# Steel Talons



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Hellos to any and all, this is my next project, a story of the Steel Talons Order on Thracia. Just so you all know, this is what keeps me from going completely crazy from boredom out here, so post feedback! Let me know what you think is cool, or lame, or insane!
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Chapters
1. Potential
2. Boot
3. Steel Talons
4. Old Gregor
5. _Sierra Tempest_
6. Breaking Through
7. Stubborn
8. A Knight in Full
9. The Council of Jhoran
10. Declaration
11. Whatever it Takes
12. 97 Seconds
13. Downfall
14. The Cost

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POTENTIAL
Thracia Equatorial Mines, 1600 hours.

Ethan Wright moved slowly. He fought off the edges of _Rex Ferra_'s machine-voice. 

The machine encased his entire body, a system of hydraulics and pistons moving him along the shaft. His father piloted the _Fortanas Nox_ next to him.

"You got it, son?" asked the elder Wright. The miners of Thracia used simple exoskeletons, two and a half times the size of a man, fitted with breacher drills and seismic hammers to extract adamantium, flexsteel, and other minerals from Thracia's mantle, sending it to the warrior Orders high over their heads. Ethan had never even seen Thracia's sun.

"I can handle it. The right side seems a little weak." he said. _Rex Ferra_ was an old, cantankerous machine, prone to jamming and breaks, but he had forged a hard-earned peace with it's machine-spirit over six months of mining. 

"Alright. We're going to shaft nine today, Horgan broke through to a vein last night. He wants us to take a look."

The two mining suits turned on the spot, heading downwards into the mine's lower reaches. Horgan's suit swam into view as their floodlights flickered into life. He led the pair to the end of the shaft, and paused.

"There shouldn't be a tunnel here." said Horgan. Ethan pulled up the map of the mines. Sure enough, shaft nine ended where they were standing, but a second tunnel branched off into the darkness, going downwards at an amazing angle.

"Too angled to be rock drilled. We should call it in." said Ethan's father. His machine stepped up to the hole, it's lights moving down to peer into the deep.

"Something's down there, I'm picking up auspex. Might be a suit." he said. "Hello! Anyone there!? Do you need help!?"

Ethan picked out a shuffling, cracking noise.

A massive brown-scaled creature exploded from the opposite wall, smashing into Horgan's back. The miner went down, the beast clawing at his suit. The creature was fully the size of the exoskeleton, with long fangs and four yellow eyes. Horgan screeched in agony as the claws finally reached him, pulling him from the machine in a welter of gore.

"Tunnel Dragon!" howled Ethan's father. The miners had faced them before; vast, reptillian creatures native to Thracia. He turned, the seismic hammer on his suit powering up. Ethan did the same, moving to stand next to his father.

The pit behind them moved.

"Behind you!" he shouted. Ethan's father swung around as fast as his suit could move, seeing another Dragon lurch from the blackness. A claw batted the suit down, pinning the man. His father's hammer swung up, exploding the dragon in a shower of blood, but the second Dragon leapt on him, claws and teeth bloody from Horgan's slaughter.

Ethan ran forward as fast as he could, unwilling to believe the Dragon's claws growing steadily redder, the machine's struggles getting weaker, and finally stopping. The breacher on his left arm rose to a screaming pitch. He lunged, stabbing the creature. It was obviously the alpha male, nearly twice the size of the dragon his father had killed, nearly one and a half again as large as Ethan, even in the mining suit.

It howled and smashed him across the shaft, crushing his hammer arm under the weight of the machine. He tasted blood. The dragon lunged, claws outstretched, and everything slowed down.

Ethan felt a cool, calm sensation seep into his battered frame. He stepped forward calmly, raising the breacher drill with a squeal of tortured metal. The dragon smashed into him. The drill cut a deep hole into the creature, making it howl in rage and pain. Loops of intestine and organs were sucked from it's innards by the force. It opened it's jaws, and crushed Ethan Wright into the bowels of his suit.

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

"-he OK?"

"Looks that way. How are the others?"

"Dead. Both of them."

"-lly grown tunnel dragon. He's the right stuff."

"Back to the Mons, then?"

"Yep. Pry him out and let's get moving. Old Gregor's expecting us back."

Ethan opened one eye, the other was gummed shut by dried blood.

"Who- who are you?" he said slowly, to no one in particular. A massive machine, smoke grey with a blue eagle design painted on it's shoulder, turned at the noise.

"Don't worry about me." it said. "Sleep."

He closed his eyes, and the world went away.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

A double-update, not doing anything right now!
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BOOT
Ferrus Mons, Thracia

Ethan opened his eyes.

A lean man with white hair and a goatee was sitting in a chair at the foot of the pad Ethan lay on. He wore a grey jumpsuit with metallic connectors attached to it. The blue eagle design he had seen on the machine's shoulder was repeated on the man's front pocket.

"Ah. You're awake." he said smoothly, putting down a thick book. He scooted the chair closer to the bed.

"Where-where am I? Where's my father? _Rex Ferra_?"

"Your father's dead, son. And your machine is back at the mining fields."

"Where am- Did you say dead?"

The man nodded. "Yep. Dead. Tunnel Dragon killed him. And you killed it. Impressive, actually. Fully grown tunnel dragon versus barely armed miner suit."

"Dead." repeated Ethan, unable to comprehend the loss. He shook his head slowly, trying not to cry in front of the stranger.

"As to your other question," continued the man. "You are in Ferrus Mons, the Iron Mountain. Home of the Steel Talons."

Ethan blinked slowly. "The what?"

"The Steel Talons. We're a Knight Order." explained the man. He stroked his chin, thinking.

"You know the miner suits, son?" he asked. Ethan nodded.

"Knights are like that. But bigger. And with more guns. You'll see one, if you agree with what I'm about to say."

Ethan sat up warily. "What are you going to say?"

The man leaned forwards to look him in the eye. "You attracted the attention of one of my warriors, son. A miner taking on a fully grown Tunnel Dragon one-on-one and, albeit barely, surviving. How would you like to join the Talons?"

"I- I don't know." admitted Ethan. "This is all so..fast."

The man stood up. He took Ethan's arm, pulling him upright. The pair moved to a wall covered in regular sheets of grey metal. The man hit a green button on the side, and a blast of light nearly blinded Ethan. His eyes slowly adjusted, and he breathed out at the sight.

Nearly two hundred feet below, in a vast staging area at the base of a tremendous cliff, four dozen grey suits sparred, practiced weapons, and received repairs. A building to the south, belching smoke and fire into the air, produced a thick plate of armor as Ethan watched. 

"I...I want in." said Ethan. "There's nothing for me. Not anymore. My mother's dead. My father's dead. Do I get to pilot one of those?" he asked, pointing. The man laughed.

"No, son. You'll be receiving a new one. The forge is churning them out as we speak, getting ready for the Feast of Blades."

"The what?"

"Later. Down the lift in the back of the room, press five. Tell them Dom sent you."

Ethan nodded, leaving the man to look out over Ferrus Mons. He punched number five on the lift, and yelped in shock as it plummeted downwards. Just as he was about to think that the lift would never stop, that it would smash into the ground and be destroyed, it stopped with a jolt. He collapsed to the floor, panting. The door opened with a pleasant chime. A middle-aged woman sat behind a desk in a blank room, typing on a cogitator. A metronome ticked on the counter.

"Um. I'm Ethan Wright. Dom sent me." said Ethan. The woman looked up.

"Alright. I'm Scribe Reddin." said the woman. She handed Ethan a pack containing one of the grey suits, among other things, and gestured at a door in the room's back.

"Welcome to Camp Blackhawk, Initiate." she said as he entered the room.

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

_TWO WEEKS LATER_

Ethan panted. The trainer, a man named Korgan Steele, had pushed him and a half-dozen others to the breaking point. Sixteen men had already "washed out" of the Talon program, they had been exiled from Ferrus Mons. Two had commited suicide. They had been cremated and their ashes vaporised in the Mons' fusion reactor. 

"Come on, Initiate!" howled Steele, an inch from an initiate's face. The man's skin was red with exertion as he attempted to do the trainer's hundred press-ups.

"You think this is a GAME?!" yelled Steele.

