Warhammer The Iron Empire (Warhammer 40k)

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
1.Honor Harrington story ended when they launched 100.000 + missiles in one salvo,who hit in the same moment.Enough to destroy few battleships,or dozen cruisers from WH40.And they could launch as many salvos from safe dystance as they wonted.
Void shields laugh at HH weapons.

2.Sending infrantry in flak armour against any enemy in WH40 is waste of materials - they must send millions for missions which could be made by tentch of their numbers,if they have good armour.
They don't have the tech of Solar Auxilia anymore, so they have to do with what they can make.
 

ATP

Well-known member
Void shields laugh at HH weapons.


They don't have the tech of Solar Auxilia anymore, so they have to do with what they can make.

1.They are no HH weapons,but lasers. like those used by IoM - only not in form of lasguns,but missiles with laser warheads.
Spaceship lasers are slighty stronger,of course - but here you have 100.000 of lasers hitting in the same moment.Void shields would not help.Armour not,too.Even if you need 10.000 missiles for destroing one battleship,it still destroy any IoM/Chaos ship before they come in range of their weapons.

2.What stop them from reinventing technology? we come from wooden spears to A bomb in 10.000 years.They should do better.
Even with technocultist leading their technology development.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
1.They are no HH weapons,but lasers. like those used by IoM - only not in form of lasguns,but missiles with laser warheads.
Spaceship lasers are slighty stronger,of course - but here you have 100.000 of lasers hitting in the same moment.Void shields would not help.Armour not,too.Even if you need 10.000 missiles for destroing one battleship,it still destroy any IoM/Chaos ship before they come in range of their weapons.
Their lasers are of inferior quality, void shields win.

.What stop them from reinventing technology?
Games Workshop does, in order to keep the WH40K universe the way it is. They got a game to sell you know.
 

ATP

Well-known member
Their lasers are of inferior quality, void shields win.


Games Workshop does, in order to keep the WH40K universe the way it is. They got a game to sell you know.

1.laser from exploding H bomb have rather good quality.
2.Author changed that in his story.
But - True enough - GW first created tabletop game for melee,and then must explain why it works.Which still is not explained - every melee between orks and normal humans should end in one-side slaughter of humans.
 
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Thunderscourge

Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
So...back to the thread at hand!

What do we think -OR---E- means?

I think it means something important. Happy someone brought it up!

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As Verita's sections continue more pieces of that puzzle will fit together, but I am curious what people will come up with beforehand...
 

Thunderscourge

Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
When I first looked at your clue I wasn't really paying attention to the hyphens, and I thought, "Or Else?" That's a really weird clue to leave. :p

Feel free to keep guessing now that that silliness is out of the way. ;) It is fun seeing people put on their thinking caps.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
I guess it's the clue to something important and possibly it will also unlock a secondary function of the box. As Permaband sings ''there is more to trip than just destination'', it looks like the route to discovery is not just means to the end, but is intended to impart upon the one, with willingness and skill to undertake such investigation, a considerable knowledge about what happened on Kimara and fortify their resolve to change things. So far she had seen the memento of arrival of Iron Warriors to Kimara, reminder of the regime oppression and treachery that brought regime in power. Five more locations to explore and I recon that taken together they will be more illuminating than the final discovery.
 

Thunderscourge

Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
I guess it's the clue to something important and possibly it will also unlock a secondary function of the box. As Permaband sings ''there is more to trip than just destination'', it looks like the route to discovery is not just means to the end, but is intended to impart upon the one, with willingness and skill to undertake such investigation, a considerable knowledge about what happened on Kimara and fortify their resolve to change things. So far she had seen the memento of arrival of Iron Warriors to Kimara, reminder of the regime oppression and treachery that brought regime in power. Five more locations to explore and I recon that taken together they will be more illuminating than the final discovery.

Much of this is very on the point and I am glad to see how you have thought it out based on what has been shown. However I will note that it may be more or less than five locations given that the third reveal only came after visiting both the Conomor and Jarn palaces, while we do not know if the box will reveal more than one digit under some circumstance.

I am looking to post the next update today, so stay tuned as the story continues!
 
"Iron Within"

Thunderscourge

Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
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IRON WITHIN

It was by a mixture of misfortune and merit that Tristan found himself promoted to the rank of Sergeant and filling in for Urkamus within their squad after years of serving on it. Despite being the rookie member of the team Tristan was evaluated higher than Grund and Helash by Urkamus' superior Constantine when a stray artillery round had struck their team during a forward deployment. Urkamus bore the brunt of the impact and had been removed from active duty after the mission's completion, having carried on to the end in spite of his injuries before collapsing. According to Ossus the Sergeant would be fine in time, though had to be restrained to prevent the stalwart Astarte from just forcing his way back onto the battlefield prior to his recovery.

In the meantime however someone had to fill in, and for that purpose Tristan had been chosen.

On paper Tristan's tutelage from the Warsmith, noted intelligence, scientific contributions to the Dodekatheon, and decades of service were all reason for him to be granted a squad of his own to lead as he had proven himself enough. That Grund had more experience and was quite capable in his own right was overshadowed despite being the unofficial second in command of the team, and Brechung's own long history of service was negated by his particular nature that was not believed to be conducive to leadership despite his own intelligence. Jarn himself had pulled no strings, causing Tristan to consider the motivations of Constantine as Grund rightfully should have been chosen before him.

The particular issue he held in Constantine's decision making process was that he cited Tristan's development of a modified Mark-III helmet and armor that would better protect the user from poisons and disease. Tristan had developed it as a byproduct of his own armor research and production for the purpose of refitting his armor for occasions where they would be within toxic environments and engaged with foes such as the followers of Nurgle. Seeing that some of the optimizations and additions were capable of mass production if altered to a more standard Astartes frame, Grund was the one who tailored it for the adoption throughout their ranks and had been working on other such means of making Tristan's innovation made reality within their limited means for more than just Tristan himself.

In this way Tristan felt the credit of that lay in Grund, for while Tristan had created the initial blueprints and models it was Grund who modified them for their brethren, and in Tristan's mind those were separate subjects worthy of different praise. That Constantine wholly ignored Grund's part in the process and hailed it solely as an achievement of Tristan showed that their superior was merely looking for an excuse to choose one over the other, citing this instance along with Tristan's other qualities not because Constantine truly believed him to be better than Grund for leading Urkamus Squad but rather for some as of yet unexplained purpose.

Was it nepotism, an attempt to win over the Warsmith? That would be foolish if true, for Tristan did not believe that Jarn would think kindly of Constantine in such circumstances, for while the Warsmith had pulled strings for Tristan it was only in accordance with meeting Tristan's needs for growth within their ranks. Jarn would give Tristan resources to best make use of his mind and personal strengths, but he did not make any effort to advance Tristan beyond his existing station within their ranks and instead was fine letting Tristan rise or fall by his own merit.

The other alternative Tristan could imagine was that Constantine saw that Tristan was the most rookie member of the team and had a notoriously cold personality, meaning that through inexperience and poor personal relations he would likely fail in his role as Sergeant. To Tristan's suspicious mind this felt far more likely as a reason, as by pretending that Tristan was chosen for his merits and then setting him up for failure Constantine could diminish not only Tristan's future prospects but also have it reflect harshly on his mentor, the Warsmith. Constantine was ambitious and was being held in check by Jarn, so this might be a way for Constantine to attempt to form a crack in the foundation of Jarn's leadership.

It was only a theory, but Tristan would rather prepare for the worst and be ready than expect the best and be surprised when it inevitably did not come to pass.

To this end Tristan's leadership of Urkamus Squad was handled with as much care and caution as he could muster, carrying out the orders given to them while also mitigating risk wherever possible. Grund fortunately did not mind being passed over while Brechung did not appear to care about the subject at all, leaving only Helash dissatisfied.

For Helash it was a simple matter of Tristan informing him of his own suspicions, casting Helash's nature against Constantine instead of cause further division within the squad. In this matter Helash did not hold it against Tristan that Constantine had an ulterior motive, and since the presumption was that Constantine was planning against their success it directly endangered them all. That meant undercutting anyone else on the team further diminished any chances of success, and so despite his scheming inclination to always come out on top Helash was unwilling to sink the ship they all rode upon. Helash would not betray his comrades or principles, but he was inclined towards his own success and right now that success meant surviving through whatever it was that Constantine intended for them. If it was benevolent, then all would be well, but if it was malicious he was in agreement with Tristan that it would be best to plan for the worst.

To fill the vacancy on their team Tristan had Quidel transferred to their unit, trusting him the most out of their training squad and knowing he possessed a wide array of skills to benefit them. Quidel might not be the best at any one particular thing barring his skill in the usage of flamers and meltaguns, but being able to do just about any task proficiently was a strength of its own especially when Tristan himself was lacking in numerous fields. Quidel would prove to be a reliable ally once again as he carried out his orders as told, having come to trust Tristan's judgment from their time as Neophytes and not doubting him even now.

The needs of the Iron Legion's future operations and development of their fleet were seen to by deployments on whatever worlds they were able to visit without interference or could depart from before the Imperium or other interlopers could arrive. Visitation to their orbital dockyard was kept to a minimum to lessen the chance of its discovery, especially since its capture by the Imperium or by the forces of Chaos would bolster their foes. The latter were of particular concern as the very same warband of Word Bearers had been sporadically appearing before the Iron Legion and forcing them to cut short operations thanks to the sons of Lorgar possessing greater numbers that would make any direct conflict too costly to the Iron Warriors to ever be worth it unless forced.

While the Word Bearers possessed greater overall strength they were not fools and had been keeping a modicum of distance despite nipping at the Iron Legion's heels, for their previous engagements with Jarn's forces had cost the Word Bearers already despite only being skirmishes. By threatening a full-blown engagement the Word Bearers could force the Iron Warriors to depart while then reaping whatever remained of the spoils of war left behind, though such acquisition of resources was seemingly secondary to whatever their true goal was: it was as if they were aggrieved by their defeat twice at the hands of the Iron Legion and were waiting for the right moment to pounce when they were at their weakest, and by harrying their efforts to build their forces the Iron Legion had its intended operations delayed time and time again. Neither side would benefit from a direct war between them, but this fact was known to both parties and so they remained in a stalemate cold war.

Despite its massive size and forces at its disposal the Imperium of Mankind remained blind to the operations and true motivations of the Iron Legion thanks to the very same Word Bearers seeking revenge, as the presence of Chaos forces at certain worlds struck by Jarn's forces shifted the believed blame onto Iron Warrior warbands dedicated tot he Ruinous Powers and saw the Imperium striking out at parties innocent to these specific crimes. That the Imperium's behemoth bureaucracy and administration was perhaps being sent down the wrong paths by Asier was something Tristan pondered to himself, as one would think that even the faith-blinded Imperial servants would catch on eventually and yet they remained chasing after shadows and remained oblivious to the fact that their warband was in fact a separate entity to those they were blaming.

This was not to say that the Imperium did not ever strike at them, and in fact their elite members of the Officio Assassinorum had been encountered on occasion during Tristan's deployments both before and after Urkamus' injury. Those encountered were Vindicare Assassins, the Imperium's most elite snipers and assassins at range, and their intensely lethal Exitus Rifles could fell numerous foes in a single shot. A variety of rounds were at their disposal to take out whatever their target might be, but it was their turbo-penetrator rounds and shield-breaker rounds that were most deadly to an Astarte. The former could rip even through the reinforced Adamantium of a Storm Shield, while the latter could disrupt the shielding an Astarte might possess to mitigate such dangerous threats.

Unfortunately for the first Vindicare they encountered they had taken aim at Tristan, likely believing from his size and armor derived from schematics of the Iron Warriors' Primarch that he was the Warsmith of their deployed forces on a moon they were extracting resources from. An Astarte less obsessed with adding every form of redundancy to their personal armor would have had a turbo-penetrator round rip through their torso or skull before they even knew they were under attack, but for Tristan his overlapping fields of energy shielding halted the round and dulled its velocity such that when it struck his armor it only scratched the surface.

Before a second round could be fired Tristan was able to further protect his vitals with his wrist-mounted shields reverse-engineered from those of the Van Saar, and even in spite of their protection offered the shield-breaker round fired still nearly forced its way through them, his armor's own shielding, and the armor itself before finally stopping after striking the exact same spot the first bullet had impacted. Brechung's reaction time had been the quickest and allowed the brutish Astarte to react by taking this time to charge forth through the mountain's forest they were extracting minerals from to dash right at the source of the sniper fire. Tristan had no way of keeping pace with him and so instead used his personal defenses to protect Grund, Helash, and Urkamus while the giant form of Brechung took its long strides faster than the now fleeing Vindicare could hope to run.

Despite the long distance at which the assassin had fired Brechung managed to hunt them down and avoid their gunfire while doing so, eventually cornering and slaying the Vindicare. When he returned with their detached head he stated that it was not an offering to Khorne, but rather something he intended to keep as a trophy given the severity of the threat such a foe posed. Tristan was uncertain if he believed the reasoning, but he did believe that it was not out of any desire to grant a skull to the skull throne of Khorne as the regular scans and inspections of the Iron Legion for Chaos corruption meant there was little to no risk of any of their ranks being covert servants of the Ruinous Powers.

The Vindicare had not been alone however, as a few others would take their opportunity to strike at Tristan himself, Jarn, and even Brechung perhaps given his brutal slaughter of one of their ranks. Each time they failed in their mission not because of a failing on their part but rather due to the preparation of their targets, with Jarn's Logos Secundus reforming around where it was struck thanks to its Necrodermis the Imperial Assassin had been unaware of due to how rarely the self-repairing function was called upon. Brechung had taken a hit to the abdomen that was not lethal even if it did knock him back, surviving the ordeal before eventually paying back the one who shot him by tearing them apart in close ranged combat the Vindicare could not match despite their own superhuman traits.

What had caused them to be deployed was unknown, but it was fortunate that they had lacked the necessary intel to slay their targets, perhaps having been misled by their superiors who believed their targets to be far more vulnerable than they were. The Vindicares had waited for ideal moments for the perfect shots and fired specific rounds to counter their targets' expected strengths, but Jarn's armor proving more resilient than one could know before directly testing it, Tristan having a multitude of redundant defenses that were rarely called upon when he was assigned to just gather resources, and Brechung possessing a surprising resilience were all things that even a careful eye would have been unable to discern until the moment came to test them.

The Iron Legion's focus on armor and durability paid off, and over the span of years a handful of Vindicares had their talent utterly wasted on foes they were a poor match against. Some regular Iron Warriors had been slain covertly around the same time as these conflicts, though why these seemingly random Astartes had been targeted was unknown and it was believed that perhaps they had been in the wrong place at the wrong time with the only seeming link being that they shared similar physical features. Of those features were above average height and long, jet black hair which raised interesting implications as to the attempt on Tristan's own life, though as the Vindicares responsible had been slain in combat on these separate occasions it was difficult to ascertain the truth.

Despite these wrinkles the members of Urkamus Squad had managed to survive their deployments as led by Tristan, even with Constantine assigning them frontline duties and assignments that carried greater risk than other similar groups possessed. Whereas some soldiers had their talents squandered as they moved up in station and they shifted from their successful role to a command position, the opposite was true for Tristan given his disposition: he was least effective when he had negligible impact on the overall picture of a conflict, but now that he was in charge of four other Astartes he could properly utilize the intelligence he had been recruited for at least in comparison to serving at the bottom rung of their hierarchy.

Whereas Levente was talented at using his fellow soldiers to the greatest effect to obtain stellar results Tristan quickly proved himself to be an efficient administrator of his fellow Astartes even on the small scale in which he was granted control, making certain through managing their direct actions that his fellow soldiers did not come to harm and that their missions were always completed without sacrificing their objectives in the name of anything resembling glory, honor, or other such considerations most Astartes heeded. If the correct method for victory was to call in an artillery strike until the enemy no longer existed to pose a threat then he would relay the necessary data and coordinates to their forces, completely eschewing direct combat in favor of what brought results. He gave orders with the sole purpose of accomplishing the missions assigned without depleting the Iron Legion's irrecoverable resources such as manpower while utilizing all of the expendable ones at his disposal such as ammunition, embracing the typical Iron Warrior mathematical approach to warfare that suited his personality so well.

