# A line in the sand



## Fieldmaster (Aug 17, 2012)

This is a short story that currently three of my editors are working on. So this is currently the unedited version. So keep the grammar nazism to a minimal.:wink:


A Line in the Sand​By L.S. Neubaum


Fear. Fear is the most powerful weapon of the enemy. Chaos was born out of fear, the raw energy of the feeling overpowers all other emotions. But fear is something not to flee from, but to challenge. But the men are ripe of it, their stench makes me quake, but one man calms all of our fears. The God-emperor, beacon of hope, lord of all mankind. With our prayers of war we ready our weapons to deny the foes of mankind of any satisfaction. And so we hold this damned city, while fear and the emperor wage an eternal war in our souls.

The stench of burning promotheium filled the air. Cain barely noticed it as he climbed a bent ladder to get above the smoke. The pipelines have been burning for months, the vast reserves of Calahan giving ample supply for the hungry fires. Cain finished climbing to peer on the overwatch he had achieved. The fuel depot was just across the road. A high wall protected its perimeter, with watchtowers doting the wall at intervals. He turned to his vox.

'Time to move, Gideon, I want those guards down in three minutes, I'll handle the northern watchtowers.'

He watched the small figure of Gideon salute in his direction, then motion for his squad of Kriegs to dart among the ruined civilian vehicles. Cain unhinged his bipod and applied the extended barrel to his lasgun. It was a a crafted weapon of a hundred campaigns, custom wood stock from the Croat Wars, external trimming from the Darkhed Crusade, and a master trigger from the Titan wars on Mechano 9. It was his friend as much as Gideon was, only closer than he could ever be. 

He took slow breathes as he put a cultist down at 300 yards. He shifted to the next watchtower, zeroed in draft speed, and smiled as a lasbolt ripped through the jugular of an enemy. Gideon's squad had made it to the gate now, and the last watchtower guard had noticed, pulling his crude slug weapon down on the Kriegs. Cain fired, then heard the sickening pop of a super-heated laser burn through the cultist's eye socket and into his gray matter. He grinned
'Fraggin tics, don't know up from down.'
With the Guards taken care of, it was time to move. He quickly lowered himself off the ruin and joined the rest of his squad. He motioned for Reynolds to take point, it was time for the rookie to get some facetime with the enemy. They flooded into the west hallway, with the massive fuel tankers behind them. He turned to his engineer
'Stone, det packs, make sure none of these tankers are salvageable.'
He heard footsteps coming down the hall, cultists in their rags they called uniforms hungrily looked for the intruders. A rotted officer seemed to spot Cain's small band. He barked in a sick language for his lessers to move. Cain popped one of the cultists to slow their advance down.
'Reynolds, Calvin, keep their heads down. Stone, how much longer?'
'A minute, sir' stone was to enthralled with the explosives to say much more.
Cain turned to his Vox
'Gideon, how's your side doing?'
'All finished, the boys are getting restless, have'nt spotted anything yet.'
Cain ducked as a hail of fire rippled into the corner of the pillar.
'I'll lend you some of our new found friends!'
A grenade discharged down the hallway, leaving his ears ringing and a metallic taste in his mouth. More cultists were ripped to ribbons.
'Dammit Calvin! I told you no explosives, we're in a fragging fuel depot!'
Calvin just saluted before sending a volley of fire from his boltgun. Cain made note of the insubordinance for a time later. 
Stone rushed to the cover of where Cain was hiding
'All done sir"
'Then let's get out of this trash pile.'

Cain nodded to Stone, who threw a smoke grenade down that wartorn hallway, then fired a couple shots in to keep the heretics busy. They left in quick order and sprinted through the courtyard, Gideon, Ryan, Johan, and Encire were in the crouched position.
Gideon grinned
'Damn you guys took your time.'
Cain pointed a finger to him
' I dont want to hear it'
Gideon was chuckling the entire time as they returned to their overwatch.
Cain checked his watch,
"Shouldn't those det packs have expl.....'
He was stopped as a massive explosion rocked the ground beneath them, causing a new layer of ash and dust to settle on them. 
It was Cain who laughed this time
'Took the words directly out of my mouth.' He turned to his nine man squad
'Alright boys, let's head back to our own comfy cathedral, enjoy the few pleasures the emperor has gifted us!'
All the men looked cheerful, but Cain couldn't help the feeling of dread that coarsed through his body as he they started to weave through the ashen wastes. His warrior sense was not feeling right at all, but the he realised it was the mission itself. Though they did all that they were tasked, the job was to easy. There was something more to this task, and it didn't take a mechanicus scholar to figure it out.

