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A Promising Magos
By Erreul

Standing tall in his crimson robes, towering over the rest of the command staff assembled for the briefing, he was a Magos of the Cult of the Machine. He belonged to the Adeptus Mechanicus, and to the Omnissiah, and in current company was indeed misplaced, sitting just left of the middle. His cowl was pulled back to reveal almost an entirely odd sight of flesh and tubes, but even more strange was the lack of mechanical implants on compared to the amount of pale skin. His figure was indeed massive, as most Magos are versus the normal man, though apart from this abnormal size the only few things that would make a normal person note this human as unfamiliar would be the tubes connecting to the rear of his cranium, the abnormal fittings over his left eye and even more alarming the odd mechanical features above his right eye, almost seeming a dull silver box was inserted into his skull, lights occasionally flickering on it. However the rest of him looked human, of a pale flesh that so accompanied the men of his position.

The man speaking at the podium currently was a Lieutenant of a regiment he cared little about, introducing the pudgy commander of the same regiment. Two chairs we empty, and then sat a Clergy member of the Adeptus Ministorum, or the Ecclesairchy a very obese man adorned with random idol to the Emperor of Man and covered in rank odors that were considered as ‘Holy’. Next to him was a Adepta Sororitas, the leader of the group supplied to be his personal guard on the expedition, she was of course in full armor, and to the Magos also not of interest. At the far end sat the two representatives from the Commissariat, one new and one old, and that is all the Magos knew. Between the two Commissar’s sat a single officer of a barbarian regiment, he himself was a bull of a man, easily towering over the two glaring Commissars, arms crossed in front of him as he scowled almost as well as the two he sat beside. Then sat the Magos guard, A Praetorian Tribune who the Magos ultimately dubbed Guard. Guard was clearly not human, to the naked eye, truly all the tubes and cybernetic implants on his face, not to mention the brass colored skull that it was all housed on was a clear indication that this man was in no possible way a man. However if one listened close enough, when they were close enough, a strong beat of a heart could be hear clear as day. Then the Magos himself, in a past life he was called Dane Estey, but after his transformation into the cult, he renamed himself Erreul. His almost dead looking sea blue eye looked around the room every once in a while to survey the crowd.

The Sister and Cardinal stood and went to the podium and began to draw out his faith filled speech to the population in the room, a room filled with the majority barbarian troopers, a majority of Cadian troopers, and the other was of the Imperial Navy, the ship’s crew that the current company was on. The three lights suddenly flashed on the box, and only a trooper in the front noticed that it happened, and looked to Guard, where he happened to also notice three lights lit up on the side of Guards head. He then nudged his buddy and pointed, unfortunately getting the attention of Guard himself who stared straight into the man’s soul. The man shuddered with a chill, and paid his attention back to the Cardinal, just as he was walking off the podium and the room cheering. Erreul waited for the man to sit before him and Guard both walked up to the podium, though he was clearly much taller than it. He none the less spoke with the power of an old Sergeant.

“Soldiers of the expedition, I am Magos Erreul. I will keep this speech short, as I have not much to say. To put it simply, your equipment, your engines, your guns will not fail you on the field. I am here to make sure that this is followed through. One piece of wisdom I can part with is this: If you take care of your equipment..” The Magos took a weapons cleaning kit from Guards hands and held it up “Then your equipment will undoubtedly take care of you.” Handing the kit back to Guard, the two bowed respectfully to the entire room, then to command staff before sitting down.

The Magos simply talked to the Machine Spirit for the remainder of the speeches, and then returned with Guard to the allocated space on the ship. As soon as he reached the hold, he went back to work on the menial tasks that he often did. He was repairing a Lasgun when an invitation came for the Magos and two guests of his choosing were to join the force of commanders at the table for a final dinner before the final launch of the operation, which he accepted. Looking around he noticed that much of the personnel under his command no longer needed nutriment to continue to function.
“Transmechanic Herlon and Genetor Farine, you two will be joining me at this dinner this evening, make sure you are free by then.” The two both bowed “Yes Magos Erreul.” In perfect unison came the reply. Erreul looked at the two in two windows, contempt at their lack of human emotion and also pity as so many outside the order felt. He sighed and moved into his personal quarters to enjoy silence, a servo skull floating from its docking and plugging its self in the door, making sure none would enter without first talking to it. The door slid shut behind him and many Servitors appeared, disrobing and removing all over the attachments to his body, showing off his pale skin, and once again his amazing lack of effect of implants on his body. He moved himself into a vat of liquid with smoke wafting off it. The room was obviously borrowed space, as engine piping went along the spacious room, causing it to be quite small and dark. He closed his eye as he knew he was safe in the sterilizing goop, and drifted off to sleep…

The Magos awoke to being completely dressed and in proper protocols to what he would need to wear to this little banquet. He blinked his eye to wake up and immediately recognized Herlon and Farine were also getting the same treatment, though the both looking at him, inspecting him for something the servitors missed. Without a word the trio left together, stalking down the halls in the crimson red robes flowing behind them, the two Magos bulk clearly moving more naturally than the Transmechanic’s more robotic movements. They entered the room early and clearly the meeting had already got under way as men were standing in their own little groups, drinks and oeuvres in hand, waiting to be seated by the Master of Ceremonies. The three stood in the corner and waited quietly with each other for it to start.They were finally seated as told and the food and drinks were served. Erreul removed his cowl, as did his fellow Magos, but the Transmechanic did not. The Lord-General saw this and motioned to him.

“You there!” He pointed to Herlon, slightly drunk. “Why do you not join our feast, after all, we are going to be on the front together.”

“Apologies, but I do not require nourishment to function, and thus do not have an apparatus to intake or digest the food.” Herlon bowed his head respectfully towards the head of the table.

“And you my boy, why is your hood not off?” Farine looked straight down the table to see if he was talking to him.

“My Lord, if I was to remove my cowl, I’m sure you would lose your appetite.”

The Lord-General once again acknowledged this and went back to the useless gable at the table. “And this is what is going to be leading our forces into battle?” Farine sent privately to the two Mechanicus at the table, his voice flowing and soft, but with a hint of automation to it. “It is so, Genetor Farine.” Herlon’s voice was the complete opposite, very robotic and loud, a perfect adaptation of dealing with the hectic shop. As dinner finally began, Herlon simply stared at Erreul, looking for guidance, and Erreul was giving it back through their connection. “No, do not stare at anyone, that will cause them to be uncomfortable.” Herlon nodded silently and looked into his cup.

“Ah! Eyeing the fine Gararian Ale are we!” a cheerful officer beside the Transmechanic piped up, red in the face from laughing too much. The mechanic nodded “What is the production of this ‘Gararian Ale’.” The officer did not know that the Transmechanic was not actually making small talk, but personally did not know.

“Magos Erreul, it has come to my attention that you on this mission to become an Archmagos if you are successful.” He gave no heed to the people around him, however when he looked he was genially surprised to see it was a Sister of Battle, and he immediately and in seconds read her full file, literally everything that was put in records about her. “That is correct Prioress, what is your agenda on this mission?” The Magos asked the question he already knew, but wanted to give the impression he cared. Erreul gave her a little smile, which was in return, returned. “I am tasked with my twenty Sisters to Guard the Cardinal on his mission.” She regarded Erreul for a minute. “You are not like others of your kind. Why is that?” And at that moment, something hit Erreul, and hit him directly in the Humanity…


I am doing this to strech my mind, tell me if I should start posting this on Dakka.

Sure, why not, go for it

I approve of this, the boys in red need more love!

If that's the case I assure you I won't crap the bed with my grammar again, believe it or not I was born with English being my first language. However I was tired, and still am. Will post more when I get some sleep, just wanted to see if there was any interest.

Don't worry about it, my grammar and spelling make people cringe and their veins stand out on their forehead

BOOM!

The men on the gun recovered from the recoil, getting back into their positions on the artillery piece. They were off the gun, and they still felt the recoil from the behemoth, the Bombard. To the left and right of them Earthshaker Cannons were also making their presence known, the occasional sound of a Medusa belching it's contents into the sky.

Nothing came close to the massive Heavy Siege Mortar's sound that caused all in the general area to go deaf. The massive shells caused the gun to need to have a massive crane to operate the reloading aspect, witch was mostly automated. The three troopers that returned, returned to their position on the weapon. the first and second stood and assisted the gun reload, the third moved back to the aiming port. There in the command position was a man in a bright blue coat, with red trimming around it, a big cigar hanging out his mouth, looking through the binoculars towards where they just shot.