That certain veteran soldiers considered it cowardly to minimize any and all risks was dismissed by Tristan as the gripes and entrenched beliefs of soldiers who had the lives of their brethren thrown away across centuries by uncaring commanders. Results were what mattered, and his methodology was proven to work, and so he continued without hesitation in this approach to leading Urkamus Squad. While he would assign tasks to his four fellow Astartes as befitting the situation and their skillsets Tristan was able to remove himself mostly from where he was a liability, that being close combat against actually dangerous foes who could overwhelm him even in spite of his defenses. Instead he would direct his allies while providing covering fire, only rarely having to engage in melee situations where something unexpected threw off his calculations for the battlefield. These errors would then be analyzed and used to better prepare for future encounters with such foes, and so Tristan adapted his personal model of command based on the data he experienced firsthand.

What made close combat so dangerous for Tristan was a coalescence of traits possessed by him, most notably his colossal size, poor natural talent for engaging in melee, and his tendency to overthink. He only had been able to function in the hand-to-hand Chaos engagement during his first mission alongside Urkamus Squad because his mind had blanked upon seeing the source of his childhood trauma, the lingering impacts on his psyche stripping away his thoughts in favor of acting on instinct thanks to his blinding hatred. To best calculate the optimal action to take at any given moment left Tristan slow to react on the battlefield, and thanks to his awareness of this fact he often avoided situations that would allow his foes to benefit from it. Wondering what was the best move to make would often prevent him from carrying it out, or even actions nearly as optimal, but combat did not wait for someone indecisive to make a firm decision and it had led to many of his injuries over the years that saw him reinforcing his body.

This particular flaw would prove dangerous upon one of the many world throughout the galaxy that had not been colonized by Humanity, having been deployed upon a nameless ice planet with similar conditions to Kimara to train and prepare for the eventual retaking of the Warsmith's homeworld. The lack of Human population in the system did not mean other forms of life were absent with reports of a native Xenos species known as Coryza being involved in conflict with Tau auxiliary forces known as Kroot, though the relative backwards nature of Coryzan technology meant they posed no true threat to the Iron Warriors while the Kroot were too busy in their conflict to care that the Astartes were present at all.

Kroot were a highly adaptable species that possessed a vestigial avian appearance to them that could shift greatly based on their consumption of other species, with some appearing more reptilian, others fully avian and capable of flight, and yet others having taken on the traits of Humans even including social and societal behaviors. This was done by their unique ability to obtain specific traits from what they consumed, with Kroot leaders called Shapers guiding their brethren to consume advantageous species to bolster their own capabilities while avoiding traits they found undesirable. While powerful this effect was not foolproof, and instances of Kroot consuming certain species and being changed for the worse were noted by those familiar with their kind, and so it was with care and caution that they engaged in such predation.

The typically savage and technologically backwards nature of Kroot meant that they were once dearly threatened by an Ork invasion of their homeworld Pech and only managed to fend it off with the intervention of the Tau, fostering a deep and lasting bond in the years since between their species which saw Kroot often act as mercenaries and soldiers on behalf of the Tau's so-called 'Greater Good'. While he did not possess access to documents to study it in any great depth the concept of a 'Greater Good' reminded Tristan of the Iron Warrior's desire for 'Utopia' that he had pledged himself towards, and the possibility of recruiting the fledgling species to their own cause through such concepts was one he contemplated. That they had access to technology that surpassed a lot of what he had access to was only one consideration on the matter, but it was an important one to Tristan's scientific curiosity.

While their species possessed their own form of alliance this did not mean that all Kroot directly served the Tau, and it appeared in this instance that the Kroot present on the nameless ice world were there for their own reasons. Reports seemed to show that it was some religious endeavor for the Kroot, though the lack of understanding between the Iron Warriors and the Kroot's motivations made this an approximate estimation of their goals rather than a definitive one. In addition to whatever religious needs they were fulfilling the Kroot appeared intent on consuming the native Coryza population as the Xenos were called, having had minor encounters with Humanity in the past yet until now lacked a known homeworld.

Coryza possessed roughly Humanoid figures with a head, torso, two arms, and two legs but they were quite different beyond that. Ranging from around four to five feet tall the Coryza possessed thick forearms and shins with their upper arms and thighs appearing relatively undeveloped comparatively. Possessing a physiology akin to both crabs and mammals they were capable of breathing both in water and on land, though to breathe on land required them to keep their breathing nodes moist which was fortunately easy for them given the Coryzan's homeworld possessed constant snowfall and thus abundant sources of water.

In terms of capability the Coryzans were on par with the Beastmen once encountered by the Iron Legion's Neophytes, possessing similar strength that could threaten an Astarte while lacking the technology to actually properly do so. This lack of technological innovation appeared to be due to the lack of focus and willpower possessed by the Coryzans, being easily distracted and possessing difficulty focusing as a species which inhibited their ability to innovate on an already desolate wasteland of a planet. This would have led to their extinction if not for their relatively fast (at least for mammal-like creatures) reproduction rate which saw their species replenish itself constantly despite the conditions of their world.

The Coryzans were a cowardly and mentally feeble lot comparable to Ork Gretchin, though given the opportunity they possessed the potential to be dangerous. With considerable strength, a hard exoskeleton, and an uncanny knack for learning from what they saw the Coryzans would be able to adapt to a more modern civilization rather than tribal existence if not for their lack of will. Their present unworthiness as foes saw them safely ignored, a boon for the Iron Warriors who had only come to their world for the purpose of military training exercises to ensure that their takeover of Kimara would be flawless and rehearsed.

Astartes might be superhuman in their nature but an environment as vicious as Kimara's would still tax their capabilities, thus necessitating this endeavor. Granting those who had never fought a winter war before an opportunity to better comprehend their ultimate objective was invaluable, especially as they very well might be facing the garrisons of Kimara who would already be prepared for the conditions they would be engaged within. How to maintain equipment through blizzards, how to minimize one's tracks in the snow, and how to best keep one's footing upon ice were just the beginning of the talents they would be made to develop over the course of the months dedicated to this one planet by Jarn. Possessing the background he did meant that the Warsmith could personally lead many of the drills and could instill optimal ways for them to handle such conditions, his time upon Kimara as both a mere mortal and as an Astarte granting him deeper insight into the perspectives of both.

Deployments and formations of their Predator tanks and Basilisks were another primary focus, as to counter the defenses of the Kimaran Fortress Cities would require even greater firepower than the cities could bring to bear themselves. Ideally the Iron Warriors would only have to capture the capital city and re-establish Jarn's heritage and former rule, though the specifics would have to be determined when they were actually undergoing the operation to better account for how the situation would unfold. It was possible that the Kimarans would accept them with open arms, but it was also quite possible that they would fight to the death against outsiders seeking to conquer their planet.

On occasion the Coryzans would interfere with the military exercises used to train the Iron Warriors, the local population lacking the knowledge to stay out of the Astartes' way until suddenly coming across them. These incidents would almost all result in the cowardly Xenos fleeing for their lives, though in his own experience Tristan noted that the Coryzans were curious about the Iron Warriors' equipment and some of their members were even attempting to interact with or take it. Such thievery was met with violent reprimands from the Iron Warriors, but the "Tactical runaway" as the Coryzans called it caught Tristan's further interest as the Xenos appeared to be learning from the Iron Warriors presence. When first encountered the Xenos did not speak Gothic like the Iron Warriors did, but now they knew of the concept of a "Tactical withdrawal" as practiced by the Astartes in their preparations, but also had managed to link it to the derisive way the Iron Warriors referred to the fleeing Coryzans as "running away".

While there was no denying that they were foolish to a fault, Tristan did recognize the quick learning of these neutral entities, and if he was not busy having every possible tactical and strategic engagement drilled into him he might have bothered to test their capabilities further. It would likely be best that these Xenos were left on a world that inhibited their ability to advance, as their quick adaptation to knowledge reminded Tristan of how Jarn described Tristan's own nature. If Humanity was to thrive Xenos that posed a threat to it would need to be dealt with, though he did not particularly abhor them the way other Humans did. Whatever hatred Tristan held in his heart was saved for traitors like those who gave his homeworld to the Word Bearers, and of course the servants of Chaos who had instigated the issue in the first place.

True to his nature however Tristan made no verbal statement or remark about his studies concerning the Coryza, and he instead eventually dismissed the diminutive beings much like his Iron Warrior brethren had. It would be better to leave the Xenos to fight one another and weaken one of the Tau's ancillary races than to engage them simply for not being Human, and so if the Kroot wished to consume this other species that was adaptable albeit in a different fashion than the Kroot then so be it.

It would be on the day of the Iron Warriors' departure from the icy planet that the Coryzans would inadvertently play a greater role in their operations, with Urkamus Squad being assigned to investigate a reported disturbance at one flank of their deployment where hundreds of the dimwitted Xenos were found slain without Kroot involvement.

Constantine had gained interest in the issue and so assigned Urkamus Squad to investigate it further while others finished loading their Legion's equipment and vehicles onto ships. While seemingly a pointless endeavor it was accepted by Tristan dutifully, not wishing to give Constantine a method by which to criticize him and thus the Warsmith. Soon enough Urkamus would be back from his (forced) medical leave and so all he had to do was keep things steady and not rock the boat, and all would be well. Sure Constantine had been granting them the most difficult or dangerous jobs he could under the guise of making use of their talents, but all that did was further establish the effectiveness of Urkamus Squad and its members since they had yet to fail whatever tasks he could muster.

They had a mission, one that was to be carried out carefully and with the caution Tristan always utilized for his deployments. Had he not done so then it would have very likely meant his death, as when he next awoke it was aboard a transport vessel heading back to their fleet with his body teetering on the brink of death.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________​


"You must be the one known as Bertrand...I was told of you, of an Astarte nearly my height who was once naught but a small child who slipped through my grasp. I was wondering when you would show yourselves...I must apologize for my poor hospitality of your kin, but they were most uncooperative. Four squads of the Fourth Legion perishing in vain is poetic, is it not?"

"I must admit I was curious what your forces were doing upon such an insignificant rock, but fate shines brightest on those prepared to seize it. Constantine understood that, and that is why once Khyr, Archimedes, and the Warsmith fall he will be in a position to assume leadership. All it took was granting us information to act upon, and by the time your fleet knows better we will have left your rotting corpses upon this worthless world. To fight and die for nothing is your purpose as Iron Warriors, so you should be grateful I am granting you the ignoble deaths you deserve."

"In case it crossed your minds, attempting to flee will only prolong the inevitable. My forces are now engaging your kin, but I am here for only you. That Warsmith of yours is presently walking into a trap laid by one of your own, and so today this world will run red with the blood of all who remain."

"Do you know what fate awaits those who perish in this mortal realm? To have one's very spirit tortured and flayed by the very personifications of their every vice, extinguished from existence only once nothing remains of them to further torment and use. Your father, your mother, your family, even your unborn brother...how does it feel to know that your weakness, your inability to save them has condemned all of those you loved to such an existence?"

"Of course such a fate could be considered a mercy compared to what pain and misery was invited upon them in life...oh how I wish I had been there to watch as their blood spilled, for the mortal followers we gained upon your world were quite thorough in their violence. It was almost a pity that they were sacrificed to Blood God to further fuel my ascension, but I possess echoes of their memories...their very souls granted me this power, and so the slaughter they indulged in remains a part of me to this very day. So long as blood flows so too shall those who thrive off it persist, and I look forward to tasting yours."

"I can feel the rage permeating through you, all the better to feast upon because I can tell it is not something that comes naturally to you. Yet even now you remain still, uncertain, weak...is that what your father taught you to be? A coward who when facing the one responsible for their family's ruination can do nothing but be shocked into silence, inaction?"

"Maybe you have forgotten them in these decades you have dedicated yourself to a doomed cause. After all, what are a few mortal souls compared to the ideals of utopia and conquering the stars? I understand completely, for I too would cast aside such shackles if it meant gaining the power to create the world I desire...a world of endless war and bloodshed, of everlasting torment like what your bygone family now suffers, screaming for mercy that will never come, all thanks to you—"

"STAY YOUR TONGUE, HELLSPAWN! YOU WILL SUFFER A THOUSAND DEATHS BY THE TIME I AM THROUGH WITH YOU!"


Tristan collapsed forward as his consciousness returned to him, his body reacting to the thrashing he had barely survived by moving right as he gained the ability to do so which only served to jostle him out of the seat he had been laid upon. Nearby him was the Warsmith himself who stood in full armor, his worn facial features hidden behind his helmet and his weapons prepared to be utilized at a moment's notice. Opposite the Warsmith was Grund, Quidel, and Helash who all were seated and readying themselves for battle as well, though the solemn nature in which they did so implied that this was not some glorious operation to be undergone but rather a regrettable one. Brechung was presently piloting the vessel from what Tristan could hear from the cockpit, though how he got volunteered for that would be something Tristan would have to ask him later.

The aching of his head made Tristan instinctively try and touch his face, only to collapse down further as he came to realize he had been on his hands and knees with all four limbs having been required to keep him from falling down to the floor of the vessel. From his new vantage point Tristan struggled to rise, coming to realize that the bones in his forearms were broken in various places along with the armor and energy shield gauntlets above them. All that was keeping Tristan's arms from being a mangled mess of blood and bone were the subdermal reinforcements he incorporated into his body, and while his bones would require medical care he could still at least control his hands as he discovered in his attempt to brace his fall. It hurt, but so did everything else so Tristan endured it.

A hand was offered to him to help him up and Tristan weakly accepted it, only to realize as he was pulled to his feet that even hunched over he towered over the Astarte granting him aid.

Levente...

"So the Warhound Titan rejoins the land of the living," Levente jeered, though he refrained from most of his typical criticism of Tristan given the presence of the Warsmith.

It was difficult to recall the specifics after the beating he endured but Tristan was certain Levente had been there...that the two of them fought side by side against Palamedes with Tristan serving as the shield to Levente's blade. Even in his pride and anger Tristan had accepted the aid of his rival if it meant slaying that monster, but it had not been enough as evidenced by the fact Tristan had to be dragged off the blood-soaked snow they fought upon.

Tristan was quite certain that little had changed between them, but he also was certain that Levente at least considered him a soldier now and not just a 'gearhead' as he had been called in the past. Tristan in turn did not think differently of Levente, as he would have done the same in Levente's position and considered it their duty to assist their fellow Iron Legionnaires against that which threatened them. Perhaps it could serve as a seed of begrudging respect between them, something shown by Levente bothering to help Tristan stand up, but in a week, a month, or even a year's time the two would be back at one another's throats given their widely divergent personalities.

That the two fought and survived against a Daemon Prince of Khorne together showed that the Warsmith was right when he cited their potential together, though such collaboration just was not something that was tenable without such a severe outside force to unite them.

Levente had not emerged unscathed from the battle, his nose broken and a deep gash running across his cheek from his lack of helmet in the battle. Unlike Tristan who always wore his full set of armor when deployed Levente favored the removal of his helmet when he did not believe himself to be in danger, meaning that he had not had it readily available when he shifted from facilitating the departure of his encampment and the Astartes under his control to instead fighting a sudden Daemonic incursion. He was Perturabo's temperamental wrath and emotion, lacking the at times emotionless disposition Perturabo could also exhibit that Tristan now embodied.

Sitting back down, Tristan mulled over that distinction again and remembered painfully what followed from when his calm broke in the battle. From the moment he laid eyes upon Palamedes he had felt an anger well within him that he had never quite experienced before, not even when his family had been slain so many years ago. At the time he had been a frightened child, albeit one whose determination to survive and to fight had allowed him to linger on until Jarn found him, never truly having gotten to confront the ones responsible for his family's dismemberment.

Palamedes stood at nearly twice the height of a common Astarte, his Daemonic flesh blood red as if it was comprised of blood itself and his arms burgeoning with raw muscle. Carved into his chest and plainly visible to all given his lack of garb was the symbol of Chaos, its marking proudly worn by its so-called Prince. His face possessed a hideous maw that was accentuated by his relatively small, glowing eyes that heightened the sinister countenance his razor sharp teeth gave off even when his mouth was shut. His small, almost flat nose only made him all the more hideous while the horns atop his head were so long as to appear as weapons themselves, rivalling the length of his skull and tapering off to a fine point.

Ever since the Warsmith had shown Tristan the visage of Palamedes he had been unable to forget it, for while the Daemon Prince's features might be shared by other of his kind there was no confusing this vile individual for another in the Astarte's mind. It came almost as a surprise that Palamedes was so soft-spoken, demonstrating a degree of restraint and intellect one would not expect of a Khornate Daemon, but the entrails splattered across him showed that for as eloquently as he could speak as a former Dark Apostle he was still a servant of the Blood God and a willing participant in wonton slaughter.

