Heresy of the Angry Marines (Pt 1)
The City
A horrible din rang across the battlefield, tugging at the ear-drums of the descending Astartes that dropped from their ship. On the other side of the ruined city, colors and noises let loose like unbridled stallions, the Emperor’s Children fired their infernal sonic weaponry, tearing building and citizen alike piece by piece. The pink armor-clad warriors of Chaos revelled in the destruction and pained screams, letting out their own twisted mockery of joyous laughter. The leader, a brute of a mortal Slaanesh worshipper, fired his weapons into the air, causing a fleeing escape shuttle to crumble and burst. The Chaos worshipper chuckled and looked to his ‘comrades’, forcing a pained snigger from within their ranks. The Noise Marine Captain cast a passing glance to the falling drop pods and ordered, but it was more of a suggestion, his ‘men’ to continue their merry-making. The city would fall to the Prince of Pleasure soon enough, once they’d sucked it dry.
One of the pods tilted in the sky, airborne debris clattering against the metallic hull of the transport, and veered ever so slightly off-course. The tiny change in direction brought the pod into contact with a massive spire of a building, smashing through the top and sending the pod spinning. The misaimed shell hit the ground on its side and it lay still. The sounds of battle and killing raged on, prompting an armored fist to punch one of the pod doors with such force that it flew off of its single hinge and imbedded itself into one of the quickly disintegrating buildings. The figure clambered out of the pod alone, its comrades inside dead from bullets and projectiles that pierced the inner walls.
“ASSAULT MARINE TYBER IN POSITION! WHAT NOW?” the Astartes screeched deafeningly into his vox. Luckily, the receivers were used to this, far more in fact than the fresh Astartes.
“RIP THEIR HEADS OFF AND RAM THEM UP THEIR ASSHOLES! USE YOUR BRAIN, DUMBASS! RIP THEM TO SHREDS!” the commander ordered to the solitary marine. He snapped his head to one side, looking for the enemy, then to the other, looking for allies. So far, none of the other Astartes had made planetfall and emerged from their pods. It seemed that Lynniel Tyber would be only one of the Chapter on the ground. Drawing a chainsword in each hand, Tyber activated his jump pack and set off, burning a trail through the sky. A sky that was beginning to fill with strange gas…
A lone Emperor’s Children legionnaire trudged through the street, searching for innocents to obliterate. Every so often, the chaos marine would stop and fill the street with cacophonous noise, for no other reason that it pleased him. Occasionally this filled a double purpose of drawing someone out from the shadows to run, but that wasn’t the main objective. As the marine continued his slow march down the labyrinthine streets, Tyber settled on top of a nearby building and saw the chaos marine. His fingers began to claw at the handles of his chainswords. He was feeling the great and powerful rage his chapter was famous for and it carried him off of the building and into the street. The Slaanesh worshipper only had the time to see Tyber right above his head.
“SURPRISE, DICKHEAD!” he shouted, placing a powerful kick to the marine’s helmet. The dazed servant of chaos found his back smashed into the wall and he raised his gun to retaliate. But, despite being a rookie, Tyber was fast. One strike split the noise gun down the middle; the other lopped it off from the handle down. The chaos marine made the mistake of discarding the weapon, giving Tyber the precious seconds to deliver a brutal sideways slash that cut the marine from the waist down. Unable to do anything, the Chaos worshipper tried his best to crawl away, but a swift kick to the backside sent him hurtling into a building, broken and killed. Tyber turned away from his first battlefield kill to pursue more, having spotted a major disturbance in the middle of the city.
“ARGENT, WHERE ARE YOU?”
“MAJOR SHIT GOING DOWN IN THE TOWN SQUARE, LYNNIEL. SLAANESHI FUCKS ARE CRAWLING ALL OVER THE PLACE. IT’S LIKE A MOTHERFUCKING ORGY DOWN HERE!” Brother-Captain Argent Rex replied. Far more experienced than Tyber, Rex was an adept at channelling that insurmountable rage that the chapter was famous for into combat, something the rookie had yet to fully wrap his head around. Tyber and Rex ran into each other near the edge of the city square, the twisting streets diverting and turning them around. The two nearly crossed swords when they met, almost mistaking each other’s movement for chaos marines. “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING, ASSHOLE!” Rex shouted, a hint of brotherly fondness hidden in his rage. The assault marine lifted his foot and kicked a massive hole into the base of a building, collapsing a great part of it and giving Rex a path to go through. Not wanting to be outdone, Tyber activated his jump pack and rammed right through sections of rubble.
