Päätin tehdä näille oman ketjun, jotta ei tarvitse hienohelmojen kielirasistien (mur) lukea englantia jos haluaa lukea niitä suomenkielisiä tarinoitani.
Itse kun pidän englannin kielestä useastakin syystä, olen ottanut asiakseni tarjota aikaisemmista tarinoistani myös englanninkieliset versiot niitä kaipaaville. Pitemmittä puheitta, tässä olisi aluksi osa alkuperäisestä Finlandia Fluffista englanniksi käännettynä:
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”Cargo transport flight group Alpha-six-eight-two-two, this is Ultima Segmentum control. You are leaving our surveillance area, and entering the red zone. May the Emperor protect you on your journey” The calm voice in the Vox-caster informed the cargo transporters escort wing’s men. The small cargo convoy was to begin its trip to the outer eastern fringes, to bring reinforcements to the colonist’s planetary defence forces.
“Confirmed, Ultima Segmentum control. We’ll be seeing you soon.” Wing commander Belgarus stated, as he prepared himself for the long flight ahead. The other escort-craft in the squadron flew to his side, and took standard positions.
“This is wing-three, ready for the trip commander!” A young woman’s voice informed Belgarus in a friendly voice. Belgarus looked behind him, to see the outer defensive platforms in space. He would not see them for a while, as the mission took six months. Belgarus re-checked his craft-s systems, before finally nodding to himself, and preparing for his drug-induced hibernation. He felt the tiny sting, as the needle punctured his skin inside his flight-suit, and not before long, he slumbered to a calm rest.
“Captain? Are you there? Captain, respond!” Belgarus suddenly awoke to a mass of noises, out of which he found the most disturbing the master caution alarm sound, and the high pitched whistle, as air leaked into the vacuum from his cockpit. Belgarus rapidly regained consciousness, as he started locating the damage, and fixing it.
“Yes, I’m here, dammit!” Belgarus grunted to his radio, as he finally found a tiny meteor-hole in the craft’s hull, and plugged it with some fix-paste. As the whistling of the leak died out, Belgarus looked at his ships systems, and realized that the craft had lost nearly all engine power. Belgarus suddenly remembered that the group outside did not have a tow-capable ship along, as the usual tow-ship was in repairs. It took Belgarus only a split second to make a decision:
“Continue on mission! You will secure the convoy. I will stay behind, waiting for rescue.” Belgarus ordered his wingmen via Vox, as he started the emergency beacon on his ship, so that someone would pick it up.
“Roger that, sir.” The female voice of wing-three responded with a certain sadness in the voice. “The Emperor protects!” After this last message, Belgarus could see the cargo vessels, and his wingmen, grow smaller and smaller in the distance, until finally the glow of their engines faded from view. Belgarus cursed silently at his misfortune, and prepared himself for hibernation. Possibly a very long one… Possibly his last one…
“Unidentified craft, this is Sampo two. Please identify yourself.” A male voice, speaking in a very strange accent, brought Belgarus out of his hibernation. As he opened his eyes, he saw a small blue and green planet that was being orbited by some odd kind of space station and an alien looking ship, which was floating near Belarus’ vessel.
“I repeat: this is Sampo two. Do you copy?” The voice insisted, and Belgarus suddenly felt threatened. He must have stumbled upon some kind of traitor world- which had escaped the Inquisition!
“This is an Imperial escort-fighter! Stay clear or I will open fire!” Belgarus shouted hastily into his Vox-caster, as he checked if his emergency beacon was still online. It was working, but no Imperial ship had found him. Belgarus cursed again.
“Imperial ship, this is Sampo two. You appear to be damaged, and we are offering assistance, if possible. We are an unarmed vessel. Awaiting confirmation, over.” The strange voice on the radio stated. Belgarus engaged his weapon systems, and fired a burs just over the alien ship, which reacted by quickly engaging its thrusters to move back. Belgarus checked his control panels again, and found himself capable of small burst of engine output. Desperate, Belgarus activated the less-than-stable engines, to make his escape from the strange ship.
Some weeks later, the Imperial tow-vessel Argoega picked up Belgarus’ craft. Belgarus immediately reported the location of the unidentified planet to his superiors, which passed the information on, into the grinding cogwheels of the Imperial byrocracy. In time, this information found its way to the Inquisition.
Later on, the Inquisition sent a reconnaissance/elimination team, to make a strike to the unidentified planet. The team, led by a young Inquisitor by the name of Jeremiah Calgaar, ended up not confronting the planets population, but establishing relations with it. The planet became known as Finlandia, as this was the name its own habitants had given it long ago. In the coming years, this same Inquisitor defended Finlandia’s autonomy, pleading that the planet was by no means a rebel faction of runaway Imperial men and women, but rather its own line of evolution of humans, that had evolved outside the Holy Terra, but yet become very similar to Terrans. Even though, today Finlandia’s name is barely ever mentioned in the Empire, due to its troubled past and certain events, it is still there, and maintains relations to the Imperium in many ways.
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+++ Inquisitorial Report +++
+++ Subject: Finlandia +++
+++ 4366489.M41 +++
+++ Sent by: Jeremiah Calgaar, Inquisitor +++
Unlike all expectation, Finlandia has proven an extremely interesting world, not least for it’s strangely similar human evolution, compared to our own, but for the possibilities it presents us.
I am not referring to the planets natural resources, though they are plentiful. I am not pointing at the planets luxury items, such as an abundance of high quality wood for different purposes.
It would appear that the planets human, and I use the word human, as we share an identical DNA construction, population has grown from a kind of sea-animal to our own level of evolution in a far shorter time. If we could identify the reason evolution has taken place in a fraction of the time, we could use this information, and refine it. This could have an unimaginable effect on military development of the Imperium, as we could basically create a new humankind, purely born and raised in the faith of the Immortal Emperor. Imagine, if you will, a perfect breed of space marines, all unwavering in their faith, but instead of a million marines, there would be billions!
This exact possibility is the reason I have postponed the Purgatus of Finlandia, as the damage to the planets ecosystem could forever ruin our possibilities in studying pure data.
It is my highest hope that an alliance could be made with these people, as their leaders have agreed that we could do our research freely, as long as we do not damage their own culture and ways. I also believe that a possibility of trade is present, and preferable.
I will await instructions.
+++ End +++
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As this message reached the Inquisition high council, it brewed a fiery discussion. Some of the Inquisition believed, that the heretical views currently in power on Finlandia were destructive, and demanded that Finlandia be unified to the Imperium immediately. Yet, most of the Inquisitorial high council believed that young Jeremiah had a solid point, and sided with his views on the matter. Finally, after much debate, the following reply was sent to Jeremiah.
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+++ Inquisitorial report / response +++
+++ Subject: Finlandia +++
+++136479.M41 +++
+++ Recipient: Jeremiah Calgaar, Inquisitor +++
The Inquisition high council has hereby decided, that the Purgatus is to be cancelled for the time being, and Finlandia is to be allowed a limited autonomy based on the following rules:
1>>> Finlandia is to allow the teaching of the Faith of the Emperor to its population. This is to become a solid part of the Finlandian education system, which you spoke so highly of in your reports.
2>>> Finlandia is to allow some Imperial production facilities to be erected on the planets surface, so that Finlandia will be capable of its own defence in case of need.
3>>> Finlandia is to send an annual military detachment, which will be trained by Cadian Veterans in a location which is to be decided later. These Finlandian armies are to serve under the Imperial guard as a mobile detachment.
On this note, negotiations with Finlandia are acceptable, and to be continued.
Inquisitor Jeremiah Calgaar is to return to Holy Terra, to be heard by the Inquisitorial High Council as soon as possible.