Levente was always the one quick to anger while Tristan was colder in his reactions to things he disliked, being tranquil even when he confronted Levente about his disagreements upon the Beastmen planet when Levente's recklessness could cost them all their lives. In this instance though he had allowed his deep-seated emotions to get the better of him, and while Tristan knew he could not excise those feelings from himself he realized that they had nearly cost him his life. If he had not spent years and years honing the armor he now wore in tattered pieces this confrontation would not have ended with merely his collapse, but with his life forfeit and subject to the very same suffering Palamedes boasted about his family enduring.

It had not been a fight truly, it had been a prolonged execution that only did not come to pass thanks to Tristan's armor and desperate bid to survive. Levente's intervention had played a role as well, helping delay the encounter's final outcome long enough for the Warsmith to arrive and drive back the Daemon. That Levente interceded in the matter was only partially to do with loyalty, as had he claimed victory over this champion of Chaos it would have afforded Levente even greater recognition than he already possessed as the right hand of Khyr. That he had even survived the encounter was praiseworthy on its own, though much of that was due to Tristan being the primary focus of Palamedes who if he had focused Levente instead could have torn him apart.

On the flipside Tristan had no way of truly harming the Daemon Prince in melee combat whereas Levente had been able to force Palamedes to defend himself at points, so their respective capabilities had been well demonstrated. Levente was likely to receive praise and commendations from Khyr, while Constantine...

Constantine.

That worm had sold them out to Palamedes and his Word Bearers in an attempt to have Jarn's entire command staff wiped out in one fell swoop, thus allowing Constantine to angle for his position in the subsequent power vacuum. While Tristan had collapsed a short while after the Warsmith arrived to drive off the Chaos forces from what he could tell Jarn had caught onto the subterfuge and did not blindly walk into the trap set for him, thus allowing him to intervene on behalf of his students and also explaining the presence of both Khyr and Archimedes with them on the transport.

While Tristan had fought Palamedes the other members of Urkamus Squad had fended off the Daemon Prince's followers, mostly remaining unscathed in the process but having been unable to assist Tristan as they were forced to fend off Bloodletters of Khorne who had been summoned by the blood sacrifice of the Astartes and Coryza in the area. Their armor bore signs of the battle but the weeks spent training in the snow had left them well prepared for engaging Daemons who had never experienced such conditions before, their advances slowed by the raging weather that had nearly whited out the area completely while the Iron Warriors methodically gunned down their targets based on what would best slow their charge.

If Tristan had to hazard a guess the reason the others were preparing for combat was the possibility of Constantine and any who might side with his attempted coup attacking them as soon as they landed upon the Eisernen, but Tristan doubted that the loyal crew aboard the vessel would dare turn on Jarn. Rather upon the reveal of his survival Tristan would be surprised if they did not instead lynch Constantine for his actions, as while they might be willing to at least hear him out about who was in charge if Jarn and the others perished they would not choose a former outsider Iron Warrior over their Warsmith who had united them all to this cause.

Considering the status of the warband's leadership made Tristan wonder if Drakon had survived as well, as he did not see him aboard the vessel. Whether he perished or was simply elsewhere made little difference to Tristan as Drakon was merely Jarn's shadow, doing as told and lending his own company to Jarn's direct command whenever they were deployed. Khyr at least was bold and was willing to offer contrary opinions while Archimedes was often concerned with leading the fleet and organizing both troop deployments and Dodekatheon matters. Drakon was the least notable of the three Triarchs and likely would be wholly ignored in any discussion as to who might one day replace Jarn should he fall.

That was something Tristan was quite certain would not happen however, as the Warsmith was a larger than life figure of the kind you would read in historical tales and fantasy. He had the traits exactly needed to lead his warband and he was effective in most fields even if he was not the best at any one particular thing beyond strength, and for that reason Tristan felt his future was secure so long as he just continued following the trail blazed by Jarn. Tristan was comfortable where he was even if he had the talent for leadership, and in truth enjoyed the time he spent in the Dodekatheon more than his time on the battlefield. War was a means to an end, while crafting armor, weapons, and his machines were what Tristan took his own form of joy from.

Perhaps secondary to the satisfaction of tinkering with his schematics and metal was when the Warsmith acknowledged his work, such as now as Tristan felt the Warsmith place a hand down against his shoulder. In his dazed state Tristan had been contemplating the fact he was nearly as tall as Levente while seated when he noticed the Warsmith's gesture, a sense of pride being passed through the simple action in recognition of Tristan's survival of an ambush that had claimed the lives of four full squads of Astartes.

It was helped perhaps by Tristan's firing of the deceased Astartes' Basilisk point blank into the Daemon Prince which while barely scratching the monster did serve to show their defiant attitude towards Chaos, especially since Tristan had to climb over the impaled body of one Iron Warrior who had seemingly possessed a similar idea. The departed Astarte had only climbed halfway up before Palamedes forced them through some of the vehicle's hull and ripped their body and armor via the metal of the artillery device, so it was fitting that the weapon then was used even if in desperation to stall for time with the pre-loaded shell.

Palamedes had balked that it would take more than that to fell him, but it did note the only time in the battle Tristan had drawn blood from the creature proclaiming itself divine. Unfortunately Palamedes revealed that he possessed a degree of control over blood itself and knit his wound back together by absorbing his own spilled blood and that of his victims around him, so the wound did not last long, though the Basilisk firing did assist Jarn and others in locating Urkamus Squad even through the severe blizzard raging at the time.

Tristan had failed to find victory, but in Jarn's eyes he had succeeded in what mattered most: surviving. That was praiseworthy in its own right, especially considering the circumstances.

When their vessel landed within the primary hangar of the Eisernen it was obvious to Tristan that some kind of gathering was taking place within the structure, as it took some time for Brechung to land without harming their fellow Iron Warriors and their mortal servants present in the area. Once room was made for their landing the others aboard departed swiftly, the members of Urkamus Squad leaving the ragged Tristan behind after first mimicking the Warsmith's gesture given that not only had he survived, he had prevented the Daemon Prince from cutting them down as well. Even Helash appeared grateful, and in return he was the first to disembark and sweep the area with his bolter drawn to make certain Constantine did not have followers ready to pounce upon them.

For the most part Tristan could only watch as even Brechung got up and left the vessel that Tristan was too dazed to properly identify, though his temporarily reduced mental capability did find it interesting just how much taller Brechung was than Levente since when the former passed by Tristan's seated and slumped form was far from matching his comrade's. Slowly Tristan began to try and rise to his feet, noting the pangs as some of the bones in his lower body rebelled against his decision to stand, but he ignored them as if he felt no pain whatsoever so he could at least limp behind the others and join them for what was no doubt to be an execution.

The crowd gathered had been arguing about the Warsmith's situation as Constantine tried to press his claim to leadership now that the others were allegedly slain by Chaos, and while most had opposed his claim Constantine did receive some rumblings of support given he stated a desire to glass the world beneath them and wipe the Word Bearers there from existence. This all of course quieted down when Jarn emerged from the landing craft seemingly unharmed, his soldiers instantly prostrating themselves and parting a path for Jarn as he walked through the hundreds of Astartes gathered in this one hangar towards Constantine.

"My Warsmith, you return!" Constantine tried to sound relieved but it was obvious to those who suffered from his betrayal that this was nothing but another ploy, for Constantine did not know that Palamedes had casually revealed his treachery in seeming contempt for Constantine's low cunning.

Jarn would display a similar contempt as he finished approaching Constantine only a few steps before the usurper, the Logos Secundus making his form all that much more intimidating as he towered above him, "Do not sound so disappointed, though I am grateful that you have gathered my Astartes together. It makes this simpler."

Constantine took a step back, shifting nervously as he came to the realization that his betrayal had been discovered, "M-my lord, what do you mean?"

"I will now give you what you failed to grant our brethren who perished today: a chance. I will give you one minute to strike me, during which I will take no action to defend myself. A craven fool like you should relish such an opportunity, especially for when that minute ends I will show you how I deal with traitors who throw away the lives of their fellow Warriors. If you desire this power so much you will have to kill me with your own two hands."

The crowd had formed around them now with Urkamus Squad remaining vigilant at the front of it, though now it was to keep the other Astartes contained so Jarn would not be interrupted. Cries of anger were all silenced with the raising of a hand, Jarn refusing to allow whatever pathetic drivel Constantine might utter to be drowned out in a cacophony of yelling to take his head.

Constantine was unarmed and no weapons were offered to him, but he did possess reinforced gauntlets that while not as devastating as Power Fists still helped enhance his strength beyond that of the average Astarte. With no way out of his treachery but forward he yelled as he closed the gap between them and slammed a fist straight into Jarn's torso, striking with enough power to knock an Astarte off his feet.

Unfortunately for him, Jarn's Logos Secundus could not only absorb the blow as befitting of a Primarch's armor, but its boots could lock onto a surface for instances where the user might need to remain perfectly still like adhering to the outside of a spacecraft. The concussive force was not fully mitigated but Jarn could weather that just fine, and so he remained utterly impassive to Constantine's strike.

While the initial blow was a failure it did not deter Constantine for long, as once he took a moment to realize it did not deal the expected damage he resolved himself to throwing fist after fist into the same exact spot to try and break through the metal before him and to brutalize the Warsmith within. Only through such means could he hope to defeat Jarn, as the difference in their respective heights meant Constantine could not properly strike his foe's head and if he could instead break through the Logos Secundus he could prove himself as not only the victor in a contest for leadership but a powerful Astarte capable of battering a Primarch's armor.

Fist after fist crashed into Jarn's abdomen for the full minute afforded to Constantine, but not one made him budge an inch. Damage was inflicted to his body beneath the armor, but it was manageable and Jarn had long since learned to ignore such trivial pain the way Tristan and many Iron Warriors had. In a desperate final strike Constantine brought his fist back before slamming it with all of the might he could muster, throwing the full weight and power of an Astarte into the Warsmith and finally overcoming the Logos Secundus' lock to the hangar floor to dislodge Jarn.

Unfortunately all the impact managed to do was slide Jarn back a short distance, with Jarn giving no indication that it had dealt any lasting damage at all to his actual body. Even the Logos Secundus revealed no external damage, its Necrodermis having reformed where dents or impacts would have been inflicted upon it in the flurry of blows, and so to Constantine and all others around them it fully appeared as if the traitor had not accomplished a single thing in his assault.

Realizing the danger he now was in prompted Constantine to begin pleading for his life, desperate to survive even as the chances of his doing so rapidly diminished.

"Please, have mercy my lord. I was wrong to believe you were weak, I should not have taken such action. Please, spare me Warsmith, and I will pledge myself forever as your instrument"

While Constantine pled and begged for his life Jarn had simply stared at him in silence, as if waiting for his feeble pleas to finish until suddenly Jarn lunged a hand to Constantine's throat and gripped it tightly. With this hold he proceeded to lift Constantine up off his feet while simultaneously choking him, during which Jarn began to speak in a calm and controlled manner that stood leagues apart from his actions. Constantine clawed at his throat and at the Warsmith's arm to try and free himself, even punching and striking at the limb that now constricted his breathing, but it was to no avail as Jarn demonstrated to all present how he was capable of surviving the Decimation against nine other Astartes when they were tasked with beating him to death.

"Like Olympia my homeworld was harsh. Unforgiving. It did not suffer the weak to survive, and even children such as I partook in that struggle so that maybe we all might live another day. There was no honor, no glory, only what was needed to be done."

Jarn used his hold on Constantine to slam the traitor into an Arvus Lighter, making Constantine gasp as any remaining breath within him was forced out by the impact. In his continued desperation Constantine used his elevated position to begin punching at Jarn's helmet, only for the Warsmith to react by dropping Constantine to his feet and then grabbing him by the torso to slam him into the Lighter. This done Jarn twisted Constantine around and hurled him across the floor, capable of finishing him off but dragging out the 'duel' to make a point.

"Do you know what it is like to go hungry? To be a hair's breadth away from starvation as others die around you? To remain stranded, surrounded by death and the beasts that will visit it upon you? What struggles have you endured that you believe you can stand before those who have lost everything and command them?"

To his credit Constantine was able to force himself back to his feet, his own Iron Warrior physiology leaving him capable of enduring quite the beating and that was exactly what he was in for. The damage Jarn had done to his throat kept him from even attempting to plead further, and so instead he rushed at Jarn in a fury to strike at him again. Having expected as much, Jarn caught Constantine's fist in one hand and grabbed his other by the wrist to prevent the follow-up hit Constantine had intended.

"I still carry the dream of Utopia within me. That we, the Iron Warriors, the Emperor of Mankind's angels of death, will one day control our own destiny rather than serve as the pawns of others!"

Twisting the arm he held harshly allowed Jarn to snap Constantine's forearm and disable it, at which point he released it and Constantine's fist to shift his weight into an uppercut that knocked the Astarte off his feet when Jarn's armored fist connected with his jaw. Constantine stumbled onto his knees, unable to use one arm to steady himself as he attempted to rise again and thus slowed as Jarn approached him and grabbed him by the nape. With the traitor's neck once again in hand Jarn hoisted him back to his feet, forced him to face him, and then slammed his own fist directly into Constantine's gut, cracking the ceramite of his Power Armor around the navel in the process.

"The Imperium, the Warmaster, even our Primarch...they have never once had our interests in their hearts, and that is why for so long our sacrifices have been in vain! If we are going to achieve our ideals it won't be by submitting ourselves to those who only see us as tools to their own ends! Those too short-sighted to see the bigger picture, those who would sacrifice the future for their immediate gratification and benefit, are nothing but anvils weighing us down!"

With a degree of fury Jarn typically kept restrained he struck Constantine again, this time hitting with enough force to knock the traitor completely around in a circle which left Constantine vulnerable to a follow-up where Jarn swung a haymaker right into his ear. The impact crushed the ear into a messy pulp, it being enough to disorient Constantine through sheer force despite his superhuman enhancements and augmentations. As Constantine stumbled away Jarn pursued, landing powerful hit after hit onto his target while the crowd around them was enraptured by the display and observed in complete silence. It was obvious that while Jarn was not pulling his punches he was quite obviously making an example of Constantine, who if the Warsmith so desired could have had his neck snapped at the very beginning with little fanfare.

This was an execution the way Tristan's encounter with Palamedes almost was, and none dared to speak up or intervene. Not only did they respect their leader, they were appalled by Constantine's betrayal that was made evident not only from Jarn's accusation but through Constantine's poor response to being confronted about it.

"Utopia for us is not some idyllic fantasy impossible to achieve through mortal means, but a reality we shape with our own hands! A world where we are free from the shackles others would cast upon us, where we can create the great wonders we have always desired, where through our effort and action we can improve what is flawed and set right what is wrong! We will bring back our right to self-determination, to life itself, no matter whose dead hands we have to pry it from! If peace and prosperity can only be achieved through tyranny then so be it!"

Jarn grabbed Constantine by the face to smash and drag it across a nearby ship, after which he released him to suddenly punch Constantine partially through the vessel. It was obvious that the senseless deaths of his men thanks to Constantine's machinations had enraged Jarn, and as an observer Tristan could not blame him. As Jarn threw fist after fist into where Constantine had been forced through metal the traitor could barely cough in response, only being given a reprieve when Jarn hauled him out of it and tossed him to his feet again to begin beating him in the open space left for them by the gathered crowd. Each hit would double Constantine over or send him spiralling such was the force used, and Jarn showed no signs of growing tired. Others had been gifted by fate to possess psychic powers, others supernatural speed, and yet others could shoot a foe miles away without error: what Jarn had been born with, and what had allowed him to survive all of this time, was the raw physical power to force his way through whatever was in front of him.

And right now all that stood before him was a half-dead fool who killed his men.

"So-called 'Loyalists' who have betrayed their very ideals, slaves of Chaos and Abaddon who have no greater purpose, the ignorant masses of the Imperium, let them all be cast into the flames of perdition and hell itself! If we must rebuild the true Imperium from its very foundation brick by brick atop the corpses of our foes then so be it! We fight for what we believe in, what our kin have sacrificed their lives for, and I will let nothing will stand in our way!"

