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Excellent installment Ice. Looking forward to the next!

A faint astartes beacon..... what could this be, the intrigue, the pacing...

Damn you Ice, I need more!

This is getting intense, loving it.

Intense indeed! I can't wait to post more....

But....

You just posted...

But not more of the story....

Saying you can't wait to post more....

Of the story....

Damn you Ice!!

Excellent man!!!

Awesome!!!

The Dark Eldar really know how to fight dirty.

Thanks everybody!

Dear god i've missed alot! Time to catch-up!

The bridge of the Frozen Rage was a place of constant motion and noise. Servitors were always chiming in with reports. The Astropaths were frequently calling down news from the warp. The scores of humans that formed the bridge crew were in a perpetual rotation between stations.

Among all the commotion a lone space marine sat. Brother Miqit of the veteran unit the Uttuakki sat cross legged on the floor, an island of calm surrounded by the swirling sea of movement. His orange meltagun and armor trim was a stark contrast to the bridges grays and blues of the machinery and floor.

In his power armor he sat, with his helm on his head. Once in a battle zone Ice Angels did not remove their helmets unless necessary. Despite being away from battlefields and technically outside a battle zone but on its border, Miqit kept his on.

For the past nine hours he had sat on the floor, back straight, arms loose on his legs. The commotion of the bridge, the distant hum of the Rage’s engines and the minute vibrations of the ship had all blended with the rhythm of his hearts and the methodical breaths of his lungs. In this trance Miqit had waited.

He waited for two things. The first was a message from Muttabriqu about another training session. The other was a signal from Cyaxeres. It had been weeks since the Frozen Rage had gone dark on the fringes of the system and he knew his battle brothers were all anxiously awaiting for the sign from Cyaxeres to pick them up.

Miqit was deep in his trance when an itch slowly altered his rhythm. He didn’t notice it at first but he began to feel the nuisance alter his calm, as if a rock had been thrown into his still pool of consciousness, the ripples were disrupting more and more of his thoughts. Something had changed the atmosphere on the bridge. Instead of focusing on that change he focused on what it meant.

Unceremoniously he stood up, quickly locating the man he was looking for and to his surprise the man was looking for him. A well kept middle age man approached with a note in his hand, his thick beard hiding his neck but not his sly grin.

“Is it time, Ensign Budrow?” Miqit asked as he looked down upon the communications officer. The Ensign didn’t respond, he merely handed over the note. A simple line of code was written on it.

“Muttabriqu, Cyaxeres is requesting immediate evacuation” he spoke into his vox after reading the simple text.

A simple affirmative blip showed up in his heads up display. Miqit nodded to Ensign Budrow who quickly returned to his post. The bridge was already picking up its pace. They all knew what was about to happen. Commander Seluku issued a ship wide alert to man stations and before Miqit had departed the bridge the engines were increasing output. The dark cold ship was finally permitted to wake up. Once at full speed and with all systems on, the Imperial vessel would quickly be spotted as they penetrated the Kota system. The speed in which they rescued the rest of the company and departed would determine their survivability.

Miqit marched into an open lift as his orders came in. Reflexively he reached out to hit one of the hanger floors but he held his action for a moment as he realized Muttabriqu issued an order he had never received before. Staring at the floor buttons in the lift, as if it was his first time, he located the button he had never pressed. An all familiar bing accompanied its use, but the destination was very different then the other hangers.

Instead of heading into the depths of the Frozen Rage to the various hanger floors he was ascending to a very specialized, very rarely used area. He was heading towards the lone functioning iron cyclone class vessel left in the chapter, the Zephyr Glacier.

Here we go!

Any one getting excited yet?

Hellz yeah!

Heck yeah!

Awesome stuff! I love when people make their own chapters!

Thanks guys!

For those new to my dakka fiction page, Welcome! I hope you're enjoying the story thus far, feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Man you did it again!!!Awesome addition!!!

And YES I am EXCITED!!!!

Progress through the unknown complex was swift and quiet. Captain Razzik and Commander Vetov moved as a pair while Grax and Venthu mirrored them. Brother Benquanli always stayed in the middle, ready to bring his plasma gun to bear where needed.

The marines covered one another at each intersection and stayed on high alert as they moved. They passed dozens of closed doors, wide hallways, bizarre xenos statues, and countless banks of black glossy panels similar to the ones in the room they first arrived in.

Their path was rarely straight and they often would round a corner to take one or two steps up as if the complex was built on an angle. Razziks enhanced memory made it possible to recall his path perfectly but the strategic difficulties the winding paths and multiple levels created made him thank the Emperor for creating servo skulls and his heads up display.

The servo skulls continued to expand throughout the near endless array of vaulted rooms, winding hallways, and art filled galleries. The sheer volume of information made Razzik cease monitoring their overall progress as they expanded and instead focused on the one floating skull near the beacon that had sparked his actions.

They were only a few hallways away when their movement was halted. Brother Venthu was at point when he signaled to stop. His icon flashed that he heard movement. Razzik saw him pointing towards a door across a foyer to his left. Benquanli and Grax moved right, behind a statue of a woman wielding a glaive. Razzik moved right behind Venthu with Vetov at his side.

The foyer was adorned with couches and benches, low tables and various lights that emitted shades of chartreuse and mauve. A lone wide platform dominated the center of the room. It was covered with models and grotesque figurines, clearly some sort of game.

None of the marines flinched or moved as the double doors slowly opened like a beast yawning at dawn. Guns were ready and Razzik altered his stance to launch himself forward when a familiar astartes stepped out.