+++ End +++
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Finlandian government accepted these terms. It took Jeremiah nearly twelve years to return to Terra.
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The meeting
“Inquisitor Jeremiah Calgaar, you are here, before the Inquisitorial high council, to be heard on your actions on the planet of Finlandia.” A booming voice echoed around the dimly lit meeting hall. Jeremiah, the youngest Inquisitor at the time, lowest in the Inquisitorial hierarchy, stood at the centre of that hall, waiting in a bright pool of light being projected onto him from the roof. He could see faces, surrounding him in the shadows, waiting to hear him, and possibly judge him. His earlier reports hade made him new enemies, and yet, they had boosted his reputation inside the Inquisition. That reputation could very soon decide if he would live or die past this day.
“You were on a simple mission, to bring the Emperors purity on to a heretic world. You chose to disregard that order. Even though you had reasons to do this, it is a crime against the Immortal Emperor to no follow such an order. We are here, to decide whether or not your crime is greater than the cause you have taken. What have you to say for this council?” Another, older voice demanded. Jeremiah gathered his wandering thoughts, and suppressed his nervousness, before lifting his gaze from the floor, towards the faces that looked at him from the shadows. Something noble and powerful appeared into his appearance that gave power to his words.
“I admit not following the given orders, but I did so only because I believed that my actions would serve the Emperor in a greater way, than that of following my given orders, that had been given without proper knowledge, which I gained later on. On this knowledge I based my decision, and I believe that my decision will serve the Emperor truly, and with mankind’s best interest in mind.” Jeremiah finished his short speech, and he could hear the effect of his words immediately: a silent, mostly accepting murmur had begun to wave from one side of the hall to the other. Some heads were shaken in the shadows, even more nodded unanimously. Finally the older voice spoke again:
“In what way did the young Inquisitor believe himself more capable of deciding what would serve the emperor better, than the decision made by this here high council itself!?” As the voice silenced to wait for Jeremiah’s response, he looked around the hall again, noticing all the nodding heads, his supporters, before he answered.
“Finlandia is a unique world, in more than one way, as you all should know by now from my reports. In addition, I fear that the reports did not even make justice to the reality, even though I tried my best to tell you of the situation. Therefore, the fault is mine alone, and not of the high council, as I have failed to give the necessary information in my reports, through the incompetence of my words. For this reason, I wanted to do as much as possible, so that there would be no need to debate over this issue any further.” As Jeremiah silenced again, he knew he had done a good job in making a point to the council.
“And would you mind explaining these specialities of Finlandia, which you find so important, to us again.” As these words were spoken, Jeremiah smiled, although few noticed this.
“Finlandia is a possibility to us. A possibility to have Adeptus Astartes reborn into an unbeatable force, a force that would have all the strengths of the space marine chapters, and still have the numbers that the Imperial guard has at its disposal. We could smite the invaders away from the Cadian gate, we could crush the innumerable Waaagh’s infesting the galaxy, we could easily match the threat of the Tyranid forces. In other words, we could bring the Empire to a new age of glory, one which has never been seen before! We could have a force, over a thousand times stronger that that of the Immortal Emperor had in the days before the heresy.” As Jeremiah silenced again, the hall was roaring wit speech, as the Inquisitors began discussing this new turn of events. Taking advantage of the situation, Jeremiah continued in a booming voice, as his speech gained momentum.
“I am talking of a new coming of mankind! To have the Adeptus Astartes reborn! To reunite the galaxy under the Emperors glorious name! To recreate mankind into a glory that has not been impurified by the Warp, or the radiations of space! The few test I have had the possibility of studying have shown that the Finlandian human is physically stronger and more resilient that that of the Imperial human. The Finlandian human is perfect for the physical upgrades needed for the creation of a space marine. The space marine chapters are slowly dying, whether we accept it or not! Not always is the gene seed retrieved when a marine falls in battle, and this is slowly destroying the Adeptus Astartes. Their gene seed is being spilled onto the millions of battlefields of this galaxy! What can we do when the Adeptus Astartes comes to its end, what do we do when the space marines are no more? Unless the Emperor himself rises from the golden throne to save us, we cannot hold without another solution. Finlandia could be this solu…” Suddenly a loud voice boomed in the hall: “Blasphemy! Take this heathen away from our sight!” But this voice was silenced by the bulk of Inquisitors demanding that Jeremiah be allowed to continue. After a moment, the hall fell silent, and Jeremiah continued.
“As I was saying, Adeptus Astartes must be revived. If we could identify, and replicate, the special conditions that have made evolution take such leaps on Finlandia, we could truly have the Adeptus Astartes reborn, and create a whole new human race based on the existing gene seed. All I need is time and few resources! Give me these, and I will give you the chance that we might never have again! Let us have mankind reborn into an unseen glory!” Jeremiah lowered his head into a humble bow, and fell silent. As many of the Inquisitors were discussing loudly on this new information, Jeremiah prayed in his mind, that the Emperor give his words the strength they needed, and that this was indeed the will of the Emperor he was fulfilling.
After some time had passed, the chairman of the council, High-Inquisitor Pike, stood up, and as he did, a beam of light illuminated his noble features. The man was a tall one, covered in a purple robe with golden decorations glittering on his wide shoulders. His face was scarred many times over, but still covered mostly by a thick grey beard. His left eye, a mechanic eye emitting a bright green light, swivelled around the hall, and finally focused on Jeremiah’s bowing figure.
“Inquisitor Jeremiah, on this date I use my power over this council, to all the negative minds set against your decisions. You are allowed to continue your work on Finlandia, and this council will support you, as will the Adeptus Astartes, and the adepts of Mars. Bring the Emperor a new sword, to wield against mankind’s numerous foes, and do not fail, as the Emperor does not accept failure. In his glorious name, all charges against you are hereby cleared!” Nearly all the men sitting in the hall took part in this last verse, to show their support to Jeremiah, but there were some that remained ominously silent.
Later that day, as Jeremiah walked on the long and decorative corridors of holy Terra’s numerous temples, another Inquisitor greeted him: “Jeremiah! How fortunate to meet you. If you don’t mind, I must speak with you.” The older man in a purple robe spoke, as Jeremiah looked at him surprised.
“High-Inquisitor Nigellus? This is an honour.” Jeremiah spoke, and bowed slightly. The older man stepped to Jeremiah’s side, and directed him into one of the less visible corridors. After a short walk, he halted and looked deep into Jeremiah’s eyes.
“Jeremiah, do you have any idea of what you might have started here? You have divided the Inquisitorial High-Council in half, and even if most of them now support you in this matter, the rest are willing to take you, and Finlandia for that matter, out at any cost!” As the high-Inquisitor spoke, Jeremiah nodded in acknowledgement.
“I understand, but I must do this. I believe that it is the Emperor’s will, and if that is the case, I have no choice but to follow his will. The Emperors power brought Finlandia to us for a reason, and we cannot let this chance slip away from us!” Jeremiah whispered.
“The Emperor’s will?” The older man wondered aloud.
“His holiness’s light led Finlandia to us, the council must understand this! They must see this, as true as the Emperor lives! The glory of the Empire has been tainted with imperfection ever since the heresy and now we finally have a chance to correct this!” Jeremiah whispered furiously. At these words the old man pondered for a minute, and finally nodded.
“Yes… You could be right on this matter. But you must keep in mind that you have made enemies now, and this time your enemies are not from outside of the Imperium. They are from within …”
Finlandians (in english)
Finlandians (in english)
This galaxy is full of hidden secrets. It takes a vivid imagination and some pure insanity to uncover them all, yet the cost to ones sanity in uncovering them is... immense...
