# Die With Honor - WIP



## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

Howdy folks!

This started as one of those 1,000 word stories over on the Bolthole but I just didn't think it was finished at 1,000 words. So, I've decided to work on it on and off to expand it a little (some of which I've already done). Mind you, this is still very much a WIP. There are certain elements I still want to add and still want to change but for now I'll wait until I have more time to dedicate to it.

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


*Die With Honor​*
The squeal of overcharged lasfire filled the evening air as stormtroopers under the command of Lord Inquisitor Nathaniel opened fire with their hellguns. Trooper Calic’s launcher countered the high-pitch whines with a deep crump, lobbing a fragmentation grenade over the heads of the following heretics, covering the force’s retreat. They were making their way towards a natural rock bridge linking one side of the canyon to the other where their extraction point lay. The staccato crack of sporadic small arms fire came in return as heretic PDF soldiers crested the path that cut its way through the rocky ridge, bringing the stormtroopers into view once more. Forced to ground, the Inquisitor’s force took positions behind whatever cover afforded by the rocky terrain they could find. 

It had been the same thing over and over for the last few hours since the stormtroopers had taken the planet‘s governor, one Galtis Mathor, into their custody. Charged with betraying his oath to the God-Emperor of Mankind, the troopers, under orders from the Inquisition, had struck swiftly and silently; taking Mathor where he’d felt safest with surgical precision. The mountain fortress where he spent his days fomenting rebellion had turned out to be less impregnable than the foolish man had thought. From that time, the Inquisitor’s retrieval team had found themselves alternating between falling back and doing their best to keep the heretics at bay. The squad of stormtroopers had done their job admirably, though. So far not a man had been lost. Adac didn’t know if was their superior training and armament or the lack of from the PDF soldiers. Whatever it was, it had kept them one step ahead of the ravening hordes of traitors hell-bent on their blood. The game of cat and mouse was beginning to wear the troopers down, however. He could see exhaustion setting in. Even the best trained warrior eventually ran out of steam and the situation was starting to look grim. But, these were men of stern constitutions and Adac was proud to have them with him. The corrupted PDF were dogged in their hunt to get their leader back, steadfastly refusing to give up the chase

“We’ve been lucky“, Sergeant Adac thought to himself, snapping off another round of lasfire.

In their haste, the traitors had left behind their heavier support weapons in favor of lighter stub and autoguns given the treacherous nature of the stone-strewn trail. Had the heretics bothered to bring something with more punch, the grizzled veteran knew they’d be in real trouble. All wasn’t going their way, though. Ammunition was running low and, with each push by the PDF, the stormtroopers were forced to expended more charges as they attempted to dissuade further pursuit. 

Motioning for the vox operator, Sergeant Adac turned to the Inquisitor. 

“Lord, we are almost to the extraction point. I will alert Valkryie to our situation.”

Nodding, Nathaniel rose from the boulder he’d sheltered behind, firing his ancient psycannon into the milling traitors. He was rewarded with a strangled scream as the round found its mark, sending another fool to his blasphemous masters.

“Valkyrie, this is Thorn. Respond!” 

Popping static filled the line in mocking answer. 

_Where were they?_ Sergeant Adac cursed, his thoughts racing. 

The fire coming from the heretics increased as more pushed forward to add their weight to the fight. Ricocheting rounds pinged from the thick stone surrounding them, filling the air with pulverized dust and shrapnel. Could the canyon’s walls be disrupting their attempts to vox for help? 

After a few seconds his worries were allayed as the tiny voice of Tarok, Nathaniel’s pilot, echoed strangely through the interference.

“Thorn, this… Valkyrie. Inboun... Will reach yo…ition two minutes.”

“Acknowledged Valkyrie. Hostiles close. Recommend coming in hot”, responded the sergeant. 

“Will do. Valky-”, Tarok’s reply was cut short as another voice sounded over the vox link, deep and sonorous.

“Emperor’s Hand, Tetsubo requests permission to engage enemy.”

Inquisitor Nathaniel spoke for the first time since leaving the traitor’s fortress. 

“Permission granted.”

“Hai”, came the curt response. 

