[Dirge Eterna]

This is my new project. I had a radical idea, but some of the gribbly loose ends need to be tied up. To take away any confusion, the year is 740.M42.

_______________________________________________________________________

Captain Horst of the Deathwatch turned to face the creature. Two long claws had sliced through his armor, and it had almost killed him. To be honest, he wondered why it hadn't. It had been a foot from decapitating him when it clutched it's head, screeched in pain, and toppled over. He instructed his men to bind it.


Magister Francias Lokan had seen it all.

He had seen men turned to crazed machines by the Inquisition. He had seen the hives on Volcanis Ultor be turned to nuclear fire after Ghargatuloth rose. He had seen amazing and terrible things, but the creature before him took his breath away.

The Lictor stood almost nine feet tall at the shoulder, more than eleven with it's claws. It weighed exactly one hundred and six kilograms. It's pheramone levels were normal. It was, in all respects, a normal Lictor.

Except it wasn't trying to kill them all.

When Lokan had brought the creature in, he had thrown it into the holding pen, and released the clasps holding it together. It had simply stood up and paced. It's claws scraped designs into the ceiling where they toutched. Lokan touched the intercomm, wondering.

"Don't do that. Those ceiling panels are expensive."

The Lictor whipped around. Lokan looked on in amazement. The creature, which could have used him as a cleaning rag, looked up at the scratches, and lowered it's massive claws.

Lokan picked up the vox next to his personal one. It was black and had a small symbol on it.

=I=

"Hello?" said Lokan. "I think we found it."

 

[angels of fire]

nice im liking it as per usual hopefully this will turn out as good as the last one k:

 

[Dirge Eterna]

Glad you liked it. I think you're the only one to have read all three of my fics, even The Emperor's Fist, like a month ago. Only In Death was my favorite so far...until I got this idea. Stay tuned for the next really kick-ass installment!

-Dirge

 

[Blackhiker]

This seems incredibly interesting

 

[Dirge Eterna]

Inquisitor Mikal Saphentis had recieved calls from Lokan before. Most were meaningless witches or xenos. The Black Ships always needed more fodder, and the Adepta Biologis were on the brink of breakthroughs on almost every race Humanity had yet to destroy. He thought back to the histories, where they had tought him how the Emperor's forces had nearly obliterated the entire Tau race during the Second Democles Gulf Crusade. How the Ultramarines had been overrun by Tyranids, and the same Tyranids destroyed by seven Space Marine Chapters.

He quickened his pace. The Biologis had been hysteric when he called frantically over Saphentis' private line.

The creature stood almost twice as tall as Saphentis with it's claws unfolded, and it was hunched over a dead carcass when he walked in.

Saphentis was instantly taken aback. The xenos was picking meat carefully from the body, inspecting each bite. It picked a bone from it's teeth and flicked it in a disturbingly human gesture.

Lokan practically skipped over to the inquisitor, oozing happiness.

"You see!? It's practically sentient! Not the mindless creatures the Ordo Xenos has been hunting for hundreds of years, but a new generation entirely!"

Saphentis scratched his short beard thoughtfully. "Biologis, calm yourself. You and I have no idea if this thing is merely toying with us."

Lokan grinned. "Ah, but I do, inquisitor. Observe."

He pushed a button on a small remote. A servitor trundled to the door, and opened it, stepping into the airlock. The door closed and sealed. The second door opened. The Lictor cocked it's head slightly as the noise filtered into the holding tank.

The servitor slowly approached the monster, and stopped a foot from it. The Lictor moved back.

The servitor once again moved closer. The Lictor growled quietly and once again moved back.

The servitor began to trundle forward, and the Lictor gave a screech of frustration and shoved the machine back a few feet. The servitor's weapons powered up.

Lokan pressed a second button. "Begin phase two."

The servitor fired a single shot into the Lictor's torso. It screeched in rage and sprang forwards, it's massive claws opening with a sickening snick. The servitor had just enough time to look up before the Lictor's claws ripped it into flecks of grey flesh and torn circutry.

The Inquisitor stared at the one-way glass, unbelieving.

"It only acts in self-defense."

Lokan nodded. "Harlen's teaching it to play regicide. It's not very good, but it actually responds to the teaching. Observe."

He pushed a large button, and the intercomm clicked.

