# The Valley of Steel



## Thuellai (Jul 15, 2009)

Prologue

"Suit up." A command, no force hidden behind it, for each Brother knew no force would be necessary. As one they were prepared. At most a small nod passed between them as each fastened the necessary pieces, helmets descending and activating. Corvus helmets blinked to life as communications lit between each squad. El'shan moved to join his squad.

There was a buzzing mystery in the air - For two great companies of the Salamanders to be deployed on a world so close to the heart of Terra meant the threat was great indeed. For every Astartes a fire was lit in their hearts - such a deadly task meant that, if they were to fail, Holy Terra herself would be at risk.

They would not fail.

Two great suns flared outside the _Star of Glory_, but within it was dark, running lights providing all that was necessary to guide the Marines to their drop pods. Each squad fastened themselves, feeling the sudden hitch of weight as the engines flared to life, barreling into the gravity of Trahaearn III. A crackle brought El'shan to perfect attention. Sergeant Ko'ten. "Review mission, brothers."

Roke was the first to speak. "Deployment to Trahaearn III due to xenos threat. Classification unknown. Current raids have been small but merciless - no attempts to take prisoners or slaves, no negotiation for supplies."

El'shan picked up in the half-second of silence, picking up where his brother had left off. "Evidence of technological advancement due to the utter obliteration of settlements - initial studies suggest molecular manipulation. Only known species of similar craftmanship Jokaero, but the methodology is at odds with their approach."

A third voice. Brother Leth. "Priority response due to abnormal technology and proximity to Holy Terra - if the raiders are capable of Warp travel, their ETA to Terra would be within the next forty years, posing an unconscionable threat."

"...Acceptable. Brace for impact, brothers." Sergeant Ko'ten rested a hand in preperation on the release mechanism, and each of them felt a slight increase in heat as the outer armor of the pod burned in atmosphere. Within a moment the pod rocked and burst open, and the squad leapt forth. Around them a hail of green plasteel rained down, each squad moving in perfect coordination as their pod touched the surface of Trahaearn. For a moment the only sound was the roaring of descending drop pods. The earth buckled under the impact - and then, El'shan thought, it buckled again.

"Sir! Some sort of artificial aftershock... The ground here is unstable, and - " A sharp lance of energy struck out at a drop pod as the ground twisted under El'shan's feet again. "We are upon the enemy!"

"So it seems." Ko'ten's voice was controlled. "It would appear we will not arrive in peace. El'shan, tactical recommendation in response to the enemy weapon?"

El'shan thought. It could strike down a drop pod. So shouldn't the drop pods - no, wait. "Launch double-speed, and intersperse shrapnel. Landing sites are already compromised, and the rate of fire on such a weapon must be low due to energy requirements."

The Sergeant nodded and relayed the idea back to command - and as he did the earth shattered. Lances of energy screamed out and scraped holes into the armor of the brothers who had reached the surface, powered armor pulled away in great chunks. The first signs of crusted metal, polished into a rust-colored shine by age and weight, poked their head forth. The land became a valley, and the valley was full of aging metal skeletons wielding weapons with enough power to fell an Astartes.

El'shan readied his melta, unleashing a burning lance at the closest that sliced a deep hole into its metal rib-cage.

The battle was joined.


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## waltzmelancholy_07 (Sep 30, 2008)

Haha... Necrons?... Outstanding...


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## Thuellai (Jul 15, 2009)

Necrons indeed, sir. It's supposed to be the origin battle that led to these guys: The Lords of Iron

In any case -

Chapter 1

Flares of heat shot into the enemy, Brother Leth joining El'shan's barrage of melta fire. Each shot was a perfectly controlled burst, but panic was rising nonetheless in the squad. Marines were falling on either side, green flares of energy ripping apart the armor that had served them so well. Bolters punched endlessly into metal that seemed to simply pull back together as soon as it was ripped apart. "Status on the drop pod landings, Sergeant?"

"33% lost. We've lost all but one artillery battalion." Ko'ten's voice remained calm as he unfolded his heavy bolter and unleashed a hurricane of shells that forced the advancing lines back. "Re'zen, intelligence on the xenos?"

