# Under the Red Sky



## CaptainBailean (Feb 20, 2008)

One
Flames of War
Honor Bound
For the Primarch


The Chaos Lord, Durak’ Chal sat silently upon his dark throne, carved of pure obsidian and decorated with skulls, aboard his Flag Ship, Merciless Death and smiled as he heard a pounding on the door on the far side of the empty hall. The room was dark, almost completely black save for a few small, magenta fires burning in torches along the walls. Hanging from both sides of the hall were banners adorned with icons of Chaos, the eight pointed star, the symbols of the four major gods and many other banners bearing squad and cultist logos. A massive silver icon of Chaos undivided was inlayed into the mosaic floor portraying great battles fought in the name of Chaos. Behind the Chaos Lord was a great, yellow eye, the Eye of Horus, with three silver points spraying out from the top, the center point longer than the other two. 
“Enter” said Chal in his raspy, dark voice. Chal was not big, but he was still menacing and powerful, he was entirely shaved except for a bit of long hair that stood up on the center of his head and held together by a piece of cloth. His ornate and detailed black and gold armor took on an ethereal quality in the crimson light of the hall. But his most distinctive trait by far was his red eyes. They looked like a hellish sunset and had no pupils, iris’ or corneas, they were simply red. Red like blood. 
The door to the hall creaked open and a thin pillar of orange light pierced the darkness. As the door opened, in stepped a man. He was tall, but not large. He had long, black matted hair that fell about his face. Across his waist he carried a sword and a holstered plasma pistol. His armor was as black as Chal’s and inlayed with gold and silver trim. In his left hand he carried a horned helmet with an eye on the forehead. He had a tattered and rusted chain link loincloth that fell from his waist. He carried a massive spike meshed into the metal of his systems pack that had several impaled heads of Space Marines and Imperial Guardsmen and he had to duck slightly when he entered the room to avoid the pike getting caught on the ceiling.
“My lord Chal” said Kiril Gros, “you desired my presence?” Durak’ Chal looked down from his throne and stared at Gros.
“That I did Gros.”
“What do you desire of me my lord?”
“I have been ‘tipped off’ you might say, to a powerful artifact that lies within the Kranos system. Have the fleet ready to move within the hour.”
“Of course my lord” responded Kiril, “but if I may ask, who was our informant?”
“If you must know Kiril, it was the Apostle Zebith Faklu of the Word Bearers legion.”
“And how are we to determine if this information is correct?”
“You would doubt me Kiril?”
“No my lord, only the word of a Word Bearer.”

“Zebith is a reliable source, so reliable in fact, that the Primarch Lorgar has seen fit to send him to the Kranos sector to bolster our forces. We will be taking no chances in this endeavor.”
“What will happen when your lordship has recovered the artifact?”
“Well, no doubt the Word Bearers will try to seize it from me but I do not think that even Lorgar understands the potency of this artifact.”
“What is the artifact my lord?”
“It is called Manreaper, Kiril.”
“What does this Manreaper do?”
“It has the power wake the dead Kiril.”
“No wonder Lorgar seeks it, he would use it to raise a mighty army of dead and launch an attack upon the Imperium.”
“Obviously Kiril, but instead we shall use it to dominate the Eye of Terror and and bring all the forces of Chaos under our sway, but as much as I hate to admit it, that fool Abaddon is the only one powerful enough to employ such an artifact to any use. So, unfortunately I will have to hand it over to him.” 
“I thought you hated the Despoiler my lord?”
“Oh I do, I hate him for how he forsook the Warmaster after Terra, I hate him for his failures. He has had thirteen opportunities to destroy the Imperium, and each one has failed miserably. But I think that this artifact will allow us to muster the forces needed to crush the Imperium once and for all.”
“I certainly hope so lord.” Durak’ Chal let a grimace of pleasure cross his pale face, bearing his pointed white teeth.
“Yes Kiril, I hope so too.”



***


Captain Bailean of the Blood Angels 4th Company ducked behind the ceramite pillar as a hail of bolter fire exploded around him. Bailean ducked down and checked his ammo, his canister was almost entirely full. Good, he thought, don’t want to be wasting time reloading right now. The room was chaos, many of the great, grey and white pillars had crumbled under the constant stream of fire arcing across the room.
“Rees!” called Bailean, “move up, I’ll cover you!”

