# Heresy-Online's Expeditious Stories 13-03: Contempt



## Boc (Mar 19, 2010)

*Welcome to the year's third*









​
For those of you that are unfamiliar with HOES, here's how it works:

Each month, there will be a thread posted in the Original Works forum for that month's HOES competition. For those of you interested in entering, read the entry requirements, write a story that fits the chosen theme and post it as a reply to the competition thread by the deadline given. Each and every member of Heresy Online is more than welcome to compete, whether your entry is your first post or your thousandth. We welcome everyone to join the family of the Fan Fiction Forum.

Once the deadline has passed, a separate voting thread will be posted, where the readers and writers can post their votes for the top three stories. Points will be awarded (3 points for 1st, 2 for 2nd, and 1 for 3rd) for each vote cast, totalled at the closure of the voting window, and a winner will be announced. The winner will have his/her story added to the Winning HOES thread and be awarded the Lexicanum's Crest award for Fiction excellence!

*Theme
*
The idea with the theme is that it should serve as the inspiration for your stories rather than a constraint. While creative thinking is most certainly encouraged, the theme should still be relevant to your finished story. The chosen theme can be applied within the WH40K, WHF, HH, and even your own completely original works (though keep in mind, this IS a Warhammer forum) but there will be no bias as to which setting is used for your story.

As far as the theme goes, please feel free with future competitions to contact me with your ideas/proposals, especially given that my creative juices may flow a bit differently than yours. All I ask is that you PM me your ideas rather than posting them into the official competition entry/voting threads to keep posts there relevant to the current competition.

*Word Count*

*The official word count for this competition will be 1,000 words. There will be a 10% allowance in this limit, essentially giving you a 900-1,100 word range with which to tell your tale.* *This is non-negotiable.* This is an Expeditious Story competition, not an Epic Story nor an Infinitesimal Story competition. If you are going to go over or under the 900-1,100 word limit, you need to rework your story. It is not fair to the other entrants if one does not abide by the rules. If you cannot, feel free to PM me with what you have and I'll give suggestions or ideas as to how to broaden or shorten your story.

Each entry must have a word count posted with it. Expect a reasonably cordial PM from me (and likely some responses in the competition thread) if you fail to adhere to this rule. The word count can be annotated either at the beginning or ending of your story, and does not need to include your title.

Without further ado...

The theme for this month's competition is:

*Contempt*

Entries should be posted in this thread, along with any comments that the readers may want to give (and comments on stories are certainly encouraged in both the competition and voting threads!) 40K, 30K, WHF, and original universes are all permitted (please note, this excludes topics such as Halo, Star Wars, Forgotten Realms, or any other non-original and non-Warhammer settings). Keep in mind, comments are more than welcome! If you catch grammar or spelling errors, the writers are all more than free to edit their piece up until the close of the competition, and that final work will be the one considered for voting. Sharing your thoughts with the writers as they come up with their works is a great way to help us, as a FanFiction community, grow as a whole.
*
The deadline for entries is Midnight US Eastern Standard Time *(-5.00 hours for you UK folks)*Sunday, March 24, 2013. Voting will be held from 25 - 31 March.* Remember, getting your story submitted on March 2nd will be just as considered by others as one submitted on March 24th! Take as much time as you need to work on your piece! *As a change from previous challenges, any entries submitted past the deadline will not be considered in the competition, regardless of whether the voting thread is posted or not.*

*Additional Incentive*
If simply being victorious over your comrades is not enough to possess you to write a story, there will be rep rewards granted to those that participate in the HOES Challenge.

Participation - 1 reputation points, everyone will receive this
3rd place - 2 reputation points
2nd place - 3 reputation points
1st place - 4 reputation points and Lexicanum's Crest

If you have any questions, feel free to either PM me or ask in this thread.

Without further nonsense from me, let the writing begin!










*Table of Contents*

Sangus Bane - Veiled Clarity

Deus Mortis - Nothing but Contempt

Firemahlazer - The Altar of War

Farseer Ulthris - Written in Flesh

Lord of the Night - Skydeath

Mossy Toes - Eremite

jonileth - What Hatred Burns Beneath

Liliedhe - The Splinter in my Brother's Eye

Bloody Mary - Lesson

Jacobite - With Allies Like This...

Dave T Hobbit - Pig Boy​


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## Sangus Bane (Jun 17, 2009)

Seriously? Of all the suggestions I sent you, you pick this one?

*sighs while shaking head*

I'll get to it then, I plan on making regular appearances here from now on.


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## Sangus Bane (Jun 17, 2009)

*Veiled Clarity*

Without further ado, I present to you my entry for his month's HOES.

(The line of thoughts of a renegade space marine and his wish to be gifted absolute clarity.)

*Veiled Clarity- (1017 words without title)
*

He had always felt this feeling lurking in the back of his mind.
Always?

No, not always. Though it was awfully close.

How long had it been? A millennium? Two?

It didn’t matter, for the glory he had earned back then no longer had any meaning, not to him or his kin.

It had been a dozen lifetimes of service to a false Imperium which existed to serve a single man, a single man which was seen as a god.

A dying god, little more than a withered corpse.

Suddenly he had experienced a moment of clarity, a moment of utmost serenity in which everything made sense, everything just fell into place.

That very moment he knew what it was like to be touched by an actual god, a true deity, one worthy of devotion.

For such clarity could not have been brought upon him by a power any less powerful than the true gods of the universe, the ones he had once spat upon and of which he had smitten countless servants…

He could no longer remember that moment of clarity, though he was close to reliving it, that was what the signs were telling him at least.

Images of bird headed creatures lurked at the edge of his sight and their voices whispered distantly in his mind, promising him to relive the moment of clarity if he was to continue his service to their master.

Were the creatures responsible or was the feeling in the back of his mind what guided him? 

His kin had tried telling him the creatures and the feeling were the same thing, though he never considered this, nor would he ever consider this. For he knew they were different, the feeling and the creatures, he had told himself so on many occasions.

They, his kin, wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from how he explained things to them, they couldn’t tell. For he, and he alone had been granted the images and the whispers at the edge of his senses and only he had experienced pure bliss through the clarity he had been gifted.

Only he had been blessed and there was a reason why he had been granted this gift instead of another.

It was because he was better, better than the others, and he knew it.
He had always been better… He had always been the best of them… 

Once he had dared to proclaim the skill of an opponent did not matter, for he would best them.

He didn’t need to consider the odds of winning a battle, for they were always in his favor.

It had been that way when he wore a marble Aquila on his chest guard and it had remained that way when he turned the ornate stone to simple dust beneath his boots.

This too served as proof to him that his new purpose was right, as he had concluded during his moment of clarity so many centuries ago.

The feeling…

What did it feel like?
Was it his hunger to experience true clarity, to know all there was to know and understand it with such absolute certainty of his purpose?

Or was it a feeling of pride, seeing how he had once been granted a gift which defied reason, knowing he would only be granted such a moment again if he rose his sword in another’s name, against those he had once called brother?

Was it mere greed? Simply wanting to feel the clarity again, not wanting anyone else to receive such a blessing.

Was it despair? No longer knowing what the experience was like, only to know it was absolute and that he needed to feel it once more.

He didn’t know, but perhaps that was exactly what the feeling was, the fact the clarity had resulted in a lack of clarity.

All he knew is that it was more proof of his superiority, the chosen one amongst his kin.

Their purpose was to follow him, THEY WOULD FOLLOW HIM.
He would lead them, the few of them that still drew breath.

