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FHey Dakka,

Been planning this out in my head for a while now, thought I'd finally get it down for some C&C!

*Ahem*

Part 1 - Failed Insurrection

"Heed my words, fellow sufferers! The Emperor has fooled you all! He cares not for any of you, but only his own selfish agenda! This has always been so, and it continues even now, after his ascent to Godhood! He is an uncaring omnisiah, he would see you all damned for his own gain."

Further bellows of disapproval rang out from the courtyard, the vast crowd jeering and insulting the figure before them.

Herephas sighed. The epic expanse of the main courtyard panned out before him. Great walls covered it's every side, along which his fellow word bearers stood, scanning the rabble below. Behind him, four Hulking veterans of the legion stood tall in their Terminator Plate; his bodyguard, and another symbol of his lofty position within his beloved legion. In all his time as First Acolyte, he had never faced such a defiant and loyal population. He had turned entire systems against the damned False-Emperor through the power of his voice alone, but he couldn't even budge the stubborn workers of this backwater Manufactorum World.

"I understand how it must feel, my Brothers, knowing that your beloved Emperor is false in his benignity! But he has blinded you with his twisted agents; the vile priests of the Eccles---"

A haggard, aged man clad in tattered robes climbed the huge set of stairs leading up to Herephas' podium. "Lies! Heresy and Lies!" he wailed, waving his arms in the air. "Do not heed this...this monsters foul words! He, many years ago, turned his back from the glorious light of the God-Emperor, and now he will face it again!" the man thrust his hands into his robes and pulled out a dull, beaten amulet depicting the Golden Throne. Dangling it expectantly in the Acolyte's face.

Herephas, bemused by the poor flagellant's unwavering faith, released a deep, booming laugh. The priest still stood fast, crude amulet held firmly forwards.

"You old fool" he chuckled. In a split second, his seeming humour turned to molten rage, and he issued a roar of fury, smashing the priest aside with his Defiled Crozius. The bloodied, crippled figure whimpered, still gripping the amulet, before Herephas blew his skull open with a mercy shot from his Bolt Pistol.

The crowd was silent, shocked by the brutality of the event.

His choler spilled out into the crowd as he addressed them further: "All of you shall share his fate! The Dark Gods have offered you true freedom, and now they shall present you with death!" He turned, regained some composure from his infuriated outburst, and indicated to the foremost Terminator.

"Kill them. Kill them All."

Brother Rhynok strode forward to face the crowd and leveled his autocannon.

The Slaughter began.

Interesting. I like the word bearers legion and would love to read some more!

Whoo! Word Bearers are my boys! More please! I'll give more extensive feedback once I see where the story is headed and can do so intelligently

That was one very brave old man. A shame that amulets don't stop a mace to face.

Thanks for the comments guys, glad you liked it!


Part 2 - Sanction

Intricate calligraphy decorated the vast bone door of Lord Urkais' chamber. They parted easily as Herephas strode confidently inside, his heavy steps echoing through the silence of the expanse. As one of his Lord's closest and most trusted advisers, he had visited this chamber more times than even he could remember, and it still left him awestruck. Candles lined the walls, illuminating the ancient scrolls that trailed down to the ancient metal decking. A single, enormous viewport was the only other source of light to the grand chamber; the great smokey orb of Riitus Secundis silhouetting the mighty figure that stood before it. Lord Urkais stood in a simple robe, his mighty warhammmer slung across his back, staring out into the reaches of space.

"You dissapoint me, Herephas."

The words shook the Acolyte to his very core, and caused him a brief moment of fluster. He had not known the reason for his summons back to the Navitas; Shortly after the courtyard massacre, legion operations had ceased almost instantaneously on the planet, and withdrawl had been immediate. Upon arriving back on the Strike Cruiser, Herephas had been called to Urkais Chamber immediately.

"M..my lord?"

"We are unlike many of our blessed brothers, Herephas. We are not the frenzied slaughters of the World Eaters, or the Debased Madmen of the Emperor's Children. We are one of the few legions who have retained some order under the blessings of the Dark Gods. You, of all people, should know this." Urkais' tone was one of condescension, of subtle patronisation.

"Of course, I understand this, My lord, but I..."