“Of course Markus, who do you think I am?” Rees Julian called back. Bailean stuck his Combi-Plasma Gun out from behind the pillar and loosed off three quick shots. One of the shots hit one of the ceramite pillars that littered the great hall, the other two slammed into the silver armored guards that were the defenders of the doomed world of Marsif. The planets governor, Allan Perth, had failed to pay his planetary tithes to the Imperium for five years and finally had been arrested by the local Adeptus Arbites. But only three days later, his royal guard, along with most of the planetary defense forces had attacked and destroyed the Arbites citadel to free their governor. After gaining his freedom, the governor had declared that his planet was seceding from the Imperium and that they no longer paid allegiance to the Emperor. The Blood Angels had responded quickly responded heretics plot for independence, and only days later; the 1st, 4th and 10th companies had been deployed to eliminate the governor and his traitorous guards.
The Chapter Master, Commander Dante, had picked Bailean to lead the assault on the governor’s palace and Bailean was determined to win this battle flawlessly. Bailean opened fire again as three more of the palace guards came around a corner and Bailean saw as the blue plasma struck one on the chest and another shot tore a man’s head off. 
“Go now Rees!” hollered Bailean. Bailean’s Honor Guard began to move up towards him, staying down behind the pillars the entire time, trying to evade as much fire as possible. Bailean peered out from behind the Pillar and he saw a crowd of the palace guards gathering around the far door, taking cover behind downed statues and pillars. The palace guards wore intricate silver armor, covered in concentric circles and curves. Their helmets protected the sides, back and nose of their heads, with a red brush on a silver stand on top. They fought with bolter-like weapons, they were smaller than the standard bolter and shot less powerful rounds, the squad leaders had bolter-halberd hybrid weapons that looked vaugely similar to those carried by the Emperor’s scions, the Adeptus Custoeds. Bailean unclipped a frag grenade from his belt and he lobbed it over his shoulder. Seconds later there was a bang and Bailean heard several cries of pain emanate from behind him and he leapt over a downed pillar. As soon as he popped out he felt bolt rounds bouncing off his armor and he quickly crouched behind a downed statue of one of Marsif’s previous governors. Moments later he felt Rees and the rest of his Honor Guard roll into the statue as they ducked under the hail of enemy fire.
“What took you so long?” asked Bailean.
“I’m glad to see that you hold my personal well being so high Markus” said Rees
“How many do you think there are?”
“At least fifty.”
“You think we can take them?”
“I don’ think we can take them, I know we can Markus.”
“Let us illuminate them.” Rees Nodded and crawled to his knees and raised his storm bolter over the wreckage of the statue. He opened fire and a pair of the silver armored guards fell.
“Rees, Xavier and Helio, you take right flank, Furio and Gergorio, your with me, were going left.” the five members of Bailean’s Honor Guard nodded their understanding they broke off into their groups. Bailean stood up and ran, pumping bolter rounds into the enemy ranks. Bailean felt a round explode on his breastplate and he flung himself behind a pillar. 
“Furio, lay some fire down on them!” hollered Bailean as a hail of rounds struck the pillar he was hiding behind
“Yes Captain!” Brother Furio crouched behind a chunk of the ceiling that had shattered on the ground began to fire his Bolter on full auto. A stream of copper shells fell to the ground as a flow up rounds flew forth from Furio’s bolter cutting down five of the guards. Bailean motioned for the three of them to move forwards and he took a few quick steps towards the wall and he threw himself against it. He raised his bolter and fired off a few shots to keep the guards heads down and he ducked behind another pillar. They were about half way across the entrance hall of the palace but it was going to be a tough fight. He flung himself out from behind the pillar and fired a few quick shots. He saw one of the shots blow a hole the size of a man’s fist into the torso of one guard and another take off a man’s right arm. 
“Captain Bailean!” said a voice over Bailean’s vox-link, “this is Chaplain Xerxes.”
“Its good to hear from you Xerxes! What do you need?”

