By Dale Payne
Sachael sighed as he surveyed the scene before him. The hive city was quiet. Rubble was strewn everywhere and vehicles were blasted open. Empty buildings with shattered windows lined the streets. Bones of the hivers who lived here were still in the poses they had been in when they died.
Few things in the universe set Sachael on edge but an empty hive city was one of them. This place should have been full of the sounds of people living their lives.
“Nothing but scrap and ghosts.” Sachael, muttered under his breath as he idly kicked a piece of rubble. He sat down on the remains of a vehicle and it groaned under the weight of his armor. Sensors indicated the air was breathable so he removed his helmet and took a breath of stale air. His mind drifted as he rested from the long march to this desolate ruin.
His company had left Holy Terra in order to investigate Kronis and hopefully bring something back that could shift the balance of power in the galaxy. Instead, he and his brothers became trapped when the world literally fell apart. Now they were forced to scrounge for supplies to feed his men and maintain their weapons and armor. On top of that, they had been protecting a group of shell-shocked hivers who had begun to build a home in this strange place. It had been going well but the Xenos and Heretics stalking the badlands made leaving the small settlement they’d set up extremely dangerous.
Sachael and his men had come here investigating a mysterious signal tagged as a supply beacon but so far they hadn’t found anything useful. And he was beginning to lose hope that there was actually anything of worth in this blasted hellscape.
“Captain, we’ve found something!”
Sachael lifted his head as one of his men approached him at a jog.
“Good news, brother?” he asked.
“Yes, sir! We’ve found a crate of nutrient blocks and water purifying pills along with what appears to be a cache of crop seeds!”
“Excellent, we’ll start loading them onto the transport and bring them ba- ”
The familiar whir of a jet bike interrupted Sachael and they both turned to look at the approaching newcomer. To their surprise, it was another Custodes. Sachael had not expected to see any friendly faces out here. As the biker was getting closer Sachael noticed the dust cloud behind him was much larger than what a single jet bike should have made.
“Custodes!” shouted Sachael. “Form up, we have incoming!”
All four of his soldiers came rushing towards him weapons at the ready. They watched as the biker grew on the horizon and the dust cloud behind him loomed larger. When he finally pulled up to them they could see that his golden armor was dented and dirty as though he had been traveling for too long without stopping to maintain it.
“Brothers! I thought I was alone on this Emperor-forsaken wasteland it is good to see a friendly face!” said the newcomer,
He dismounted and nearly collapsed to his knees only steadying himself with the bike. Sachael motioned to one of his men and the soldier took out his canteen and some rations and handed them to the stranger.
“Who are you brother?” asked Sachael.
“I am Shield Captain Meyek, I’ve been traveling for the last seven days. I thought I was alone until two days ago saw that group of Orks and I picked up a supply beacon signal. I was planning on raiding what I needed and moving on but I saw you and your men, Captain?”
“Sachael. My men and I have trying to gather supplies for refugees who’ve managed to find their way here. We are gathering supplies then transporting them back.”
“I was planning on using guerilla tactics on them but with your help, brother, I believe we can face them head on,” said, Meyek.
Sachael looked beyond the biker and saw the approaching orks. He donned his helm, readied his axe and smiled. “For the Emperor!”.
War of Maleficus 