By Marc Farrimond

Chapter One.

The sky was ashen with the smoke of the countless fires that gorged the city. The death that had rained for so many days from high above had all but ceased now, leaving a frightened populace trembling behind ruined doors. All knew that the last ditch attempts to get a message for help through, must have failed. Why else would the innocent people of Vulcan’s Forge be left at the tender mercies of the foul minions of Chaos?

Soon the drop would begin and the warriors of the dark gods would stalk the streets, reeking havoc and destruction with every single step. No man, woman or child was safe for Chaos knows nothing of age or gender, only destruction, corruption and despair. These malingering creatures where once human. In fact the galaxies greatest warriors partly made up the numbers of the heavily booted creatures that would all too soon be claiming yet another world in the name of unspeakable gods.

Dressed all in black and showing no signs of remorse or guilt for their actions. The Chaos Marines would advance as one and cut down mercilessly and without compassion. The last vestiges of humanity dredged from soul starved shells countless years ago.

A huge explosion rocked at the very centre of Karnak the capital of Vulcan’s Forge. A shock wave resounded over the area, knocking buildings of great antiquity to the floor as if they were made from a child’s building blocks.

And of help no sign.

The Astropaths had managed to get the message out and hopefully alert the Marines whose monastery was in the system, but as the warp beacon sent the message through the vast and timeless gulf of space, the entire building was destroyed from orbit by the foul Chaos overlords and their lackey’s.

Home to some three billion souls and one of the most industrial of all the planets in the sectorum, Vulcan’s Forge was to make a final last stand alone. Even at best, if the Marines of the Emperors Knights did get the message it would take weeks for them to cross the vastness of space to the small rock. Travel through the warp was completely impossible this past few days and the warp storms seemed to gather in strength, as if to bolster the forces of Chaos in high orbit around the planet.

The guns of the planetary defence forces had fought back hard, but to little cost! The hundreds of ships in orbit shrugged off the defence lasers as if they were some tiresome insect on the back of a huge beast. Only a few of the thunderous guns spoke now and even so their voices seemed quite and tempered as if speaking for too long, or raising ones voice to be heard in a crowded bar.

Ishtarn and his sister sat huggled underneath what was once their dinning area. All around them flames and moans filled the night air and the acrid stench of burnt flesh wafted over the city like some love forlorn lover looking for a mate, hugging the very contours of the ground. Ishtarn was barely old enough to shave, let alone hold his fathers las-gun, but now his parents were dead, and he knew he must protect his sister with his very life, even if that meant killing her himself to avoid the tender mercies of the Chaos Marines.

Cava looked up at her brother, her delicate face framed by a mop of long red curls that surrounded deep blue eyes. All the filth in the galaxy couldn’t hide the fact that she was a very beautiful young woman and that one day she would grow to be the object of most men’s desires. Now she wondered if she would ever see her fourteenth birthday. The tears welled up once more, and began to cascade down her soft skin over her cheeks, leaving streaks of clean flesh as they rolled on by. She tugged gently at the ripped jacket her brother had draped over them both.

"Ish we are going to be okay aren’t we?" Cava’s voice was soft and almost melodic as she spoke, the words seeming to take on a life of their own. She sighed and moved a little closer to her big brother. At any other time they would never be so physically close and would rather be fighting or avoiding each other. But like most things in war, the youngsters had changed and changed dramatically!

Ishtarn looked down at his sisters tear streaked face and with the back of his fingertips he gently drew her long red hair away from her matted forehead and smiled.

"Of course we will. We will be just fine. Help will come any time now. You can bet on that. The Emperor knows we could use some."

Ishtarn began to cough violently as the smoke from the nearby burning buildings began to filter into his already sore lungs. The young man tried to breathe through his nose and block out the acrid taste in his mouth but found it extremely hard to do so and ended up wheezing like an old man.

Under ordinary circumstances, Ishtarn would be in the peak of health and his large muscular frame would make him stand out above the rest of his friends. But malnutrition and fatigue had done their work and the young man was rapidly loosing weight, partly from whatever food he could scrounge or dig up he gave the majority of to his sister.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the area that sheltered the two young people and sent glass and debris raining down as if the heavens had opened. Acting out of instinct Ishtarn covered Cava with his own body taking the force of the blast himself. The wind seemed to leave his lungs and be replaced with searing heat as the shockwave of the blast washed over them. For long seconds Ish could hardly bring himself to breath as the air was like a living flame all around them.