A wide swing of Jarn's arm knocked Constantine clear off his feet, the Iron Warrior collapsing down and no longer having the strength to properly rise on his own. Even so when Jarn bent down to grab him Constantine did attempt to strike back, his hand having grabbed at a member of the crowd's belt and gripped a bolt pistol that Constantine then unloaded directly into Jarn. The shots mostly harmlessly deflected off the Warsmith's armor, though a lucky one penetrated his lower abdomen and prompted him to bleed...only for this to not slow Jarn down at all as he continued to throttle Constantine with his bare hands.

"It is by my will that I have forged this Legion to do what must be done! When the time comes that we are called to action how we respond to that call is what defines us, whether we become what is needed to enact change or if we allow history to just take its course!"

It was a testament to Constantine's resolve that he could stand at all as Jarn bashed his fists against him one after the other with sufficient strength to continue breaking Constantine's armor beneath his metal gauntlets, though it was clear that little life remained in the traitor's body and so as Jarn continued his assault he prepared also for a coup de grace.

"The Iron Legion will survive, we will be the ones to reshape Humanity and mend the wounds Horus and his ilk inflicted upon it in our moment of triumph! I will not allow the scheming of fools to endanger our people, nor will I let the seeds of Chaos be sewn amongst our ranks! There will be no move to take over my command, there will be no backstabbing and paranoia tearing us apart from the inside, our fates are intertwined now and forever more!"

Jarn reached back to retrieve his Power Maul Eirlithriad from where it sat on his back, ending with one swing his brutal display of strength and why he was the one who led the thousands belonging to the Iron Legion. The connection of Eirlithriad with Constantine's battered body was met with an eruption of blood, metal, and bone as everything above his knees disappeared into a red mist.

Still holding his Power Maul in hand, Jarn turned to the crowd and finally addressed them with a now calm and measured voice in place of his previously enraged one.

"Would anyone care to fill his shoes?"

Unbeknownst to the others gathered Brechung had prepared a bolt pistol at his side in case the confrontation did not end up favoring the Warsmith, ready to eliminate whomever might intercede on behalf of Constantine. Fortunately none stepped forward during or after the duel, and instead cheers of celebration rang out as the brutal warrior culture of Astartes reacted to the execution of a traitor within their ranks. Their faith had not been shaken at all in their service to their Warsmith to whom they owed their very lives after the fall of Olympia, and this display only had strengthened their resolve to continue their fight to achieve Utopia once and for all. Among them stood Urkamus and Ossus, the latter having brought the former to greet his squad at the hangar yet having lacked the opportunity to do so until now. Both had their own weapons ready in hand had things gone sour, but the shared brotherhood between the Astartes present had fortunately been in favor of their Warsmith rather than his would-be usurper.

Jarn nodded to his men gathered in shared respect, though he did not linger on the conflict for long: there was now a hole within his command staff, as Constantine had been one of Archimedes' top officers who oversaw various squads on his behalf such as Urkamus Squad.

"Archimedes will need a new Lieutenant to fill the void left by the deceased. Having survived and properly led his team despite Constantine's efforts to the contrary it is my belief that Tristan Bertrand shall assume this responsibility. Today he fought and survived battle with a Daemon Prince of Khorne who cut down twenty of our ranks, and so I ask if any object to this promotion."

This sudden announcement caught Tristan by surprise, and while the energized masses of Iron Warriors around him offered no complaint to Jarn's decision it was Tristan himself who felt unworthy.

Tristan bowed his head, a difficult display given the pain radiating throughout his body and his joints in particular, "Warsmith, you honor me, but I am uncertain if I am worthy. It was all I could do to survive in the face of such a foe..."

Unfortunately for Tristan his mentor was having none of it, and instead grabbed Tristan's less injured arm to raise it high above the crowd as if in triumph.

"But you did survive, and in doing so you have proven the ethos of our Legion: Iron Within, Iron Without! With your own two hands you created this armor, and through sheer force of will you survived what few others could claim to!"

With such proclamations made Tristan could offer little resistance, and so found himself acceding to the promotion hoisted upon him. He felt shame at his failure to defeat Palamedes, but the Daemon Prince had slipped away and rejoined his forces on the other side of the world. By now they would likely be departing, but now Tristan knew that the Daemon desired to finish what he had started...and perhaps the next time they met a different outcome could emerge. As he slowly began to remember the battle he realized just how damning overthinking things had been, as he had been entirely unable to keep up with Palamedes' movements since he was always two steps behind, but he was determined to work on that flaw in his combat moving forward.

The damage to his armor and body gave Tristan some ideas on how to prepare for such an occasion, and perhaps now with his increased rank he could requisition greater resources to further his development of the Logos Incrementum.

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A/N: It is nearly the one year anniversary of this story, and so this week to celebrate I will be releasing two updates, one to finish the current mini-arc on Kimara and one which will have something I know you've all been waiting for...that's right, Inwit is around the corner! It will be a major update that covers a lot of ground and so I must say I cannot wait to finish it!

As for the unexpected appearance of Palamedes in this update, perhaps as Tristan gets some medical attention we can see more of what happened between them, but for now I felt that a completely beaten and broken Tristan in the aftermath of such an engagement was the best way to show just how damaging it could be. Tristan has endured a lot, and even after all his defensive upgrades only just barely made it out alive here.

I hope you all enjoyed and that you will let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
 

ATP

Well-known member
Alliance with Tau? not possible - but,Farsight is another case.It could work.
IoM do not knew about them,becouse Chaos want take over them.Funny.Not first time when Chaos schoot themselves in foot.
Interesting thing - it is lead by Khornate,not Tzaaneth.Thinking Khornate ? what next? we arleady have Dark Eldar who is not sado psyhopath,so...maybe humble Eldar Farseer ? or pacifist orks ?
 
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PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
Executing Constantine is all well, but surely he wasn't acting completely alone, some of his buddies must have been aware of the plan as well, even if just parts of it.

but for now I felt that a completely beaten and broken Tristan in the aftermath of such an engagement was the best way to show just how damaging it could be.
Sometimes less is more. Showing fragments of what happened, while focusing on aftermath with beaten, broken yet unbowed Tristan works. Also Levente will be absolutely fuming at the fact that it is Tristan that will get promotion, he surely sees himself as more deserving.
 

Thunderscourge

Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
Alliance with Tau? not possible - but,Farsight is another case.It could work.

I do not intend to involve the Farsight Enclave, but who knows what the future can hold in terms of alliances.

Thinking Khornate ?

Brilliant military strategists also fit in Khorne's camp because while they might not be as tricky as Tzeentchian ones might be, they still spill plenty of blood for Khorne by possessing greater military acumen than "sword goes stabby". There is in fact a known mortal military cult that engages in operations to serve Khorne, so while such groups receive less focus than the raving lunatics of Khorne they still exist. In this case a crafty Word Bearer who ascended to Daemon Prince.

Executing Constantine is all well, but surely he wasn't acting completely alone, some of his buddies must have been aware of the plan as well, even if just parts of it.

Fortunately as mentioned in a previous update Constantine's personal supporters had been whittled down through the years due to attrition, so if he possesses co-conspirators the list would be short and easy to deal with compared to how a more cunning and supported usurper might be.

Sometimes less is more. Showing fragments of what happened, while focusing on aftermath with beaten, broken yet unbowed Tristan works. Also Levente will be absolutely fuming at the fact that it is Tristan that will get promotion, he surely sees himself as more deserving.

I am glad you think so, as it is the angle I was trying to go for.

As for Levente, Tristan has basically just caught up to him in rank since they serve different Triarchs: Levente is a lieutenant of Khyr while Tristan now is a lieutenant of Archimedes, so they do not possess much overlap in terms of promotional opportunities. When Khyr needs more frontline leaders he will draw from his own men, while Archimedes will do the same from his own. This instance was just a bit special due to it resulting from an execution and subsequent promotion as heralded by the Warsmith himself, but at the end of the day Tristan and Levente are in parallel service to one another which is quite likely for the best.

Levente will likely still be irked that Tristan got promoted at all, but even if Levente had been given the position it would have been a side-grade to him rather than an upgrade in rank.
 
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"Asier Terminus" (Part 1)

Thunderscourge

Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
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ASIER TERMINUS

It was a quiet day upon Inwit that found Torian patrolling his fortress and making certain that each and every detail was as it ought to be. He had been in charge for decades at this point and not a single issue had cropped up in that time, but he was resolute in his desire to keep things that way and ensure that anything that might threaten them or their secrecy was dealt with immediately. Others may grow lax with years of inactivity, but he was a security officer of the Imperial Fists and would make certain to uphold the scrutiny and standards Rogal Dorn himself would expect.

A new recruit to the base named Katus was quite enthusiastic about fending off any possible threats, though given his station he mostly was assigned menial tasks that kept him away from the major locations that Torian was primarily observing in his security sweep. While Torian was firm in his desire to be ready for any possible attack and had security protocols in place to react to such an event in a regimented, orderly fashion Katus on the other hand was convinced they would be attacked and was constantly on-edge about such a possibility. Torian made use of the younger Imperial Fist's concern to have him handle the grunt-work related to maintaining the facility to ensure that any would-be attackers could not force their way in, and fortunately Katus took well to such duties and was grateful to be of use.

Their armory was a primary concern of Torian's since in the event of an attack they would need to access it, and so he made certain it possessed the greatest concentration of forces besides the front gates where they would be fending off any foes. Heavy bolters and such weapons were primarily to be found in these locations as a result, as they were unnecessary and got in the way of other duties that required one's hands to be free. The entire garrison was armed with master-crafted boltguns, and even their mortal servants possessed boltguns and bolt pistols, so they could mow down even Astartes in standard Power Armor if it came to such a situation.

While visiting the armory Torian made certain that Sevald and the others stationed there were vigilant given their important role in the base's protection, and he light-heartedly jested about them not using their assignment there to test out their various weapons against Tempest's Claw, Sevald's personal chainsword modeled after their Primarch's own. Sevald pridefully noted that he had no such need to test it on other weapons in their armory as he knew it could carve through anything, just as its predecessor had disarmed a Primarch and cleaved through their armor according to the records they kept. Torian nodded in approval and left Sevald to take care of his duties there, knowing that while Sevald desired to be a frontline soldier that he was reliable and would not shirk his duties here.

The base's communications had separate components, with one array being in their command center so that their officers could properly contact others outside of the base as needed, and their primary communication systems in an area opposite the armory that had the strength to reach Imperial Fist forces across the galaxy. If anything were to happen they would warn their kin and seek aid in defeating any foe that threatened the secrets of Rogal Dorn. The lack of usage of this system did not mean it did not function, and regular tests were carried out for it with one such test scheduled to occur in another day's time. For the meantime overlooking it was one of the more menial tasks asked of Katus, and so Torian was content that someone so diligent was ensuring its safety.

When all else was finished Torian returned to their command center, its members all standing as was expected on Inwit for its warriors, and he saluted them all before granting them permission to return to their work. Proper discipline and respect was called for even in a garrison deployment such as this, and his men were some of the finest Imperial Fists that Torian had ever known.

"Welcome back, dear leader. Did you enjoy toying with the newblood's rampant paranoia again?" Adon smirked as he greeted his old friend, the apothecary and second-in-command of the base glad to be joined by Torian once again.

"You must be taking a liking to Katus if your japes now extend to him," Torian rebutted as he took his place and began to overlook the recent seismic activity. There had been some earlier and while it was not out of the ordinary it deserved to be taken seriously, since even if they were not attacked a serious seismic event could damage their structure.

Wanzar chuckled as he joined in on their conversation, pounding one mechanical hand into the other, "The boy needs some experience under his belt or he'll continue leaping at shadows! Who in their right mind would attack Inwit of all worlds, and this base of all those upon it! Why, if they did I'd crack their skulls one after another!"

Out of their primary staff it was only the cool-headed Trius who did not partake in the casual dialogue which ensued, it being a way for the Imperial Fists stationed there indefinitely to unwind and ease off some of the tension they felt day to day wondering if that would be the day someone tried their luck at taking the facility. The few lower ranking members present also stayed quiet out of respect for their commanding officers, not desiring to interrupt them as they spoke.

Their conversation only came to an end when suddenly the entire base shook for a moment, nearly dislodging the Imperial Fists from where they each stood before suddenly quieting down. The lack of chairs meant that whenever something like this happened they had forcibly learned to grab onto something, but sometimes it was so sudden that they could not react in time and fallen Fists would be reprimanded for sitting while on duty.

This was one of the most severe seismic disturbances Torian had experienced in all his time stationed here though and so he took another look at the readings, addressing Trius simultaneously, "Damage report and expected activity for the rest of this week's cycles."
"Seismic activity is within calculated projections. It should pass momentarily," just as Trius said this another tremor shook them all, this one even more violent than the last, "I have observed an increased frequency of disturbances over recent decades and this correlates with the data of Inwit's natural tectonic shifts."

Something in his gut told Torian that this was not natural however, as right after Trius spoke the tremors resumed and grew in size.

"I do not believe this is natural..."

Trius' eyes lit up as his sensors revealed new information, though by the time they could be read it was too late.

"Numerous heat signatures from beneath—"

Before the typically cold and reserved officer could report the full readings something none of the Imperial Fists had experienced cut him off: sudden freefall. Within a moment they felt the surface beneath their fortress crumble and the structure plummeted down as one would expect something so heavy to. The Fists slammed into the ceiling as their base raced to collide down into the depths beneath it, its descent so rapid that even though it fell for what must have been miles it soon slammed into another thick layer of ice.

As it collided down so did the Imperial Fists throughout the base, though the impact damaged the structure enough to knock out their primary power generator which left them without vision as they writhed in pain and attempted to climb back up. Within moments their backup generator brought primary systems back to life, and in doing so revealed to the dazed and injured Torian that some of his brethren had not survived the fall. From what he could see his fellow officers had survived the fall, but half of their support staff had perished and the other half were injured as well.

What in the Emperor's name was that?

Just how many of the nearly one hundred Imperial Fists stationed within the base even survived the sudden collapse? It could not have been natural as they strictly monitored the condition of the ice beneath them and it showed no signs of such a breakage, so what had happened? Trius had mentioned heat, so had someone blasted the ice? The amount of explosives to disrupt that much territory and drop them this distance was nigh inconceivable, so how could anyone have accomplished that without anyone on Inwit noticing? This could not have been sanctioned mining operations gone awry, as they would have been informed of such an activity and been able to quash it...

So much remained unknown, and as Torian struggled to get back up his mind would soon be filled with entirely different thoughts. Within moments of their crash their outer wall burst open, having been softened up during the blackout by a concentration of melta-weaponry that even its reinforced hull could not endure.

Wanzar had been the first to recover thanks to his mechanical augments, and in doing so he was able to climb back up to his feet in time to witness an armored pair of hands tearing through the debris, further breaching the gap opened as if tearing apart soft clay. As the behemoth ripping through the wall drew closer Wanzar's eyes widened in shock, as he knew well from history the armor he was looking at: the Logos.

"Perturabo!?" Wanzar spoke dumbfounded as he finished shaking off the impact he had suffered, though the surprise did not halt him from his duties. Wanzar leapt at the wall's breach as his kin all regained their bearings, knowing that if the Primarch of the Iron Warriors was able to finish breaking through and pave a path for his kin that they would be able to rapidly carve their way through his comrades. So that his kin could know what they were facing he yelled out to them in warning.

"Heretics!"

Unfortunately for him the mighty Dwrniâ, the fists of this incarnation of the Logos, were more than capable of finishing off the remains of the wall in short order. By the time Wanzar could close half the distance between them 'Perturabo' already stood within the fortress, his soldiers piling in behind him as he rose his arms to aim the Peleneira wrist cannons he carried at the Imperial Fist charging straight for him.

"Fall, Imperial slaves!"

Had Wanzar been able to strike his foe he could have inflicted severe damage with his enhanced fists, but such an outcome was doomed from the start: a powerful bolt caught Wanzar in the shoulder and upper abdomen with enough force to twist his body back, during which time more of the incoming bullets from the Logos tore into Wanzar's back and ripped what remained of him in half. Wanzar fell to the ground as blood oozed out of his torn body, expiring shortly thereafter with his final thoughts being of how he hoped his action and warning had bought his fellow Fists the time they needed to react.

As Wanzar fell Trius recovered from his own shock, having been able to brace himself better than the others since he was reading the seismic activity at the moment their fortress fell. While somewhat dazed he possessed a resolute will that allowed him to shake it off, his cool and calculating disposition allowing him to draw his plasma gun and aim it immediately as he moved to face the Iron Warriors. From his position he had a clear line of sight to the Iron Warriors filing in behind 'Perturabo', and since he doubted he could scratch the Logos with his gun he decided instead to pin down those entering.

