i want everyone to know that this will be like the heresy so no absolutely uber characters if you know what i mean. it will be epic last stands and treachery and the like. hope you all have a great weekend. i know i said no uber characters or companies and my company may seem like it at first but keep reading and you will find out they are screwed. here is the opening scene the timeline for this moment is maybe about a week before the astropathic message reaches anyone;
Captain Vilhelm Ironheart of the Iron Warriors Legion Astartes unconsciously itched his left arm, he had had a bionic replacement grafted on only ten years ago because of the ministrations of an ork cleaver. He and his battlecompany had been stationed on this piss poor excuse of a planet for some time before they were supposed to be relieved and brought back to their legion and primarch. But four weeks ago when they were supposed to pack up and go home they had received a message from their primarch, Perturabo, signed by the Warmaster, ordering them to stay put.
His men had greeted the information as was expected, groans and yells of curses. But what the Warmaster said had to be done, he was the Emperor’s proxy after all. The system they defended didn’t even have a name it was so damned useless, he often wondered why it needed protecting, especially by ones who were so skilled in their arts that it would be a waste to have them here. He was on his usual inspection of the fortress’s defenses when the first ball of fire hit the walls. His men immediately reacted, their training in siege and defense warfare suddenly coming to the fore. His company of space marines was the best his legion had to boast, and his legion certainly had a lot to boast about in this sort of theater. Immediately reports flooded into his ear from all over the fortress of what had happened. A ball of warpfire had hit the southern wall and, thankfully, dissipated.
“I want a schematic on the area that was hit. Why could it have been targeted, what was the purpose of the shot, and where the hell did that come from?” His orders were answered quickly, “That area of the wall is of no difference to the others lord, the only pertinent information is that that is where Chaplain Fraum of the Word Bearers and his small force are located, purpose of the shot could have been targeting them but how the assailant would know of them is unknown.” came the first reply. The next quickly followed, “Five clicks from the southern wall was where the heat signature first originated, firing solutions are already plotted on other areas where such attacks might come from and the guns are ready to fire at your command lord.” Captain Vilhelm hauled himself through a pair of blast doors, his huge terminator armor making the giant doors seem tiny. He smiled at his men’s responses, they were the best in the galaxy, even better than the damned Imperial Fists. “Yellow bastards…..”he muttered under his breath.
He walked into his war room where numerous legion serfs, tacticians, and his squad were bustling around. The Iron Warriors fortress was located at the top of a huge slopping hill. The land around it was flat with nothing for cover for miles around; it was the perfect place for a fortress. It served as a base for the marines to protect the system from intruders. Although the system and the planet they were on were barren rocks the system was a backdoor to the Imperium and so was deemed highly valuable, hence the Iron Warriors’ presence. His subordinates in command were not present as they were more needed at the positions in the defenses than in here where their skills would be useless. He looked the information flooding in up and down and drank it up. He shifted uncomfortably in his siege pattern terminator armor, an awkward movement for someone armored in such thick, gigantic plates. He thought of the armaments that he had in this fortress and made some quick calculations, they could hold out until reinforcements arrived, however long that was. As long as his men knew reinforcements were coming they could hold out indefinitely, give a man hope and he would trudge on for eternity. The only issue he could think of was the large number of recruits that his company had, their last battle had been a great victory but the cost was high and he had over two hundred recruits. He knew they were ready for battle, but still they had not been in a true siege yet, especially one where they were not the ones committing the siege. He knew that his men did not know yet what he did now, maybe a few had made the connections like he did, but they were few. Most of his one thousand marines were armored in Mark IV Crusader Pattern Armor that was outfitted with more armor for siege and defense. It was a bulkier version of the Mark IV plating that, while adding defensive capabilities, took away some movement speed but that was a minimal loss. Exactly three hundred of his men were armored in Tactical Dreadnought Armor, or Terminator Armor. Although most legions had been issued a few of these precious suits, the sons of Perturabo had been gifted the most due to their style of warfare. Not only this but they were given a special pattern of Terminator Armor not yet revealed to other legions, the Siege Pattern.