They would fulfill their purpose, all of them, bringing about a new moment of clarity one day. That moment of clarity would give him- them, new purpose, a new mission.

And that moment was closing, like witnessing dawn he could see the light appear ahead of the actual sun.
There was no sun yet, but dawn had come none the less.

He couldn’t explain how he knew, he doubted whether he could ever understand it himself.

The creatures which always lay dormant at the edge of his sight hadn’t moved in centuries, but now, as he withdrew his blade from the abdomen of a warrior clad in white ceramite and lowered the blade he had used to decapitate the warrior only a second ago, he saw the bird headed creatures open their beaks, as if grinning at him, approving of his actions and their outcome.

With a thump the warrior in white ceramite fell down, breaking his line of thought.

All other sounds died in the echo of the thump, the wind lay down and he felt serenity as the whispers in his head became more apparent, more noticeable. 

He wept as he felt another’s warm blood streaming down his face, comforting him as he came to the realization it was time.

His eye widened as he tried to close them and the whispers became voices, speaking in tongues that had not been spoken in thousands of years, yet he knew what they were saying.

He was to prepare for what was to come and stop thinking, for all would be clear to him in a few seconds.

The feeling ebbed away, the voices lay down, his senses heightened as a new moment of clarity enveloped him, granting him pure bliss.

When it faded he had forgotten what he had experienced, forcing him to butcher again if he wanted to experience it again.

It would remain this way for the rest of his existence, though he didn’t consider that. 

For he knew it when everything was clear.


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## Deus Mortis (Jun 20, 2009)

Hey, first HOES for me. Hope ya'll like it. I might edit it during the month. Anyways, enjoy (hopefully)...

*Nothing but contempt…*​
The air was brisk and harsh this high up the tower. To the men and women gathered below to listen to their esteemed leader proselytise once again it was pleasantly warm. But the mass of bodies and the internal warmth of the hive had that effect. However, the isolation made it chilly for the lone warrior who had been here for days now. Isolation was not uncommon for this man. Since birth he had been alone. But his solitude had made him stronger. It had given him an assurance these people lacked.

It was a truth reflected wherever you went. In a crowd, everyone could be deluded, but a group of deluded fools can feel confident in their delusion because it is shared by everyone around them. Those who took assurance from those around them never reached higher for fear that their assurance would be torn from them. But up in the lofty altitudes of truth, one had to stand alone and brace the biting cold of mockery and indignation and rest on a solid platform of the knowledge that they were right. Only those with the truth could show them their error.

The crowd was getting restless and even perched here, watching over all like some form of god, the man could feel it. They had just declared independence and thrown off the yolk of a regime they believed was oppressive and cared nothing for them and did not see them. Up until recently they had lived with quite endearment, believing that even if they were right that they could not change it. Then their leader had risen from among them. Told them they could change it, and even if the collective they served did not care, he did. They were about to find out just how much those they had forsaken did notice them.

The man on the tower had lain still for hours, and he could feel his muscles begging him to move, to stretch. He denied their pleas. They must remain still if he was to accomplish his appointed duty. Duty. Something those mites below understand nothing of. All they see is themselves. Their needs. Their wants. Their desires. They fail to realise that they are just a muscle, a cog, a singular part. They are necessary but must function in a set way in order for the body to thrive. Instead they want to be the whole body. And yet, they don’t have the drive, the ambition, the focus. They believe they can make the whole body, except for the head. That they lack, but it has been conveniently provided for them. If the head were to die, the body would fail.

The people were scared, and that was the simple truth of it. Despite the confidence they had recently gained from slaughtering those they felt had wronged them, which had gone to their heads like a powerful amsac, the man with the infinite reach knew it was a façade. He had seen it on every planet he had visited. The people walked as if they were invincible just because they had blindly followed the charismatic man making his way onto the platform. They needed to feel like they could topple everything they had known, otherwise the despair in their hearts which the desperately tried to ignore with even greater levels of depravity and blood-shed would breach their inner walls and overwhelm their souls and they would drown in their own self-pity. They needed to stay on their high, lest they descend into the pit.

Now their assurance had taken center stage. The masses erupted into thunderous applause. Hands that not hours earlier had orphaned children, molested defenseless citizens who refused to yield, toppled their governor, all in the name of some freedom they felt they had been denied, now slapped together in jubilation, as if what they had done was something special or glorious. The architect of this bloodshed stood with his arms outstretched, hoarding all the glory and fame like the same gluttonous overlord they had just dislodged. Desperate hope made people blind, and they failed to see that they had sold their soul to the devil. They did not think God could see them here.

Now was the first time in nearly a day the man moved, and it was only slightly. His head shifted to see better down the scope of his instrument of justice. Where before he had seen the deluded masses with their notion of greatness masking a core of depravity, now he only saw the man who had been the catalyst for it all. Already the man could see the dark nature of the man who had lead a populace to their dooms breaking through his skin. His eyes were a picture of the desires of his heart; black. Whilst the people he had swayed only wanted freedom, the brands on his skin showed that he had already given himself over to a different kind of slavery. A road he intended to lead these people down.

His fanged maw opened to give a speech to the people. He would assure them they had chosen well, that their trust had not been misplaced, that they would be protected. He would tell them everything they needed to hear to continue exactly as he desired; to keep them in the dark, just as their previous rulers had done. The Vindicare watched from his vantage point, nestled in the assurance that he was in the truth amongst and entire world which believed a lie. From this inner well he whispered “Exitus Acta Probat” as he squeezed the trigger of his rifle and his single round blew the heretic’s brain out of the back of his skull before he could utter any words. The people, their only assurance gone, dissolved into a panic. They realised that it had all been for nothing. They had betrayed everything they had known, and now they had nothing. Men who had fought side by side killed each other, frantically trying to atone before anyone found out what they had done. The Vindicare at last left his post, and made his way to the extraction point, no one noticing a lone figure in amongst all the chaos and despair. For men so easily led astray he felt nothing.

Nothing but contempt.

Edit: Word count: 1053 words


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## Myen'Tal (Sep 4, 2009)

Hey all, this is my first H.O.E.S. as well, good luck to everyone:grin:!

Word Count: 1,004

*The Altar of War*​
Jastilus lurched under his restraints; the sudden shift in gravity pressing him further into his seat as the drop pod began to descend into the atmosphere. His battle brothers didn’t seem fazed by the sudden addition of pressure, their power armor protecting them against the worst of it. The ten of them stood as silent statues that you would find erected in city squares and places of honor, carrying with them no small amount of noble pride in their silence. 

_No tension, there is only thoughtful contemplation and silent prayer before battle._

The drop pod fell through the skies on plumes of flame, alongside a dozen others. Anti-air batteries littering the valley below tracked their every move and fired into the sunset, creating a blanket of guided laser fire that could potentially dismantle their entire transport only in the most unfortunate scenarios. The pod bucked and trembled restlessly as it broke through the blanket of the kill zone, coming to rest upon a large hill where the flag of the Sundered Legion had already been erected by space marines that had come before them. 

_Respect the courage of your brothers and hold only contempt for the steadfastness of your enemies. 
_
The transport had crushed the flag beneath its metal exterior and some of the fallen as well. Jastilus could feel his restraints uplifting themselves off of his immobile bulk, just as the ramparts came falling down on every side of the drop pod. It revealed light from a falling sun, and a valley littered with carcasses of dead space marines and alien life forms. The squad of space marines rose as one, holding bolters and an assortment of other weaponry in their hands and descended the ramps. 