"No known Imperial encounters at this date. Technology level is entirely beyond any known xenos force hostile to the Imperium." Re'zen brought up his bolter, adding it to the storm of fire that pushed the lines of the enemy back. El'shan watched with growing horror as one was cut in half at the waist, the arms clawing their way further while it continued firing. "They can survive catastrophic damage. We need to find the coordinating intelligence here and destroy it."

A drop pod slammed down into the ranks of metal soldiers, their sheer numbers providing a bulk that sent the drop pod rolling through the air before crashing into the ground. The Astartes inside rolled as their pod exploded, bringing up great flamers and forcing the enemy back with great gouts of flame. But the robots would not be forced back - metal that dripped off of them ran in reverse back up into the body, only to melt back down under the flames. Within minutes the xenos had fallen upon them, crushing their way through powered armor, the Emperor's protection lost to that squad as flares of green light sealed their doom.

Ko'ten held a hand up, signaling a fall back. El'shan and his squad worked their way backward. "This position is untenable. We can't seem to do permanent damage. Are we retreating, sir?"

"No. But there is a reason to fall back nonetheless."

A sharp whistle and an alert beep in their helmet made it clear - a different sort of rain was falling now. The first missile spiraled into the overturned drop pod, rocking the metal formation with a huge explosion. Bits of metal flew into the air and were shredded with prejudice by the enraged Astartes. Missiles began to fall in great batteries, turning the battlefield into a firestorm, the enemy shattered to pieces by explosions. And yet more rose from below, great holes opening up in the earth as more appeared. And this time, one appeared at the forefront. It scanned across and locked eyes on El'shan's squad, the one closest to the front.

"Childreenn of the Old Oness..." Its voice was a horrible quiet screech, unused to air, dormant for many years. "Necrons will quiet your pitiful scratching... Your despairing existences... Bring you peace." A great scythe flared in its hand, giving it the appearance of a skeletal reaper as it guided the forces forward. "I am lord of this world, and my cleansing will be complete. Bring all you have to this world, so that I may show the universe to its grave..."

There was a moment of silence and fear. Then another rain of missiles fell upon the ranks of the Necrons, and the Astartes acted as if on cue. They opened fire, tearing through more Necrons, who just as before clawed their way back up into the battlefield just as they were scythed down.

As for El'shan, his target was clear. He brought the melta up and focused its energy in a blast on the one that had spoken. The air rippled with heat, snaking towards its target - And as he watched the Necron turned to face him, and rippled like the air, the melta beam passing through harmlessly. "Always... struggling..." A darkness descended on the Necron commander, and he vanished.


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## Thuellai (Jul 15, 2009)

Chapter 2

The darkness became a black whirlpool in front of him, and El'shan dove backward, using his shoulder to shove the Sergeant to safety as the rest of the squad dived for cover against whatever new attack this was. Bringing his melta up, he watched as the whirlpool slid away to reveal the Necron commander and a few of his soldiers looking down on him from only a couple feet away. Great claws dangled from the hands of the Necron retinue, and bits of human flesh let off a reek that could be barely detected even through the filter systems of El'shan's armor. The Lord stepped forward implacably, seemingly unconcerned by the Marines' attempts to retreat, and El'shan began heating up his weapon. He was dimly aware of a rumbling, but dismissed it as simply the sound of the artillery - until a plasteel shard, either a bit of drop pod or the shrapnel used to cover their descent, rolled down into the Necron formation. The scythe lashed out at it, burying itself deep as its wielder attempted to simply toss the great shard of plasteel aside.

"You'll receive honors for that tactical recommendation, El'shan." There was a note of relief and humor in the Sergeant's voice. "Squad, fall back. They're coming from underground, so we have to presume there's an escape route below the battlefield. We need time to regroup."

A flicker of go-lights signaled each Marine's agreement. El'shan noticed with dismay that Tyrn's light failed to activate - he was in no condition to respond, and that most likely meant he had lost another brother. Still, he had priorities. He broke into a run, dashing past the Sergeant and attempting to locate an escape route. As usual it was Re'zen whose eyes were keenest.

"Entry tunnel, minimal guard, .8 klicks northwest."

