleep instantly. The others had nodded off too, until only himself and Thulin remained awake. 

Volsen stopped the tank sixty miles from Bhradenberg's outskirts, and had fallen asleep in the driver's seat. Thulin had simply collapsed an hour earlier, and Volsen put the Imperial signals on the top of the tank, in case the Navy got involved, and had fallen asleep instantly.

When dawn broke, he was shaken awake by Raezald, who hurried him to the cupola and given him a pair of magnoculars.

A red and grey blur was on the horizen, but was quite clear through the magnoculars.

"It's the _Emperor's Sword_" said Raezald.

"Not anymore, it's not." said Volsen quietly.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Last one for tonight gents, more tomorrow, I'm going to end this by Wednesday or Thursday unless I get an overwhelming MORE MORE MORE by folks. Needless to say, there will be lots of violence, and I'm thinking about bumping off a few more people.
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Over the last twenty minutes, Volsen had played cat-and-mouse with the grotesque parody of Imperial engineering, the bloodied tank appearing every once in a while on his scope. They finally ended running at an abandoned warehouse in Dresden, near Bhradenberg. They waited. They waited inside the sweltering darkness, as Volsen had ordered them to only the barest amounts of power to mask them from their hunter's auspex. 

Half an hour later, a ravening blast of energy entered one side of the warehouse, and detonated against the far wall, blasting most of the structure away and melting the supports.

The red-on-grey tank trundled into the massive space, Volcano cannon smoldering. 

_Hellforger. Hellforger. Hellforger. Hellforger. Hellforger._

Volsen looked in disgust at the vox, before turning it off with a flick of the switch. 

"Veden! Before the gun's up again. Fire at will!'

Veden lined up a shot and hit the vehicle on the left quarter panel, blasting the sponson off and severing the left tracks, which fell with a clang on the floor of the warehouse. 

The tank swiveled on one remaining good tread to face _Titanjaegr_. A hellish glow built in its main cannon, and suddenly faded.

A flash appeared behind the tank, and a secondary explosion sounded. A blue-grey giant sprinted faster than Volsen could follow and leapt to the tank's mantle, along with another, who was attaching a detonator to his belt. The warrior threw himself towards the cupola, which he wrenched open. His second was glanced by a heavy bolter round, which sent him to the ground. The first warrior pulled a loop of grenades from his pack, and lobbed them into the tank. He jumped from the top of the vehicle just as the grenades detonated. Secondary explosions blasted hatches clear and shrieks could be heard. A battered mutant (Volsen recognized an Archeron uniform) hauled itself clear of the wreck, and was instantly gunned down in a hail of lasfire.

The blue-armored warriors final comrade entered the room, clutching at a hellgun. A full helmet covered his features, and a torn trenchcoat covered his bullet-riddled carapace armor. A bolt shell was stuck in his helmet. 

Madness! Though Volsen. The bolt shell could explode at any time. Disfunctional ancient technology fizzing to life and blowing the man's head from his shoulders. 

The first two warriors crept closer to _Titanjaegr_, the second reaching for a bulky melta bomb on his waist. Volsen grabbed at the hatch, and wrenched it open.

"Space Wolves!" he yelled. The space marines' weapons went down a fraction as Volsen made the sign of the aquilla across his armor. 

"And a Stormtrooper, well met." added Volsen. The guardsman nodded. 

"Can you take us to Dunhurst?" asked one of the Wolves. 

"That's where we're headed, lord."

The Space Wolf turned to his comrade, and spoke a few words inaudible to Volsen. Then the second nodded and the first turned to the tank commander. 

"Very well. Come." he beckoned the other two and climbed onto the tank's armor. 

The Stormtrooper climbed unsteadily onto the tank, and hissed quietly as he had to relinquish his weapon to one of the Wolves to climb with both hands. 

"Well, then." said the Space Wolf, handing the hellgun back to the guardsman, who accepted it.

Volsen stepped out of the hatch completely, moving the heavy stubber aside.

"Would you like to come down? It might be a little warmer."

The two Space Wolves declined, and the Stormtrooper dispassionately climbed down the ladder into the tank. 