_Courage shown by the alien is only through fear and despair and courage shown by the heretic is only through warp spawned madness. Compare it not with your own, righteous retribution._ 

Energy from a plasma rifle had taken Dragus just below his chest, turning his power armor to super-heated, molten slag where it had been struck and punching through his flesh. The space marine collapsed with a wordless cry, the bolter still gripped in his hands and firing at the incoming trio of crisis suits falling out of the sky on stabilizing jet packs. 

“Stealth Suits behind our positions!” Brother Novus called out, firing at a moving shadow, easily seeing through the stealth field and punching into the fragile suit with a trio of bolter rounds. 

One of the Stealth Suits, possibly the team leader, strode up to the Space Marines utterly becalmed and calculating. He snuck up upon brother Victus to be exact, placing his fusion blaster upon the back of his helmet and incinerating anything that had been there before in a blinding light. The plasma gun sagged in his arms and his body gently crumpled onto the valley floor. 

Flying drones traced their movements and positions with marker lights, guiding a hail of pulse fire from the hilltops onto Squad Zane. The hovering discs assailed them with miniature burst cannons, but the space marines easily returned fire and shot them out the air.

“Go! Meet the enemy with bolter and blade! Octus, with me!” Sergeant Zane shouted over the den of battle, charging the first of the landed crisis suits alongside his companion Octus. 

The Shas’El within the suit held his ground, opening up with another salvo of plasma, but was deflected to a degree by the Sergeant’s refractor. Zane spun past a heavy foot fall meant to pin him to the valley floor, raising his power claymore and carving into the alien construct’s leg. Already within the shield’s proximity that one of the drones was providing, he swung again, this time aiming for the cockpit. 

Thrusters on the jet pack sprang into life and kicked the suit backwards; avoiding the blow, before reversing his trajectory and springing him back into close quarters with the Space Marine. The Crisis Suit answered with a wild swing of its arms and a powerful kick, firing this time from its missile pods and catching the Sergeant unawares. Zane disappeared in a bright flash of light, punctuated by a shrill scream and then finally by silence. 

Octus fell into a kneeling position and took the suit’s head off with a clean shot from his las-cannon. 

“Brother-Sergeant is down! Charge!”

Battle cries fell upon not so deaf ears as the Space Marines stampeded past the Crisis Suits, eager to get to grips with the rank and file. The fire warriors banded together and attempted to bring the Space Marines down, but valiance and retribution would not be so easily denied. 

Jastilus’ bolter erupted like thunder as he caught the first of his enemy in a sweeping assault, blowing a crater sized hole into the Shas’Ui leading the group and slaying a number of fire warriors with precise rounds. He parried a knife with his bolter before promptly cracking the holy weapon of retribution against his opponent’s skull. Crushing the helmet in a spray of blue ichor, the Fire warrior reeled away, collapsing in a heap on the ground and finally lying still. 

“Deliver death to your enemies and honor to your comrades, brother Jastilus.” He heard the voice of Sergeant Zane in his head.

“Missiles, incoming!” Novus shouted over the others, pointing up toward the sky. 

The earth erupted in great geysers of dirt, grass, and bodies, before being cleansed with a great wash of blue flame. Jastilus had to admit, it was courageous of them to offer up their lives like that just to slay the hated adeptus astartes. They all disappeared in the blue fire, screaming violently as they were torn apart in the force of the blast or caught aflame and promptly burned alive. 

“No. Know only contempt.” A smile crossed his lips when he realized that he did not feel any hatred for them, but some form of admiration. 

Then he was engulfed in the blast and then he himself ended.


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## Romero's Own (Apr 10, 2012)

Welcome to the two first-timers (Deus Mortis and Firemahblazer)

Some great stories so far, looks like it is shaping up to be a good month for HOES


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## Myen'Tal (Sep 4, 2009)

Romero's Own said:


> Welcome to the two first-timers (Deus Mortis and Firemahblazer)
> 
> Some great stories so far, looks like it is shaping up to be a good month for HOES


Thanks :grin:, good to be here!

Good stories, can't wait to see the rest:victory:.


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## Deus Mortis (Jun 20, 2009)

Not to be picky Firemahlazer, but Boc did say the word count was between 900 and 1100. I mean, it's only 16 words, but you should probably just try and add an extra sentence in to please the powers that be.

Other than that, it's good to be part of this and am looking forward to reading all the entries for this month.


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## Myen'Tal (Sep 4, 2009)

Deus Mortis said:


> Not to be picky Firemahlazer, but Boc did say the word count was between 900 and 1100. I mean, it's only 16 words, but you should probably just try and add an extra sentence in to please the powers that be.


Oh okay, no problem, I can add a little bit more .

EDIT: Alright, I added an extra paragraph right after Dragus' death and one very short piece of dialog just before the missiles rain down.


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## Farseer Ulthris (Sep 6, 2008)

I think I'll give this a shot
*Written in flesh*​There it was before him, this Mon-Keigh this...thing that dares call itself sentient. An'Xilaeq felt inclined to teach it a lesson, one that the Haemonculi know how to deliver, a lesson in pain. A smile girdled the Flesh sculptor's twisted features, a hellish visage come to fruition. An'Xilaeq gently caressed the human's face, he was young even by their standards, his life pale in comparison to the millennia the Haemonculus has desecrated the flesh of those who crossed his path. He clicked his bony fingers, answering this call was a wretched figure, its body mutilated to match the demented i of the Haemonculi and it's face encased in a mask of blackest iron. A dry cackle emergingfrom his ancient throat, "you know what to do" An'Xilaeq intoned.

The Wrack had brought them, the tools with which the Haemonculi create their macabre wonders. The Lord of the Coven gently caressed each one like a lover, each one creating a beautiful symphony exquisite agony...but An'Xilaeq had another thing lurking in roiling darkness that formed his mind. The Mon'Keigh was to be remade from his wretched self into something eater; something...beautiful. The Haemonculi then gestured to his Wracks, each preparing a tool for this great change. The human howled in agony as the devices were forced into his flesh. His screams then reached a crescendo as the they pumped the the elicits, already beginning to warp his pallid flesh and An'Xilaeq rebelled in the waves like lovers in the night. Cackling once more, the Haemonculus declared "he is ready, sooon he will be perfect".

Time passes, the Lord of the Coven cared little, his newest creation was ready. He floated towards the red cocoon. The thing pulsated, pushing out the contents that it held. In a grotesque mockery of childbirth, the cocoon forces out a hulking figure, tubes and stim injectors protruded from it's enlarged spinal sump. But it's face was still the same, An'Xilaeq would remedy this with a gift for his newborn "child". A mask iron, a larger variant worn by his twisted acolytes. Placing it upon the Grotesque's face, the Haemonculus' contempt was washed away in this instant. Instead exaltation and twisted joy manifested; he had made this Grotesque from a wretched thing into a creature of macabre beauty. 
-----------------------------------
He had found it, the place he had sought out. For Arqul'Qan this was the place his desire would take him, and as the entrance came into view, a fleeting moment of terror fluttered in his jaded heart; The entrance was adorned with skulls, dabbed in sigils of blood, curtains of flayed Mon'Keigh skin. In front was a large figure, it's body bulging with obscene amounts of muscle, repulsed by the figure the noble spoke "I have come to discuss a proposal with your master". The Grotesque remained still, Arqul'Qan dared not to think of what lurked within the black mask. A deep growling emerged from the fiends throat, forming the words "enter".