Colonel Dane Estey watched as the shell broke through the wall and disappeared. Suddenly a barrage of other shells landed on the fortification and put pockmarks all over its face. Suddenly a massive plume of rubble and smoke exploded, and when it cleared an entire section of the wall was completely flattened, and a second wall behind it much worse. The massive crater left spanned half the size of the break, meaning the walls shook them selfs down, the shell had did its job.

Dane looked back towards his trooper and smirked around his cigar, looking back towards the city with his binoculars. Sure enough the infantry and armour were slogging their way into the breach.

"High Explosive Lads!" He called back towards the crew, their vox beads on high, yet still it was hard to hear.

Suddenly part of the automated reloading system failed, and caused the arm to jam and fail, the chains suddenly squealing under the full weight of the shell. And as if something of his being told him to be, the Colonel was right there, inspecting the problem quickly.

"We're going to need a cog boy here, Sir..."

"Emperor blasted Lad, how long do you think this this has been running without one?" There was only mischief behind Dane's sea blue eyes, and he gave the soldier a smirk. Taking off a panel, he rearranged some things, removed his pistol and gave an object a good smack. The chains made a noise of relieve and then Dane moved to another part of the arm, taking a fast look over the arm he gave a couple taps to it, causing the arms to bend. He then went to the base of the arm and popped off a shield, inspecting the innards of the motor. Sure enough a stone was blasted into the machine and was lodged in the gear. Dane gave it a heavy boot from his dust covered combats and put the shield back on, and the panel back on as well. The arm started to move once again on restart and the system was running once again. Dane turned to see if his troopers were getting back to work and instead there stood a Magos, surrounded by three tech priests and a servitor.

"Top of the Evening Magos Drikoe, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Dane smiled to the Magos and with sincere words, he always wanted to join Mars but never got the chance to do so.

"It is my duty to inspect and upkeep the guns of this regiment, including this Heavy Siege Mortar. The Machine Spirit called for my attention, however it seems..."

Boom!

"... Quires my attention."

The Magos and his entourage walked away, leaving Dane to wonder what he said. He looked at his trooper, who looked at him and shrugged, and Dane in return smiled and shake his head, taking the cigar out of his mouth to lick his lips, watching as the Trojan Carrier arrived with two more shells. Dane hopped onto the tracks and climbed on top, working the crane.

"Colonel!"

Dane looked down and saw his aide, Terrance, come towards him. He paid little mind however and continued with the reloading action.

"Colonel Estey!"

Terrance had a data pad in his hand and stopped on the side of the Trojan.

"This is quite urgent sir.. Straight from HQ."

Dane took the pad and read the contents.

Boom!

'Colonel Estey, you will move your men to grid reference Lo: 1161 La: 6157. Facing south. Full Battery.

The Colonel looked back at the shell being loaded and finally looked through the binoculars, finding nothing but gore, tank husks and rubble that was once a city.

"load that one and leave it unprimed lads. We're moving out."

The men saluted and prepped the beast for movement. Dane hopped off the Trojan and gave it two smacks, following his aide back to the HQ. Entering the command Centaur, Dane looked at his maps and got on the coms.

"All guns, listen up... Pack em up Lads, we're moving out. Get it done in five minutes, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie will be moving to map reference Hotel for the next part of this mission... Delta and Echo will follow Foxtrot to map reference Bravo... The rest of you move to the third objective, Command will be moving to map reference Hotel, Magos you have free reign once again. The Emperor protects all gentlemen, stick with your guards.. Copy all?" After all copied but Lima, Dane gave the Green light and hopped out of the Centaur, heading towards Limas position.

When Dane got there, the five Basilisks were non-moving. Getting closer, his two bolt pistols in hand, he heard the sound of laughing. Looking around a bit, all the crews of each gun, including the Lieutenant, were drinking and gambling around the bend. Dane put rounds into the table and caused it to crack, also cause the troopers around to either react or soil them selfs. One shot trailed past Danes head and into a tree behind him, not flinching.

"What the frak are you idiots doing!" He holstered both pistols and kept advancing towards the group. "What is this!" Dane yelled even louder as men scrambled away from him, kicking and lashing out at the ones that didn't move in time. "Line up you ungrateful bastards!" As they did he marched in front of the line, looking at each of their faces. They were clearly dour they were caught. "Lads... I'm completely disappointed in all of you..." Dane shook his head looking at the ground. "I know the life of the gun isn't always the most exciting, this I understand completely.." Dane stopped. "But that doesn't mean that your allowed to be incompetent! Your damn lucky I showed up instead of the Commissar or one of your heads would no longer be on your shoulders!" Dane kept walking and stopped in front of the lieutenant. "What do you have to say for your self? You an enlisted man for Emperor sakes!" The lieutenant looked at his boots and shook his head weakly. Dane shook his own head. "You boys lost the right to drink for two weeks, and if I get even a breath that you boys went against this, it'll be a month, and flogging. Am I understood?" The men nodded solemnly, taking in what they just got them selfs into. "On a positive note we're moving out, get your stuff together and radio HQ where you need to go. Don't do this again lads, I have a high opinion of you. Move out!" The men got back into their vehicles and rumbled out, Dane caught a ride in the Lieutenants Basilisk.

Returning to his command Centaur, almost all the battery's but Yankee had checked in, and that was the Bombard, it was a slow bugger, even with its special Leman Russ chassis.

"Alright, all guns, when Yankee arrives and gives the green you are free to blast these heretics back to the warp, copy all?" Acknowledgment from all battery's came back. "HQ copy's all... HQ out." After a while of nothing but artillery fire, Dane switched the channel to specific vox.

"Magos, if you'd be so kind as to task a tech priest to Oscar, I'm certain by the sound of their barrage, one has something wrong with a firing pin.."

"Yes Colonel Estey, I will send Engiseer Zarnax to inspect the issue at battery 15 immediately."

"Thank you, please inform me if you need anything." Dane switched the vox to a Chimera, sitting next to his HQ. "Commissar, this is Colonel Estey, I'm going to need to you park in sector 3."

"On what grounds, Colonel?" The reply came, from the Commissar him self. The question was clearly not a challenge to the order, the Commissar himself preferred to be by the HQ to assist with decisions or spy on Dane. "Lets just say that the little hiccup with Lima wasn't a coms issues." A moment went by before an acknowledgment was returned. Dane stuck his head out the command cupola just in time for a Manticore to unload all of its missiles in succession, and the missile truck pull up to get the thing reloaded.

Bored already, Dane began to walk down the line of artillery as it sent massive amounts of shells of all kinds into the air. Dane took out his binoculars and looked down the field. Sure enough, heretics were running an all out assault on a hastily set up fortification, and sure enough, massive amounts of blood and gore were being turned up by massive explosions.

Dane was getting into his Centaur when he smelled them before even seeing them. He hit his vox "Get ready for a scrap everyone, the warp blasted bastards are behind us!" Hopping up onto the roof he removed his pistols and opened up into the wooded area, hearing screams as he did. The servitor gun mount attached to his cupola also opened up, shooting autonomously into the forest. Dane closed the hatch after he slid in and came face to face with the Magos. This caused Dane a moment to check him self, and then moved on.

" Driver, get us out of here!" He flipped on the vox "All guard, I need a hold out action to get some time for the guns to move, all guns, pack up and get moved to fall back position 3, HQ out!" Dane moved to the back and looked out a view port, and sure enough they were coming out of the forrest like a hoard of locust. "General, this is Colonel Estey, Heretics enveloping us from the rear, routing my men to a collection point, I repeat, heretics enveloping from the rear, moving to a collection point." Dane looked back out the view port to see a battle line of troopers behind hastily put up sand bags and slit trenches, opening fire with their standard issue Auto gun. Dane turned to the Magos. "I have one thing to ask from you, Magos." The Magos looked back at him. "Don't let me die on this Emperor forsaken place." The Magos looked back to the coms with Terrance as the Centaur sped away, the gun servitor making a click noise. Dane got an extra drum and attached it to the auto feeder inside, and it once again made a chattering noise. Then it all went black.

"His will... It's just to strong..."

"If we could do any more for this sod, the Emperor himself would have to do it."

"His body does not require those attachments, put in..."

"Wake up!"

Dane finally came to, looking around he immediately noted he was not on a world, he was on a ship, and he was no longer in his command Centaur listening to the chatter of machine gun fire, but was actually in a stasis tank, listening to the drone of mechanical objects.

"He is now responsive, Magos."

"Colonel, you will no longer respond or follow that title, but you will respond and follow Tech Priest. You have lived your life, and now you are starting another one. You will serve the Omnissiah now. Do you accept what I am telling you?"

Dane looked down at the Magos, and nodded, quickly loosing consciousness once again.

"Strip him of his weakness... Why have you stopped?"