"Then why" Urkais' span to face the Dark Apostle, his face contorted in anger, his voice raised to a yell. "Have you just slaughtered the population of an entire hab-block?!" his gaze remained fixed on the startled Herephas, burning into him with rage the usually stern commander rarely displayed.
"Lord Urkais, I'm not sure I understand...I can't say I recall this to be part of our creed. Imperial life is worthless! Or have you suddenly developed a compassion for the wretches?" Herephas spat his words out, disgusted by his scolding for such a minor act.
"I couldn't care less if each and every one of those miserable degenerates were slowly dissolved by the Life-Eater virus" Urkais retorted, defensively.
"Then why, if I may be so bold sire, does the slaughter of these backwater slacks have any bearing on our designs?!" Herephas was seething, and had seemingly forgotten who he was adressing,
"Because" his master said, calming and leaning on the enormous lectern in the centre of the room. "Because you forced us to withdrawl before...before..." Urkais seemed unable to get the words out of himself, wincing as if he was suffering a sharp pain. He spoke in a quiet wheeze, Herephas struggled to hear him"No, master...I would not...but he...he is ready to know...he....of course, I forget my place."

"My lord, are you alright?" the First Acolyte's choler quickly dissolved into concern, and he moved towards his Lord.
"Get away!" Urkais snapped, hunched like a cornered animal. Herephas jerked at this outburst, utterly shocked at his master's lack of composure. "I...I apologise, Herephas. I have been suffering of chronic pain as of late,
it...it troubles me deeply." There was a strange weakness in Urkais' voice that unsettled Herephas. "I...I must admit, I haven't been entirely truthful with you..."

"Is everything alright in here, My Lord?" the doors swung open, and the gargantuan figure of Sorcerer-Lord Leonidas swept into the room.
"Ah, Leonidas, it's good you're here. I was just explaining to Herephas-" Urkais suddenly clutched his head in intense pain, crying out at the shock of it. Herephas jumped in surprise, but Leonidas remained entirely unstirred. "Are you well, sire? You appear to be suffering a great deal." the Sorcerer glanced side on at Herephas, a move so miniscule that it was nigh-unnoticeable. "Yes, yes, I'm just fine...anyway, where was I Herephas?"

"You were reminding him of his unforgivable failure, I believe?" Herephas couldn't believe what he was hearing. Leonidas had been with the legion for less than 6 months, and he was trying to impose his will on the Lord himself? They had been on route to a vulnerable Imperial world, where the divide between the rich and the poor was in the extreme, and the planet was on the brink of revolt, when a wrecked Imperial transport had been tumbled out of the warp into their path. The Navitas' crew had thought it long abandoned and had planned to pass it by, until all Psykers aboard instantaneously degenerated to quivering wrecks, screaming unintelligible warnings; some of the lesser psykers went so far as to kill themselves. After this had continued for some time, Leonidas had materialised on the command bridge, having teleported himself from the wreck, and requested to see Lord Urkais. He had been immediately accepted into the legion, much to the suspicion of some of it's senior members, and had been granted one of it's ancient sets of Terminator Plate, becoming it's Sorcerer Lord. He and Lord Urkais had shut themselves away in counsil for many days, and upon their emergence course was immediately changed for Riitus Secundus, for reasons unknown to anyone.

And now, here he was, attempting to control Lord Urkais as if he was some fledgeling warrior. Herephas, confident that his Lord would treat Leonidas' behaviour as outright unacceptable, lashed out at the Sorcerer. "How dare you have the guts to come into our legion and attempt to wrap it around your finger! You are in no place to adress it's Lord and Master in such a way, you wretched fool!" Herephas looked quite pleased with himself, and turned to face Urkais, who, to his surprise, stared grimly into his eyes.

"He is right, Herephas. I cannot forgive your grave error. You are no longer needed here. You are dismissed from your advisary position, and you shall have the privileges that your rank allows you stripped until I deem you worthy of forgiveness. Now leave, Leonidas and I have much to discuss."

"My lord, this is-"

"Leave, Herephas."

Utterly appalled at what he had been subject to, Herephas stood in disbelief for a few short seconds, before storming out of the grand Chamber.

Something was afoot, he knew it, and he knew that Leonidas was the root of it all.

Is Urkais a dark apostle? Because only Dark apostles lead Word Bearer warbands.

You raise a good point, I'm gutted that I missed that!

Yes, Urkais is in fact the Dark Apostle of the warband, and Herephas is his First Acolyte.

But then that wouldn't explain the sorcerer... If you read the Word Bearers anthology, it says that First acolytes, as well as dark apostles are extremely strong in psycher defence. Indeed One such Dark apostle was so strong not even a chapter Librarium leader guy could get past his defence without the sacrifice of ten human psychers, and even then he only managed to get by the defence through surprise. Granted this was indeed one of the strongest Dark Apostles out there but still...

I almost didn't read this thanks to the title sayin word bearers but I'm glad I did.

So many questions and only 2 chapters, what were they doing on the planet, why did it matter what the first acolyte did, who is the pyker and where did he come from, what hold does he have over the dark apostle..or control.

More soon please as these questions need answers.