The man gasped. "One...hundred." he collapsed. Steele stood up, smiling. He dropped a bottle of water. The man grabbed it and drank greedily. 

"Five minute break." said Steele. "Then we run."

Ethan groaned, along with the other initiates. The "run" was actually a five-mile stretch around the entire Camp Blackhawk complex, situated in a massive cavern under Ferrus Mons.

The man drinking his water sputtered as he breathed in. "Jason Matthews."

Ethan shook his hand. "Ethan Wright."

"How did you get here?" asked Jason.

"Killed a Tunnel Dragon." said Ethan.

"Wow. I fought off a marauder suit. You trumped me pretty good." he said. Marauders were renegade miners that outfitted their suits with large bore drills and EMP launchers. They terrorized the mines to the far north, the equatorial regions and the south were more heavily populated.

Steele moved up to the initiates.

"Alright women! RUN!" he roared, setting off at a breakneck pace down the track. Matthews and Wright sighed in frustration and followed, the rest of the initiates breaking into a run after Steele.

"You've only got four weeks with old Steele! Keep up!" howled Steele from down the track. Wright grumbled. The Steel Talons had better be worth it.


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## Iron Corsair (Nov 5, 2008)

Awesome as always, Dirge! Keep up the excellent work!


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

STEEL TALONS
Ferrus Mons, 1200 hours

_Three weeks later_

The enemy engine was burning. Wright watched as it's carapace came apart under massed gunfire as the Knight responded to his commands. His arms and legs were encased in ceramite sheaths, and his head was surrounded by sensors and a thick HUD. The Lancer-class Knight rotated on it's axis, opening fire into another rogue miner's suit, sending the machine to the ground. His machine was equipped with a plasma destroyer on one arm, and a long, crackling energy blade in the other. The weapon hissed as it recharged. A miner suit stomped over the wreckage of a hab unit towards him. He tried to pivot aside as the EMP launcher on the miner's carapace fired, but the bolt struck his engine dead on, making him howl as the shields failed and the electronics of his engine died. The miner stepped forward in triumph, but he fired a shot into it's leg, making it collapse. The miner was crushed under the weight of his engine. 

A scream over the Manifold told him his battle-brother had died behind him, and hydraulic claws closed on his engine's arms, pulling it to the ground. He struggled weakly, the electronics still booting up. A huge breacher drill entered his vision, and the world went black.

The simulator pod opened, releasing his limbs.

"You're dead." said the white-haired man. Wright nodded. Next to him, Matthews and another initiate he didn't know stepped from similar pods.

"You're all dead." he said. "You can't be that reckless in an engine fight, son. You have to fight as one. Rickert, you could have killed that fifth suit if you hadn't wasted your blastgun shot on the one you could have killed with the powerblades. Matthews, you need to move more. Those EMP launchers are nasty, and Wright? You need to remember you're a lot larger then you think. Dodge when your body wants to. Don't think. Trust your instincts. That goes for all of you, too."

The initiates nodded.

"But," continued the man. "You're about ready for the story. Come with me."

Matthews and Wright looked at each other. Rickert, the third initiate from their original class of almost thirty, simply looked confused. 

The man led them to an elevator shaft, taking them deep below Ferrus Mons, even below Camp Blackhawk. The trio of initiates smiled as they recognized Steele's massive figure berating a new class of potential Talons. The elevator stopped after five minutes of descending into the depths of Thracia. 

"Good Afternoon, Crusader Strom." canted a tech-adept behind a desk. The white haired man nodded at the priest.

"Got a new bunch of potentae, Eryk. Think you can tell them a story?"

The priest nodded stiffly. "I can find one or two around here."

The man stood up and pulled a fat key from the depths of his robes. He inserted it into the door behind the desk, and the stench of parchment, oils, and ink wafted out. Strom and the initiates followed into the Steel Talons' Librarium.

They stopped before a vast mural, it's surface cracked and chipped with age. A huge Battle Knight fired into a host of men, while white-green Space Marines fought at it's feet.

"The Steel Talons' history dates back to the Heresy." said Eryk. He gestured at the mural. "The fight to pull the Technocracy into the fold. Knights of the Steel Talons fight alongside the Sons of Horus Legion."

The next stop was at a second mural, this one a vast host of black nightmares charging a thin line of golden warriors, while grey Knights and vast Battle Titans stood over them.

"Stormlord Kuvara's last stand at the Seige of the Emperor's Palace." explained Eryk.

The initiates looked on in awe. The magos led them to a large marble statue, depicting Thracia. The north area around Ferrus Mons was grey, emblazoned with the blue eagle symbol. The south, closer to the city of Hygyrum, was a shade of dark green, with a white skull with dripping paint.

"The division of Thracia after the Talons left Mars." said Eryk. "The Steel Talons took the north hemisphere, the Legio Nex Titan order took the south."

Their final destination was a vast steel door that was covered in names.

"This is the Chamber of the First." explained Eryk. "Every Titan Legio and Knight Order has one. It houses the very first machine, and sometimes, as is the case with the Talons, it also holds the most revered of our warrior's remains, or the remains of their engines. You must be respectful at all times, and do not touch anything. The remains are stasis-shielded to keep them from degrading, and will freeze your flesh in a heartbeat."

The initiates nodded. Strom simply looked amused.

Eryk looked at each of them with a stare, weighing their promise, and opened the door. A light mist fell from it, dissipating into the Librarium. They stepped into the chamber, finding it to be a long hallway dotted with vast spaces for engines, and small chambers for men. They passed a gold-edged Enforcer-Class Knight, it's surface pitted and scorched by what looked like acid. 

"Stormlord Davuson." said Eryk, looking at the Knight. "Killed during the first Tyrannic Wars."

They moved on, past a dozen engines and ten times that men. Finally they stopped in front of a pure silver engine, it's armor engraved with vast murals and holy script. Ancient parchments hung from it's frame, and a single purity seal was affixed to it's chassis, bearing the personal mark of the Emperor himself. The initiates breathed in with awe.

"The _Deus Aquila_." breathed Eryk. "The first Knight, given to the Steel Talons' first initiate by the Regent of Terra and the Emperor."

"It's beautiful." exclaimed Matthews.

"It's not like the ones you'll be driving, believe me." said Strom. "You'll get gray, and you'll like it."

As the men left the Chamber, a single one of the Knights lurched from the wall in front of them, weapons raised.


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## Iron Corsair (Nov 5, 2008)

BUMBUMBUM!!! Cliffhanger! Excellent part, Dirge! I thought that it was an SM story at first, but I'm glad that it is a Knight/Titan story because I've always been fascinated by Titans/Knights. Again, Excellent job!


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## waltzmelancholy_07 (Sep 30, 2008)

2nd that last comment... Hehehe... Will there be Titan battles Dirge?...


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Now THAT would ruin the story. If you will notice, however, I did make known the Legio Nex Titan order in the southern parts of Thracia. You might see them as the story progresses :victory:.

-Dirge


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

OLD GREGOR
Ferrus Mons Librarium, 1215 hours

The Knight took another massive step, making the stone floor of the Librarium crackle
in protest at the huge weight of the armored machine. Stromm looked from the Knight to Eryk,
then to the initiates, who were slowly backing towards _Deus Aquilia_ in fear.

Eryk stepped forward, raising a hand. The Knight stopped suddenly, and a burst of static
echoed from it's voxcorder.

"Adept Daelus." it canted in an odd, feminine voice. "When will you allow me to walk this
world?"

Eryk shrugged. "I do not want all my work to go to waste. Your augments..."

"Are fine. I have been down here for nearly three months. Allow me to Walk, my creator."

The Knight crouched, it's massive armored-over cockpit staring at Eryk through a dozen
sensor suites. 

The tech-adept raised his hands. "Alright. I'll open the hanger doors on my way out. Go
north to the Mons' base, then come back. The skitarii will let you back in."

The Knight rose to it's full height, voxcasters and war-horns blaring in triumph. It turned,
and stomped out of the Chamber of the First, the footfalls growing fainter as it left the
Librarium.

"What did you do, Eryk?" growled Strom.

"Well," said Eryk. "I repaired Master Rezayle's mount, and implanted it with battle wetware and targeting matrices, and a VI interface. She's a whole new breed of AI."

