Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Adric was disgusted by the current events but couldn't do anything about it. ATM he was clearing up one of the millions of daemon hordes to extract yet another piece of geneseed.
Adric had learned that with enough fire the daemons would just die and he used that tactic to full use as the heavy flamer from the nemesis in conjunction with adric's one purged the daemons. He saw leonidas move in for the geneseed
He opened the vox to leonidas. ''Well brother it seems we are not the only ones with our secrets. But i tell you one thing if you ever ever use this to benefit from lucius i will make sure you are executed myself!''

"Of cource brother. I would never do such a thing. You must say though brother, that what brother Lucius has done is just not right."
Leonidus mutters through his personal vox channel to Adric.

Exactly as last time, the 6 marines spread out, each carefuly and precisly removing the priceless gene-seed of their fallen brothers. Many had been butchered and dismembered beyond recognition, their power armour seeingly no match for the devilish blades which the monsters wielded. Nocturnus Omega stood guard behind them, patroling the area for hostiles or signs of life. Then they heard it.

Gunfire. It was loud, but a fair distance, likely coming from the trench. It was the unmistakable sound of bolter fire, some of their brothers must had survived the battle. If they had held out this long, they could for a little while longer, his and his men's job took priority here. He could pick up from the comm chatter there, that the survivors were lead by some armoury sergeant.

The thought was interrupted by an earsplitting roar, a dozen heavily armoured Red devils leaping through the debris towards them, great two-handed blades, dripping with blood in their hands. Not missing a beat, all four of his guard grab hold of their bolters and in perfect synchrony, open fire into the oncoming group, three of their number bursting into flames and falling to the ground within the opening moments.

He looked around, still no one. He looked at the Unsual women and said "When my brothers come here, you will pay dearly Traitor." The Purple Xenos looked confused, she frowned and said "I have no idea what you are on about. I'm not a traitor." Taric was shocked, she didn't act as seductive as she usually did. He asked in a shocked tone "You colorabted with the purple Xenos.?"
She asked politely "What's a Xenos?"
He asked "You seriously don't know, do you?"
"Yes, serious." Her eyes went from lust to a more serious tone.
"It's hard to explain, an alien or xenos is anything that is not Adeptus Astartes or Homo Sapien."
She rolled her eyes "Isn't that a little bigoted, what rights do you have to kill someone because you don't agree with who they are!?"
He suddenly felt a hint of guilt for the aliens, what if he was doing was wrong... he remembered slaughtering tribes of Dracolith, he killed men, women and children a like, tracked them down into the homes and killed them. Smearing the crystals all over their rooms, no sense of kidness and commitment. The destruction of innocent life...
She smiled a little. "See the guilt you feel is what you call empathy. Cute little thing isn't it."
He frowned a little. "I guess it is. I have done a lot of wrong things... Terrible monstrocities...."
She walked up and hugged him "Look, we all do bad things once everywhile... we aren't made to be perfect, we just have to stride to be it.... also morals are kinda iffy you see. Don't feel bad, you did what you thought was nessacary."
Geez, this women is... whatever her name is... is really reallly nice. I don't exactly trust her but she has nothing to hide. Gahhh, I don't know what to think. I have to do something. I do not want her to die but I am afraid that it may hurt my connections to my company.... I wish they could both get along. I should really ask for her name.
The grasp was warm and full of hear but there was an element of lust in her eyes still... Something that made her just want to have sex with him... He wondered what made her act so sexually explicit. He finally asked after 5 minutes of silence "May I have your name?"
She had a sigh of relief and she said sweetly but gently "Ophelia, what's yours?"
He said "Taric."
The tension has eased a bit and for the first time he had a friend, not just a Battle Brother to back him up from behind. They were just servicemen. He was forced into it, not really be able to quite be fully integrated into the Night Lords system, it was too brutal for his liking... he prefered peaceful solutions. He didn't want death to the traitors, he only wanted them to surrender... none of them did....

