Stubborn
The shadows of the Inner Sanctum shifted as servitors and tech adepts worked around the command platform of the new overlord. The new overlord was clad in large black power armour and bore the emblem of a winged sword.
Slowly the world began to die. Cut off from the rest of the system by Warp Storms, the planet suffered heavily. It turned from a lively green color to a cold grey. The people were dieing off in the thousands and returning as disgusting spawns of the Dark Gods. The overlords’ appearance was also changing. He had recently become bloated, with boils and wounds appearing on his flesh. His black armour became mottled with fungus and grime. The Inner Sanctum had turned into a hall of death and disease. The overlord now took the name of Argoth the Plague Bearer, after he butchered all the Tech Adepts in the Inner Sanctum. The Servitors had become infected with Demons, their twisted features controlling the functions of weapons platforms, and any other task the once robotic Servitors controlled.
The living tried to escape the planet on small transport ships holding hundreds of civilians. While in low orbit about to escape the dead world, the orbital guns heated up their plasma coils and fired into the grey sky sending massive hulks of twisted metal and burning flesh to the blood soaked ground below.
Packs of hungry demon hounds roamed the forests, while living dead watched over the streets. Piles of bodies were burned by the day, large black clouds of smoke hung over the city blocking the scent of burning flesh from escaping. The Imperial Guard Regiment stationed on the planet had suffered greatly as Guardsmen turned on their comrades and accepted the gifts of the Dark Gods. Officers led their squads into fierce hand to hand combat with traitors who were once brothers and friends, their faces now mangled and warped by the Dark powers. The next few days the Loyal Guardsmen searched out the roots of the taint amongst their ranks and cut them down. Several members of the Regiments Command Platoon were executed after being found using the bodies of kidnapped officers and priests as sacrifices and demon vessels.
War raged on, reducing the number of citizens loyal to the Emperor each day. More and more demons arrived by the day until they came. The dark grey clouds broke, allowing a couple hundred marines to land. They were welcomed to the city with open arms, all bearing gold eight-pointed stars on their shoulder pads. Many had horns growing form their armour and the little exposed flesh they had was pale with a sickly tint of green. Then the slaughter began. The marines swept through the already broken city killing anyone who opposed them. A thousand more bodies were piled in the street in a matter of minutes. The people of the city fled to the chapel, kneeling and praying for the Emperor to save them. Marines kicked in the doors, their bolters ripping through the pews and flesh of hundreds of citizens crammed into the building. They screamed for mercy, but mercy would not come. The Emperors merciful gaze left this planet long ago.
The remaining members of the Imperial Guard regiment had bunkered themselves into their HQ building. They were preparing to fight to the last man standing. A flag bearing the Imperial Aquilla was held high above the men, those who remained here were some of the most devoted Imperial Guard to have ever passed by this planet. This would be were they’d make their last stand. The scum of the Eye pulsed forth on them. The first wave was turned back and Marines were dropped by the Stalwart Guardsmen. A second wave broke against their barricades. Of the remaining five hundred Guardsmen, two hundred and fifty now stood awaiting their death and the third wave of scum. When the third and final wave of the attack came, the Guardsmen put up the best fight they could. The bodies of their comrades and the lowlifes of the Universe piled up on the barricades. The Steps of the HQ were slick with blood of the men who had died there.
General Octavius rallied the last of his men. They had been pushed back into the building and were preparing to defend the consul that controlled the Orbital Cannons. His first officer had sacrificed himself to destroy the Gates for their liberators, whenever they may come, and now he was going to do the same. “Men, we die here today, but we die not as cowards, like our comrades who let the warp sway and corrupt their thought, but as heroes. Each and every one of you who stands here now will sacrifice yourself so that others may live. Today we die for the Emperor, and by his Royal Throne we shall take many more of this scum with us! Brothers, you have served well, let your final act be something they shall remember! Let the Imperium say in times of trouble, remember the Stalwart defenders of Aerion! Remember those who held off two waves of Chaos Space Marines and provided a gateway for which the Imperium to enter!” With those words, he cut the power of the guns and wrecked the consul. “Brothers, let us stand here now, and let our aim be true. We are the fighters of the Aerion 44th. We have served our lord in life; now let us do so in death!” The doors of the building are ripped from their hinges and Marines begin to pour in. “Brothers Charge!” were the final words of General Octavius. The cries from the men were the last anyone would hear of the Aerion 44th and it was the call that was sent through the system in search of aid. None of the 44th was spared as the Chaos Space Marines swept them aside.