Cava began to shake uncontrollably as the blast wave dissipated away. The force of the blast had knocked the wind from her also and she was on the very verge of passing out. Weeks of living on scraps and no fresh water had left her vulnerable to infection, a thing that her tired young body would have great difficulty in fighting off.

Ish looked to the source of the blast, and as the thick smoke began to clear he could just make out large dark shapes, almost like crustaceans in the stance, lumbering slowly through the blast area. Black carapaces where shiloeted by the flames around them, and every few seconds one of the beasts would be briefly illuminated as it opened fire, filling the air with the sound of metallic casings dropping to the ground as it shot its Bolter at any signs of movement. Like something out of a madman’s day dream the Chaos Marines slowly advanced towards the youngsters.

Ish placed his grubby hand over Cava’s mouth to stifle the young girls fear, beneath he could feel her teeth chatter from fear. Feeling the weight of the small laser in his other hand, Ish slowly raised his arm and rested it on his knee for stability. His father had taught him to shoot when he was young and he was quite a good shot, but unlike many of his friends who would run with the many gangs on Vulcans Forge, Ish was the artistic type at heart and guns and violence where as frightening to him as the advancing warriors of the dark gods. While his friends spent hours running with gangs and learning arts of war, Ishtarn studied from whatever books he could get his hands on. His father encouraged him and presented him with illuminated texts from around the Imperium whenever he was home. But also his father knew that not only did the mind require excercise, the body craved it also if it was to grow and prosper. Ishtarn learned gymnastics and over the space of ten years became very apt at leaping and rolling, so much so that he was rumoured by some who knew little of his background to be from a circus stock and not the son of an Imperial Guard veteran.

Long since his father had taught him to relax and let the gun be an extension of his own body, let the weapon speak for itself and follow the gun and he wouldn’t go far wrong. Ish now held the weapon that had saved both his and Cava’s life as their father had shot a large hulk of a Chaos Marine with it, finding a small chink in the neck plate of the armour and killing the monstrosity, but the Marine had spoke at the same time and its weapon sent the brave man to his demise, his soul assured a resting place among the honoured dead along side the Emperor. Ish had taken the gun from his fathers still warm hand, vowing never to let his fathers death be a waste and to honour his family name and make it the scourge of Chaos.

A few metres away the squad of Chaos Marines still advanced, only to stop for a few heart stopping seconds and then move off in the direction of more sparks of gunfire. Ish let his breath out slowly and sighed gently. For the moment they were safe again. He gave silent thanks to his father and the Emperor.

"Cava. We have got to find somewhere else. We can’t stay here or we will surely die! Those foul bastards will track us down and we wont stand a chance. We have to make it to other survivors."

Cava just sat hunched and shaking silently. Her silence worried Ish as he had heard of tales of people becoming withdrawn into their own private world when harm and fear took a hold of them, sometimes never to return. Ish gently shook his sister as if to wake her from a snooze and was shocked when she launched herself straight up and left the floor by a few feet. Cava stood erect shivering, not from the cold but from a surge of adrenaline that coursed her young lithe body. Ish noticed that beneath her short cut skirt, her legs seemed like springs that had been wound too tight, highly coiled and ready to explode.

Ish took Cava by the hand and together the two of them made their way through the ruins of their hometown looking for aid.

After travelling for an hour or so the sounds of gun fire and screams of the dying had all but died away and the pair found themselves in a small arboretum that backed onto a shrine to the Emperor. Ish found it astonishing that even after the heavy pounding that the planet had received this holy place should be relatively intact. The sweet scent of the Morningstar’s filled the air and even over the smoke Ish could make them out clearly, just why these beautiful flowers had stayed in bloom despite everything must have been the will of the Emperor himself. The shrine was slightly damaged with a few cracks running alongside the length of the wall facing them, but that seemed to be the extent of the real damage, stained glass images of the Emperor and the deeds of his very long life still shinned with an inner glow. Images of the fight against Horus, the mighty Primarch who was once the Emperors most trusted friend, ‘til he succumbed to the dark gods will. Mighty Space Marines crushed Ork skulls underfoot and graceful Eldar tried to dance away from the deadly fire of the Marines guns only to be cut down, still showing a beauty even in death.