Apothecary Gaius finished his preparations on the artificial substitute for the Neophyte's Preomnor. It had been a simple task, although the Astartes these days.. always getting themselves blown up so young or tripping over a piece of debris and getting a nasty bump. He chuckled. It had been a long time since he'd felt the earth beneath his feet, with a boltgun in hands and his brothers by his sides. That had been another life time, when he had been chief apothecary. Gaius had stepped down of course, after the accident. Most of his body was gone because of that. Miraculously, he survived of course and his body was replaced but he knew from the day he'd laid on that operating table that the only way he would fight again would be from within a sarcophagus. That type of existence he would never condemn himself to. He risked fate and managed to survive by the skin of his teeth. Though he would never fight again - he was too slow, too old some would say, he would always serve his brothers as a healer, putting them back together when they got themselves shot apart.

Heavy armoured boot falls signalled the arrival of Apothecary Venetus, who hastily joined him.
"What manner of foolery is this?" He demanded, his voice as harsh as a Fenrisian night. The man was a brash marine, quick to anger and with but fifty years as a marine, and twenty as Gaius's protégé. He had not yet lost the fires of youth, oh how the old apothecary missed that feeling. But, what is done is done.
"What do you mean?" Gaius asked. Venetus pointed at the Neophyte. Gaius turned and his mouth dropped at what he saw. The neophyte and the human he had insisted bringing aboard were.. were kissing. Outrageous!
"Neophyte!" Gaius boomed, his aged features curled up in a snarl. The young marine and the woman snapped their heads around at his interruption. "What is the meaning of this?"
"This is blasphemy against the Legion!" Spat Venetus, who advanced two steps towards the Neophyte menacingly. "Restrain that human witch!" He demanded.
Two of the cruiser's security moved simultaneously and unquestioningly, roughly dragging the screaming woman away from the Neophyte. "Take that wench to a cell and leave her to rot!" Venetus bellowed angrily.
"Brother Venetus, I must ask that you tend to the other injured immediately. I will deal with the Neophyte here," Gaius instructed calmly. He could see the young apothecary was about to retort, but thought better of it and turned to tend his duties, giving Lucius a final look of disgust. "Heretic."

Lucius looked half ready to get up and chase after the girl, indecision clouded his eyes like a fog. The aged apothecary placed two metal hands on him, gently pressing him down on the surgical table. He pressed a few buttons and restraining clamps shot out over the young marine's limbs.
"I will operate on you, Neophyte Peris, and then when you awake you have much to explain.." Gaius voice drifted off as a cold point embedded itself into Lucius's bloodstream.

A few seconds later, his vision went black.

Leonidus swings his blade around in a fell arc, another of the foul Devil's heads torn away in a burst of inky ichor, to land in the dirt at his feet. Another of his guard had fallen, dismembered horribly by three of the damned things and their unnatural strength within moments. They had killed around eight of the things but they kept on coming, never hesitating, never fleeing. They were truly fearless. Another rushes him. Kicking out, he hears the Devil's knee breaking, the limb bending backwards with a sickening crunch. Not allowing any quarter, he sends his gauntletted hand darting foward, the beast's nose and jaw breaking under the impact. The creature stumbles backwards, trying despiratly to steady itself on its crippled leg. He had no mercy for such a abomination. With an amplified roar, he lunges foward to grasp the struggling creature by one of its long, knife-like horns. Breaking it free with a snap, he thrusts it into the mouth of the beast, the jagged blade tearing through the back of its neck as it claws futilely at his armoured torso. Within seconds the thing ceases moving, the life gone from its horrific form. Dropping its limp body to the floor, Leonidus spins around, hearing a great distorted bellow. Nocturnus Omega.

The great construct entered the whirling melee now, crimson scaled limbs sent flying with every sweep of its great, trunk-like arms. The thing was surprisingly quick for its size, darting from the path of charging Devils only to pulverise them moments later. The battle was slowly starting to turn their way.