Tässä olisi taas lisää samaa huttua uudessa paketissa.
The deal
A spy, dressed in a dark cloth and wearing black glasses to cover his light sensitive eyes, stepped through a pair of hissing metallic doors, which lead from a depressing metal corridor, into a strangely out of place looking room. He, Marcus, looked at that room astonished, as he always did, as he never ceased to wonder how the room’s owner had come to possess such items and wealth. The walls were lined with precious wood panels, and partially covered in decorative banners. A great window, with blood red drapes hanging at its sides, opened to a view over the glorious temples of Terra. Hundreds and hundreds of books covered a giant wooden bookshelf on one wall, and had a large and comfortable looking armchair nearby for reading and relaxing. The chair was occupied.
“Sir?” Marcus spoke aloud, to inform his master of his arrival.
“Marcus! Come in, friend.” A strong man’s voice greeted from the chair. As Marcus entered the study area, he could see the large man, dressed in a thick red velvet robe, sitting on that great leather chair, with a thick book, which he slammed shut as soon as Marcus came closer, in his lap. Marcus didn’t even know this man’s name, but he had learned in the last few years, to respect him and his power.
“My lord, you wished to speak to me?” Marcus said with a low and respectful tone. He knew from experience, that the man in front of him was powerful enough to have him killed in a blink of an eye.
“Ah, yes. Please, have a seat.” The large man requested, gesturing towards a large couch in front of his armchair. Marcus took a seat as requested.
“Marcus, I have a request for you, a mission, and it is no small task to complete. This will require absolute caution and precision.” The large man waited for a moment, to make sure his spy had understood every word. “I am sure that you have heard, through your various channels, of the problems that the young Inquisitor Jeremiah has caused of late."
“The planet of Finlandia? I have heard of it.” Marcus had indeed heard of it, although his information on the matter was limited to bits and pieces.
“Near this special planet patrols a battle group of Space Marines, of the Blood Angels chapter. They have been given the mission of securing the area of the scattered Ork Waaagh’s in the area. They will be your weapon. Jeremiah got his will, and these impure aliens are already being introduced to the Imperial Guard! They have been doing it for these past twelve years, before we could get Jeremiah to answer for his doings. You will be given a mission, to make sure that these heretics never get any further in this disgraceful plan.” Even as Marcus knew that most of his masters words were lies, knew that his master cared little for the Emperor, and rather cared for his own place of power. Marcus digested that which he had just heard, before asking.
“What needs to be done?”
“Marcus, you are to go into the area and send out a distress signal, made to look like its coming from an abandoned mining colony, which these Finlandians use for training purposes. This must be done at an exact time, so that the Finlandians are in there on an exercise. The Blood Angels in all their imperfection will be frenzied, mad and violent beyond limits. If we can get the Blood Angels to engage the Finlandians, it would cause a scandal, which I could use to my advantage in the council. I can end Jeremiah, and his experiments on Finlandia. This is all you need to know from me. A box, containing everything you need, is being placed on board your ship as we speak.” Marcus nodded in acknowledgement.
“What about my payment?”
“As you return, you will be rewarded for your services, just as before.” The large man replied calmly. “Marcus, there is no time to waste. Finlandians, and Jeremiah, must be destroyed. Let us say that it is for the best of the Inquisition, for the galaxy.” As the large man gestured Marcus to leave, smiling at him seemingly warmly, Marcus felt a chill at his spine, that he felt often whes speaking to his master. He stood up, and walked out of the extravagant room, and into the metallic corridors. He had a long flight ahead of him.
After several weeks, Marcus flew his small craft, which he had named “Snake II”, out from the cargo holds of the cargo cruiser Xatarax. This type of small illegal transportations was common in the huge cargo ships which travelled through the warp, making their way to the outset reaches of the galaxy. Even though it was prohibited and highly illegal, many captains took the risk to make personal profit. Marcus knew the captain of the Xatarax, and especially the captain’s addictions to certain narcotic substances. This knowledge, along with capability of supplying the captain his drug, bought Marcus his passage on the ship.
As Marcus set his course towards his destination, the abandoned mining colony of GH-6278, and allowed the machine spirit to guide his ship as he reread the files he had been given.
GH-6278 was founded some time in 368.M41, and populated in 374.M41. The small rock planet had been dismissed, mostly due to its small size, for a long time, but finally the Imperials decided to begin a mining colony on the planet. In 399.M41 all contact with the colony was lost, and after a while, a small Space Marine detachment was sent in to investigate. The report of the colony was bloody: most of the people were found slain and mutilated near the mines and almost thirty percent had disappeared completely. There were signs of the miners’ militia putting up resistance, which utterly failed. Different explanations were toyed with, but finally it was accepted that the miners had come under a Dark Eldar slave raid. The colony was never taken back to use, as its mineral yields were fairly low. The area was left abandoned for over eighty years.
Marcus sat back in his seat, as he had several hours left to read the files.
As Jeremiah worked to instate the Finlandian third army, ten years ago, he discovered the abandoned colony, and took it to military training purposes. The abandoned mining colony was perfectly suited for diverse training programs, as it had large open areas, living quarters and a small city, and the mining shafts, that run deep under the barren rock planet’s surface. The Finlandian military maintained its tradition through rigorous training programs, and by eradicating small Ork Waaaagh’s whenever possible. Finlandia itself, had for all this time, evaded any direct assaults.
Marcus put down the large file, and stared out into the vastness of space. A small Blood Angels strike force was moving in the area of GH-6278, giving Marcus just the chance he needed to finish his mission. Marcus knew of the ways and defects of the Blood Angels chapter, and these made his mission a lot easier. Marcus activated his illegal frequency scanner, to check if there was anybody listening to him. Only one target was receiving, and it was the Blood Angels’ vessel. Smiling to himself, Marcus activated the forged broadcast, supposedly from the GH-6278 colony. Even though the colony was marked as empty in all Imperial records, Marcus knew that the Blood Angels, in all their rage and bloodlust, would not even notice this. Marcus listened to his own creation in awe. The sounds of explosions, screams and gunfire, the hazed voice of a man shouting to the broadcaster for help, all this created a perfect illusion for the Blood Angels, and it would be completed, as their auspex’s would detect soldiers and vehicles in the colony. The training would most definitely seem like a battle. Marcus looked into his scanners, and saw that the Blood Angels vessel was deriving from its course, and heading for GH-6278. Marcus congratulated himself for a job well done, and turned his ship away from GH-6278. Suddenly something horrible glided into his view: a small Ork Waaagh, complete with battleships, was moving right towards him. As Marcus saw no way of escape, he deactivated his engines, and hoped the Ork’s wouldn’t notice him.
The moment of Truth
The Finlandian squads had scattered themselves around the landscape, in direct coordination of the 13th army’s commander, Colonel Tomi Kähkönen. The abandoned planets barren landscape, with dust clouds swirling around the huge piles of stone rubble that once came as waste material from the mines, was echoing with shouts as orders were being issued around. Colonel Kähkönen watched proudly as his men, nearing the completion of their training, completed orders at clockwork precision.
“Colonel!” The young petty officer charged with the radio equipment shouted. Kähkönen looked at the man and nodded. The man handed Kähkönen a headphone.
“Aerial surveillance has a situation going on. You should hear this, sir.” Kähkönen nodded again, and pushed the headphone to his ear.
“Give me a sitrep!” Kähkönen demanded with a stern voice.
