This is my entry for the Space Marine Character Competition. I started writing this somewhat later than I should have, so my apologies in advance. It comes in at just over 2000 words.
* * *
"Brother Ulysses, mis...... is a go. Repeat, mission i.....o."
"Acknowledged," growled the Techmarine of the Marines Ascendant into his com-bead. Down here, deep in the Underhives of the city Saint Nix's Hope, even his own powerful communications array was picking up static and interference. The hundreds upon hundreds of feet of steel and earth between him and the orbiting strike cruiser
Crusaders Glory were taking their toll on the signal.
He eyed the entryway in front of him, flicking through the infrared, ultraviolet, and back to visible light spectrums. It was a deep rust orange, decaying in the damp air in the depths of the hive. It would have seemed unimportant, apart from the many motion sensing devices his scans had picked up.
Ulysses grinned. "Heracles," he intoned into his helmet. "Get this door open." With a soft whir the servitor stepped forward, readying it's cutting claw. The Techmarine's smile grew larger. This was going to be
fun.
* * *
Jameson woke with a start, a loud beeping cutting into the silence.
"What's going on?" he mumbled, fumbling for his lasgun in the dim light of the corridor.
"Sweet Warp, you fell asleep again didn't you?" His watch partner rubbed his forehead in disgust as the beeping tone stopped. "Movement in sector Beta-1, probably those damn rats again. I'll call it in, go back to sleep." Jameson was on his feet by know, trying to untangle his stained khaki trenchcoat from around his legs and failing miserably.
"Aw, c'mon Matsui, you know I nee-" his whining was cut off by a raised finger as Matsui knelt and wound up the antique vox set leaning up against their sandbag barricade.
"Matsui here, sector Beta. We have some movement in-....Yes, I'm sure Boss..... Definitely
not like last time Boss, I'm positive. It's a door in Beta-1, the sensors went mad. Yes Boss, probably just a few Juves. Could you send a patrol over that way? Thanks Boss." He put the earpiece back on it's hook., and looked over at Jameson. "Alright then beslubber-up, lets see if you can stay awake this time, hmm?"
This, thought Jameson,
is really not my day.
* * *
Ulysses moved down the corridor, the iron of the floor ringing out softly against his ceramite boots, like a bell tolling the hour. Heracles followed at a sedate pace, 6 feet behind him.
"Brother, the objective should be so........head, fol......on the right"
"Say again [iGlory[/i], say again?"
"Objecti........ahea
....." Static cut through the remainder of the message.
Ulysses sighed, and continued moving forwards. Everything down here was a mess of intersecting tunnels, clad in plates of steel and iron. Doors lead off from the hallways at seemingly random intervals. The tunnels seemed to change wildly in size at intersections, widening and narrowing at different points. Exposed wires hung from the ceiling, leading off into the darkness.
He stroked the side of his trusted thunder hammer, Edgecrusher, anticipating the violence to come. The objective was not to remain in the hands of such vile beings, if these Chaos worshipping degenerates could even be called such. While the battle raged above him for control of Saint Nix's Hope, Ulysses had been sent to the bowels the hive to locate and destroy a desecrated Chapel of the Omnissiah.
The Techmarine froze, the servitor halting instantly behind him. He magnified his hearing through his extensively modified helm. Where those.... yes, voices up ahead! And a light! He drew his bolt pistol, and powered up Edgecrusher while drawing it from it's place on his belt, reciting the Prayer of Activation as lurched to movement once more. The ringing of his feet against the floor sped up in tempo, now sounding like a percussion orchestra form the Spires gone mad. He began to recite the Catechisms of Hate, the crashing of his boots reaching a crescendo as he rounded the corner bellowing the prayer at the top of his lungs. The filth never stood a chance.
* * *
The first Jameson knew anything was wrong was a repeated loud coughing noise, followed immediately by detonations and the distinctive cracks of lasguns being fired from up ahead.
"Ah, amphetamine parrot," muttered Matsui. "That's not good." The vox suddenly came alive with noise.
"We are under attack, Sector Beta-1, we need to fall back, we need to-" The rest was cut off as a thunderous roar ripped down the corridor from around a corner with a bright flash of blue light, accompanied by a long drawn out scream. The firing was more sporadic now, the screams becoming more frequent. Another flash and roar sounded off, closer this time.
"What are we doing Matsui, what are we doing!" moaned Jameson. Really, this was not his thing. He was only here because the other Juves were all doing it.
"Shut up, just shut up!" Matsui yelled, "I'm thinking!" Jameson was huddled down against the wall, buried in his trenchcoat and hugging his knees. One final blast of sound and light, this one so close the shock shattered the light tubes at the end of the corridor, and the screaming ended. A sudden, eerie silent darkness stepped into it's place, filled only by a rhythmic clanging. Just then, the vox came to life again, and Matsui scrambled to answer.
"Matsui he-Boss? Are you sure? O...ok boss, on my way." He hung up the reciever, and again turned to his gibbering companion. "beslubber-up. Hey, beslubber-up!
Jameson, look at me! We need to go out and see what happened." Jameson could do nothing bit shake his head and curl up tighter. "Fine. beslubbering coward anyway". Matsui stepped over the sandbags, and cautiously moved forward with his lasgun raised at his shoulder. Jameson managed to crawl to the edge of the sandbags and peer over the top, the front of his coat soaked with his own urine.