It was bulkier than normal Terminator armor if that was possible, had tougher armor, increased stabilizing systems, and bigger weapons armaments. They could mount two lascannons, one attached to each shoulder, two assault cannons which acted as large caliber machine guns that could tear apart any infantry and even small light vehicles attached on the plating above the head area, two storm bolters on each gauntlet and depending on the warrior’s preference either power claws or power fists. Even though that was the average weapons array some had plasma cannons instead of lascannons and the number of these was split down the middle. Every marine in Tactical Dreadnought Armor was clad in this siege pattern, about one hundred fifty mounting lascannons and the other one hundred and fifty plasma cannons. Besides all these weapons he still had numerous predators, land raiders, vindicators, whirlwinds, basilisks, and four Baneblade pattern super heavy tanks. He looked over the information one more time before letting his men know what they were facing, none seemed frightened, they only steeled themselves for a hellish assault. He shook his head as he saw portals open five clicks away from each wall on the viewscreen, he thought he saw something moving at the bottom of the portals and zoomed the pic recorder in. Just as he realized what was opening the portals a menial came rushing in, “Lord! The Word Bearers are no where to be found and sergeant Crespi has been rushed to the apothecarion with grievous wounds!” He cursed under his breath he knew that there were astartes bodies under portals, Sergeant Victor Crespi was the head of the new recruits, that must mean….. “Alright men we have traitors in our midst! Lorgar’s sons have shown us their true colors they have somehow managed to take our younglings from us! Astartes who have yet to feel the joy of battle! I know not how deep this goes but steel yourselves to kill your once brothers! I….”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence as the east wall blew out in a huge explosion, shaking the fortress. “Report!” he called. Coar, the head of that wall answered him, “The eastern wall has collapsed my lord! Someone had rigged explosives to one of the basilisks in the wall, we have ten men down the others are pulling themselves out of the rubble as we speak!” He yelled into his vox, “I will be with you shortly Coar, we are going to need to hold that breach. I want two baneblades at that breach now! Move out!” He turned to Angelica, his head astropath, “I want you to send out a distress call immediately, the highest code level, Omega. We need reinforcements fast Angelica do not disappoint me.” She nodded as he walked away. As the two baneblades pulled up behind him and the barriers his warriors were already setting up he let his mind drift to what he had found out. Traitors…..their own brothers attempted to kill one of his veteran sergeants and blew a hole in his defenses. The shock of it was yet to seep in and he would not allow it until he made sure each traitor had been gunned down mercilessly. His men would react the same way, they were Iron Warriors and they showed no mercy to their foes. In his bitter reverie he heard another explosion and saw the tank depot go up in flames, "Warp take them!" He heard one of his retinue say. All of their tanks were in that depot, all of the predators except the four in the courtyard were gone and their landraiders too. That left them with two baneblades, four predators and the basilisks, whirlwinds and vindicators in the walls.
He raised his fist to the air as he got the confirmation that the astropathic message had been sent. their ship, The Implacable was currently dueling with the Word Bearers strike cruiser, he could expect no help from that quarter, but his men were the best. "Brothers, we are surrounded on all sides. There is a definate chance that many astartes will perish today," he heard the menial who was watching the viewscreen on his comms, -lord the astartes are on the move and they have....they have...daemons....- he answered back -do not worry friend we will die as heroes this day- he continued his speech, "It appears no one has bothered to tell the Word Bearers that these favour us in every way!" he heard his men cheer, "For the Emperor and Olympia!" His men cheered. He yelled again, "Iron within!" they yelled back "Iron without!" He looked out to the wastes where the portals had opened, "Emperor watch over us...." he whispered.
Captain Vilhelm Ironheart of the Iron Warriors Legion Astartes unconsciously itched his left arm, he had had a bionic replacement grafted on only ten years ago because of the ministrations of an ork cleaver. He and his battlecompany had been stationed on this piss poor excuse of a planet for some time before they were supposed to be relieved and brought back to their legion and primarch. But four weeks ago when they were supposed to pack up and go home they had received a message from their primarch, Perturabo, signed by the Warmaster, ordering them to stay put.
His men had greeted the information as was expected, groans and yells of curses. But what the Warmaster said had to be done, he was the Emperor’s proxy after all. The system they defended didn’t even have a name it was so damned useless, he often wondered why it needed protecting, especially by ones who were so skilled in their arts that it would be a waste to have them here. He was on his usual inspection of the fortress’s defenses when the first ball of fire hit the walls. His men immediately reacted, their training in siege and defense warfare suddenly coming to the fore. His company of space marines was the best his legion had to boast, and his legion certainly had a lot to boast about in this sort of theater. Immediately reports flooded into his ear from all over the fortress of what had happened. A ball of warpfire had hit the southern wall and, thankfully, dissipated.
“I want a schematic on the area that was hit. Why could it have been targeted, what was the purpose of the shot, and where the hell did that come from?” His orders were answered quickly, “That area of the wall is of no difference to the others lord, the only pertinent information is that that is where Chaplain Fraum of the Word Bearers and his small force are located, purpose of the shot could have been targeting them but how the assailant would know of them is unknown.” came the first reply. The next quickly followed, “Five clicks from the southern wall was where the heat signature first originated, firing solutions are already plotted on other areas where such attacks might come from and the guns are ready to fire at your command lord.” Captain Vilhelm hauled himself through a pair of blast doors, his huge terminator armor making the giant doors seem tiny. He smiled at his men’s responses, they were the best in the galaxy, even better than the damned Imperial Fists. “Yellow bastards…..”he muttered under his breath.
