In Death We Serve

Heavy bootsteps echoed through the hall, the unmistakeable sound of ceramite striking durasteel. Anyone could tell by that noise that a Space Marine was the source of said noise. Zocasin Tharn, the Captain of the 1st Company, marched with purpose down the sterile hall on his way to the Apothecarion. His rotting, decaying armour looking out of place in the clean hallway, his stern face oozed and pulsated. The sight of him could make any of the non-augmented crew onboard wretch and vomit, but this crew had grown used to the sights, and smells.

The Sons of Hades Space Marines Chapter weren't always in a state of perpetual decay, in the 31st Millenium they were part of the Death Guard Legion of Space Marines. During the Horus Heresy the Death Guard ended up in the court of Nurgle, Chaos God of Decay, Death, and bad body odour. As the Death Guard were "touched" by Nurgle; the Company of loyalist marines that would form the Sons of Hades Chapter tried to escape, this escape came at the price of being in a state of decay where only death by combat could free one from their eternal torment. However, as they soon realised they lacked the numbers to remain operational, this problem being promptly rectified by the chapter librarians learning the age old art of Necromancy. The chapter's Necromancers would resurrect their fallen bretheren, and occasionally the enemy's dead, in order to maintain a somewhat fighting fit status. Now the chapter fights for an Imperium, that despises them, as Soldiers of Fortune.

Zocasin entered the Apothecarion "Update on the condition of our bretheren?" he demanded from the Chief Apothecary. Chief Apothecary Gloth Ashadda looked up from the bio bed he was hunched over, the surgical tools installed on his back working furiously away as he responded to thr 1st Captain's demands "Would you like fries with that order Captain?" Tharn looked at him with a sneer in his eye "What is that supposed to mean?" he retorted. The Apothecary laughed "It doesn't mean anything, it's just something I heard the guardsmen say." The Apothecary picked up his data slate "Sergeant Pellun Feraddak will make a somewhat full recovery." The pair moved towards a biobed in the back of the room "As for our Chapter Master. His body might recover, but our Necromancer has been having difficulty restoring his soul" the Apothecary said solemnly Zocasin responded "We were expecting to encounter problems eventually. Although the Chapter Master was the not the first person I expected would give us trouble." The Apothecary looked at the Chapter Master "We knew it was going to happen, it's part of Nurgle's curse. The Chapter Master is clearly a target too big for Nurgle to let slip by." Zocasin moved to the side of his commanding officer "The only way to cure us of this affliction is to submit ourselves to Nurgle." the Apothecary shot him a dirty look "Forgive my abruptness Captain, but have you taken leave of your senses? Have you not seen what the Plague lord has done to our Death Guard bretheren?" Captain Zocasin walked around the biobed and placed his hand on the Apothecary's shoulder pauldron "We may not have a choice Gloth. We can't risk losing our brothers, we can't have them end up like our Chapter master."

At that moment Sergeant Feraddak woke and attempted to sit up, his transhuman physiology trying to treat both his injuries and his plague; Captain Zocasin and Apothecary Ashadda ran across the Apothecarion to see the Sergeant. "Report Sergeant!" Zocasin ordered, "My humblest apologies for being late in reporting for duty sir" Feraddak said weakly, "No need for the apology Pellun, good to see you back in the land of the somewhat living" Zocasin smirked. Feraddak, with the help of the Apothecary, managed to sit up "The rumours are true Captain, the Black Library contains the knowledge of how to cure us of this curse and somewhat restore us to our previous selves." Captain Zocasin rested his head on his chin and responded "That may be so, but we'd have Harlequins to deal with if we try to go anywhere near it." Apothecary Ashadda began checking Sergeant Feraddak over "It isn't just that, we have no way to get into the Webway." Captain Zocasin began pacing back and forward "You're right, and I doubt the Aeldari would give us any help. How is Pellun?" The Apothecary put away hi instruments and turned to fce the Captain "He'll be fine in a few days or so, let him get some rest to recover and get his bearings. Resurretion is hard on both body and soul. The more we do it, the longer it is to recover" he replied as he pointed over to the Chapter Master. The Captain marched towards the door "Keep me updated with any progress, especially where the Chapter Master and our special guests are concerned. I'll be on the Command Deck."

The Lord Mordigus traversed the Warp with ease; it's Gellar Fields protecting it from the horrors that lie in wait, but with a Space Marine Chapter that has been "blessed" by Nurgle, the dangers in the warp are much greater. "Lower the sssshield" the voise hissed "You know you want to." Harradeel Rothand, the Sons of Hades Chief Librarian, meditated in his chamber "Nurgle misses you, he only wants what's besssst for you" the voice continued, "You cannot tempt me daemon" Rothand proclaimed "As long as I still draw breath, my brothers, my crew and I shall never fall to Chaos!" Rothand could feel the pull of the Warp, tempting him. It had always been like that; to be born a Psyker was a danger in itself, especially theif you were untrained. For a Space Marine Librarian, who has decades if not centuries of training, the threat was much worse. Every day the forces of tzeentch would be whisperng in your ear, tempting you with unlimited power. For onle like Rothand; Nurgle's forces were always their whispering, promising to put an end to his suffering. Plaguebearers and Nurglings constantly chittering away, attempting to drive the Psyker mad in hopes he'll cave in and beg for Nurgle's help. "Era uoy tahw rednow I woh rats elttil elkniwt elkniwt" Rothand chanted repeatedly to drown out the noise of the daemons. The whispered away "We will alwayssss be waiting SSSSSon of Hadesss."

On the command deck of the Lord Mordigus Captain Zocasin sat on the command throne, armoured fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. It was a trying time; his chapter was nothing more than a horde of the undead, his commander was lying comatose on a biobed, and he had to deal with the resurrected members of the traitor forces they encontered. "Captain Zocasin! A word please" a voice came from the command deck. Zocasin stood up and turned towards the voice "What is it Shipmaster?" Captain Marika Adole was the commanding officer of the Lord Modrigus, she was one of the youngest captains in the Imperial Navy. "We've been tracking a ship following us since we entered the Warp. It's moving closer" Marika announced, "Are you able to identify it?" Zocasin replied. Marika handed Zocasin a data slate "Auspex identifies it as the Lord of the Tempest" Marika said, "A Black Templars ship? Why is it tracking us?" Zocasin said puzzlingy, "Who knows, we know that the Imperium doesn't fully trust your chapter. Maybe they are just keeping tabs on you?"

The Black Templars are a successor chapter of the Imperial Fists, they are an incredibly over zealous chapter that venerate the Emperor of Mankind as a literal god. Like the Knights Templar of Terra, they crusade across the galaxy bringing fire and fury to heretics, xenos, and mutants. If you see a Black templar, just make sure you are wearing your brown pants/trousers*

Captain Zocasin looked at the data slate, he stared at the ship intensly "Can we communicate with the ship?" Marika looked at the console "We can use Astropathic Communication, Lord of the Tempest seems to be ignoring our hails." Captain Zocasin tapped out a message on the data slate and handed it to Marika "Have the Astropath transmit this message, and inform me if they respond" he said as he made his way back to the command throne. After an hour Marika came back "They have responded Captain" she said handing Zocasin a data slate. Zocasin read the message twice to ensure he was not missing anything "Captain, please prepare to transit into realspace, we're about to get some visitors!"

To Be Continued

*Delete as appropriate