“Colonel Sir, we have a situation here. A Thunderhawk transport craft has entered the atmosphere, and won’t respond to our communications. It appears to be heading towards the training are…” In an instant, the communications ceased with a violent burst of static, in which Kähkönen was sure he heard screams, as the signal died down. As Kähkönen raised his head to gaze towards the aerial surveillance post in the horizon, he saw the red Thunderhawk on final approach, and a great ball of flame, which quickly turned into a tower of smoke, that had once been his aerial surveillance post. Kähkönen shoved the headphone to his radioman, and looked at the field.
“Lehvälä!” Kähkönen addressed his radioman. “Get my men to our current location, and to prepare to intercept an enemy assault. This is not a drill! I want our heavy armour here immediately! I also need our RDF (Rapid Deployment Force) to get their asses here, now! Get them to the cover of those buildings, and tell them to keep as much terrain between them and the enemy, as possible!” As Kähkönen gave his orders, he knew that the Thunderhawk was landing nearby, and preparing to assault them. For what reason? There was no time to think about that.
“I want all heavy weapons in a firing position over there!” Kähkönen ordered, pointing his hand to his right side.
”All men to a wide line! I want maximum firepower available! Keep them sons of bitches as far away as possible! If they get close…” Kähkönen left those words hanging in the air. He had identified the attackers Thunderhawk as Blood Angels chapters’ vessel. These ferocious madmen could tear his lines apart in an instant if they got too close. If his men weren’t in their positions soon, they would be done for.
Between the Finlandian forces, and the invaders, were now only a few ruined buildings, which had deteriorated in the past decades, and some large mounds of mining waste. As Kähkönen gazed over the dusty battlefield, his men organized themselves into positions, taking cover behind some large rock formations. He also heard the sound of a powerful engine, and the screeching of tank tracks, as the Imperial heavy tank, Leman Russ Demolisher, slowly reeled into position on Kähkönen’s left side.
“Colonel! We have a visual on hostile infantry! We have also confirmed an enemy battle tank moving in on us! We have also heard sound of jet engines, suggesting a land speeder!” The radioman shouted over the noises around the men. His own job was quickly becoming more and more difficult, as the frequencies were becoming garbled of situation reports and orders being issued around the lines.
“Where is the RDF?” Kähkönen shouted to the radioman, which started immediately to scan the frequencies for the RDF:s location. Kähkönen cursed that the RDF was missing, as it contained the Chimera APC with some capable weaponry, and the RDF itself, containing ten of his finest men, and a heavy weapon. Just as Kähkönen was giving up hope, the APC roared into view, and took place near the Demolisher on the Finlandian line’s left flank. The radioman signalled thumbs up to Kähkönen.
“Call the RDF to move into…” Kähkönen’s voice was suddenly drowned by a series of exploding bolter round raining over their positions. Shards of the bolts themselves, and small pieces of shattered rock, were now flying at lethal speeds over the Finlandians.
“Take positions! Return fire!” The sergeants shouted to their men, trying to get the men to work under pressure. As Kähkönen stood up from his cover, to get a better view of his advancing enemy, as blast wave pushed him back. An explosion had shook the Demolishers side armour, and Kähkönen traced the shot back to a small group of Blood Angels’ scouts that had snuck into a forward position. Kähkönen waved his hand towards the Blood Angels scouts, and following his order, the Demolisher released a volley of plasma cannon fire, which obliterated the small squad before they could reload their rocket launcher.
“Colonel! Hostiles moving in on our left flank!” Kähkönen had detected the same. The unmistakeable hissing of the jump packs, the frenzied roaring of the men clad in black armour…
“Death company…” Kähkönen hissed between his clenched teeth.
“Prepare to fire on left flank! Fall back!” Kähkönen shouted to his forward positions, and his radioman relayed the message. The Finlandian heavy battle tank was now rolling towards the centre of the battlefield. Suddenly it came to a shocking halt as a bright blue bolt struck the tank’s turret.
“Report on the Demolisher!” Kähkönen ordered, as he stumbled forwards in the chaos which had been his battle line.
“Main cannon inoperational! Demolisher will continue to fight!” The radioman reported in a few seconds.
Suddenly, the Blood Angels land speeder roared into view from behind a ruined building, its assault cannons and heavy bolter raining fire into a Finlandian infantry squad, which took some losses and began to withdraw.
“For fuck’s sakes! Order those bastards back-in-line!” Kähkönen roared at his radioman, and quickly saw that his men were obediently returning to their positions. Another squad too the possibility, and fired a lascannon at the land speeder, scoring a direct hit on the blood red machine. The land speeder, which had rapidly advanced on the Finlandian lines, waved from side to side, before taking a final leap and crashing into a pile of mining waste and rubble, and becoming a blazing ball of fire.
“Death Company advancing!” Kähkönen heard one of his men shout, until their voice was drowned by the black clad psychopaths’ frenzied screams.
“All weapons fire! Priority one! Ten o’ clock!” Kähkönen shouted, and saw volley after volley of lascannon, lasgun, assault rifle, and grenade launcher shots striking the advancing death company. Several Death Company members were obliterated in mid-air by lascannon shots, and more fell to the ground after being struck by lucky lasgun shots. The demolisher fired one of its plasma cannons, melting two soldiers instantly into a smouldering mass of blood. As the men fell, the sound of the advancing death company died out. Only the Death Company Chaplain continued to advance at the platoon headquarters, which had assumed forward positions. The young Finlandian lieutenant standing with his men daringly stood up, and fired his plasma pistol several times, annihilating the chaplain as he attempted to make a final dash at him. As the Chaplain fell lifelessly to the ground, the Lieutenant’s pistol overheated, and a blast of scouring plasma spilled at his face.
“Medic!”
“Erkkilä, goddamnit! They got Erkkilä!”
As the Finlandian medics ran to witness the death of a fine young officer, the Blood Angels’ lines crumbled, and they withdrew to their transport craft.
“Colonel Kähkönen! The enemy is withdrawing!” Kähkönen powered down his power sword, and gazed at the battlefield proudly. He had taken minimal losses, and defeated an enemy, which he should have never been able to defeat. He, and his men, were now officially soldiers of the Finlandian army, and proud of it.
“On this day, we have proven ourselves worthy of out uniforms!” As Kähkönen rejoiced, so did his men.
The difficult decision
Marcus, sitting helplessly in his small ship, watched in horror, as the small space-Waaagh’s ships, most nothing more than heaps of junks with large weapons and second hand engines, glided above him. He had witnessed the Finlandian and Blood Angels’ VOX chatter, and was horrified of the battle’s outcome. In addition, the withdrawing Blood Angel’s Thunderhawk had discovered the Ork Waaagh, and called in an Imperial Fleet detachment. Marcus was facing trouble anywhere he looked. If he tried to escape now, the Waaagh would detect him and open fire. At this range they could not entirely miss him. If Marcus waited for the fleet to arrive, he would get caught in the crossfire, and when the Imperial Fleet would defeat the Waaagh, they would imprison Marcus for his illegally modified ship, and find evidence of him starting the battle which had cost the Blood Angels so. After thinking through his few options, Marcus decided to wait for a bit longer.
“Space Marine’s Thunderhawk two-eight-eight, confirm target location.” A male voice boomed over the VOX network, as the Imperial battleship ‘Immense Fury’s VOX officer reconfirmed the Waaagh’s location. The battleship was being moved to the battles fought at the eastern fringes, and had diverted its course due to the Blood Angels requesting for the destruction of a nearby Waaagh.
“Immense Fury, this is Thunderhawk two-eight-eight. Reconfirming coordinates now. Should we assist?” The response came swiftly.
