Storm Brothers: The Rewards Of Freedom

Whether by fate or happen-stance the ill fortune of a tyranid splinter fleet fell upon the agriworld world of Tarsus III. The attack came without warning, only the wailing of astropaths from the terror of the hive mind's shadow as it's precursor. Hundreds of thousands of pods fell through the atmosphere amid thicks clouds of spores, each one laden with vile alien creatures whose only purpose to devour and destroy. In those last moments before the hive mind's shadow completely cut-off astropathic communtication, a conclave of pyskers residing in the schola progenium sent a desperate plea for help; hoping that they were not too late.
Only days before had the frigate ship "Perilous" entered real space from the warp to perform various routine functions. They had entered the system, after confirming that an agriworld of some size was located therein. The world itself was of no importance to them or the imperium at large; just one of many worlds supplying neccesary foodstuffs to the imperial warmachine. To the Storm Brothers chapter it possessed a far more important resource, it's population. For the migrating astartes chapter there were two things they were always in short supply of; equipment and a labor force. The chapter was a nearly decimated force; fewer than three hundred marines at current date and only enough resources to keep themselves functioning on a day to day basis. This resulted in a great need for chapters serfs and laborers as well as any and all available equipment.
When in their travels through space they came in passing by a world of considerable population, protocol was to land and offer the masses a new life in space among the astartes chapter. The offers were in general a chance to live in wealth and the promise of adventure, a slightly gilded truth. These endeavors were particularly successful on worlds such hiveworlds and argiworlds were the majority of the population lived dull unfulfilling lives on farms or in factories. Often too, did they find potential candidates for future space marines.
Capt. Tylerion now planned to follow that same routine on this world in the Tarsus system, but as they neared the planet it became all to aware to him that the plan was now defunct and it was time to re-evaluate the situation. "Ship's Captain prepare to re-enter the warp, I will not risk this ship to the tyranid taint. Let the guard die for this world if the wish." said the Captain in a grave tone. The enmity for the tyranid was well evident in the Young captain's voice, a common sentiment of the chapter towards their most hated enemy. The Comm's man was hesistant to speak in the tense silence, "My Lord, there is a broadcast message being sent from the planet" spoke up the serf in a cracked voice. "A plea for deliverance no doubt. Relay it as far as possible, Someone should hear it eventually." If their was any empathy in Tylerion's words there was no indication. The fearful serf spoke up again, "my lord, it seems to become from a schola of some sort". From elsewhere on the bridge another voice spoke out," He is correct my lord a schola progenium of considerable size, visuals show that it is nearly intact and not heavily occupied by the xenos." Tylerion rubbed his chin, considering the pontential prospects and the threat at large. " Bring the ship into orbit over the schola, and prepare my Thunderhawk! If there is something to be had here, I will have it!" ordered the Astartes Captain over the bridge.
In the ship's bay there was a frenzy of activity as serfs and tech adepts ran about preparing the dropship for the deployment. Two squads of Astartes sat in the thunderhawk waiting for Captain Tylerion to arrive. Squads Marik and Hector, the two tactical squads of first company,as well as the Techmarine Larcen. Twenty two space marines would enter the tyranid infested planet, search the schola for anything of worth, then leave the planet as rapidly as possible. What they would find no one could be sure, but the Captain's intuition was thrice proven and undoubted by his subordinates. The Captain entered through the rear hatch, his gauntlet glowed in the dim light and shone off his reliquiary power glaive. The hatch closed behind him, and he took his place at the ornate seat at the front. He rested his hand on it's arm and felt the worn symbol of a white winged sword on a dark green shield , "Well, they didn't need it anymore" he chuckled to himself. There was a jerking motion as the dropship lifted of the ground and flew out the bay doors. There was the usual compressed feeling of moving through the vacuum of space as they raced toward the atmosphere. The two sergeants grinned at each other as the planet's pull on the ship increased,"Same old, Same old" said Marik. The Thunderhawk glowed red as it shot through the atmosphere hurtling toward the planet.The schola grew larger in the pict screens as they neared and minutes later it landed on the shuttle pad. The strike force exited the dropship and the thunderhawk returned to the battlecruiser awaiting the order to retrieve them.