"C'mon out, you bastard!" He yelled, his voice clearly wavering. "I'm not afraid of you!" The clanging stopped. "COME ON!" Matsui screamed, the panic and fear coming through clearly, "COME OUT AN-" A bright flash, orange this time, came from the end of the corridor, 50 feet away. It was accompanied by that loud coughing noise from earlier, and with a bang Matui's torso simply exploded. That flash revealed the most terrifying being that Jameson had ever seen.
In that split second, Jameson's eyes took in every detail of the monster at the end of the tunnel, for that is surely what stood before him. It stood 7, no, 8 feet tall, with one arm raised up, holding a pistol of some kind. That arm lead into the broadest set of shoulders he had ever seen, it seemed to Jameson like he could lay across them and still have foot room to spare. An enormous hammer was in his right hand, hanging down by his side. The armour was red, a rusted red that matched the walls around him, bathed in the orange glow. The plating around his legs was oddly segmented, made of hard edges and straight lines. But the one thing Jameson could not tear is eyes from in that brief moment, was the mechanical arm jutting from the monster's back, weaving it's giant clamp gently through the air. And that's when Jameson ran, screaming back to the Headquarters.
* * *
Ulysses sniffed in disdain at the fleeing cultist, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Cursing to himself, he realised he must have used more ammunition than he thought during that charge. He dropped the magazine out of the bolt pistol, and slammed in a new one with his servo-arm, which was now dripping with blood. Nobody ever expected that one. But the Cultist was already gone. Cursing again, Ulysses called up his servitor, and pushed onwards towards the Chapel. Calling a map onto his HUD, he confirmed his location, and that the Chapel was only 200 yards ahead, at the end of this hallway. He strode down the corridor, only slowing down to kick the pitiful barrier the cultists had erected out of the way so Heracles could get by, at his usual slow and plodding pace.
The chapel doors were massive, 15 feet tall at the peak of the gothic archway they filled and wide enough for 5 Astartes to walk through, side by side. A cog and skull motif, the badge of the blessed Mechanicum, was embossed on the doors. Even in these conditions, the dull bronze gleamed. There was paint messily slopped all over it, forming a crude but unmistakable star of Chaos. Ulysses felt a surge of anger rip through him.
"Heracles! Open that door!"
* * *
Jameson whimpered as he saw the cutting blades comes through the heavy metal door, as if it were made of pulp. They reached the bolt and sheered clean through it, and the doors slowly pushed open. The monster from before strode in, accompanied by a man sized construct with vicious claws where his hands should have been stumbling along behind it. He shrank further down behind the pew he was cowering behind, wishing he were anywhere but here. And then a shot rang out, and the construct stopped dead and toppled onto it's side. And that's when another monster strode out of the shadows by the altar.
* * *
Ulysses and Heracles walked into the room, with the Techmarine taking stock of his surroundings. The room was cavernous, gigantic. Massive coloumns supported the roof far above their heads, with galleries ringing the walls between them. Pews lined the floor in the very definition of order and perfection, more to please the eyes of the Machine God. Shallow stairs ascended to the altar on the right, wear the Cogwheel was horrifically defaced with scaring and paint.
Then a shot rang out, and Heracles toppled. From behind the altar, a tall figure dark, metallic power armour stepped out of the shadows, the brass trimmings catching the light form the sconces high on the walls.
"Traitor!" Bellowed Ulysses, "TRAITOR!" The Iron Warrior said nothing, but merely stood there, smoking bolt pistol held in hand by his side, reaching for a chainsword at his hip. Ulysses growled and strode forward, heading up the steps towards the Traitor Marine, swirling Edgecrusher in one hand as he went. The Iron Warrior seemed to accept the challenge, revving his chainsword and running to meet Ulysses.
* * *
The very ground shook under Jameson as the two giants charged towards one another. He wanted to hide, he wanted to run and never turn back, but he couldn't peel his eyes from the fight. The Silver one was obviously more skilled, and faster, but the Red one had the advantage of a third arm, and the power of that hammer! Every time it made contact, there was a blinding flash, and the loudest noise he had ever heard! Pieces of the Silver one's armour just seemed to break away. Then one particularly vicious blow tore away his helmet, leaving him dazed. The Red one let out a terrific roar, and tore the head from his opponent with his mechanical arm.
He stood there for a moment, armour gouged in scores of places by the chainsword, and then dropped the head. He walked up the remaining steps to the altar, and knelt as if in prayer. He unfastened a satchel from his belt, and laid it reverently on the ground in front of him. Jameson ducked back behind his pew as the the victorious monster walked by, on his way out. He prayed to the Powers he wouldn't be seen, prayed with all his heart and soul. He saw what had happened to Matsui, he didn't want that, not that! But the clanging footsteps faded into the distance, and finally stopped.
He was about to breath a sigh of relief when he heard something else. A beeping noise, repeating in a steady rhythm. He poked his head up over the seating yet again, trying to find the source. It seemed to be coming fro the altar, no, from the satchel! There was a steady red light on the side, blinking in time with the beeping. Sort of like a...
"Aw, shi-" And his whole world turned white.