The oubliette was indeed a macabre place, not just because of the skulls of glaring witchlight, but the fact that he was so deep beneath the dark city.....making him yearn for the skies even more. A chittering noise began to echo throughout the catacombs, Arqul'Qan investigated it. He came across a chamber, it's walls laced with red cocoons, each filled with a black figure in some state of regeneration. "Who is this that has come to our domain", came a dry voice that seemed to come from an ancient throat. Arqul'Qan turned what he laid eyes on repulsed him further. A figure, resembling a monstrosity from the oldest tales emerged from the shadows. A smile crossed the fiend's ebony lips, "is there a reason why you'd call upon me child?" The noble had guessed that the Haemonculus would know his reasons, but alas he will indulge the Flesh-sculptor, "I have come for your...services An'Xilaeq". The fiend cackled, "not to peruse my many creations? Or is it to elevate yourself to the skies?" Arqul'Qan growled silently, "yes, I have grown weary of the earth beneath my feet, I want to escape this....this Necropolis". An'Xilaeq floated closer "you entrust yourself to my care? What makes you think you will live through the displays of my ever-sought talents?" The noble need not hesitate "better than remaining in this prison" he spat. The Haemonculus burst into a bout of bone-chilling laughter, unnerving Arqul'Qan in the process. "That is all I need child, when you leave this plac, you shalll so laughing and scorning the world below". The clicking began again and it's source emerged from the shadows; a mass of flesh and metal, it's blades caked in fresh blood. "I'm ready" intoned Arqul'Qan as he followed the macabre beings into the shadows....


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Decided to do this just now, and wrote up a quick story with the theme in mind and using one of my favourite new Chaos units.

*Skydeath by Lord of the Night* (Word Count: 1044)​
Hatred. Rage. Contempt.

These are the three things that drive me. Deep inside the metal that surrounds me on all sides, these are the only things that I can feel anymore. My flesh-body has long since atrophied into a useless husk, but my mind is still strong. Strong enough that I comprehend what I have become. What has become of me after thousands of years. I have become a monster of metal and flesh whose sole purpose is to bring death and destruction from above.

Some would curse this fate, but I am not weak enough to blame others for what has become of me. And even then, I do not wish to curse my fate. I love what I have become. I am a storm of death and fire and blood. None can match my might, not the ramshackle craft of the greenskins who taste like burnt wood and rusted metal, not the Imperial ships with such sweet meat hidden inside their weak frames that scream and die under my claws, not the Eldar vessels that flit around me and break apart at even the slightest touch. No, there is nothing in the air that can stand against me.

I am Heldrake. I am the lord of the skies, the lord of death from the air. And all of them, the groundwalkers that I burn and blast from above, the flimsy scrap-piles that they send against me in a vain hope that they can ground me forever. That their weak guns can crack my armour, that their wretched shells can withstand my claws and teeth. That they can outpace and escape my rage. They are nothing before me.

I fall, fire burning around my skin of hellforged iron as I plummet towards the ground. But I will not die. I can smell them approaching, the fools who seek to destroy me. My wings unfold, the wind tears at them but it cannot hurt me. Nothing can. Least of all the maggots that now pass under me in their weak little ships. Tau, they call themselves. I call them prey.

My claws snap into the metal of the gunship as I crash into it, sending it veering off-course. For a moment it appears as if it will crash, but the pilot inside brings it under control. His efforts are wasted, the worm. My talons tear through the metal, exposing the xenos filth inside. I can see, smell and hear their terror. Their bleating screams as they raise their guns at me, as if such small weapons could hurt my mighty frame. For a brief moment I am tempted to let them fire, to show them how insignificant they are to me, but there are other targets nearby and my pack is hunting alongside me. I hate them all too, and they hate me. But we hunt together, and that means I cannot be outdone by them.

I roar fire, the Baleflamer built into my maw unleashes fire from the deepest pits of the warp. It's green flame punches through the entire craft, the sizzling smell of cooked meat fills the air briefly along with the screams of the dying aliens. I leave them to crash into the earth where they belong. The skies belong to us, and all who enter it are our prey.

I let go of the dying craft, dropping and extending my wings to fly. I sight three more ships speeding towards me, their guns unleashing a fusillade of plasma fire against me. If I were less nimble then they might stand a chance, but they do not. I weave through the fire, only a handful of shots impacting against my frame, leaving nothing but scorch marks. My guns scream in response, Hades Autocannons built into my wings and claws rip through the soft metal of the Tau gunships. All three list and fall to the ground, smoke streaming from the wounds I have inflicted. I howl, the sound cutting through the din of screaming, explosions and laughter.

I look down and see them. The groundwalkers. The slugs. The weak. I drop even further, enough that I can see with my optics as they scurry about like ants, trying to set up their anti-aircraft cannons in hope of destroying us before we annihilate them all. I strafe past them, my guns blasting them into shreds of meat and bone.

I hear a scream. But a scream of metal and pain. One of my pack falls from the sky, his wings sheared off and his guts spilling around into the sky. A new threat has emerged, a predator of the air in service to the enemy. It is a large craft, shaped in a similar fashion to their gunships but much larger and carrying more powerful guns. I recognize it, it is a Manta Gunship. The Tau's most powerful air weapon.

Another of my pack falls, his head blown into dust and his lifeless body exploding into wreckage. I howl in rage, not for our lost but at this thing that dares defile our air. It will die for this hubris. I race towards it, my guns shooting at it's armour and destroying some of it's emplaced weaponry. My pack is joining me, we strike from all sides. It still kills another of us. It is a threat, it could actually destroy us. I do not like admitting this to myself, but it is true. Unless I kill it first.

I slam into it's underside. The soft metal is no match for my talons that tear through it, nor are the maggots inside any match for my fire or my guns. Hundreds of worms crawl about inside this metal behemoth, so much the better. More will die when I ground it. I fire in every direction, my attacks punch through the interior of the ship and destroy everything they hit. I can scent the burning of oil as an engine explodes, feel the drag as the craft begins to fall from the sky. I tear my way out of it in time to watch it fall to the ground and explode.

As I watch it die I feel something else join the ever-present haze of rage, hate and contempt.

It is joy.


LotN


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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

*Eremite*

1100 words, not counting the title

+++

"In order to understand what I do here, Interrogator," Harzachi said, heedless of the dozen hellguns leveled at him, "you must first imagine the warp as an imperfect plane." His segmented bionic legs clicking as he walked from the shipside laboratory's porthole to his workstation.

"Stand down, Archmagos Geneticus," Vutch growled over the barrel of his gun.

"The gravitational metaphor of weights upon a rubber sheet is apropos, though the weights, of course, represent psychic loci rather than bodies of mass. The sheet itself is holed in many places; we call such locations, where psychic energy flows unchecked, warp storms.

"Why, then, do heretics claim that their dark masters require human sacrifice? My experiments have tested the permeability of this overlying plane relative to our reality. Upon one's death, the soul is discharged into the warp at an analogous point on that plane. Many millions of deaths in a concentrated locale have the accumulative effect of so many grains of sand placed upon that rubber sheet--though individually nothing to fear, enough can bend or break the walls of this dimension."

"Step away from the workstation, Harzachi, or we will shoot. I want your hands where we can see them and no surprises from you."

Harzachi gave a small nod. He stepped back from his workstation and slowly extruded his writhing mechatendril hands from his robes.

"During my early experiments into the nature of the soul," he continued, unperturbed, "I dared to ask what millennia of Ecclesiarchal theologians have not. They seek to affirm the dogma that the soul's eventual destination is to be judged by the Emperor after death. I, however, wondered where the soul _begins_. That is exists is not the issue at stake: our instruments are capable of measuring the warp-field energy fluctuations intrinsic to and shaped by the contents of the mind. The soul is the warp, if you will forgive the pun, to our corporeal weft.