"She?" asked Matthews.

"The donor for the wetware was a she." explained Eryk. "But it is a fascinating turn, is it
not?"

Strom pointed at the empty alcove the Knight had occupied. "Does the Grand Master know about this?"

The adept looked shocked. "Of course he does! Did you think Korveylan and I were mad scientists down here?"

"I just saw a centuries-dead Grand Master's mount get up, ask to leave, and then do so. I don't know what to believe." said Strom.

"Oh, she's young." explained Eryk. "Simply looking for adventure."

Wright and Matthews exchanged a look. 

"Ah, yes. I'm sure your initiates would also benefit from a meeting with Master Gregor?" asked Eryk.

Strom nodded cautiously, looking at the other Knights with suspicion.

The priest turned and walked out of the Chamber of the First with enthusiasm, followed by the initiates and Strom. They passed a dozen rooms, each filled to the brim with scrolls, texts, or machinery. A robed adept nodded as they passed a room filed with a massive cogitator.

Eryk led them to a huge room, built like a chapel, but with a large conduit running
along the ceiling. A single engine stood in the room, it's back to them.

"Master, it is I, Eryk, the Healer of Metal. I brought Crusader Stromm, and three Initiates
of the Steel Talons."

The Knight turned slowly. It's weapons layout was unorthadox, a Turbo Laser hung from one arm, while the other held a Vulcan Bolter. A sheathed Power Blade was concealed beneath the bolter's barrels. Its legs were massively reinforced to compensate, hydraulics hissing and ribbed cables pulsing with motion as the machine moved.

"I see." it canted, a deep, powerful voice echoing from the voxcaster.

"And who may these Initiates be?" it asked. Eryk pointed to them in turn.

"Jason Matthews of the North, Ethan Wright of the Mines, and Corvan Rickert of the Orbital."

The Knight stood up from it's kneeling position.

"Greetings, young ones. You are always welcome in the domain of Gregor the Third."

Matthews stepped forward. "The Third?"

"I am the Third God-Machine of the Steel Talons." explained Gregor. "I fought alongside 
_Deus Aquilia_ at the Technocracy, the Eternity Gates, and finally the skirmish that
killed First Master Ireisan, here on Thracia. The _Aquilia_ has remained dormant here
ever since."

The initiates looked on in awe, amazed at this ancient warrior.

"How have you lived this long?" asked Wright, moving closer to the Knight.

"I am not man any longer." he replied. "I have been confined to the _Gladia Eternus_ for nearly ten thousand years. My augmetics and the _Eternus_' life support can ensure near immortality for myself, as long as combat doesn't end me first."

"You still fight?" asked Rickert. The Knight turned.

"You'd be insane to try and stop me, initiate. I will fight for the Emperor until the day I rust into dead metal and corpseflesh."

"Which is unlikely to be soon." added Eryk, pointing to a tech-altar covered in machinery and tools. "The adepts are good at what they do."

The Knight's torso shook, making it's cockpit nod in affirmation.

"There are no finer healers of metal in the Segmentum Solar." he said. "Even the vaunted Astartes take counsel from the Steel Talons."

A chime sounded, and Gregor turned away.

"I must return to my studies, adept. Thank you for coming."

Eryk nodded and gave a shallow bow. "By your word, Master."

The priest led them back to the lift, walking in after them and pressing 18 down on the control.

"Well, my friend. You've been busy. Making friends with Gregor and building machine warriors." said Strom.

"I do what I can." replied Eryk, amused. The lift deposited the five men onto a landing.

Wright stared. A dozen tables were set up, each with three Initiates. A thirteenth was vacant. Strom gestured for them to sit, and he and Eryk sat at a higher table, at the north end of the hall.

A man wearing full battle armor, minus a helmet, walked in, a black cloak trailing him.

"Greetings, Initiate Potentae of the Steel Talons!" he exclaimed.

"You have been chosen to join one of the most revered and ancient Knightly Orders the Emperor has to offer! This is the most vaunted Feast Of Blades! Here, after a mighty round of feasting and elaborate tales, you will be taken to the Forge Halls, to receive your charge. For now, you will each be given a Lancer-Pattern Knight. You may later request alternative weapons. Now, Congratulations, Lancers! And let the Ten thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-seventh Feast of Blades commence!"

Wright's face split into a smile as the feasting hall roared, and he found himself joining in.


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

more brilliant work dirge. Love it.


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## waltzmelancholy_07 (Sep 30, 2008)

I couldn't agree more... MORE!!!


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## crabpuff (Aug 5, 2008)

I can't get this image of the Suit at the end of Aliens out of my head, when thinking on how the miner suit looks.
good stuff


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Actually the Aliens powerloaders were my mental image of the mining suits :victory:

Update this morning.
-Dirge


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

_SIERRA TEMPEST_
Ferrus Mons Forge Complex, 1330 hours

The Grand Master led the sixteen Knight Initiates, as well as the Enginseer and Scribe trainees to the Forge Complex situated in the Mons' front courtyard. The squat building belched smoke and slag into the air. The symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus blazed from the doorway, beneath the Steel Talons' insignia. 

"Greetings Grand Master Doloun." said a robed adept at the doorway. He punched 2-1-6 into the door's controls, and the portal swished open, revealing a hanger-sized room filled with all manner of forging equipment. A single servo-skull with a voxcaster built into it swooped down.

"Bellows. Casting anvil project?" it crackled. Doloun nodded. 

"Casting forge." it said. The skull swooped down an aisle of machinery and parts, and the Master followed, Strom, Eryk, and the initiates in tow. The party followed the contraption through a massively reinforced door to a second room the size of a scrumball pitch. The initiates stared in awe.

Fifteen Battle Knights stood at silent attention, each fitted with a Turbo Laser on one arm and a Vulcan mega bolter on the other. A sheathed powerblade was fitted beneath the bolter. Their armor was a dull gunmetal, unpainted and without the colors of the Steel Talons.

"Choose your poison, Lancers." said Doloun. The initiates broke into a wild cheer and ran toward the machines while the Scribes and Enginseers watched in fascination.

Matthews climbed the second Knight by a yellow ladder, sitting in the cockpit above the words _Fortis Metallica_. Rickert chose the _Arcadia Noctis_, next to it. Wright ran to the end of the line, watching the initiates, and stopping when he realized the Knights were all chosen. He looked at Doloun in disappointment. The Grand Master smiled.

"Eryk. Do you think your friend could use a partner?" he said. The adept's face broke into a wide smile.

"Yes Master."

Wright gave the adept a look of confusion before a door slid open to his right, and the massive form of Master Rezayle's Battle Knight entered. 

"Hello Lancer Wright." it canted. Wright looked at it in shock.

"This is the _Sierra Tempest_. explained Eryk. "Master Rezayle's machine spirit, the _Dominatus Omnia_, was killed alongside him. You'll find she's more then ready for another."

Wright's face broke into a small smile, looking up at the Knight in fascination.

"Is she any different from a normal Knight?" he asked Eryk.

The priest nodded. "A little bit. Her armor contains an atomic crystal layer; the _Tempest_'s VI uses it as matrix space. Approximately sixty-five point two percent increase in processing speed and clarity."

"And I'm smarter then these hulks." said the Knight. 

It kneeled down, allowing Wright to climb a small ladder to sit in the cockpit. _Sierra Tempest_ rose to it's full height, the armored-over cockpit closing over Wright's head.

"How do I see?" he asked the VI. A mellodious chuckle floated through the speakers set into the cockpit walls.

"Like this, silly." she said. A thick, inflexible coil of wire with a dataspike on the end pierced his spinal cord just above the shoulderblades, making him wince in pain. His senses jolted and rearranged, his sight becoming the multifaceted vision of the Knight. He felt the barely restrained power of the thrumming power fields and weapon systems. He turned slowly, feeling the Knight's body respond instead of his own.

"The power's different then the Knights in the simulators." he said simply. Eryk smiled and nodded.

"It's a new technology I'm pioneering." said Eryk. "Reverse induction cryomoleculars. It's cooled by the reactor's fusion. The more you turn it up, the more juice you have to cool the system. It's very efficient."

