The Dark Heresy Chronicles: Operation:Equus

by General_Rex

Prologue + Chapter 1

The Dark Heresy Chronicles:
Operation:Equus
By: General Rex

It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor of Mankind has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the vast Imperium of Man for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day so that he may never truly die. Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will.

Vast armies give battle in His name on uncounted worlds. The Imperial Guard and countless planetary defense forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Super Human warriors of the Space Marines are to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat to humanity from aliens, heretics, mutants -- and far, far worse.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium
There is only war...

Prologue...

Private Waltum P. Varmeer of the 75th Cadian Regiment stood vigilant at his post as he had been ordered, albeit a rather boring post, it was none the less what he had to do.

Night had fallen hours ago and he had drawn the short stick on guard duty, staring out into the bleak nothingness of the canyon view still showed no hostile signs.

The 75th Cadian regiment had been assigned to the Imperial fortress on planet Tillium V and were ordered to hold it until such a time they were no longer needed, these orders were months old of course, but High Command had decreed that they would stay no matter the conditions.

Command didn't tell lowly guardsman like Varmeer much, and he was ok with this, the little bit of information they were told was that they merely needed to occupy the facility and guard it until such a time when the 'something' they were protecting, could be moved, simple.

"Why does it always have to be so cold...?" He grumbled, rubbing his hands together for warmth.

Lately the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and unusual.

Weather phenomenon's were occurring everywhere, snowing being most frequent. Tillium V was technically a desert world, but over the four months he had been stationed here there had always been snow, hail or any number of precipitations attacking the occupying force.

Other than hostile weather and troopers getting antsy, the assignment was a much needed break; Varmeer whispered a quick prayer to the Emperor for this assignment.

Varmeer glanced down at his wrist chrono to check the time, happy to see that his shift was about up, and having spent nearly four hours out in the freezing cold, he was more than happy to get back inside and sleep.

As he began walking towards the access hatch, Varmeer stopped near the cat walk railing, deciding one last look through his photo-visor wouldn't hurt.

Looking through every vision type offered by the little device, he noticed no changes, except that the snow storm above had picked up in ferocity.

Turning his attention towards the snaking ground of the canyon, he still found nothing out of the ordinary, a few creatures lurking about, but nothing out of the ordinary.

As the snow storm began to blow and the wind howling angrily, Varmeer buttoned up his face coverings, sneering at the idea that anyone or anything would dare attack during such a blizzard,

'No sane being would try...' Varmeer told himself as he walked back to his nice warm cot.

The Dark Heresy Chronicles:
Operation: Equus
Chapter one
"Christmas in July"

Void side, Tillium V
Light Cruiser, Emperor's Fist
0630 hours (Terran Standard Time)

Admiral Kargon of the Imperial Navy and Leader of the battle-group charged with protecting Tillium V, watched as the Chaos ship slowly maneuvered out of the asteroid belt surrounding the planet, grinning sadistically at the damage already done to the lone ship from mines left strewn all throughout the belt.

Kargon turned, glancing at the holographic display of the planet and the enemy ships position in orbit. This was his world to protect, his only order was that no ship other than his could enter or leave the system, he hadn't failed in the months they had been stationed here and he would not start now.

"We have the enemies exit coordinates my lord..." came the voice of his underling Captain Tigrik, the Admiral turned to his bald pasty friend, his dark blue officers uniform crisp and well maintained,

"We can fire torpedoes at this range my lord and they would be unable to avoid them."

Shaking his head, Kargon rose from his command chair,

"Nonsense Captain, we need not waste good munitions on such an pathetic target..." letting his voice trail off as he decided which gun battery he wished to use, "It is but a small ship Captain... use a volley from the forward macro batteries, then finish those filth off with a lance shot straight through there miserable bellies" he said waving his hand as if to swat the small Chaos raider.

"Of course my Lord" Tigrik said walking over to the fire control station.

Kargon watched as the massive dorsal mounted macro batteries outside of the main bridge's central view window, slowly pivoted into position, minutes later a sudden flash of energy from the guns barrels erupted as they began lobbing their kiloton ordnance towards the smaller ship.