At the far end of the arboretum the youngsters found a small fruit bearing tree. The Moondew was a delicacy and was often used in rituals to the Emperor and many of the thousands of shrines that dotted the Imperium had Moondew trees growing near them to give access to a tithe for the man god. Ishtarn reached up and with trembling hands picked one of the succulent fruits and with a gentle twist pulled it free of the tree.

"Wait Ish! We cant take food from the Emperor without leaving something in return!" Cava had both fear and respect in her young voice as she spoke and Ish nodded his head, his hair bobbing around his face.

Ish searched his pockets for something that they could offer as a tithe in return for the fruit, but they were empty. Cava did the same and came up with nothing, then bringing her arms to her neck she removed a small golden locket from around her throat and handed it to her brother with a gentle sigh. Just before their mother had died a few weeks ago she had placed the locket around the tender neck of her young daughter as if she knew what fate would befall her. She told Cava that the Emperor would watch over her and her brother always and that she would be safe in his arms. The locket was ornate with a tiny pictogram of the Emperor on the front, depicting him as he rose above mankind to take his place as a man god, a small switch opened the locket and when the clasp was pushed a tiny holo-pic of Cava, Ish, and their parents gently hovered inside. The holo-pic had been taken last year and under much better times. The family seemed so alien to the young girl now as she pressed the clasp and took a long look at the tiny hovering image. Faces seemed distance memories as they smiled warmly from the past. Cava looked like another person with her face and clothes clean instead of weeks of grime.

Ish looked at his sister as if to protest her actions but knew in his heart that she was doing the right thing. The young girl placed the open locket around one of the lower branches of the small tree and stepped back slowly, her face awash with emotion.

"Thanks be to thee." She said in a loud clear voice which seemed an age older than her tender years.

Ish smiled at his sister and under his breath repeated the litany himself. Silently offering a prayer for salvation from this predicament.

A few moments later the small tree was bare save for a tiny pendant that seemed to glint with a life of its own.

Ish and Cava felt better than they had in days as they finished eating. They saved some of the fruit for later but for now they rested warm and safe under an effigy of the Emperor holding a tiny globe in one hand which represented Terra the birthplace of humanity. They had managed to find a small brook at the back of the arboretum and although the water had a bitter taste it was free from pollution and refreshed them. For a long time neither of them spoke, both wrapped up in thoughts of a personal nature. Fatigue overcame them both and they soon were in a deep sleep.

Just how long they had been sheltering there Ish didn't know but when he awoke it was very dark. The smoke filled sky had turned as black as the creatures souls who had caused the damage and a heavy storm was in the air. Ish looked around his tired eyes adjusting to the gloom of the moonless sky. The storm was going to be a bad one but with luck it would wash away some of the filth that covered the youngsters and perhaps even the foul creatures!

Ish sensed something approach long before he felt the ground begin to shake. He quickly awoke his sister, placing a hand over her lips as if to silence her. The ground around them began to shake, gently at first then more vigorously as something large approached. Ish tensed as for long moments nothing happened, then without warning a large hulking machine came into view through the gloom of the night air.

The machine was like the Chaos Marines in shape and design but was much larger and was covered in red and brass. Walking on two legs the machine was a mockery of a lifeform as it strode into view making Ish feel sick to his stomach. Strange icons sparkled on its metallic hide and lethal looking weapons raised and fell with each step the monster took, and hydraulics wheezed under the weight of the beast a long lethal looking claw extended in a parody of a human arm from the top of the machine and could easily slice the pair of them in two without any effort at all.

Ish knew that this was a Dreadnought and that it was only a matter of moments before its internal sensors picked them up and relayed the message back to Chaos Marine cocooned inside this metal sarcophagus. A Dreadnought contained the remains of a Marine (Chaos or otherwise) who had all but died and his body was entombed in one of these ancient machines so he could live on and serve his chapter. Most of the Dreadnoughts where ancient in design and had been around for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years.

The hulking machine came to a standstill and without thinking Ish rushed headlong at the Dreadnought. He knew that sensors would report their presence in the arboretum to the Marine inside, but he also had learned from his father that Dreadnoughts where slow to respond as the impulses from sensors to Marine took time, not much time but enough for a foolish act.

Ishtarn ran at full tilt to the large machine which seemed to sense his presence. Before the beast could bring its weapons to bear on the young man he was sailing through the air, his body tucked into a summersault wrought from years of gymnastic training. With a dull thud he landed on the Heavy Bolter that acted as the left arm for the Dreadnought and with a push upwards he was on its back. The huge arm reacted instantly trying to grab for the youngster but he was too lithe for it and was soon riding on its back under the arc of the arm and away from any of its weapons.