Brother Chaplain Marius was dispatched to Aerion, an agri-world in the Cadia system. A transmission from the Imperial Guard Regiment stationed there along with video footage of a Marine in black armour bearing the Winged Sword emblem led to the investigative force sent to the planet. Leading a strike team of the Third Company, he had been directed to scout the planet and capture the Fallen. If he failed, he was to follow them off planet until he had run out of men or had them in his grasp. He would not fail his mission.
The strike cruiser Angels Wrath hung in orbit. Seventy-two hours ago a large force of Chaos Space Marines had landed and the opening in the clouds was still there. A Scout squad had been deployed on the planet and had yet to report back. After several long moments, a static filled vox channel opened. It was Brother Sergeant Emery and his scouts reporting.
Through the static the sound of gun fire could be heard. Emery’s voice was coming through quickly and with the static only a few words were truly understood. He was shouting orders to his men to hold them off for only a few more minutes. He quickly confirmed that a member of the Fallen was operating on the planet and that the taint of Chaos had over taken the entire populace. The planet was doomed to die, but there was still hope in revenging the dishonor the chapter suffered at the hands of the Fallen. There was a shout of a brother as he was cleaved in two by a swing from a corrupted guardsmen’s power weapon. The scouts’ guts spilled to the ground his eyes rolling back in their sockets. Thinking quickly Emery placed a bolt pistol round through the already dead Guard officers’ head, spraying its brains over the others. The traitor guard was overwhelming the position of the Dark Angels, each second pushing the stubborn scouts to the breaking point. The bodies of two brothers had been stripped naked by the traitors and were being flung around. Blades reaching out from the crowd and puncturing the flesh of his brothers, Emery put a bolt pistol round through each to take them out of their misery and allow them to die with honor. The Heavy Bolter continued chattering, spraying rounds of super heated metal into traitors, but there were just too many. Then the gun just went click. The chamber was empty. There was no time for him to draw a combat knife or anything, in seconds his guts had been spilled onto the ground and his throat slit. A gurgling sound rose from his throat as blood ran down his neck and chin. The remaining two brothers and Emery moved back into the building. As they retreated to refortify themselves a scream arose from the throat of another brother, a zombie was dragging himself along the ground and put a dagger through the scouts’ knee and wrenched it off. The scout fell in pain and tried to drag himself along. He turned to the crown of traitors that pushed forward behind him, a roar rose from his throat as he sprayed the contents of his bolter into them before being cut off by the mass of bodies. He stood no chance as he was trampled by the wave of traitors that followed.
Against overwhelming odds, Emery knew there was no escaping death here. He uttered a prayer to the Emperor for himself and his brother at his side. He had done his job and relayed the vital information to Brother Chaplain Marius in orbit above. In the last moments of life Emery screamed the battle cry of the Dark Angels and plunged headlong into the mass of bodies, his brother scout at his side, their power weapons swinging in wide arcs carving through the traitors who fell into their reach. He pushed forward through the traitors, clubs and rusty blades pierced his body hundreds of times, and yet he found the strength to push forward. His Brother scout had been killed somewhere behind him. He heard the scream and the gurgling from the brother as his throat was slit. Emery roared with an angry fury cursing all of the traitors to hell and then pulled the pin on a fragmentation grenade and the vox went dead.