"His will, Magos, is to great for me to do that."

"Then we must make do with..."

Erreul looked from his food back to the Sister, the memories still fresh.

"To be honest Sister, that is quite a long story.."

The new bits good but confusing at the end with the sister bit.

That was an explanation of how he joined. In the end of him remembering this he is Magos Erreul once again, saying that everything he remembered would be to long to explain to her, as last post she asked him why he was different. More should be coming in the hour.

Dinner went by relatively quickly after the conversation with the sister, not many people appeared to be interested in talking with either Magos, however the Transmechanic and the young officer were having quite the conversation. The officer kept telling the Transmechanic the different steps to making the ale being served, and continued on through out the evening.

The Lord-General tapped his glass with a spoon. "Sister... Men of Mars, soldiers... Soon we will be spilling and blowing blood from our enemies with the fever of the Astartes them selfs!" The General stood, looking around the table. "Let us never forget the ones that fall, never forget the ones that live, and always take glory where you can!" He raised his cup. "To the expedition!" Those with a drink raised them, everyone repeating: "To the expedition!" And with a last drink, the dinner was done.

The Magos and Transmechanics were the first to leave, curtly bowing their heads and announcing their resignations. Walking down the hall, each of them talked of the evening. The Transmechanic expressing his knowledge now of the 58 steps of how to make Gararian ale, the Genetor expressing the fact that the ale is and will be extremely flammable. The Magos however kept quite, listening to his fellow brothers talk.

"And what of you Magos, what did you think of the feast?"

"Yes, you have not communicated since we left the 'feast'"

"I assessed a memory I haven't gone over in some time, and it troubles me."

The three walked into the hold and followed him into his personal area, into the vat. The servitors quickly stripped all three of their cloaks, showing the extensive amount of mechanical attachments and biological replacements that they both revived compared to Erreul.

All three entered the vat and stood in silence for a bit, once again a servo skull going to the door. After a while of the liquid surrounding them, cleaning them, they began to talk.

"What was this memory you speak of?"

"Yes Magos, release this information."

Erreul turned to each of their faces very different, each it's own contrast to his.

"It was before I joined the Order, it had to have been at least... 10 - 15 standard Terran years ago.. I do not want to go into the details, however the world I used to serve has contributed an army to the expedition."

The two processed this.

"How is this an issue Magos? You are devote to the order, this has been proven, but I fail to see how this situation causes you trouble."

"He is a coupling that has been moved to a different coolant generator, Genetor, it accepts the coupling however it looks... Odd... As it was not created exactly for that coolant generator."

Erreul looked at the Transmechanic absolutely floored that out of the three, he was the one that understood his feeling the best.

"Magos. It may be out of place however in the end the... Feeling... Is completely unrelated as the objective and use is still being achieved."

Erreul nodded, absolutely understanding what he meant.

"Do you concur Genetor?"

"Yes, I agree with that."

Erreul nodded once again.

"Thank you, brothers, your input is greatly appreciated. Please awake me if something happens, I need to sleep on this."

The two curtly bowed their heads and got out of the vat, having their robes returned, they left out off Erreul's quarters, going to the objectives they halted before going to the dinner.

Three hours later Erreul awoke to his robes on and attachments on his body. He looked to his left and found a Tech priest handling a troopers rifle, it clearly had a bent barrel, as if it was beaten against a wall. The priest noticed the Magos had been awoken.

"Hail lord, the Machine spirit is lively today."

"Yes, it is... Where is Guard today, priest?"

The Priest bent the gun, to no avail, and threw it down a box.

"I believe he is in your quarters, currently off for maintenance, Lord."

Erreul nodded. "Carry on.."

Erreul walked down into the main area where Tech Priests, and Engiseers were doing their own tasks, menials and servitors working mechanically. The Genetor, had taken a corner of the massive hold, as technically they were both the same rank. However, out of respect he listened to Erreul as a senior, even though he himself was a full century older than his counter part. Erreul on the other hand, being part of the Cybernetica, handled robots, sent to be assisting in the massive battle to come. He had turned part of the hold into a factory for robots he designed. The Magos however was an Errant, a Magos that dabbled in everything, and thanks to this, his robots were clearly better compared to pre existing records.

"Erreul, I trust everything this going smoothly?" A mans voice sounded, coughing heavily shortly after.

"Yes, Admiral, what can Mars do for you?"

The Admiral was clearly pleased by this response. "the motor has been acting up, I would like for you to have a look for me."

"Of course admiral, it will be an honour."

The Admiral left, hacking up a lung as he did, clearly because of the heavy work happening in the hold. Erreul brought with him an aspiring Engiseer, tasking him with finding the problem. Erreul stood patiently at the door as the tech priest looked around inside. An hour passed and Erreul finally looked inside to see the Priest having the whole thing fixed, and was looking into a screen.

"Engine is at 95% efficiency, all components are in place and stable."

The Magos nodded. "You missed one part."

The man spun around as if someone assaulted his mother

"With all due respect, lord, I missed not..."

Erreul walked over to a screen and typed in code that activated the auto-systems, causing the engine to work at 99%.

"Do not talk back to those who know more than you do... You look less incompetent that way."

The priest fell to his knees.

"Forgive me lord! It will not happen again!"

"Rise, you may go inspect the other engines. Do them quickly."

"Yes lord, immediately lord!"

The priest ran out of the room, he knowing full well the test.

Erreul was walking back to the bridge to alert the admiral, and on his way there walked passed the troops barracks. His curiosity peeked, he happened into the Barbarian barracks. A tidal wave of information was suddenly available to him. Name... Leader... Numbers... So on, as he was gaining this, one of the savages noticed that the Magos had entered the barracks and jumped to his feet, saluting him.

"Sir!"

Suddenly a chain reaction went off, and the whole barracks was at attention.

"I am not a commanding officer of the Emperors Hammer, you do not salute me."

"We salute you, you take care of our guns, we give you respect." The closest one smacked his chest, causing his trinkets to jingle. The others followed shortly after

"Where is your commanding officer?"

"I am currently in lead, my chief is talk with Commissar"

"Tell him if he does well this campaign, I will craft him a trophy."

"Of course-"

"Magos."

"Of course Mage hoes."

Erreul nodded and walked back out, continuing onto the other barracks.

Sure enough, what he expected to find was vigorously doing drills. When Erreul walked in, a man at the door came to attention and gave a crisp salute.

"Welcome to the Groxlock, Magos Erreul, First Private Herr, what do we owe the pleasure to this visit?"

"Where is your commanding officer, First Private."

"Currently drilling the men, would you like to inspect them, Magos?"

Erreul nodded.

As soon as they were all lined up the Magos was paraded proudly though them, all had impeccable uniforms, dressed to the nines.

"Very good General, thank you for the parade."

"As unexpected as it is to have a man of Mars come through my ranks, I'm proud to hear your words of praise."

Erreul left, and continued down the hall way, running into a tech priest who saw Erreul talk to both.

"My lord, why did you do that?"

"Because, there is one thing that men do well, and that's fight... They just see that better when they know what their fighting for."

The tech priest remained silent as Erreul went over his specialty.

"If you heat an old torch up before you need to use it, it will work a lot better than if you just turn it on."

The tech priest looked at Erreul and nodded.

"Now, lets get to the Admiral..."

Erreul walked into the bridge, ignoring the two guards, who told him to 'Cease his movement at once.' Him and the tech priest walked onto the bridge into a mass amount of confusion, everyone assembled for the expedition was assembled on the bridge. Erreul smiled, and looked at the tech priest, who grinned back. Walking towards where the Commodore stood, the man was attempting to regain control with a very horse voice, as if he had been doing so for quite some time. Erreul walked to the edge of the storm of random people's, and looked around.

"The Commodore has asked for silence." Erreul's voice was amplified by the large voice box installed within the confines of his throat to make him seem more human while also giving him the ability to do so. Everyone in the room immediately fell quite either through the order or by the fact that they were standing in the relative area of Erreul, this visibly shown by people recovering.

The Commodore was silent for a second, looking at Erreul.

"Thank you, Magos Erreul..." The Commodore began in High Gothic, fixing his hair and uniform as all eyes were on him. "We will be rendezvousing with the rest of the fleet in three weeks! Any more questions about when we will be joining the rest of the battle fleet is now answered! Leave my bridge!"

All the people gathered began to leave, only four remained, Erreul and his priest, the Cardinal, and the Commissar. Erreul stood by the rail, leaning against it.

"My lord, I understand your mind was relatively left untouched due to your own choice and of your lord, Archmagos Drikoe, why is this?"