“We’ve encountered a strong resistance along the palaces northern quarter and are being pinned down under massive amounts of heavy weapons fire.”
“How many enemies?”
“At least one thousand.”
“The Emperor, alright. How long do you think you can hold for?”
“Maybe twenty minutes, they keep charging us when we’ve got our heads down and were butchering them when they get here, but were running low on ammo and they keep bringing up reinforcements.”
“I’ll see what I can do Chaplain, hang tight.”
“The Emperor Protects.”
“That he does.” Bailean scanned the room to see what was going on. He saw Rees, Xavier and Helio ducking behind a wall of crashed and shattered stone, firing in bursts at their opponents. Bailean clicked his vox-link into action and said
“Sergeant Corthal do you copy?” a moment passed before Bailean heard the cool voice of the Terminator Sergeant.
“Yes Captain Bailean?”
“Get your squad over to the north side of the palace, Xerxes and his men are pinned down and they’re getting pressed hard.”
“Of course captain.”
“The Emperor be with you Brohter.”
“And also with you.” Bailean flicked his vox-link again and again until he found the right signal.
“Brother Lemis do you copy?” Bailean heard the artificial voice of a Dreadnaught come on the other line,
“Yes captain.”
“Get over to the entrance hall on the western side of the palace, I need some support.”
“Consider it done Captain.” Bailean turned to face his brothers and said,
“Move up, but at the risk of stating the obvious, keep down.” the two Astartes nodded and began to move quickly along the wall, keeping a steady stream of fire going the whole time. Bailean saw a plasma weapon fire and the blue ball of gel came whizzing towards him. He ducked just in time but he heard the blast hit adamantine plate and he saw that Furio’s left arm had been blasted off at the elbow.
“You alright Furio?”
“I’ll be fine captain, just as soon as this mess stops bleeding.” Bailean rolled to the next pillar and flattened himself against it. He pointed his bolter and fired, the rounds peppered a pillar with bullet marks but none of the round found their mark. Bailean cursed as he saw the bullets slam uselessly into the pillar and he popped the empty clip from his gun. He jammed a new clip into his bolter and fired again, this time the bullet hit. He saw a guard’s stomach explode in a burst of red and the man keeled over. 

Bailean, Furio and Gergorio slowly made their way up the hall, ducking and hiding behind the scattered debris. They were about a quarter away from the end of the hall when a batch of around thirty silver-plated guards poured into the room. Bailean cursed as the waning current of fire was bolstered by the fresh troops. Bailean was about to jump to the next pillar when he heard a crashing sound directly to his left. He saw a cloud of gray powder and rolling stone as Brother Lemis come thundering into the room. Lemis strode out into the center of the room, his massive metallic shell making him virtually invulnerable to the enemy fire. He turned his assault cannon on the silver guards and opened fire. Most of them hadn’t gotten behind cover yet and Lemis’s cannon tore into their ranks creating a cloud of red as the high caliber bullets rent the soldiers into shreds. Seeing their opportunity, Bailean ordered,
“Charge!” the three of them bolted from cover and ran headlong towards the enemy, Bailean drawing his Power Sword and Furio and Gergorio their combat knives. Bailean saw the remaining silver guards returning their attention to the charging men, but as soon as they poked their heads out to fire, they were cut down under another salvo of fire from Lemis’s cannon. Bailean leapt over the rubble the palace guards were hiding behind and he cut downwards. He felt his sword sear open the armor of a guard and go right through the man’s back. Bailean pulled the sword from the dead man and slashed out at another guard, slicing his stomach open. Bailean dodged an attack from a guardsman wielding the halberd like weapon. Bailean plunged his blade into the man and he felt the man’s body shudder and die. Bailean kicked the man off his blade and lashed out with his fist, he connected with the jaw of a silver guard and the man collapsed. These men were fearsome fighters, Bailean thought, but they were no match for the Emperor’s chosen. Bailean felt a blade connect with his left shoulder and he spun around, sword swinging wide. He decapitated his assailant and he moved on to the next man. The fighting was over in a few, brutal seconds, the silver guard of the palace, no match for the Blood Angels. 
“Rees!” Bailean called.
“Yes Markus, I’m right here? What is it now?”
“How well did you hold up?”
“Were all fine, no hits taken, although I can’t say the same for Furio here.”
“I’ll be fine as soon as an Apothecary can see about my Arm.” said Furio.
“Lets get going, move on to the next room, Brother Lemis, you’re with us.”
“I live to serve Captain.” The party moved out of the entrance hall and into a long, narrow hallway that turned about fifty feet down. The hall was tall and was dimly lit, every five feet or so a sturdy wooden buttress jutted out from the ceiling creating an archway effect. They began to move cautiously along the hall, although the sounds of Brother Lemis’s footsteps negated any element of surprise they might have had. Still Bailean felt safer with the Dreadnaught behind him. They reached the turn and Bailean got down on his knees and poked his head around the corner. He was expecting to see a hail of bullets flying towards him, but no shots came. He poked out a little farther and still no shots. He unfastened a grenade from his belt and hurled it down the hall just to be safe. The grenade went off without any cries of anguish or pain. Some how, Bailean felt uneasy and said,
“Brother Lemis, step out there and shield us.” Lemis stomped his way out into the hall and began to stride down the corridor. Bailean signaled for the others to follow him, and they cautiously stepped out from behind the wall. They followed Lemis for what seemed like an eternity, keeping low and close the steel bulk of the Dreadnaught. Eventually they came to a fork in the hallway and they stopped. Bailean flipped the infrared scanner on inside his helmet and he slowly looked around the area. To his left a field of blue and green met his eyes, but to his left he saw a large blotch of red, orange and yellow.
“To the left.” Bailean signaled, and the group moved down the hall. A few seconds later Bailean said,
“But damn if I’m a fool, Lemis, smash through the walls.” the Ancient warrior chuckled and said,

