All right, one more post before we head out!
Yes, it is yet another jetbike. :-)
Here is the story of the army. Not as long as originally planned, but it still gives you the gist of what is going on. When you see the army board, it will really tie in!
The Screams of Anara V
The screams have
never ceased since the day they came.
They arrived, tearing
through the very fabric of the universe itself.
The sounds which I heard echo constantly in my tortured mind. The tragic sounds that heralded our
destruction.
That day had been
much like any other. I had joined my
fellow courtiers at the Basilica Canus early, and we eagerly awaited the
entertainment which would be provided in the Arena.
The usual prisoner
executions held little interest for me, as all too many of the condemned groveled
and begged for mercy. After all, we had
no need for rebellious slaves. My old friend
Gratus had a particular love for this, however, and he took every opportunity
to laugh and jeer at these dregs of society.
He had even sent many of his own personal slaves to the Arena for his
own satisfaction. So, I joined him, even
though I would not waste my own slaves in this manner, as I found them far too
useful. He would have been upset if we
all did not enjoy it as much as he.
Once the executions
had run their course and the various implements of their demise had been cleared
away, the Great Hunts began. The floor
of the Arena had been temporarily transformed into the primordial forests which
covered nearly all our world, so long ago.
Far before the Emperor, long may he rule.
My own senses were
focused as into these ‘forests’ would be released the Mutants and the
Heretics. These infections on our own
purity would soon be hunted down by the Canines, the dire beasts that once
stalked every corner of Anara. Nothing
thrilled me more than to see the symbols of our own heritage search out these
abominations, cleansing our world in the process. The beasts relied not only on keen eyes and
sense of smell, but a capacity to detect fear.
I saw these Heretics
attempt to hide themselves, believing that they could be safe in their refuge
for a time. To the Canines, no refuge
was safe, no manner of camouflage offered reprieve. I observed the beasts close in on the
misguided fools, as they could not hide their fear. It drew the Canines ever closer, until that
final, wonderful moment of the kill. The
pack howled their satisfaction as well. Is
it any wonder that these tremendous killing machines are trained by our own
warriors as warbeasts?
The subsequent races
did not have the same appeal to me as this cleansing of the depraved and
unworthy in our society. I felt that
merely watching the great creatures chase each other around the Hippodrome was
tedious at best. What good did this
do? I watched the crowds roar and groan
as ‘favorite’ Canines fell to their own kind, tearing each other apart in a
mass of fur and blood, while others raced ahead to the finishing post.
Tantul and Boleus
lost a great deal of coin and credits on this particular occasion. They were both working on the explanations
for their lighter financial accounts to their spouses when the skies tore open.
From these rifts
emerged what looked like great flocks of birds.
At first, the throngs gathered in the Basilica thought that it was a new
form of entertainment, and their initial shock was replaced by cheers of
approval.
These ‘birds’
gathered into larger and larger groups, some of them large enough to blot out
the suns.
When the first beams
of destruction screamed forth from the larger craft, rocking the entire
stadium, the mood of the crowd instantly turned to panic. Smoke and fire could be seen throughout the
city. The terrible energy cut through
ceramite and plasticrete alike with little issue. We saw countless thousands of citizens
outside the stadium scurry in a panic before the onslaught.
The larger groups of
flying objects started to split off into smaller groups, plunging down towards
the street levels. We could see them
more clearly now. They looked like
predatory birds, with angled wings. Vast
numbers of those fleeing were cut down by strange blades protruding from these
wings. In just a few terrible moments,
these blades were stained with the blood and gore of slave and citizen alike. The screams of the fallen were now mingling
with the high pitched screech of the engines and the awful scream of the energy
beams.
Gratus screamed, “What
sort of demons appear from the skies?” Tantul
cowered in fear near one of the exit ramps.
It was shocking to see the tortured expressions on their faces, not so
unlike those of the slaves Gratus had sent to the slaughter.
