Gatehammer: A 30K Warhammer story. (discontinued)

A New Imperium

The new walls were completed. Twenty metre high, built with adamantium and rockcrete. It was a poor imitation of the mighty walls of Fortress worlds. But it was the greatest set of walls on the continent.

Great anti-air guns and artillery manned by robotic slaves known as servitors, eternally bound to their weapons until their destruction or slow starvation. It was macabre to say the least.

The Astartes for their part, continued with their duties with hundreds of servitors being sent to the techpriests for repair. Blood Angels and Luna Wolves dueled, blade against blade, the whine of power weapons and the roar of chain blades filling out the many training fields in the base.

And yet, even the Ultramarines and Imperial Fists were beginning to grow restless. It had been a month since they had entered through the Gate, and the Great Crusade continued on without them. New worlds liberated, colonies created, former federation planets returned to the light of the Imperium, the heirs to old Humanity. The Astartes beyond the Gate freeing worlds from the shadow of Old Night.

A crusade that does not wait for them to catch up.

Melancholy spread throughout the Astartes not currently with the Primarch, Guilliman. But it was quickly stamped out when exciting news came to the Primarchs and their command staff, the likes of the Mournival for the Luna Wolves, Sigismund and other Astartes similar to him for the Imperial Fists.

A major city of the Empire was being besieged by an army of deserters and traitors... Men, Astartes especially hated them more so than even Xenos.

So a force of Astartes began to board their vehicles, two Luna Wolves entering the hull of a massive armored Mastodon, followed by eight others bearing the white and black of their legion.

And so the Astartes force began to move, over a hundred vehicles, ranging from the long ranged explorers that were the Land Raider Proteus' to the heavily armored mastodon. It was to say. Overkill.

But overkill was what they were looking for. And so the Astartes began to the long drive towards Italica.

The Astartes knew this would be an extremely easy win, and even one of their commanders Tarik Torgaddon couldn't think up of a joke for the situation. Across from him sat the commander of the entire operation. Garviel Loken.

He sat upon the armored seat inside the mastodon, dripping "sacred" oils upon his chainblade. He looked up, up towards he who was closet to him. His friend, Torgaddon and remembered the moments before finally preparations. His Oath of Moment.

"Do you, Garviel Loken. Son of Horus Lupercal, swear to uphold the values and traditions of your legion? Of your people? And of your family? And do you promise, to bring the light that is the Imperium and the Emperor back to these lost cousins of mankind? Do you promise to lead your men into the burning furnace that is war and help forge them into the best the Imperium and the Legiones Astartes can offer?"

"I swear it. By the light of the Emperor and my father, Horus Lupercal."

That was a few minutes ago. And now they were on the road to Italica. Landraiders, armored with boltors and lascannons. Standard weapons. But would be considered the most powerful of magics from the perspective of the native Falmartians.

And so those Astartes awaited, the roar of their vehicles slowly steadily growling closer to the site of their newest battle.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Pina was breathless, grasping her blade as tightly as she could with her weakened strength. Her back was to her friend, Hamilton. Both watched as the bandits gathered up in front of them.

They were partially surrounded with terrified militia men behind them, weary and wounded. Pina knew they wouldn't be able to survive another assault. The bandits were simply better than the militia and her small group of knights can't hold them all back.

They may survive this current wave, but the next. The next would be Pina's, the Order, and the Militias breaking point.

That's when they heard it. A strange noise. A rumbling. Like that of an Earthquake yet she didn't feel the earth shake. She looked at the bandits. They can sense it to. The clanging and clashing of steel stopped suddenly as militia, knight, and bandit all looked around them. That's when she heard something strange come from one of the bandits.

"It's them! The Giants! Run!" The bandits were struck with disbelief and fear as those on the walls began to run away. That's when both sides heard thunder. Bright flashes of light struck out and struck dozens of bandits, their bodies tumbling off the walls, huge burnt holes within them.

Others died more violently, bodies ripped apart, hips detached from torso as bolter rounds exploded within. Then they heard it, a crash. A giant in colored black and steel white. Ominous glowing red eyes, the color of blood. A crest across its head, red like his eyes. Within its hand it carried a strange boxy looking sword with strange teeth attached, while the other carried a strange box with a handle similar to that of its blade.

The Giant did not speak as it's presumably kin gathered beside it, others in the same black and white, while two came bearing strange ornate swords and spears cackling with "magic", colored blood and their eyes the color of grass.

All of them were of similar shape and carried different symbols upon their shoulders. The white and black ones had wolfs heads while the red ones carried tears or drops between two pearl white wings.

It was strange. They resembled fully armored knights. But they exuded an aura much more powerful than even the eldest of mages.

Then the thing spoke.

"Kill these traitor filth. Spare the rest." And Pina froze, for she couldn't fathom how such a heavy and huge thing could move so quickly, in fact she barely even saw them move as each tore apart every single bandit and deserter near the gate.

They didn't even have a chance to raise their weapons in defiance. Those who ran were quickly cut down by the strange weapons of these giants. While those who stood were literally torn apart by the power spears and swords of those same giants.

These were the giants who occupied Alnus Hill.

Then another giant appeared, dressed just as ornately as the first, like some imperial noble General.

It approached her, with such power she struggled to stand.

"Greetings to you, Princess Pina of the Empire of Sadera."