The Twin Crusades: The Black Crusade on Marion
A story set in the Aprior Sector, written by Not Not LongPoster. Specifically, it takes place on Dvi-Marion, home of the Adepta Sororitas Order of Reason's Light, and it will be more about them and the Apriori Imperial Guard and Planetary Defence Forces than the Knights Inductor.
Prologue
The Knights Inductor, have been separated from the Imperium for a thousand years. In the time of their separation from the rest of the Imperium, they have made massive deviations from regular conduct seen in most Chapters. The Aprior Sector which the Knights Inductor aided is in great danger. They have been allowed by the Inquisition to exist and have been deemed “loyal.” This however, has not stopped those who wish nothing but the utter destruction of the Apriori and everything the Knights Inductor stand for. In the recent years, many challenges have arisen for the Knight Inductor. Now in the 42nd Millennium, the Knights Inductor chapter faces its darkest hour. Because of Abaddon’s 13th Black Crusade a breach was created for splinter fleets to escape past Imperial defenses. The splinter fleets that made it past the Cadian Gate during the Black Crusade went about wreaking havoc wherever they went. One such fleet has been waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And that moment, is now.
In the Marion System, all hell has broken loose. Inquisitor Damnos has rallied, persuaded, and coerced his way into marshaling a fleet to attack the Aprior Sector. His mission is to committing Exterminatus on over two hundred planets. It is rare to find an Inquisitor who has passed the ultimate judgment more than twice in a lifetime, still, this has not stopped him. With forces of the Black Templars, Desert Fangs, Imperial Fists, and multiple other Space Marine chapters, he will utterly exterminate all life in this region of space.
His first target is the world of Norion V, which in a sick twist of irony is the most “loyal” planet in Damnos’s eyes. The neighboring world of Dvi-Marion, the homeworld of the Sister’s of Reason’s light, gathers its fleet in an effort to flank Damnos’s forces. With the Sisters might assembled, and the powerful strength of the Apriori Navy, they may make a difference. As the ships were about to leave the planet’s space, something happened. The astropaths and navigators said that the warp currents had grown violent, and safe travel was far from assured.
The warp had grown violent for a very insidious reason. A splinter fleet from the most recent Black Crusade called the, “The Bloodied Coil” (a Chaos Undivided Warfleet, Mostly Khornate) had arrived in the Marion Sub-Sector to destroy as much of the Sub-Sector as they could. The leader was the aptly named, “Gore Queen,” a cold, heartless Khornate, once a Sister of Reason. Why she defected to the Blood God Khorne, few know. She knew that every single world in the Aprior Sector would marshal forces to fight her Warfleet. That is why she issued this statement to every single person under her command through a vox comminicae, “We will have no victory here, I assure you my friends. We shall all die in this assault of the Apriori. But, we can deal a blow that the Knights will never forget. Abaddon knows that in the coming years the Knights Inductor could be a very real threat to everything that is Chaos and everything Chaos stands for. That is why you are here brave warriors of the Dark Gods. Each one of you has an objective today. And that objective is the wholesale slaughter of every single citizen of this planet. I don't want to just leave this place in cinders, because where is the fun in that. One press of a button, and they are all burned to ash. No blood, no spoils, no screams or cries of mercy. That isn't fun at all. So do not leave a soul alive in your path. Do not be merciful when committing this genocide against these Imperials either. I want frightful, horrifying, terrifying, appalling, murder. If it's slow and painful all the better, I always say. One last thing though. Each one of you should enjoy yourselves will caring out this objective. Experiment in with different final blows, change up the game a bit. You all deserve it, since I've kept you from battle for to long, it should actually be considered a crime. Enough, to the ships. Today, Dvi-Marion burns.”