The roar of over-taxed engines screaming in protest alerted the stormtroopers to the presence of their transport. Stripped of everything that was not essential to increase its speed, the Valkyrie troop carrier swung low over the stormtroopers’ position and opened up with nose-mounted its multilaser, spraying the PDF with withering fire. Thick clouds of dust billowed up from the parched earth, filling the air with a choking haze. Adac could hear the whine of landing struts extending from under the carrier’s hull as it prepared to land. Even before the craft touched down, an armored giant stepped from the troop compartment, the bulky form of a heavy bolter clutched in his hands. The Valkyrie bobbed upward, the pilot frantically compensating for the loss weight as the astarte left. From his back a banner pole telescoped up. The marine’s personal standard unfurled, snapping in the updraft from the Valkyrie’s engines. 

Fear filled Adac as the space marine strode towards them, heavy bolter raised to fire. For a brief moment the old sergeant believed they had been betrayed for the beast that he looked upon could not have been one of the Emperor’s own. Raising his hellgun, Adac took aim as the giant grew closer. He started at the weight of Nathaniel’s armored hand on his shoulder. 

“Lower your weapon sergeant, lest you wish to see us all killed before we complete our mission.” The words were spoken calmly but emphatically, leaving little room for doubt at their veracity. Adac turned to the Inquisitor. “But my Lord…” The Inquisitor shook his head, raising his hand from the storm trooper’s rifle to point to the astartes. Adac had never worked with Nathaniel before and had no knowledge of the resources he could call on, but this…

“Have no fear, sergeant. He who sits upon the Throne knows His own.”.

Adac nodded dumbly, words failing him as the space marine drew closer. 

“Who is he? By the Throne, what is he?”

Nathaniel could hear the fear that warred with awe in the sergeant‘s whispered questions. There was a brief moment of silence, Nathaniel pausing to think on his answer. He was interrupted as the giant stopped before the gathered storm troopers. Up close he was even more fearsome-looking, unlike any astartes the sergeant had ever seen in his years of service to the Inquisition. His plate was the color of deep amethyst, covered in minute swirled filigree of gold and silver. On his chest a winged reaper, the archaic symbol of death, spread its angelic wings, grasping the snath of a scythe. From his waist hung a segmented skirt of thin ceramite; over which lay a pair of curved swords. Gristly trophies, possibly the heads of fallen foes, also had their place around the marine’s waist, clattering against his armor in the updraft created by the landing Valkyrie. His pauldrons looked more akin to rounded ceramic roof tiles than the traditional shoulder armor of other chapters but still thick and weighty. His left bore what could only the symbol of his chapter. A fanged-skull, hooded in red marble shot with veins of white, stood out proudly; a scythe in blackest basalt laying in bas-relief in the background . On the other shoulder a white disc of pearl gleamed brightly in defiance to the swirling, dust-choked air. It was marked with grain-bearing stems surrounded by what looked to be a pair of sparrows facing each other in flight. Most frightening of all was the warrior’s helm. Twisted horns sprouted from the forehead of a mask carved into the shape of a roaring daemon, adding to the astarte’s already unsettling air. Additional segmented scales of ceramite curled around the base of the helmet, completing the armor. To the old sergeant he looked like some ancient, forgotten god of war.

Nathaniel pointed once again, this time to the hordes of cultists pouring over the ridge. He did not need to speak; the astarte understood what needed to be done. Facing his enemies, the weapon thundered as the space marine strode into the incoming fire, suspensors grafted on the weapon taking up its powerful recoil. The astartes played his heavy bolter back and forth, the rounds tearing limbs from bodies and pulping those unlucky enough to take a torso hit. The traitors fell back in a panic, trying to escape the deadly accuracy of the marine and the volume of fire spitting from the aircraft’s multilaser. In the brief respite, the astartes ejected the empty bolter drum, replacing it with a fresh one. 

“Boss, we got a problem. Auspex shows a large heat signature. I think they’re massing for a charge”, Tarok voxed. “We better get outta here now!”

As they moved towards the Valkyrie, the heretics charged again, screaming at the top of their lungs. 

“We’re not going to make it!”, shouted Adac as the mass of humanity poured over the trail’s lip, sprinting towards the narrow defile of the rock bridge. They fired wildly at the waiting craft, their shots spanging off the thin armor of the Valkyrie as they attempted to thwart their quarry’s escape. The multilaser spooled up, barrels spinning furiously, spitting laser fire into the coming horde. It did little to slow them.