Erreul saw that the Cardinal was doing his preaching, and sure enough the Commisar was in ear shot to hear the conversation and be the next to talk to him. This meant he had to wait some time, and sighed silently, looking back to the tech priest.

"Well, when I was originally taken in by Mars, I was actually a deceased Colonel of an Artillery Company from the same world those men I inspected. This was not supposed to be a secrete, as I simply just did not remember. You see, the had to literally rebuild me, but the Archmagos decided last minute to preserve my humanity as much as possible for the reason of working well with those out side of the Cult. Also my post knowledge of battle lines and use of Artillery was absolutely vital to an operation he later assigned me to..." Erreul trailed off into the memory. The tech priest processed this for a bit, as the Magos was clearly in deep thought.

"So you choose... And we're chosen... To be different from most of our Brothers to work better with the Imperium?" Erreul snapped out of the thought he was mauling over. He motioned to the ship with both hands subtly.

"Is it not me carrying out this assignment?"

The tech priest looked to Erreul with sudden suspicion. "How long where you a tech priest for, it couldn't have been that long."

Erreul looked deeper into himself, memory's suppressed or forgotten floating in his mind again. "I started out as a follower of my Lord for 10 years, he was placed on mars to assist with missions. 10 years I stayed on mars, accessing its vast library's and information logged away..." Erreul looked off into another world, his face lit up with happiness. "I hoped it would never end... I did random jobs around the planet, fixing, wiring, putting new knowledges to the test. Then came the time to leave the womb..." The Magos looked suddenly confused, still looking into the distance "I was placed in a war zone to assist with the upkeep of Imperial Artillery, as that's what I knew well, and thanks to my years spent on Mars, I was equipped and ready to handle my new mission. After that..." Erreul's face got serious, his eyes even more glazed over " I was put into a Rouge Traders fleet, and we ran into a tyranid splinter group battling against an unimaginable amount of orcs... At the end of the exploration we were lucky to return to Imperial space. I kept on with Imperial and Rouge fleets for 41 years before I was called into service, and given the title Magos. I also chose to join the Cybernetica but retain my rank of Errant.."

The tech priest stood quietly and listened. "I'm sure you have some stories to tell, Lord." He was only 3 years old, and had his interest peeked by this Magos he had only just met.

Erreul nodded, a slight grin tugged at his lips, suddenly snapping out of his memories. "Tell me priest, why did you choose to become an Engiseer?"

The priest looked around the bridge. "None of this, or any machine for that matter would continue to run if I was not their to upkeep and repair it."

Erreul nodded as they both watched the Cardinal finally walk by, storming out in a hissy fit, the Commissar stepped in front of the Commodore and seemed to be having a more human conversation with him. Erreul chuckled silently, as he tried to imagine a Commissar having a human conversation with anyone.

"Why are we going to the Commodore
Lord?"

Erreul turned his attention to the priest once again. "Simply to talk to him. As I pointed out earlier you must establish a working condition with those who you are working beside in order to get the full use from them, the Navy is no different."

The Tech Priest nodded once again, thinking about why the Magos even cared.

"We're you not listening? I was basically brought into the Cult to work with others."

The priest was absolutely shocked that the Magos heard his thoughts, and looked at him with a new interest.

"And if your wondering why... Lets just say some people will relinquish things more easily and quietly when it's to someone they like instead of at the end of a gun..."

The Commissar just happened to be walking by when that comment was made.

"With all due respect Magos Erreul, I have to counter that statement. The end of a pistol is the best way to motivate anyone."

Erreul nodded, as if agreeing. "Well Commissar, being a political officer such as your self I'm sure it is. However when the situation requires carefully planned politics... That is when the pistol needs to be put down."

"I have never once ran into a situation on the eve of battle where a pistol is not needed."

"I am not referring to just 'Combat' Commissar, ask your Lord on this topic, I'm sure he will shed some light onto this conversation for you."

Erreul made sure his tones were not in anyway offensive, or rude for that matter. The Commissar gave a curt nod and walked away, and Erreul consciously sent a message to the Tech Priest: I certainly wouldn't mind using it more often..

The priest smirked as they both approached the Commodore and waited to be motioned to approach. The man looked quite tired, a big change from his normal patrolling of a very quiet sector.

"Come, Magos.."

The Magos approached and bowed.

"I would like to inform you that all engine problems are now running well at 99%."

The Commodore double checked his screens. Sure enough, all four engines were running at 99%.

"You should put in a request to have a Engiseer placed on your craft, the Trabsmechanic has a specialization in communications equipment, and mostly just that."

"I have came because I volenteer for this service."

The Commodore looked at both of them, and nodded. "I can see a negative in decision. Thank you gentlemen."

The two bowed and to their leave, walking down the long halls. "Inspired some adventure in you, have I?"

The priest simply nodded, himself imagining all the different worlds and adventures he himself would have.

Erreul and the priest went separate ways, he to tell the telepath of his change in status and Erreul to his hold, to inspect the Guards the Genetor was making.

He entered the hold, knowing now he had three weeks...

"Get those guns firing now Lieutenant!" The Captain throw down his portable vox caster on the ground, shaking his head in disgust.

"First Lieutenant, please go fix that situation..."

The man saluted smartly and jogged off towards where the third battery was set up. When he got there, a gruesome sight was left, somehow the Arch Enemy slipped around the battle group and was hitting the rear ranks with obvious force.

"Captian.." The First lieutenant behave to vox. "We have a situation, their some how behind the main battle group an.." A shot went wining past the mans face, his side of his face singed by the laser. The man didn't wait for a response and lifted his autogun, spraying his 40 caliber rounds into the direction the shot came from. Diving backwards, he noticed coming up the hill a small grove to set a position in. The man removed a grenade from his chest and listened. The sound of an autogun, standard issue sounded suddenly, and return las fire sauntered back.

The Lieutenant looked over the hill to see a blood covered corporal, yelling loudly as he spent his billets, his yell sending a chill down the veteran officers back. The man ducked behind a Land Crawler that was clearly set for towing the guns around and reloaded, his jet black hair and sea blue eyes were indeed a rare occurrence, but how the man looked, like rage incarnate. His eyes wild, his mouth, curved in a scowl that even Commissars would applaud.

"Come get me you warp blasted bastards! I'll send you to whatever hole you crawled from!" Instead of popping up from the same place, he went to the other end of the motionless machine and waited for three seconds. The First Lieutenant moved up on his stomach and got beside a Basilisk, the back hatch still open as the reloading action was interrupted.

The trooper suddenly pointed the gun directly at him, and was visibly close to pulling the trigger, however peeked quickly around the corner, the went back to where he was.

"Cowards! Face the Emperors might you spineless dogs!" He called over the vehicle, his rage being hardly contained. The officer looked over his cover, trying to see if the enemy was indeed coming, and sure enough, running full bore through the brush was a squad of infantry. The First Lieutenant aimed and raked the squad with his heavier weapon, easily tearing through them like a massive metal fist punching holes in them. The soldier took his chance and hopped up onto the utility vehicle, taking aim with the mounted combi - stubber, once again letting out a battle cry, over top of the gun he was firing, even more spine tingling than the last, now a wicked smile played on his face as the gun sprayed heavy fire down the opening. The Lieutenant also moved up, later recalling 'It was like out of those holo shows they used to play, when the twisted soldier who loves to kill is on the big gun... And time is slowed down to show this... This was one of those moments, except it wasn't happening slowly...'

When the officer finally made it to the sand bags at flank, he peeked around, seeing heretics attempting to move up through the sustained fire, some crawling, some running, most however were falling, and remaining motionless. Aiming down the sights of his 40. He started to pick off targets, one by one as the stubber fire kept their heads down. Suddenly the stubber fell quiet, and with a glance back caught the figure of the corporal being tackled by another figure of the vehicle. The sudden sound of motors flared up as two Leman Russes broke off from the main attack to contain the enemy, their sponson mounted bolsters and co axil auto-cannons ripping through the enemy.

The First Lieutenant ran a hand through his average brown hair, glad to be alive. Running over to the Land Crawler to see what happened to the soldier, he found a heretic with a blank expression, and obvious repeated stab wounds in his torso and neck. Looking around, he saw a couple of troopers come out for underneath of a command Chimera, as the hatch came open a Lieutenant walked out, shaking and afraid.

"Lieutenant, please gather what's left of your men and return to your duties, these heretics won't blast them selfs.."