The _Tempest_'s VI chimed in. "Are we good, Lancer? Will you fight at my side?"

Wright smiled, his reaction unseen deep inside the Knight. 

"Oh, I think we'll be alright."

The _Sierra Tempest_ turned as one with the other fifteen initiates. 

Strom stalked out from a side hanger, his own Knight a massive Crusader-Class machine, twin Turbo Lasers and powerblades hanging from it's armored chassis.

"Well, Lancers?" asked Strom. "What do you say?"

The sixteen Lancers turned at his word.

"Sir, yes sir!"

Strom took a step forward, looking each of the Knights in the eye.

"Practice drills on Thursday. Red Team is Holdren, Shmitt, Franklin, Renolds, Wells, Illanis, Edwards, and Kurge. Blue Team is Matthews, Rickert, Lorten, Perkins, Cornelius, Samarkan, Quest, and Wright. Get dye rounds from the autoloader armory. Fall out, Lancers. Congratulations."

Strom stomped out, followed by Doloun and the non-Lancer initiates.

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

That night, Wright slept in the cockpit of _Sierra Tempest_, unwilling to leave his mount for fear it would disappear at any moment. The VI cooed softly to him as he slept, happy to have a pilot and mission at last.


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

very cool stuff dirge, as always.


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

BREAKING THROUGH
Noctis Pulveria Ash Waste, east of Ferrus Mons, 1230 hours

The _Sierra Tempest_'s floodlights cut through the dust and ash clouds of the Noctis Pulveria wastes. The Black Dust, as it was known in the mines, could cut the flesh from a grown man in seconds. The Knight's adamantium skin barely felt the screaming winds.

"Getting some slight auspex returns." said Rickert, ten meters to his right. 

"Where?" asked Wright. As the team lead of Blue One, Talon One, he was in charge of Matthews and Rickert.

"Behind the dune there. Two energy sigs."

"Alright. Track steady, and keep it tight around here... ground's soft enough."

"Of course."

The three Knights stomped through the near-blinding ash clouds. It was six hours into the practice run against Red One, their rival from Talon Two. One of Red One's Knights already lay powerless and dead on the ash waste's surface, her pilot congratulating Wright on the "kill" before killing his comms and calling for a bulk-hauler to drag the Knight back to base.

"Contact. Lancer-Class at zero-nine-two, three hundred meters. I don't think he sees us." voxed Matthews.

"Close steady, wind up autoloaders."

"Copy that."

The three Knights broke into a run, their weapons spooling up to fire. The Red Team Knight turned slightly as they approached, and appeared to twitch. 

It toppled over, sixteen EMP bolts lodged in it's back.

"Shit! Full Stop! Auspex at max, watch your backs!"

Blue One stopped, surrounding the dead Knight. Their weapons charged.

"Anyone got hard rounds?" asked Wright. For the exercise, the Lancers had equipped dye and marker rounds into their autoloaders.

"No, but I've got charge for six turbo laser shots." said Matthews. Rickert echoed him.

"You've got twelve, team leader." said the _Tempest_'s VI. 

A bloodcurdling howl echoed across the wastes.

"Rogue suits, incoming nine hundred meters." voxed Rickert.

"Close it up, covering fire, run out of ammo, switch to your powerblade." ordered Wright. The two other Knights voxed affirmations. Turbo Lasers whirred and crackled as they charged.

"+Death to+ +eel Talons!+" a voice crackled over the vox. A dozen Miner suits stampeded over the dunes, led by a massive Planet Cracker class Mining mech. The mech was fully twice the size of the Knights, twin hydraulic claws and Hyades breacher drills in it's arms.

"Shit! They've got a big brother! Matthews, vox the Nex legion, see if they've got somebody around here. Rickert, ready lasers."

Wright aimed his turbo laser, letting a single shot fly. The bolt struck the leading Miner dead in the cockpit, smashing it to the ground. Rickert's shot hit a second in the legs, sawing the machine's limbs off and making it collapse.

"I've got somebody!" yelled Matthews. 

"Blue One of the Steel Talons this is the _Astra Irae_ of the Legio Nex, what's the problem?"

"_Astra Irae_ this is _Sierra Tempest_! We're under attack by a Cracker and miners! Need immediate assist, over!"

"I read you, _Sierra Tempest_. ETA thirty seconds."

Wright heard a low blaring against the wind.

The Cracker's horns blared in hatred and death, smashing aside a smaller miner suit to charge at Matthews. The Lancer pivoted aside, placing a shot into the Cracker's back as it barreled past. A mining suit grabbed Rickert, pushing the Knight over. A powerblade shot from Rickert's gauntlet, impaling the suit. 

A three round burst of turbo laser fire from Blue One killed three more of the miners. The Planet Cracker turned, it's horns roaring. 

The suit exploded in a mass of twisted metal and expanding plasma, vanishing in an instant.

"What?" asked Matthews, his suit turning around to see what had destroyed the suit.

A massive foot, fully the size of Wright's suit, smashed down, crushing two of the miners like tin cans beneath it. _Sierra Tempest_ looked up, to barely see the edge of _Astra Irae_'s chest.

"A Warlord?" asked Wright incredulously. 

The machine's warhorn screamed in triumph and it's vulcan bolter opened fire, shredding the miners too stubborn to run.

"Thanks _Irae_." said Rickert. 

"Not a problem." the machine responded.

The Warlord blared in victory again, and turned away, stomping to the south.

Wright turned, the _Tempest_'s VI scanning the waste for any other miners.

"I'm picking up faint auspex returns...one klick south."

"Looks+ +a Knight+" said the vox-man on the _Astra Irae_, before the Warlord's auspex signature vanished from Wright's screen.

The three Knights stomped over the dunes, catching sight of the third Red Team Knight. It's carapace was cracked in a dozen places, compressed by the horrific power of the Planet Cracker. The pilot was gone, the Knight's cockpit broken and laying open.

"Oh, damn." said Matthews as the broken Knight came into view. 

"Call out a bulk hauler." said Wright. "Make sure it's escorted. This just got real."


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

oh wow, quite a twist to the casual training run! awesome, next chapter please!


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Seven on the Seven7h!
----------------------

STUBBORN
Ferrus Mons Repair Ward, 1845 hours

Rickert sat atop the _Arcadia Noctis_ with a power spanner in his hand, mending the machine's pains. 

The _Fortis Metallica_ stood next to the wounded Knight, Matthews having gone to the mess hours before. Only _Sierra Tempest_ stood vigil over the Knight and Rickert. When the Knight had only just limped back to Ferrus Mons, the enginseer in charge had deemed the _Noctis_ unsalvagable due to ruptured power conduits. Rickert and Strom had petitioned Doloun and Gregor to intervene, and by the time the messanger had gotten to the Lords, the breakers were prepared.

_Sierra Tempest_ had interposed herself between the servitors and the wounded _Arcadia Noctis_, weapons charged and spooled up, the VI's anger white-hot. Rickert stood beside the Knight, his sidearm in his hand. The pair had held off the scrappers for ten minutes until the messanger returned with Gregor's affirmation, and repairs had begun.

Wright climbed from the _Tempest_'s cockpit, his hair matted to his head with the sweat. He brushed it back, pulling on his jumpsuit to cool himself off. 

"I'll turn up the heat exchanger next time." promised the _Tempest_.

"Thanks." said Wright. He looked up at Rickert, atop his wounded mount.

"You be OK here?" he asked. The man nodded an affirmation, face unreadable behind a heavy fitter's helmet.

He stood beneath the arch leading to the Lancers' barracks, staring at the inscription.

_Each man is a spark in the darkness._

Wright swallowed, thinking of the blackness of Thracia's deep mines, and walked through the doorway, laying on his cot.

---------------------------------------------
Ferrus Mons Great Hall, 830 hours

Strom crossed the Hall with every sign of haste, brow furrowed in confusion and holding a thick wad of papers.

He swung open the door, surprising Grand Master Doloun and sixteen Adepts of the Steel Talons.

"Strom." said Doloun, looking irritated.

"My lord." replied Strom. He gave a shallow bow. "You really must see this."

The lord took the fat tome, flipping the first few pages before his face went white and he handed the papers weakly back to Strom.

"Marshall the men. All Knights to battle readiness, battle stations at the walls, Crusader."