El'shan brought up his melta, waiting until the last possible moment to release the beam of heat and scythe through one of the waiting warriors. By the time the warriors had registered their presence, a storm of fire sliced through them, leaving them broken across the floor of the tunnel. They rushed in, the Sergeant taking a moment to leave an electronic flare at the entrance, signaling escape to any other Astartes looking for a way out.

The tunnel was dark, and its deathly appearance made El'shan sure that they had simply traded a bad situation for worse - but with as extensive as these tunnels were, their luck could hold. Leth and Re'zen led the way, Leth instinctively choosing lefts and right that carried them past the enemy, sometimes a flash of fire alerting them to the presence of other Astartes attempting to move through the catacombs. Before long the turns existed only as a subconscious memorization, a silent coordination of lefts and rights that formed a line in his head should he need to turn back. But the path continued forward, the Sergeant never trusting a position as secure enough to regroup in. Finally a break in the tunnels seemed to satisfy him and he pointed the squad upward. They broke free of the tunnels - and found themselves in an Imperial facility.

"No wonder the raids were so effective. They had underground access to practically the entire planet." As they moved through, El'shan noticed that despite the devastation and the clear signs of death, most of the technology was untouched. Were they planning to salvage it later, or did they just not care?

"Looks like this stuff is still functional. I'll set up an assistance beacon, make it clear this planet is a warzone. If we're lucky we can get an Imperial survey of the area and find a defensible position as well." El'shan's hands flew as he worked the machines, setting up the broadcast. Without an astropath he couldn't count on anything being nearby, but presumably the fleet they arrived on was still in the airspace and could transmit the message further on. Meanwhile, he had a second goal. "...These mountains are our best bet. Most of the tunnels are surface-level, they can't have many entry points to higher ground. We'll settle our battle with them there, and contact whatever Astartes we can to inform them of the find."

The squad gathered and nodded. A few small maintenance rituals and prayers to fill the moment of peace, and they prepared to move. A crumbling wall brought their attention to bear, only to find their guns pointed at four more Astartes.

"Thank the Emperor." One stepped forward. "We've found brothers, rather than horrors. The casualty numbers are already at 63% - and that was just last report. We think a few more might've been lost in the tunnels - we lost two in there ourselves. They noticed us, or maybe the beacons we set in the tunnels, and they were on us like flies. We're all that's left of our squad."

Ko'ten nodded. "We're as well met as is possible under the circumstances. We've set up an assistance beacon that might make fleet contact, but that's all we can manage without an Astropath. In the meantime we're going to try and secure a defensive position on a nearby mountain range. We can use all the firepower we can get at this point... we seem to have lost one of our own."

"Veteran Te'arn. My squad submits to your leadership, Sergeant. Now... what's the plan?"


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## Lopspoon (Jun 23, 2009)

Cool story, the story reads really well, keep going.


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## Iron Angel (Aug 2, 2009)

GO NECRONS

Awesome story. Reads very well, and your use of words is incredible. Keep it up!


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## Disciple of Chaos Undivided (Jun 3, 2009)

Great read, makes me kinda embarrassed about posting mine. Looking forward to the next chapter


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## Thuellai (Jul 15, 2009)

Chapter 3

It was a long trek to the mountains, and it was made at first in silence. As they traveled, one of them (El'shan suspected it was Arano, one of Te'arn's men, but with him being the guide he could not say for sure) began a prayer to the Emperor. Slowly each voice raised in the same prayer. Before long all thirteen of them were reciting litanies, El'shan's hands working tirelessly over his gun, trying to coax some life out of the machine spirit which had been worked so hard in the battles on this planet. And then, his mouth forming words unconsciously, he noticed something. There were more voices. As they walked through their path, crawling through abandoned rubble, those who had survived joined them, adding their own voice to the requests for protection, to the prayers for salvation, to the fervor and cries of victory soon to come.

By the time El'shan looked back to survey the area, there were twenty-five Marines. Not one questioned another for his name, or for rank - this ragged force was all they had. "Give me one hundred Marines," El'shan muttered quietly. "Or failing that, a thousand others." The road stretched onward, and eventually the litanies became a sort of silence, a background buzz that focused his mind. Twenty-five Astartes was not enough, no matter their advantage. He needed more. He needed a weapon. Some way to crush the xenos, something with strength enough to end the battle in a single, fatal blow.