Venetus moved to the higher-priority section of the apothecarium. Inside there were a few bodies, some missing limbs or chunks of their body. There was one however who had suffered altogether different injuries. His body had suffered lengthy torture and brutalisation. Apothecary Anvilus was tending to him. Sergeant.. Rorick, if he recalled correctly. The man was stable, for now.
"Venetus," Anvilus greeted the younger marine without pausing in his work.
"Gaius sent me," he growled. "That neophyte in the main theatre has some sort of despicable.. attachment to a human female."
Anvilus still did not look up or reply. He was a man of few words and everyone was accustomed to that. Venetus's brash nature however made him frustrated with the quiet apothecary's demeanour. He elaborated. "The neophyte has a.. physical relationship with the woman."
Anvilus raised an eyebrow but otherwise he still focused on treating Rorick. "No good will come of it."
"Damn right no good will come of it, I have half a mind to--"
Finally Anvilus looked up. "I am busy and there are many wounded," he said simply.
Venetus fumed. "Yes.. brother." With that, he turned and busied himself in his duties, starting work on preparing a marine for a bionic leg replacement.

Adric was getting irritated one of the damned creatures had tried to attack the nemesis's rear armor his blade made a superficial scar on him, but a scar nonetheless. Adric had picked up a plasma cannon and began firing on chunks of daemons. The searing hot molten plasma obliterating the monsters. His twin plasma guns where also rotating at furious speeds and where killing one after the other monsters.
He heard a vox coming in from aria saying. ''Master we are bringing in a thunderhawk to pick you up certain things have happened on the ship.''
Adric worried and gave the ok sign. Their ETA would be 20 minutes they only needed to hold out for 20 more damned minutes. He thought as one of the fiery monsters began climbing the nemesis only to be greeted by his boots.

Sergeant Tarvurk fired in all directions with his bolt pistol, leading the thirteen remaining space marines who fought in the trenches. This had been a terrible defeat. He couldn't recall on a battle so humiliating in his time attached to this company. He was just a vehicle sergeant, following orders of the commanding officer. But where was that officer, he wondered? Where was the captain when they had been slaughtered? Had it been the captain who ordered such a frontal or assault, or the lack of orders that resulted in one anyway? These questions were at the back of his mind as the red-scaled horrors assaulted their position once more. They pushed them back with bolter and blade from their makeshift redoubt, made from the bodies of allies and enemies alike. Ammo was running low and they would not survive another assault.

Salvation appeared in the form of a land raider, its hull scarred and damaged. Nonetheless, a multitude of extensive modifications were prudent on its form as a few figures, including the white armour of who could only be the apothecary, charged out and began fighting their way to their position.
"Marines, push forward!" Tarvurk shouted as he leapt clear of the body wall and made haste for their allies.

Yes, someone would pay for this failure. Perhaps the masters of the forge and apothecary would know who?

Lucius's eyes blinked open groggily. "Uhh.."
"Ah, you're back," Gaius observed, injecting him with a cocktail of what could've been painkillers or lemon juice for all the neophyte knew.
"How long was I under?"
"An hour and a half. It could've been less but I always prefer to be safe beyond reproach," the old apothecary smiled down warmly.
Lucius slid off the surgery table and steadiest himself on his feet. He looked down, admiring the venerable apothecary's handiwork. His left flank was patched up, almost appeared as if it had never been damaged. He presumed synthskin must have been applied.
"Be careful with that side, you've got a fair bit of new bionics in there - even the body of an astartes needs time to adjust. Whatever you got up to down there, you did a number on yourself. Your insides were a bit of a mess."
"As long as you're able to patch me up.." Lucius mumbled.
"One day I won't," Gaius said sternly. "Now, there's still the matter of that human woman. I want the truth - the whole truth and I want it now, neophyte," the apothecaries' warm bedside manner was all but gone, replaced with a cold, steely tone that could not be refused.

an hour and a half ago

The thunderhawk arrived in time along with aria's remaining land speeders they where touching down.
The men adric and leonidas rescued where also entering the thunderhawk and the land raider slid into the vehicle compartment.