But he ignored his feelings, pressing on through the rubble. back to adopted home and warmth. 

+++

The sky was a burnished color of rust, matching the city that lay ruined underneath. Twelve hours had passed since the destruction of the fuel depot. Twelve hours of combing the ruined apartments and factories. Cain's band of misfits lay camped under the shelter of a downed Valkaryie troop carrier. He could never tell when it was truly night, or truly day. Chaos sorcery no doubt. Still, the sky had a dreamy effect, and Cain dozed off into strange confines of his mind.

Cream colored daises rustled in the wind, jagged blue mountains pushed up into the atmosphere. Cain recognized this as his homeworld. Green meadows rolled on and on through the valleys, and the sweet smell of honey was in the air. Then a figure appeared in the cloud of his mind, a tousle of long burnette hair, and faint laughter. One word came to his mind, wife.

Suddenly a roll of images came upon him like an emotional hurricane. Images of fire, destruction, and death. He heard screaming and the laughter of bloody gods, then darkness.

Then a voice in the darkness
Where is your lover? 
'She is gone, you took her!'
No! it was never us, we are catalyst, it is your corpse emperor who took her.
Feelings of doubt flowed through Cain. Doubt on the Imperium he had sacrificed so much for, doubt on the doctrines of his company, oaths to the emperor.
Then Cain asked
'Why did you take her?'
Nothing but silence echoed through his mind. He woke in a cold sweat, staring straight ahead. Gideon was up cleaning his chainsword with an old rag.
'Another nightmare?' he asked
Cain nodded, to shaken to reply. 
'The same one?' Gideon asked
'Yes, except there was an addition this time.' He paused. 'The darkness spoke.'

+++

His band of stormtroopers had made it to the highway. From the route they would head directly back to imperial lines, back to safety. As they clambered up to the raised highway, a faint rumbling was heard. Then gunfire, led by another explosion. 
'What the hell is that?' Calvin asked
"I dont know, but.."
A seathing bolt of energy vaporised Johan during mid-sentence.
'Everyone, down!' screamed Gideon
Cain spotted the location of the blast. A sorceror, ornate with skulls of loyalists strode before them. It turned to him, and stared directly towards his location. His head began to pulse, as he felt the presence of a warp entity.
There is no where to run, nowhere to hide. You are rats compared to my lord, and he is coming!
Cultists began to pour from across the highway.
The changer of ways, beckons you to come, come to your deaths.
Cain put a shot in the sorceror's direction with his laspistol, before reving up his chainsword. Across from him, Encire and Ryan set up their heavy bolter. The horde was getting closer now, the sorceror striding among them, his unearthly energy pushing cultists aside as he walked. The heavy bolter opened fire, tearing holes into the warped enemy. Cain made eye contact with Gideon. They both knew what they had to do. The cultists were five seconds out when Gideon and Cain emerged from their cover, chainswords gleaming in the orange light. Behind them stood their remaining squad, bayonets unsheathed, unloading their lasguns into the enemy. Cain thrust his sword forward, ripping through tendons and muscle. Blood spattered across his face, he felt a las bolt rip through his shoulder. Grunting, he punished the firer with a casual sweep of his sword before ending an approaching heretic. He felt the rage boiling inside of him, a red mist torrenting through his brain. Images of his family flooded his mind, and adreneline took over. There was no longer logic, just pure rage. The action of the battle became a blur, until Cain remembered his objective, kill the sorceror. He cut a swathe through the enemy, They were few in number now, but still fighting to the death. His squad was begining the mop up process. Cain scanned the dead, looking for the sorceror. He found Gideon, sword in hand, kneeling of the wounded body of the heathen.
'Looks like this chap got wounded pretty bad. I give him another 2 minutes' 
Cain knelt beside him 
'Would you like to repent of your sins before your death?'
'Never! My master will send your souls to the carrion lords, he will devour your.....'
The sorceror never sinished his sentence, as Cain applied pressure with his knee, draining the man's life.
'Then die.' Cain hissed as he finished the job
He rose and scanned the battlefield, Ryan with his flamer was beginning to torch the filth. Cain called out
'Negative on that Ryan, we need to leave here as quickly as possible.'
The trooper saluted and joined the rest of the group circling around the ashen remains of Johan. After Cain had counted the enemy dead he joined the conversation.
'There's nothing left to bury.' Encire said, Cain could here the distress in his voice.
Suddenly, to the gasp of the crowd, Stone started to search through the ashes. It was to everyone's suprise what he uncovered. Among Johans death ashes, lay the shining medallion of their homeworld, the symbol of a skull with imperial wings behind it. The men stopped in awe, and the whole world seemed to quiet down. Gideon unceremoniously grabbed the medallion. It would have been the perfect time to say something of comfort, something to renew their faith in the emperor, but the medal had said more than Cain ever could.

