Day 1
Atmosphere - safe, less than 1% difference from standard
Temperature - -6 C (20 F)
Suit Integrity - Green
Suit power - 75%
Ammunition - Bolter 75 shells, 1 grenade
Power fist - Operable
Time - 05:17
Flashed across his hud. The sky above him was blue and the sun was a pure yellow. There was no familiar smog. Rolling to his side he pushed up as servos aided him. Gazing around he saw that he was in a glacier ravine. Ice walls towered over him with hints of snow just at the top.
His mind buzzed with theories and practicals. He remembered battling the accursed Orks with his battle brothers. However, he was here in an ice chasm with no apparent escape. The ravine carried on to the south and the north with no clear indication of a path.
Falling back on survival training long ago distilled into him. The marine engaged his vox.
Click Click
“This is brother Sgt Vorn Aldor, are there any Imperial Forces receiving? What is my present location?”
No sound came from the vox in Aldor’s helmet, as he waited for a reply. Thinking to himself Aldor theorized that the cavern could be blocking his transmission. Examining the ice walls he pushed his hand against it. Cracks spread from his hand as he applied more and more pressure. The walls wouldn’t hold his weight if he attempted to scale them. Flexing his hand in the poewrfist a sense of comfort filled Vorn’s chest. He was grateful to have his weapons and the name sake of his chapter.
The second order of business was to conserve power and energy. Aldor began to run the suit down to its minimum functions as he began moving south. Aldor had to get out of the ravine and south was just as good as north, if nothing else Aldor mussed that he could make his way back north if he didn’t find any method of escape.
Time - 05:22
Click Click
“This is brother Sgt Vorn Aldor from the Imperial Fists 9th Company The Wardens. To any Imperial Forces respond. This transmission will repeat on the hour.”
The ice walls continued on unscratched as the lumbering form of Vorn marched on. His yellow armor reflecting the entire time.
Time - 06:45
The ravine continued but in the distance, Vorn spied ice shelves that lead to the top. Aldor quickened his step and mag-locked his bolter to his back. As he approached Vorn hefted his armored mass onto the first shelf and then the next. Cracks quickly spread under his hands and feet. Moving with greater speed he continued to heave himself to each shelf carefully watching the ice crack. The sounds of the ice was freighting to listen to but Aldor didn’t flinch. His time on Inwit, the Pretorian’s homeworld had taught him well on matters of ice and winter. Nothing compared to the ice storms and avalanches found there. He knew the shelf would hold just long enough for him to scale it.
Aldor launched himself up the final step onto the top of the wall. Landing he drew his bolter and crouched. His red helmet rotated as optics clicked. A frozen barren plane presented itself to him. No signs of civilization or even life could be seen. Aldor let out a sigh. It was never that easy. Flipping to thermal imaging on his bolter he did another spin. Swaying again he settled his bolter south. There on the horizon was a heat signature slowly moving to the west.
Looking back into the ravine from where he came Aldor made up his mind and began his march to the southwest following the heat signature. The ice-covered ground crunch under each step as he lumbered. His yellow armor slowly accumulated snow as each minute dragged on. Before long a blizzard had picked up blinding all sensors and optics, making it impossible to see more than a few feet in front of his visor. Vorn didn’t even so much as shiver as the wind whipped, continuing with each powered step. The armor was more than enough warmth and if it wasn’t he had his internal sleeve, and even if that failed he could rely on his augments.
The snow was blinding but there in front of Vorn lay a set of tracks. Falling to his knee he bent over and identified the tracks. Hoofprints and sled marks stretch out to the west, no shoe or boot prints though. Raising his bolter Vorn quickened his pace and began to follow the tracks, not wishing to lose them to the blizzard.
Time - 10:17
Vorn had long lost the heat signature to the weather but the tracks remained as he continued on. Letting his mind wander as he followed the tracks; he had not received any transmission in response to his hails and had yet to detect any signs of industrialization in the atmosphere. The ice was pure as well, no signs of ash or radioactive layers could be found. Wherever he was there clearly was nothing industrial on the planet and clearly whoever was here had not picked up his arrival. The color of the sun had been yellow but that wasn’t much help. Thousands of planets had yellow suns and even more were covered in ice. Aldor had no clue, the only hope was to find trace evidence of civilization to establish contact with the Imperium or at the very least wait for an explorator fleet to stumble across him. Regardless it was going to be a long time and Vorn knew as a Fist he couldn’t just hibernate this one through. Aldor was going to be stuck living through the centuries till help arrived.
“Boom”
A blue magic blast erupted off his right pauldron as Aldor dropped to the ground swinging to the source of the attack. “Identify yourself, I am an Imperial Fist an Angel of he who rests on Terra and the Pretorian”, Vorn shouted through the vox amplifier.
Nothing was there behind him, just more snow… Flipping to heat he could see three equine figures around his back and two more to his front.
Another charged ball flew at Aldor but he ducked this one and charged. He quickly covered the distance, as he did so he powered his fist and smashed it into his target. The blue Xeno exploded as the energy field disrupted every atom. The one next to it lunged at Vorn. The creature's helmet glowing green as its hoof struck his side. The blow didn’t even scratch the paint.
