Sunday 16 May 2010

Death stalks the Underhive

Fear was etched onto his face, the abject terror in his eyes cast fleeting glances at everything around him. He was running for his life.
Proctor Corban fled through the darkness, never stopping, desperate to escape the creeping death that stalked him. . .

45mins earlier. . .
The lift clanked and rattled as it proceeded further into the underhive carrying the 10 Arbites into the pit below.
Corban turned to the others 'This is a simple operation, we go in take the bastard down and drag his worthless hide back to precinct so that he can have his personal brand of Imperial Justice. Got that?'
'What are we facing sir?'
'Well' started Corban 'Apparently this guy has butchered his way through hab blocks 39 through 87 leaving no survivors and he's done it quieter than a heretic in a convent'
'Right. . .'
'Anyway, last stop people, lock and load! We're in for one wild night.'

Corban was exhausted the carapace armour feeling leaden, it really wasn't designed for this he mused. He stripped the breastplate off reflecting on what little it had done to protect his squadmates. . .

30mins earlier. . .
'Sir you might want to have a look at this'
'Oh for frak sake Jones you're probably jumping at shadows again'
'Knock it off Bateman' berated Corban 'What do you see Jones?'
'Looks like some sort of hive'
Corban moved over to Jones and shined his illuminator into the blackness ahead
'Frak'
That was when they died, Corban watched, first Jones torn in half by a four armed monster from nightmares. Then more of them came, Wills and Becks were dragged into an opening screaming whilst Cramer screamed as bio-acid ate away at his face.
By this time shotguns were blasting the beasts but there were too many. More screams came from the squad and Corban shouted
'Fall back, fire and movement, back to the lift'
It was already too late.

Now Corban was the only one left, and he didn't know how long that would last. Finally the lift came into view, a beacon of hope for his survival.
Corban dived through the doorway and slammed his palm into the switch setting the lift onto its course upwards.
Finally he sat and relaxed. The sound of chittering and clicking of claws came from above.
Proctor Corban's scream was silenced before his brain realised he was already dead.

Wednesday 31 March 2010

The Invincible

Captain Jamesosn looked throug the Armourcrys into the empty gulf beyond
'This is the Invincible of patrol squadron Beta-3 approaching Reach eta 10mins'
Silence
'Reach Central this is the Invincible please respond'
Once again silence
'Sir, Vox is down'
'What?' replied Jameson
'Sir the entire coms unit is dead, I'm just getting static'
'Captain, Reach coming into view. . . now'
'Dear Emperor' whispered Jameson
'Where is it?' asked an ensign
'Son, we're looking at it'
The bridge fell silent as the dead world stared back at them
Suddenly all hell broke loose
'The Endeavour is reporting heavy damage!'
'Decks 15A through to 21G are open to the void!'
'I've got multiple life signatures approaching!'
'From where?' blustered Jameson
The officer manning the auspex stopped and stared in abject horror
'Everwhere'
'Endeavour is off our scopes, I am reading a massive radiation burst off the starboard bow'
Jameson snapped into action
'Get port and starboard batteries firing now, wake that damn psyker and get a distress signal to Central Command'
'Yes Sir!'
Jameson tapped the controls on his command chair and the shipboard intercom crackled into life.
'This is the Captain, the ship is under attack, I want everone to battle stations in less than 2 minutes, I repeat this is a Code Black, all crew to battle staions'
Cogs cranked and ancient machinery began to move as the labour crews heaved enormous weight into position. A deafening roar broke over the ship as the Invincible's main gun batteries launched a crippling salvo into the huge creature attempting to engulf it.
Jameson got his first sight of the creature; covered in a thick carapace it would have looked more at home in the depths of the oceans rather than the edge of space.
Suddenly smaller organisms disgorged from all over the creature tearing apart the Invincible's armour plating and opening the ship to the vacuum of space.
He sat reading the damage reports flooding in with a resigned look in his eyes
'All hands abandon ship'
Crew franticly ran from the bridge to the escape pods, stampeding over those who fell over in a desperate attempt to save their selves.
Jameson took his time, flicking control switches as warning klaxons sounded all over the bridge. He hummed the tune of 'In The Emperor alone' as he brought the reactors up to critical levels
Sitting back in his chair and staring into the widenign maw of the creature he set the ship on a collision course.
'Welcome to Harmony you Xenos barstards!'
The reactors exploded and for a few seconds the population of the Harmony Sector could glimpse a new star in the sky, unbeknown of their forthcoming doom.

Sunday 21 February 2010

Battle for Bow River Bastion

Bow river bastion
On the hill above the last crossing over bow river, troopers gripped
their las rifles and looked nervously to the tree line. There hadn't
been time to clear the woods all the way back. Two batalions had given
their all to slow the Tyranid vangard, it had only barely been enough.
Out beyond the defense line, junior lieutenant jones was inspecting
the conscripts in the forward observation bunker. He had arrived on
post this morning, stowed his kit and gone out on a tour of the line.
He was half way through his lecture on the perils of social diseases
when the first genestealer emerged from the forrest The conscripts to
their credit got one shot off before the genestealers were amongst
them. The slaughter was brief, leaving the observation trench coated
in gore.

The struggle in the trench gave jones command squad enough
time to arm themselves with their flamers and send jets of Promethium
into the slit trench. The stealers screamed and writhed in the trench,
a few scrambled out and dove at the command squad, chopping down jones
and his squad.
Behind them, the darkness under the canopy roiled and vomited tyranid
horrors. The battle for the hill had begun.