Right behind the believed Primarch of the Iron Warriors was a figure even taller than him, having to lower their head to properly make their way into the breached wall, and since knocking such a foe down would stall further invaders Trius aimed for their head. His shot sailed across the room with surprising accuracy given the shock his body had endured, superheated plasma striking true at the face of the colossal Iron Warrior...only to harmlessly dissipate right before him thanks to a set of shields that could absorb far more damage than what a single plasma shot could accomplish.

In retaliation the Iron Warrior lifted a weapon integrated into his armor's forearm the way Devastator Centurions carried Heavy Bolters and Lascannons, its appearance unfamiliar to Trius but its general design reminiscent of Tau technology. After taking aim for a moment the unknown weapon fired, revealing itself as a railgun via the noise left in its wake being like that of a whip cracking with its projectile breaking the sound barrier. The kinetic force imparted upon its target was such that it tore through Trius' Power Armor without issue and without him being able to react at all to the shot, his upper abdomen reduced to fragments.

Blood spurted from Trius' mouth as his eyes lost focus and his remains fell to the ground, not an ounce of life left within him after a single shot had destroyed much of his superhuman physiology. By now the other Iron Warriors breaking through this part of the fortress had entered and begun to lay down covering fire, heavy bolters and storm bolters both tearing apart the command center without relent. Imperial Fists unable to react thanks to the concussive damage taken previously by their fall were cut down, while those who could took cover behind terminals and even the remains of their kin, evoking a similar image to the Iron Cage where the Imperial Fists led by Rogal Dorn ended up forced to protect themselves with their mountains of dead from the Iron Warriors assailing them.

Among those still capable of battle were Adon and Torian, the former so torn with grief over his fallen comrades he was barely able to restrain himself from lashing out as he took cover. The latter had drawn his plasma pistol and begun firing over the table he now hid behind, the remains of Trius laying nearby him with vacant eyes and the lower half of his face covered in the blood he coughed out upon death. The retaliation by Torian drew enough attention his way for Adon to open fire as well with his pistol and that of another Imperial Fist who had fallen nearby him, slain in the initial fall that had started this invasion.

Where had these heretics come from? Just how had they slipped by their early warning systems and managed to invade Inwit of all places? Foul sorcery? Brute force? If not, then how? Who could have possibly overcame all of the defensive systems and security checkpoints Rogal Dorn himself had arranged for the protection of his home planet?

Such thoughts faded from Adon's mind as Torian caught a glancing blow from a third giant amongst the ranks of the Iron Warriors, one who Adon had not even noticed until the towering Astarte's plasma nearly slew Torian. He tried to cry out to Torian but caught a shot to his chest that knocked the wind out of the apothecary's chest instead.

The Battle of Inwit only just had begun and already it was looking ever more grim for the sons of Dorn.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________​


Selection for the participants of the Inwit conflict was strict, as only around twenty Astartes would be able to make the journey undetected and so Jarn brought many of his top soldiers after objectively observing their performance. To this end it was little surprise that Levente would end up chosen.

While possessing less than a century of service it was no exaggeration to say that Levente had already obtained more kills than some of his Iron Warrior peers who had fought in both the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. In every battle he took part in Levente tore apart his opposition without mercy or hesitation, appearing almost as if he was a force of nature rather than a mere mortal enhanced to possess superhuman might. Strength was part of what carried his efforts, but it was mostly his bursts of speed that allowed him to surprise foes and overwhelm them before they could mount a proper defense that saw so many fall to his blades and hammers.

Upon being assigned to serve under Khyr the Triarch member had taken Levente under his wing and taught him how to best utilize his shock tactics and how to duel foes of all stripes that they might encounter. Weakpoints were highlighted, the most effective ways to disorientate a foe in close combat studied, and the most effective ways to deal crippling or killing blows practiced at length all so that Levente could serve the role he was chosen for: to serve as a champion of the Iron Legion, one who could best whatever foe he was met with. He possessed the skill and speed to match blows with experts in close-quarters engagements that the slower Tristan and Warsmith would struggle with, and so not only was he a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield it also meant that Levente could entangle such threats that would pose danger to the Warsmith.

Almost entirely lacking in subtlety, Levente won his engagements with head-on tactics and swiftly ended them before his foes could mount a proper defense. Few could break their way into a guarded fortress and extract something valuable the way he could with all the dead he would leave in his wake, and so when time was not a resource that could be spared Levente was deployed for whatever the task might be. His blitzkrieg methodology to everything was frighteningly efficient in such instances, and while his near reckless charges would often result in those around him perishing to enemy gunfire or in melee it did not detract from the reality that Levente was always victorious.

Some conflicts had to be ended immediately and without delay, and so while there was a cost upon their personnel Levente never lost more soldiers than what his objectives were worth taking. He might be headstrong, but he was no fool and knew how to best insert himself and his teams where they needed to go in order to obtain the greatest degree of success. It was this form of genius that saw him also within the ranks of the Dodekatheon, as not every battle was one that could be solved in the same way and thus a diversity of viewpoints and tactics had to be brought to the table for all of their members to properly dissect the optimal way to approach a situation.

One mission Levente was assigned to was of the utmost secrecy, with only a small strike team of six Astartes being chosen for the task. Besides Levente they were joined by Brechung, Gunnar, two other Astartes Levente did not know, and Khyr himself. Of them they would be divided into two teams, with Levente following Khyr alongside Gunnar while Brechung led the other team with Khyr holding overall command of their force. From what little information he was given beforehand they would be raiding some kind of Imperial vessel and extracting valuable intel it was carrying before escaping under the guise of having failed their objective. Khyr's team would obtain the data while Brechung's would steal a separate and useless set of data to keep attention from them, thus facilitating the process and hiding their true intentions if any of them were discovered.

To board the vessel in question the Iron Warriors first infiltrated a Mechanicus facility that would be providing it with resources, using the shipments in question to hide themselves and escape attention. To mask their vitals they entered a temporary state of hibernation thanks to their Sus-an Membranes that they would be aroused from upon their arrival by medical patches procured by Ossus and sit beneath their armor to kickstart their systems again with the proper chemical solutions. Chameoline cloaks provided for the mission would shroud their actions once they emerged from hiding, at which point it would be a simple matter of carefully evading their security systems and obtaining the data.

Hiding and staying quiet went against Levente's nature, but the knowledge that they would have to likely fight their way out after taking the data helped ease him. Using codes granted to him by the Warsmith Khyr was able to get them where they needed to go and slip past a myriad of security terminals without issue, after which they found what appeared to be a laboratory where various organs sat in tubes for study and observation while elsewhere the bodies of Astartes could be seen. Their deceased nature meant they were next to irrelevant to their mission, but Levente could not help but notice that they were all particularly large for Astartes: they might not possess the height of the Warsmith or that fool Tristan, but they were each approximately eight feet or taller from what he could estimate.

Actually obtaining all of the data without leaving a trace was more difficult than it might sound, for it required Khyr to have brought special tools with him to extract the data held within the console he was interacting with while also not interfering with the native system whatsoever lest he leave a digital fingerprint that someone had tampered with it. As he did this Levente and Gunnar kept watch and made certain no-one interrupted him, though to Levente's irritation not a single soul came their way thus depriving him of a battle. As he was idle Levente noted that the data they were taking had the title of 'Magna Mater', whatever that meant, and he was left to wonder just why it was so important to the Warsmith.

Destroying the original might be preferable in Levente's eyes once they got their own copy, but he understood that if it truly was of importance the Imperium might go to lengths to get it back. This way at least they would not draw the ire of a force they could not overcome, but Levente would be damned if he did not crave for the chance to prove his martial might.

Once Khyr finished the Triarch gave the other two the signal to begin heading out wordlessly, not even risking the chance that a private communication might be intercepted and heard onboard this enemy ship. Just as quietly as they slipped in they escaped back to where they would then depart, meeting with Brechung's team and boarding a vessel carrying seemingly prototype vehicles from the look of things, as they did not seem to be Predator tanks yet shared in some design to them. From what Levente could see they were not treaded, but rather seemed to possess some form of hovering capability that would grant them smoother movement so long as their equipment remained undamaged.

From Brechung's report he had stolen the files for such vehicles and so any who discovered their actions on board would be led to believe that they had meant to steal the schematics, not the Magna Mater. Using the Imperium's own weapons against them was something Levente could get behind, though he remained uneasy on the way back to the world they would then depart to meet back up with their own fleet. Not only had he not yet gotten the opportunity to distinguish himself in this expedition, he also got the feeling that something was suspicious about the Warsmith being able to so accurately plan out this operation. Had he obtained some kind of vital intel to inform their proposed actions? Levente did not doubt the Warsmith himself, he just felt that there must be something else at play for such a thing to be carried out as while Iron Warriors were capable of subterfuge and such they were not known for it.

Once they landed Levente indulged in his desire for a battle when on their way to their own ship they were discovered by the planet's garrison, a garrison that would lose hundreds of men by the time the Iron Warriors were able to reach their destination. This made the flight back to the fleet far more bearable for Levente, who was able to boast about the dozens he cut down in mere moments with his favored set of weapons, those being a Thunder Hammer and Chainsword wielded together in tandem with one in each hand thanks to his impressive might. His fluid movements in combat allowed him to utilize one, both, or swap between them in each moment which made his movements difficult to read and made them far more deadly, and while the sword could carve through lighter targets the hammer could bludgeon more resilient ones such as Astartes.

Upon their return from the mission they immediately reported to Ossus to pass along the data they acquired, their chief Apothecary carefully locking it away in a hidden vault within his lab along with a data module labeled 'Raptor', another named 'Bile', and the last titled 'Selenar'. What they were for was beyond Levente, but if he had to guess they were going to be methods of improving Astartes given the size of the ones he saw corpses of.

Perhaps that was why the Warsmith was so interested in it all and would send them on such a mission, but Levente balked at the idea of someone creating Astartes superior to those designed by the Emperor himself. From what Ossus said he had now what he needed to begin putting into development Project Humanity, to which Khyr nodded and appeared to understand what he meant but made no verbal response to that would illuminate Levente.

So long as they continued to crusade throughout the stars there would be plenty more aspiring Astartes they could recruit to their cause, just as Levente himself had been, and so whatever the truth was it was beyond Levente's care: he just needed his next target that stood in the way of their conquest, and that was all that mattered.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Tristan was the unwitting architect of the assault on Inwit and so was almost automatically chosen for inclusion in the raid, though his performance following his promotion certainly helped secure his place amongst the top operatives the Iron Legion possessed.

In his role as one of the officers under Archimedes it was natural that Tristan was inducted into the ranks of the Kheledakos, the Iron Warriors' "Brethren of Cold" who commanded their vessels. Aboard their mighty vessels the strategic forces of Archimedes could achieve their objectives and orchestrate campaigns, and while it took time to acclimate towards Tristan found himself comfortable in the position granted to him. To command a squad of individuals in the field was not something he particularly enjoyed or believed himself skilled at, but aboard the bridge of a vessel he could give orders and have them possess far grander effects than when he was on foot. This also meant that mistakes were compounded and far more disastrous, but Tristan's careful nature helped mitigate such instances.

Whereas many vessels possessed mortal crew members upon their bridges the many injured and otherwise disabled among the ranks of the Iron Legion meant that they had Astartes to fulfill such roles aboard many of their ships. The technical and machine mastery of the Iron Warriors in question meant that they were quite skilled at their tasks and could carry out orders near flawlessly, directly interfacing with their vessels and controlling their every movement and action as if they were extensions of their own being.

The strict adherence to orders and one's superiors within the ranks of the Iron Warriors also meant though many of those aboard the bridge were Tristan's senior they did as they were told, and Tristan made certain to prove himself so that they would not doubt him even within their minds. Operations were carried out in meticulous methods of organization and deployment of their resources, and while they had not yet come to face an equal foe in space itself to properly judge his capabilities in ship-to-ship combat not one of the Astartes deployed from the Eisernen had perished under his watch. Archimedes had left their flagship under Tristan's command since it would allow Jarn to better guide his student, and given that most of their fleet comprised the same model of Battleship it meant little to the rationally minded Archimedes which vessel he commanded the overall fleet from.

That none had fallen in battle might seem impossible given the constant battles of attrition the Iron Warriors waged, but Tristan had been deployed to ensure the maximum and efficient acquisition of resources to build their fleet. While other groups and squads such as those led by Khyr, Levente, and Urkamus might be deployed to a specific location to extract something of importance it was Tristan's assigned duty to ensure that their fleet finished obtaining the materials Jarn asked them to. Many minerals could be mined from worlds without any population present which thus with the proper safety precautions granted to planet's nature and the mining operations themselves meant no casualties would be incurred.

Tristan had learned from Jarn who in turn was a student of Forrix who was a master of deployment and organization, and as Tristan's mind was well suited to data and minutiae he was able to strip these planets of every valuable resource they possessed before leaving the barren worlds behind for others to find rendered worthless to settlement. Everything was analyzed, performance in every field studied, methodology tested and improved upon, and so Tristan made optimal usage of the forces left under his command through iterative improvement like he utilized to improve everything else he worked on. With the Warsmith's guidance this process was even faster, learning from his experience and wisdom, and so Tristan flourished in the administrative role granted to him.

To avoid the Imperium's watchful gaze meant that not every sector or planet was available for their needs, and thus to acquire certain requisite materials Tristan did have to occasionally strike at a world with some form of antagonistic presence. That these encounters did not result in casualties over the course of years would seem implausible as well, if not for the fact that Tristan did not have the compulsion for honorable or direct combat that many Astartes did. He simply lacked the care for it when there were more efficient manners with which to reach the same outcome without sacrificing anything in the process, and so Tristan's particular style for warfare was realized: mass orbital bombardment until not a single foe remained to possibly threaten his forces.

This method was first employed when a beautiful forest world had an abundance of rare minerals required for the construction of the Iron Warriors' fleet with the only thing keeping them from harvesting these resources being a native population of primitive Xenos. Said Xenos had proven their danger by their possession of Eldar technology taken from slain Exodites, and despite possessing vaguely Humanoid forms possessed far greater strength and speed than even the Eldar they slew had.

When attempts were made to open communication with them they scorned the Iron Warriors in orbit, possessing a deep hatred of 'outsiders' that bordered on irrational, and threatened war instead of acquiesce to Tristan's offers of peacefully landing and taking the resources that these Xenos had built their technologically backwards habitats upon yet made no use of. A peaceful solution was not possible even if the Iron Warriors would not disturb their way of life, and so these Xenos previously undiscovered by Humanity instead used the technology left behind by the fallen Eldar Exodites to send grandiose speeches of how they would repel these new invaders just as they had slain those of the past.

It was while listening to their screeds about communing with nature and the evils of those who would dare trespass upon it that Tristan gave the order to begin orbital bombardment. He was there for resources, not lectures by some Xenos too unintelligent to realize that the offers of peace were a mercy, not begging for it. They mocked technology and yet used that of a conquered force of Eldar far smaller than their own thriving tribe, and what did these Xenos who claimed to date back tens of thousands of years have to show for any of it? They were still stuck on a single world without any noteworthy technology born from their own hands, an entire civilization that could not find its way forward while countless others had.

Tristan could invade and subjugate these Xenos, but what point was there in doing so? Honor? Glory? Those would detract from efficiency, and the resources would still be there once the world's surface was cleansed of threats to the Iron Warriors. It was cold and calculating, lacking sympathy and heart, but Tristan prioritized his survival and that of his fellow Iron Legion members over some random species of Xenos who would meet peaceful overtures with threats of violence. If he could find some manner to respect them, even in a minor sense as he had the Coryza, perhaps he would have had a compelling reason to spare them but no, they possessed nothing worthy of a second glance to his technical mind. No marvels of engineering, no discoveries from the stars, no wonders of technological engineering, they had chosen to remain shackled to the past and their world and so they would be left behind by a galaxy at war that had no use or place for them.

If they were not in the way Tristan would have been fine leaving them to their rock for they were no threat in the long-term, content to leave them to wither away until their world no longer could sustain them. Humanity, or more specifically the Iron Warriors, would be conquering new stars and new worlds throughout the cosmos under the Warsmith's vision and so such insignificant specks were unimportant.