"Of course, my lord."

Strom looked at the page Doloun had left on top of the stack.

+EN3MY 1NC0M^NG+ +ENEG+DE MIN3RS+ S7R3GTH 30O++ WA7CH Y+UR BA++

"Wright." he said into the commlink at his ear.

"Get everyone up. The shit's hit the fan."


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## juddski (Nov 3, 2008)

excellent fluff Dirge +rep :victory:


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks!
-------

A KNIGHT IN FULL
Avenger Field, near Ferrus Mons, 732 hours

_Sierra Tempest_ loped smoothly along the wind-swept dunes of black, crumbly ash, her companions matching the Knight stride for stride. Sixty-seven Knights of the Steel Talons marched north, intercepting a force of nearly three hundred Renegades, intent on looting and slaughter in the south. 

"Contact, twelve hundred meters." said the lead Knight. 

"Spin up weapons, come to flank speed. Ready destructors." ordered Gregor, striding alongside the machines.

The leading renegade machine turned and a booming exclamation echoed out from across the plains. The renegades turned as one, staring in horror at the line of smoke grey and blue Knights. Syrus stood next to Gregor, the immense banner of the Steel Legions flying proudly from his Knight. 

"Filth." spat Gregor. "Sound the charge. My brothers, my comrades. We stand at the brink! These vermin crawl from the shadows, intent on easy pillaging. Will it be so?"

The Knights answered as one, sixty-six voices raised in a howl.

"NO!"

"Will they find the Steel Talons lacking?"

"NO!"

"Then prove it, my brethren! Kill them all, for the Talon! CHARGE!!!"

Gregor's warhorns sounded, a booming noise that set Wright's teeth on edge. The Knight stomped forward, powerblades drawn. Syrus crashed after the Grand Master, and sixty-five Knights followed, a sweeping charge down the Pallidus dunes. The renegades desperately tried to realign their flank, to present their armored Planet Crackers and Devastators to the front, but the machines were too tightly packed. Laser Destructor and Vulcan Bolter fire hammered the first ranks, scything them down. A few EMP bolts and lances flew from the renegades' ranks, killing two of the Knights. Gregor stomped over their bodies, his warhorn still blaring in hatred. The Knights all along the line sounded theirs as well, filling the Pallidus for leagues around with noise. The miners panicked, the front ranks trying to push their way into the mass of machines.

With sixty-five voices raised in a howling roar, the Steel Talons hit the front lines of the renegade army. Miners were thrown into the air. Suits were crushed beneath the weight of the adamantium machines. A Planet Cracker tried to turn, but seven Laser Destructor bolts caught it in the midsection and it came apart at the middle, shedding debris. Wright slew two miners who turned far too sluggishly to match the screaming _Sierra Tempest_. His auspexes overloaded in the target-rich enviornment. He glanced up as a third miner died, it's cockpit shredded by hard rounds. The banner of the Steel Talons still flew proudly above Gregor and his cohort, who had formed a flying wedge through the middle of the horde. The Knights in the rear, armed with Turbo Lasers and hellstorm rockets, reaped a fearsome toll, while the outer edges were vulcan bolters and powerblades. At the tip of the spear was Old Gregor himself, wielding twin powerblades with a mastery only time can bring. 

Matthews was next to him, a plasma destroyer singing death. Rickert kicked a suit away, stabbing it through the chest. The miners were beginning to crack, their resolve in numbers being grinded away by the Knights' skill and ferocity. A Devastator suit clanked over Wright's head, the machine turning to open fire. Wright pivoted on the spot, _Sierra Tempest_'s VI slowing the world down as his senses sped up. 

_There._ he thought. His powerblade sheared straight through a lightly damaged knee joint, and the Devastator toppled, it's warhorn howling in pain. He finished it with a burst of Turbo Laser fire and moved on. 

Gregor had reached the opposite end of the horde, and had split his warriors, each taking half of the now dwindling army of miners. A Planet Cracker smashed into Syrus, crushing the man's cockpit and killing him instantly. Gregor unsheathed his blades, cutting into the Cracker's hydraulics. A burbling howl echoed from it's horns as the fluid leaked into the cockpit, drowning the pilot. The machine toppled over, a pool of blue ooze leaking from it. 

A warrior Wright didn't know pried the Steel Talons' banner from Syrus' dead machine. Wright smiled deep in his engine as he realized even in death, Syrus hadn't allowed the banner to fall. Matthews stormed past him, vulcan bolter chattering. A miner on his knees shuddered under the impacts, and disintegrated. 

The miners broke, all order lost as they ran for their lives. The Talons gathered in the center of the field, firing outwards, and a gratifying number of miners failed to escape. Wright only saw twelve clear the dunes on the edges of Avenger Fields.

"Victory!" yelled Gregor. "We have victory!"

The Talons cheered as they celebrated in the slaughter.

---------------
Ferrus Mons Repair Ward, 1634 hours

_Sierra Tempest_ was annoyed. 

She routed herself into the Ferrus Mons' communique dossier, tunneling through their counterintrusion software.

A simple aegis matrix blocked her path. She sighed in frustration and initiated a laughably obvious viral path. The barrier howled in rage and fled from the communique channels to chase down the Trojan, leaving her free to enter the communications MAJCOM. 

A dozen files filtered down from the MAJCOM channels, and she filed them in less then a nanosecond into her own hardware. She would review them later. A single file marked "Operation: COVENANT" caught her attention.

She opened the file.

++++To Master Doloun, Steel Talons, Thracia.++++

Recent intelligence from the STI spooks indicate possible xenos presence in the renegades' ranks. Caution advised. Sightings include Kroot Mercenaries and even Tau battlesuits. A single miner survived the raid on Harper's Ferry and described to me in great detail a Crisis XV8 suit. Careful out there in the Noctis Pulveris, Adam. This might be over both our heads.

-Magos Garretan

++++Communique Ends++++

_Sierra Tempest_ spent two full processor cycles contemplating the news. The Grand Master clearly knew more about the rogue miners then he was letting on. She reviewed the history on miner sightings. Less then ten years before there was no such thing as a "renegade miner" on Thracia. Now the Steel Talons fought bitterly against hundreds. 

She withdrew from the Mons' network, feeling Wright shutting her power cells down in preparation for the night. 

"Sleep well, my friend." she said as he walked away. "You and your comrades have earned that, at least."


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## Sniper (Mar 9, 2008)

Great story Dirge, would have read it sooner but i still had to finish 409:grin: well done anyways.

Sniper


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## Gambit14 (Aug 30, 2008)

very well done


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

more awesome work dirge, I await the next chapter with anticipation


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## waltzmelancholy_07 (Sep 30, 2008)

Excellent as always Dirge!...:victory:


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## Iron Corsair (Nov 5, 2008)

Awesome as always, Dirge! Excellent job! Keep up the brilliant work!


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks all!
----------

THE COUNCIL OF JHORAN
Ferrus Mons, 1000 hours

Doloun nodded at Master Vec as he walked in the door. The aging Princeps returned the nod and seated himself opposite from Doloun. Eryk the tech-adept and Marshall Davus, the leader of the Skitarii regiments, were also present. A troops of Vec's senior princeps and morderati joined them, Grand Master Gregor towering over everything in his massive suit. The doors opened once more, and Crusader Strom entered, followed by Lancer Wright.

"Strom. The invitation was for you only." said Doloun, looking at the Lancer with disdain.

"I can bring one of my initiates." explained Strom. "Teach him the ways in the Council."

Gregor's voxcasters crackled. "Very well. Let the fifteenth Council of Jhoran commence."

Vec nodded. "Now, Adam, what have you called me so far to say? The Legio Nex is prepared as always, though it irks many of them a Titan Legion is called to a Knight Order's table."

Doloun nodded. "I imagine. There is a rift growing in the north, my friend. More and more of these rogue suits are populating the Deep and the mines around it. I cannot risk open war without the help of the Legio Nex."

"And you believe open war is what it will come to?"

"I do not believe, my friend. Only yesterday my warriors engaged and destroyed a force numbering in the hundreds upon Avenger Field, but twenty miles from here. For the renegades to show their hand this far south, means their numbers are far greater then the calculatricians predicted."