The sky was a cloudy red, veins of purple and black streaked across it; making it appear infected and sickly. Depsite the level of activity on the planet it was disturbingly quiet were the marines stood. They were standing on the landing pad adjacent to the schola, Capt. Tylerion and the techmarine Larcen quietly discussed the best route to it. " I believe that the tunnel is still in satisfactory condition to provide us a way to the schola. Now whether I want to hazard a guess what lies in those tunnels is another matter entirely." laughed the techmarine, pushing his brown hair away from his eyes. Tylerion nodded, he agreed that there were obvious dangers in venturing through a place like that with 'nids running around on the planet. On the other hand, the treasure trove of technology that more than likely lay in there would be worth the risk." We'll take the tunnel, but find us an alternative path just in case it" ordered Tylerion as he left to brief his squads.
"The plan is to follow the tunnel back to schola, find and search the high values areas, and comeback the way we came. Simple enough?" asked the captain, his men nodding in reply. "Squad Marik will take the front, Hector's will cover the rear. keep this fast and quiet, we do this right and we'll get ourselves some down time out of this" said Tylerion garnering a cheer from his men.
The squad filed into the tunnel, it was wide enough to accomodate three marines side by side. Tylerion walked beside Marik, keeping pace with the eager sergeant. Marik was still fairly new to the chapter having only earned his power armor six years ago, but he was charismatic in his own way and respected by his peers. It was an obvious choice to promote him and his following successes had earned him the right to join the first company. "You seem unusually anxious today Marik, has the thought of a world infested by our great enemy riled you?" asked the captain in his usual jovial tone. "The thought of them all around me; the smell, invisible except for their taint" growled the sergeant clinching his powerfist, "It's like a fraking hulk". Inside the tunnel the marines could here the faint sound of dripping liquid from leaking pipes and the soft buzzing of the electric lights overhead. beyond that only the metallic echoing of their steps against the ground. Here and there the lights had burned out and the shadows seemed to reach out, as if to grab some unnamed prey. This was a feeling that the Storm Brothers of first company had grown quite familiar with. It was the nature of the destitute chapter to search and explore the vessels found adrift in space and recover as much valuable resources as possible. Often was the case that these vessels were occupied; not by their original owners, but by fowl aliens like orks or worse the tyranid beast known as genestealers. Every marine in the chapter had fought these monsters at least once before, but for the marines of first company "The Pathfinders" it was their responsibility to go in first securing the beach head. Now as they marched through the dark tunnel they scanned the shadows and listened the echoes watching for their great enemy to show up. Sgt. Marik saw it first, just a shadow within the shadows and heard the clicking of chitinous claws against the plastisteel wall.
From The shadows leapt the genestealer. it's four clawed arms reached out to eviscerate the marine sergeant. The chatter of bolter fire resounded through the tunnel and the tyranid was torn apart by the hail of fire. Marik sighed as he looked down at the dead alien, then looked back into the darkness. The sound of many charging feet echoed from the shadows and in the half-light of the dim tunnel Marik saw the glistening carapace of countless more genestealers charging toward the astartes group. "Execution formation now!" yelled Marik, his squad filed into two ranks; the first kneeling to fire while the second fired over their shoulder. behind them Hector's squad had split into to groups, one covering the rear while the other waited to support the front. The genestealers were agile killers, charging shoulder to shoulder while others climbed along the ceiling and the walls. This worked to the advantage of the of the marines, the tyranids were bunched so close that they couldn't miss. There were so many though that for every one that fell two more replaced it. The marines kept up a steady stream of fire, those armed with flamers covered them from anything that did get close. "We're holding them now, but this won't last for long" thought Tylerion, scanning the tunnel for a way out. About fifty metres forward he spotted a fuel line running across the ceiling. Sgt. Hector followed his gaze and quickly understood the captain's train of thought. hector ordered his multimelta bearer to him and pointed to the pipe, "Right there" instructed the sergeant. The marine brought up the heavy weapon; targeted the pipeline and fired. The air burned as a ball of super-heated copper shot from the barrel and punched through the pipeline and gouging a deep rent in the ceiling. The pipeline's casing turned bright red before igniting the fuel, and exploded over the genestealer's heads; raining burning prometium on the tyranid horde. The pipeline continued to combust and exploded destroying the tunnel ahead of them.
As the dust settled, Tylerion surveyed their surroundings; they were nearly there. They were less than a half a mile away from the main schola building, but now they would have to travel atop the tunnel. In the open a larger variety of the tyranid menace post a threat to them. The techmarine larcen walked beside Tylerion as they headed to the schola, "Even with the delay from the 'nids we're still on schedule" said larcen in his usual chloeric tone."Well' providing they don't intrude much further I doubt that the mission will be affected. Then again, these damn 'nids show up everywhere. I doubt that this will be the last we see of them. "Pray to Emperor in one hand I guess" joked Tylerion, "piss in the other, then see which fills up first" thought the Captain, keep it to himself.