Exterminatus was the only answer. From the mountains they would have to make fleet contact somehow. With luck, the Astartes could be removed from the planet before its destruction - if not, he and his brothers would give their lives for the Emperor. The planet would have to be cored entirely - if the molten core was detonated, the tombs beneath would be annihilated for certain, along with everything on the planet. It would be the only solution that guaranteed the end of the enemy.

El'shan remained silent. That he had recognized the necessity of death, of almost certain destruction of the two companies that had fought nobly here, was enough. He didn't need to force the others to see. He suspected some of them already knew - Veteran Te'arn, his own Sergeant Ko'ten, they had the experience of battles before to show them the necessity of the path. Farsighted Re'zen had probably already analyzed the situation and seen the hopelessness of a defensive war with so few. Quiet En'eth, his closest friend, thought much like him and likely had realized the same conclusion. Why else so many voices raised in prayer to the Emperor? Doom was approaching. But El'shan would not make it quiet. He would scream to the stars and assure the annihilation of this planet, have his vengeance on it for the death of so many Astartes.

He was deep in his thoughts as the climb began, the Astartes readying their equipment with quiet ease as they scaled the mountains with an instinctual skill. So it was only natural he was startled when he saw a metal servo-arm stabbing up at him from a dip in one of the cliffs. It was only a moment later he saw the man who would be attached to that arm, meticulously caring for his armor in these cliffs, muttering faiths of the Cult Mechanicus. A Techmarine, here? He smiled and looked up, and El'shan was taken aback.

"Brother!" The Marine stood up in a jolting motion, his whole body snapping up from its attending to the machine. "You've made it. The blessed Emperor has brought you here as he did me." He was slim for a Marine, a short tussle of black hair ruined by his helmet. "Have you seen it yet?" He moved quickly, jerkily, muttering apologies to the machine spirit as he covered himself with his armor. Servo arms clacked unnaturally as he settled the helmet under his arm, pulling himself up the mountain with easy speed as three arms set to work against the cliff. El'shan followed him, an unease resting in his soul. On top he found the Techmarine again, gazing out over the valley.

"It's down there. It speaks to me. Roars for battle. Such a glorious machine, so long from the Emperor's grace!" A manic grin, fervor shining through, spread on the Techmarine's face. "If we can give it what it wants... deliver them to it. Such an incredible power." He turned back to El'shan, registered some sign of discomfort. "Techmarine Co'ern, Salamanders Fifth. I've found us a wondrous weapon, brother."

"It certainly sounds like it, from your excitement. What exactly is down there, Techmarine?" El'shan cast a look back, noting with some relief that the rest of his squad (all of them were now his squad, even the ones he did not know) was at least following. Something about Co'ern was deeply disturbing. He took a couple steps forward, bringing himself off the edge.

"One of the greatest weapons of the Emperor's grace. Forgotten here, all these years! The Cult Mechanicus will have many apologies to render to its machine spirit, so great a thing so neglected for so long." He stepped a bit closer to the edge, servo-arms flaring out dramatically to aid his balance. "A Titan, brother! To one educated in the ways of the machine spirit, it sings loud, marks its presence to us in a thousand shining ways. See the cliffside there, pockmarked in great chunks, crumbling down?" His arm slashed outward, pointing to a damaged rock formation - which El'shan did have to admit looked unnaturally ruined. "The strength of but one of its weapons, brother."

The discomfort faded to a quiet nagging in the pit of his stomach as his mind latched on the idea. It was... "Salvation." The squad gathered behind him. "We must claim the machine, for the glory of the Emperor. Surely its systems can be awoken, and it can shelter us from the storm. Tell me the way, and I will guide us there."

"And miss the chance to lay my own eyes upon such a great beast? No, no, Brother. This time I guide. I will soothe its savage soul as we walk, and we shall arrive to find a quiet thing. But if the enemy hunts us, they will be destroyed."

A light sparked in El'shan's hearts, and he gave thanks to the Emperor. "Then let them hunt us."


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## Lord Librarian Soth (Dec 5, 2009)

chapter three was great cant wait to read more keep it up


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