There was the old city square. Normally nothing out of the ordinary, that day the space was filled with a veritable sea of demons and their mortal servants, chaos marines and a new addition unwelcomed by the rest. The rest of the Astartes had landed and were laying waste to the Slaaneshi forces, cutting them down where they stood or turning them into improvised weapons that turned into bloody rags when smashed into the ceramite armor of the chaos marines. Tyber arrived at the back, near the penitent devastator squad.
“WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN? THE CHAPTER MASTER HIMSELF IS HERE, DICKWEED!”
“BEEN KILLING SLAANESHI DIPSHITS WITH MY CHAINSWORDS! YOU CAN’T DO THAT, SO SHUT THE FUCK UP!” A short stint of banter went back and forth between the two marines, before Tyber decided that there were too many enemies of the Emperor left standing. Jumping over the next assault marine, Tyber lit up his jump pack and starting to cut a path through the yowling enemies.
This was not going to plan at all. The Noise Marine Captain had in no way expected the entire chapter of the ANGRY MARINES to be sent to his ritual summoning. It was the biggest Slaaneshi gathering in the sector, so something was bound to be sent his way. This wasn’t supposed to be it. It was time to fall back into the Warp, regroup and try again when his god allowed. Spitting on another failure, the Captain began to open a portal for his own escape.
“NOT SO FAST, COCKMONGLING FUCK! WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO RUN AND LEAVE YOUR FORCES TO SLOW US DOWN! NOT FUCKING ME” The one who interrupted had a voice that inspired masses. But they were masses of bloodthirsty warriors and that voice carried the anger of the Imperium. Taking a moment to stop, the Captain saw the imposing figure of the Chapter Master himself.
“Didn’t know you were a man of honor, Temperus,” the Noise Marine jeered, earning a forced chuckle from the masses. Temperus Maximus took one mighty step onto the platform the chaos cultist stood upon with his highest subordinates and split him from groin to scalp in one fell blow. With him, the demonic forces went limp, their energy dissipating and their mortal allies cut down with frightening ease by the redoubled efforts of the Angry Marines. But something remained in the Chapter Master’s ears. “It’s not over. We will gnaw on your bones and devour this planet…” Temperus Maximus sensed something very dangerous. He was immune to the whisperings of Chaos, but here was a psychic tingle in his eardrum that heeded a warning.
“CHAPTER MASTER, WHAT IS HAPPENING?”
“NO FUCKING CLUE! BUT THERE’S MORE THAN DICK-DEMONS OUT HERE!” With that message ringing true in the ears of the marines, a massive rock, wreathed in flames and spewing magma, impacted the ground several miles to the west. This was not the only one, as dozens of the rocks started to rain down onto the planet’s surface, spelling doom for unprotected inhabitants.
Meteor Strike
“DOES THAT MEAN THE STORIES ARE TRUE? ABOUT THE THINGS THAT COME IN METEOR STORMS?” A more experienced assault marine asked.
“RIGHT THEN! LET’S FUCK UP THIS STORY!” The Chapter Master raised his fist in the air and the marines responded with a mirrored gesture and took off.
The Angry Marines, with a set objective, moved with incredible haste, the land seemingly turning to grease under their feet. The Chapter Master led the assault by foot, keeping his battle-brothers restrained with a silent aura of control. No brother would dare deny Temperus the first kill. Tyber learnt that on his first day. Never mess with Temperus or his brothers. The Chapter Master and the First Company stopped, nearly tumbling over the edge of a larger crater. Even through their power armor, the Astartes could feel the heat emanating from the occupants of the meteor clusters.
Out of nowhere and without a sound to pre-empt it, a spiny tail cased in obsidian impaled one of the Astartes on the edge, sending a spray of blood onto the armor of his nearest battle-brother. The body hung on the dangerous appendage for a second, the blood boiling and fizzling before the body was cast aside and the tail retreated into the scorched ground. The shocked marines stood idle in bewilderment for a second before exploding into a burning rage. Without orders, Angry Marines poured into the hole created by the tail, a few at the top blocking any from going further down. The brother at the very bottom saw a faint, orange glow in the darkness of the tunnel and struck at it with his chainswords. A grinding hiss permeated through the tunnel and the Master of Mindfuckery on hand, a certain Blaz Dune, made the declaration.