10 minutes ago
The thunderhawk entered the cruiser. Leonidas left for the apothecarion nocturnes omega wouldn't be spotted as adric ordered all security cams to ignore his sight.
Adric was unleashing the nemesis from his sarcophagus and let him step out of the tank again. His body wasn't very used to walking but he managed.
Adric walked towards the apothecarion to look how Lucius was doing.

present

Adric entered the apothecarion only to see some apothecary standing over Lucius. He walked over to his and with a stern voice said. ''What are you doing here apothecary? shouldn't you be treating a patient?''
The apothecary was startled but stood before him with a stern face that said ''I wont leave'' adric took out his hand and pushed him away and said with a more angrier face ''Leave right now!'' the apothecary stood before him refusing to leave.

Einer heaved the rubble.off him, aided by Acharius. When they heard news of the bombarding, they had made all hasta fir cover. He and the Champion had dived inside the pipe. His squad hadn't made it. Now they were trapped. The Xenos creatures on one side of rubble, and an unending wall of debris on the other. There was no way out and no way they could all them alone.

Gaius frowned at the Master of the Forge's disrespect. Though the tech marine was taller than him in his power armour, the old apothecary was not phased one bit. He moved between the neophyte and tech marine.
"Yes, I do have a patient. He's right here and if you don't mind, this is my apothecarion. Are you injured?" Gaius demanded.
"No, but-" Adric grated but he was cut off.
"Then I must ask you to leave at once," Gaius's features turned to a wry smile. "Don't you have some vehicles to repair?"

Lucius found the Apothecary unnerving to say the least. His eyes stared through him like he was nothing but air.

"She... I..."

Lucius' mouth opened and closed. Sweat formed on his brow.

"It is a grave crime indeed. I have lost my training and have fallen in love with this women."

The apothecary turned.

"I was once a neophyte, Peris. I've heard far worse. I would expect better from such a fine specimen as yourself. Do some routine training to calibrate these new cybernetics."

Lucius looked up in relief.

"However, Lucius, I need to know whether this has to be referred to High Command. How far have you fallen?"

Lucius answered snappily. His words were false, but he needed to find her.

"Barely. She is nothing to me."

Gaius dismissed him.

"Where is Viola now?"

The apothecary told him he didn't know. Lucius stood on his feet and walked off with the Artificer, again talking about his new weapon design.

He shook his head. The boy had been lying through his teeth. But then, he had withheld the location of the woman. She had been taken to a cell in the brig, under armed guard. As grateful as he was that the disrespectful, arrogant tech marine had left with the neophyte, he hoped the young astartes wouldn't pick up any of his traits. To be an arrogant space marine was to fall from grace and be consumed by selfish thoughts and abusing the god-given gifts that have bestowed upon one. It was also a very dangerous situation indeed.

Leonidus was in his quaters now, the only place he could have perfect solitude, not even his guard were permitted to enter. The spacious room was bedecked with various trophies and some medals, all one over decades of loyal service to the Empire of man. He believed with all his heart in the teachings of the Emperor, he would never knowingly betray him. The one thing he could not fathom, was how what he did was bad, considered heresy even. Every experiment he created, including Nocturnus Omega, was done for the benefit of mankind. His titanic creation was now tucked away in his personal testing area, it understood the necessity of secrecy, especialy in the presence of other marines. The thing had shown a surprising level of sentience, it was capable of making split second tactical decisions from its own initiative and judgement. Stranger yet, it seemed to almost...imitate him, it copied certain mannerisms of his such as his tendancy to chuckle. He would keep a close eye on it.

Nocturnus Omega was a stepping stone, the first step on the path to true perfection and hybridisation of man and machine. He liked to think of it being to his next creations what the primarchs were to the marines. It was truly a marvel, but it was also unique and irreplaceable. He had managed to take half a dozen or so rebels on board with him. He had claimed they were for interrogation purposes. The equipment in the tent have been crude in comparison to what he had here. Here, he could really exercise his capabilities.

Opening his personal vox channel, Leonidus contacts Apothecary Gaius.

"Greetings Gaius. I trust the Neophite Lucius is well? I have been keeping a close eye on him. Contact me back when you can. I must talk to you about something."

Gaius sighed as Leonidus spoke over the comms as he finished treating a series of wounds and sent a marine on his way.
"Acknowledged."
Leonidus was a good surgeon and a skilled warrior - a worthy successor to him as chief apothecary. But there was something strange about the man, something mysterious. Gaius always sensed it. He had long since tried to find out, though he always wondered if he ever truly wanted to know what the man was hiding.
But whatever it was, he was sure it couldn't be good.