Volsen climbed down as well, and Ignis turned on the venerable tank. The engine turned over, and then roared. 

The Stormtrooper set his hellgun down, and with both hands carefully took the scratched and dented helmet off, revealing first long, brown hair tied back, then the features of a woman.

Volsen looked in stunned silence. Women in the military were not unheard of on Archeron, but he had never heard of women ever becoming elite Storm Troopers. 

The woman untied her hair, then shook it back, and held out a gloved hand. 

"Sergeant Loren Viltry, 343rd Elysian ODST, Third Squad."


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

nice twist there. and yet more inspiration taken from world war II, the blitzkrieg, nice.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Volsen listened quietly as the situation became more and more clear. The entire Reiksburg campaign had been a diversion, while the traitors rallied their forces at Khiel, to the east. An entire regiment of Inquisitorial stormtroopers had been diverted from Hyades, a planet still under Inquisitorial quarentine, to battle for control of Khiel. the rest of the Space Wolf ground forces, another two companies, had made planetfall just west of Bhrandenberg, a sure sign of Imperial support for Coronis IV.

Viltry hadn't talked much since she and the Space Wolves had saved Volsen in the warehouse, but from what he could understand, the Elysian 343rd had been dropped in Reiksburg's western outskirts, and had fought a three-day battle against overwhelming odds. On the fourth day, they simply had been overrun by mutants and traitors. Viltry was, as far as she knew, the only survivor. Volsen had studied her carefully (Ignis had cracked a few jokes), and had come to the conclusion she was telling the truth. Her armor and weapons were ratty, and her helmet still had a bolter shell lodged in it. 

Veden and the others had taken up residence in a hotel down the street from the command post, and the Space Wolves had returned to their great company. Viltry had elected to stay with Volsen's crew, effectively replacing Reiko as the vox-operator.

_Titanjaegr_ had been rehauled once they got to Bhrandenberg, her weapons refitted and checked. Thulin had overseen all of this, per Volsen's instructions. Azulanthis had grumbled angrily to Volsen, but he had ignored the machine spirit. Which simply angered Azulanthis more. The machine spirit had become so enraged it had fused the Shadowsword's cylinder block, forcing Volsen to replace it. The repairs took a little over a week, and by then the Reiksburg campaign was well underway again, with Khiel burned to the ground and Bhradenburg secured tight.

Once more Volsen stepped over muddy ground, working his way to the new hanger that housed _Titanjaegr_ and _The Stuff of Legend_. The flag of Echo Company had been hung on the wall beneath the Imperial eagle, and Volsen noticed with a twinge of sadness that his crew had shot _Emperor's Sword_ out of the banner with a plasma pistol, borrowed from Sergeant Quest. As of now, only Viltry and Thulin were awake. Viltry had requisitioned new carapace armor on her return to Bhrandenburg, but had for some reason kept her helmet. The Munitorium adept had looked at her like she was mad when she had refused the pristine replacement. She had also kept her tattered backpack and her trenchcoat, which was still filthy and smelled slightly of smoke and mud. Thulin was quietly adjusting the Shadowsword's engine hatch with a large wrench, muttering to himself. 

The tech-priest shot a quick nod at Volsen as he entered the hanger. Viltry flicked a speck off her coat.

"How's she?"

"_Titanjaegr_'s machine spirit is unhappy with the refitting done at Bhrandenberg, but is accepting the neccesity of the cause."

"Well, see what you can do."

Thulin nodded.

Viltry had her emotionless helmet on, the bolt shell in it making it slightly lopsided. "I've heard the regimental commissars talking-"

Thulin looked up an interrupted. "Those meetings are secret! Just how close WERE you?"

"Close enough to hear them talking." Viltry said sarcastically, "And what I've hear is that the regiments are making a serious push into town. We should expect final assault orders in hours."

Volsen sighed. "Alright. Get the crew up. We're going to drill on close action before the cityfighting starts."

Viltry picked up her hellgun and walked slowly towards the barracks.

"Sir?"

Volsen turned to Thulin. "Yes?"

"I-I've been talking to Azulanthis. He's grown increasingly erratic. I'm not sure _Titanjaegr_ will be fully finctional in time for the battle."