“With pleasure Captain.” Lemis raised his massive claw and smashed it through the wall, sending bits of wood and stone flying into the adjacent room. The troop smashed their way through wall after wall, until they found themselves facing a thick, stone wall.
“This must be the throne room.” said Rees.
“Hopefully” said Bailean, “Brother Lemis, after you.” the warrior stomped forwards and slammed his hand through the wall. Shards of stone and ceramite sprayed into the next room as Lemis stepped into the room, knocking aside any bricks around him. Bailean and the others followed him into the room their guns ready. 
As soon as Bailean stepped over the pile of rubble and into the room, he felt a hail of fire hit is armor and fly around him. He lunged out of the massive cloud of gray smoke and into open air. He looked around and say that this room’s layout was almost identical to that of the entrance hall but it was longer, higher and more decorated. Each side was draped with the banners of the different provinces and regiments of the planet defenders. The ceiling was made of the purest glass and held a perfect view of the blue sky above. Each window pain was set in with a strip of gold. Bailean looked to his right and saw a massive gathering of the silver armored guards standing resolute before a large, golden throne. In the throne sat a man, he was rather pathetic looking, he couldn’t have been more than five and a half feet tall, he was incredibly skinny sported a thick walrus mustache. He was covered in ugly pockmarks and had a bad comb over. His clothes were slightly too big for him and they gave him a saggy appearance. Bailean wondered why these men would die to defend such a pathetic waste. He jumped behind a pillar as Brother Lemis opened up fire with his assault cannon and he heard the chime of the large, copper shells as they hit the ground. Bailean peered out from behind his hiding spot and saw seven of the guards go down under the fire. He rolled out from behind his pillar, shooting. He saw four guards go down as he yelled,
“Rees, move the squad up into assault, take cover when you need to, but keep shooting!”
“On it Markis, how many do you think there are?”
“At least one hundred, probably more.”
“Sounds like fun.” Bailean stood up and ran diagonally to another pillar. He flung himself behind it as the guards loosed off another volley from their imitation bolt weapons. He felt the column erode under a stream of gunfire and felt bits of the gray rock bounce off his armor. Bailean snagged a grenade from his belt and rolled it across the floor. He heard the grenade detonate and he ran out from behind his cover, opening up with his bolter as he sprinted across the room. A shot grazed Bailean’s left leg as he jumped behind a statue and he stumbled as he landed. Bailean looked out from behind the statue and saw Rees and the rest of his Honor Guard darting back and forth across the room, three of them covering the other two while they moved back and forth across the hall. Bailean stood up and fired from behind his shield. Three of the silver guards went down and Bailean darted out from behind cover. As soon as he stepped out, Lemis opened fire again and Bailean threw himself to the ground as a wave of bullets flew over head. Bailean raised his head and saw a good dozen of the guards’ fall in a spray of red blood.