An unintended side-effect of the orbital bombardment that Tristan came to appreciate was that it cut off the Xenos attempting to lecture him, replaced instead with silence as in a single military action Tristan opened the path to his objective and secured the lives of any forces sent down to reclaim it. He did not hate Xenos for being Xenos, but that did not mean he was going to accept even a single Iron Warrior casualty when he could just remove the threat from existence. If it was antagonistic Humans in the way he would do the same thing if the situation called for it, and so Tristan's first true 'battle' as a commanding officer was met with complete success. The resources were obtained and nothing had been lost in the process, completely encapsulating Tristan's approach to such endeavors.

If there was a fight that would be too costly he would avoid it entirely in favor of conflicts he was certain would possess a positive outcome by going over all relevant information and data, and so while he saw it only as doing his job properly he came to possess a growing reputation amongst some of the Iron Legion for his pragmatism and rational solutions. That most were veterans of the Great Crusade where Humanity's expansion throughout the stars necessitated brutal wars and the eradication of entire civilizations (Xenos or Human) meant that Tristan's methods were wholly accepted by them, especially those who had lost their kin in otherwise avoidable ways. That the Warsmith gave his own approval helped solidify this reputation, as the fervent support the Warsmith possessed resulted in his views being widely spread and shared amongst their ranks.

So long as they did as they were told Tristan did not particularly care as to the specifics in his current station, and with zero losses to speak of few could argue with his results. Their bombardments that they occasionally would have to undertake cost them nothing in terms of resources except for time, and Tristan was very thorough to ensure that they eliminated every last possible threat before moving onto the mining operations. This process would be far less efficient if they were not informed of vulnerable or useful planets to pillage by the Warsmith, who Tristan presumed was receiving intel from Asier or other such agents under their command. It was beyond Tristan's domain to care about that either as the information was always reliable for their forces across decades, so he would continue entrusting the Warsmith with his life and focusing his efforts not on questioning him but rather in achieving results.

With his increase in rank and station within their forces so too did Tristan's access to resources they acquired, and while he was already given a quite lenient affordance of them before thanks to Jarn desiring to see what Tristan could create now Tristan was capable of actually picking and choosing things from conquests for his own personal usage. This meant that the technically minded Tristan would come over the years to acquire a veritable armory of weapons, armor, technology, and vehicles spanning the various factions and groups they crossed paths with. Mostly he just used Brechung's connections to trade raw materials they possessed excesses of for contraband from Xenos species and the Imperium so he could better inspect and learn from them, and in this manner he came to possess bits and pieces of Tau technology that had particularly fascinated him: most specifically their various models of railguns, intact copies of their drones, and their shield generators.

In the span of a few hundred years the Tau had managed to rapidly improve their technology in a manner akin to how Humanity once did tens of thousands of years ago, and since Tristan's specialty was intuitively understanding how various technologies worked after observing and tinkering with them much of the Tau's handiwork was easy to grasp. The Xenos were quite technologically proficient, but they had not actually yet reached the heights Humanity's technology had reached at its peak and Tristan had already deciphered the functionality of everything in the Dodekatheon's wide array of contraptions and weapons. The notes and research of the Warsmith combined with decades of restless study with a mind suited for such tasks all came together to grant Tristan deep understanding of everything from lasguns to Basilisks to Kastelan machines, and every free moment Tristan was not spending honing his other skills was spent on furthering his grasp on them all.

Tristan's interest in the Tau technology for railguns was born of his studies into effective counters to Astartes, upon which he learned that the Tau's rail weapons were notorious for their ability to not just rip through an Astarte but also to destroy their physical form to such a degree that recovering Gene Seed from them would be nigh impossible. That his armor's form was not that much smaller than a Broadside Battlesuit that could carry two such weapons gave Tristan the idea of incorporating one such weapon into his arsenal to be used as an upgraded form of the autocannons he had been utilizing until then. The concept was the same after all, rapidly firing a projectile such that it could deal considerable damage to a target, the difference primarily was that the railgun was the ultimate form of that idea by propelling the projectile at a pace well past what mortal senses could properly conceive.

If he could properly utilize a railgun in battle Tristan was quite certain his foes would be unable to dodge it, and that whomever was struck no longer would pose a threat. It might even put a dent in Palamedes, though his Warp-infused form might possess some resistance to the weapon. Tristan, until he could test it on a Daemon, would content himself with properly integrating it for the time when he would possess such an opportunity. Ammunition was not particularly an issue, but energy to fire the weapon and maintenance of it would be the primary limitations he would have to overcome. Tau technology was quite powerful and in many ways superior to the mass produced weapons and tools utilized by the Imperium, but it required a lot of power to use properly. An issue with railguns from numerous species was the fact that they tended to wear themselves out faster than other weapons, so they would need proper maintenance to remain operational.

The second issue was something Tristan could handle by his own tinkering between deployments until he could find a more permanent solution, but the former was particularly limiting since Tristan's armor already possessed limitations on its power expenditure. Power Armor typically had long operational times and could recharge itself in the field, but Tristan's bled power far faster than other suits given his redundant systems of shielding and protection. This was made worse when he had integrated easily the Tau Shield Generators he reverse-engineered as it was yet another system for his suit's power to run at the same time, though Tristan considered it worth-it given that the only thing that kept him alive against Palamedes before was his defensive capabilities. As one might expect the Xenos shields functioned by projecting an energy field around their bearer to redirect incoming attacks, dissipating and even absorbing energy based attacks, or halting kinetic energy for weapons utilizing it, and so it provided generalist and powerful coverage that Tristan could not afford to ignore.

With all of his systems accounted for Tristan would only be able to fight for some hours before needing to replenish his suit's supplies, but this was acceptable at the moment given that he rarely was in direct combat for that long and when he was not he did not need each and every subsystem active. In his search for a manner of improving this facet of his suit Tristan decided to incorporate a secondary power generator from reverse-engineered Tau Crisis Suit power supplies, though it would be some time before it could properly be implemented into the rest of his chimeric armor. It was to his fortune that not all Kroot were particularly scrupulous and their members found amongst pirates and smugglers throughout the stars combined with their relations to the Tau meant he could acquire occasional salvaged parts, though it was Brechung who saw to the actual dealings and so the specifics of their acquisition were often unknown to Tristan: he just made lists of things necessary for his study and experimentation and he let Brechung work out the details.

While his armor was not yet finalized in many regards it was fieldable and surpassed the iteration which Palamedes had carved apart, and to match its improvements Tristan made certain to improve his own capabilities as well. Further reinforcements to his physical form had been made including Tristan dabbling in the usage of mithril in place of the metal subdermal implants he had already incorporated, having been granted some access to their limited supplies within the fleet by the Warsmith. Jarn said that when Tristan perfected his armor he would grant him enough of their mithril stores to fashion a version made out of the resilient substance, but for now Tristan only had enough to reinforce his body itself.

Ossus assisted in the implementation of this upgrade to ensure that the implants would possess no ill side effects upon Tristan, and after ensuring that the necessary surgeries were carried out to implant the mithril directly into him. The weight of the metal was severe and it took Tristan time to get used to the new weight he carried, but he was fine sacrificing agility if it meant a blade that might penetrate his armor could be turned away by implants just beneath his skin. It had the side-effect of making his strikes carry more weight as well, balanced by the fact that they were slower now, but his physical strength was still not in the same league as that of the Warsmith: he just possessed greater overall mass now that could be thrown around as a weapon in its own right.

Tristan knew that he never would be invulnerable to harm entirely, but that did not mean he could not take every single possible precaution to minimize incoming damage. With his size it was not as if he would be able to avoid most incoming strikes anyways, so shrugging them off was far preferable to the alternative. Thus the next step of ensuring he would be ready for a threat such as Palamedes was training with and against a wide variety of weapons and fighting styles, as once he understood what it was like to use them he also had to possess experience encountering them.

While he would never be capable of mastering them the way Brechung, Levente, or Khyr might be able it was still within Tristan's capability to go through the motions and experience various weapons and how they felt to be wielded. This, in addition to observing them when wielded by Brechung in a variety of styles he had learned from various Legions and factions during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, built up a sizable library of information for Tristan to utilize in his defensive endeavors by knowing how to best block, parry, or otherwise mitigate their attacks. With that understanding he could then begin to work on how to best utilize his shielding to better intercept strikes, and so he relentlessly practiced and honed his reactive skillset so that even if he could not best his opponent in battle they would find it difficult to take him down.

Integrated into all of these exercises were Tristan's mechatendrils, now able to treat them like natural limbs attached to him with great precision without particularly focusing on them. He could always improve further like training a nondominant hand to do a specific task, but for general usage they were just like using his left hand instead of his dominant right. With six extra limbs with which to block, four mechatendrils and two servo-arms, it gave Tristan far more ways to block incoming strikes, and by attaching his modified Karceri shields to the mechatendrils he was capable of redirecting them at a moment's notice and shift their positioning to protect him at any angle. To facilitate this and to better block attacks from the sides or behind him Tristan incorporated cameras into the mechatendrils as well, training to see through them in addition to his natural eyes taking time but being worth it by allowing him to have 'eyes in the back of his head' figuratively.

It was only natural for Techmarines to heavily augment their physical form with all sorts of contraptions and tools, Tristan merely did so with the singular goal of 'survival'. His armor would naturally block most of his vision so gaining vision all around him was the logical solution in his view. With his mechatendrils capable now of firing Heavy Bolter rounds, shielding him, and granting vision they became a threat entirely on their own in addition to the armor he made.

For every weapon and technique shown to him Tristan devised counters and ways to at least lower the damage they would inflict while retaliating in turn, using his analytical mind to create countless scenarios that he gained experience of and could call upon later to properly handle any given attack. To master such a system would be difficult and take time, but his uncertainty in battle that had allowed Palamedes to eviscerate him by always being two steps behind would prove the most difficult challenge to such a type of battle. He was not as skilled as Levente but that did not mean he could not try and find ways to shore up his severe weaknesses. Tristan just would have to find a way to make up his mind faster in actual battle so he would be two steps ahead, not behind, as if he was not reacting properly he would be opening himself up rather than protecting his vulnerable areas. To that end practice was the manner by which he decided to see to bridging the gap, but his results were minimal so far.

At the end of one day's sparring Brechung sat down beside Tristan in a relaxed manner, not appearing exhausted in the slightest even after he spent eight straight hours picking apart and dismantling Tristan's defenses to help him further improve his reactive capabilities. Tristan lay defeated as he usually did, content at no longer having to stand after enduring such a beating since now gravity was no longer fighting his injured legs.

"You remind me of the Imperial Fist Alexis Polux, an Astarte of humble beginnings who was thrust into a position of leadership in a turbulent era. Records inform us he stood equal to the Primarchs, that he was capable of crushing an Astarte's skull within his palm, and that he possessed the skill and intellect to defeat the vastly more numerous Iron Warrior force at Phall as led by Perturabo himself," Brechung noted as if he knew Polux himself, and while Tristan did not like being compared to a Fist from what Brechung said the comparison sounded apt.

Tristan turned his head over as much as he could manage with his stiff neck to face Brechung, "I may now lead to some degree, but I am no leader: I am merely an Iron Warrior who serves his Warsmith, nothing more. I could never hope to match him."

Brechung could at least agree that the Warsmith was worth following, "Trahaearn Jarn is a man meant to lead others, but that does not mean he will be the only one to ever have such impact upon our ranks. Some day you might find that you can increase the impact you possess on your fate if you take charge and seize the opportunities that lay before you. It is the place of some to stand in the sunlight, others to remain in the shadows, and contrary to your nature I believe you to be the former."

For some time the two spoke of ways for Tristan to continue improving upon his defensive skillset until eventually Brechung rose and prepared to leave, though not before mentioning that the Warsmith was going to be assigning Tristan and Brechung both to a high priority assignment along with Urkamus Squad, Khyr, Archimedes, Levente, and other handpicked members of their ranks. Within that group Tristan and Brechung were being assigned to the securing of valuable items from a vault, and that they would be carrying out this endeavor alone while the others all handled their own tasks before meeting up together after. Tristan accepted this with a nod, not able to deny Jarn anything after the debt he owed the Warsmith for saving him numerous times already. Each time Tristan felt even more indebted to the Warsmith and his Legion, and Tristan hoped that when the day came that the Warsmith might need saving that he could do so in return.

With Brechung's departure Tristan got up sluggishly given his injuries and sat down on his bench in the Dodekatheon, understanding for all his pride that sitting was sometimes necessary, and while he began tinkering with his armor's damage he came to pause. Something was off now that he was alone, but what and why confused him as he looked at his tools and inventions before him.

Tristan had created his own version of the workstation his father once possessed at their forge, yet something felt missing. He could not quite grasp what it was for the longest time, but he could feel that something was different. It was only while watering DOTS that day that Tristan realized that his father would sometimes take a moment from his work to show Tristan a quiet method of affection like giving Tristan something to toy with, or running a hand through his hair. He did not always work in complete solitude the way Tristan had been these past decades, and Tristan vividly remembered times when his mother would sit atop his father's workstation just to watch him work.

It was a weird sensation, as while Tristan did not particularly care for or even seek out conversation with others he did still feel the lack of companionship from time to time. While Tristan was deeply loyal to his fellow Iron Warriors, Brechung and Quidel were two of the only Astartes he could consider 'friends', and they often had duties of their own to attend to. It was not a particularly crippling loneliness given who Tristan was, but it was one that now that he noticed he could not particularly shake. He was skilled at technical matters to the point that he had been able to create a nearly perfect replica of his father's workstation from memory albeit scaled up for his own needs, yet he struggled to even understand his own emotions and feelings at times.

Perhaps, he contemplated, beneath the augmentations and superhuman enhancements he was still Human at the end of the day, and Humans were social creatures even if Tristan himself was far less so.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________​


Getting past the defenses on Inwit was surprisingly easy, for while they were limited to only bringing a handful of Astartes on a specific ship they were able to pretend to be a civilian shuttle transporting cargo to be traded on Inwit. Apparently this ship had been used for that very purpose for decades like many of its kind, and so with the right connections they were able to be completely unnoticed. After that was more difficult as they had to hide within cargo containers that were brought by mortal servants to outside the spaceport in which they landed, though with the right individuals in place in the right organizations and certain favors acquired over time they escaped to the wilderness where they were far freer to act.

The longer they remained on Inwit the greater the chances of their discovery, and so they instantly set about following the Warsmith's decrees and traveled covertly across the world's frigid landscape. The training on the now-named planet of Coryza left the Iron Warriors quite prepared for such an excursion across Inwit, and so thanks to preparations set in motion decades beforehand they continued uncontested to where their destination was.

To prevent any possible leak of their plans to the enemy the specifics of their missions were kept from the Astartes brought along on the mission, a group which included Ossus and Richter as well as top soldiers from both Khyr and Archimedes' forces. From what Tristan was beginning to piece together however this world was the one Jarn asked him about when he was still a Neophyte, as the conditions matched those of the base schematic he asked about then.

This suspicion would prove correct when they entered a well-maintained tunnel passageway that after a long journey through snow and ice brought them to a wide expanse of hollowed out ice. Mithril Dragoons were present and working on various tasks, while above one could see far up was a fortress that rested upon miles and miles of ice...ice that now possessed strategically placed explosives and had been hollowed out at specific sections that while beneath notice would help the damage to the glacier the explosives were primed for.

Now that they were present the Warsmith explained their operation's true nature: they were to invade a hidden base upon the Imperial Fist world of Inwit, where Rogal Dorn hailed from, and to do this they would split into three groups to attack the facility from numerous angles and keep their enemy off-guard. By focusing fire on the sides of the facility rather than its gateway where it was most reinforced they could breach the base and wipe out its defenders swiftly while also ensuring they would not have access to their heavy weaponry immediately and that the Fists would have their communications taken offline.

Within the fortress Jarn explained was a vault with valuable items within that they were here to retrieve and bring off-world, as shown by the presence of transportation vehicles present within this section of the hollowed glacier. The three teams would stand approximately where their designated targets within the base were located and would secure their sections before moving on to support the others, the multi-pronged attack hinging on creating mass confusion and chaos within the fortress given that the Fists would still possess greater numbers. The fall would disable or kill many of them, but the current estimated count was 100 Imperial Fists to 20 Iron Warriors, so the element of surprise was crucial here.