At first, it seemed that the satellite and terrestrial space defense patterns such as floating missile batteries or titanic ground flak cannons would be enough to take care of these fool hearty invaders. Thousands of dropships were knocked right out of the sky, but it was soon divined by the valiant defenders of Marion that these were decoys. With the defense pattern locations compromised, the Gore Queen dispatched the planets defenses without effort. Seeing that the only thing between the people of Dvi-Marion and genocide was wiped out so easily, the Sisters’ fleet took action. The thunderous roar of broadside firepower echoed throughout the void of space as three cruisers unleashed their might. In a single volley from the cruisers, a dozen of the Coil’s ships were felled. This however did not deter the hideous hordes of the Coil. The real assault began, as dropships with and without troops inside landed in even greater number than they did before. The entire planet was plunged into war as every city on every continent was assaulted from the skies. To better understand events, we will have to listen to the personal accounts of all those involved in the conflict. This books is a series of personal written accounts from the first-person perspectives of those involved in the Black Crusade of Dvi-Marion
Chapter One: The Endless Night
+++Private Donald Marshili Galvar, 51st Platoon, Dvi-Marion Planetary Defense Forces.+++
I am Donald Galvar, I was born on Gravalax, and I served in the PDF there. I always wanted to be a Navy pilot. When I was only ten though, my dad came home drunk and he said to me, “Boy, you best get these notions of being a pilot right out of your head. You ain’t got any ambition to be anything more than what you are, underhive filth! All beat these stupid dreams out of you if I have to and boy you better believe me I’ll do it.” Now, I had a rough childhood it you couldn’t tell. Mom was a drunk, and dad must have some sick joy out of killing me bit by bit inside. I joined the PDF out of rebellion against my parents to be honest. Got all the way up to Sergeant in the PDF, most the men I knew weren’t so lucky though. When mom died, I just knew I had to leave that mudball of a world. I put the PDF behind me, left Gravalax, and made it to this new place where it all was at. The Aprior Sector sure is spectacular though, but weird at the same time. I can’t say I got the best training possible, but when an ex-PDF vet wants to join the Guard usually they are accepted. Not me, no, you see these Apriori get trained better than I did in the PDF in their damned schools. Want to know what they said to me when I was rejected? “We do not believe that you have enough training or experience to join one of our Guard Regiments here.” I was pissed off at first, but I calmed down. When he directed me to the PDF recruitment center, I of course joined the PDF. I’m a simple man, and if it doesn’t involve point-click-shoot I’m not very good at it. My mom always said that I would find a proper calling; well that calling just involved me killing people for a living.
Now, the others troopers in my squad didn’t look at it quite that grimly, but I know that is all it boils down too. At the end of the day this job is just killing people, whether they deserve it or not. I learned that when I fought the gangs, and I knew it when I fought the Coil. Now I did notice that things were considerably different on Dvi-Marion. First of all, there were no hives. Buildings were spread out all across the landscape for miles and then they became slightly less dense suburbs; no underhives were made by building higher and higher above existing buildings like on Gravalax. Secondly, the lasguns were unlike a thing I’ve ever seen before. Smaller, more compact, iron sights, curved clips, foldable stock, sleeker rifle barrel. Now, I know what you’re thinking, I’m just describing a Las-carbine. No, a Las-carbine this was not. It was, it was just different than anything I had ever held in my life. It wasn’t blocky, or, I don’t know how to describe it. That probably makes me look like a poor observer If I can’t describe things in detail but I don’t care. When the shit hit the fan, I was there, and they want me to document it in my own words, fine, that’s what I’ll do.
It was like any other day though, that’s the strange thing, and it was so tranquil. It brings a whole new meaning to me, about the term, “Calm before the storm.” The sky was the richest shade of navy blue I had ever seen since I’d been here. The kids played outside, people went to work, and all was good. The sun slowly descended casting purple and orange hues over the horizon. The night sky was without a single star though, to many lights from the city. Shame, I’m sure it would complement the shimmering moon nicely. There were two other troopers with me that night, Larvik Sarven, and Gellom Fenus, Emperor I can still see their faces. Larvik was from a planet named Vollania, an ice planet.
The people who lived there were descendants from the Valhallan colonists, so he had the same accent as a Valhallan. You know, you would have to be a Valhallan yourself to tell the difference between the accents. His skin color was a pasty white, he had strawberry blonde hair, and freckles dotted his cheeks. Gellom was born on Dvi-Marion, but he hated the Guard so he just joined the PDF. I never learned why he had such distaste for the guard. His face was a thick leathery tan shade, almost like a polar opposite to Larvik’s dungeon prisoner pale white skin. Gellom had thick, long and wavy black hair. Together, we were going to see a holo-projection at the nearby theatre. We had some leave time, so we thought we should try and have a nice night together.