Vec nodded solemnly. "And you wish for my Legio to help rid you of this?"

"It would be appreciated."

One of Vec's lieutenants, the one with the most chins and gold braiding, pounded a fist on the table. 

"Absolutely not! The Legio does not answer to the beck-and-call of a weak order of Knights!"

"Be silent." demanded Vec, giving the man a stare of murder. He sat back down.

"We will answer the call, for the gifting of Port Sable to the Legio Nex."

Strom's eyes widened at the demand.

"What is Port Sable?" asked Wright quietly. The crusader turned.

"The largest spaceport on the planet. The Legio Nex has tried to wrench it from us before."

"No." said Doloun. "Port Sable is the lifeline of the Steel Talons. Perhaps the Pallidus to the south? The refinery fields?"

"Pathetic prizes." said the chin collector. "Perhaps just give us the Ferrus Mons instead."

Gregor's voxcorders blared a howl of static that made everyone in the room cover their ears, except Strom, who seemed used to the noise.

"There will be no political maneuvering here. This is the Council of Jhoran, the first Master of the Steel Talons. We ask for your help, not petty rivalries."

Vec looked at the machine. "Very well. No, the Legion will not march."

Doloun's expression fell instantly. Gregor drew himself a little taller, filled with pride at his Order. 

"Then we will defend this world ourselves, until the renegades march on Ferrus Mons itself. And then, when they have taken the Mons, and Port Sable, and fight to take the walls of Titanicus Mons, your own home, our last few survivors, bitter with the years in the Pallidus, will refuse your frantic calls. The Imperium will never knew we, that you, existed. That we fought and died for this world."

Vec slumped. He looked at the priceps to his right, a man Wright found familiar for some reason. The priceps nodded.

"Very well. I will grant you the _Astra Irae_, _Mortis Est_, and _Dominatus_. But I will expect the Knights of the Steel Talons to fight at our side when the call goes out."

Gregor shrugged, the motion exaggerated by his huge armor.

"As is expected, Princeps Majoris."

The man nodded to his warriors, and the Legio Nex left Ferrus Mons.

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

Wright sat atop _Sierra Tempest_, a massive wrench in his hand. He tightened the power coils' secondary exhaust valve, and the machine visibly loosened. A sigh ran through the machine-spirit.

"Thank you." it said through the voxcaster.

"You're welcome." replied Wright. "I noticed it was a little loose during the fighting."

"You noticed?" she asked, an incredulitous tone in her voice.

"I've got a bit of a connection to this hardware now." he said. Wright ran a finger over the Knight's carapace to emphasize the point.

"Y'know, before I was a Knight, I was like you." she said. Wright cocked his head.

"Human. I mean." she explained. "It gets difficult to remember at times, Eryk used a lot of his time to indoctrinate me, teach me how to control the Knight instead of my body. I was clumsy for the longest time."

"What do you mean?" asked Wright.

"I was a girl, once, silly." said the VI. "I lived in the outskirts of Port Imperical. During a raider attack my parents were killed. Eryk found me living in an upended storage bin. He asked me to help him with a project...I didn't think it would end like this, though."

"He lied to you?" asked Wright, shocked.

"No. He told me everything, and I listened. I watched as Master Rezayle's suit was repaired, while the autosurgeons and tech-adepts prepared, and I watched the day Eryk turned my autosenses on for the first time."

"Don't you...miss it?"

"Not really. I was very young at the time." she said.

"How old are you?"

"Chronologically?" asked the _Tempest_. "Two hundred and seventy-eight next month."

Wright looked at the ceiling, in awe at the age of the machine. Matthews reached the _Sierra Tempest_'s berth, smiling.

"Ethan, we got trade! Renegades attacking Greyditch twelve miles out, we're all in!" 

Wright smiled, and the cockpit hatch of the Knight opened as he made his way down to the gantry.


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## Gambit14 (Aug 30, 2008)

once again brilliant


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

Ah awesome work again Dirge, lets take it to the bastards!


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## juddski (Nov 3, 2008)

excellent ..really gripping read ...........next!


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

DECLARATION
Greyditch Outskirts, 1130 hours

"My brothers! We stand on the edge of destiny! The servants of the corrupt Imperium lie and cheat, convinced you and I can never become more then what we are born into! The Imperials keep up oppressed with forced indoctrinations and warrior orders, like the Steel Talons and Titan Legions! Just yesterday, three hundred of my fellows were engaged without declaration on the Avenger Fields for simply straying south. Only eleven survived!"

The crowd roared, part approval and part horror. Cans and bottles were thrown. The man's guards blocked the projectiles.

"Go back to your heresy!" screamed an elderly man, a PDF badge shining on his cap.

A shot rang out, and the man dropped.

"See how they label the nonconformists as "heretics"? Merely expressing other beliefs is punishable by death! I say theirs should be as well! The Tau Empire has pledged their support to our cause, and we will be free, finally free of the decadant Imperium!"

The crowd cheered. Two huge XV8 suits, clad in grey ash camoflague, flanked the man, who wore curved, xenos-like armor.

A low chant flowed across the crowd from behind the podium.

_From the depredations of Xenos, our Emperor, deliver us, From the machinations of Chaos, our Emperor.._

The man turned. "Your Emperor-!"

Seventy-nine Vulcan Bolter rounds shredded the Tau battlesuits and the speaker, and obliterated the front ranks of the crowd. _Sierra Tempest_ and _Fortis Metallica_ stomped over their remains, warhorns blaring a challenge. Two dozen mining suits and half that XV8 suits broke from the surrounding buildings and charged the Knights. Matthews pivoted smoothly, tracking a battlesuit. His plasma destroyer flashed, and the suit toppled, a hole burned through it.

Wright fired, the autosenses of _Sierra Tempest_ tracking a half-dozen targets at once. Two miners fell, gaping holes through their lightly armored suits. His laser destructor roared it's disapproval of such heresy, flashing an XV8 suit into steam. The four remaining XV8s fired back, plasma rifles and missile contrails spooling out of the suits. Shots crackled against the Knights' shields. An EMP bolt flew by Wright's cockpit, embedding in a bakery across the street and lighting it on fire. The _Tempest_ lunged forward, stabbing the miner through the suit's chest and killing the pilot. He felt bangs and impacts against the suit's legs.

_The people are attacking us._ explained the Knight's VI.

_Madness._ replied Wright.

_Sierra Tempest_ had two "jink" tanks of trihydride tetrazine and hydrogen peroxide on her back, allowing the pilot to literally blast the Knight out of the way of enemy fire. Wright fired the right tank, incinerating the people below him, and jumping sideways, tackling a Miner suit closing on Matthews. The VI fired the Vulcan into it as it fell, shredding the body of the machine.

An XV8 with a powerblade of some kind lunged at him, stabbing the Knight through the shin. Wright laughed, as the blade only pierced the first three feet of his armor. He stabbed back, the three-meter long powerblade slashing the battlesuit in half. His laser destroyer hissed as it finally recharged, and he fired it into a second XV8. Matthews slid his blade through the joints of a mining suit, and the last XV8 was crushed like a tin can beneath the adamantium Knight.

The last miners scattered, fleeing in fear from the unkillable Knights. The crowds of Imperials who had been rioting at the xenos collaborator rally cheered, running to wave at the Knights. Wright smiled, and signalled to Matthews. The two Steel Talons rumbled to life again, and began to chase the fleeing miners, their voxcasters broadcasting the Litanies of Hate over the airwaves.

----------------------
Noctis Pulveris Ash Wastes, 1221 hours

Fourty-six minutes later, as the _Tempest_'s weapons recharged over the carcass of the last Miner, the vox chirped.

[Talon Two, this is Mons MAJCOM. Do you copy?]

[This is Talon Two, _Sierra Tempest_ speaking. Copy.]

[Good work, Two. We're picking up hymms all over the Greyditch airwaves. They're praising the "warriors of Steel".]

[Not a problem. Orders?]

[...Return to Ferrus Mons, Two. Things just got complicated.]

-----------------------
Ferrus Mons, 1225 hours

Doloun looked at the report from Titanicus Mons with an ashen face.

"Strom. Strom... get everyone in the Thunder Hall. I want to tell them myself."