“Coordinates reconfirmed, two-eight-eight. That’s a negative on the assistance. We are being supported by the Inquisitorial battleship ‘Fiery Cleansing’. You should, however, remain in your current position, as the Inquisitorial investigators wish to be debriefed on the late events at the GH-6278, over.” The VOX officer stated, terminating the connection. The fleet had received report of the battle fought at GH-6278, and had immediately contacted Adeptus Astartes over the incident. They had, in turn, given full authority over the investigation to the nearby Inquisitors. It seemed that the Adeptus Astartes was getting frustrated with Blood Angel’s reoccurring failures, and was willing to allow Inquisitorial investigation into the matter.
“Commander Anderson! Auspex detects Waaagh craft at given coordinates.” The petty officer in charge of the Auspex informed his superiors, in the command bridge of the ‘Immense Fury’. Anderson, sitting in all his might on his seat, looked at the central view on the hololithic screen at the command bridges centre.
“Prepare the fleet for encounter. Sound the master alarm, and man all gun batteries and interceptor craft.” Commander Anderson ordered in a calm manner. He had wiped out such small Waaagh hundreds of times before, and had lost the excitement from these encounters. It had become the same, every day the same, to him.
“Commander Anderson, the Auspex detects an unidentified craft in the vicinity of the Waaagh. It appears to be attempting to hide from the Waaagh. We are also detecting some illegal modifications on it. Should we contact it?” Anderson listened to the report, and pondered for a moment. Smugglers were a common sight in these parts of the galaxy, and if he captured one, he would have to file the paperwork for the smugglers’ crafts impoundment, and of the arrest.
“No need to contact it. Concentrate the main ships fire on the Waaagh battleships, and have the interceptors engage enemy fighters. Order three fighters to destroy the unidentified.” Anderson ordered in a low voice.
Marcus saw the Imperial ships in the distance, and felt a chill run down his spine, as he identified one of the two large battleships as Inquisition ships. If his master had found out that his mission had failed, he would be as good as dead. Marcus slammed his head into the control panel, cursing himself. He had always believed that he would be ready to die, as the profits far surpassed the risks. Now that he faced death, he was not nearly as sure of that decision. As the first shots of the Imperial cannons hurled themselves into the Ork ships, causing massive explosions and shaking the space itself, Marcus made his decision. He slammed the power switches, activating his ships engines, and accelerated right into the middle of the developing chaos, towards the Imperial ships.
“Commander, the unidentified vessel is moving toward us!” One of the petty officers on board the ‘Immense Fury’ reported. Anderson looked at the hololithic screen, and frowned.
“Change main battery firing solution by X-minus twenty degrees.” Anderson ordered, trying to get rid of the bothersome bug.
Marcus shouted at the top of his voice as he tried to steer his craft away from the explosive barrage. His ship was shaking uncontrollably, as he opened his VOX and started shouting: “This is Snake II! I wish to surrender… I wish to…” Marcus could not concentrate on flying and shouting anymore, and he decided that flying was more important right now.
“Commander, the ‘Fiery Cleansing’ wishes to communicate.” The petty officer in charge of the VOX reported to Anderson, who was muttering silent curses to himself.
“Correct main battery fire plus twenty degrees, and recall the three fighters chasing the unidentified. Let the Inquisition pick the poor bastard along.”
Marcus could feel the firing around him subside, as the large battleships main battery moved its firing solution back to the Ork fleet. Marcus steered his craft straight for the Inquisitorial ship, sending a docking request, and praying his mind that he would make it out of this alive. Marcus was ordered to dock immediately.
In the following minutes, the Imperial ships annihilated the Ork Waaagh, without suffering any significant casualties or damage.
Marcus found himself in the most uncomfortable situation he had ever been in. The ship he had docked with, the ‘Fiery Cleansing’, was transporting Adeptus Sororitas’ warriors to the eastern fringes, and now these female soldiers stood around Marcus, pointing the powerful boltguns at his head. Marcus cursed that he had a soft spot for women in power armour, which was being translated into a bulge in his pilot’s pants. Marcus couldn’t help but shiver as he heard a boltgun being cocked behind him.
“State your name!” A powerful female soldier ordered, looking at Marcus like a bug beneath her boot.
“Marcus!” Marcus answered briefly, and shivered again as he saw some female soldiers go in his ship, and begin investigating it. As the ship was being investigated, a small group of men entered the great hangar bay in which Marcus had landed. Marcus identified one of the men in that group, as his master.
“In the name of the holy Inquisition, this man is to be incarcerated immediately! We are to confiscate his ship and belongings!” Marcus heard his master’s booming voice, and felt a brief moment of hope, which subsided as a bolter was smacked into the back of Marcus’s head.
Some time later, Marcus came to his senses in a metallic brig, which was as cold and uncomfortable as possible. The small metallic cube contained only a small slab of metal which served as a bunk for the prisoner. Marcus tried to get his eyes to focus in the sudden bright light that was lighting the cell. As his eyes slowly regained focus, Marcus realized that there was somebody else in the cell with him.
“Who is it?” Marcus asked nervously, trying to figure a way to escape. He had escaped Imperial correctional facilities before, but an Inquisitorial battleship’s brig was a bit different.
“Marcus… Marcus… I am disappointed in you…” He heard a familiar voice, and even as his eyes could still not perceive the person near him, he knew that it was his master. Marcus’s brains worked as hard as they could, but he could not come up with an explanation. Was he getting old? His head was aching.
“My lord, you must for…” Marcus started, his voice garbled and sluggish, but was interrupted by a booming shout, which nearly deafened him.
“MARCUS! You do not see, that you are beyond any use to me! You do not see my goals, nor do you see your own… You do not see, as I do.” Marcus’s eyes were starting to focus properly, and he could see the Inquisitor before him.
“Perhaps you should be shown something…” The Inquisitor snarled, unbuttoning his robes collar, and showing Marcus a part of his chest. Marcus’s eyes widened as he saw the top of a black scar, which formed into an eight pointed star symbol of Chaos.
“You… are…?” Marcus tried to speak out, but the words didn’t seem to come out. His body seemed to be out of his control. His limbs shook, and convulsed, and he threw up on the metallic floor.
“And you can be sure, Marcus, that my capabilities are not limited to mere manipulation of minds…” Marcus felt himself fall from the bunk onto the floor, where he lifted himself. With a stroke-like movement he smashed his head into the metallic wall, leaving a red spatter into the plate. His nose and mouth spilled blood onto the floor, and his whole body felt like it was on fire. Marcus tried to scream, but the sound did not come. Instead, his body smashed his head again into the wall. Marcus prayed in his thoughts that he would die, but the sweet embrace of unconsciousness did not take him. He garbled, and bloody bubbles gathered into his mouth.
“Yes Marcus… You cannot imagine what I could do to you if only I had the time… I will take what is mine… And the Emperor shall rot!” As the Inquisitor spoke, he covered his chest again, and buttoned his robe.
“Time to go to sleep, Marcus.” As the words left the Inquisitors lips, Marcus smashed his head into the wall for one last time. The hard metal crushed his fractured skull, and he died…
The deal
A spy, dressed in a dark cloth and wearing black glasses to cover his light sensitive eyes, stepped through a pair of hissing metallic doors, which lead from a depressing metal corridor, into a strangely out of place looking room. He, Marcus, looked at that room astonished, as he always did, as he never ceased to wonder how the room’s owner had come to possess such items and wealth. The walls were lined with precious wood panels, and partially covered in decorative banners. A great window, with blood red drapes hanging at its sides, opened to a view over the glorious temples of Terra. Hundreds and hundreds of books covered a giant wooden bookshelf on one wall, and had a large and comfortable looking armchair nearby for reading and relaxing. The chair was occupied.
“Sir?” Marcus spoke aloud, to inform his master of his arrival.