The rules on Dvi-Marion were different as well, did I mention that? We had to carry our side-arms at all times. Now I didn’t really understand till that day why we had to carry our pistols.But anyways, we were at the theatre. As we’re about to grab some crappy seats at the bottom: a family of three moved over and made us some room. The father saluted us, and the little boy no older than eight did too. I’ve never gotten that kind of respect before. Most people despise PDF; I know that was a fact in the underhive. We took our seats and the holo projector spun starting the show. At that moment I realized something, I turned to Larvik and whispered in his ear, “Hey, what’s the name of this holo.” Larvik shrugged and replied, “The Last Temptation of Warmaster Horus, it some kind of art holo.” I could only imagine what the hell that meant. I mean what was is about? I got my answer soon enough. The opening credits played on the projection screen, showing some big shot director or producer’s name that I didn’t care at the time to remember. Then the holo started to play. I won’t waste my time describing every minute of it, so basically it was a holo about, “What if Horus didn’t betray the Emperor?” I barely understood anything about it, except for the Emperor being there. It was only a thirty-minute long holo so I didn’t mind, and Gellom seemed to like it. It was very artsy though, and annoyingly pretentious.
We went to a extremely nice restaurant after that. As I entered I just felt out of place. I was a civilized worlder sure, but, it was so well kept, and absent of gothic architecture. Three chandeliers hung from the top of the ceiling, casting dim light across the restaurant. In the center was massive atrium with a beautifully pearl tile floor, and to the left and right were tables framing the atrium. We grabbed a table on the left side of the restaurant. I took my seat, Gellom and Larvik sat down. A young waitress with blond hair came by and asked us what drinks we would want. As she walked away I spoke with Larvik, “You got any family back home?” He looked a little annoyed at my question for moment before saying, “No I don’t have any family.” I raised an eyebrow, “Well what happened?” He frowned and replied, “I don’t want to talk about it.” I felt that I should leave it be, and not persist in trying to bring up bad memories. Unfortunately, Gellom wasn’t as wise as I. “Tell us what happened.” Larvik sighed audibly. He seemed like he was about to speak but the waitress came by. She herself was about to speak before auto and las rounds ripped through the restaurant.
This is where it happens. I was looking at my menu when from the corner of my I saw bright flashes of red coming from the sky. I looked out the window, and I saw large military dropships. I ducked under the table. Seeing me do this Gellom divined what I was doing immediately. He ducked under the table almost as quickly as I did. Larvik, and the Waitress taking our order weren’t so lucky: Las, auto, and bolter rounds ripped through the restaurant, tearing apart anyone still sitting in their seats or standing. The Waitress’s torso was obliterated, skin torn, showing bare muscle and bone. Larvik had his head ripped apart by a bolter round, leaving nothing left. Not even his mother could identify him now, shame, he was a good man.
The dropships seemed to have heavy auto-gun turrets, multi-lasers, and heavy bolters attached to the side. As troops off loaded from the dropships, the dropship’s side guns wasted everything in sight. Under the table, we were able to make it only by a knife’s edge. A stray auto round hit just a mere two inches from my right hand. The las and auto fire ceased. Taking this moment of opportunity I looked around, and I saw others who ducked under the tables just like us, but bolt or auto round ripped through the hard wooden tables: killing them instantly. Then, I heard footsteps. I saw Gellom go straight for his pistol, but I grabbed his arm. I shook my head, hopefully convincing him not to give away our position.
He reluctantly nodded at me; least the kid had a good head on his shoulders. The footsteps got louder, and I could see black leather boots walking towards us. I looked to Gellom, and I reached for my pistol. Quickly I unholstered my sidearm, and nodded at Gellom. He nodded back at me to confirm that he was ready. We both lifted up from under the table. The two traitor Guardsmen were dumb struck. They both had been completely taken by surprise. I remembered at that moment my training, the instructor’s voice echoed as I took aim, “Aim for the head, under the arm, below the knee, and in the gut. These are the unarmored points of most flak armor designs.” The las bolt crackled out of my laspistol’s barrel and it ionized the air as it raced towards the heretic. The las bolt hit him square in the eye, and he fell over. Gellom did the same as I did and he aimed for the head, easily taking out his target. The two traitors were dead, but as I looked out the window at the small city, it wasn’t over.
The night sky was filled with red flares from dropship engines. I saw darkened figures clothed in black running across the city. Screaming filled my ear drum as did the gun fire did. I could see fires in the distance; buildings were engulfed in raging infernos from artillery. Indescribable mutants of horrid shape and form carrying flamers wasted entire groups of fleeing civilians.