The court in front of the Argoths’ palace was full of people, all worshiping the Dark Gods of Chaos. Argoth watched, pleased with the success he had had so early in his reign, behind him on the terrace were the bodies of six scouts of the Dark Angels chapter. Each had been stripped naked and had the eight-pointed star carved into their chests and their throats slit. Their eyes had been removed, one placed into the center of the star on their chest, the other on the star on their forehead. Cultists hurried to prepare the bodies. They lowered themselves down the terrace wall on a platform. Each body had its feet placed one on top the other and then hammered into the granite of the wall. Then the arms were stretched and the hands had spikes drove through fastening them to the wall. The body of the six marines had been crucified to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">palace</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Argoth</st1:placename></st1:place> as a sacrifice to the Dark Gods, and they were pleased. They bestowed him with precious gifts. He was no longer a mere human, he was a plague. Thousands wept tears of blood were they stood in the court. The sight of the Dark Lord was so precious that many began gouging out their eyes and screaming “Death to the False Emperor!” Argoth allowed himself to smile, he had blessed these people and he was being rewarded for it.
Brother Chaplain Marius was leading his battle brothers in their rites of battle prayers. With the closing words, the marines rose silently and boarded the landing craft. Many of them men may not return, but each would die for his chapter and be by the Emperor and the Lions side in the Great Battle of the end of days.
The Thunderhawks descended through the gap in the green clouds, making planet fall somewhere outside the main city. They secured the area and removed any unwanted threat to the force. Recon images showed the outer walls of the city to be undefended, but the streets were full of traitor guard and zombies. The Chaos Marines hadn’t been seen any where other than the Overlords palace. Even though they had a good idea of what was ahead of them, Marius lead the men forward slowly. Always alert for traps and enemy troop formations. The loyal Guards had destroyed the main gates of the city as well as many of the vehicles, in their last moments they destroyed the orbital guns. Marius quietly attacked a group of poorly armed traitor guard. Without a shot or scream the traitors had been put down. The Aspiring Champions spine had been snapped into several pieces when his neck was broken from behind. Snipers took positions on the walls of the city. They targeted individuals and small units as well as provided Marius with cover from above. Assault marines had dropped their jump packs in favor of running on foot. They moved in front of the Tactical Marines with Marius at their head cutting down anyone who got in their way. Halfway through the city they found the Imperial Guard HQ building where the planets defense system was controlled. There were several guards and plenty of zombies and enslaved Tech Adepts working on repairing the system. Marius let out a loud scream and led the Assault Marines towards the building. The Tactical squads began to fire upon the Traitors mounting heavy weapons and Snipers in the distance shot anyone who approached an alarm. Soon the traitors were returning fire on the Marines. Shouts rang through the streets of the city alerting nearby Traitor squads of an unwelcome presence. Marius saw Tactical Sergeant Atticus go down as his Plasma Pistol misfired the super heated plasma on half the marines face. Traitors crawled over him and rip his armour open using rocks and crude blades; they rip through his chest and tore out both his hearts. Marius made a note to himself to honor Brother Atticus when they returned to the Rock. Marius was overcome with the fury of the loss of one of his best men to these scum, he began battering aside the traitors, pushing his men through the throng of bodies closing in on them and pushing into the HQ building itself. It was empty! The scum had packed up and run out the back door! Bodies of the Imperial Guard who died for the Emperor were stung about everywhere; many didn’t even look human anymore. Tactical Marines formed a line of defense, unleashing wave after wave of bolter fire, while the Assault Marines killed anything that got to close. Marius got on the vox for his scouts to find them another route. They relayed a route out the back of the HQ that they could take, it would take them through some fortified buildings, but it was the only other way out. Marius thought about it, he was losing his men here and they couldn’t hold this building much longer. He ordered his men to begin to move the line back. He was not retreating in the face of the enemy. He ordered the Assault Marines to plant Melta Bombs on the upper catwalks above the front entrance. Once the charges were set, he ordered everyone to fall back. Brother Octavian, bearer of a sacred Plasma Cannon was given the honor of sending all these heretics to eternal damnation. A super heated ball of liquid fire crashed into the catwalk, triggering the Melta Bombs and dropping the catwalk on top of the traitors. The liquid fire disintegrated hundreds of zombies and traitors and catwalk crushed hundreds more.