Cain rose from the ashes and addressed the squad. 
'There will be a time for grief, but we must move. I have felt a presence following us, ever since the destruction of the fuel depot. We must leave at all haste, for they are getting closer.'
'Who?'
Cain recognized the voice of the rookie Reynolds.
'Daemons, of the cheating god tzeentech'
The men were silent, taking in the fact of the enemies they were to flee from, utterly quiet. They finally understood the direness of the situation.
'We move from the highway to the tanker tunnel, where we will reach our lines, its a 3 hour walk, lets move.'
The men strapped up their gear and reloaded their weapons. Combined with the death of Johan and the news of the Daemons, their mood had been severely dampened.

+++

They reached the tunnel with relatively no action, besides the occasional artillery bombardment or cover from chaos patrols. And there the tunnel stood, so simple yet relatively unscathed among a scarred landscape. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Gideon, he and the rest of the men were smiling. From their postjure theyh looked extremelh exhuasted. But they had made it from sheer willpower, they had made it.

As they began to reach the tunnel, a lone figure caught Cain's eye. It was a man, or, something resembling a manp. He was on his knees, slowly rocking back and forth, as if cradling a child. cain waved to Encire, signaling for him to apporach. this was far to suspicious, but he had to clear past this man. as he approached he got a better look at the man. The creature was completely naked, and resembled a skeleton.

Encire yelled to him
'Lets get this bag of bones out of the way, I'm fragging tired.'

As he approached, the man began to shake violently. His back arched in a silent scream towards the sky. An explosion of blood, gore, and bone exploded in all directions, showering them in red and bile. In the man’s place rose a creature of nightmares. It's head was that of a strange bird, with wings stretched on its back and the body of a man. It towered far above them and carried an ancient blade of cruel metal. It turned toward Cain's squad and lifted its blade towards them. Out of the ground came, daemonlings, the size of men, sprinting towards them. Some had claws for hands, black beady eyes, and even multiple mouths that uttered forbidden curses and temptations. They were 50 yards out, closing extremely fast. 

Then time slowed, and everything felt thick and warm. He felt the presence he had grown accustomed to.
Your chance has come, human. Behold the beauty of the changer of ways, the keeper of souls. Join us, rule the galaxy in an eternity of schemes and glorious plans. All you have to do is renounce the emperor, leave his false light, and all this will be yours.

Images of conquering galaxies, of murder and genocide, of power. Cain on a seat of strength, strong men and beautiful women around his court. One of the women had brown hair. She turned and smiled at him. 
'Join me.' she said 'Together we could conquer death, just join him please!'
He ignored her words, but stood transfixed at his wive's face. He reached his hand to touch her, but something in the back of his mind emerged. 
'This isn't real, your not real!'
Rage burned inside of him. They were the ones responsible for this, chaos led to the false lies, to the burning of his planet and his wife. They were responsible for the death and misery of billions. He shook off the the daemons presence, and turned to his brothers in arms next to him. If he were to die so be it, but he will not let that daemon survive in this realm. It was time to take a stand, no more running, no more fleeing. It was time to draw a line in the sand. 

'For the emperor!' he he managed to yell before the daemons upon him. 

He watched Encire go down as his decapitated body slumped to the ground. A strange beady eyed daemon stood on top of the corpse, slicked in the blood of Cain's comrade. He swept for the legs with his sword, in which the daemon easily parried. It muttered strange words then stabbed in a downward arc towards his head. He pulled his blade in just enough time to block, and fired his pistol point blank into the creature's stomach. He saw the rookie Reynolds join him at his side, and together they rushed at the next daemon. It was easier with one of his comrades, but the daemons moved faster than the he could track. He saw Calvin get ripped to shreds, still firing his bolter as he fell. He heard a scream as he recognized Ryan, burning as many daemons as he could, before being swamped by the enemy. Cain and Reynolds were cutting a swathe through the enemy, trying to reach the changer


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Imperial Guard are usually killed if they survive an encounter with Chaos, so it seems odd for your protagonists to have such detailed (or even any) knowledge of chaos daemons.


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