"Do whatever you can, Thulin. As the Emperor wills."


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

I'm only going to do maybe three more of these, unless I get an overwhelming MORE MORE MORE, so if you like it, post!
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ZERO HOUR- Kursk, Reiksburg Outskirts, Day 1491, Coronis IV


_Titanjaegr_'s weight smashed the cultist to pulp, as it rumbled over the battlefield. The Wolves of Fenris had smashed aside the cults, and now their armored support was harrassing the flank of the Space Wolves. Kal Volsen, Jakob Quest, and the 874th and 101st Armored were tasked with eliminating over six hundred Chaos Leman Russ class vehicles, as well as locally made and produced tanks, and at least three Baneblade-class vehicles. The two armored regiments comprised two hundred and fifty vehicles each. Volsen had requested additional support from the Adeptus Titanicus, but the Imperator-class Titan was the only avalible on the planet, and had been promised to the Space Wolves for the assault on Reiksburg. 

Azulanthis grumbled in Volsen's ear.

[You have yet to fire a shot, and you are nervous?]

Volsen spoke quietly.

"We're human. We're supposed to be nervous before a battle."

[I have checked and rechecked the projected abilities of my vehicle, and its projected endurance will last approximately fifteen hours and six minutes under these conditions.]

"Thank you, Az. Will you please check the lifespan of myself and Ignis?"

[Eight point six years negative.]

"That should give you an answer then, eh?"

[Indeed.]

Viltry looked at him and winked. Over the last few weeks he and her had spent quite a bit of time together, and he had shown her the better parts of Bhrandenberg before they had left. She hadn't reenlisted into the Elysian ODST, so she was an anomaly. She didn't belong anywhere. Volsen had simply stated to the Administratum drone that they had a full crew. She had expressed an interest in staying on Coronis after the war, and invited him to do the same. He was still brooding over the decision.

[Lord?]

"What?"

[Forgiveness, Lord, but the prey is entering the target envelope.]

Volsen shook himself out of his dreaming. He turned to Veden.

"Status?"

"Ammo checked and clear, boss. We have six targets at 4.5 klicks"

"Then by all means, Ignis, take us away."

Veden nodded, and at the helm, Ignis threw the throttle forward. The Shadowsword lurched forward, and Veden took the first shot of the battle. The laser bolt struck a leading Leman Russ and detonated it, passing straight through and impacting the second and third tanks, causing them to explode as well.

He turned to the vox-lectern.

"Alright lads, for the Emperor! Charge!"

Leman Russ tanks bit into the mud as the drivers put their feet down. Turrets tracked heretic tanks and shells flashed between the tanks as shots were exchanged. _Titanjaegr_ fired another bolt, striking a rumbling Malcador-class, which immediately erupted into a fireball.

"Gas can." said Veden from the gunner seat, making everyone chuckle. Volsen noticed with a smile Viltry had a meltagun attached to the gun rack beside her station. If the tank was disabled, at least they could still fight. 

A second Malcador skidded around the remians of the first, and was hit by _The Stuff of Legend_, behind Volsen's own tank. Leman Russ tanks were now within a klick of each other, and were firing left and right as the fighting became close and bloody. Volsen and his last Shadowsword held back, firing into the melee. The Shadowsword was a long-range tank, designed for Titan-killing, not light vehicles. But the moral boost amongst the rank-and-file tankies was worth the Shadowsword's involvement.

Dawson fired the sponson lascannon, making a fourth Leman russ detonate. Thulin adjusted a bolt on the machine that made up Azulanthis. Sareas was under the main gun, making small adjustments to the pitch and angle of the weapon, while Veden was grinning crazily as a tank turret leapt into the air.

"We're going to need more paint!"

A low rumble came from the battle, and a Baneblade came forward, crushing a loyalist Leman Russ under it's treads. Its battle cannon boomed, and three Leman Russ exploded, shrapnel shredding the armor of a fourth. 

Volsen turned to Veden. "Draw a bead."

[Lord? You called?]

"Azulanthis, Overload power, if you please"

[Of course, lord.]


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Quick side note. I wore this jacket to a gaming club a few days ago. See if you can recognize it.