Four direct hits easily dropped the enemy ships void shields, leaving the enemy naked.

"Fire the lance when ready Captain" Kargon commanded, not taking his eyes off his kill.

A minute later, a bright flash of light erupted from the ships fore mounted lance laser cannon striking the chaos raider in the side.

Kargon watched as patiently, nothing happened at first, but seconds after the strike Kargon smiled, knowing the shot had flown straight into the ships magazine.

The whole bridge was suddenly bathed in a white flash, the whole crew watched as the chaos ship simply popped from the inside, splitting the tiny ship in half.

"Haha! Perfect shot Captain, my compliments to the gunnery teams, reward them properly with a ration of ale for tonight's meal would you?"

"Of course my lord."

Kargon nodded as he turned back towards the enemy ship remains, it had been over kill against such a smaller ship, but they were heretics and deserved nothing less than the most violent and painful exit from this realm.

He enjoyed rewarding his crew for their excellence, believing that the Emperor rewarded those who earned his blessing through acts of kindness, this time he believed a simply alcoholic beverage would suffice.

Kargon took a step from his command area, wishing to retire for the night.

Nearly at the doorway, the alarm klaxons roared to life,

"Incoming enemy vessels! Signs appearing from just on the other side of the planets moon sir!"

Kargon turned immediately and ran back towards his command chair,

"Order the Guiding light and The Truth to move forward and engage!"he roared.

Kargon turned back to his tactical display beside him and watched as the two blue markers, representing the others in his battle-group, blinked into existence and began moving from their ambush sites.

The Guiding light and The Truth were both frigate class ships, they were powerful and fast, the Emperor's Fist, his prize possession however was a Light cruiser, and truth be told had a large arse for a ship her size, but she carried the largest payload of weaponry her class possessed more than making up for her slower speed.

The Admiral continued watching the Tactical map as red blips representing enemy ships began appearing from behind the distant moon,

"Traitorous bastards waited for us to make the first move!" he grumbled as he continued watching the enemy.

"Captain, tell those fools in the Cadian Command that they have incoming Chaos forces, at least a battalions worth." He stated while watching smaller and faster moving blips begin to appear beside the largest Chaos ship at the enemies formation

Kargon worried little though for the shuttles, they were the 75th's problem, his job was to protect the planet from void borne problems. Kargon sneered as he thought of those useless Cadians planet-side being caught off guard, Emperor forbid they do their duty and finally have to earn their keep on that dust bowl of a world.

Remembering the order he had received months ago for cold weather gear though brought a smile to himself and he allowed himself a chuckle at their expense,

'What a fools... who uses cold weather gear on a barren rock?'

*** *** ***

Hours had passed as Kargon watched as the Chaos ships send hordes of fighter craft and small raider ships to attack him, his gunnery crews easily dispatching the raiders and his interceptor's living up to their names, never allowing a single enemy fighter within a hundred kilometers of his vessel.

Kargon assumed that if this kept up, the enemy would simply whittle down its small ships and be left with just the single cruiser it had, although horribly outnumbered, the Imperial Fleet out classed the enemy, two frigates and a light cruiser to a cruiser and a dozen raiders.

Obviously stalling for time, Kargon knew that the Cadians were most likely being overrun and not living up to their part of the defensive plan, the Imperial Navy would once again have to carry the Guard towards victory as he watched dozens more shuttles leave the massive cruiser and head planet side.

"Well Captain it seems we must make the first move if we are to save the day"

"Why my Lord when we have them right where they cannot bring their weapons to bear?"

"Because Captain... if they continue to harry us like this that means they are simply buying time, if we attack, we can stop the Cruiser from attacking the Guard forces."

Tigrik looked baffled by the order, but like a good naval officer accepted his lower grasp of the tactical situation and gave a sharp nod and walked towards the flight control station, giving the coordinates they would head towards.