“Marcus! Come in, friend.” A strong man’s voice greeted from the chair. As Marcus entered the study area, he could see the large man, dressed in a thick red velvet robe, sitting on that great leather chair, with a thick book, which he slammed shut as soon as Marcus came closer, in his lap. Marcus didn’t even know this man’s name, but he had learned in the last few years, to respect him and his power.
“My lord, you wished to speak to me?” Marcus said with a low and respectful tone. He knew from experience, that the man in front of him was powerful enough to have him killed in a blink of an eye.
“Ah, yes. Please, have a seat.” The large man requested, gesturing towards a large couch in front of his armchair. Marcus took a seat as requested.
“Marcus, I have a request for you, a mission, and it is no small task to complete. This will require absolute caution and precision.” The large man waited for a moment, to make sure his spy had understood every word. “I am sure that you have heard, through your various channels, of the problems that the young Inquisitor Jeremiah has caused of late."
“The planet of Finlandia? I have heard of it.” Marcus had indeed heard of it, although his information on the matter was limited to bits and pieces.
“Near this special planet patrols a battle group of Space Marines, of the Blood Angels chapter. They have been given the mission of securing the area of the scattered Ork Waaagh’s in the area. They will be your weapon. Jeremiah got his will, and these impure aliens are already being introduced to the Imperial Guard! They have been doing it for these past twelve years, before we could get Jeremiah to answer for his doings. You will be given a mission, to make sure that these heretics never get any further in this disgraceful plan.” Even as Marcus knew that most of his masters words were lies, knew that his master cared little for the Emperor, and rather cared for his own place of power. Marcus digested that which he had just heard, before asking.
“What needs to be done?”
“Marcus, you are to go into the area and send out a distress signal, made to look like its coming from an abandoned mining colony, which these Finlandians use for training purposes. This must be done at an exact time, so that the Finlandians are in there on an exercise. The Blood Angels in all their imperfection will be frenzied, mad and violent beyond limits. If we can get the Blood Angels to engage the Finlandians, it would cause a scandal, which I could use to my advantage in the council. I can end Jeremiah, and his experiments on Finlandia. This is all you need to know from me. A box, containing everything you need, is being placed on board your ship as we speak.” Marcus nodded in acknowledgement.
“What about my payment?”
“As you return, you will be rewarded for your services, just as before.” The large man replied calmly. “Marcus, there is no time to waste. Finlandians, and Jeremiah, must be destroyed. Let us say that it is for the best of the Inquisition, for the galaxy.” As the large man gestured Marcus to leave, smiling at him seemingly warmly, Marcus felt a chill at his spine, that he felt often whes speaking to his master. He stood up, and walked out of the extravagant room, and into the metallic corridors. He had a long flight ahead of him.
After several weeks, Marcus flew his small craft, which he had named “Snake II”, out from the cargo holds of the cargo cruiser Xatarax. This type of small illegal transportations was common in the huge cargo ships which travelled through the warp, making their way to the outset reaches of the galaxy. Even though it was prohibited and highly illegal, many captains took the risk to make personal profit. Marcus knew the captain of the Xatarax, and especially the captain’s addictions to certain narcotic substances. This knowledge, along with capability of supplying the captain his drug, bought Marcus his passage on the ship.
As Marcus set his course towards his destination, the abandoned mining colony of GH-6278, and allowed the machine spirit to guide his ship as he reread the files he had been given.
GH-6278 was founded some time in 368.M41, and populated in 374.M41. The small rock planet had been dismissed, mostly due to its small size, for a long time, but finally the Imperials decided to begin a mining colony on the planet. In 399.M41 all contact with the colony was lost, and after a while, a small Space Marine detachment was sent in to investigate. The report of the colony was bloody: most of the people were found slain and mutilated near the mines and almost thirty percent had disappeared completely. There were signs of the miners’ militia putting up resistance, which utterly failed. Different explanations were toyed with, but finally it was accepted that the miners had come under a Dark Eldar slave raid. The colony was never taken back to use, as its mineral yields were fairly low. The area was left abandoned for over eighty years.
Marcus sat back in his seat, as he had several hours left to read the files.
As Jeremiah worked to instate the Finlandian third army, ten years ago, he discovered the abandoned colony, and took it to military training purposes. The abandoned mining colony was perfectly suited for diverse training programs, as it had large open areas, living quarters and a small city, and the mining shafts, that run deep under the barren rock planet’s surface. The Finlandian military maintained its tradition through rigorous training programs, and by eradicating small Ork Waaaagh’s whenever possible. Finlandia itself, had for all this time, evaded any direct assaults.
Marcus put down the large file, and stared out into the vastness of space. A small Blood Angels strike force was moving in the area of GH-6278, giving Marcus just the chance he needed to finish his mission. Marcus knew of the ways and defects of the Blood Angels chapter, and these made his mission a lot easier. Marcus activated his illegal frequency scanner, to check if there was anybody listening to him. Only one target was receiving, and it was the Blood Angels’ vessel. Smiling to himself, Marcus activated the forged broadcast, supposedly from the GH-6278 colony. Even though the colony was marked as empty in all Imperial records, Marcus knew that the Blood Angels, in all their rage and bloodlust, would not even notice this. Marcus listened to his own creation in awe. The sounds of explosions, screams and gunfire, the hazed voice of a man shouting to the broadcaster for help, all this created a perfect illusion for the Blood Angels, and it would be completed, as their auspex’s would detect soldiers and vehicles in the colony. The training would most definitely seem like a battle. Marcus looked into his scanners, and saw that the Blood Angels vessel was deriving from its course, and heading for GH-6278. Marcus congratulated himself for a job well done, and turned his ship away from GH-6278. Suddenly something horrible glided into his view: a small Ork Waaagh, complete with battleships, was moving right towards him. As Marcus saw no way of escape, he deactivated his engines, and hoped the Ork’s wouldn’t notice him.
The moment of Truth
The Finlandian squads had scattered themselves around the landscape, in direct coordination of the 13th army’s commander, Colonel Tomi Kähkönen. The abandoned planets barren landscape, with dust clouds swirling around the huge piles of stone rubble that once came as waste material from the mines, was echoing with shouts as orders were being issued around. Colonel Kähkönen watched proudly as his men, nearing the completion of their training, completed orders at clockwork precision.
“Colonel!” The young petty officer charged with the radio equipment shouted. Kähkönen looked at the man and nodded. The man handed Kähkönen a headphone.
“Aerial surveillance has a situation going on. You should hear this, sir.” Kähkönen nodded again, and pushed the headphone to his ear.
“Give me a sitrep!” Kähkönen demanded with a stern voice.
“Colonel Sir, we have a situation here. A Thunderhawk transport craft has entered the atmosphere, and won’t respond to our communications. It appears to be heading towards the training are…” In an instant, the communications ceased with a violent burst of static, in which Kähkönen was sure he heard screams, as the signal died down. As Kähkönen raised his head to gaze towards the aerial surveillance post in the horizon, he saw the red Thunderhawk on final approach, and a great ball of flame, which quickly turned into a tower of smoke, that had once been his aerial surveillance post. Kähkönen shoved the headphone to his radioman, and looked at the field.
“Lehvälä!” Kähkönen addressed his radioman. “Get my men to our current location, and to prepare to intercept an enemy assault. This is not a drill! I want our heavy armour here immediately! I also need our RDF (Rapid Deployment Force) to get their asses here, now! Get them to the cover of those buildings, and tell them to keep as much terrain between them and the enemy, as possible!” As Kähkönen gave his orders, he knew that the Thunderhawk was landing nearby, and preparing to assault them. For what reason? There was no time to think about that.