"Venetus, Anvilus, I am going to meet with the chief apothecary," he called, believing the other two to be more than capable of keeping things under control here. With that he made his way to Leonidus's quarters, preferring to speak in person. He disliked conversation where you could not look a man squarely in the eye.

Adric was walking with lucius allong one of the more secluded areas of the ship he began speaking ''You know lucius if you want i can look for that trophy of yours. If you give me a minute i can locate her and we will pick her up. But first i need to be sure that you are ok and that you don't feel anything for it.''

Krieg grinned in anticipation as he stared at the men 10 metres below him. Battling against the gale, they tried to make their way back inside after their routine patrol. The Marines dropped down amongst them, rockcrete and ice cracking beneath their feet. Krieg swung around, shattering one of the mens arm with his massive fist. The force of the blow slammed the soldier into a wall, pulverising his skull. Krieg swung back around, burying his other hand into another mans throat. He lashed his arm back, ripping his spine out, letting the rest of his body slump to the ground. The captain saw Kreig standing over two of his men, and shoated a warning to the rest of his men, as he raised his pistol.

Valthex pushed his chainblade up through the captains sternum, lifting him off the ground. With a dissimisive flick, he flung him into the wall, breaking his arm. The captain screamed in pain as his bones were shattered. With a jerk, he was hauled towards the bastion.Krieg felt the terror of the officer wash over him like and intoxicating wave, and he realished the sensation. He wanted to kill the man, slowly and excrutiatingly, but the rational side of his mind knew that he was needed. He grinned as the mortal tried to scramble away from him, screaming as bone fragments ground against each other. Krieg smiled at him, all hope of escape for the man was lost, but he still struggled, staring fearfully up at him.

"Restricted access. Band XK privalage required" croaked the robotic voice of the servitor, built into the massive circular door. Constanze sighed in impatience. A panel on the wall bore the scratched out symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Krieg ripped it clear, wrenching the century old metal out of shape like it were paper. He grabbed a mechandrite cable and pulled it carefully towards the captains tear filled eye.

"Access Granted" croaked the servitor, as the super heavy door whined open. Constanze entered first, sweeping his meltagun from side to side.

"Clear" he growled.

Krieg tossed the Captain over the cliff, into the roaring storm below. The rest of the squad emerged silently from the darkness, and followed them inside.

Closing the vox link, Leonidus approaches the steel door to his quarters, and entering a six-digit code, the enterance hatch opens. Stepping outside, he sees the veteran apothecary aproaching. With a metalic click, Leonidus removes his skull-like helm, feeling the fresh air on his face for the first time in months, he only removed it when eating or when in conversation with someone who he respected. Gaius was one such individual. Leonidus' face was deathly pale, his dull eyes rested half closed, great black shadows around them. His shaven hair was a dark shade of brown.

"Ah Gaius, greetings. I have brought you here to disguss some important matters. I am keeping Lucius under close watch, has he yet recovered? I must also ask you, has he still been displaying...affection, for that wretch of a woman? It concerns me, as I'm sure it does you. Now I come to my final and most important point. I am currently engaged in...a project of sorts. This may sound strange, and if you do not want to be involved, walk away now, I will not hold it against you."

Gaius's intrigue peaked instantly, but he did not show it. "The neophyte shared physical interaction with the human woman, in the apothecarion no less. He claimed she meant nothing when I asked, but I know that is not so. I had the woman taken to a cell. As for Peris, he is well, though he is with Master of the Forge Adric. I fear in his unstable mental condition he may pick up some of Adric's less laudable traits."
Leonidus nodded. "I am glad to hear he has recovered well, but we will have to deal with that wench soon. Now, I respect you a lot, as does everyone. That is why I am offering you a chance to be a part of my project."
Gaius knew he had to find out what the chief was up to, though he knew it did not bode well. He was as uncomfortable about it as he was the man's large, lavish quarters. At least that's what they were compared to the tiny, barren quarters of all other marines.
"Leonidus, I cannot accept or refuse to be a part of something that I do not yet know of."