"But whence, then, springeth the soul? The answer, my research proves, is self-evident. It begins in the warp, and correspondingly returns there after death. There is no measurable intercession from the Emperor; the soul is not eternal, and upon death, merely dissolves into raw warpstuff. Does this proof so offend the Inquisition that I am to be extinguished, Inquisitor?"

Vutch spat. "I don't give a damn what you think you've proved, Harzachi. It's how you acted and plan to act on your findings that has us here now."

"You need not fear my experiments. I mentioned the dangers of widespread deaths to assure you that I have tested the permeability of that plane exactingly, and there is an exceedingly low probability that this resource-gathering expedition of mine will cause a sizable warp-reality breach."

"This isn't only about the danger of your foolhardy scheme causing a warp rift, Throne-damn it! It's not even just the human cost: that you were going to slaughter an entire hive, a hundred and thirty million Imperial citizens, for no reason but expediency. I'm here at the behest of the Culexus Temple, for your invasive breach of their records. Your obsession with untouchables has gone too far."

"Ahhh," Harzachi said, nodding agreeably. "We come to my true field of study: the supposed 'Pariah Gene.' Not, I've hypothesized, a single gene but a series of gene-encoded potentialities unlocked in rare instances by an alignment of a variety of as-of-yet-unknown epigenetic stimuli--but I digress.

"The records of the Culexii revealed a striking fact: even with the near-insurmountable difficulty of detecting a psycho-negative individual--one of your so-called "untouchables"--in a large population, Hive Karisas has produced an unprecedented number of untouchables, blanks, and Pariahs. Seven assassins of that illustrious temple, plus nearly two score lesser untouchables pressed into Inquisitorial retinues, have been drawn from this hive in just the last two thousand years. What prompts this exorbitantly high ratio of psycho-negative individuals? Is the isolated gene pool of this hive conducive to producing blanks, or is there some sort of dietary influence? A peculiar radiation from one, or both, of the system's binary stars? Some rare mineral in the soil or air?

"The study of the psycho-negative has always been limited by one fact: scarcity. A strictly limited pool of bodies to study and of genetic sequences to compare. Not to mention the protectiveness with which the vaunted Culexii guard their secrets, of course. All my life I have been consumed with questions regarding the Pariah. How can such a 'soulless' human live? Why are they instinctively, universally detested? How can we synthesize the gene for insertion into prenatal subjects and/or cloning?

"Can you imagine such a weapon in the hands of the Emperor's servants? An unlimited number of anti-psykers, ready to push, perhaps, into the Eye of Terror itself. One could even create psycho-negative Space Marines. As the psyker mutation becomes steadily more prevalent in Imperial society, and it has been trending such since the Emperor walked Terra, we will need an ever more potent set of controls for such a population.

"I aim to learn what makes Karisas unique. Accordingly, my research holds the key to the Imperium's salvation. Would you dare interrupt such an undertaking?"

"You're insane, Archmagos. You delude yourself with hubris and meddle with powers greater than you. We know what you plan--how, after all, does one find a handful of untouchables in so massive a hive? Would you seriously have Hive Karisas's environmental control centers flood the hive with the psy-awakening drug Spook? Would you seriously turn every non-untouchable in the hive into a psyker just so that your psyk-out nukes would kill them and leave the untouchables alive? Thank the Emperor that we arrived in time to stop your flawed, rambling scheme."

"Such an assumption, Interrogator Vutch," sneered Harzachi with withering contempt. "Would I stand here calmly and permit you to cast all my plans into disarray? You may have taken your infantile maneuverings to be subtle, but be assured, I was forewarned of your approach."

A chill spread through Vutch. "You mean..."

"Precisely, Interrogator. I set my plan into motion thirty-five minutes ago; I imagine that by now, the Spook is circulating widely within the hive. You have no choice but to permit me to activate my pysk-out devices or risk a catastrophic warp breach and the loss of the entire planet. I will snare my prize yet."

"No..." Vutch breathed, looking out the porthole. "It's already too late. That many psykers..."

And reality on the planet far below them, contorted beyond imagining by the awakening screams of a hundred and thirty million newly empowered psykers, shattered.


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## son of azurman (Sep 19, 2010)

been busy recently will try to write some today


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## jonileth (Feb 1, 2012)

*"What Hatred Burns Beneath"*​
_“At times I wonder which is the greater enmity… that which we harbor for the enemies of man or that which those of the same blood harbor for their own kin. I have seen such enmity first hand and I wonder if my own hatred is redundant…”_

_-Excerpt from Inquisitor Andiron’s private journal​_
“I do not like this, Inquisitor…” the ever dower Sergeant Silinus of the Raven Guard Chapter complained as the small retinue cautiously penetrated the interior of a recently discovered lost Eldar Craftworld.

“Is there anything you _do_ like, Sergeant?” Inquisitor Lucian Andiron countered the statement with something of a smirk.

“Putting a bolter round between some Ork’s eyes rates fairly high on my list,” the Sergeant responded with a shrug of his massive shoulders, “But unless they have found this place first, I doubt I’ll have the chance.”

The entire seven person group knew for a fact that such a thing would likely not happen. They had found the crumbling Craftworld through the guidance of the Book of Lost Glories, though it had only given them a general location rather than a precise place to look. It had taken a fair bit of luck for them to hit upon the correct planet, and thankful it was one devoid of life. Even so, both Lucian and Sergeant Silinus had agreed that caution in such a place was warranted as they had no idea whether soul stones still powered some of the machines of war the Eldar favored.

The Craftworld itself had been partially obliterated upon its fall to the surface of the dead world. Though the central portion of the ship remained somewhat intact, much of the rest of the once mighty and impressive craft had been destroyed either by atmospheric temperatures or the impact upon the rocks it now sat scattered upon.

“What does the book claim was on this Craftworld?” Brother Falkeris asked, ever curious about the various aspects of their missions with the Inquisitor.

“It wasn’t as clear as if often is,” Lucian admitted, “But then, I didn’t read the book. Ask Aeliel if you are truly interested.”

Upon hearing her name, Aeliel looked back at Lucian and the Astartes that he had been talking to. The puzzled look on her face was proof enough that she hadn’t been paying them much mind as she walked along the corridors of the shambled hulk trying to find the place where the most sacred of artifacts would have been kept.

“Did you need something, Luc… my lord?” Aeliel quickly corrected herself. Though she had spent many months in the presence of the Raven Guard that accompanied the pair, she still wasn’t sure just where she stood in their eyes. She knew Silinus held nothing but contempt for her but the rest of the squad still seemed to have mixed feelings about her presence among them.

“I was asking if we knew what was lost here,” Brother Falkeris repeated his inquiry.

“Not specifically,” Aeliel admitted, “But according to the book, it was an artifact of great importance to this Craftworld. It would be foolish to make any grand assumptions simply from that.”

“We are all fools for following the words of an alien…” Sergeant Silinus muttered just loud enough to be heard.

“And yet we have always prospered because of it,” Lucian countered bluntly.

Such a truth did not sit well with the Astartes but he had no retort that seemed relevant. The Eldar girl was useful, of that he could not argue. But she was still an alien and that still made her a potential threat. The exchange between them had stifled any further conversation and the group continued forth silently for a long while. It wasn’t until they reached the vault they had come for that anyone bothered to speak. Those exchanges, however, were that of orders given out and tasks being completed. The Raven Guard had been retained to breach the doors and deal with what might lurk in the massive ruined vessel, and that is exactly what they did.