The Lieutenant looked around and nodded, doing exactly that with a flinch and shake to almost every noise or sudden movement. The First Lieutenant walked over the small hill he hid behind to find cover originally, only to look back and find the corporal just over the sand bags, in field. In front of him was a broken enemy, clearly trying to run but was cornered between a rock and a hard place. The heretic let out a cry as he charged, sending the gunners behind their guns and sand bags. An cry was called in response, full of rage. The enemy made the mistake of attempting a stabbing motion, and the trooper simply caught his arm, and twisted him with it, sending him down on his face with his arm under him. It did not break. The man was clearly nothing more than a man who was rounded up in a cult and pointed. He did however get back up and charged again. However this time the corporal was in a defensive stance. Parrying the slash, the bayonet being used was at least 5 inches longer and 3 inches thicker than the small dagger the heretic was using. Grabbing the mans arm that held the knife, he stabbed it multiple times, causing the man to scream in pain. The Imperial troopers watched on as the corporal did the same to his other arm, causing it to be inoperable. Grabbing his hair, he dragged the man by his hair all the way back and through him in front of a dead corpse that was clearly apart from the rest, in rank and stature, The equivalent to Sergeant. The man squabbled on his stomach, no longer being able to use his arms, he began to cry loudly, attempting to repent for his sins. The corporal lifted him by his hair again, but onto his knees, and kept him up. The defeated man pleaded to let him live, he did it to survive. The corporal slowly slid the bayonet through the mans neck, his blood slowly draining from his body. As the man lulled, choking and gurgling on the blood that began to fill his throat, the corporal let out a scream of pure rage, cleaving the mans head off in a stroke, still yelling as the body fell onto the other corpse.

The corporal had just executed the man when the Captain his routine showed up to survey the situation, and all of them but the Captain shuddered or felt uneasy from it, chilling them. The corporal was now breathing heavily and fell to his knees, pushing the mans corpse off the Sergeants. The man then removed the Sergeants more ornate and much better crafted bayonet and held it in his hands, tears peeking at his eyes.

"Sweet Emperor, why..." The man put his lips to the bayonet and kisses it keeping his eyes closed, but obviously the emotion had not left.

The Captain walked over to the trooper, unsure how stable the man was.

"Corporal, what's your name son?"

The man - if that - looked hardly 22. The man seethed the Sergeants bayonet and got up, looking who it was. Immediately he came to attention and gave a crisp salute.

"Corporal Dane Estey Sir! 380th Guns, third battery, Earthshakers Sir!"

The Captain nodded and looked around. "Looks like you boys just took a lot shots from some infantry."

Dane nodded. "That we did Sir!"

The First Lieutenant stepped in. "Sir, with all due respect, I found those men hiding under the Chimera and the Lieutenant in it."

The Captain looked at the very clean uniforms compared to the soldier that was completely covered in blood.

"Tell me Corporal, how did you end up covered in all that blood?"

"I was handing a shell to the loader when a grenade dropped into the middle Sir, all four of us jumped on the grenade and I just happened to be filling in for a sick private... It sent bod parts, and me in the air, Sir."

The Captain looked over towards the middle of the battery, where clearly body parts were everywhere, including a entire blanket of blood but one spot, witch happened to be an outline of a man.

"Well trooper, you have done a great service to the Emperor today, I think you deserve personal leave planet side.. You've earned it."

The corporal shook his head to the shock of the Captain. "I'm sorry Sir, but could I request I finish this campaign before I am given leave planet side?"

The regimental Commissar stepped up and help his whip behind him, his perfect uniform and peaked cap in perfect alignment.

"Are you refusing an order soldier?"

Dane shot a look back at the Commissar, looking him right in the eye.

"I'm sorry Sir, but unfortunately some of us have to step up and be soldiers some time."

The Commissar's smirk turned to a scowl and he stepped towards the man. Who did he think he was? The nerve!

The Captain held his hand out to stop him. "Are you sure you want to wait for then end of this campaign?"

Dane nodded. "Yes Sir."

The Captain nodded. "Then after it will be. It seems we need a new third battery, don't we Commissar Alexander?"

The Commissar quickly removed his bolt pistol and put four rounds directly into the four remaining troopers. The Commissar then aimed at the Lieutenant and pulled the trigger, hitting him in the leg. The Lieutenant fell on his back, the pain so great he screamed silently. The Commissar walked over and pulled the trigger right in the mans face.

"It would seem so Captain, I do believe he was the only one to survive the fiasco.."

"Corporal... You might want to wash up for your promotion... It seems a spot has opened..."

Erreul suddenly awoke in his tank, somehow he floated upside down, though he really did not care. Why am I suddenly remembering all of this? He closed his eye, trying to think why these memory's were coming back to him. The servo skull floated into the tank and plugged in, communicating with him. It was only since he talked to the Admiral, and all he did between then was assist the Genetor with the creation of his Praetorian Guard, promising to create Erreul others as well to add to his collection of guards, both perfecting different specifications. It would be a good 20 Days, 20hours, 37 minutes, and 29 seconds.

Well you keep churning out great stories, well done. I find it refreshing to read work like this, you clearly out time into understanding and working out how to tell stories from the Adeptus Mech side. Keep them coming

Thanks man. If I start getting to Guardy with it just tell me, I think I came a little close with this one I'm about to post, however I wanted to clearly show that Erreul - So far - Has been mostly left intact and has not been inducted like most of his fellow Magos.

Erreul stood in front of a one way window, looking into the room where the blank's sat, 10 were deemed by the Genetor to be physically and mentally acceptable by the Cults standards. They all were sitting, looking around. Two standard weeks had passed, and in those two weeks Erreul made all the preparations that he wanted to be installed on these new guards. Guard stood beside him, unsure how to feel.

"Master, will I be replaced?"

Erreul looked at him, startled by the thought. Guard had served him since he was a tech priest, a gift from his own master. Erreul shook his head.

"No, they will not, you will in fact be in charge of them. Come, let us imprint them before they do so to each other."

Erreul and Guard walked into the room, and all 10 of the giants lent their eyes to them. Guard stood off to the side, allowing them all to look at his master.

"Were you bred to speak?"

"Yes." Came the synced response.

"From now on, when you refer to me you will call me either Lord, or Master. Is this understood?"

"Yes, Master." Erreul noted that half said Master, half said Lord. This in his mind made it easy to set the squads.

Erreul made them stand, and then broke them off into the squads as he decided. All 10 looked exactly the same, so Erreul nodded to Guard, who left the room and came back with a body suit for each, witch they all put on. The Genetor had done his job flawlessly, and Erreul logged for him to be presented to his master as such.

"You will be my last line of defence against any enemy, seen or not. You serve me, and only me, and will follow me to the depths of the warp. Am I understood?"

Once again, a unison of lord and master sounded. Erreul nodded and turned to Guard.

"This man will be your leader, and will drill and teach you. I expect nothing but the best." Erreul walk towards Guard. "Everything is ready to be installed into them, their all yours now. You can run them as you see fit, as they will be connected to you.. I'll want your report later in the day." Erreul walked out of the room, leaving the actual training to Guards more than capable experience.

After 3 days of serious amounts of physical manipulation of their body's, and stress testing them, Erreul stepped back and admired his men. The squads had formed, once again into those who said master and those who said lord. One was standing in front of the others, showing himself the better warrior. Guard stood in the warrant officer position, all at attention as Erreul came to inspect them.

"Greetings Magos Erreul, your Pr-"

"They will from now on be called Gauntlets."

"Your Gauntlets are ready for inspection, carry on?"

"Carry on Guard."

The two walked infront of the first Gauntlet trooper.

"Greetings Magos, I am First of First Squad, we have a standing force of 5 men, carry on with the inspection?"

"Granted."

The trooper followed beside the Magos, Guard following close behind.

The Magos scrutinized everyone of them,from the hairs and uniform down the their cybernetic and bionic attachment.

Magos acknowledge certain things and pointed different things out, such as boots, cleanliness of the natural and unnatural parts. The First went ahead.

"Thank you for inspecting."

The two saluted and Erreul went to the second, witch happened the same way. These men looked good, they responded well to the Magos, and the instillation of all their equipment went off with a hitch, all the stress showing that their body's responded well to the additions. Erreul was satisfied.

He personally led them him self to the armoury for their weapons training.

"You all will be using this-"

Erreul held up an auto gun.

"This is a construct of war used for Millennia, lasting through battles and easy to maintain. Unlike other weapons you will see being used of this mind, this is considered a heavy variant, spitting out a 60. bullet at 500 rounds per minute..."

Erreul ran a hand down it, as if it was something to be loved.

"This Baby will put a small hole in one end and blow a hole out the back.."