“IT’S THE EMPEROR-DAMNED TYRANIDS! ALL HANDS, KICK THOSE SONS-OF-TAU IN THE BALLS!” he shouted, disregarding the lack of tyranid genitals. The other Astartes responded with a resounding ‘IN THE BALLS!’ before flying over the crater lip and descending on what lay below. Despite the sight, none of the marines faltered. Below them, a titanic serpentine shape writhed in the depths of the crater, the rock like spines along its elongated form cutting light grooves into the rock. The creature, its huge head bristling with spines and jagged teeth, had but a moment to see dozens of Angry Marines descending on it like a pack of wolves. The marines attacked with vicious gusto, tearing open the armored hide of the great beast, spilling glowing orange liquid onto their gloves, boots and armor. Unbeknownst to the Astartes, the liquid, molten blood of their victim, was starting to etch marks into their protective casing, eating away slowly at their bright yellow armor. But the marines ignored this as they gutted what Dune identified as an overgrown Trygon. Some of the other Astartes congratulated Dune in being ‘A GOOD FUCKING NERD’ and gave him a heavy slap on the back. Tyber and company on the other hand were unsure of whether a single tyranid bioform was all that would be on the field of battle.
“WHERE ARE THE REST OF THOSE FUCKERS?” Brother-Captain Rex asked, setting his flaming gaze on Dune. Dune flipped the Forth Company captain off, the equivalent of a shrug amongst the battle-brothers. As the information master’s hand fell naturally at his waist, the Astartes felt a strong tremor under their feet.
“YOU FUCK-UP! YOU JINXED IT!” The Master of Mindfuckery shouted, barely restraining the powerful urge to throw his power sword at the Forth Company Captain. He knew Moarfistin would have approved. Before yet another inevitable scuffle between Astartes could start, another massive tyranid beast exploded from the ground beneath the main force of Angry Marines, sending battle-brothers flying in all directions. A few were skilled enough with their jump packs to start them up as soon as they could and bring down the beast from the head. Rex was the first marine to hit the giant, but even the impact of a powerful Astartes like him did nothing to the beast and it threw him off without effort. Other Angry Marines had a better plan, all grabbing what constituted a neck on the Trygon and pushing the beast. There would be much more effort needed to down the constantly moving tyranid like this, but the Astartes could not afford to give manpower. More tyranid bioforms, lumbering beasts that looked like living coals giving anger, were appearing from the holes in the ground. All of the beasts towered over the biggest of the Astartes.
“EMPEROR’S RIGHTEOUS ANGER! ALWAYS ANGRY!” Second Company Captain Satchel cheered. Nearby a group of marines, a smoldering giant loomed.
“ALL THE TIME!” the battle-brothers responded, charging into the thick of the fray. As if it was divine intervention from the Emperor himself, drop pods, much larger than those that housed Astartes, fell from the sky, the Slaaneshi fumes giving them the appearance of catching fire. One struck perfectly next to Dune and opened its metal doors to the world.
Dread
“EVEN IN DEATH, I STILL KICK ASS!” the mighty, inspiring form of a Belligerent Engine rumbled. The Emperor smiled at them that day, smiled an intimidating and terrifying grin for all the enemies of the Imperium to see. Dune laughed throatily and issued an order.
“CUT THEM TO PIECES, MOTHERFUCKERS!” He looked out at the ever growing horde of monstrous creatures, many standing higher than the heads of venerable dreadnoughts, and saw one beast that caught his eye. He was going to tear it apart. “I’M COMING FOR YOU, FUCKER!” With that, Dune kicked off the edge of the crater, a veritable cliff face, and descended on the tyranid horde.
On the battlefield below, a Warrior beast of unparalleled size duelled four Astartes with its matching serrated swords of bone, its armored hide belying its natural agility. The Angry Marines fighting it ducked and dived, leaping at the nimble beast to catch it and turn it inside-out. On his fall down, Dune caught the Warrior’s left upper arm and spun around the confused synapse creature. Showing the creature physical strength innate to the irate Astartes, he twisted the limb back, having surprising care not to slash his own face with the searing hot magma blade on the end of the forelimb. The Master of Mindfuckery snapped the arm back and in a single, fluid movement shoved the burning bio-weapon into the Warrior’s mouth. The beast screamed in pain, slicing blindly with its talons and a lucky strike impaled Dune’s elbow joint all the way through. The marine shouted an angry, pained yell and took hold of the Warrior’s other magma weapon, his grip slipping and the blade melting his glove and boiling the flesh on his hand. Believing that the Emperor wouldn’t bless them and let him die, Dune pushed through and rammed the steaming weapon into the Warrior’s throat. The head rocked in a series of spasms and jittered, a well-placed kick from one of the assault marines killing it outright.
“THANKS FOR NOTHING,” Dune acknowledged, getting angry nods from his fellows. The Master of Mindfuckery looked about the battlefield for his real target and found himself wanting. Nothing warned him of the creatures under the surface.