They arrived at the schola shortly later, looking at it Larcen was impressed at how well it had weathered the invasion. "Hopefully" he thought to himself, "so had the inside". Relatively little of the schola had been heavily damaged, the exterior walls and buildings had taken the brunt of the tyranid attack. Breaking in through a maintenance door, they made their way into the building. Squad Hector accompained by Larcen headed down the east wing, while Tylerion and squad Marik took the west wing. "Remember, in thirty minutes report in what you've found" said Tylerion to Hector as they left. Tylerion turned and with the squad formed around him they made their way west. This schola was a training area for imperial storm troopers and the Adeptus Sororitas; the sisters of battle. The amount of battle damage to the inside of the walls suggested that the guardsmen in training had perished defending the place, "it's good for us they did" Thought Tylerion. Of the sisters, he didn't have any other ideas except that the had fought and died alongside the guards cadets. Weapons if there were any here had likely already been taken or destroyed to prevent their malicious use. Most likely, their best find would be comm's and cogicator equipment or data of some usefulness. Anything else would be considered providence, but their was always a chance; Tylerion would again rely on his luck to aid him here. ahead of him Marik called the squad to a halt, walking forward he came to a severely damaged doorway, probably barricaded on the otherside if not booby trapped. Marik searched the door, it was covered in deep claw marks as well as pitted by an acid or solvent. On the floor around the door were small piles of tyranid flesh and gore, and ammo casings lay strewn everywhere. There might still be survivors on the other side, if so then they could provide them with the locations of the tech the Tylerion wanted. Either way, they wouldn't know until they crossed the portal."Captain, looks clean. I almost certain though that it's barricaded, we're probably better of blowing the door" said Marik as he walked back to the group. "If that's the case, then do it Marik. We have no time to waste, the 'nids we be on our trail soon" ordered Tylerion looking over his shoulder. The squad covered the door as the selected marine moved forward and set the krak grenade onto the door. The marine ran back, taking cover as the krak grenade blew the door off the wall and sent it crashing to the ground. A cloud of dust filled the air and the marines moved along the wall to the breached doorway. Marik held up his hand, and slowing peaked into the room; squinting to see through the dusty air.
On the ground were two dead storm troopers lying behind a makeshift fighting position. Marik walked in, moving to the corpses; scanning the room as he crossed it. Their were no signs of a tyranid attack, or any other kind for that matter. Standing over the dead guardsmen Marik noticed their lasguns, each had some kind of burnt residue on the barrel tips. " That doesn't smell like 'nid meat" thought Marik as he began to realize what had happened. He turned the head of one to see a good third of the guardmen's face disintegrated with that same residue around the wound. "Only in death..." whispered the sergeant. Behind the guardsmen was a smaller wooden door that connected to a short hallway. "Captain" said Marik drawing the captain to where he stood. Shortly past the hallway began a thin stream of blood that ran to the last door on the right side of the hall. Tylerion nodded, the two crept down the hall; moving as quietly as they could in their heavy power armour. Two doors away they could hear the soft sound of several people breathing and one person walking around the room. They moved closer to the door until a creaking board gave away their presence. The breathing became quicker and the sound of movement grew louder, Tylerion motioned for Marik to stop and drew his pistol. "In the name of the Immortal Emperor make your presence known!" yelled Tylerion into the room. A whispered chatter issued from the room, Tylerion cocked his head as he listened to the voices. They didn't sound like guardsmen, they sounded like "children?" muttered the captain to himself. " It sounded like sqaubbling children, but with a tone that rang of an adolescent; a teenager. It reminded Tylerion of Serf Master Hodgins' two daughter's fighting at the last coronation. "Wait daughters... Holy Emperor on the throne!" thought Tylerion, nearly forgetting the danger that lay around them. A plan was beginning to form, he motioned for Marik to relax his guard.