The areas the Astartes would stand were protected by deployable shield generators that would mitigate the seismic force of the base crashing down as well as prevent ice and debris from crushing them, so once everyone was in place and knew their role they activated the explosives and Tristan watched in amazement as his plan from so long ago was put into action. The rapid chain of explosions was a sight in and of itself to behold, but so too was the calculated and controlled fall of the facility that took decades to properly set up without raising suspicion. The sudden impact was severe and would have killed everyone present outside the base if not for their shielding, but every variable had been accounted for and so instead of perishing the Iron Warriors leapt to action.

Tristan and Brechung stood behind Jarn as the other three members of their team used multi-meltas to tear through the wall before them and all of its supplemental armor. Tristan had to admire how hardy the base was made to be, though he did not let that feeling shift to mercy as Jarn broke down the remainder of the wall before them by tearing and bashing his way through it. The Warsmith would be the first through the breach, and what a terrifying sight that would prove to be for the Imperial Fists within.

A short volley of fire was traded thereafter which saw Jarn eliminate one Imperial Fist while Tristan returned fire against another with his newly acquired railgun, utterly evaporating the Fist's chest with his shot. The weapon was not capable of rapid fire and so he switched to using his mechatendrils to lay suppressing fire while the other Iron Warriors filed in behind him, Brechung soon taking a shot with his plasma gun that would have slain most foes it was fired at yet only grazed this one thanks to Torian's intuition leading him to avoid most of it. Striking that Fist, who appeared by his Terminator armor to be highly ranked, distracted one of the others which Jarn immediately took advantage of.

Adon's momentary distraction proved costly when his attention diverted to Torian saw the Apothecary struck by Jarn's gunfire, knocking Adon back for a moment before he could stabilize himself and take aim to fire with both pistols again. His bullets harmlessly impacted the Logos Secundus despite their power, and in return Jarn his full firepower onto the Apothecary with far superior effect against Adon's Power Armor.

As well-crafted as Adon's armor was it was still not even in the same league of armor copied from a Primarch's own, and his pistols lacked the same stopping power that the accurately described cannons upon Jarn's wrists possessed. The end result was that the Apothecary was riddled with shots that tore through him one after the other until he slammed into the wall behind him and slumped down, unable to withstand the onslaught that the Warsmith unleashed. It was telling that most of the forces in the command center had all targeted Jarn and yet the Warsmith stood as if he was unharmed, though much of that could be accounted for by the fact they were just dropped miles and their response to the ambush was uncoordinated and inaccurate.

With Adon's fall came the retreat of the remainder of the Imperial Fists present in the command room, realizing that they could not hold off the Iron Warriors present there and that falling back to regroup with their surviving comrades was more intelligent. It would sting at their pride, but they had no other choice when they were seemingly faced with Perturabo himself, Jarn's helmet preventing them from seeing just who wore the Primarch's armor and their relative isolation from the conflicts of the Imperium meaning that those within the Inwit base did not know that Perturabo's Daemon Primarch form had long since morphed from being capable of even wearing the Logos as it once was.

Jarn was fine preying upon their misunderstanding however and gunned down those fleeing from them while also giving his orders to the Iron Warriors beside him, "You have your objectives, and I expect you to fulfill them swiftly: leave none alive, and confirm it with your gunfire for any whom you come across no matter their condition."

Brechung retrieved from Adon's limp body his credentials and nodded to the Warsmith, departing the command center with Tristan following behind him so they could carry out their own role assigned to them.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________​


From a different angle Khyr launched a simultaneous attack with Levente and their other forces to breach the Imperial Fists' armory and deny them their stronger weapons that they would not naturally be carrying around with them while at ease. Levente was the first into the opening made and tanked a shot from a bolter against his Terminator armor as he leapt at the Fist who shot him and crushed their torso beneath his Thunder Hammer, reveling in the battle already as they attacked their bitter rivals.

"He may be an unruly upstart, but that brat had a good idea for once! Kill them all!" Levente commented about Tristan's plan of attack that now was seeing this seemingly untouchable location completely swept and cleansed by their relatively smaller forces, being prideful but not outright delusional concerning his personal rival's capabilities.

Within the armory the Imperial Fist Sevald reacted to the invasion by drawing Tempest's Claw and counter-charging them, quickly engaging Khyr and tying him up as the other members of their squad finished entering and began to engage the other Imperial Fists present. It was obvious to Sevald that to fail here would mean to sacrifice the base entirely, and so he would put his life on the line and the skills he had honed all this time to ensure that such a fate did not come to pass.

"What a fine blade you have there, it reminds me of when I once saw Storm's Teeth...I look forward to taking it," Khyr spoke to Sevald, a grin beneath his helm as he swung his Power Sword swiftly at Sevald and forced the Fist back.

The infiltrators each had their parts to play, and while Khyr's team took care of this location Archimedes would be neutralizing the Fists' ability to call for help while the Warsmith locked down their command center to prevent coordination and eliminate their leadership. This fortress would fall, and now it just remained to see how much of a fight the Imperial Fists could mount in response.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Part 1 thanks to arbitrary space limitations)
 
"Asier Terminus" (Part 2)

Thunderscourge

Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
Verita collapsed as she stumbled her way towards the entrance of the next location the black cube brought her, blood seeping from her side as her wound continued to act up. She knew she was leaving a trail behind for her pursuers, but there was no avoiding them at this point: she had been ambushed in her pursuit of information about the Conomors, with the prior locations she visited all filling in more and more of the picture of what had happened upon Kimara piece by piece.

The Iron Warriors' arrival, a site serving as a testament to the suffering of the Kimaran people under the current planetary governor, the palaces of both the Conomors and the Jarns with the latter revealing that the eldest prince had survived while the former revealed a previously unknown Conomor, the locations continued on and each held historical significance to the planet, even the one Verita now found herself crawling towards as she slowly fought her way back to her feet. Her head was spinning from the pain she was in, and the blood loss she had suffered was not helping.

Twin Falls, a set of underground waterfalls that started from the same mouth and ended up pooling together at the same point. Located by the Sapphire mountain range that was once Kimara's top tourist attraction for the brilliant blue crystals which rose towards the sky, Twin Falls held the misfortune of resting beneath the Fortress City that had been reduced to ashes by the Imperial Fists upon their invasion. The Iron Warriors loyal to Jarn who remained on Kimara fought to the end there, though official records concerning the matter were sealed and so much was left to mystery.

If one were to believe the narrative given by the Imperium the traitor force was wiped out entirely by the overwhelming might of the Imperial Fists deployment as a Legion before the Fists would then deploy to face Perturabo at the Iron Cage, but such records were questionable at best. What was known was that the Jarn family escaped persecution as one of their elder members took full responsibility for the rebellion and perished fighting alongside the Iron Warriors and some mortal supporters, and it was somewhat questioned if the Iron Warrior death count which followed had conflated their mortal servants into the overall number.

The Fortress City which lay atop Twin Falls had never been rebuilt, and this entire area was in fact forbidden to visitation by Imperial decree, but that was irrelevant to Verita at this point. She was so close to finding the truth, for only two spaces remained on the cube to be filled in and she could not turn back and face her pursuers at this point. They had cut her off from anyone who could assist her, and now all she had left was the path forward...the path leading to the truth, where she could string the facts before her together and find out just what the purpose of this cube has been. Perhaps she could even find out why her parents had possessed it and were studying it, as well as why they were slain...but perhaps that would be asking too much.

Very little remained after so long of the Fortress City that once stood proudly here, the wicked conditions on Kimara erasing whatever had remained aboveground and many of the passageways leading down to the famous waterfalls that glimmered blue from the stones set in the cavern as an extension of the Sapphire mountains. It was truly a tragedy that none were allowed to visit this area anymore, for Verita had seen photos of the region when she was younger and always wished to see it firsthand some day...little did she know she would come here for an entirely different purpose. A hidden saving grace in this region being forbidden was that not even the Conomors could make usage of it, and so the Sapphire mountains remained untouched by them just as they had remained throughout the ages. It would be easy to strip the mountains of their brilliant gemstones for profit, but keeping them as they were for their beauty even while surrounded by some of Kimara's worst regional conditions spoke symbolically to its people.

By the time Verita found passage down into the depths of the ruined city she could hear the approaching voices of the regime members sent after her, intent on silencing her before she could pass along the knowledge she had gained in recent months. She had given the Commandant her findings about the surviving Jarn the day she found them, but in the time since she had been mostly investigating the issues on her own since she noticed the increasing scrutiny on her actions. If she traveled or coordinated with others too much it would be easier for her to be found, and so she had gone underground (metaphorically until now) like Dairine had more recently.

It was only when she contacted the Inquisitor to discuss these matters with him that they caught up to her, and Verita was fortunate enough to have escaped that encounter with her life.

Descending into the darkness of the cavern through an emergency ladder system set up ten-thousand years prior was not particularly on Verita's list of preferred activities, but she couldn't very well ascend now that the Conomor lackeys were drawing closer. To reach the bottom took what felt like an hour to do thanks to her disorientated state and weakening body, the blood having finally stopped but it meant little at this point since there would be no escaping this location. Once she was found she was dead, so Verita clung onto the hopes that she could at least fulfill her objective before that came to pass. That way it wouldn't have all been for nothing, and perhaps something down in the darkness she crept towards would allow her to pass her knowledge along to someone else.

As she took one step down at a time Verita focused her mind on the letter the box had revealed thus far, hoping that she had read it coordinates right and that she could reveal more of it here.

-O------

-O----E-

-OR---E-

-OR--IE-

-ORN-IE-

-ORNLIE-

So far it was mostly nonsense, but filling in at least one more letter would give her a good chance of figuring out the last one contextually. Verita ignored the sounds of the soldiers climbing down above her as she finally reached the bottom, stepping down onto the rugged floor of a cavern with almost no light. If she had her typical equipment with her she could illuminate the area around her, but she had lost or discarded it during her escape so it would not slow her down. All she had now were the clothes on her back and the cube itself inside of a bag, a bag she now opened to see if the cube had reacted at all.

To her surprise across its surface blue lines flashed in a stylized pattern her fading vision was unable to decipher, but the fact that it was letting off blue light allowed her to hold it forward and reveal the surrounding area. The light from the cube was bright enough that it began to reflect off of the gemstones within the cavern, casting everything around Verita in a dim blue light. It was under this filter that she first witnessed the two waterfalls this location was known for, and that before them stood a podium. With nothing left to lose, Verita approached the podium and noticed that it had a place to place the box down, obviously having been made for such a purpose.

Without hesitation Verita slotted the cube into where it fit so nicely, the act of which prompted its code to flare up again as it previously stood...

-ORNLIE-

And then immediately thereafter fill in the final two letters, which in truth were only one, as befitting of the location where two flows of water combined together. Once done the letters shifted to those of another language with symbolism familiar to Verita thanks to her studies at the Schola.

DORNLIED
ΔΟΡΝΛΙΕΔ

With this code now showing the box began to shift and reshape itself until it was an open structure from which Verita could reach down and retrieve its contents, those being a book as black as the box itself but with blue engravings and patterns akin to those the box had shown thus far.

Chief among them was the familiar form of a Hydra directly upon its cover. Curious, Verita opened it to its first page and immediately found herself in awe at what she had found.

"I have been expecting you."

Verita turned and cast her gaze up from her discovery to instead find herself looking up at Torian of the Deathwatch, formerly of the Imperial Fists, with his helmet off and held under one arm as he stood from where he suddenly appeared as if from nowhere.

"Rest. I will deal with those who would disrupt our plans."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________​


The Imperial Fists were thrown into such chaos by the attack that they did not coordinate in the few moments they had before their ability to contact one another and the outside world were jammed, leaving wounded stragglers to fight valiantly against the surge of Iron Warriors appearing within their base. Tristan was uncertain how the others fared in these conditions, but he did kill one Astarte who had a leg shattered by the fall and both he and Brechung had cleaned up mortals in their way to the vault who had miraculously survived until that point. The thing mostly in their way was a series of security systems that they had to break through since the process of revealing their codes included a time-lock to specifically halt invaders, but even such deterrence proved futile in the end.

While under normal circumstances the vault would prove difficult to enter the codes and identification that Brechung possessed allowed him to open it without issue, Tristan following behind him while also wondering why Brechung appeared to know more about the operation than him despite being lower ranked.

Within the vault were a collection of artifacts and items of seeming importance, though what significance any of them had to Rogal Dorn or his Imperial Fists was beyond Tristan. The area was quite spacious and felt almost as if it was a mausoleum or crypt in nature rather than a secure vault. Deeper within Tristan noted the presence of what appeared to be Gene-Seed containers and a massive quantity of them at that, which seemed to answer why they were bothering undergoing such a dangerous raid in the first place. Tristan felt that Dorn likely would not have hidden Imperial Fists Gene-Seed away without a good reason, and so chances were it belonged instead to a Traitor Legion such as the Iron Warriors, though why Dorn did not just destroy it was unknown to him and likely even the base's own defenders.

The contents of the vault all showed no signs of having just fallen a great distance the way the rest of the fortress now appeared, showing that the stasis technology utilized to protect its contents had indeed done its duty. Instead they appeared brand new, as if no time at all had passed for them and that they were in the exact same condition they had been placed here in. Dust had filled into the room upon their entrance thanks to the conflict waging within the base and continued to pour in, but before that it would be wholly accurate to describe the contents as being immaculately maintained.

Tristan soon noticed a few of the artifacts present within, most notably the chassis of a Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought that likely was a relic of the Horus Heresy. It did not appear to be functional given its lack of activity, and so Tristan ignored it for the time being to focus on what else might be present and necessary for extraction. Scrolls, dataslates, weapons, a baroque set of armor, grenades of some variety, a set of large skulls with some numerals etched into them, remains of what Tristan could roughly identify as a Thunderhawk, and more all lay in spaces specifically set aside for them making the vault appear as if it was both a mausoleum and a museum simultaneously.

Brechung approached a display which held within it a myriad of pieces of some other object, the only recognizable sections of which were the two largest: a pair of sharp blades that appeared Xenos in origin. Not long enough to be swords and not shaped to be daggers, their odd appearance and questionable origin made Tristan wonder just what they were meant for briefly before being brought out of his contemplation by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. Turning around, Tristan could see that one of the Imperial Fists they first engaged was now charging at them, and Brechung appeared to notice this as well.

"I will join you momentarily, but for now I require time," Brechung spoke as he delved deeper into the vault, entrusting Tristan to keep the Imperial Fist's attention as he began whatever process was necessary for them to extract the Gene-Seed.

Turning his back to his friend and Battle-Brother, Tristan took a defensive stance while drawing his personal Power Spear he augmented to improve its armor penetration capabilities, "Then time you will have."

Torian launched himself at Tristan in a fury, the chainsword Tempest's Claw in hand as he thrust it forth at Tristan and began slashing away at him while Tristan parried the blows with his spear. Whatever had riled the Imperial Fist up had driven him beyond the point of reason, and the commander of the base began immediately to chip away at Tristan's defenses as the latter struggled to keep up with him. It was evident to both Tristan and Torian which of them was more suited for close encounters, but that did not mean Tristan did not have his own means to even things.

With his mechatendrils Tristan began firing at Torian while the Fist continued to swing powerful strikes at Tristan, only deterred by his shields which the chainsword was nearly capable of penetrating despite their redundancies. It was made to be the finest of its kind, built after a Primarch's own weapon the way the Iron Legion had created new versions of the Logos, and Tristan could feel the raw power of the whirling blade as it narrowly avoided striking his armor time and time again.

"I have felled warriors stronger than you, Iron Warrior! Surrender and I will promise you a swift death!" Torian yelled out as he thrust his chainsword past Tristan's spear to strike at the giant Astarte's stomach, only to have the chainsword glance off the shields present and Tristan bash him away with a counterstrike he had practiced in recent years. Just as Tristan's shield had been protecting him the Iron Halo which Torian possessed was protecting him thus far from the shots Tristan had put out.

Having created distance between them Tristan stepped back and raised his railgun to fire at his target, "We all die, Fist: act accordingly."

When he went to fire Tristan realized that an earlier strike by Torian had damaged the railgun, forcing him to manually tinker with it if he desired to fire. This would require time Tristan did not have as Torian used this lull in battle to rush forward again and began lashing out at Tristan as the Iron Warrior gave ground and did what he could to draw Torian away from where Brechung was.

"If you continue this battle you will fall like your Primarch before you," Tristan taunted, knowing that getting under his foe's skin would keep their attention on him.