The rocks under one of the assault marine’s feet started to split and Dune heard a familiar grumble underneath the ground. Reacting on reflex alone, the psyker managed to leap faster than the other marines as a creature burst from the earth, sending rock shards flying like dangerous shrapnel. One struck and glanced off of Dune’s armored hand, exacerbating the throbbing, burning pain. His pained hiss joined the noise of a titan roaring, its irate breath sounding like sheets of metal being ground and torn apart. An unlucky Astartes found himself in the creature’s jaws, its powerful muscles crushing and melting his body. The creature, no doubt some kind of Carnifex modification, tossed the marine’s body away, letting it slide down the ashen slope. A whip like tentacle fidgeted independently from the rest of the creature and suddenly struck out like a snake, spearing another marine through his helmet. The vicious creature lifted the poor marine up, looked him dead in the eyes and ripped his throat out.
A torrent of air entered the psyker’s lungs as he took an enraged breath at the deaths of his sworn battle-brothers. Charging with reckless abandon, Dune brought his sword down on the creature’s arm, chipping the rocky outer coating. The beast bellowed angrily at him, dismissing his attack with a swat of its obsidian coated arm, sending the marine flying. Other marines saw the plight of their brother and charged. Brother-Captain Rex jumped onto the creature’s back unassisted by jump pack and dug the heel of his power boot in. the flaming beast did not react well to this, throwing the Forth Company Captain bodily. To the enraging surprise of the Astartes, the tentacle straightened out and snagged the Captain, bringing his flight to a painful, spine-breaking stop. The Brother-Captain coughed blood as the Carnifex drew in its line, pulling its prey closer at breakneck speed. Once the doomed Captain was close enough, the beast headbutted him, smashing the proud front of his power armor. Brother Captain Argent Rex was dead. The stunned marines looked on as their ranks were beaten by the Carnifex, its crushing claws smashing the Astartes into the ground before tossing them aside. A devastator squad appeared to turn the tide of the battle, but one look from the beast made them know that they were doomed. It attacked them like a feral dog at a loose piece of meat, pieces flying everywhere and one marine having his entire leg ripped to a bloody stump. The Carnifex swallowed the still armored limb, power foot and all, before turning to the Angry Marines. Never before had they recognised such a blatant representation of animalistic rage. This single beast had as much rage as the World Eaters. This pissed them off to no end.
“IT’LL BE GREAT TROPHY TO GLOAT ABOUT THEN!” Tyber shouted, charging like so many before him. The beast recognised him as insignificant and readied its magma tipped claws. The assault marine blocked the downward strike with his chainswords, but to his horror, the weapons began to melt. He discarded the useless implements and tried to deliver a strong punch to the Carnifex’s exposed eye. There was no getting passed these defences. It clamped its jaws around his arm and twisted, tearing another morsel for its belly. And then if froze. The Carnifex was motionless. For a moment, the Angry Marines had an opportunity to strike. But just as soon as it stopped, the beast retreated into its entry hole, sealing the exit with rapidly cooling magma.
“A BETTER MARINE WOULD HAVE USED FUCKING MAGMA CHAINSWORDS TO BURN THAT MOTHERFUCKER!” an assault marine shouted into Tyber’s face, helping him up. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field of bodies, tyranid and marine alike, Dune looked at the fallen battle-brothers with a morbid, enraged echo of sorrow, like the permanent anger stage of grief.
“HOW DID LOSE SO MANY FUCKING BATTLE-BROTHERS? FUCKING ARACHNID… TYRA… ARACH” Suddenly strike by some kind of psychic wave, Dune held his head together with his hands, a sharp mental spike driven into his brain. “RACH… R… CH… RACH… ARACHNI… RACHN…. R… R… RA..
RACHNUS!“
Marines around the battlefield fell silent, the spasming form of the psyker hitting something deep within them too. An Angry Marine shivered, his righteous rage quivering and growing. The old sacrifice of the chapter had not been forgotten...
Inquisition
In the depths of space, an Inquisitorial vessel drifted like a grand cathedral of justice, its titanic shape giving the planet dwellers an artificial eclipse. The intricate workings on within the ship were going as they normally would, but for one thing. A lone messenger journeyed through its vast spaces, searching every corner for the one he would deliver the message. Almost by accident, he bumped into the silvery-grey armor of his delivery address.
“Sir, I have a message from the Flagirus Sector. The Unspoken One’s name has been... invoked”. Behind his faceless helmet, the Grey Knight grinned, a deadly sickle-smile opening upon his battle-scarred face like an open, festering wound. If the messenger could see that, he would have fainted from sheer terror alone.
“Excellent. Contact Deathwatch. Contact the Sororitas. We're going to deal with this heresy. Once and for all…”