A fortress rotating in the void of the Kuiper belt. The new fleet commander Horus Luprecal stood upon the deck of his ship. The void in front of them shimmered a few times.
"The Imperial Crusade brooks no shadows. Those who hide from the light of the Truth shall be excised." Horus turned to look at the officers and commanders within the room.
The planetoid Oubliette, is a den for radical gene splicers and void pirates. Some of which came to settle here after the subjugation of Saturn.
"My lord, the targets are obscured by displacement-shrouds. Our augurs cannot achieve a hard-lock."
"Atmospheric interceptors are flying blind. We require a terrestrial beacon for orbital solution."
"Any suggestions?" Horus asked after listening to them argue for so long.
Everyone was silent at this point. They were just presenting the obstacles, they had not yet reached the point of finding a solution.
"My lord, the XIVth is forged for this. We will carve a beachhead in the dark and hold the gate for your Wolves." Legion master Ulli Tarvick, the legion master of the Dusk Raiders suggested.
Horus looks at the legion master, but shakes his head. The Dusk Raiders have been in service since the unification wars. He had thought a more feasible plan will come from the legion master known for his meticulous preparations.
"A bold offer, Tarvick, but I will not spend your veterans on a blind drop. Not yet." Horus looking around the room continued
"Ezekyle, take the First Company. Bleed their sensors and harass them until they blink."
"Destroy what can be and leave. Let them not feel a moment of peace, then they will show us a chance."
Legion Master Ulli Tarvick smiles as he hears this. He knows the chance will be theirs to complete. In that manner the conversation continued, giving assignments to the different commanders.
With the end of the meeting Tarvick sat in the communication for a few more seconds before getting up to address the new Legionaries that will become brothers in the future.
He longed for the day the primarch of their legion would return to lead them into battle. A privilege only the luna wolves currently enjoy.
Legion Master Ulli Tarvick looks upon the new recruits from the gene labs on Luna expectantly. He believed that they have not shown themselves to be true Dusk Raiders yet.
"Legionaries you have almost completed the gene rite to become one of us as a battle brother." He said
"You shall walk the path of the Dusk Raiders. Watch the veterans, bleed as they bleed. Earn your place, only then will you be welcomed into the legion as brother"
That was all he said, not a sentence more. No encouragement, no platitudes, just a request for results. It will be the first time any of the Legionaries will participate in a combat mission alongside Astartes, let alone their legion.
So the battle began in full fever pitch. The luna wolves true to their name, hunted down and tired the Oubliette. They used smaller and maneuverable ships to avoid the retaliation from the surface guns.
All the while they managed to destroy a few of the turrets. This looked like the beginning of a war of attrition. Horus did not add anything to the battle, he simply allowed a specific number of ships to harass the surface of the planetoid.
Hours passed, then days, and finally at the end of the second week, the planetoid's natural rotation caused it to expose its main docking bay.
Due to the constant harassment by the luna wolves, the place was sparsely defended.
"Ulli, the gate is ajar, take the XIVth into the belly of the beast. Secure the docks for the main host."
"Acknowledged. Begin deployment"
On board the ship a machine that had been dormant for a while awoke into action. Stormbird gunships were already fueled and the mechanicus had already performed the rites for the machine spirit.
Astartes were already waiting by their drop pods waiting for the orders. Only the legionaries had to scramble to catch up to the veterans position to be given their orders.
"3rd wave drops is your cue. Secure the landing zone. Radiating sweep, clear every corridor." Captain Crysos Morturg said
Drop pods deployed out of the ships, first was the decoy drops and shortly after was the main Astartes force. 5000 strong veteran Astartes dropped down onto the loading docks.
The impact of an Astartes drop pod hitting the ferro concrete is that of a close proximity explosive going off. The Astartes started clearing up the area killing everything not in power armor.
Dravion has seen Astartes at work through the memories of Aurelian Guis Trajan, but when you are in their presence you feel a difference.
When the 3 wave of drops was announced, Dravion and other legionaries got into their pods. The doors close and the atmosphere automatically becomes stale. A feeling of weightlessness overcame him.
As the pod entered into the planetoid gravitational pull, the pod accelerated. The body's blood feels like it is moving in a different direction and then…..BOOM!!
They landed.
Exiting the pod in sequence, each legionary taking up fire positions as they exited the pod. Spreading out more as they did. Dravion among the first to exit, signal for motion as the first line begins to expand.
Bolter fire echoed off into the distance. Dravion and the others encountered some resistance but it was light.
Dravion had always assumed that his berserk state is triggered by near death for him. Today he got the shock of his life, battle, as long as he is close enough to it is absorbed into him. It strengthens him in all aspects.
And today he felt the fever of Astartes at war. The amount he absorbed went past the threshold of normal. He could feel his skin heating up, but after many times of losing himself he had long since gotten control of it.
At least that is what he thought. The war had only begun and he is already feeling himself reaching the limit. His shooting became more precise, his firing lines began to expand and overlap into others.
His steps increased in pace as he looks for more enemies. Moving ahead of the others, he meets some, no thought, just reaction. Bodies dropping quickly wherever he goes.
"Karth! You're over-extending! Back into the shield-wall, Legionary!" A commanding voice came from the back.
Dravion still having a bit of his mind clear, listened and slowed down his assault.
With the docks fully cleared the officer in charge of them ordered them to form 2 lines and directed them into narrow corridors.
The air on the planetoid is already poor and these corridors are worse. The air is thin with no ventilation, creating toxins in the air causing it to become a muddy green color. It forces the Multi-lung and Oolitic Kidney to run continuously to keep them alive without suits.
This is nothing to the Dusk Raiders. Pirates came from different corners, attacking with hit and run tactics. The Dusk raiders pushed in deeper into the corridors. With veterans at the front and legionaries at the rear.
Teams kept splitting up into different corridors, with each branching area. 40 hours have passed by this point. The Luna Wolves held the surface, as the Dusk Raiders cleared the internal structures.
At this point Dravion has reached his boiling point. He held out for quite a while until now. The squad with him was already thin, his mind now fully clouded, went on to killing these mutants.
For the next 30 hours Dravion fought and killed with his brothers. They only assumed him more bloodthirsty than normal for their gene strain but it did not affect the veterans.
'Enough, I cannot continue like this. If someone really takes this as a problem I will surely be killed. WAKE UP!!!...WAKE UUUUPPPP!!!' Dravion screamed to himself.
At that very moment the tattoo on his back shaded to exactly 50%, and he came out of the fog, and yet he could still feel himself as a berserker. The strength, speed, reaction, and resilience he got is still present.
With that he slowed down, no longer hunting, but now behaving like a soldier. Some veterans noticed the change and nodded in approval. The battle continued for 2 more hours before it was concluded.
After the subjugation the planetoid was converted into a listening outpost and a way point for Imperium ships.
The dusk raiders along with others left. They had more battles to participate in.
806.M30
Dravion within the legions ship went to the med-lab. He has proved himself for the last 12 months capable of carrying the mantle of battle brother of the Dusk Raiders.
The process of installing the Black Carapace can only be described as very painful even for an Astartes. A reactive, neural-sensitive plastic mesh is injected under the dermis and laser-welded to the spinal column of the Astartes.
Black ports are installed at different intervals all over the body, including legs, arms and wrists, spine and neck, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and thighs. All this …
To provide the interface for Astartes Power Armor.