Bringing his non-powered fist to bear he slammed it into the helmet. While the helmet didn’t shatter like the last it crumpled up into the skull as blood leaked out. Vorns three other assailants launched themselves at him. Two climbed up onto his arms and the third his legs. Falling to the snow at the attack from the rear Vorn pitched to his side and crushed one under his immense weight.
The other two tried to hoof his helmet off but Vorn quickly vaporized one with his powered fist and flung the last into a pile of snow. Standing to his full height Aldor approached where he had thrown the final Xeno. Flipping off his power fist he yanked the creature by the leg out. The Xeno yelped as he was held aloft, trying to desperately punch Vorn.
Using his other hand Vorn ripped the flimsy helmet off the Xeno with greater difficulty than he would have liked to admit. It was as if something had tried to keep it in place. As soon as the helmet was off the Xeno stopped struggling and starred, horror in its eyes.
An equine beast hung there, no more than 3 feet in height. It had 4 legs and an elongated snout. It appeared like a miniature version of the horses in old terrain myth. This was nothing to say about the yellow hair covering its entire body head to hoof though. Vorn remembered being told that the horses on earth had been natural colors.
Keeping the beast at arm's length Aldor asked in a monotone voice, “What is your foul race, what is this place, and why did you think you could best an Astartes in combat?” After all the Chaplins would reprimand him if he lost his temper and didn’t gather intel, he was no Templar.
The Xeno simply squeaked and shivered in the breeze as the words hit him.
“Answer my questions or I will rip your head from your body and be done with you”, Aldor stated, grabbing its head with his hand.
The creature answered quickly, “I’m a pony, this is the Crystal Empire and King Sombra told me too.” The Xeno began to cry, “Please don’t kill me, I was being controlled by Sombra. I am a good pony. Please don’t kill me.”
“Silence, what is your name Xeno and who is this King?”
“I’m Sunz Pike, and King Sombra is a tyrant who mind-controlled the entire empire,” responded Pike.
“Where is this so-called Empire located?”, questioned Aldor.
“Twenty miles to the west Sir, but you don’t want to go there. Further south is Equestria and Princess Celestia. She is much nicer.”
“Do you recognize my armor or my kind?”
“No Sir, you are the first yellow giant I have ever seen or heard about,” replied Pike slowly becoming louder and more confident.
“Do you have any radios or voxes?”
“Ummmm”, Sunz thought before responding, “I’ve never heard of either of those.”
“Curses, in the name of the Emperor have you heard of the Imperium of Man”
“No, are you lost Mr. Giant?” asked Sunz, a concerned expression on his face.
Snapping at the pony held aloft in front of him, “I am lost you Xeno, and pray that you can help me or I will rip your head from your shoulder if I am not satisfied.”
Flinching again Pike squeaked out, “Princess Celestia might be able to help.”
“And how would one make it to Princess Celestia?” vissed Vorn as he leaned in.
Time - 19:57
“I miss my home, it was beautiful,” said Sunz as he walked beside Vorn. “The mountains overhead towered over us and the mine delved deep. We would pull out the strongest iron ore. I wasn’t much of the miner myself, just the local guard.”
Vorn had been listening to Sunz talk all day. While it had been tough to get him to tell Vorn where Canterlot was, once he did Sunz did not stop talking. It started with the spires of Canterlot and the white walls with Golden turrets. Then onto the fields around the capital and a town called Ponyville. Topics from how the train was made to what Sunz favorite food was, which was a chocolate eclair, came up. Sunz had tried to be friends with Vorn. Asking his name, and where did he come from. More importantly, there was no awe like the Imperial Guards or the bows from the Serfs. There was no praying like the citizens of the Imperium at his presence. No fear was present either after their first meeting. Pike just prattled on all day even into the evening even when he began to get tired. Vorn spoke little but he couldn’t help but smile sometimes under his helmet when Pike spoke of peace and the wondrous structures of Canterlot.
Thud.
Turning his head Vorn saw a snoring Pike. The pony had landed snout first into the snow. Its hooves outstretched as its chest rose and fell.
“To leave the creature or to take it with me,” Aldor mumbled. Staring for just a moment Vorn swung a hand under the barrel of the little pony and gently laid it across his shoulders and power pack. Taking a moment he adjusted the vents so they gently blew air on the sleeping creature. The temperature outside was dropping fast, it had no effect on Vorn, but it would kill Sunz.
As the vents warmed the sleeping Pike, he began snoring once more, having forgotten the worries of the day. Refusing to rest Vorn pressed on. Vorn scowled as he moved, he hated caring for this equine creature but he had to reach Canterlot. To get there wasn’t the problem, getting inside peacefully would be though.