“I want all heavy weapons in a firing position over there!” Kähkönen ordered, pointing his hand to his right side.
”All men to a wide line! I want maximum firepower available! Keep them sons of bitches as far away as possible! If they get close…” Kähkönen left those words hanging in the air. He had identified the attackers Thunderhawk as Blood Angels chapters’ vessel. These ferocious madmen could tear his lines apart in an instant if they got too close. If his men weren’t in their positions soon, they would be done for.
Between the Finlandian forces, and the invaders, were now only a few ruined buildings, which had deteriorated in the past decades, and some large mounds of mining waste. As Kähkönen gazed over the dusty battlefield, his men organized themselves into positions, taking cover behind some large rock formations. He also heard the sound of a powerful engine, and the screeching of tank tracks, as the Imperial heavy tank, Leman Russ Demolisher, slowly reeled into position on Kähkönen’s left side.
“Colonel! We have a visual on hostile infantry! We have also confirmed an enemy battle tank moving in on us! We have also heard sound of jet engines, suggesting a land speeder!” The radioman shouted over the noises around the men. His own job was quickly becoming more and more difficult, as the frequencies were becoming garbled of situation reports and orders being issued around the lines.
“Where is the RDF?” Kähkönen shouted to the radioman, which started immediately to scan the frequencies for the RDF:s location. Kähkönen cursed that the RDF was missing, as it contained the Chimera APC with some capable weaponry, and the RDF itself, containing ten of his finest men, and a heavy weapon. Just as Kähkönen was giving up hope, the APC roared into view, and took place near the Demolisher on the Finlandian line’s left flank. The radioman signalled thumbs up to Kähkönen.
“Call the RDF to move into…” Kähkönen’s voice was suddenly drowned by a series of exploding bolter round raining over their positions. Shards of the bolts themselves, and small pieces of shattered rock, were now flying at lethal speeds over the Finlandians.
“Take positions! Return fire!” The sergeants shouted to their men, trying to get the men to work under pressure. As Kähkönen stood up from his cover, to get a better view of his advancing enemy, as blast wave pushed him back. An explosion had shook the Demolishers side armour, and Kähkönen traced the shot back to a small group of Blood Angels’ scouts that had snuck into a forward position. Kähkönen waved his hand towards the Blood Angels scouts, and following his order, the Demolisher released a volley of plasma cannon fire, which obliterated the small squad before they could reload their rocket launcher.
“Colonel! Hostiles moving in on our left flank!” Kähkönen had detected the same. The unmistakeable hissing of the jump packs, the frenzied roaring of the men clad in black armour…
“Death company…” Kähkönen hissed between his clenched teeth.
“Prepare to fire on left flank! Fall back!” Kähkönen shouted to his forward positions, and his radioman relayed the message. The Finlandian heavy battle tank was now rolling towards the centre of the battlefield. Suddenly it came to a shocking halt as a bright blue bolt struck the tank’s turret.
“Report on the Demolisher!” Kähkönen ordered, as he stumbled forwards in the chaos which had been his battle line.
“Main cannon inoperational! Demolisher will continue to fight!” The radioman reported in a few seconds.
Suddenly, the Blood Angels land speeder roared into view from behind a ruined building, its assault cannons and heavy bolter raining fire into a Finlandian infantry squad, which took some losses and began to withdraw.
“For fuck’s sakes! Order those bastards back-in-line!” Kähkönen roared at his radioman, and quickly saw that his men were obediently returning to their positions. Another squad too the possibility, and fired a lascannon at the land speeder, scoring a direct hit on the blood red machine. The land speeder, which had rapidly advanced on the Finlandian lines, waved from side to side, before taking a final leap and crashing into a pile of mining waste and rubble, and becoming a blazing ball of fire.
“Death Company advancing!” Kähkönen heard one of his men shout, until their voice was drowned by the black clad psychopaths’ frenzied screams.
“All weapons fire! Priority one! Ten o’ clock!” Kähkönen shouted, and saw volley after volley of lascannon, lasgun, assault rifle, and grenade launcher shots striking the advancing death company. Several Death Company members were obliterated in mid-air by lascannon shots, and more fell to the ground after being struck by lucky lasgun shots. The demolisher fired one of its plasma cannons, melting two soldiers instantly into a smouldering mass of blood. As the men fell, the sound of the advancing death company died out. Only the Death Company Chaplain continued to advance at the platoon headquarters, which had assumed forward positions. The young Finlandian lieutenant standing with his men daringly stood up, and fired his plasma pistol several times, annihilating the chaplain as he attempted to make a final dash at him. As the Chaplain fell lifelessly to the ground, the Lieutenant’s pistol overheated, and a blast of scouring plasma spilled at his face.
“Medic!”
“Erkkilä, goddamnit! They got Erkkilä!”
As the Finlandian medics ran to witness the death of a fine young officer, the Blood Angels’ lines crumbled, and they withdrew to their transport craft.
“Colonel Kähkönen! The enemy is withdrawing!” Kähkönen powered down his power sword, and gazed at the battlefield proudly. He had taken minimal losses, and defeated an enemy, which he should have never been able to defeat. He, and his men, were now officially soldiers of the Finlandian army, and proud of it.
“On this day, we have proven ourselves worthy of out uniforms!” As Kähkönen rejoiced, so did his men.
The difficult decision
Marcus, sitting helplessly in his small ship, watched in horror, as the small space-Waaagh’s ships, most nothing more than heaps of junks with large weapons and second hand engines, glided above him. He had witnessed the Finlandian and Blood Angels’ VOX chatter, and was horrified of the battle’s outcome. In addition, the withdrawing Blood Angel’s Thunderhawk had discovered the Ork Waaagh, and called in an Imperial Fleet detachment. Marcus was facing trouble anywhere he looked. If he tried to escape now, the Waaagh would detect him and open fire. At this range they could not entirely miss him. If Marcus waited for the fleet to arrive, he would get caught in the crossfire, and when the Imperial Fleet would defeat the Waaagh, they would imprison Marcus for his illegally modified ship, and find evidence of him starting the battle which had cost the Blood Angels so. After thinking through his few options, Marcus decided to wait for a bit longer.
“Space Marine’s Thunderhawk two-eight-eight, confirm target location.” A male voice boomed over the VOX network, as the Imperial battleship ‘Immense Fury’s VOX officer reconfirmed the Waaagh’s location. The battleship was being moved to the battles fought at the eastern fringes, and had diverted its course due to the Blood Angels requesting for the destruction of a nearby Waaagh.
“Immense Fury, this is Thunderhawk two-eight-eight. Reconfirming coordinates now. Should we assist?” The response came swiftly.
“Coordinates reconfirmed, two-eight-eight. That’s a negative on the assistance. We are being supported by the Inquisitorial battleship ‘Fiery Cleansing’. You should, however, remain in your current position, as the Inquisitorial investigators wish to be debriefed on the late events at the GH-6278, over.” The VOX officer stated, terminating the connection. The fleet had received report of the battle fought at GH-6278, and had immediately contacted Adeptus Astartes over the incident. They had, in turn, given full authority over the investigation to the nearby Inquisitors. It seemed that the Adeptus Astartes was getting frustrated with Blood Angel’s reoccurring failures, and was willing to allow Inquisitorial investigation into the matter.
“Commander Anderson! Auspex detects Waaagh craft at given coordinates.” The petty officer in charge of the Auspex informed his superiors, in the command bridge of the ‘Immense Fury’. Anderson, sitting in all his might on his seat, looked at the central view on the hololithic screen at the command bridges centre.