Argoth cursed the Fake Emperor when news reached him of the Dark Angels incursion into his city. He would not let them live, he must make them suffer! He ordered his demons to find them and destroy them. They were getting to close to the center of the city and had pinned a portion of his forces at the Imperial Guard Headquarters. They were following the same route his men used to leave and move equipment when the Dark Angels attacked. The Chaplain leading the force seemed determined to capture him, but that would have to wait another day. Argoth was in high favor with the Dark Gods and would not fall before his time! He slammed his fist into the command consol. The demon controlling it screeched in pain, black blood pooling around Argoths gauntlet. A feeble scribe entered the Inner Sanctum. His voice was shaky and weak. At one point he might have been human, but now he was just a small misshapen demon. He was bringing reports of the Dark Angels breaking through several fortified positions along the back route. Their casualties were heavy, but they were pushed on. Argoth gripped the scribe by what would have been a human throat. He lifted him off the ground and spoke with a quiet furry, “Why do you waste my time telling me what I already know!” He crushes the scribes’ neck and throws him to his Warhounds so that they may taste blood, as they will taste much more in the hours to come.
Moving through the ruined streets of the city was dangerous work. The traitors of the city had set traps everywhere. Fortified buildings provided the traitorous scum with a well dug in and protected fire line. Marius was losing his men in the handfuls but with each who died, ten times as many traitors died. Out of nowhere shots rained on them. Marius had moved in cover just in time as the rock right behind him exploded as a sniper tried to pick him off. Heavy weapons fire was running in a constant stream towards the troops. He watched Brother Helzbergs’ neck snap as Autocannon rounds ran up his body. The bullet hole in his helmet gave off steam as the air rapidly cooled the heated metal. Helzbergs brain dripped from his skull to the ground, pooling amongst his blood around his dead body. Marius opened the vox link and ordered the scouts to find the Sniper and take him out.
Sergeant Lukos’ eye met with that of the traitors, a moment’s pause and the traitors’ body fell over the barbed wire on the roof and landed with a soft thud in the street below. That split second before the shot was enough to condemn Sergeant Luko and his four brother Snipers.
One of the scouts had taken down the crew of the Autocannon laying siege to the Marines hiding in cover. Marius moved swiftly, breaking up the street for the Imperial Chapel at the end. Bodies lay piled in front. This was the fate of those who remained loyal to the God Emperor; they had been butchered and thrown in front of the desecrated statue of their God! For the first time since they had reached the planet, there was calmness. Marius noticed the trickle of blood running down his face, a large gash rested across his grime covered head. His armour was thick with the gore of his enemies and his brothers. The faces of his men were grim and smeared with dirt and gore.
In the assault of the planet, Argoth spared many of the priests and missionaries and kept them hidden away in a dungeon, now was the time to call the weaker ones from their chamber to his Inner Sanctum. Six men in drab red and beige robes were brought before Argoth, each forced to their knees before the mighty warlord. Argoth inspected each of them before nodding to a corrupted official. He then left the chambers, the screams of the six priests trailing behind him.
Brother Gabriel, who had taken charge of Atticus’ squad after he died in combat, was helping his men to barricade the doors of the Chapel, sealing themselves inside so they would have time to regroup and reorganize. The Chapel itself was almost untouched. It had been ransacked and been almost completely destroyed on the inside, but the building itself was still undamaged. The thick wood doors kept the traitors from firing into the building, and a single window upstairs gave the marines a good vantage point to fire down on the traitors from. Marius totaled up the losses and realized that almost half of his men had already lost their lives on this planet. The force arrived with over one hundred marines, and now, almost three-fourths into the city, they had roughly fifty surviving Battle Brothers. He had lost two brave Sergeants in the first few hours of his mission, yet he was still determined not to fail. He divided up the remaining ammo, giving most of it to the members of the Tactical Squads.