Strom cocked his head. "Lord?"

"This has turned to a war of total annihilation. The Hall, please."


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## waltzmelancholy_07 (Sep 30, 2008)

Dirge!.... Where do you get these ideas!... Bravo...:victory:


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## Iron Corsair (Nov 5, 2008)

Brilliant! Awesome as always, Dirge! Keep it up!


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## Benidem (May 13, 2008)

I wish i had half the talent you did man.


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

More awesomeness in pure form Dirge, I await the next chapter with much anticipation.


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## juddski (Nov 3, 2008)

> Dirge!.... Where do you get these ideas!... Bravo...






i agree bravo indeed , well done dirge :wink:


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks all!
----------

WHATEVER IT TAKES
Ferrus Mons "Thunder Hall" Observatorium, 1210 hours

"My brethren. My friends. Two hours ago, the Titanicus Mons sent us a report of high-altitude gamma radiation."

The assembled Talons leaned forward in interest as a holographic projection of Thracia's Noctis Pulveris appeared. Ferrus Mons was at the far north, Titanicus Mons was at the far south. A splotch of red appeared over the Mons, indicating the radiation cloud.

"Approximately one hour ago, this was revealed to be a Manta-class Missile Destroyer in low orbit. The Tau Empire has finally showed their hand here."

A few of the men gasped as the unmistakable shape of the xenos vessel resolved itself out of the cloud, hovering over Titanicus Mons.

"Thirty minutes ago," said Doloun, swallowing. "A force of six thousand renegades and fourteen Hunter Cadres engaged the Mons in a rapid seige. Priceps Vec and his warriors sallied forth, but were destroyed when the Manta glassed Titanicus Mons."

A dozen Warlord and Warhound class Titans smashed through the enemy lines, scattering xenos and renegades. The Manta overhead built up a blue glow, and a lance of energy struck Titanicus Mons on the tip of it's highest spire, rendering the mountain-fortress into slag. The Titans were blasted apart by the energies, falling and crushing a gratifying number of enemies.

Wright looked at the _Astra Irae_'s crew, their faces ashen, as they realized their machine was the last survivor of the Legio Nex.

"The Manta has changed course now, heading against the wind towards Ferrus Mons."

A few of the men looked at the ceiling apprehensively, as if to see the machine bearing down on them.

"We do have an advantage the Titanicus Mons did not; we know they are coming. And we know what their forces are. We can expect less then a third of the force that attacked Titanicus Mons."

"Sir?" said a Crusader in front of Matthews. "With respect, that's still over two thousand engines. And the destroyer."

Knights nodded in agreement.

"This is true." said Doloun. "But if you read the report, Crusader Loc, you will notice our kill count on the Avenger Field was in excess of 109.5 to one. We have one hundred and sixteen engines here. Do the math."

"One hundred and sixteen, sir?"

"Yes, Crusader. If push comes to shove I would not have the _Deus Aquilia_ sit out the last stand of the Steel Talons!"

"Very good sir."

Loc sat back down. 

"Now then. Prepare, my warriors. In less then three hours all you will see before the Mons will be enemy engines."

---------------------------------------
Liberation Field, Ferrus Mons, 1509 hours

Wright swallowed hard as they looked at the force arrayed against them. Two and a half thousand engines, mostly mining suits, including four hundred Tau XV8 and XV88 battlesuits. The xenos had left their armor and infantry aboard their ship, then.

_Sierra Tempest_ cooed softly to him, calming him with her certainty and sense of purpose.

The full force of the Steel Talons stood before the walls of Ferrus Mons, the massive fortress walls rising six times the height of the Knights, bristling with gun emplacements. A massive blue dome crackled over the fortress, protecting it with technologies long forgotten by man. The Tau Manta floated ominously overhead, floodlights illuminating the Ferrus Mons. 

Gregor and Doloun stood at the front, each clad in their splendid Knights. Strom was two rows down, in front of the Lancers Wright had been inducted with. Rickert, Matthews, and himself were two rows to Doloun's left, right behind Gregor.

The _Astra Irae_ soared above everything else, making even the Manta seem normal sized with it's immense bulk.

The Steel Talons' banner fluttered in the wind, still stained with the lifeblood of Syrus' machine. The leading Tau suit stepped forward, and a large speaker crackled to life on it's back.

[Audiunt, sapiens?] it crackled.

[Can you hear, Humans?] it tried again.

[Hear me! I am Shas'el Halun of the Fifth Cadre! Lay down your weapons and accept the Greater Good! Resist, and you will be destroyed!]

Gregor's warhorns blared, drowning out the tau. The battlesuit seemed to flinch as the entirety of the Steel Talons' machines loosed theirs as well, filling the battlefield with noise. The _Astra Irae_ triggered it's horns as well, a low howling sound.

"Very good, xenos." said Gregor. He turned to the Errant next to him. The man's suit held a single Volcano Cannon on it's arm, the other reserved for a targeting array and a powerblade.

"Make the shot, Jayk." he said. The Errant's warhorn blared and it turned, the Volcano Cannon lancing out to touch the messanger on the chest.

The XV8 exploded, the cannon shot passing through six more machines before vaporizing a seventh and stopping.

"For the Legio Nex." said Gregor softly, and charged.

A great shout went up, and the Steel Talons shrieked a challenge as they lunged forward, killing as they went.


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## waltzmelancholy_07 (Sep 30, 2008)

DIRGE!!!!!... Great work indeed.. Hurry up with the battle scene.... Blood and gore please!...:victory:


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

awesome dirge, simply awesome, what a start to the fight!


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## Iron Corsair (Nov 5, 2008)

Awesome as always, Dirge! Epic battle ensues. :victory:


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

97 SECONDS
Liberation Fields, 1515 hours

_Sierra Tempest_ growled and raged at the fringes of Wright's psyche, the calm VI he had known turning to red hate, lanced through with black information and targeting. The machine channeled this rage, feeding it into the guns of the engine.

The Knight stomped down hard on the nearest XV8, crushing the pilot in a mass of metal and hydraulics. The Vulcan bolter screamed, at this range it couldn't possibly miss. 

"Forward! Into them!" yelled Strom, smashing over the rubble and dead machines. Ferrus Mons' guns throbbed at the air, sending vast shells lancing into the horde. 

A single flash of light split the air as the Hellstorm Cannon concealed deep in the fortress spoke with one voice, shearing through the Manta's shields in a concussive detonation. The shielding failed with a thunderclap, and the ship listed hard to port as it's stubby wing was sheared away. The mass of twisted metal fell to the ground sixteen hundred meters from the Mons' walls, crushing dozens of miners and Tau. The Manta, now mortally wounded, fell drunkenly to starboard, burning at the seams. The Mons' gunners, sensing weakness, turned all the fortress guns to the ship. With a final volley of hard rounds and heavy lasbolts, the Manta's command decks detonated, and the ship fell like a shot bird. 

The Manta landed two miles outside the Mons' wall, crushing the rear echelons of the renegade army. The engines imploded, killing over three hundred Engines and tau. In later years, the peoples of Thracia journeyed to the remote Ferrus Mons to look at the ship for themselves, to convince themselves the Knights had killed such a machine.

Wright flinched as incoming fire strafed the _Sierra Tempest_, throwing him to one side. The Knight grunted in pain through the Manifold, and a red timer appeared on his HUD.

"Reactor hit. Time to critical, 1 minute 37 seconds." said the VI.

"Damn it all. Return fire. Reduce reactor speed to fifty percent."

The rocket pods fitted to the _Tempest_'s shoulders fired, contrails impacting the half-dozen XV88 suits that had fired on him. The suits detonated in a plume of smoke.

"Their construct lies dead! Forward, warriors! Forward for the Steel!" roared Gregor, scything through the machines. His warriors formed a wedge, but the Tau had prepared for the maneuver from the battle at Avenger Fields. Three dozen XV88 suits opened fire at once, downing six of Gregor's warriors and wounding the Grand Master. He staggered, still firing, and the battlesuits fired again. Gregor roared a challenge, firing all his weapons point-blank into the suits. The XV88s erupted in plasma fire and rockets, and Gregor slumped to the ground, hydraulic fluid and hydrostatic gel leaking from his metal body.