“Prepare the fleet for encounter. Sound the master alarm, and man all gun batteries and interceptor craft.” Commander Anderson ordered in a calm manner. He had wiped out such small Waaagh hundreds of times before, and had lost the excitement from these encounters. It had become the same, every day the same, to him.
“Commander Anderson, the Auspex detects an unidentified craft in the vicinity of the Waaagh. It appears to be attempting to hide from the Waaagh. We are also detecting some illegal modifications on it. Should we contact it?” Anderson listened to the report, and pondered for a moment. Smugglers were a common sight in these parts of the galaxy, and if he captured one, he would have to file the paperwork for the smugglers’ crafts impoundment, and of the arrest.
“No need to contact it. Concentrate the main ships fire on the Waaagh battleships, and have the interceptors engage enemy fighters. Order three fighters to destroy the unidentified.” Anderson ordered in a low voice.
Marcus saw the Imperial ships in the distance, and felt a chill run down his spine, as he identified one of the two large battleships as Inquisition ships. If his master had found out that his mission had failed, he would be as good as dead. Marcus slammed his head into the control panel, cursing himself. He had always believed that he would be ready to die, as the profits far surpassed the risks. Now that he faced death, he was not nearly as sure of that decision. As the first shots of the Imperial cannons hurled themselves into the Ork ships, causing massive explosions and shaking the space itself, Marcus made his decision. He slammed the power switches, activating his ships engines, and accelerated right into the middle of the developing chaos, towards the Imperial ships.
“Commander, the unidentified vessel is moving toward us!” One of the petty officers on board the ‘Immense Fury’ reported. Anderson looked at the hololithic screen, and frowned.
“Change main battery firing solution by X-minus twenty degrees.” Anderson ordered, trying to get rid of the bothersome bug.
Marcus shouted at the top of his voice as he tried to steer his craft away from the explosive barrage. His ship was shaking uncontrollably, as he opened his VOX and started shouting: “This is Snake II! I wish to surrender… I wish to…” Marcus could not concentrate on flying and shouting anymore, and he decided that flying was more important right now.
“Commander, the ‘Fiery Cleansing’ wishes to communicate.” The petty officer in charge of the VOX reported to Anderson, who was muttering silent curses to himself.
“Correct main battery fire plus twenty degrees, and recall the three fighters chasing the unidentified. Let the Inquisition pick the poor bastard along.”
Marcus could feel the firing around him subside, as the large battleships main battery moved its firing solution back to the Ork fleet. Marcus steered his craft straight for the Inquisitorial ship, sending a docking request, and praying his mind that he would make it out of this alive. Marcus was ordered to dock immediately.
In the following minutes, the Imperial ships annihilated the Ork Waaagh, without suffering any significant casualties or damage.
Marcus found himself in the most uncomfortable situation he had ever been in. The ship he had docked with, the ‘Fiery Cleansing’, was transporting Adeptus Sororitas’ warriors to the eastern fringes, and now these female soldiers stood around Marcus, pointing the powerful boltguns at his head. Marcus cursed that he had a soft spot for women in power armour, which was being translated into a bulge in his pilot’s pants. Marcus couldn’t help but shiver as he heard a boltgun being cocked behind him.
“State your name!” A powerful female soldier ordered, looking at Marcus like a bug beneath her boot.
“Marcus!” Marcus answered briefly, and shivered again as he saw some female soldiers go in his ship, and begin investigating it. As the ship was being investigated, a small group of men entered the great hangar bay in which Marcus had landed. Marcus identified one of the men in that group, as his master.
“In the name of the holy Inquisition, this man is to be incarcerated immediately! We are to confiscate his ship and belongings!” Marcus heard his master’s booming voice, and felt a brief moment of hope, which subsided as a bolter was smacked into the back of Marcus’s head.
Some time later, Marcus came to his senses in a metallic brig, which was as cold and uncomfortable as possible. The small metallic cube contained only a small slab of metal which served as a bunk for the prisoner. Marcus tried to get his eyes to focus in the sudden bright light that was lighting the cell. As his eyes slowly regained focus, Marcus realized that there was somebody else in the cell with him.
“Who is it?” Marcus asked nervously, trying to figure a way to escape. He had escaped Imperial correctional facilities before, but an Inquisitorial battleship’s brig was a bit different.
“Marcus… Marcus… I am disappointed in you…” He heard a familiar voice, and even as his eyes could still not perceive the person near him, he knew that it was his master. Marcus’s brains worked as hard as they could, but he could not come up with an explanation. Was he getting old? His head was aching.
“My lord, you must for…” Marcus started, his voice garbled and sluggish, but was interrupted by a booming shout, which nearly deafened him.
“MARCUS! You do not see, that you are beyond any use to me! You do not see my goals, nor do you see your own… You do not see, as I do.” Marcus’s eyes were starting to focus properly, and he could see the Inquisitor before him.
“Perhaps you should be shown something…” The Inquisitor snarled, unbuttoning his robes collar, and showing Marcus a part of his chest. Marcus’s eyes widened as he saw the top of a black scar, which formed into an eight pointed star symbol of Chaos.
“You… are…?” Marcus tried to speak out, but the words didn’t seem to come out. His body seemed to be out of his control. His limbs shook, and convulsed, and he threw up on the metallic floor.
“And you can be sure, Marcus, that my capabilities are not limited to mere manipulation of minds…” Marcus felt himself fall from the bunk onto the floor, where he lifted himself. With a stroke-like movement he smashed his head into the metallic wall, leaving a red spatter into the plate. His nose and mouth spilled blood onto the floor, and his whole body felt like it was on fire. Marcus tried to scream, but the sound did not come. Instead, his body smashed his head again into the wall. Marcus prayed in his thoughts that he would die, but the sweet embrace of unconsciousness did not take him. He garbled, and bloody bubbles gathered into his mouth.
“Yes Marcus… You cannot imagine what I could do to you if only I had the time… I will take what is mine… And the Emperor shall rot!” As the Inquisitor spoke, he covered his chest again, and buttoned his robe.
“Time to go to sleep, Marcus.” As the words left the Inquisitors lips, Marcus smashed his head into the wall for one last time. The hard metal crushed his fractured skull, and he died…
Viimeksi muokannut WHAM, To 21.12.2006 10:24. Yhteensä muokattu 1 kertaa.
This galaxy is full of hidden secrets. It takes a vivid imagination and some pure insanity to uncover them all, yet the cost to ones sanity in uncovering them is... immense...
-
Lihamestari
- Viestit: 2758
- Liittynyt: Pe 04.02.2005 11:49
- Paikkakunta: Valkeakoski
Saat hienomman heittomerkin, ' <-- tuon noin, kun painat siinä enterin vasemmalla puolella alempaa nappia. Ei muuta.
Ai niin, hyvää tekstiä oli.
Ai niin, hyvää tekstiä oli.
Maailmojen Tuhoaja, Elävien Jumala, Taivaankannen Kannattaja, Vuori Kultainen,
ne nimiä on vain ja nimet otetaan nyt pois!
Jos kasvoillesi lankeat,
se mitä pelastaa?
ne nimiä on vain ja nimet otetaan nyt pois!
Jos kasvoillesi lankeat,
se mitä pelastaa?
Käytänkin sitä, mutta kun siirrän tekstit wordistä tänne, se heittomerkki muuttuu. Valitan, koittakaa kestää.Lihamestari kirjoitti:Saat hienomman heittomerkin, ' <-- tuon noin, kun painat siinä enterin vasemmalla puolella alempaa nappia. Ei muuta.
Ai niin, hyvää tekstiä oli.
This galaxy is full of hidden secrets. It takes a vivid imagination and some pure insanity to uncover them all, yet the cost to ones sanity in uncovering them is... immense...