In the Inner Sanctum the bodies of six priests began to glow with unnatural light. The eight-pointed stars carved into their chests glowed with a sickly green tone. Slowly the bodies began to rise in the air forming a large circle. Almost like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, four claws projected from each mans abdomen and pulled it open. Blood trickled through the stitches on the priests mouths. The creatures burst from the men, leaving the bodies in rags on the floor. They began beating their wings trying to stay aloft. Argoth re entered the chamber, smiling at the monsters he brought into the world. He did not need to speak; his mind said a thousand words and the creatures were off.
Shouts and the screech of demons sounded over the vox. The transmission was from Sergeant Luko stationed on the outer wall of the city. There was a long gurgling sound before he finished what he was saying and the vox link died. All that was left of Sergeant Luko and his squad was the static of their vox line.
Marius yelled into his vox link. The line with Luko had suddenly cut out to static. Something was not right, the air smelled of blood and the greasy smell of freshly spawned warp creatures. Brother Octavian announced the arrival of more enemy troops approaching the Chapel. Gun fire raked up the face of the building, taking out chunks of the wall and window. The face of a long forgotten Imperial Priest exploded into shards of razor concrete, spraying through the window where marines stood firing down on the Traitors. Two brothers fell from the window and landed with the sound of splintering wood as they crashed through the remaining pews. Brother Octavian had pulled out of the frame just in time and was now dropping the fire from his holy Plasma Cannon on top of the traitors who had reached the door. Brother Augustus had been looking for supplies and ways to fortify the building better than it currently was. He let out a shout when he found the path down to the tombs of the planets previous rulers and high priests. Marius ordered his men down into the catacombs where they would begin strategic attacks on the key buildings of the city. He ordered the Officer Lawrence to send him the layout of the city along with its key structures and layouts of the catacombs. It was likely that many of these had changed since the time the new Lord took power, but they would be fairly accurate as to the layout of the Catacombs the marines now found themselves in. Marius found a large cavern on the map and led his men towards it. He was as cautious as always, checking each corner for traitors and traps. They never found a single one and presumed the catacombs had been lost to the planet when the priests of the city had been killed.
When the civil war had broken out, the priests had been killed or disappeared, all were presumed dead and the church had become abandoned. No one dared enter until the forces of the Dark Gods cleansed the city and they tried to escape their death by returning to the Emperor. But his light had long since passed by this backwater Agri-World in the Cadia system. Many had been butchered on the stairs of the Chapel; others were thrown threw the pews by the much stronger Chaos Marines, shattering their weak bodies and ruining the Chapels interior. None knew of the catacombs below the city and were trapped in here while they met their fate in the onslaught of Chainswords and Bolter rounds. Days before the Marines arrived all the children in the city were herded into Argoths' palace and never seen again.
Ivan the Terrible, Aspiring Champion of the Dark Angels legion ran his long tongue over the blade of his Power Weapon. The dark power coursed through his veins and into the blade. A force of Fallen Angels had come to the planet in search of the loyal Angels to turn them on the Emperor like they did centuries ago when they sided with the Lion.
Onboard Angels Wrath warning klaxons sounded. Something was helping the forces of Chaos and had managed to bring their orbital guns back online. Down on the planet, the plasma coils once again began to warm up. Captain Anthony shouted orders, preparing his men to back out of range as fast as possible. The crew scrambled to their stations preparing to move, the engines eating up, and then all went dead. The ships main reactor had shut down. Some one on board the ship had turned their soul from the Emperor. Anthony stood rigid in his command throne and prayed to the Emperor to protect his soul and those of his men. Bright arcs of light carved through the ships hull from the planets surface. Sucking naval officers and tech adepts out into the vacuum of space or dropping bodies to the planet. Fires were breaking out everywhere. Whole decks were consumed by Promethium fires, crew members screaming as their flesh was turned to ash.