Hint: It's a character in the story's.

Hint: You do not need another hint if you read the story closely.

OK, on to the pics.





























Huzzah!
-Dirge


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Viltrys :wink: - nice stuff mate.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Yesh. E3-01 is Easy Company, 3rd Squad Sergenat.
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[Of course, lord.]

A warning glyph appeared on the machine spirit's panel, and a fizzing glow guilt around the capacitors. Veden had a slightly concerned look on his face, and Sareas looked sick. Ignis turned in his seat. None of them had ever seen an Overload shot before. 

Overload was a risky maneuver for tankies. It was tought at the Archeron Military academies mainly for the purpose of taking out Titans and other super-heavy vehicles. The entire power supply of the vehicle was channeled into the main weapon, and unleashed. The power backlash could damage the vehicle, so was used only in dire circumstances. Volsen didn't consider the circumstances dire, but he knew the tankies would love the stories.

_Titanjaegr_ shook a bare fragment, and Volsen simply said.

"Fire."

The entire tank leapt back a meter as a ravening blast of energy smashed the very air asunder. The Baneblade simply ceased to exist, as the energy bolt passed through it like a hot knife through butter. Meters of ceramite and adamantium evaporated, and the bolt passed through the next six tanks, before dissipating on the armor of the seventh, leaving it scorched and melted.

[Lord, the capacitors are drained. Sixteen seconds to main power]

"Very well. Dawson! Raezald! Keep the armor off us!"

The sponson gunners nodded their affirmatives. Grant hurried past Volsen, lugging a power cell to the great Volcano Cannon. 

Viltry's voice filtered over the comm.

"Multiple contacts, approaching. One Super-heavy, ten light."

A second Baneblade led a ten-unit strong company of Leman Russ to face the Shadowswords and the six loyalist Leman Russ. 

The tank came alive as power was restored. Veden wasted no time and punched a hole through the leading Leman Russ, as _The Stuff of Legend blew the left sponson from the Baneblade. The second shot by Veden took the turret off the venerable tank, and the last by Quest's crew blew it apart in an apocalyptic explosion. The four remaining loyalist Russ tanks took apart the heretics in short order, and Volsen ordered Ignis to move forward.

[Lord, I beg your pardon. I am recieving a message penned to you by the High Commissariat, Lord Torin Vonheckel himself.]

"Patch him through, Az."

The commissar's voice echoed through the tank as the heretic's gunfire continued to boom outside the tank.

"Congradulations, men and woman of the Archeron Armored companies!"

"Great." siad Veden dully. "He's giving speeches now."_


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Wow guys. This board is off my compy for days and this topic only goes down three places? Clearly, the forum is under unspeakable evil. The end times are here!
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Kal Volsen and his crew stopped _Titanjaegr_ a half-mile from the base of operations. The base hadn't been heard from in four days, so the rest of the Reiksburg battle companies were investigating. 

They advanced for several yards on foot, Viltry in the lead with the Meltagun.

"Hold up." 

Volsen tapped his comlink. 

"What?"

"Two mutants, they're headed away from the base."

Viltry entered the comm channel.

"You ladies stay here."

She crept away through the brush.

"Does it ever bother you the most take-charge guy on the crew is a girl?"

"Not at all."

The meltagun fired and a plume of black smoke writhed up from the ground. Volsen and the rest of the crew advanced. 

"Woah."

The two mutants had been fused together by the immense heat of the melta, and the ground had turned to glass. 

Viltry turned to Volsen.

"There's the base."

A small Imperial resupply dump came into view, followed by a larger MAB.


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## nickman256 (Jan 24, 2007)

awesome story dirge it's new to read about the guard kicking butt especially since in all the other sotries they seem to kick the crap kickout of them. love the story and would love to here move about it


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## Commissar_riptor (Nov 24, 2007)

really awesome stuff i look foawrd to reading more


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

ZERO HOUR- Reiksburg

"Go!"

Kal Volsen and his squad sprinted across the street, Volsen in the lead, followed by Viltry, Veden, Grant, Raezald, Dawson, Ignis, Thulin, and Saeras. 

The building across the street was struck by a bomb and leveled, the entire four-storey building collapsing in a massive clud of brick dust.