As they began moving, the enemy raiders began to break off, moving to the flanks of the engagement,

'What foolhardy plan is this? Leaving their only power alone for his superior fleet to destroy? Traitorous fools...' Admiral Kargon thought, knowing full well that the raiders could only harass them, 'Any attack would be suicide, no man, traitor or loyalist would order such an attack'

Kargon scoffed at the idea of being taken down by such a pathetic foe and ordered the helmsman to increase speed, his large prize dead ahead in the shape of an enemy cruiser.

*** *** ***

Awaiting the ships to get into position was tedious work, taking hours for them to float into a firing range for the macro batteries.

"Alright Captain, have the prow gunners load the torpedoes, and have the macro gunners on standby to fire the second I give the order."

"Yes my Lord"

Minutes later, Kargon noticed a green alter rune blink to life on the arm of his chair meaning torpedoes were prepared for launch,

"Fire the first salvo, wait thirty seconds and then fire all macro batteries."

"Of course my Lord"

Just as the Captain moved to fire control, the proximity Klaxon rang out,

"My Lord! The enemy raiders have us on intercept course!"

Kargons eyes widened as he realized their plan,

"Have The Truth and Guiding light break off and handle them! We will gut this attack here and now!"

"Yes my Lord!" Tigrik yelled.

Kargon felt the Macro batteries fire, the whole ship vibrating from the four large guns.

Now Kargon merely had to wait patiently as the kiloton ordinance did its work.

The shots flew straight and true into the enemy's massive armored prow, the explosions impacted and the torpedoes seconds later.

When the debris cleared, Kargon spotted a large section of the prow armor had been obliterated, opening up both the ships shields and the armor to his next move,

"Fire the lance!" Kargon roared.

"My lord, the frigates report the enemy raiders are ignoring them and are on a direct course with us still!"

"Fire the lance Captain!" Kargon demanded a second time as he watched the enemy cruiser slowly begin shifting to conceal the breach.

A bright flash of light erupted from the Emperor's Fist prow, impacting exactly in the weakened hull, the shot seemingly stopping the enemy ship cold.

"Scans report the enemy cruiser's engines have been crippled, they are nearly dead in the void my lord!" Tigrik cheered from the gunnery station,

"What are your orders against the enemy raiders?"

"Turn to port immediately."

"Yes my lord" Tigrik replied, moving towards the helmsman's area.

"We are underway my Lord. One enemy vessel stands before us, what are your orders?"

Kargon pondered his next order carefully, wishing to follow up his perfect victory with another bold action for the scribes to record for his memoirs; he rested his head on his hands as he gazed at the incoming enemy raider.

"Ram them."

Kargon hearing no reply turned to his adjutant, Tigrik stood wide eyed at Kargon as if he jested.

"That was an order..." Kargon growled, Tigrik composed himself and gave a sharp nod,

"Very well my lord" Tigrik said, turning to the helmsman to set a new course.

Admiral Kargon watched as the tiny raider ship continued its course with the superior vessel, realizing far too late that the Imperial vessel was not going anywhere, it attempted to correct its path, far too late of course as the Emperor's Fist impacted the ships starboard side splitting it in two causing a massive tremor to be sent through the Imperial ship.

"One down... three to go" Kargon gave a devilish smile as his gunnery crews began firing with everything they had at the oncoming enemy vessels; none spared the Emperors wrath.

Planetside, Tillium V
>N/a< Fortress, outer defensive cat walk
0800 hours (Terran Standard Time)

Private Varmeer watched the horrifying scene unfold, enemy forces had begun raining artillery down on the fortress position and the rockcrete cat walks didn't look like they would hold at this rate.

"Keep up the fire men!" roared the Sergeants voice, the large man of course pointing at the traitor forces repelling down the canyon walls onto sections of the exposed cat walks.

Varmeer took aim and fired a few shots from his las rifle, the red flashes of light making little noise and almost no recoil as they exited the guns barrel and struck a traitor in the back, causing the man's body to hang limply from his repelling line.

"Good shot Private! Keep firing!"

Varmeer paid the Sergeants general praise no mind and continued firing, the enemy trying to fire back and missing horribly from their exposed positions on the repelling ropes.

Suddenly a massive explosion rang out throwing Varmeer and his comrades to the ground.

Varmeer shook his head of the ringing in his ears and glanced up to see a group of chaos worshippers being pouring through a door behind their position, somehow having managed to outflank them.