"Of course, of course. Well Gaius, if you insist. I believe the best way to explain, is to let you see with your own eyes. Now, if you will, come inside."

With that, Leonidus yet again enters the code, the door sliding open with a slight click. Stepping inside, he makes his way over to his personal laboratory, gesturing Gaius to follow, the veteran apothecary walking in after him.

"You see that?"

Omega's optic units glow a fell red.

"Say hello to the future Gaius."

The titanic construct rises to its feet, bionics and servos whirring quietly as it turns to face the newcomer.

Gaius glances over the massive human.. no.. machine.. construct rather. The skill put into it had to be admired but it was a terrible creation all the same.
"What is that? An augmented form of combat servitor?" Gaius asked.

"Not at all Gaius, something much, much more. Even I'm not sure what it is, it defies classification. It is no servitor, nor an AI. Calling it a merge of the two would be most accurate, it has two 'brains' , one organic, one fully mechanical, both interlinked. I'd rather not get into the details, it gets rather complex after that point. As you can see, one arm has been outfitted with a heavy bolter, modified to utilise my custom incindiary ammunition. It has been equiped with numerous surgical tools to aid me in my tasks of gene-seed extraction and surgery.

Turning to face Gaius, Leonidus chuckles quietly, the construct doing the same in an eerie, distorted manner.

"See how it copies and learns from me Gaius? It has taken strangly to imitating my mannerisms, a curious habit."

"So, Gaius, do you wish to learn more of my plans, or leave now? The choice is entirely yours."

He listened intently to his colleague speak. It was true, his creation was impressive. But it was vile and wrong. So very wrong. He highly doubted the man had been willing to be.. transformed into that. The way it mimicked Leonidus was sickening and eery. He knew he should report this to the company captain, or perhaps the ship captain immediately.. but, he had to know more. What was the extent of Leonidus's madness?
"Go on," he said simply.

Pacing back and forth, Leonidus again speaks to apothecary Gaius. Even without his helmet's advanced sensory equipment, he could sence the uneasiness in the veteran apothecary.

"So, brother, my plan is to create more. This shall be the forunner to the next generation of constructs. If you help, in any way you can, I will share with you the fruits of my labour. Will you aid me."

Gaius sighed. "I don't suppose you've got sanction for this line of experimentation," it was a statement, not a question. "Leonidus, I do not know what possessed you to create such a ghastly creature but I cannot allow it to continue. This is not our way. Leave the bio-monsters and twisted servitors to the priests of the machine gods."

His calm and relatively friendly demeanor gone, Leonidus turns back to the titanic construction looming behind him.

"I see brother. I had hoped it would not come to this. You are a veteran in my profession, Gaius, and I respect you. But I will not cease, not now that I am so close.

Tell me brother, what will you do now?"

Gaius was wary of his brother quite suddenly. He looked at the hulking construct, then back to the other apothecary. "What I must." He answered simply. With that he turned for the door.

"I am truly sorry brother."

With that, Leonidus draws his crackling powersword and steps foward, yet again donning his skull helm, eyes glowing blood red.

"I cannot allow you to reveal my activities. Please brother, I beg you, don't make me do something I don't want to."

"If you continue, I will have to end you."

Gaius turned, shaking his head. "Never in all my three-hundred and seventy-nine years have I heard of an astartes harming another." His eyes bored into the impassive red lenses of the skull helmet. Gaius knew he couldn't outrun the power armoured astartes - his bionic body simply wouldn't be capable of it. While he could attempt to fight, his bionics were build for finesse work and were fitted with tools that would help him do his duty. But he would not.
"You do not know how sad it makes me to see you raise that blade against a brother. If you are going to kill me, then I suggest you get it over with. I will not harm your or any other Astartes as long as I live. It is my duty to protect and heal our brethren, as is yours. You have forgotten that."
"I beg you again, Gaius, do not force my hand."
Gaius did not reply. Instead he pressed a finger against the comm bead embedded in his Lyman's Ear and began speaking. "Gaius to the bridge..."