He walked into his war room where numerous legion serfs, tacticians, and his squad were bustling around. The Iron Warriors fortress was located at the top of a huge slopping hill. The land around it was flat with nothing for cover for miles around; it was the perfect place for a fortress. It served as a base for the marines to protect the system from intruders. Although the system and the planet they were on were barren rocks the system was a backdoor to the Imperium and so was deemed highly valuable, hence the Iron Warriors’ presence. His subordinates in command were not present as they were more needed at the positions in the defenses than in here where their skills would be useless. He looked the information flooding in up and down and drank it up. He shifted uncomfortably in his siege pattern terminator armor, an awkward movement for someone armored in such thick, gigantic plates. He thought of the armaments that he had in this fortress and made some quick calculations, they could hold out until reinforcements arrived, however long that was. As long as his men knew reinforcements were coming they could hold out indefinitely, give a man hope and he would trudge on for eternity. The only issue he could think of was the large number of recruits that his company had, their last battle had been a great victory but the cost was high and he had over two hundred recruits. He knew they were ready for battle, but still they had not been in a true siege yet, especially one where they were not the ones committing the siege. He knew that his men did not know yet what he did now, maybe a few had made the connections like he did, but they were few. Most of his one thousand marines were armored in Mark IV Crusader Pattern Armor that was outfitted with more armor for siege and defense. It was a bulkier version of the Mark IV plating that, while adding defensive capabilities, took away some movement speed but that was a minimal loss. Exactly three hundred of his men were armored in Tactical Dreadnought Armor, or Terminator Armor. Although most legions had been issued a few of these precious suits, the sons of Perturabo had been gifted the most due to their style of warfare. Not only this but they were given a special pattern of Terminator Armor not yet revealed to other legions, the Siege Pattern.
It was bulkier than normal Terminator armor if that was possible, had tougher armor, increased stabilizing systems, and bigger weapons armaments. They could mount two lascannons, one attached to each shoulder, two assault cannons which acted as large caliber machine guns that could tear apart any infantry and even small light vehicles attached on the plating above the head area, two storm bolters on each gauntlet and depending on the warrior’s preference either power claws or power fists. Even though that was the average weapons array some had plasma cannons instead of lascannons and the number of these was split down the middle. Every marine in Tactical Dreadnought Armor was clad in this siege pattern, about one hundred fifty mounting lascannons and the other one hundred and fifty plasma cannons. Besides all these weapons he still had numerous predators, land raiders, vindicators, whirlwinds, basilisks, and four Baneblade pattern super heavy tanks. He looked over the information one more time before letting his men know what they were facing, none seemed frightened, they only steeled themselves for a hellish assault. He shook his head as he saw portals open five clicks away from each wall on the viewscreen, he thought he saw something moving at the bottom of the portals and zoomed the pic recorder in. Just as he realized what was opening the portals a menial came rushing in, “Lord! The Word Bearers are no where to be found and sergeant Crespi has been rushed to the apothecarion with grievous wounds!” He cursed under his breath he knew that there were astartes bodies under portals, Sergeant Victor Crespi was the head of the new recruits, that must mean….. “Alright men we have traitors in our midst! Lorgar’s sons have shown us their true colors they have somehow managed to take our younglings from us! Astartes who have yet to feel the joy of battle! I know not how deep this goes but steel yourselves to kill your once brothers! I….”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence as the east wall blew out in a huge explosion, shaking the fortress. “Report!” he called. Coar, the head of that wall answered him, “The eastern wall has collapsed my lord! Someone had rigged explosives to one of the basilisks in the wall, we have ten men down the others are pulling themselves out of the rubble as we speak!” He yelled into his vox, “I will be with you shortly Coar, we are going to need to hold that breach. I want two baneblades at that breach now! Move out!” He turned to Angelica, his head astropath, “I want you to send out a distress call immediately, the highest code level, Omega. We need reinforcements fast Angelica do not disappoint me.” She nodded as he walked away. As the two baneblades pulled up behind him and the barriers his warriors were already setting up he let his mind drift to what he had found out. Traitors…..their own brothers attempted to kill one of his veteran sergeants and blew a hole in his defenses. The shock of it was yet to seep in and he would not allow it until he made sure each traitor had been gunned down mercilessly. His men would react the same way, they were Iron Warriors and they showed no mercy to their foes. In his bitter reverie he heard another explosion and saw the tank depot go up in flames, "Warp take them!" He heard one of his retinue say. All of their tanks were in that depot, all of the predators except the four in the courtyard were gone and their landraiders too. That left them with two baneblades, four predators and the basilisks, whirlwinds and vindicators in the walls.
He raised his fist to the air as he got the confirmation that the astropathic message had been sent. their ship, The Implacable was currently dueling with the Word Bearers strike cruiser, he could expect no help from that quarter, but his men were the best. "Brothers, we are surrounded on all sides. There is a definate chance that many astartes will perish today," he heard the menial who was watching the viewscreen on his comms, -lord the astartes are on the move and they have....they have...daemons....- he answered back -do not worry friend we will die as heroes this day- he continued his speech, "It appears no one has bothered to tell the Word Bearers that these favour us in every way!" he heard his men cheer, "For the Emperor and Olympia!" His men cheered. He yelled again, "Iron within!" they yelled back "Iron without!" He looked out to the wastes where the portals had opened, "Emperor watch over us...." he whispered.