Varmeer turned and fired into the breach, downing two cultists and immediately sought cover just in time as the cultist weapons fired, peppering his position with bullets.

Varmeer heard a grunt next to him, his Sergeant having taken up a position next to him, firing off shots from his las pistol at the traitors, screams of pain telling him the shots were true.

"Private!"

"Yes sir!" responded Varmeer,

"Lob a grenade on my count!" ordered the Sergeant,

"yes sir!" he replied, grabbing a metal cylinder in his hand, the Sergeant grabbing one of his own, arched his arm back and lobbed the grenade into the breach, Varmeer repeating the action.

Varmeer heard the traitors shout a series of curses but were quickly silenced as the frag grenades exploded, shredding them.

Turning back to the main canyon behind him, the immediate threat now dealt with, Varmeer noticed the main traitor force had not let up, bad weather and all, this did not look promising.

Suddenly a deep boom shook the entire facility nearly throwing Varmeer from his feet again, confused he looked around for another outflank from the enemy, there was nothing though.

Hearing a loud roaring noise, Varmeer turned out towards the canyon skyline to see a large shuttle raced off towards the heavens, a sudden chirp over the vox radio brought him back to reality,

"Attention! The enemy has captured the Artifact! All Imperial forces pull back to the shuttle bays and prepare for evac!" radioed a voice on the other end.

Varmeer stared at his Sergeant who simply, shook his head defeated and motioned for the squad to retreat, he had never seen the 75th fail, a great feeling of sorrow over whelmed him as they fled from the chaos horde.

Void side, Tillium V
Light Cruiser class, Emperor's Fist
0815 hours (Terran Standard Time)

Kargon ran a hand through his thinning hair, watching flashing red warning runes begin blink on his control panel.

The Emperors Fist had taken out the enemies raiders, some managing to ram themselves into the sides of his ship, doing more damage to themselves than the Emperor's Fist, one raider though had managed to embed itself ships large rear, the damage causing all manner of problems for the Kargon and his crew, the lights flickering for a moment to object to how the ship was being treated by her masters.

"Thrice cursed chaos dogs!" Kargon roared as he watched the enemy Cruiser slowly begin to pull away, the Imperial ship though unable to give chance and more than beyond the ship's weapon ranges.

Unable to make good speed, Kargon could only watch on his tactical display as the enemy vessel escaped.

"Damn! Captain! How fair are our sister ships to the enemy cruiser?"

Kargon turned to see Tigrik compose himself and move to his side,

"They are holding sir... but some of the enemy raiders had overloaded their plasma drives, causing the ships to explode and cause major damage to Guiding light, and The Truth has lost all but one of her engines, we cannot pursue the enemy my Lord."

"Damn!" he cursed again, the enemy raiders had been dispatched but the lone enemy Cruiser taunted him as it slowly pulled towards an area where it could make a jump into the warp.

"Get me those coordinates Captain, before we lose her and the Artifact!"

Without responding, Tigrik had began ordering the navigations officer to plot out their course, a minute later Kargon watched Tigrik return to his side, shaking slightly,

"I... I'm sorry my Lord"

"What? Did we lose them?"

Tigrik nearly jumped out of his skin at the question, he simply handed Kargon a data slate which he snatched and began looking over the display, the small device's words slowly causing a great anger to boil inside him, a large ornate I covering the screen and black bars eclipsing the enemies escape vector.

"Daaammmnnn them!!" he roared, hurling the screen across the room.

The Inquisitional I flickering in and out on the tablet sized screen for a moment before finally dying from the Admiral's violent reaction.

Kargon could only scowl at his tactical display as he watched the red blip of the enemy Cruiser finally disappear from his tactical display.

Comments

[Crackshot]

I have to say, this was pretty decent. Being a warhammer 40K fan myself, I'm amazed I haven't seen a crossover earlier. That said, I did notice a couple spelling and grammar errors, but not enough to panic over. Anyway, as i said, a decent fic, and I will be tracking this. Keep up the good work my friend.

[Commander Ponysun]

234804

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