# Revenant Part 2



## Unknown Soldier (Oct 24, 2008)

If you've got the time, here is part 2 of the story.

Revenant Part 2 -

The bodies of the dead were piled twelve feet high and rising. The Plasma, Melta and Flame Guns igniting the freshly slain bodies of the furious citizens, creating a circular wall of fire twenty feet from the Angels of Vengeance’s tightly packed formation. Charging over the top of the flaming pyres, the unrelenting mob continued it’s attack.

‘We must to get to higher ground’ Sergeant Ben Corder thought to himself ‘But where? Where in the Hive City would we be safe from this horde?’

Corder’s vox crackled into life. A woman’s voice seeped into his ear.

‘Attention Space Marines! Can you hear me, over?’

‘This is Sergeant Corder, Squad Leader, fourth company, Angels of Vengeance. Identify yourself.’ Corder responded, perplexed.

‘I am Judge Vycara Whyte of the Adeptus Arbites, Drogan sector. You have to get your men to the Courthouse, you will not survive on the streets.’ The female Judge advised.

‘What is your position?’ Corder inquired, his brain splitting in two by trying to hold a conversation with the Arbites and dispatching crazed citizens rushing down from the flaming wall at the same time.

‘If you look half a mile east, you will see the main Watchtower, the Courthouse is beneath that.’ Whyte informed Corder.

‘We’re on our way…Men, get ready to move! There’s a Courthouse half a mile east, we’re falling back!’ Corder instructed his squad.

‘I’m running out of ammo!’ warned Brother Elias, firing very short bursts from his Heavy Bolter, trying to conserve as much of the precious ammunition as he could.

‘Grenades!’ Corder shouted back, laying his Bolter on the ground and frantically searching for the Krak and Melta grenades on his belt.

The rest of the Angels of Vengeance squad followed suit, many of them unhooking the harnesses from their heavy weapons in the process, their tanks and ammo feeds run completely dry.

‘Now!’ Corder screamed and in unison, he and his squad threw as many grenades as they could muster over the fiery walls of corpses. Seconds later the explosives detonated sending charred shards of flesh and bone in every direction, for the second time that day, blood rained from the sky, the crimson droplets splattering down on to the Space Marine’s armour.

Corder threw his Bolter and his last magazine to Brother Elias and unsheathed his Chainsword. Around him the rest of the squad copied his actions, consolidating their deplenished resources and swapping ammunition between themselves, those that could, drew close quarter weapons and readied them for action.

‘Move out!’ Corder shouted as he pushed his way through a flaming wall of bodies to be met by the untold millions still rushing towards his position. 

In the brief second of respite Corder afforded himself, he could see the entrance to a train station above him. If they could get to the elevated track, it would narrow the avenues of attack and force his foes to funnel their numbers through a much tighter gap, not perfect, but much more restrictive compared to the various ramps and walkways leading to the landing pad.

‘Follow me Brothers!’ Corder commanded, his Chainsword cutting three people in half with every swing as he advanced.

The Angels of Vengeance fought their way up the steps of the train station, beset on all sides by the clawing hands of the frenzied mob. Sergeant Corder, Brother Flaxon and Brother Groon made up the spearhead of the assault, each swinging their close combat weapons as fast as they could to clear the way. Flaxon’s Power Hammer crashed mightily into the flimsy bodies of the citizens barring his path, Groon swathed through the horde with his fearsome Chain Axe and of course Corder continued his rampage of bloody evisceration with his powerful Chainsword.

The walls of the stairwell provided much needed cover to their flanks but it was the rear of the squad that featured the most devastating assaults. The last few Bolter shells and Plasma bursts began to run dry as the sheer weight of numbers descended upon them. The Marines guarding the back of the squad had to turn their empty weapons into makeshift clubs and did their best to hold off the endless crowds. Blood from the fallen citizens at the front of the squad began to flow down the cold metal stairs of the concourse, causing the following Angels of Vengeance to slip and fall.

Brother Bereston was first to go, the viscous crimson liquid beneath his boots causing him to careen down the stairwell into the waiting rabble. Dozens of hands grabbed down towards him, pulling and tugging at his Ceramite armour. People collapsed onto his arms and legs, limiting his capacity to fight back.

‘Bereston!’ Brother Elias screamed, swinging his empty Bolter with renewed anger towards the approaching masses.

‘Leave him!’ Corder yelled ‘We can’t save him!’