Erreul ejected a bullet from the magazine and held it up, tossing the bullet to the closest man, the empty mag to another. The small metal cylinder like object is a bullet. All you need to know is that something in this-" Holding up the rifle on two hands "Strikes the ass of that and sends her flying at, depending on the planet, will go at speeds of up to 3000 meter's per second... "

Erreul aimed down the gun, running his hand down the barrel

"This gun is highly reliable, and what ever you throw at it, it will eat and keep shooting... It is easily maintained, and if you covet her like a wife, she'll keep you alive."

Erreul suddenly started to monkey it, taking it apart. "There are only 74 pieces to this weapon.. Easily upkept and easy to put together, but sturdy enough to club an orc over the head and still spit death." E

Having all 74 parts assembled he allowed the men to look at them.

"I am not going to tell you what does what, you will figure that out your self. Onto your rifles.. You may decorate your rifle as you see fit, as long as it does not interfere with anything essential of the weapon or makes it better."

Erreul began putting the rifle back together. "Are there any questions?"

A man raised his fist.

"Yes?"

"Lord, I can see that you know that gun well, but this size of bullet cannot be 60.."

Erreul smiled and nodded

"That is true, this is only a 35. weapon, yours is fitted to your size."

Erreul went hit a button and 10 guns ejected from the container, the butts of the guns sticking out. Grabbing one, it was clear that it wasn't made from him, and he put it just over the other. And it looked exactly the same.

"You boys get why I show you this one? Good... Guard will show you the rest of what you need to know."

Erreul nodded to them as he left, Guard moved to the front of the room and picked up what Erreul would have covered next, the link to their weapon witch made it a combi weapon, the doors sliding shut.

Erreul walked into the hold, his robots numbers swelling largely since the last time he saw them. He had one of each kind come in front of him, so he could see them.

First was the b-ps-ph, or the Dog. Based on the Crusader style base, the robot has a lengthened bolter on its back and a power sword and hammer on each arm. Next was the L-b-f, or the Grunt. This robot was based on the Cataphract design and sported a lasercanon on its back, a bolter on one arm and a flamer on the other. The Grunt made up the bulk of Erreul's robotic force, as it was a very well rounded and hard to take down robot, and the Magos believed his code to be a complete success, but that was to be seen in the battles to come. Next was the L-A-IC, nick named the Beast as a passing naval officer saw the first come out. This monster was created by Erreul himself, on a tracked chassis to support the weight of all the armour and weapons it carries. Equipped on its back was a Lascanon, with a lengthened barrel. On its two arms was then an Autocanon, also with a lengthened barrel and custom reload chamber that Erreul picked up while traveling with a Rouge Trader. The left arm was fitted with an Inferno Cannon. The last robot standing in front him was all means odd. It was also made by Erreul, and it's designation S. Looking at it, it didn't seem like anything, on all fours, it was small. But it's abnormal length was what gave it its odd look, and it's apparent lack of weapons. And indeed, the robot did lack a weapon, as what it's real use was for was located in the middle of its small head. An optic eye, one large one, right in the middle. Also, to the onlooker that may have failed to see it, the odd looking antenna, that coated the entire robot, would have easily been confused to think that it was some sort of cheaply made wire.

All of them followed him with an unblinking gaze. He inspected each one of them closely, and logged what needed to be changed. The next day they would be stress tested, the day after that, painted with Erreul's heraldry, and after another day of stress testing, the battle it self.

It had already been an entire Day, and the Genetor invited the Magos to converse. After a group meeting with all the Mechanicus on the ship, Erreul went to his vat, to get ready for tomorrow...

The stress test was over, those robots who were not built properly or un effectively worked were weeded out by Erreul and some tech priests. The robots were taken apart, and the faulty parts were pulled out. These robots that didn't make it were rebuilt with a good part and put under the stress test again. These robots that did pass, moved onto the combat test, were once again weeded out. This process continued over the day, still as robots were being churned off of the assembly line. The day went by, and Erreul left the tech priests. He wished he had fledglings, priests that would pledge them selfs to him. However at the same time he did not, as it require a great deal of resources, of witch at the moment, he did not have. He decided some day he would, however.

Erreul came to the meeting that was called by the Lord General, about what was going to happen when the ship came out of the warp.

"Gentlemen, Ladies, Mars... We received an astro call from the main battle fleet we are, in two days going to joining, the situation in the staging area has been... Rocky. On top of the Orks, a rebellion on one of the planets suddenly flared and swept two planets. The Alpha Legion has been reported in the sector for century's, as the Forge World Alban has been around since the Age of Strife. Now we know two things. 1. The Alpha Legion is no doubt masking their true intentions on these planets, and 2. We have another annoyance to deal with..."

He motioned to the pic shower in the middle of the table. A picture of an Eldar opening fire on Ork was shown.

"For some reason the Eldar have also appeared, however they have not been shown aggression to and likewise have not shown us any. These may be aliens but were fighting a triangle war as it is. If we can decimate these damned flys back to the warp its self.. Are there any questions?"

The sister inclined her head.

"Yes... Are their going to be reinforcements when we arrive?"

The Lord General took a drink of water, nodding his head.

"Yes," when he finally finished. "I'm sure most of you have noticed that this is a top heavy bunch of men drawn together."

The Lord General was correct, his position it's self enough to warrant the massing of multiple army's, let alone just two. And the Cardinal as well, he was also quite high in the ladder. Erreul knew however he was not, and neither was the two Guard commanders that sat on either side of him, one towering over him, the other sitting in a military fashion. The Genetor was the more important man out of the two Magos, his specialization completely trumping Erreul's multiple skills.

The Lord General continued:

"When we come out of warp, we will be joining 10 regiments of Krieg Korps, 2 regiments of Harakoni Warhawks and a penal legion. Also coming to re enforce us is going to be a regiment of Mordian Reserve Regiment 4. There will be a company of Ultramarines, already linked up with the Sisters Convent... More will be posted."

The Lord General allowed the magnitude of body's being thrown at this area.

"... This is going to spit ball, the Orks have infested this area of space for centuries..." The regimental commander of Erreul's old regiment, it's name still alluding him, piped up. "There has to be more, I mean just against Orks?"

The Lord General shrugged.

"Son, when you've been fighting and clawing the amount of years I have... You get used to that feeling. Now... You have one and a half more days to prepare for the coming storm, I implore you all to steady your minds and pray to the Emperor..." The Lord General suddenly looked at Erreul. "... And the Omnissiah."

As Erreul was walking along the corridor, he noticed the officer that had spoken earlier.

"Excuse me! Captain!" Erreul called as he walked towards him, the man turning. "I'm sorry to bother you, however, what is your world and regiment called?"

The man proudly bumped out his chest, smiling proudly. "We hail from the planet of Herexiin, we are know as The Herexiin Cradlers."

Erreul felt like something snapped back into place, as if the most important piece of the puzzle was put in.

"Because the original colonists who landed on Herexiin were caught in a hailstorm of Eldar fire, from both sides... The battle looked like a cradle, because the fighting was constantly pushed back and forth until the Eldar withered away... The army was from then on called The Herexiin Cradlers due to the style of war of having the first and second platoons going ahead of the others, harrying the forces, thinking that they are retreating and chasing, witch would then be gunned down. After this first attack option they would then form a wedge formation, and bate the enemy with either tanks or bikes, and after switch to a crescent formation, causing a cradling effect through the ranks."

The officer nodded. "Who sited that to the Mechanicum? They sound very knowledgable."

Erreul shook his head. "I stated it from memory."

Erreul walked away, thinking, planning, his strategy, his forces, his prayer. Everything had to be functioning. And Erreul was the man to do it...

This....was awesome! Well done. I must say Erreul has really grown on me. Will we have Titans?

There will be Titans, however Erreul must earn it.

More than enough for me, that just means we have more prolonged and bloody campaigns ahead of us yes?

Erreul stood in the armoury, and opened on of the lockers. He stepped into it and it began to move down, more into the belly of the ship. Inside was his personal armoury.

Clicking a button on the wall, two doors opened, a suit being revealed, revealing what a Magos was stereotypically said to look like. Erreul stepped forward, and ports appeared on his limbs and torso.

"Hello Master, I am 100 percent effectiveness, all systems are stable, auto systems active, life systems active, utility systems active, Mechanicum Cybernetica Staff active."

"Please connect the Machine Spirit directly."

The suit nodded its head, a port connected directly into one of the many in the back of his skull. All the ports perfectly found their con joining port and attached, a his of pressures on all of them began, and his blood flowed freely from him, being replaced with a light orange fluid. The suit connected to the already present machinery in his body through the same ports, the cause of his already tall height due to his physical body rotting long before they fixed him, most organs and all bones replaced to give him the height over most humans. As he began to direct his suit onto himself, he hardly had to think as a Space Marine would put on a helmet, this too was his second skin.