Volsen glanced across the street sadly as _Titanjaegr_ was enveloped by debris. It was a tough tank, it would survive. 

Viltry came up beside him, her meltagun tracking hungrily. 

"What's the target?"

"We had orders, all of us, the Wolves, the Guard, and us, to take out Magister Vroglan. He's the source of the cults here."

"What are we expecting?"

"Cultists, maybe a few Chaos Marines. No armored support to speak of. No artillery."

"House to House?"

"No. The cults are all centered on the main building."

"Alright."

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0600- Day 2, Reiksburg

The Earthshakers boomed. A cloud of dust shook out of the ruined gate. Space Wolves led the charge over the rubble as nearly a regiment of Guardsmen sprang from emplacements and trenches to charge the trenches of the heretics. _Titanjaegr_ sat silently on the man-made hill a half-klick from the palace, taking pot-shots at the very few remaining traitor tanks and vehicles. 

"Yeah. This sucks." spat Viltry.

"Welcome to Armored Support, _At'ika_, if you can't take it, you're more than welcome to join the ground-pounders and get your guts ripped out."

_At'ika_. Archeron for someone who was special. Volsen noticed Ignis give him a wink. Only himself and the driver knew Archeron fluently. 

Viltry gave up protesting and reluctantly replaced the headset for the vox-caster, listening to the chatter. 

"Support requested, bearing zero-zero-eight-one low, possible Chaos Marine incursion, APHE rounds requested."

Veden chuckled, pulling a dangerously glowing power cell from the store next to him. 

"Emperor help me, but I love APHE rounds."

He inserted the cell and pulled the triggers. The cannon lurched and a vast explosion signaled the end of the Chaos squad.

"Makes you feel wild and dangerous."

Ignis nodded his agreement.

"Magister spotted, moving in."

"Target aquired."

"Ready weapons."

Volsen heard gunfire and screams through the comm. 

"Magister fleeing! North passage!"

Volsen spoke into the vox. 

"Do not pursue, engagment force, we have him."

"I got a shot, Sarge."

"Then take it, by the Emperor."

Veden nodded as the final shot of the Reiksburg war was over, enveloping Magister Stephan Vroglan and utterly destroying him.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

EPILOGUE

There was no fight in the traitors after Reiksburg. The back of the rebellion had been broken by the Armor and Guard, with the help of the Space Wolves. Berek Thunderfist had sent a letter of commendation to the Archeron barracks to congradulate the Armored units who fought at Reiksburg and Kursk. 

After Coronis IV, the two surviving Shadowswords of Echo Squadren replaced a few crew members and left. Andrew Veden was given command of _Titanjaegr_, and Jakob Quest remained the commander of _The Stuff of Legend_. The next deployment saw _Titanjaegr_ upgraded to a Shadowsword XVII class, and Veden is reported to have been talking to the machine spirit, without any technical training. 

The Space Wolves reclaimed a number of bodies from the heretics, and took many trophies home to Fenris. 

The remainder of the Archeron regiments on Coronis IV were transferred to _Grey Seer_ in orbit and transported to Threshold, the new war. 

The records show that Sergeant Loren Viltry was KIA during Operation Market-Garden enlisted with the Elysian 343rd ODST.

The records also show that Sergeant Kal Volsen was KIA during Operation Reiksburg, enlisted with the 292nd Archeron Super-Heavy. He was awarded the rank of Lieutenant and the Macharian Cross posthumously.


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

haha yet more ww2 stuff, market-garden


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Nice ending mate - Abnett would be proud lol.

Very nice little sotry you have there - you going to be writing more?


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Ordo Xeno Commander said:


> haha yet more ww2 stuff, market-garden


Yes. You'll actually notice a heck of a lot of references in my short stories. 

@Jacobite: Probably. Have to think up a new crop of characters, a new planet to destroy, and a new title. I have a project in the works right now, be done soon....stay tuned.

And look out for the Black Watch.
-Dirge


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Awsome - great to here:

Now is that the same Black Watch as the regiment?

Or the Space Marine chapter?


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Space Marines. I will say no more. You'll have to read it for yourself.

-Dirge


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