Stories of Warhammer 40k (sci-fi gothic)

[Koto Tomoya]

So for the longest time i've been playing a tabletop wargame called Warhammer 40k, for those that don't know it, Warhammer 40k is a game that encompasses war tactics for different sets of armies which are then pitted against one another in small and epic scale battles. Each of the races have a rich story line that drives them towards destruction and conquest, and these are their tales. (P.S. If you don't follow some of the terminology, then feel free to ask, but try and keep your posts as quotes linked to the story post so i know what you're referring to. Cheers and happy reading!)



It is the Dawn of the 41'st Millenia and there is only war...

It is a dark age for man to cross the infinite void where hapless battles and invasions occur, consuming entire worlds in their wake. demons tear rifts in the very fabric of reality to spread their evil and corrupt champions, aliens drive themselves in hoards to consume, devour and destroy. Only complete domination will ever end the raging fire across the stars and unfortunately the end seems nowhere in sight...

This thread is a chronicle of the stories of man and beast alike, woven to create a tapestry of this dark future and whomever takes up the task of reading these tales will know of humour, disgust, betrayal, sorrow, conquest, greed, vengeance and divine wrath...

So let us begin our first tale of many...

[Koto Tomoya]

"Take cover!!" Captain Archea quickly fell to the ground with the rest of his brothers as another swarm of crude missiles flew over their heads, detonating some fifty feet behind them in an explosion of black and red ember, scattering scorching shrapnel in every direction, but even the sound of the explosion couldn't drown out the never ending screams and war cries of the orks as they began their charge.
Now prone, the captain zoomed in on the approaching green tide with his optics, scanning the war front and sending the information to his company's squadron of land raiders which in turn was sent to the eight earth shaker cannons the imperial guard had mounted on the ridge behind them.

"All batteries fire!" he ordered and then smiled as he felt the ground beneath him tremble slightly with each percussive shot from the heavy artillery on the ridge followed by the well aimed blasts of the heavy las-cannons mounted on the land raiders.
He watched as one bright las beam tore over a primitive ork waggon, instantly melting through the heavy iron plates and into the engine which detonated tremendously, and then the artillery struck, the cannons living up to their name as they made the ground tremble and quake upon each destructive impact, the first scattering a group of warbuggies flipping them like a group of small toy cars next to an exploding grenade, and the rest of the massive shells hit in amidst the tightly clustered horde spattering the survivors with a mix of blood, bone, mud and body parts.

But even though a heavy blow had been dealt to their numbers, the orks did not deter and kept running, raising their crude choppas over their heads and firing all of their weapons in a frenzy as a mighty warcry came from the entire army, echoing all over the planet wide assault as the sound was heard by each ork who howled the same thing as they charged fourth.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"


"Stand ready brothers... This is a fight we shall not lose..." said the captain softly, his voice carrying to the members of his unit through their communications system as he revved his chain sword, the hoard of greenskins now closing in.
He growled as he stood, removing his helmet and tossing it aside so he could look at the wretched mutants with his own eyes before he let out his own furious battle cry that was repeated to the entire army waiting behind him "FOR THE EMPEROR!!!! FOR MANKIND!!!!"
And with that, he charged, followed by his squadron into the inevitable melee.

His sword was true, ripping through each ork with ease as the adamantium teeth bit into the greenskins like a ferocious beast, but he did not underestimate his foe as one ork jumped on his back to bring it's crude pistol to his head.
He snapped his neck back, headbutting the ork to the ground before turning with his own glowing pistol and discharging a flaming ball of hot blue plasma into the ugly creature's mouth causing his closest companions to recoil in fear, except for one.

This type of ork was commonly referred to as a nob and differed from his companions in the fact that he was larger, stronger, had bigger teeth and an even bigger choppa that was already raised over his head.
Archea raised his hand and side-stepped to deflect the blade, but luckily the axe-like weapon slipped by, glancing off his shoulder pauldron and imbedded itself in the ground.


This made the ork furious as he ripped the axe from the dirt with a primitive snarl only to jump back, narrowly avoiding the ripping teeth of the chain sword, spinning around as he brought the iron handle of the axe up just in time to bar the sword from slicing through his skull, the adamantium teeth showering sparks before catching on the shaft and grinding to a halt. He raised his axe higher and drew closer to the captain, his hot, fetid breath filling the captains nose as the beast panted like a ravenous animal.