As the eye attachments assembled upon his real eyes, they burrowed into them, attaching to his biological nerve endings. This was his curse for being so strong willed, every time he would assemble himself, he would go through excruciating pain, his Masters punishment for his weakness, his biological skin and parts. Wires and cables dug into his skin and tissues, his brain being invaded by attachments. He did not dare scream, clenching his teeth down on each other, knowing the suit, as it had in the past, would slow down and make them dig in zig zags. After they were properly installed, Erreul fell to his knees, keeping his breathing under control, servitors surrounding him, led by a menial.

"Should we continue, my Leige?"

Erreul's character, even when he was Dane Estey, was his will. His will to do something often was the benefactor to any situation. Erreul got back to his feet, energy crackling through out his body, his anger raging. As he calmed down, the electricity calmed, and he nodded. The rest of him was assembled with efficiency, his brain controlling everything unconsciously now. He loved the feeling of pain, and was constantly in it as he was in his suit.

Slannesh spoke to him, the voice all to familiar, his body being crafted over his natural one.

"Greetings, once again Dane..." The voice was slithery and inviting, though it was at the same time far away a depthless.

"And what Daemon plagues my pleasure today.."

"I am-"

"I don't care of your name daemon" Erreul snorted angrily "You do nothing but annoy me, it is not torment, it is annoyance."

"Foolish mortal! You dare interrupt ME?!"

"And what is so different between you and the rest that attempt to take my light? You are nothing more than something to be squashed under my boot."

The voice turned to a female suddenly, attempting what Erreul assumed to be a lusty voice.

"A man of such bravery! Oh, come join me now! I want to feel inside me!" Erreul smirked.

"You must be a lesser daemon, you fool, your tongue has betrayed you."

Erreul heard the daemon roar, leaving, only to feel his head filled with another. His suite was half on, and he was already tiring of the annoyances, his enjoyment of pain and his strong will often attracted greater daemons.

"Slannesh send her regards."

"Frak Slannesh, why can't I ever have a daemon of Tzeentch attempt on me..."

"You wish to join Tzeentch over Slannesh? Why?"

"I wish not to join you fools period. One I get mentally molested, the other physically, where do you possibly see the good in either."

"You speak to me as if.. I am just a mortal, why?"

"I get bothered by daemons enough, why wouldn't I?"

"True..."

Erreul could feel the thing still in his mind, though it wasn't speaking. He put his mind back to the enjoyment as it ended. He was in his full body once again.

Standing two more heads taller than he already was, weighting two times more, he stood with staff in hand. His 6 mechadendrites pulled to his back, the additions currently on stand by, he was to be fitted in his armour.

"Why do you refuse us?" The voice suddenly sounded whiney, as longing for something it couldn't have. Erreul had heard that voice before.

"The Emperor is simply stronger."

The voice waited a second.

"My Lord is ten times stronger than your damn Corpse God whelp!"

Erreul laughed. "I am part of Mars you fool."

The voice growled.

"Be gone, you bore me."

And like that, it was gone. Erreul looked as his final plates were being installed, his masters heraldry bore each of them, his own also on them.

Erreul finally was suited up, and upon leaving the armoury learned that there was hours before going into real space. He assembled all of the Cult together, praying with them. All of them, walking around him as he meditated in the middle, the Genetor sitting in the same position across from him, both trying to speak to the Omnissiah. He suddenly heard static in his personal vox, studdering a voice just barely heard. He tried tuning it, but to no avail.

"Quite!"

Everyone froze suddenly, all eyes on him.

He listened his own augmented hearing scanning it on three levels. Each saying something different. With his biological hearing he only heard garbling. However, his augmented senses were noticing a pattern, as if it was a voice repeating: 'Do not trust.' Via his sub molecular scanner, made for picking up and objects composition and make up, released from his back and swam through the air, as it was on a mechadendrites. Slowly it started to stop as the Machine Spirit inside was also straining to listen. And finally he was picking up binary, it feeding broken words around.

An Suffrage class robot jumped from the roof, suddenly in front of him, causing some around him to jump. Its back was waging like a dog, but respectively bowed its head. Erreul motioned to the roof and it immediately did as it was commanded, climbing up the wall and sitting at the roof. It activated its self, what looked like the wiring around the robot moved up to its head, forming what looked like a dish, it standing on its hind legs. It moves it head in four directions inhumanly fast and began to lock onto where the noise was coming from, sweeping from side to side, finally vibrating, then just pointing. The increased receiver came online as a servo skull floated up and attached its self to the robot, sending what it was picking up back to Erreul. Sure enough the binary was warning the same as the voice, Erreul also noticed his Mechadendrite was pointing in the same direction the robot was, softly moving its body, as if it was actually reviving instead of trying to receive. There was a sudden change from this repeating message to help, it kept repeating.

Erreul ordered the Suffrage to continue to listen, but looked around, breaking contact. He ordered the Mechadendrite back into his back, clearing his throat.

"Get to your positions on this ship immediately, those who do not normally serve on the ship, help those that do. Go now!"

The Suffrage robot claimed that there was nothing but static again on the waves that it could pick up. And jumped down beside him. He patted the robot, as that was programmed into them as a good job done. It wagged its back again, and he sent it away. He however activated the other three, and the designated command robots came to him as fast as they could. His voice was always to be modified in this suit, it changed his voice to have no emotion but great depth.

"Get them ready, defence of the vessel, the hold and bridge will be strong points. Get the portable suppliers in hard points around the vessel, roving bands of Dogs, and Grunts. Suffrage will be posted in hard points, have the rest of them recon this ship. Beasts will stay in hard points, have the Dogs spot the best place to have them sit. Be ready as fast as possible."

--

Guard Sergeant Marks

The Sergeant stood on guard with his men by the command bridge when he looked down the corridor to see a pack of Dogs hurtling down it, directly followed by a mob of Dogs, Grunts, and two Beasts that almost did not fit in the hall.

"Stop!"

His men raised their weapons at the robots and they all stopped, to his surprise. A man in red robes hopped of the back of a beast, and approached them. Suddenly red lights flashed and the Admiral came on the speakers.

"This is not a drill! All men to battle stations! We will be coming into real space guns blazing! All soldiers to battle stations!"

The menial was now standing in front of him.

"My Lord has ordered his forces to be posted in hard points of the ship, please move away."

The Sergeant voxed his superior, who he could tell was voxing his superior. When he got an answer back, it was confirmed, and there would be robots garrisoning in the bridge.

He lowered his weapon and stood to the side, the robots walking and rolling by him.

--

Magos Erreul

Walking to the bridge himself he walked in to find the bridge more hectic than normal, however it was a controlled chaos for a change. Erreul looked out the window as they came out of warp, and everything was quite. There was literally nothing out there. Everyone on the bridge took a deep breath except one, the man covering the rear scanners.

"Turn us around!" He screeched loudly. Sure enough the sounds of naval space battle were suddenly booming over vox and three different hails from three ships demanded to be heard, one A Death Korps ship, another an Ultramarine Battle Barge, and the third was an unknown. The Commodore accepted the two loyalist hails and it was clear they both know that both was cleared, so the Korps vessel spoke first.

"Your finally here! The situation is not to good, the regiments we have posted are beginning to be over run, and I'm sending in my reserves. We've only lost 3 regiments so far."

The Commodore nodded "I understand. I will unload the forces as fast as I can. My Lord, what do you ask of me?"

The Space Marine cleared his thought, though it sounded as if something was still in it. "This battle requires you to assist us as fast as you can after your drop off is finished. We have taken damage and require quick repairs."

"Right away my Lord."

Erreul looked over his plans and altered them slightly. He had to help the Battle Barge. But the ship had to get there first, and looking out into the massive naval fight happening between Rebeling vessels, Ork Roks and looted ships, and the Emperors forces, it was going to be a gambit at best.

Oh yes, and we're getting into our first real one now.

Oh my

I'm really enjoying this, mate.

Very good. I like it, I look forward to seeing more.

Watchmaster Godwin- W-14511

"The Orks are pushing again!" Someone yelled behind him.

The 3rd platoon of the 9th regiment was ordered to hold the far right flank, connected to the rest of the regiment via a main rear trench, orders were being relayed that all grenadier units were to occupy the skirmish trench, the troopers in the main trench, and the heavy support squads in the support trench. This would have been fine if it was not being ordered every twenty minutes. He didn't care though, he was just a Watchmaster. The Lieutenant barely looked at the soldier as the man related the orders.

The 3rd hard been through two battles and had most of its troops still. The replacements were however green, compared to the other regiments though, the Krieg Death Korps were a soldier-in-a-can. Trained on the Death World of Krieg, these soldiers are by no means green at all. However, to fellow Death Korps guardsmen, they were green.