Turning to Nathaniel, the astarte spoke.

“Go. I will hold them here.”

The marine faced the enemy once more, his voice raised in his chapter’s battle cant, his heavy bolter singing its own song of death. 

+++​
Nathaniel was the last to climb aboard the transport, sparing enough time to turn and look on the space marine. “Another one dies for me”, he mumbled, his words lost in the scream of gunned engines as Tarok pushed the Valkyrie higher into the air. A fleeting pang of guilt passed through the Inquisitor but he would not turn away. He would watch until he could see no more. Nathaniel activated his suit‘s internal vox, opening the channel so that all could hear. 

“You asked me who he is Adac, what he is. Listen to his words and I shall tell you.” 

Below them the space marine’s shouted challenge came again, filling the troop compartment‘s cramped interior. 

“I am Yagyu Honzo, samurai of the Void Stalkers. I am gene son of the Great Lion, he who was sired by the Emperor of Mankind, bless-ed be their names. Through my veins runs the blood of a hundred slain heroes. Come heretics! Come and face Honzo! Come and face death! “


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## Ambush Beast (Oct 31, 2010)

*Hi*

I like it. Samurai of the Void Stalkers. Gene son of the Great Lion. A different angle I had not thought of. I thought the Dark Angels were the only G.S. Of the Great Lion. But I like it a lot. 

Some points you may want to work on are your paragraphs, they are hugeamongous-lee-large. My eyes blurred and fought a battle of fatigue at trying to take in each sentence individually. might want to consolidate them somewhat. 


Also there are some grammatical errors, such as this one line from paragraph 2, line 3000, middle quadrant. 

Adac didn’t know if was their superior training and armament or the lack of from the PDF soldiers. 

Overall, a great idea that I look forward to seeing the finished product. :shok:


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

Fair points all around bud. :biggrin: Like I said, it's still a WIP. This is the 'rough' draft (part of the rough draft at any rate) as there are several points I still need to flesh out. The beginning needs quite a bit of work, for example. As for the paragraphs being large, part and parcel with the lack of hard editing. The original story I had has been expanded on which means the expansion came as I read over it, adding additional dialogue/descriptive to parts already written. 

As for the 'gene son' comment, any chapter created from the Dark Angels' seed makes them 'sons of the Lion'. My Void Stalkers are third founding Dark Angels, ergo, sons of the Lion :biggrin:.

Thanks for the read!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Ambush Beast (Oct 31, 2010)

*Cool.*

Yea, when I originally wrote my work called 'Warp Spider' I thought it was done and ready until a few months later when I went back and re-read it. I was shocked at how badly it was done. 

I don't think the finished product is ever truly the finished product for those who are truly wanting to grow in skill and style. 

Also thanks for the explanation, now I understand about the Sons of the Lion stuff. The concept of your creation is real cool.


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

No work is 'badly done' if when you wrote it you did your best. As with all skills, they improve the more one uses them. Simple as that. I've been writing since high school and since then learned a few things here and there and improved on what I know. No one can say they've 'perfected' writing. Once something is perfected why would one bother with it? That's why we must all strive for a constant state of learning. In learning we move forward because 'perfection' is stagnation in my mind. Your works for example. I remember some of your first works (and the common theme seems to be zombies!). While they weren't the greatest, you still put a lot of effort in to writing them which made a big difference from someone who was just putting something out there without putting their heart into it. One could tell that you wanted to improve. As you progressed through other stories, so did your writing skills and they will continue to do so the more stories you create. That is the beauty of it. 

As for something never truly being finished, I will agree. The background for my chapter, for example. It has grown over the years since I first wrote down the opening prayer that I thought would define how I wanted my chapter to be seen. It's still growing because I'm never quite satisfied with it. The same could be said for much of my work. I have few stories here compared to others (especially given the years I've been a member LOL) but only because once I've written something, I find I'm not completely happy with it. I let it stew, going over it again and again to figure out how to improve on it. If I find the right formula, I make edits. If not, I let it sit a little while longer until I do. But, such is the way of things!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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