The interior of the vault was nearly empty. Most of the boxes and pedestals were devoid of contents. Whether because of some previous expeditions or in anticipation for the Craftworld’s demise many centuries before it was unclear. One artifact did remain within the compartment, though it was not immediately apparent just how important it was. The object was little more than an unadorned sword. It lacked much that might even link it to the Eldar at all. Lucian could have easily mistaken the thing for a sword of human construction had he not found it in the vault of an Eldar Craftworld.

As the group made ready to leave, Lucian could feel the air begin to crackle with a strange energy. At first he thought it might have been from the artifact and so he looked behind him toward Aeliel. When the sword sat in her grip as inert as it had been in the box, he knew better of what it was.

“Someone is using a webway relay nearby!” Lucian informed the Astartes, “We have been found!”

The Raven Guard took up positions just outside the vault and made ready for the assault. They waited scarce seconds before the sound of teleportation devices could be heard.

“Warp Spiders…” Silinus growled, raising his bolter to scan the halls. Such was often a useless endeavor as the foul aliens could often outflank them with such profane devices. Several of the Warp Spiders appeared just in front of the group and the fire that the Raven Guard laid down upon them was both merciless and lethal. Unfortunately, they had missed one that disappeared just before the rain of fire caught it.

Silinus heard the thing reappear behind him and knew that he would not be able to turn in time. He waited several heartbeats and heard something he hadn’t been expecting. A sickening crack issued from somewhere behind him but he felt no pain. Silinus turned and watched as the ancient blade slide back inside the gaping wound it had carved into the Warp Spider’s body. When the alien sank to his knees, Silinus watched as Aeliel hefted the blade and cleaved the Spider’s head from his neck. With a final sickening thud, the alien fell to the ground. What was more shocking to Silinus was the look of utter hatred in Aeliel’s eyes. What shook the Astartes most of all was what issued forth from her lips after she’d slain the Spider.

“Slaanesh take you,” Aeliel hissed before shattering the soul stone on his chest.

(1099 words without title)


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## Romero's Own (Apr 10, 2012)

Apologies but i fear i may not be able to participate in this months HOES de to being tied up over on the RP section with Darkness. 

Good luck to all entrants, some really great stories so far.


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## Liliedhe (Apr 29, 2012)

*The Splinter in my Brother's Eye*

_Deathwatch training is hard. It is not just about learning to combat unfamiliar threats in unfamiliar ways with unfamiliar weapons. Ways to wage war are what Space Marines have been created to master. No matter how new, no matter how badly the deck is stacked against them, they will deal. 

The problem is far more mundane, and far more insidious. Ego. Ego and prejudice. Space Marines are geneforged demigods of war - but that does not explain all of their effectiveness. It all comes down to Brotherhood. In exchange for giving up a human life, with all those things humans consider important, Space Marines gain something else: a family that will support them unconditionally. 

Like all families, battle-brothers will bicker, bait each other or quarrel. When push comes to shove, though, when lives are on the line, battle-brothers stand together. Grown from one geneseed, raised through the same nightmare of hypnoconditioning and battle, a Chapter stands by its own. Battle-Brothers die for each other. 

In the Deathwatch, this natural advantage does not exist. Here, Space Marines do not share geneseed or upbringing. All brotherhood they have, they must develop from scratch. This is often difficult, as there rarely is a clean slate between Chapters, and differences in style, in tradition, even in beliefs lead to clashes. 

And then there are the cases of genuine bad blood…_

“The Ophidium Gulf. The Veiled Region. Where are my brothers? What did you do to them?” The rough, scorched voice of Navarre, the Black Templar, reverberated from the grey marble tiles of the ablutorium. The Veteran stood at an angle, feet planted solidly on the ground, leaning slightly forward and bracing his massive hands against the wall, while cold water rained on his shaven head, wide shoulders and scarred and branded back. Without leaving this position, he turned his head to the side, glaring over the impressive bulk of his biceps in the direction of the Space Marine who had just entered.

Asphodel, the Dark Angel Apothecary, much younger and less heavily built, showed no sign of having heard the question. He calmly strode into the room, a towel over his shoulder which he placed on a hook, before picking another sprinkler and turning it on. He turned his head up and allowed the water to fall on his face and broad chest, still completely ignoring the glare of the Black Templar, who now turned from his meditative position so he could watch his maligned brother.

Still the water rained down, cold and slightly salty, forming streaks over his broad face, beading on his jutting brow and dropping onto scarred cheeks. Some of it pooled in the grooves formed by the bulky muscles on his shoulders, before overflowing and splattering on the stone tiles. Several drops carried a faint red tinge they had picked up while travelling the geography of old and new wounds scattered over the canvas of the veteran’s body.

“The Ophidium Gulf. The Veiled Region. Where are my brothers?” He repeated, his tone stone cold, the grinding of gears broken centuries ago. 

The Dark Angel lowered his head and turned around, before rubbing water into his short dark hair. His body, slighter yet than the older Space Marine’s, offered much less structure to the falling drops, allowing them to swiftly flow over swarthy skin and pale scars, although they were just as pinkish in colour when they fell onto the grey marble and made their way towards the drains. 

“They helped your brothers. They won that war for you, and you threatened them. You stole their victory from them. You killed them when their backs were turned.” 

This was the moment when the other Space Marines in the Ablutorium began to take notice. A dozen eyes, light and dark, in human colours and much more exotic hues, turned towards the Black Templar veteran and the younger Dark Angel. Bad blood between Chapters, prejudices, baiting and arguments were nothing new. This, this straight accusation was. 

And still the Lion’s son showed no reaction. He had taken one of the scrub brushes and was working the bristles over the exposed parts of the black carapace, turning his back towards his accuser as well as the spectators. 

“I will not turn my back to you, Dark Angel. I have sworn an Oath to fight here, and if that Oath demands I fight with a member of a rotten Chapter like yours, I will. But I will not trust you, nor allow you to watch my back. In Dorn’s name, be glad my Oath protects you, you scion of traitorous curs.”

Now, the drops raining from the Black Templar’s fists were a deep red, congealing on the tiles as he ground his nails into his palms hard enough to draw blood. The massive muscles in his arms, shoulders and neck bunched, the tendons standing out like white ropes. His voice had dropped ever lower, and yet, everybody in the ablutorium had heard his speech. 

Finally, the Dark Angel stepped out of the water, picked up his towel from the hook where he had hung it and wiped himself dry. Then he turned and walked towards the door, still giving no notice, no sign, however miniscule, he had heard any of the insults and accusations. 

Only when he stood under the doorframe connecting the ablutorium to the dimly lit antechamber, he turned and looked at the tense, seething figure of the veteran, and addressed him. His voice was deep and smooth, calm, without emotion or judgement and his eyes were cold and quiet. “Consider this, brother. When we are in the field, I will hold your life in my hands.” He paused, and suddenly smiled, a thin expression, twisted downwards by the duelling scars on his cheeks. 

“If I was the debased, traitorous cur you insist I am, consider this, too.” The Apothecary placed a hand on his chest, right where the progenoid lay craddled underneath skin and muscle and bone. “I will hold your legacy in my hands.”