"Fall back!" yelled Strom. "Fall back to the Mons' gates! Retreat!"

"Time to reactor critical, 2 minutes 45 seconds." said the VI.

"Twenty-five percent."

"Warning: may cause destabilization of array integrity."

"Confirm command."

"Affirmative."

A huge shell fired from a Devastator split the earth in front of _Sierra Tempest_, opening a pitfall. The Knight stopped, and Wright turned to see a Planet Cracker smash into him headfirst, throwing both warriors down the shaft. _Sierra Tempest_ fired it's laser destroyer into the Cracker, severing it's neural pathways with a lucky shot. The pilot spasmed and died as the pathways were cut, and the Cracker smashed into the pit's wall, exploding.

Wright had just enough time to turn and look, before the ground smashed into the Knight, and there was peace.

----------------------
Below Liberation Fields, 1671 hours

Wright got to his feet slowly, looking in horror at _Sierra Tempest_. The Knight was shattered by the impact and reactor failure, the VI had overloaded it's own reactor to boost the shields to 245% just before impact, allowing him to survive. The remains smoldered in a heap at the base of the pit nearly two hundred meters deep. 

Wright looked around, brow furrowing as he saw a doorway in the pit's wall. The place was obviously artificial, the missile had broken a crypt of some kind open. Coffins were placed around the room, some broken open by the Knight's fall.

He brushed the lid of one, finding a familiar insignia underneath. The Steel Talons.

Wright walked through the door, exiting into the long hallway of the Chamber of the First.

Eryk stood before _Deus Aquilia_, unlocking the machine from the walls.

"Ah, young master Wright." said the adept.

"I seem to have a problem. See, I have a machine without a pilot, and you are a pilot without a machine. What do you say we reach an accord?"

Wright looked at _Deus Aquilia_, the silver machine not deigning to reply.


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## Gambit14 (Aug 30, 2008)

excellent, love your work


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

Dirge, have I ever told you that your stuff is made of pure awesome?


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks guys, it really makes me happy to see people post feedback. Lets me know this is appreciated.
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DOWNFALL
Ferrus Mons, 1712 hours

"Set the charges! We have to go now!" yelled Strom. A heavy lift suit placed the bomb next to the Mons' fusion reactor. Better lose the Mons then lose every Steel Talon trying. Gregor was dead. Doloun was wounded. He only had twenty-five Knights left, against close to seven hundred enemy machines. 

The Knights stomped down the hall, exiting the Ferrus Mons, the engineer's suit behind them. Enemies were crowding the main hall, and the Knights crushed them with every step. Vulcan and Plasma fire hammered machines to the ground.

Strom and the last Talons made it to the edge of Liberation Fields, their machines complaining at the constant exertion placed upon them. 

"Do it." he ordered the engineer. 

"I have. Several times. The det's not working." the man replied. "Maybe we took too long. If the power was cut, the detonator won't work."

"What's that noise?" asked Strom's guard. A series of cracks grew beneath the Knight's feet.

Two hydraulic claws exited the ground and grabbed Strom's comrade, crushing his engine and cutting off his screams. The massive Imperical-class engine towered over the Knights, almost the size of a Warhound. It's horns screamed in victory as it stampeded over the unit, crushing the engineer and rending another two Knights apart in as many seconds.

Strom dodged as the machine stormed past, slashing at it's leg. His blade rebounded off the shields. He noticed a large, disc-shaped object attached to the back.

_Shielding. The tau've upgraded this monster._

A slight rumble grew under their feet.

"Move!" yelled Strom, expecting another machine to burst from the ground. Instead, a bolt of silver flew from the hole the Imperical had come from, a blazing powerblade held in it's fist. The _Deus Aquilia_ came down on top of the enemy machine and stabbed the blade into it's cockpit. The vox howled, and the enemy engine toppled, a mighty crash sending waves of dust onto the Knights.

"Thank the Emperor." breathed Strom. "You saved the First."

"Eryk did." replied Wright. He looked around.

"Where's Rickert and Matthews?" he asked cautiously. 

"Rickert's dead, son. His machine died at the gates. Matthews was with the _Astra Irae_ when it retreated. I don't know where he is."

Wright cursed lowly. The _Aquila_'s manifold opened up to him as it sensed his mood, a pool of energies untouched since the Heresy gathering at the tip of the Knight's powerblade.

Without fully understanding what he was doing, Wright placed the blade against the ground, and closed his eyes.

A shock wave rocketed outwards, making Strom and his Knights step back to keep their balance. The miners and Tau were crushed by the immense force, but the uncanny intellect of the Manifold's technology saved the Steel Talons from it's wrath. 

It was felt by Master Doloun, fighting to secure Master Gregor's body. The six Knights left under him looked around in surprise as the enemy was obliterated.

It was felt by Eryk, deep below Ferrus Mons. The Enginseer smiled slowly as the tremors rocked the Librarium. 

It was felt by Shas'O Le'der'na, the leader of the Tau contingent attacking Ferrus Mons. The white-armored battlesuit threw up it's arms to protect it from the force, but within a half-second it was stripped to the struts, Le'der'na torn apart by the razorwinds unleashed.

An odd calm descended on Ferrus Mons, the Knights looking at each other. A cheer rose from the battlements, and every Knight echoed it, a single battle cry floating skywards.

Strom looked back to congratulate Wright, but the suit was face down on the ground, smoldering.

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

THE COST
Ferrus Mons, three weeks later

Wright opened his eyes.

Matthews smiled, standing above him next to a medicae. The Lancer had a horrific scar across his face, and his arm was in a sling. 

"You look like shit." said Wright. Matthews chuckled.

"You don't look half bad yourself."

"Took a hell of a risk there. You could've been killed."

"Rickert was killed."

"I saw. I was at the gates."

Wright sat up, twinging as the stigmatic wounds from _Sierra Tempest_'s fall throbbed.

"Lay down." said the medicae, pressing him back. "You're staying here for a few more days."

"What... what happened to the _Deus Aquila_?" asked Wright.

"The energies burnt out the power cells, Wright. She's dead."

"Oh..Emperor."

"Don't say that. Doloun's hailing this as one of the Great Victories. Someday initiates will walk by _your_ picture in the Librarium."

Wright frowned as he saw the book the Medicae was carrying. The Book of Heroes, those fallen the Steel Talons' service. Dozens of new names marked the list. He saw GRAND MASTER GREGOR at the top of the list, LANCER RICKERT directly under it.

Matthews patted his shoulder.

"It'll be alright. We're the Steel Talons. We always pull through."

Strom walked in. "Yes, we do, lad. Now get healthy. Doloun wants an armed patrol to scout the Titanicus Mons wreckage. Just because this planet is peaceful again doesn't mean we can sit on our laurels."

"Sir, yes sir." said Wright and Matthews.

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

Far below the surface, unknown to all, the _Sierra Tempest_ sat in a smoking pile where it had fallen. In the opened cockpit, a cracked cogitator crackled to life.

REPAIR SEQUENCE....ACTIVATED

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

Thanks to all who posted feedback, or read this! Look for my next story to start in less then a week, I need to think up a good title.

-Dirge


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

Brilliant, is there going to be a sequel?


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## Gambit14 (Aug 30, 2008)

well done, love the conlcusion


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## waltzmelancholy_07 (Sep 30, 2008)

Yeah....Is there a sequel to this?....


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

I doubt it. Maybe though. Certainly not directly after this. I'm writing _The Unsung War_ first. If I get enough positive feedback for a sequel I'll cook one up.

-Dirge


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## Iron Corsair (Nov 5, 2008)

Excellent ending, Dirge! I love this story! You should be a writer when you come back home, BTW. I think you'd make a brilliant 40k writer and any other genre, for that matter!


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

I write for fun, in between work and Xbox.


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## juddski (Nov 3, 2008)

Gambit14 said:


> excellent, love your work


cracking read ,presses all the right buttons ,
well done Dirge:so_happy::victory:




> REPAIR SEQUENCE....ACTIVATED


love it :good:


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## dark angel (Jun 11, 2008)

WOW i loved this probably one of the best fluff ive ever read you should definatly write a sequal i need to know what happens:victory:


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