"In the name of the most divine father, make way for the angels of death; The Adeptus Astartes!" orated Tylerion as he entered the room, using all the dramatic flair he could muster. Inside the room the captain was awestruck as he saw the two dozen neophyte sororitas recoil at his large form. It was clear to him that these girls were still green in their training. Their armour was battered and old (most likely training suits) and they held their bolters as though they had never used one before today. Tylerion grinned, this was better than he could've hoped for, he had to contact the chapter master! "Greetings. I am Tylerion, first Captain of the Storm Brothers space marine chapter. We have come here to find what still lay within these walls, who among you leads here?" asked Tylerion, using all his charm. The girls looked nervously at each other until one stepped forward, "Sister Superior Helena is the the head mistress here" said the girl. "And you have not seen her in some time?" asked Tylerion, reading the expressions on their faces. They nodded, all averting their eyes except for the one who spoke to him. "What is your name neophyte?" said Tylerion to the auburn haired girl who still looked at him. "Alicia" she said confidently to the astartes captain, looking him directly in the eyes. "Alicia, my sergeant Marik will keep watch over you and your sisters while I search for your mistress" said Tylerion to the young sororitas. Marik leaned against the wall as Tylerion left the room, and proceed to slowly drink from a hip flask.
" Yes my lord. Two dozen at count, all of them as green as an aspirant." reported Tylerion to the Chapter Master, Minthras Ra. " I believe I can convince them to join us, the only thing in our way is the head mistress if she is even alive", a wide grin spread across Tylerion's face. " Yes my lord, I will see that it is done", answered Tylerion as the comms broke off. He turned around heading back to where the sororitas were held up, the mission had changed and he had to modify his plans. The cluster of sisters looked to the doorway as Tylerion entered in again. Silently, he looked at them before he spoke,
"We do not have much time left, the tyranids are drawing closer and I have been unable to locate your mistress" said Tylerion watching for their reactions. The sisters looked nervously around, except the auburn haired Alicia who seemed to question the captain. "are you saying we should leave?"asked Alicia. "I'm suggesting that it is unwise to remain here, neophyte" answered Tylerion with pause." Where would we go? The whole planet is infested" asked Alicia. "We can't leave, the mistress...it's our duty as sororitas to stay!" yelled one of the girls in the group. "The mistress isn't here and we are not sisters; we're press-ganged orphans!" snapped Alicia, causing the cluster of girls to recoil. "Then what keep's you here? Why not join us?" asked Tylerion. "And what? live as concubines? I would take my life first" shot back Alicia, Tylerion could see the anger burning in her eyes. "As warriors" said Tylerion calmly, watching as the girl stammered taken a back. " we are not astartes, we are mortals." said Alicia, confused at what the captain was suggesting. "Do you not hold a boltgun, the Emporer's most holy weapon? Are you not clad in powered armour? I see no difference between you and I, other than that you are still the pauper you were before now. Myself, my men, and even the chapter's serfs live lives of adventure, we visit distant worlds across the imperium in our travels. Our coffers run over and we see things lost since the Emporer walked among men, nothing can compare to the abundance we have" exclaimed Tylerion. The group was enamored as they stared at the finery of his armour and heard his honeyed words. This was the same speech used to recruit serfs and aspirants on every world they visited . The effect was not lost on these hive orphans, even the stubborn Alicia was beginning to crack. It was quiet, then from outside a series of explosion shook the building, "Time is up" said Tylerion, looking at the frightened girls. "it is" agreed Alicia, "Come on, we're getting out of the fraking deathtrap". The girls jumped to their feet folowing Alicia and the astartes down the hallway. The group ran to the hall, running over mounds of debris and the dead to where Larcen and the other team waited. Along the way Alicia stopped and grabbing an ornate pistol covered with gore, pocketing she continued on. "Well at least we know where the mistress went" she thought glancing at the dismembered hand that had held it, "She was too tight arsed for her own good anyway".
"Just in time, Captain" smirked larcen as the jogged down the hall. Together they ran toward the roof, where the Thunderhawk circled above. Standing on the roof they watched as a numberless tide of Tyranids were surrounding the base of the building, swarming inside through every hole and crack in the walls. Larcen voxed the Thunderhawk's pilot, seconds later it came around opening it's belly hatch, from which a loading platform emerged and the group embarked. The sisters watched as the marines who had been with the techmarine set down several large sacks filled to the brim. "I see you managed to out due me for once Captain" laughed Larcen as he nodded to the sisters. "Actually, they're the ones who made out the best today" said Tylerion with his usual smirking expression. "I've gone from being a pauper to a serf, what have I gained from any of this? asked Alicia angrily. "Your freedom, Alicia" replied Tylerion with a grin," Today you found the greatest treasure of all'. The thundehawk soared into the sky and sped through the atmosphere into space. Tylerion looked one last time at Tarsus III as the tryanid invasion slowly consumed the planet's surface, "The greatest treasures of all Alicia, the Rewards of Freedom".