"Lictor, please place the largest item in the room close to the window."

The Lictor hissed it's frustration, staring at the half-eaten pile of very dead grox. Then with a quiet snarl it picked up the largest part of the servitor and placed it gently before Lokan's window. Saphentis' mouth dropped open.

The intercomm clicked again. "Thank you."

The Lictor hissed quietly and turned back to it's meal.

Saphentis turned to the Biologis.

"Bring me a ship. It's coming back to the Xenos with me."

Lokan nodded in agreement. "I'll have the Explorator brought up from the hangers."

 

[Dirge Eterna]

It was a long time before the Lictor awoke in the holding cells aboard Explorator. Sucking in a long breath of recycled air, it coughed, choked, and spit out the life support lines that had been attached to it's windpipe. The Lictor hissed in frustration.

Saphentis had been insistent. The creature was to be under containment.

A panel near the wall read SEALED: CONTAINMENT 05

The Lictor looked at it in fascination. It pressed a single button on the panel.

Beep.

The Lictor pried the cover from the panel. A group of buttons were surrounded by a tangle of multicolored wires.

The xenos pulled a wire loose from it's moorings and touched it to a second. The door hissed as it lost the seal.

MALFUNCTION: CONTAINMENT COMPROMISED

The Lictor's flesh hooks sprang from it's chest, and hooked under the door. With a low snarl, the Lictor pulled the door up into the ceiling. It leapt to the other side as the heavy door fell down.

A cogitator sat in front of a quietly sleeping rating. The man's shirt was filthy and he smelled vaguely of machine oil, grease, and rotten beef. The Lictor leaned over him (No small feat in a small room) and pressed the button to re-seal the doorway into the claustraphobic cell. The Lictor hissed in satisfaction as the panel switched back to SEALED: CONTAINMENT 05. It spied a large vent set into the ceiling above the console. With some difficulty, the Lictor crawled silently into the vent, it's scales instantly changing from a earthy brown-grey to a perfect match with the gunmetal vent shafts. A flesh hook reached out and speared the rating's ration pack, drawing it up into the vent.

With a small cruch, the pack disappeared between the Lictor's jaws, and it gave one last look at the small cell and the sleeping rating.

It turned to crawl down the vent.

 

[HaloZealot2]

There was a second Damocles Gulf Crusade?

Besides that, pretty good.

 

[Kapeesh]

Man, U RULE!!

 

[Dirge Eterna]

Look to the beginning. The year is 740.M42

The 42ND Millenium. A thousand years from the Imperium we know now.

-Dirge

 

[drake1813]

Really nice idea. But wouldn't the whole imperium be after these guys for heresy? The imperium is REALLY religious you know.

 

[CATzeentch]

Dude i love this story. it gives a sense of calm behavior that we all know that tyranids have. But at the same time we can't shake the fact that it could be a cat toying with its food. Its BRILLIANT!!:biggrin:

 

[Dirge Eterna]

@Drake: The Adepta Biologis captures, studies, and executes Xenos (Aliens), Witches, and Mutants. Xenology, a Black Library book, is based off their findings.

@CATzeentch: Thank you. I have some more plans for The Lictor...but you'll have to wait and see them. *Maniacal Laughter*

-Dirge

 

[angels of fire]

I always wanted to know what would happen in the 42nd millenium. I like the idea of the tau being destroyed never really liked them myself :grin:

 

[Dirge Eterna]

If you'll notice, the two races I rant on about hating (Weedy mech Tau and Ultrabeakies) have both been convieniently destroyed.

It's a good universe. No more righteous blue dudes and weedy tan xenos.

-Dirge

 

[angels of fire]

To right, kill the smurfs then wipe out the wimps ...its natural selection:biggrin:

 

[Dirge Eterna]

Well, before I get too off-track......
________________________________________

The Lictor watched in fascination as the men walked down a thin gangplank set across the struts of the ship. One was fat, and had a beard growing from under his hood. The second was skinny and looked sick. He had a scarf tied over his forehead, and twitched occasionally. Behind them, a massive black-armored giant clutched an equally massive weapon. A small procession of Guardsmen were behind the warrior, with lasguns and a ragged leader with a glowing blade tied around his waist.