Honored Brother Inigo exited the room, his thunder hammer held in both hands across his chest ready to strike. Jaska and Nefas were right behind him with guns up. Inigo strode forwards and paused, staring up at the ceiling then looking around. Jaska moved to his right quickly taking cover behind a plush bench. Nefas began to move left when his gaze met with Razzik’s from across the foyer. His elongated bolter was sporting an under slung second barrel.

“Well met Captain,” he spoke across the room. For a moment they stared at one another before Razzik stepped around from Venthu. He let his gaze pass between the three marines before responding.

“What are you doing here marines? You were ordered to assist Cyaxeres,” Razzik questioned.

“Inigo fell into a worm’s tunnel and we went after him.” Nefas responded without hesitating, “the tunnel led us to a room with a black wall which brought us here.”

Razzik listened to Nefas while watching Inigo. The gray armored Son of Hades avoided his gaze and instead monitored Nefas. Razzik let the words linger. It seemed suspicious that Inigo would have fallen into a worm hole and not been able to climb out.

The silence continued, Nefas unmoving and Inigo doing everything to avoid Razzik’s cold stare. After a few more seconds members of Squad Rimsin arrived. If they were surprised to see the other astartes they didn’t show it.

The arrival of the other squad completely redirected Razzik’s thoughts. Despite a part of him wishing to inquire about Inigo falling into a worm hole, he dismissed it and headed off in the direction of the beacon once more. Three more marines could easily turn many battles, regardless of their honesty, he thought to himself as they fell into formation behind him.

Ooh tension within the ranks!

Yeah... I'm wondering where this sense of distrust comes from.

Very nice Ice

I agree with Gits why the distrust? on both sides...

Instead of me explaining to you Razziks thoughts, I will tweak the last post a bit. I will let you all know when I've done so.

In my opinion Ice, do not tweak anything. let the story roll and we will understand as it moves on why Razzik has the doubts.


Also, its good to leave us hanging I think you should know that by now

I don't see any one opposing that suggestion and I'd rather move forward then dwell on what I've done. I do enjoy leaving you hanging, but in that particular instance I wasn't trying to leave you hanging. I may try to do some further explaining in one of the upcoming Razzik posts. Good suggestion Bobakos.

I was just wondering out loud, no re-writes needed on my account.

As the mob of greenskins surged towards him, Inushi dodged to his right towards a row of large machinery that dominated the room. The vibrating engine like columns sat squat on the floor and reached up through the level above. The greasy columns belched smog and oozed out heat which Inushi felt on his exposed wounds.

Inushi moved between two such columns with haste. He was still gathering his bearings when he exited the other side of the columns to find himself in front of three orks. Each one was as tall as Inushi but they were as wide as terminators. They wore no armor and wielded no guns, but the hammers and tools they held aloft would more then suffice in killing Inushi.

Knowing that speed was his only advantage he stabbed the center ork with his katana, letting the keen edge slice deep into its abdomen. With his off hand he fired his plasma pistol into the face of the ork to his left. When the inevitable swing from the right ork came down he dodged left over the flailing faceless ork.

Inushi took several steps before slamming into another approaching ork with his shoulder. He was quickly running out of space to maneuver as more and more boys were moving to flank from his left. These smaller boys looked anxious to try and get their first kill of the day. Inushi fired behind him at the wounded ork, hearing the familiar sounds of screaming ork and sizzling flesh. With his katana he parried a curved pipe then leapt into the air to avoid a downward slice from a massive wrench.

Spinning around he deflected the hammer from the remaining larger ork, but the force behind the hammer rattled the floor forcing Inushi to pause and regain his balance. In that brief amount of time Inushi felt the weight of two impacts on his backpack and shoulder. He swayed from the attacks but used the forced movement to lower himself and then spring forward under the next attack. He crashed into the stomach of a surprised ork and knocked him back into a corner. The ork elbowed Inushi’s back pack as the Mantis Warrior brought up his katana as he pushed away. The ork bellowed as the blade passed through the orks groin up into his stomach then out his shoulder. The two pieces of the ork fell aside like sandbags, the weight thudding down onto the filthy engine room floor.

Instinctively Inushi side stepped as he turned around. With his back to the corner he stared down the next wave of orks. They had paused just out of reach. The xenos filth were always herded by the largest and strongest and the remaining were now waiting for someone to initiate the charge.

Inushi widen his stance as he stared down the wall of greenskins before him. Six were now in front of him giving him no means to escape. Others were still piling in from behind them. They were shouting insults and drooling, their red beady eyes all staring. Inushi knew he only had a few seconds before they would lunge, like a green wall of anger falling on its victim.

With a swift motion he sheathed his plasma pistol and drew out his combat blade. Now that he had a blade in each hand the words of his training master came to mind. The stern voice of Darius Stone rumbled in his head. Inushi twirled his blades to keep the orks at bay just a moment longer as he shifted into a stance of the mantis.

He felt the movement of the land train and the breath of his enemies and when they yelled their fury and charged, he met them head on.

Shame that Inushi doesn't have any grenades, in such a confined space an aerial detonated frag grenade would blind a whole bunch of them

Hah, here I am so invested in these characters I'm trying to come up with ways to keep them alive!

Things are looking grim for Inushi-san. Again. One of these days his luck's going to run out. (Which I guess is what the Inquisition had in mind when they sent him on this mission in the first place... buggers.)

Very nice Ice!

A glorious death awaits!!!

Let him take many of them to the grave!

I know Inushi's a good fighter, but is he that good?