Bailean got to his knees and shouldered his bolter, setting it on full auto. He pulled the trigger and held it, the gun recoiled but his Astartes strength prevented it from snapping his wrists. He saw, with a certain amount of satisfaction, five of the silver guards explode as he stood up and bolted across the room. Bailean dove out of the way as a rocket slammed into a statue not six feet away from him. He felt debris land on his back and he got to his feet. He looked around and assessed their situation. About a quarter of the enemy guards were dead and they had made it about two thirds away up the hall. If Bailean could just get a little closer he would be able to assault.
“Rees!” Bailean hollered into his vox-link.
“Yeah Markiu?”
“Were closing in on them. Get ready for an assault!”
“I was born ready.”
“I know, that’s why you’re a Blood Angel.”
“Indeed, is that all, or can I go back to fighting now?”
“Don’t move out into the main hall, stay along the walls and well flank them!”
“Got it!”
“For Sangunius!”
“For the Emperor!” Bailean switched his vox-link over to Brother Lemis’s channel and said,
“Lemis, were going to move along the walls for a bit, then charge. Keep them pinned down until you see us break cover!”
“It shall be done Captain.” Bailean lowered his head and moved along the ground as low as possible, firing pot shots every few feet. He heard Lemis open fire again and the cries of slain guard followed seconds later. Eventually, Bailean managed to find a place where he had a straight shot towards the enemy. He stood up, raised his bolter and loosed off a few quick shots. He didn’t wait to see if any of them hit, he drew his sword and charged. Bailean bellowed,
“For Sangunius!” and moments later he saw Rees and the others charge out from behind their cover, blades drawn and ready for a fight. Bailean felt Brother Lemis charge, his massive feet, leaving craters the size of Bailean in the floor. Bailean swung his sword and felt it burn through the flesh of one of the guards, the energy from the blade shredding his flesh to ribbons. Bailan heard a man rush him with his halberd and Bailean easily sidestepped him, severing the man’s arms and he ran by. Bailean turned around and punched a man in the chest and felt his sternum shatter, the man gave a cry of pain then went unconscious. As Bailean wheeled around for another attack, he felt a blade bounce off his armor and he swung his arm out, he felt it connect with a body and he saw the man spin out of control and fly back several feet. Bailean ducked the swing of a halberd and ran the man through with the sword. Bailean kicked the man off his sword and shoved his body to the side. Bailean stepped into a pack of the guards and swung his sword in a wide arc, slashing open several of the men’s chests. Blood sprayed across Bailean’s front as the sword cut through their silver armor and slashed open their skin and shattered their bone. He lunged forwards with his blade and ran the blade through a warriors stomach, Blood pouring from the wound like a river. Bailean pulled the man off his sword and sidestepped a strike from a halberd, punching the man in the chest as the man’s torso came into reach. 