The Lictor's eyes took each of them apart. The first man was obviously the Security Chief. The fat man's form was tightly wrapped in carapace armor and he had a shotgun on his back. The second was a Navigator, no doubt. The twitchy man's scarf moved every once in a while, revealing his third Warp Eye. The giant was a Space Marine, probably one of the Deathwatch. And the Guardsmen looked different from regular prey the Lictor had hunted as part of the Hive Mind, so it thought the men must be higher ranking.

The men entered the small, smoke-filled room soon after this, each of them bowing before Inquisitor Saphentis before taking a seat.

"Gentlemen," began the Inquisitor. "My lady." he said. An equally twitchy young woman at the back nodded. "We have a situation aboard this ship."

The crowd looked at each other.

"As you know, we picked up a member of the Lictor genus five days ago at the Biologis institute. It escaped yesterday. I have already punished the men responsible."

The lights dimmed, and The Lictor's eyes dialated to adjust to the dark. It's scales rippled as they turned black.

"The Lictor," Saphentis droned. "Is a vanguard-class predator, declared Xenos Horriblis by the Ordo Xenos over a thousand years ago. It was part of the Tyranid race until the Great Schism, where the Carnifex, Lictor, and Hormagaunt genus split from the main whole and began the civil war amongst the Hive Fleets. We now know of a single creature that appears to indicate sentience among the fleets, possible signs of more than just a weapon. You will instruct your fireteams to hurt it. Not kill it, or the Ordo Xenos will have more food for it's pens."

The assembled crowd was silent.

"Dismissed." said Saphentis.

The Lictor, unseen high in the rafters, slowly crawled back into the vent system, to it's makeshift home among the dark places of Explorator

 

[angels of fire]

An inter-tyranid cyvil war im liking this even more now....my moneys on the lictors :biggrin:

 

[Dirge Eterna]

Wow! I've been gone for some time, but here's the next part.
__________________________________________________________________

Sergeant Tobias Rableq had never fought Tyranids. His regiment, the 402nd Death Korps, had spent the last six years fighting Orks on Tranquility, a somewhat ironic name. His helmet sat heavily on his head, and he had unbuttoned his hot trenchcoat. The dark fabric caught on his autogun. He cursed.

"Did you say something sir? I didn't quite catch that?" a trooper said over the comm.

Rableq sighed. The squad had lost five of it's men on Tranquility, and they had 5 FNG's. Frakking New Guys, as they said.

"Nothing."

He pushed his mask down onto his chest, the heavy metal skull set into it making him uncomfortable. His men looked around nervously, autoguns at the ready. A few had brought the torches from the Explorator's rooms, as most of the power was currently in use by the Warp Engines and the Geller field, keeping the ship hurtling towards the Xenos research station Tribunica. Rableq felt around until his hand closed on his comm.

"This is patrol DK402-2, Deck C port gundeck clear."

"Roger DK402-2, proceed to Deck C port barracks."

"Recieved and executing."

Rableq was just thinking how nice his leave on Tribunica would be, when everything turned to hell.
________________________________________________________________________

The Lictor had watched the small procession move down the decks, past row upon row of massive ship-to-ship guns. It watched as the leader pulled a small device from his pockets and spoke into it.

"Recieved and executing."

The Lictor realized the man was walking directly towards it. The Lictor sprang, and landing directly in front of the squad. The men broke. Several took ill-aimed shots, pattering the area around the Lictor with fire. One shot bounced off it's chest armor, barely scratching the reinforced chitin. They all formed up into a firing line, and waved their weapons. One swung a torch at the Lictor, screaming.

"Back! Monster! Back! I warned ya!"

The Lictor pinched the torch head between it's fingers. A small hiss of dying smoke lifted from the black torch. The men looked at each other.

Their sergeant, a man in a long black coat with 402 stamped on his helmet, stood forward shakily. A fat Inquisitorial Mandate in his hand.

"B-By order of the I-Inquisiton, y-you are under a-arrest for the charges of g-grand heresy, e-e-escaping from s-sanctioned captivity, a-and being a x-xenos, y-you are ordered t-to report t-to a secure h-holding cell....p-please?"

The last word was strained as the Lictor hung over him.

The Lictor growled softly. It offered Rableq it's massive claws as he reached for a pair of manacles.

 

[angels of fire]

:laugh: that lictor scared the shit out of them more more more its getting good keep up the good work :biggrin:

 

[vorbis]

me likey long time