"Yah fight pretty good fer a git, but ya gotta rememba..." It grinned savagely, bearing it's jagged yellow teeth before nodding at the grot that had snuck up behind the marine.
With a look of gleeful malice the smaller, thinner goblin-like creature sank a rusty dagger into the knee joint of the marine's armor.
"Orks is best..." the ork growled savagely then grinned hungrily as he looked down at the new skull for his collection back home.


Archea gritted his teeth in pain as the grot stabbed his knee over and over. He could feel his strength failing as he tried to hold up the intense weight of the ork's attack. But luckily before any more harm was done, the defense system of the power armor was activated, sending a deadly current through the knife and up the grot's arm, making the small ugly goblin shriek with pain as the powerful current fried his brain.
He grunted as the knife was pulled out with a gush of blood, the wounds instantly being sprayed with an advanced foam antiseptic inside the armor that expanded to slow down the bleeding.

He strained with all of his might, the hydraulics of his armor hissing and groaning as he slowly raised himself back up to the surprise of his bestial foe, a snarl of defiance and disgust on his face "It is the God Emperor that rules this galaxy you primitive fungus and don't you forget it..."

And with that he dropped his hand from holding up his sword to rip a pull pin out of one of the stikbombs dangling from the ork's hip.
The nob let out a surprised shout and dropped his axe as his hands franticly went down to the bombs, but then it looked up and roared, grabbing the marine's arm in it's tough grip before jumping and tackling him, rolling on the ground.
"If I is gonna blow den so're you ya stinkin' git!!!"
Archea barely had time to raise his arm to his face before the explosion went off, tossing three tons of adamantium and genetically enhanced super soldier back towards his brothers.

He landed in a fox hole, the chunks of shrapnel lodged in his profusely bleeding sternum had also broken many bones and punctured one set of his four lungs. He drew a long, shuddering, pain filled breath, barely making out the image of one of his brothers jumping in to save him before he blacked out.



---------- End of Chapter 1 ----------

[Koto Tomoya]

The winds howled outside as the thunderhawk gunship traveled over the vast red desert of Baal. inside its soul occupants were motionless and silent, like tall blood red statues, their piercing green eyes eerily lighting the transport bay and their massive firearms resting in their ready hands as they all remembered the place they were going.

It seemed so long ago that these towering demigods were merely starving orphans forced to travel over this very desert by foot, battling horrid giant rust colored scorpions, the only native creature to this harsh, unforgiving environment as well as frequent choking sand storms and the intense burning heat of the day. But they had survived and had reached Angel Falls where they had been pitted against one another to prove themselves not only worthy of carrying the blood of the Sanguinor but also to prove themselves worthy of carrying the weight of humanity on their shoulders. They had each been shut away for a year in an iron coffin to allow the blood of their lord to flow through their veins, changing them, making them stronger. The day they had been let out was the day that their fears had finally disappeared...

Ju'on and his brothers were space marines now, and had been for the past fifty years, and now they were going back to where their birth had begun to watch as the new initiates took to the arena to prove themselves worthy of bearing the title of the Blood Angels...

The thunderhawk began to slow as Ju'on looked out of the window to see a large square of ordered youths gathered outside the doors of the arena, his optics telling him that there were over 234 new initiates willing to fight in the name of the god emperor of mankind... But only the chosen would be ready to face the horrors the galaxy would beset upon them.

A slight drop and vibration let him know they had landed. he got up and filed out in front of the others, the first glimpse of sunlight shining off his bolter as he stepped onto the hot sand next to the large group of youths who looked up at him with mixtures awe and fear as his lieutenants stood behind him, casting long shadows over the young men. Ju'on brought his hands to his head, removing the helmet with a hiss.

His face was that of a man hardened by countless years of service and a long scar ran up his right cheek and over his shaven head where a small metal plate had been grafted on top. His eyes scanned each of the young men in front of him with unwavering focus, as though he were peering into their very minds and he could see they were all frightened, even the boys who held their heads high and stern showed fear deep within their souls.