Four of the silver armored guards ran at Bailean yelling, halberds first and he grinned. These men fought for a cause that they believed in, how ever foolish that cause was, and that cause gave them courage. But they would all die here for abandoning the Emperor. Bailean blocked an attack by the first man and elbowed him in the face, sending the man’s teeth and blood everywhere. The other thee converged on him and he blocked and parried their attacks for a few steps then kicked out with his right foot, connecting with the legs of one of the guards. The man fell in a cry of agony, his legs broken. The other two slowed their attacks, surprised at Bailean’s brutality. Bailean lunged and in one smooth movement, severed one of the guards heads and grabbed the other by the throat and slammed him into a pillar, Bailean felt the man’s bones crush as he made contact with the stone. Bailean dropped the man and rejoined the fight. 
He killed three more of the guards before he noticed an opening in the melee, and on the other side, Allan Perth. Perth looked terrified at having six warriors dismantling his elite guard. Bailean ran between struggling men, killing any who stood in his path. He saw Perth stand up from his throne and draw a las pistol. Bailean smiled to himself, this was going to be too easy. The governor pulled the trigger and Bailean barely felt the shots bounce off his power armor. He stepped from the Melee and began to run at Allan Perth. The governor stood for a moment, then dropped his gun and ran. Bailean unslung his bolter and aimed. He didn’t want to kill Perth, so he aimed for the coward’s legs. Bailean pulled the trigger and saw the man’s left calf explode and the rest of the leg fly off, a bloody, dead limb. Bailean lowered his bolter and strode over to the dying governor, his sword in hand. Bailean came to a halt next to Perth and shook his head. He rolled the governor face up and took off his helemt. He had short brown hair and had the chiseled and angular face common among Astartes. He had green eyes that burned with faith and duty.
“Governor Perth, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” The governor was now drawing his breath in short bursts, his blood creating an ever-expanding pool on the floor by his bloody stump of a leg.
“I must admit, you’re not the image of a governor, I wonder why any one would have put you in this post.” Bailean dropped into a crouch and lowered his head until he was less than six inches away from the governor’s face. “What were thinking I wonder, when you thought you could avoid notice from the Imperium? Did you think that you could miraculously pass under the radar? That no one would bring you to justice? Well you have been proved wrong. I’m actually impressed. You managed to become enough of a problem that we of the Blood Angels had to come here and put down your little insurrection. I thought having an Adeptus Arbites precinct on your planet would be enough to dissuade you, but clearly not, and as such, you have brought the wrath of the Adeptus Astartes down on you. You cannot evade us, no matter how you try, for we are the Space Marines, the Angels of Death, the Emperor’s chosen, we know no fear and we suffer not the heretic, the xeno, the daemon, or the mutant. Now, you die.” Bailean stood up and rammed his sword into the fallen governor’s chest. The man gave one last gasping breath and he died. Bailean turned to the battle and saw that the remaining guards had surrendered to his Honor Guard after the death of their governor. Bailean picked up his helmet and strode over to Rees. 
“Well?” asked Rees.
“Well what?” asked Bailean, mildly confused.
“What do we do with these men who surrendered?’
“Move them out into the entrance hall and secure them.”
“On it Markis.” The battle had been a bloody one, the ground in front of the throne was littered with silver armored guards, most dead and a few wounded, the wounded crying out in anguish. Bailean walked around the carnage, delivering the Emperor’s peace to the wounded and dying. Some accepted gratefully, others howled with in protest and tried to avoid Bailean, but eventually he put them all down.
“All battle group commanders, come in. It’s Captain Bailean.” A few seconds passed before Bailean heard anything, but eventually he got responses,
“Chaplain Xerxes copies.”
“Sergeant Mallis copies”
“Epolistary Frus copies.”

“Good” said Bailean, “I have just killed Allan Perth, the battle is over, make sure the palace guards know that, and if they resist kill them.”
“What about prisoners Captain?” added Sergeant Mallis.
“Put them to the sword, they are traitors and deserve no other fate.”
“What if they beg forgivnesss?” asked Xerxes.
“Then forgive them, but kill them, there can be no leniency with heretics under any circumstance.”
“Very well Captain.” Bailean switched off his vox link and began to wander the corridors of the palace. Eventually he found a long, spiral stairway. He began to climb the stairs and eventually he reached a balcony overlooking the surrounding area. He could see the long trench lines and defense positions that the defenders had constructed in anticipation of Imperial retribution, all abandoned now that they had been defeated. Bailean could see the groups of men being ushered around and vehicles making their way across the field.
Eventually Bailean came down from the tower and left the palace. He walked down the long, grey staircase, his black cape trailing behind him. Bailean soon found himself in the midst of the former battle zone, the ground littered with bodies, shells of vehicles, trenches, bunkers, fox holes and craters. The enemy soldiers were being brought into one large group. Most of the survivors were regulars, members of the Marsif PDF, a few members of the governor’s elite guard. Bailean found Chaplain Xerxes leading a group of prisoners towards the main group, Xerxes called out,
“After we told them the governor was dead, they all gave up and handed over their weapons, were moving them all over there and then well figure out how to dispose of them.”
“I’ve changed my mind, send them over to segmentum command and well let the Adeptus Arbites deal with them.”
“Consider it done Captain.”
“Good, if you need anything, I’ll be in my tent.”


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## Luciferi (Mar 2, 2008)

VERY good.

You planning on writing anymore about Captain Bailean?


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## CaptainBailean (Feb 20, 2008)

oh yeah. working on chapter three of that story right now. ill get to posting the second chapter asap


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## retardonice (Jan 1, 2008)

Yeah Dreadnaughts Own Son!!! A Story Of A Lonly Dreadnaught Would Be Cool Though


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