Tristan's constant parrying and retreat were wearing thin on Torian, who slid past Tristan and attempted to hack at his legs only to have a mechatendril lower a Karceri shield down to block him. This gave Tristan more time to retreat, fully embracing his personally philosophy of fighting not to win but to survive. So long as he could outlast this Fist he would be victorious, as Brechung would soon be joining him along with whatever reinforcements the other Iron Warriors could muster upon the completion of their missions.

"Coward!"

The accusation had no effect on Tristan who was long since used to being called that, be it by Levente or some enemy on the battlefield. If fighting defensively until his opponent made a mistake was cowardice, then Tristan was fine being a coward because it was his most optimal way to win with his skillset. He parried another blow at the last moment and twisted Torian's chainsword away as the Fist used their proximity to tackle him and knock Tristan back through sheer force.

"Understanding death does not mean I long for it. So long as I breathe I can fulfill the ambitions of my Warsmith, and for that I refuse to die until his dreams are realized."

Torian slashed up at Tristan and managed to break through his shielding thanks to their proximity, cutting into the Logos Incrementum and drawing blood from Tristan in one swing. In response Tristan smashed his gauntlet across Torian's face to knock him back, though as he was repelled Torian cut the railgun in half. Annoyed by the work it would now take to rebuild it, Tristan swallowed his anger and redirected power to his shields now that he no longer needed to feed it to his railgun.

It was as if Tristan's words drove the Imperial Fist into a deeper rage, as his attacks redoubled in effort after Tristan spoke of the Warsmith, "What would a servant of Chaos know of dreams beyond the battlefield, beyond slaughter and misery! You fiends have slain countless good men today, Astartes worthy of the name!"

Recognizing the skill and finesse of this warrior before him and thus realizing that there was a good chance he could lose prompted Tristan to come up with an alternative method of victory, one which saw him draw both of them back towards the vault's entrance as he focused not on offense but on repelling incoming strikes.

"We are the Unbroken Sons of Perturabo, the Astartes dedicated to the Great Crusade and the Emperor of Mankind, not the monument of corruption you call an Imperium," Tristan retorted as one of his heavy bolter shots struck the Fist and tore across his abdomen, the first real damage Tristan had caused.

Tristan spoke only the truth as he understood it to be, but that was unacceptable to his foe whose entire life had been dedicated to the opposite premise, "You kill the Emperor's sons and claim to serve on his behalf? You have lost your minds, you damnable cretins!"

In an attempt to stall him Tristan tried grabbing Torian with his servo-arms, only to find both of them bashed away by retaliatory strikes. This seeming Captain of the Imperial Fists was incredibly proficient at combat, and it was obvious that his time here had not softened him in the least. If Tristan had to estimate he was fighting someone akin to Levente, though their specific skillsets were different. In this case the Astarte appeared to be an expert duelist, whereas Levente was likely superior in a mass melee with numerous combatants involved.

Torian drove Tristan back further and further towards the large entranceway that had been built to allow for many of the artifacts within to be brought, seemingly intent on forcing Tristan outside of the vault and dueling him in the narrower hallway beyond where Tristan's size would be an impediment. To this end he rained savage strike after strike on Tristan, Torian not relenting for even a moment as he cried out.

"We are the Imperial Fists, the bastion of Terra, of Humanity! We are the Praetorians of the Dorn and the Imperium he sacrificed for! It is by our service that the Emperor and the Imperium survive with enemies in every direction, forever bearing down on us without relent! That is why we will turn you back, that is why our cause is just! Your kind never understood the virtues of the very body you served, and your weak resolve and flaws were what led you to damnation!"

Something beyond them in the vault rumbled in response to his convictions, though it went unnoticed by both of them as Tristan narrowly diverted the flurry of hits coming in towards him. They were nearly at the door, and Tristan shifted his body somewhat so that his back was to one side of it.

Irritated by the Imperial Fist's proclamation, Tristan rebutted as a method to further earn the ire of his foe all the while using three of his Karceri shields and his shield generators to repel what seemed like five slashes or stabs for every second that passed by, "Do not speak platitudes to me, for they mean little. What separates us is that your Primarch stood resolutely in favor of a corrupt society that damned everything we sought to achieve, while ours broke under the weight of seeing his visions shattered. On the battlefield it is might that makes right, and your Imperium is naught but an illegitimate successor to the true Imperium!"

Opening up his defenses, Tristan changed his stance so that he could strike out at Torian and go on the offense...only for Torian to slip past him as Tristan moved forward, ripping through the armor on Tristan's side in the meantime. This done, he turned back to face Tristan who spun around and began to lash out with every tool in his arsenal to actually force Torian completely on the defensive.

"We both fight for the future of our kind, for Humanity. You are no better, no purer, nor braver than any of us! It is the cause one follows that makes one noble, and for that, for Utopia, I will fight until the end!"

It was a moment after he spoke that Torian noticed that Tristan had swapped where they stood, and that now Torian was the one outside. While defending himself moments before Tristan had used one of his mechatendrils to interface with the already unlocked door and disabled it completely so that Torian could not just lock them inside of it in stasis. This done, Tristan was able to put himself completely between Torian and the vault and block his entry like a goalkeeper in a sport. All Tristan had to do not was hold him off like this and Torian would be negated as a threat.

Unfortunately, something he had overlooked earlier came to bite Tristan.

"I ANSWER THE PRIMARCH'S CALL."

From across the vault the previously inactive Contemptor Dreadnought rose and lifted its arms to fire its built-in and mastercrafted boltguns right into the back of the Iron Warrior it saw. While Tristan's plan had rendered Torian no threat to Brechung, it had put Tristan in the perfect position for the Dreadnought to shoot at him from behind while Torian renewed his attacks from the front. Having to focus his shields in both directions at once meant that Tristan had less protection towards both, and Torian abused this fact to begin cutting into Tristan's armor where openings had cropped up.

The Dreadnought lumbered towards where Tristan stood, the Astarte unable to properly move thanks to the powerful impacts he was taking from both sides, though he would soon gain an opportunity when Torian attempted to go for a lethal blow on Tristan's neck. He aimed the strike right when Tristan's Karceri shields were out of position to react, meaning Tristan instead had to lift up an arm to defend himself, prompting him to activate his Van Saar energy shield to block it at the last moment...which the monstrous chainsword managed to chew through in short order before then cutting down into Tristan's gauntlet and then arm.

With the history of this line of chainswords it ought to cut straight through the arm and through Tristan's throat, but instead its twisting teeth got caught after breaking through the initial layer of skin. Unable to see through the blood on Tristan's arm and through the broken metal surrounding it, Torian balked at how his attack was stopped by what appeared to be flesh after chewing through metal.

"Just what are you heathens made out of!?"

Tristan's subdermal implants paid off when the nigh invulnerable material he placed into specific places of his body caught the blade that his shields had been unable to, prompting Tristan to grin in satisfaction even as his back continued to be barraged by bolter fire, "Mithril, Imperial Fist. You should try it."

Thanks to Torian's miscalculation Tristan managed to grab hold of him and smash the Fist away, sending him skidding across the floor outside of the vault. It would hurt, but it was not a strike meant to deal lasting damage, it was meant to grant Tristan some breathing room to face the Dreadnought.

By now only fighting one foe at the moment Tristan was able to turn his full attention onto the Contemptor, returning fire with his remaining ammunition as it stumbled towards him with its awkward legs. Its firepower was not as dangerous as Tempest's Claw given that the chainsword could do what few other weapons could and cut straight through Tristan's defenses, but the sheer volume of fire was enough to begin taxing Tristan's shields given all they had already endured. Once it drew close enough the Dreadnought lunged at Tristan and with one of its thick arms bashed him aside, knocking Tristan through a display case and into a wall of the vault thanks to the sheer power the entombed Astarte possessed.

Now prone on the ground, Tristan struggled to rise up after the concussive strike he just took that far exceeded the might of even Palamedes, his bones very likely broken beneath all his defenses and his body only still functional thanks to said armor. The Contemptor began to pound its fists down at him one after the other as Tristan used all of his suit's remaining power to block them, each hit coming closer to crushing him than the last.

"I AM THE PRAETORIAN OF DORN, AND YOU SHALL NOT DESECRATE THESE SACRED HALLS."

Tristan had no idea what it was talking about, nor did he care as he forced his Power Lance up at it in an attempt to drive it away. Instead the Power Spear clashed off its own shielding that had gone entirely untouched until now, allowing the cyborg monstrosity to continue its dutiful crushing of the intruder upon its resting place.

From a mechatendril Tristan noticed that the Imperial Fist he had fought had since returned and was surrounding his position with what appeared to be a squad of other Imperial Fists. They did not appear to wish to intervene and get in the way of the Dreadnought, so they instead waited for it to finish what it was doing and were prepared to fire at Tristan if he somehow escaped.

In that moment Tristan realized that they still appeared to be unaware of Brechung's presence the way Tristan had overlooked the Dreadnought, and that would prove vital in the next moments.

A hail of crystal shards scattered out from a grenade that had been rolled between the Imperial Fists, smoke erupting from it as well as its toxic payload was unleashed. The five marines that had joined Torian were all struck to some degree by it while their leader barely managed to avoid it out of sheer luck, the grenade's explosion heralding the arrival of a new threat that they did not expect.

"For the Emperor."

Shrouded in the darkness of the vault and the smoke that rose came a shimmer of light, one which twisted and curved around to swiftly cut through the neck of one of the Imperial Fists present. The Fist had been so distracted by the venom coursing through their body that they had never seen the blade twisting towards their neck until it was too late.

Right after the figure bearing this bladed edge to their weapon twisted it so that the blade on its other end would impale another Fist in the very same movement. Where the two-sided spear struck the Astarte their body was replaced by a hideous wound without a single sign of blood, the entire area around where it stabbed disappearing entirely as if it had never been there to begin with.

One of the other Fists fought through the intense pain coursing through them to lift a storm bolter up at their assailant, only to find his now deceased comrade twisted and thrown into him like a ragdoll. His shot struck the corpse now atop him while his target ducked beneath the chainsword of another Fist and bisected them at the waist. This done, he swung the spear around again to smash their upper body at another Fist to disorientate them and then impale the unlucky Astarte before they could properly react. By the time this all had been done mere moments had passed, with the Fist who had a full corpse pushed onto him just managing to remove it before his foe's spear impaled both of his hearts at once, instantly killing him as most his abdomen was removed from existence.

It had all happened so fast that Torian had only just recovered from attempting to dodge the grenade thrown, and by the time he stood tall and ready to fight all his men in the vault were dead except the Dreadnought that had since stopped trying to beat through Tristan's shields as it noticed the battle taking place right behind it. Trying to see through the smoke as it cleared, Torian cursed at the seeming newcomer and set his aim on whoever dared to kill these Astartes here before finishing off the near broken Tristan where he lay.

"Who dares to harm my men?"

The figure seemed to almost shimmer in the dust and flecks of light like his spear had, as if blending into his surroundings even as he just stood there out in the open.

"A name is just another tool, and for that I have bore many: Brechung, Asier Terminus, Didumoi Drakon, Ingo Pech, Armillus Dynat, Exodus, Kel Silonius, Autilon Skorr, Quetzel Carthach, Phocron, Hannes Frantsesa, Horus Lupercal, Perturabo, Roboute Guilliman, Omegon...all means to an end, taken and discarded as needed for a name only possesses the power we give to it."

The one known as 'Brechung' and 'Asier Terminus' scoffed as he thought over the question asked of him, obviously not taking too seriously the chainsword pointed at him and instead reveling in the moment.

"But who am I? That is something I have known since I first came to possess conscious thought."

Stepping out of the shadows and dust emerged a man who towered above Torian clad in the blue and silver baroque armor seen earlier with scales like a reptile. The time Tristan spent fighting Torian had been so the armor could be retrieved and so he could re-assemble the weapon picked apart by someone ages ago.

Until that moment Torian had held hope that they might find victory even after their initial losses, but, as he stared into the helmet of a man history claimed to have died more times than any could count, he felt his resolve shake even if for but a moment.

"I am Alpharius."

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A/N: Happy one year anniversary! Hope you enjoyed and will let me know your thoughts in the comments below, because if this doesn't get you guys discussing things I don't know what could!
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
And thus once again the timer of ''Days since sighting of ''Alpharius/Omegon'' is set to zero. Given how Aesier was constantly away on missions, I reckon he only replaced Brechnung for this mission and perhaps also the Cawl mission, though given the importance of Primaris files it would be possible that he was replacing Khyr instead.
I doubt he really was one of the twins before he put the armour on, but this being Hydra, I guess some of the more potential recruits were given mental imprint of the primarch, which can be unlocked by putting on the armour, making their motto true.

I'm sure they will get a much needed geneseed and who knows author knows what else. To make full use of what they gained they will need a homeworld, more developed then their current hideouts, world like Kimara. And Tristan is getting precious experience needed to be the pointman in this plan.

So in Kimara I reckon that the Jarn's descendants were allowed to keep ruling the world because Fists needed their help in breaching the Fortress City, with official records omitting this fact to protect the pride of Emperor's Pretorians. So part of the reason why there was a clandestine Astartes support for Conmor coup could be to, after thousands of years, to eliminate a bloodline that held an embarrassing secret about the Fists.
 

ATP

Well-known member
One Torian is fighting with Tristan in Imperial Fist fortress,other is helping Verita ?
Either it is coicidence/many Torians could serve Emprah/,or both fights are not in the same time.

No matter what happened,Iron Warriors get plans for flying tanks,superAstartes and many other things.Good for them.
All we need now is Kimara liberation.With new super-duper weapons.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
One Torian is fighting with Tristan in Imperial Fist fortress,other is helping Verita ?
It's quite likely that Kimara Torian is actually Tristan, who used the genetic imprint of the deceased Torian to pass genetic testing as he infiltrated Deathwatch.
 
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Thunderscourge

Emulating Kill em All Tomino in all Games
And thus once again the timer of ''Days since sighting of ''Alpharius/Omegon'' is set to zero. Given how Aesier was constantly away on missions, I reckon he only replaced Brechnung for this mission and perhaps also the Cawl mission, though given the importance of Primaris files it would be possible that he was replacing Khyr instead.

Asier being 'absent' can mean a lot of possibilities since he can be off on a mission separate from the Iron Legion's operations (like his visiting the Drukhari), he could be impersonating someone on a team, he could be lurking in the shadows observing (like he was during the Neophyte trial), or many other such explanations. As for Brechung, I recommend looking at prior sections pertaining to him and seeing if there is anything you notice.

I doubt he really was one of the twins before he put the armour on, but this being Hydra, I guess some of the more potential recruits were given mental imprint of the primarch, which can be unlocked by putting on the armour, making their motto true.

I have no intentions on confirming or denying who he is ultimately, as I would like readers to be able to come to their own conclusions based on the evidence (sometimes contrary evidence) pertaining to his identity.

I'm sure they will get a much needed geneseed and who knows author knows what else. To make full use of what they gained they will need a homeworld, more developed then their current hideouts, world like Kimara. And Tristan is getting precious experience needed to be the pointman in this plan.

If they get Kimara as a home base they will basically be impossible to dislodge from it without a force about equal to a Great Crusade Legion, so hopefully they will be successful in acquiring such a useful world to their needs.

So in Kimara I reckon that the Jarn's descendants were allowed to keep ruling the world because Fists needed their help in breaching the Fortress City, with official records omitting this fact to protect the pride of Emperor's Pretorians. So part of the reason why there was a clandestine Astartes support for Conmor coup could be to, after thousands of years, to eliminate a bloodline that held an embarrassing secret about the Fists.

This is an interesting theory, though of course I cannot really comment because spoilers. Still I like the thought put into this.

One Torian is fighting with Tristan in Imperial Fist fortress,other is helping Verita ?
Either it is coicidence/many Torians could serve Emprah/,or both fights are not in the same time.

No matter what happened,Iron Warriors get plans for flying tanks,superAstartes and many other things.Good for them.
All we need now is Kimara liberation.With new super-duper weapons.

We already know that the Kimara plotline takes place later than the Iron Warrior segments since recordings of certain things from the Iron Warriors activities exist in the Kimaran story. Modern day Kimara is a few decades after the Inwit invasion as a point of reference.

It's quite likely that Kimara Torian is actually Tristan, who used the genetic imprint of the deceased Torian to pass genetic testing as he infiltrated Deathwatch.

I will note that identity theft and subterfuge are not really up Tristan's alley. Any other tall guys we know of who are more suitable for such a thing?
 
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