Without a word he turned to his men and motioned them to get back on the transport which they did and as they took off all of the boys looked at him expectantly. "Each of you was chosen to walk the desert because you have lacked purpose... If it is gold and treasure you seek from us then you would be better off still looking for it out there" he said as he pointed to the vast unforgiving wasteland "But if you have true purpose and honor then hope is not lost on you yet... I am one of thousands chosen to fight for mankind and will be watching you all today as you go through your final initiation... We cannot judge though, for that is your decision, to live or to die... and the second option is the only way you will leave this life when you serve the emperor and his people..."

Suddenly the doors of the massive wall behind him slowly opened.
"So what shall it be? Will you show your true mettle this day and begin your life anew? Or will you continue to wallow in the sand shrouded the the cloak of your shame..."
"I will show you my mettle honored marine!" came a shout followed by another and another until all of the young men were cheering with approval.

Ju'on raised his arms as the young men rushed by him, running towards the now open doors of the arena, as they entered, he could hear the thunderous cheering of his brothers from the stands surrounding the ring, the giant stone doors closing just as the boys began to draw swords from the racks lined against the walls. soon the tiles of the arena would be stained with the blood of many and Sanguinus would renew the strongest soldiers in the galaxy with his sacred blood again...

[Koto Tomoya]

"Oh Emperor of mankind... Take this soul so it may serve you in eternal servitude..."
Archea was teetering on the brink of death, his head flooded with images of the never ending battle that waged in the immaterium between the demons of the warp and the souls of mankind's greatest warriors.
He then saw him, a tall figure clad in shining golden armor, surrounded by marines of every chapter who busily hacked and slashed at the ever changing demons of the warp.
The god Emperor turned his head, looking at him with eyes that seemed to pierce his very soul as though he were weighing his worth and prestige before giving him a subtle nod to join them in their battle.
Just as Archea's soul was on the verge of stepping closer, he felt a sharp tug at his back that grew stronger and stronger until he felt his soul being dragged from his comrades back into the matterium.
Just as he left, he heard the god emperor speak to him.
"You are a worthy soldier, but your time has not come yet to join us... Go back to your men... They still need you..."

He suddenly cried out in pain as he opened his eyes, his body twitching in the after effects of the low voltage shock. There were four men in Ultramarine armor standing over him, silhouetted by the bright medical light overhead as the servitor pulled back the four paddles that had been pressed firmly over his two (now) beating hearts.

The first he recognized as his company librarian, a powerful psyker who wore an armored cowl and phsycic hood to hold back and direct the immense mental energies his mind could produce. As his eyes adjusted he noted the second marine as his ranking officer, lieutenant Malthros who's eyes had seen countless battles over the course of his one-hundred-and-fifty-five year service.
The third was the Apothecary who was currently holding a multitude of thick needles attached to long black cables that went out of sight, but the fourth was unmistakable due to the large machine claws and mechandrites coming from his power pack, his grey armor bore the symbol of the Ultramarines and was garnished with lavish silver inlay that he had only seen on tapestries depicting him. It was none other than the Ultramarines master of the forge, Fennais Maxim...

The Apothecary looked at his vitals displayed on the holosphere next to the operating table "He is awake... His vitals appear stable..." "We almost lost you brother captain... I have been holding you back from the threshold for quite some time" said the librarian before muttering a small soliloquy of thanks to the Emperor.
Archea made to speak, but all that came out was the garble of a vox as he coughed, now noticing that his voice box was gone, replaced with a mettalic one now strapped to his neck.
"H... How long was I on the brink?" the vox on his neck spat with static.
"Almost two weeks..." Malthros said softly "Rest now brother, the battle was won and every last ork has been exterminated from his eminence's planet, but we carry unfortunate news... Your body has been left crippled by the blast..."
"That is why I am here" said the deep voice of Talius as he looked over the broken marine with a thin smile "Your enemies may have taken your legs brother marine, but I will be providing you with a new pair... One that should last you over one hundred lifetimes... That is, if you have the will to live that long..."
"I will serve until I meet the emperor again my brothers.... Even if it takes me a million years to do so..." said Archea as he twinged from the needle the apothecary had slid into his neck, followed by another and another
"Good... Then I will have my men begin the preparations... Your coffin awaits its new master..."

---------- End of Chapter 2 ----------