My thoughts shifted
to my own family. Had the invaders
reached my villa? While it lay far from
the Basilica Canus, I knew instinctively that I must reach them. Just as I ran from the Hippodrome, the great
canines, no longer under the control of the now vanished gamekeepers, leaped
into the mass of terrorized citizens.
They had little trouble sensing the fear and panic of the throng, and
their great jaws watered in anticipation.
Gratus managed to
make it to the streets with me, but Tantul had been overcome by one of the
rampaging beasts. Together we pushed and
shoved our way to a transport, which was frantically attempting to take
off. There were several slaves before
us, which were dispatched by a few guards.
I was pulled aboard, but Gratus, being much heavier than me, could not
be brought on board.
The transport sped
off, as far from the horrid scene of destruction as possible. As fortune would have it, it was in the
direction of my villa. As we moved over
the city, more of the strange rifts opened, and even larger birdlike
apparitions burst from the maelstrom.
These new invaders
promptly engaged the Legions of the Broken Blade, who had already been
mobilized according to the frenzied vox broadcasts. Great missiles launched from these machines of
death landed amongst the marines, and great plumes of sickly green smoke rose
from where they struck. The resulting
explosions seemed quite small, but marine and canine mount both fell a few
moments later in horrible death spasms.
What kind of toxin could circumvent the marines’ armor?
More reports came
over the vox. Hideous humanoid creatures
the size of Ogryn were seen grappling with canines and marines, displaying strength
that was beyond even their great bulk.
Word began to spread
that Emperor Callistos had fled, and was nowhere to be found. Other reports said that he had barricaded
himself in the Spire of Separation, and was watching the annihilation of his
world from there.
I begged the pilot
to use the vox to contact my family. He
refuse to do so, fearing that it would attract the attention of the invaders. Bribes meant very little as our world broke apart
before our eyes, so I had to wait until we reached our destination.
Miraculously, we
made it to the villa safely. While the
pall of smoke and ash was descending on the villa, I could see that it was
intact. My heart leapt for joy! It might be possible to save them after all!
Many weeks after the
Fall of Anara V, the terrible screams echoed still in my mind. Those of the citizens as they were cut down
by blasphemous toxins and razor sharp wings, the screams of the dire canines as
they were slaughtered by the more nimble invaders, and the awful sounds of
lance beams tearing through buildings and marines.
More terrible still
were my own screams. Those sprang from
my throat as I watched my entire family slaughtered before my own eyes by these
pale, slender, vile beings. They seemed
to draw incredible strength as the pain and torture they inflicted on each new
victim was more terrible than the last.
Only my slaves
remained alive. It was of little solace
to me. What use did I have for them now?
Even worse, I was
now shackled. How piteous and disgraced
was I, to find myself in bondage with the lowest of our now devastated society.
I did not want to
look at them. They, however, continued
to stare at me. Some in amazement, I
suppose, but one looked at me with eyes that saw everything. Eventually, he spoke. I was too exhausted to curse him for daring
to address me, a citizen.
“You wonder what
brought this destruction upon you.” It
was not a question, but a statement. “Just
as the Canines sensed the fear of slaves and captives in the Arena, these
beings sensed our pain, our suffering."
I could not help but look at him now.
“So great was the agony which you inflicted upon slave, mutant and
heretic, it drew them from the deepest recess of the warp, as a flame does to a
moth.”
This slave who dared
to speak to me stared at me even more intently.
He pointed to the chains around my arms and legs, and the many scars on
my body. “And now”, he said. “For as long as they allow you to live, these
beings will feed from your agony, your suffering. It will sustain them as our never ending toil
and labors sustained you.”
On the final day, I
was brought to the badly damaged but still standing Basilica Canus. I eagerly
awaited the event in which I would participate.
While there would be a brief moment of terror before the Canines, made
even more vicious with the strange drugs given to them by their new masters descended
upon me, my own screams of agony would at last come to an end.