The Korps are the unrivalled maters in Siege warfare, wars normally of attrition, overwhelming firepower or overwhelming body's. however the best part of mastering Siege warfare is that it because it works so well at knocking down defences, it also works on being the best defence, as you know exactly what to be looking for from an enemy. However, Orks always had one form of attack, and that was a full charge.

Orks came rumbling down the wide open field, this planet was particularly hilly, and the Korps exploited this feature mercilessly. Every time the Orks attempted to storm the lines set up, artillery would blow them to bits. 5 platoons of the 11 where stationed on this world with them, and they were veterans them selfs. The Earthshaker rounds blew ranks of the Orks into the air like confetti, the heavy support trench opened up and was making short rank of the front ranks, ripping them apart with heavy stubber fire, the heavy weapons squads also picking targets at random, rotating their fire back and forth. The Watchmaster raised his rifle and waited.

"Open fire third platoon!"

Soon enough the entire trench was loosing off las fire into carefully picked targets. Orks fell in droves to the onslaught, the front ranks soon started breaking, turning an attacking those rushing into combat. Sure enough the entire Ork attack faltered, battles breaking out in there ranks. If the Korps laughed, this would be the moment they did. The regimental staff officer from Cadia however, began laughing hysterically.

"Eh! Dem humies are laughin at us! Krump em good lads!"

The Captain looked at the man, and the young staff officer felt the eyes of everyone in the command staff and also the soldiers with their unshakeable rebreather stare.

Soon enough, the Orks were charging the line with a new fever, but none the less were having the same results. Then they ran into the support trench's fire. Grenadiers loosed off a volley of grenades and began using their flamers and hellguns. Heavy Flamer teams were also opening their massive firepower.

The Orks melted in the massive wall of fire, body's evaporated, cry's of pain were heard across the line, all along the trenches this was happening, the entire regiment dealing with the Orks. There were three regiments on the plannet, the 9th regiment, the 4th regiment, and half of the 3rd, spilt into the five regiments. The 4th was a vehicle heavy regiment, all 12 of its platoons were stocked with Leman Russes of all kinds, and a single squad of mobilized infantry and support vehicles.

The Orks began to be getting pushed back by the trained fire of the Korps, suddenly Hellhounds and Chimeras began whipping through the ranks, running them down, their weapons blazing.

The Watchmaster turned, his back to the trench, they had sustained light casualties but nothing serious. He began to reload his weapon. Suddenly the belch of Ork weapons sounded, his men being ripped to shreds who weren't already taking cover. Looking around he peeked his head over the of the trench, what he saw surprised him.

Ork Kommandos some how had slipped into the middle of their fortifications and were ruining the hill from the inside. A stik bomb landed at his feet and he dove ontop of it, the blast exploding seconds later. Soon enough has was poring from the explosive, and the Watchmaster breathed out, safely behind his rebreather. As he stood up, he heard them before he saw them, the poisonous gas covering their decent, Storm Boyz.

One landed right next to the man, head first. The other that landed behind him, landed fine, and the sword it carried worked just fine as well, as it hacked the trooper next to him into pieces. W - 14511 charged the beast, his bayonet attached already, he shoved the bayonet right into the orcs mouth and into its brain, wrenching up and the top of the skull completely released from the jaw, the Ork fell back with a loud thud, not even knowing what happened. The Watchmaster was falling back to the central part of the trench when an Ork shell landed in front of him and bounced into the air, out of the trench. As he ran off he was suddenly lifted into the air. The bomb did bounce of the trench, however the ruined Chimera it hit kept it from staying out.

He landed hard, his leg and arm on his left side were completely broken, his right leg fractured. He couldn't move and breathing became impossible as hi - a axe smashed his head clean in, a his brains and skull sticking to the blade as it was yanked from its work, grey mater and white bone flying everywhere. The Ork kicked the half, laughing with glee as it did, in an Orky way.

Magos Erreul

"Land the Dogs, carry out harrying operations until Grunt and Beast support is reasonable. We need some sort of action helping them now, or we're going to loose those planets."

Erreul's toneless voice was loud, not loud enough to hurt, but loud enough to cause attention. He was looking at the reports coming in, and they were not looking good. The senior Captain Sinon, was standing over him, the others sitting at the table. The battle barge was finally repelled of invaders, after a hard fight, of both Ork and rebel, they finally got them into the lower parts of the ship, and now were being systematically destroyed by Marine and Machine.

Magos Erreul

Energy was crackling off him, dissipating into the walls and roof, his two Grunt robots being fried to the core, the few Orks in front of him were attempting to get away from him. A Flamer made short work of them, what they reached, leaving two, one wounded and one running faster away. The wounded one got no quarter from him, it's head caving in from Erreul's staff.

"Oi! Lemme in! Lemme in lemme in lemme in!"

Erreul heard banging, and turning the corner saw an Ork banging on a door.

"Cease and decease, rodent!"

Erreul grabbed the Ork, just a boy, electrocuting him, and slammed him against the wall, denting it. The Ork cried out, Erreul slammed his fist into the Orks gut and lifted it, throwing it on the ground, wretching it's arm off and lighting it aflame. A Space Marine was standing, watching. Erreul's hulking mass was cracking with energy, to the point his augmented sights were glowing hot, overheating.

"Magos!"

"Who's next?" Erreul roared as he took off at the Marine, suddenly stopping, putting his staff down. The energy begging to dissipate slowly.

"Yes Sergeant?" It was very obvious when he was made and when he wasn't, he was not only less loud, but even through his augmented voice, his weakness, his natural voice still rang with rage.

"Brother Caption Sinon was asking me what you were doing. I just responded you were making the Mechanicum proud." Erreul could see the smirk under his mask. Energy was no longer flowing through his body, and regained his composition.

"I must say, I've never seen a brother of Mars act like that, and I've served for three century's."

The energy that had pulsed through his body was captured in his staff, and was glowing, indicating that it was full of power. It sparked suddenly, it talking in binary to him.

"Thank you Sergeant, shall we continue together?"

The Sergeant wore a Maximus helmet, his right shoulder guard was of Heresy pattern. He was an average size for a Astartes, but was not eye level with Erreul, he himself a freak height due to his cybernetics that replaced his bones. They continued on together, talking about what the two did before they arrived in the sector. Suddenly a Grunt rounded the corner, doing exactly what they were, and the Sergeant ran it through with no hesitation. Pulling the sword out, the robot sparked and fell, twitching.

"That was quite regrettable, I apologize."

Erreul looked down at the robot, giving it a good boot, it stopped twitching after.

"Do not worry, Sergeant, there is a reason that there is a re-arming station in the hold."

Erreul motioned across the hall, a robot that looked like a spider was going through the hall, inserting its front mandibles into robotic corpses. After it did, it placed the robot into its open stomach, scurried onto the roof and went towards the hold.

"What in Emperor is that!" Another had come and done the same thing, but to a Dog.

"That Sergeant, that is my response to giving my creations life, autonomy. A robot is for what ever reason harmed or destroyed then these creations come and pick them up, drop them of at a rearming station to be processed and rebuilt. Thus you have a steady stream of parts when robots need to re arm or repair. Of course the rearming station is also a factory it's self... Just portable."

The Sergeant eye the robot as it scurried off.

"Why did you pick an arachnid?" The Sergeant simply asked, continuing on.

"Because every race has an apparent fear of them."

Already in Erreul's mind he was designing shock troops on the repairing chassis...

Criticism is accepted.

I must say, your Magos has gone from a nice fellow to outright scary. Well done, now we need more battle scenes as in the one with the Death Korp, that was very good.

Awesome chapter. As someone else said, your magos is now pretty damn scary.


A few minor criticisms, mostly to do with spelling/grammar. In the first of the two posts you wrote "The Korps are the unrivalled maters in Siege warfare, wars normally of attrition, overwhelming firepower or overwhelming body's."
Sorry this is probably appearing a little grammar nazish.
"The Korps are the unrivalled masters of siege warfare; wars of attrition, overwhelming firepower and overwhelming bodies."

There are a few other spelling mistakes for example in the first sentence "hard" rather than "had".

The Orks melted in the massive wall of fire, body's evaporated, cry's of pain were heard across the line, all along the trenches this was happening, the entire regiment dealing with the Orks.

Again it's bodies instead of body's, cries instead of cry's and to me the last part of the sentence about all along the trenches feels a little unnecessary.

But over all it's an awesome story and I love your Magos. He's a fascinating character and I look forward to getting to know him better.

I apologize for my grammar, it's never been my strong point.

So the story I was working on decided to erase.