A lone Dark Angel sat in the reactor room, watching the numbers count down till the reactor collapsed and killed them all. Even though he would die, the Dark Powers would reward him in death. The fabric of reality around him began to tear. He was sucked into it and thrown through space. The Dark Gods had spared his life and now he will live to sacrifice thousands more lives to them.
The clock on the reactor reach zero. A blinding flash of light and the reactor collapsed. The closest decks were instantly vaporized, killing everything on them. The rest of the ship fractured violently, twisted, and tore into pieces, falling slowly through orbit as a giant fireball.
Brother Antonius watched from a sewage vent as the Angels Wrath fell from the Heavens and crashed into the tainted soil. He reported to Marius that Captain Anthony and the crew of Angels Wrath had been killed. Outraged, Marius began planning an attack on the palace of the Fallen known as Argoth. Marius retreated to a section of the catacombs he used as a headquarters. There he began to plan out the attack. He had six of the ten assault brothers left, and twelve of the twenty tactical marines. The odds were in the favor of Argoth, but if they could catch him by surprise and strike at the heart, then the sacrifices made would be worth it.
Brother Gabriel knocked quietly at the tombs door. Marius bid him to enter. “Brother Chaplain, our recon has found something you might like to see, if you would follow me sir.” Marius stands from behind his work bench and follows Gabriel silently. He leads him through winding passages and dark tombs until they reach a door that has two battle brothers guarding it. Gabriel nods to the brothers and they step aside, allowing Gabriel and Marius to pass through the door. Inside is a well designed armory. Ammunition is stacked to the ceiling of one wall; another has combat knives and other assorted close combat weapons. In the middle of the room stood a glossy black Sword, with a hilt of pure gold. Red cloth worn with age wrapped around the handle. Its tip was embedded in the floor. “Brother, with your permission, I would like to remove this weapon from the stone.” Gabriel’s voice is firm and full of confidence. Marius simply nods and Gabriel moves forward to the blade. He prays to the spirit of the ancient weapon and the Emperor as he grasps the handle. As he pulls the sword gives up little, and as he pulls harder the sword slides cleanly from the stone, its glossy surface unscathed.
“Well done Brother Gabriel, your men have done well in finding this armory. Although I cannot tell who controlled it before, I can say that we can make good use of most of the equipment here. As for that sword, it is yours.” Marius spoke softly, choosing his words carefully as if he was deep in thought. He turns on his heels and walks quietly out. He reaches his room and begins to draw out his plan. Gabriel is showing much promise and will be very helpful in leading the men into battle at dawn. He sent a brother out to notify the men they were attacking at dawn. His plans were coming together nicely.
Ivan smiled as he watched the cruiser of the Traitors fall from the sky. The burning wreckage was proof the Emperor protected his men on this planet. He was watching the citizens below the balcony prepare the defenses incase any traitors survived and tried to reach his lord Argoth. There had been no signs of them left in the city, except for some dead bodies here and there. As the sun set, Ivan relaxed, his lord was safe from the traitors, he would be sure of that.
Dawn crept upon the planet of Aerion; Marius’ men had already begun moving into positions inside the palace. While Argoth and his men rested in the chambers up stairs, Marius’ men had crept into the building and executed all enemies they came across. Gun fire sputtered from an automated turret at the marines, alerting the inhabitants of the building. Alarms sounded and half dressed guards ran through the halls firing their lasguns. Gabriel led his squad through the halls, slicing guards into pieces. Marius noted the performance of Brother Gabriel, and his brothers. They made their way floor by floor, a horde of traitors gathering on their tails. Gabriel passed Marius, his men close on his heel. They were eager to fight the Fallen, and yet none of them truly knew who they were fighting. Gabriel and his men got separated from the rest, the forces of Chaos were trying to aid their servants on the planet, but Marius had faith in Gabriel and trusted he would see him again soon.