Words: 998


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## Bloody Mary (Nov 6, 2009)

*Lesson*

“What is this?” Apothecary Caius Iras asked, his tone glacial. Terran-born, he was pale and grey-eyed—he did not bear as uncanny a resemblance to Horus as some other Luna Wolves, but he was still recognizably one of them. Clad in a simple robe, he nevertheless was an imposing figure. His thunderous expression was only enhanced by the fact that the left side of his face was marred by scars apparently left by something that considered a Space Marine to be a tasty snack. 

The object of his wrath was a crude depiction of a phallus, painted with stolen pigment on the wall next to the Apothecarion. And just in case it was not clear, Iras thumped his bionic hand against it, the metal clanging in response like a bell.

The two other objects of Iras’s fury—two youths in the simple robes of Initiates—stood ramrod-straight in front of the angry legionnaire. One was tall, and whip-cord thin, a gang tattoo coiling around his left eye. The other, shorter, stouter, sported a Mohawk. Both looked out of their depth, being forced to brave the wrath of a Luna Wolf. 

Another angry thump followed, making the youths jump nervously. It also seemed to coax at least one of them to try and offer some sort of an explanation.

“A dick, sir,” offered the taller Initiate, and the quiver in his voice wasn’t just caused by the fact that his voice was still breaking. He seemed quite aware just how inadequate his answer was, but nevertheless flinched when the Luna Wolf’s glare turned towards him.

“Really?” Iras’s voice oozed sarcasm as he turned to study the offending graffiti with mock-thoroughness. “And here I thought it was a deformed dog choking on a nutrient bar.”

“Um…” the shorter Initiate swallowed nervously. Like his friend, he turned his eyes away when his gaze met the fierce stare of the Apothecary.

“Yes, um,” Iras snorted. “The fact that you two consider this even close to a depiction of penis makes me question the judgment of my brother Apothecaries, because it means that either both of you are hideously deformed or suffer from some terrible sight-impediment.”

“That’s how everyone draws ‘em, sir,” the taller Initiate offered uncertainly. 

“Everyone?” Iras repeated coldly. “I will have to consult my reference materials then. Perhaps everyone is developing malignant tumors.”

The two youths shuffled their feet nervously, their uncertainty fuelled mostly by the fact that the inevitable punishment had not arrived yet. Adjusting to the life of a Space Marine was not as easy and seamless for Cthonian gangers. The unwritten rules by which they lived did not apply any longer. Marking one’s territory did not end in a gang-war. It ended in an angry post-human giant snarking at you, and somehow the prospect was far more terrifying. 

“Now that we have determined that you have no artistic talent and cannot be trusted to make a depiction of male genitals,” Iras continued, “let’s get to the point. I am well aware that your miniscule brains have yet to grasp the fact that you are no longer members of your little gang. This,” he thumped the wolf’s head embroidered on his robe, “is the only sign you need. Wherever you see it, you are on your ground. You are no longer members of a gang. You are Luna Wolves.”

There was more shuffling, but neither Initiate seemed to want to interrupt the Apothecary.

“As Luna Wolves, you are the protectors of Mankind,” the Apothecary growled. “You are supposed to be the best Mankind has to offer. You are to carry the torch of enlightenment to the darkest corners of the Galaxy. How exactly do you intend to do any of this if you are incapable of depicting something you see every day?” Then, after an ominous moment of silence, he added, “For now.”

Both Initiates, predictably, swallowed and instinctively covered their crotches. 

“W-we could learn?” squeaked the shorter one.

“Learn?” Iras repeated, arching his eyebrows. “What a novel and intriguing idea.” 

The taller Initiate gave the shorter one an accusing look, having apparently figured out that they were not supposed to interrupt and that his friend just gave the irate Marine more fuel to rant.

“And what, pray tell, have you been doing so far?” the Apothecary hissed. “Playing regicide? Enjoying a life of leisure?” Iras glared at the two, before roaring at the top of his voice, “You should know all of it by now!”

The Initiates flinched. The change of volume had been startling, not to mention a Space Marine yelling at close quarters could be almost deafening.

“If you do not…” the Apothecary said, trailing off to glare at the Initiates again.

“W-we’re terribly sorry, sir!” the taller one whimpered. “We didn’t think-“

“Indeed, you did not,” Iras snorted. “Now, since obviously you have nothing to do and I doubt you can learn a lesson unless it’s reinforced, you will clean your little artistic venture. And by clean, I mean you will lick it off.”

Both Initiates looked at him with wide, terrified eyes. Neither moved an inch, frozen rigid in shock. The Apothecary crossed his arms over his massive chest and started to tap his foot impatiently. 

“Well?” he drawled.

“B-but it’s paint,” the shorter Initiate stammered out.

“That’s what the preomnor is for,” Iras snorted. “Once the wall is clean, each of you will write an essay on territorial markings in gangs in the form of genitals. Three thousand words.”

_915 words without title_


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

_There you go Boc dam you. :ireful2: Nasty thing it is._

"With Allies Like This..."

Like all soldiers there are many things I saw I could forget; the ravaged bodies of friend hit by mines, the foul xenos scum we fought, the body’s of rape victims left by the road side to be used again and again and a thousand others but this is the foremost. I was with 487th Storm Trooper Regiment at this stage, an 8 year combat vet with the Sergeants strips on my arm for 2 of those years. With the Black Rats I’d fought against greenskinned Orks, pirate bands and the cruel dark kin of the alien Eldar. I knew how to fight, I knew how to kill, I knew how to stay alive when the bullets started to fly and yet to this day I don’t know how I survived Badab…

The darkness of the boarding torpedo engulfs me like a blanket and despite my spinning head I know something is wrong. The lights should be bathing the interior with their sickly green glow not still flashing yellow for imminent impact. Men are beginning to come round, their cries and moans cutting through the sounds of distant and muffled gunfire playing through the internal speakers. My restraints are tight, cutting into my shoulders and preventing me from moving, a good thing in the transit from troop ship to target but now it’s a death sentence. The 100 of us are still locked in the restraint couches, unable to move from the GeForce reducing chairs that are supposed to keep us alive. We hit the target some 30 seconds ago, a massive impact that feels like your insides are being pulped and your brain blown apart but the explosive bolts on the hatches must have malfunctioned and without them firing there is no way to leave this metal coffin. The hundred meter long craft; long and square like a ration bar with stubby engines at one end and tapered point at the other is a sitting duck for the enemy guns and fighters that would be checking the hull.

Down the line of grim faced men in black uniforms is the emergency release lever and the only man in reach of it; Captain Beuls, is sagged forward, his neck evidently snapped in the impact. I scream in rage, straining against my bonds, pushing them to the limit but there is no give at all.

There is a clunking on the outside of the hull, audible thanks to the speakers and the faintest dull thud that reverberates through the steel. Melta bombs. I recognize the sound instantly; somebody is going to crack us open like a shellfish, except rather than using a knife to cut the lip they are smashing it with the pommel. I can’t tell where they have placed it, if they are smart they will have positioned it above an oxygen line or other vital system, spare them the bother of killing us by hand. I strain again and I’m not alone in my panic, the men of the Black Rats have made enough space assaults to know we are in trouble.

“Brace brace brace” roars the Platoon Sergeant Hafry. Time slows in these final moments: the seconds taking minutes as the internal pressure constricts around us. Beads of sweat on Hafry’s face judder ever so slightly with his movements, illuminated by the slow turning of the impact lights. 

The black blanket descends again.

My eyelids flicker open, stinging with the smoke that now fills the torpedo. Bare seconds have past and I can taste blood over the fumes of burning electrics, I’ve bitten clean through my lip but that’s nothing compared to the Platoon Sergeant. The sweat beads have been replaced by a trickle of blood running from a shrapnel shard behind and above his left temple. The 2 men next to him are half shredded and the 5 beside them, the wall and door simply do not exist, instead replaced by a jagged hole through to the corridor of the enemy ship. 