I looked over to Gellom, his face had a look of unmasked horror. Poor kid, everything he ever loved was being destroyed before his very eyes. I put my hand his shoulder, and said, “We need to move, there’s a suburb behind this building is there not?” He nodded and said, “Yeah, and behind the suburb is the PDF base.” He was talking about our platoon headquarters. I remembered on the way here seeing a few acres of houses, which should give us some cover on our way back to base. I walked over to the two dead traitors, and took one of their las-rifles. This was more like it, I thought. A big, bulky, lasgun, just like they had back home. Gellom figured out what I was doing almost quickly enough and did the same as I. He tried to figure out how best to hold it in his hands. He wasn’t used to something so blocky before. I couldn’t suppress the grin on my face, but then I looked outside and was reminded of what was happening. The grin was struck from my face. I looked to him staring him straight in the eyes. I said, “Ready.” And he replied, “As I’ll ever be.” Good, I thought, least he isn’t to shaken up over Larvik dying and us being invaded. Hate for him to have a breakdown right now, I would have to leave him behind.
We walked through the well lit kitchen. The white tiles were dirtied by our military issued boots. We found a large metal door marked, “Exit.” He passed through the massive door, making sure no one followed us. Strangely, I felt we were being watched at that moment. The back of the restraint was unimpressive say the least. A single large garbage container held a few bags of refuse. Beyond the backyard of the restraint, was the forest of Yevil. As we were walking away from the restaurant, someone came up from behind us: I heard the metal backdoor clang. Without hesitation I turned and leveled my lasgun at her head. I nearly blew her brains out before realizing it was a civilian. She was a waitress. She said while tears rolled down her face, holding Larvik’s forgotten pistol. I remembered that I had forgotten to collect that. She said still sobbing, “I, I’m coming with you. Please, I can’t stay here.” I wondered for a minute why she didn’t say something before we left, but she was probably too scared out of her mind to speak up. Gellom just nodded with youthful naivety and I said, “Sure, come on.” We descended into the suburbs after that. The burning city illuminated our path even as I was puzzled as to what the enemy hoped to gain from this attack. While passing backyards it dawned on me, it was going to be one long night.
Chapter Two: The End of All Hope
+++Sister Maria Stone, Battle Sister in the Order of Reason’s Light.+++
As time has passed, I still find it difficult to remember what happened that day. No, I don't want to remember what happened that day. It felt like the whole universe was coming down on us, ready to engulf us in never ending war. But, I digress. What happened that day must never be forgotten, lest we allow it to happen again. As I try to piece things together I keep wondering where I should start. I decided I best start my story when we were descending down to the planet. I was with my squad, and we were being taken to the planet by the use of a Valkyrie, I felt like I was in a tin can being shaken the whole way. I remember some small talk between me and Rachel, but I don't remember what she or I said. I should explain those in my squad now so you have a picture of those around me. There was Sister Rachel; she was my best friend since training at the Torch. She always buzz cut her hair, pity because she had the most vibrant shade of red hair. Then there was Sister Taley, she was youngest amongst us. She was even younger than me. We called her Rookie a lot. Sister Cynthia and Sister Sandy were twins. They did everything together, and refused to be separated from each other at any time. Both of them had blondish reddish hair. Their faces were covered in cute little freckles. They were great company and it was always a pleasure to be around them. Both me and Rachel enjoyed every minute of our time spent talking with them.
Sister Maelas, Emperor on Earth she was tough as nails. There was a constant rumor flying around about how she made a Dark Eldar Wych cry, I completely believe it to this day. I say she should have been a Sister Superior, but her conduct outside of the battlefield was less than exemplary. Her hair was snow white, and her skin was black kind of mocha color, I’ve only seen a few people with that kind of skin tone. Now let me tell you about Sister Chelsea. Sister Chelsea was a bitch, and I hate her. I remember back in training how she would twist the male trainees' feelings. Always she had this creepy smile on her face that just freaked me out whenever I saw it. Sister Fran was as devote as they come. She prayed to the Emperor every hour on the hour. She had memorized the Decree Passive and several Religious Texts I don't care to remember. She always had a verse from some book for every situation though, which sometimes was comforting, but other times just annoying. Sister Jakobi never left much of an impression on me. She was shy, and rarely talked to anyone. Finally, Sister Superior Luna, the only person I know who could beat Sister Maelas in the sparring room. A single scar from a Dark Eldar knife ran across her left cheek. Most of the fingers on her right hand had been replaced by augments, and her left eye had been replaced with a mechanical one. Her hair was long, flowing, and black as coal. She was the best of us, and the strongest. She was the finest the Sisters Reason's Light had to offer.