A large bundle of pipes and tubes littered the back of the Dreadnought supplying its various functions just as arteries carry life giving fluids around the human body. Ish held on for dear life as the Dreadnought began to rock back and fore trying to knock him from his perch. It wasn't easy to do but he managed to wrap his foot in-between some of the cables, and he felt as if his body was going to snap in two as the machine rocked around. Like a tick dug in to a war-horse Ish refused to budge an inch. Ishtarn brought the small las pistol up from his waist and began to fire it into the bundles of piping that ran along the machine. The air around him was filled with dark smoke and an acrid stench as the pipes bubbled under the intense heat of the laser blasts. The Dreadnought began to make a high pitch whining as if it where a small animal being scaled by hot liquid, and the sound was hellish sending fear through Ishtarns very soul, but his mind was set on revenge and the memory of his dead parents and friends spurned him on.

A large orange pipe came into view as the smoke around the area he had shot at cleared slightly. Placing the nose of the pistol against the pipe Ishtarn depressed the trigger on the pistol and kept his finger down hard. The laser spoke and a steady stream of bright blue light lit up the darkened night. Blast after blast shot down into the pipe and soon a dark liquid began to weep gently at first then began to pour like a ruptured artery a foul stench erupted from the machine as the viscous fluid splattered over Ishtarn covering his face and making him gag. For a brief instant Ish thought he would bring back the Moondew he had eaten so recently, but fighting down the repulsion he carried on with the task at hand . The Dreadnought raised its Heavy Bolter and let loose a volley of hot lead into the air, Ish feared for Cava but had to place her out of his mind for the moment. The long menacing arm of the Dreadnought thrashed wildly as the beast lumbered trying in vain to reach an itch it couldn’t scratch. Backing up the machine tried to ram its body into the wall of the Reqluisuim that lined the arboretum and that way hoping to squash the intruder like an insect. But Ish was sheltered from the wall by the huge spiked shoulders of the Dreadnought and all the machine did was cause more damage to itself.

Without warning the machine lurched forward and did something that it seemed impossible to do. The whole of the torso of the Dreadnought arched back then quickly forwards and tossed Ish through the air like a rag doll.

The las pistol dropped to the floor as the young man flew across the arboretum, curling his body into a tuck and landing in a roll. Even the years of training didn't soften the impact that Ish felt as he hit the floor. He tried hard to regain his senses and roll out of the way but the machine was too fast for him and the Heavy Bolter lit up the night sky. Ishtarn saw a blinding white light and for an instant he could hear his father telling him that it was okay he could soon rest.

The Heavy Bolter sang like a demon, its muzzle spitting hot fire as it spoke.

The light grew brighter and Ishtarn knew he was about to die. He wished that he could have taken just one of the foul Chaos creatures with him and he hoped that Cava would forgive him for leaving her all alone. Funny death didn't seem that frightening to him right now, in fact it seemed a welcome relief. He would see his parents and friends again and soon Cava would no doubt join him. He smiled as the bolts began to strike the ground towards him.

The light grew brighter.

Then the Dreadnought exploded.

Standing behind the ruined machine was a lithe looking creature dressed in some strange alien garb, from the design of its armour it looked as if it was female and she was holding a weapon that was almost as long as she was tall. And tall she was well over two meters in height. The weapon was still smoking as the woman looked down at Ishtarn from behind a strange mask of alien design. She offered a long slender arm to the young man and helped him up.

Cava rushed over to Ishtarns side and her face was filled with joy and despair at the same time.

The creature removed its hand from Ishtarns and removed the strange mask. Long flowing hair of almost pure silver seemed to cascade like a waterfall from underneath the mask as it came away and draped across the shoulders of the creature, but it wasn't till Ish saw the face that he thought he had died and gone to the afterlife.

The woman was a vision of pure beauty. Her face both thin and delicate, yet strong and hardened at the same time. Her strong cheekbones seemed as if chiselled by some expert artisan of old and gave her the look of an angel. Deep green eyes seemed to stare directly into his very soul and her lips were ruby and moist, inviting and speaking of temptations that he could hardly comprehend. But it was only when Ishtarn saw the beautiful woman’s tapered and pointed ears did he realise just what she was.