The internal pressure equalizes with that of the target and like a bag of rice , I sag forward onto my knees as the restraints release. All around me dazed men are trying to clamber to their feet, the two concussive blasts in close succession too much for our unmodified bodies to handle. We all hear it, the clunking as a figure appears in the hole in the wall. Astartes. Taller than any of us and twice as broad he stays silhouetted against the gap, presenting a perfect target. Not knowing if its friend or foe I scramble for my hellgun locked beneath my seat . Red haired Private Styles, missing his helmet is about 4 meters from the breach, is already making for cover his weapon powering up. Diving behind one of the restraint benches he peaks around the corner and let’s loose a bolt of blue death towards the figure. Born of a primordial fear Style’s scream cuts above the wailing alarms. Red eyes pierce the darkness and turns slowly. The scream is cut short by the roar of a chainsword and the figure is moving. Styles rises to address the foe but is too late, the wiring blade of death as tall as a man rips through his stomach and out his back in a whirlwind of gore. With barely a pause the figure turns into the flicking beam of an overhead light hanging by it’s cord and in a rasping metallic voice it speaks.

“I should kill you all for that slight but the Emperor and the High Lords will is otherwise. Move and engage the enemy. Now”

Clad in weathered bronze armor, beaten and tarnished by countless battles with a red bulls head on his shoulder he turns and vanishes through the gap. 

The bronze bulls we called them: The Minotaurs, Attack Dogs of the High Lords. To fight against the Astartes was terrifying but in the end they became just another target a well-armored and deadly target but a target nonetheless. It was to stand alongside them that nearly broke me. I’m not ashamed to say that seeing my men butchered in front of my eyes is something I will never shake, no matter how hard I try and to see it done by an ally who is supposed to be on your side… They cared nothing for us, feeding us into the enemy guns the same as the Tyrant with his auxiliaries. We were ant’s in the service of contemptuous gods and they would sacrifice a thousand, ten thousand of us before one of them would fall.

_1100 words not including title._


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Pig Boy​
The sunlight glanced off the magpie's feathers as it hopped across the mud, sending flickers of green and blue. It paused, black eye shining straight at him. For a moment they shared the joy of freedom before it hopped again, passing into shadow. Pig Boy crept carefully through the irregular spaces between the slurry huts into the dead end.

The painstakingly crafted cages were all intact. He didn't like keeping his friends in cages but it was the only way to stop the monsters from getting them. He pulled his lunch from his tunic and carefully separated the handful of scraps into equal piles. Content his friends were safe he walked back to his bucket.

* * *​
Pig Boy felt a sharp pain in his shoulder followed by numbness. Something oozed down his back.

"Look 'ere lads. Pig Fumbler's skiving off. Oi Piggy Fiddler, why ain't you doing what you suppose to?"

He looked around. Three boys blocked the gap out onto the track. They had sticks in their hands.

"Hey Pig Boy, asked you a question didn't I."

"Don't waste your breath Karl. Everyone knows e's too thick to talk. Thicker than pig shit."

"Well maybe 'e needs some to make I'm smarter. You want that Pig Lover? Let's give 'im some shit to help 'im talk."

"Eh?"

"'E's thicker than pig shit, so pig shit is smarter. So we dump some on 'is head he gets cleverer."

"Oh... right... yeah, that's good that is."

"But first 'e needs to learn 'is place." The first few blows sent pain spiking through his body and left him lying on the ground. But after a while he just became numb.

Shit landed on his head. The warmth actually made the pain feel less, and he never noticed the smell. He lay there for a moment before he remembered he would get in trouble if he did not clear it up. It seemed easier to lie there though.

"Ere look, there's a bunch of stuff back 'ere"

"What's e got?"

"Dunno... fuck me, there's a rat in here. It's in a fucking cage."

Pig Boy tried to move. He needed to do something, to stop them scaring his friends. Just as he got his arms under him he felt another stinging blow on his back.

"Keeping rats... that’s not just sick it's wrong." Someone's foot pressed him back down into the mud. "Bring it out here lads. We gotta show him what happens to rats."

"Fucker bit me."

"Well bring it in the cage then... your dumber than Piggo sometimes!"

Mud splashed across his face as they dropped the cage in front of him. "Nuuuu," he gasped, desperately dragging in air against the weight on his back.

"You say something?" The pressure increased. "Didn't think so. Someone grab his head. Doesn't wanna miss this does he."

Pig Boy twisted his head enough to see Deiter's legs crouch beside him, and tensed for more pain.

"Es covered in shit. I ain't touching im."

"Sorry Diet... weren't thinking. Course you don't have to -"

*Thwack*

He tensed instinctively but there was no pain. Dieter's legs slowly toppled out of sight.

"Christ, you sat right in it Deit... so don't matter now that he's covered... now grab his head... unless you got another problem?"

He felt fingers wrap through his hair and yank until it felt as if it was tearing out. He tried to force his head back further and further but they kept pulling further still.

"Right, one of his eyes is looking in the right direction. Now smash it good."

He watched as a boot slowly lowered onto the cage then slowly rose up again. He closed his eyes but that just made the waiting worse. Maybe they were just messing? They wouldn't actually kill his friend in cold blood. He opened his eyes again.

The cage was still in one piece.

*Crunch*

The cage shattered into pieces launching a splinter into his eye.

"What were you waiting for?"

"E closed his eyes. Didn't want him to miss it."

Was his friend hurt? He desperately blinked but the combination of the splinter and the shit running down his face stopped him seeing anything clearly. A boot shaped blur smashed down and something squeaked.

"Let him go, Deit."

The pain in his scalp stopped and, lacking the will to resist, he let his face fall into the mud. He felt Karl's boot rise off his back. Was it over now?

Something hard slammed into the back of his head and it went dark.

* * *​
Pig Boy dragged himself across the mud and looked at the broken body. He tried to smooth the fur, but it was covered in mud. His mouth hurt as he spat into his hand. Gently running his fingers along the body he teased out the mud until it was sleek again. He tried to clean its snout but his blood kept mixing with the spit and he couldn't get it clean.

Turning the body over he looked at the mess of guts. That wasn't right. They shouldn't be showing. He fumbled at them for several minutes until they all seemed hidden. Now the fur was dirty again. He spat in his palm again. It hurt less now and there was no blood. He slowly groomed the rat. Now it looked right again.

He kissed it on the nose to let it know everything was all right and placed it on the ground. He watched it scurry into the shadows before trying to pick up his bucket. The pain in his arms fought with the ravening hole in his belly. His share of lunch would have been less than enough to save his friend without the beating, but if he didn't empty the rest of the pigsties he would get another one and then all his friends would be alone.


_- 977 words_


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## son of azurman (Sep 19, 2010)

errr dave one question, what was that in your drink cause whatever it was i want some. one other words great stories everyone and ive just confirmed that i wont make this month again like almost every month but hey ho will try again next month.


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## Boc (Mar 19, 2010)

Entry window is now closed, I'll have the voting thread up shortly.

Lots of fresh meat...


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

son of azurman said:


> errr dave one question, what was that in your drink cause whatever it was i want some.


Thank you... I think.

I write sober so it is probably caffeine.


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## son of azurman (Sep 19, 2010)

hmmm not convinced. its amazingly written its just very different. so ye it was "caffeine" that you have been drinking :wink:


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