Now, I should return to what I was saying. As we descended down to the planet, I kept on trying to fight the urge to throw up. Then the thing I dreaded the most came, the landing. The Valkyrie shook violently as it came to a total stop. The ramp fell open, revealing the terrible war torn landscape before us. I saw several of our ships landing when I looked up. And dear Emperor the flames. Flames had engulfed most the Capitol now, and the infernos raged on showing no sign of dying down anytime soon. The land around was barren and lifeless, craters filled the plains, while missiles flew overhead. I heard Superior Luna call out, "Ok girls listen up, we march towards the suburbs, and we dispatch any heretics we see. If we truly are the daughters of the Emperor, then let's make dad proud! Maelas you're on point. Jakobi watch our backs! Cynthia, Sandy, cover our right, Maria and Rachel you got our left." I forget the rest of what she said, but since I'm remembering so much, I realize now that I've forgotten to mention our mission.
Funny, how I try to explain what happened and I miss one of the most important parts of my story. Well, we were being sent to reinforce a Guard Regiment. They had taken numerous casualties, and were held up in the suburbs, trying to advance towards the city. We would move in to assist, while the rest of our Sisters marshaled for a counter-offensive against the Bloodied Coil. It seemed so easy though, like we would just come through and it would be over like that. Our squad pushed onwards to the suburbs, the light from the burning city illuminating our path. I saw some figures ahead of us, but my eyes were blinded by a extremely bright light. A flare was shot up into the hair, signally some kind of attack. A bolter round came rushing towards the center of squad. Then I saw a single, mechanical eye fly past my field of vision. I heard Maelas scream, "Take cover!" I hunkered down; my eyes dashed as I took in my surroundings. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through me, my heart raced with the fear of a bolt round coming at me. It was hard to see in my helmet, but I made out a shape. I saw a large man clothed and armored in black, standing right where that bolt round came from. Without hesitation I took aim and fired. The round exploded inside him making a very pleasant shower of crimson.
Looking around, I saw one of our number had fallen. For moment I feared it might be Rachel, but I realized that she was right beside me. The enemy did nothing though. The flare was slowly dying out. I was just about to look and see who had died. But then our short reprieve was interrupted, so I couldn’t identify who had died just yet. I heard a horrible chorus of gravelly throats scream, "Blood for the Blood God!" Then charging at us was a mob of Khornates, coming from the Suburbs. I focused on the first one coming at me; he held a bowie knife in his hand. He tried to strike at me with his knife, but a side stepped to the right. His knife hit thin air, but before he could react I grabbed his wrist. I put my foot firmly on his chest when I twisted him around to face me. Pulling on his wrist again while also pushing him away with my leg I heard a sharp "snap" that only a dislocated shoulder can make. He gurgled out, "You, bitch…" Then I pulled on his arm harder, and put even more pressure on his chest with my foot. I felt his ribs breaking apart as I pushed him further away with my leg. Finely his arm just gave out and I ripped it clean off his body. He fell to the ground, gasping for air. I no doubt crushed his lungs while putting pressure on his chest with my leg. I held his dismembered limb in my hand before dropping it to the floor. In the all the excitement, I had dropped my bolter. A mistake I would not repeat, I assure you. I picked up my bolter, and fired three, no, four rounds at the heretics, each round fired was a kill.
Then things got quiet, way to quiet. A few echoed sounds of bolter fire could be heard now and then, but it wasn't as thunderous as had been before. The uneasy silence was then broken by Sister Maelas screaming, "Fuck no! No it can't be! It just can't be!" I looked over and saw Maelas looming over a dead Sister’s body. The head had been completely destroyed by a well placed bolter round. I looked around, and then I said, "Who's still breathing!" I heard nine voices respond, nine, nine, there was supposed to be ten of us. It then dawned on me who had fallen, it was Superior Luna. It felt like all hope at that moment had ended. I walked over to Maelas, saying, "We need to move." She turned to me, looking me square in the face, "We can't just leave her here." I nodded, but I knew what we had to do, "We need to move onward, otherwise we risk more people dying." Maelas looked at the ground, and then she said regretfully, "Your right. Let's go." We proceeded with caution as we entered the suburbs. We were on constant look out for an ambush like the one we fell into not but a few minutes ago. Little did I know the horrors we would face on our own planet.