Elias cursed under his breath. He could not believe that their Sergeant would wilfully leave one of his men behind, it went against everything Elias believed in. Staring down between blows, he could see what fate awaited the Marines if they were to stumble and fall. The crowd had ripped the armour from his comrade and were proceeding to tear his flesh apart with their bare hands. Bereston started to scream as grimy fingers and sharp nails dug into his neck. A few horrifying seconds later, Bereston’s head became separated from his shoulders.

Seconds later, the Angels of Vengeance reached the ticket halls of the train station. Amazingly, they were afford a brief respite from the carnage as the almost deserted station provided very few dangers. The Marines sprinted up the escalators leading to the train platform, quickly dispensing the odd Drogan body that dared to get in their way. Reaching the open platform, they stopped and gathered a breath. 

‘Fill your lungs Brothers’ Corder instructed, struggling between breaths himself.

Behind them, the gathered Angels of Vengeance could hear the citizens flooding up the escalators, but based on their speed, it would be a few seconds before they reached their position. Elias wanted to challenge the Sergeant about the abandonment of Bereston, but thought it wise to save his words for a later and more appropriate time.

Stretched out before them was the empty elevated train track cutting through the heart of the Hive City. In the distance, Corder could see the grey concrete Arbites Watchtower, his eyes darted upwards to the crown of the tower encircled by it’s row of blackened windows. And then his heart lifted, sitting atop the grim spire was a large Vox aerial, most certainly powerful enough to communicate with ships in orbit. If they could get to the tower, he could contact Captain Brin on the Barbican and call down much needed assistance for his squad.

The sound of the unrelenting crowd was growing stronger below them, in the space of mere seconds, they would be upon the Marines once more. The assembled Angels looked at their Sergeant for the order.

‘Our objective is that grey spire in the distance, at the base of it is the entrance to the fortified Courthouse. If we can get there, we will be safe.’ Corder said pointing his finger towards the imposing Watchtower. ‘Now Brothers, we run, last one there is a Nurgle fart.’

Again, Corder’s humour helped lift the flagging spirits of his men. Except one, that is, Brother Elias did not laugh.

The Space Marines sprinted down the abandoned railway track, their powerful legs and lungs far outpacing the maddening crowd behind them. Even in their full armour, they were able to cover the half mile in just under a minute. As they ran along the track, they could see the mob below them rapidly changing direction to head them off. Near the Watchtower was another train station, the massed fanatics would be waiting for the Marines when they arrived.

Corder had other ideas, from his view at the front of the pack, he could see the buildings surrounding the Courthouse entrance. By his rough calculations, he and his Brothers could jump from the track onto the roofs of the buildings below and not have to hit the city streets until they’d reached the objective. With a mighty leap, Corder jumped the wall of the train track and landed squarely on the angled roof of an Administratum building. His fellow Marines followed suit and with a few acrobatic jumps, the squad had reached their destination, the impregnable gates of the Courthouse.

‘Judge Whyte, we’re at the gates!’ Corder broadcast into his vox.

His message was met with silence. Brother Groon and Flaxon stepped away from the gates and readied their weapons, from the adjacent street corners, another wave of deadly humanity was approaching fast.

‘Judge Whyte! This is Sergeant Corder! Open the gates!’ Corder shouted into his vox.

Again, his broadcast was met by silence.

Part 3 to follow


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

Another excellent installment bud! Once again my only niggle is the fluff. Against unarmored humans fragmentation grenades would have been more useful. Krak grenades and meltabombs are used against armor (tanks and the like) as they're made to penetrate it where as frag grenades have a nice area of effect to splatter and chum up one's enemies lol.

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Unknown Soldier (Oct 24, 2008)

You are so right Nate, for some reason my hands typed Krak instead of Frag. Though with the numbers involved, the Frags wouldn't have been that much more useful (he said trying to justify his obvious mistake).

Thanks again for you comments.


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

LOL!

Well, a very valid point irregardless! I will say that I've noticed how your writing is evolving. Your 'short installments' are becoming longer but at the same time retain the quality of your smaller posts. That says something even with the small bits of fluff mistakes (which aren't major...I've seen far worse and usually in a BL novel LOL). I see soon you writing sprawling novelettes for all and sundy to peruse and enjoy heh heh heh. Keep up the good work mate. Lord knows good fan-fic is so hard to find :biggrin:!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Luciferi (Mar 2, 2008)

Part 3, now, plzkthx ^_^!


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