“Brother Sergeant, we’ve lost our brothers! They have fallen on another path than that we have taken, should we not go back and find them?” Brother Antonius asked without breaking the Sergeants stride. “My Brother, it is by the Emperors will we come down this path, and it is his will that sent us alone. I trust you men with my life; do you trust me with yours?” The squad nods their approval and continues on. The hallway is slick with blood. Gabriel and his squad continued to carve their way through the building. Two of his brothers had fallen to fire in the narrow halls; their names shall not be forgotten. Gabriel bursts through a door into a wide chamber; Brother Antonius, Barbarossa, Adele, Brutus, and Cyril following closely behind. Bolter shells smash the wall around the six marines. In the middle of the room stood a massive figure clad in black armour with the winged sword emblem.
Marius led his men up to the uppermost floor; there they were trapped by the hordes gathering below. The trail to the top floor had been hectic and they had to make sure they kept the fuel tanks and demo charges, the fuel had been run through the entire building mixing with the blood to spread across whole floors while Demo charges placed in strategic positions around the building to provide escape routes. Marius continued to fight his way through to an opening where he found who he was seeking.
The building shook suddenly, screams rose from the courtyard below. Argoth was standing on the balcony of his palace watching the destruction unfold below. The courtyard full of his worshippers was burning, the flames eating away at his dreams. He spun on the marines who entered the room, “You! You traitorous scum did this to me! How dare you come to my planet and try to take it from me! How dare you try and claim this planet for the Lion! This world belongs to the Dark Gods! Curse your dead Emperor, Curse the Lion! He betrayed you! He betrayed us all! Your masters deceive you! They lie to you!” Argoth curses and snarls at Marius. “Watch your tongue you insolent fool! It is you who turned your back on the Emperor; it is you who betrayed the Lion! By allowing Luthers’ words of jealous envy to affect you, was committing the biggest sin possible! No Repent for it is your turn to die!
“Traitor, I know not of your past deeds, I only know of what has transpired here, and for that you must die! There is no escape from this place. The forces your master has mustered are burning; the Dark Gods used you only as a pawn to sacrifice your meaningless life for them! You accomplished nothing, and yet you seem so proud at your deeds. Gabriel spoke words that burned the pride of Ivan the Terrible. His face turned into a snarl. His black eyes stare into Gabriel’s through his long black hair. “I am the one used as a pawn? Have your masters not told you? You are the true pawns! The Emperor protects us, but you who turned on him to follow the Lion are cursed. You turned your back on the Emperor! You betrayed us! You and I are Brothers in arms! Do you know why you’re here? You’re here because your masters want my brothers and me dead! Did they not tell you? You whole purpose in life is to hunt those who remained loyal to the Imperium of Man! They are corrupt, they lie to their brothers, trick them to carry out the work of the Dark Gods!”
“Lies! You lie brother! We could never be one and the same! If you are traitor then why should I listen to you?” Gabriel’s men stare on in shock as the two exchange fiery words of hatred. “The Emperor protects me, guide my blade and let it strike true!” Gabriel charges towards Ivan, who takes a step back, the tip of the blade scratching his chest plate. “You little worm!” Ivan tries to punch Gabriel with his power fist, but is to slow and Gabriel’s extremely fast reflex allows him to strike in Ivan’s moment of weakness. Gabriel drives the tip of the blade through Ivan’s gut. Ivan gawks as blood pools in his mouth and trickles down his chin. He looks down and sees his life blood running down the blade of the young warriors’ sword. Gabriel pulls the sword back, blood dripping off the tip. Ivan falls to his knees, his eyes wide in shock, “How? How could this have happened to me?” Ivan falls forward into the dirt on the floor, his eyes still staring into some point in space. The once black eyes now milky white, and his black hair stained crimson.