Day Two
Atmosphere - safe, less than 1% difference from standard
Temperature - -20 C (-4 F)
Suit Integrity - Green
Suit power - 73%
Ammunition - Bolter 75 shells, 1 grenade
Power fist - Operable
Time - 04:06
Vorn reflected on the fact that he hadn’t killed Sunz Pike right after. While a guide would be nice it certainly wasn’t necessary. He was an Astartes and more than capable of surviving on his own. The Xeno pony was weak and posed no threat to him either. Its coat was thin and matted in many places. Ribs and bones could be seen all over its body, the Xeno was malnourished no question about that. Aldor would need to reflect further on that choice. The codex didn’t forbid such an action but it didn’t condone such a deed either. Working with Xenos was only acceptable if it furthered the Imperium and its agents.
Yawning from his back, Pike peaked over his pauldron and asked, “Sgt Aldor didn’t you sleep?”
“I do not require sleep, it is unnecessary but once every fortnight Pike”, responded Vorn through his helmet.
“Really, I love sleeping. It is so nice. You should do it more, I’m sure it would make you happier.”
“I have nothing to be happy about, I can not perform my duty”.
“What is your duty?”, Sunz's interest peaked as he began rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“As I said earlier I am an Imperial Fist and an Angel of Death for he who rests on Terra. I defend the cradle of mankind and its imperium from those that would seek it harm.”
“Why would anyone want to be an Angel of death and why would someone want to harm your cradle?”
“It isn’t an actual cradle Pike, it is Mankind's original homeworld, our place of origination. Humanity has reached out to the stars and colonized them. I am an Angel of Death or a Space Marine because Xenos and heretics want to destroy mankind and everything the Emperor built.”
“That isn’t very nice of them to do that. I’m sure Celestia would help with that too once she has everything here fixed,” responded Sunz.
“If only it was that easy, we have waged war unending for ten thousand years. Such things don’t just end. I myself have only fought for the last 150 years.”
“We have only been fighting for 2 years and it has felt like a nightmare. How has everyone not died yet or given up?”, whined Sunz as he rested his head on Vorn’s helmet.
“Humanity does not wish to die and with faith in the Emperor we will continue to do so,” responded Vorn. “For now eat this and stay quiet. I do not know what enemies can see us in the early light.”
A hard piece of food was pressed into Pikes hooves as Vorn spoke. Taking a bite of it Pike almost puked from the taste. “GROSS, what is this?”
“I said to stay quiet, and it is a nutrient bar, it is not meant to taste good. Now eat it before I eat you.” barked Vorn
Taking another bite and choking it down, Sunz jokingly stated, “You won’t eat me Sgt you like me. And you need me to find Princess Celestia.”
“I do need you to find this Princess Celestia. What does she look like, height, coat color, and such?”
Dreamily Sunz responded “She is an alicorn and is much taller than me but I think shorter than you. Her coat is more white than this snow we walk on. Her mane is a flowing rainbow. She has wings and a longhorn. Her cutie mark is the sun because she raises it and lowers it.”
“The sun is not raised and lowered by a pony. This planet orbits the sun. Secondly, she has wings and a horn?”, retorted Vorn.
“Yes she does,” Sunz pouted, “She has always moved the Sun.”
Vorn stated, “No she doesn’t. But tell me about these wings and horn, you have neither of these.”
“Oh I’m an earth pony, she is an alicorn, the embodiment of all three races unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. The horn lets her use magic and the wings let her fly.”
“This Princess is a psycher and can fly? That is good information. You said she is nice, what do you mean by this?”
“She views all of us ponies as her children and we view her as our mother. She has watched over us for over a thousand years.”
“This Princess has lived over a thousand years? How long are your years and how long do normal ponies live?”
Thinking for a second Sunz responded, “365 days are in a normal year and my grandpa lived till he was about 100 but not everyone lives that long.”
“Fascinating, she hopefully is wise then.”
“She is very wise, she knows so much. She helped my family back when we owned our mine,” responded Sunz.
The conversation petered out at this point. Vorn settled into longer strides now that Sunz was awake. Continuing to carry the pony as to increase the speed at which he could move.
On Sunz part he didn’t mind, his entire body ached and was sore. He was full for the first time in forever and had actually slept peacefully.
The terrain moved by as Vorn jogged. Snow swirled in his wake but nothing was visible on the open tundra. The pair continued on in silence for many hours as Sunz drifted back in and out of sleep
Time - 09:37
Slowing to a halt Vorn took a battle stance as his helmet detected sounds carried over the winds. Rings and clashing could just barely be heard.
Being jarred awake by the halt Sunz asked, “Why did you stop, is there something wrong?”
“I believe I hear a primitive battle”
“A battle?! I don’t hear anything!”
“Trust me Sunz. I know the sound of battle anywhere,” Vorn calmly replied. “Now hold on tight I am going to scout and see who is fighting.”
“But it could be dangerous,” pleaded Sunz.
“Do not fear, I shall protect you. You have not fulfilled your duty of guiding me to Celestia.”
Shaking his legs, and clenching his fists Vorn launched himself into a run towards the sound of battles. The terrain blurred. Hills and snow piles merged into a white mass for Sunz. Vorn didn’t even begin to breathe hard. His lungs opened up in his chest cavity and his twin hearts began to pound. Chanting under his breath Vorn gave out a prayer.
“Praise be the Emperor and Omnissiah. Let my armor protect me, for as I care for it, it shall care for me. Let my fist and bolter lay waste to thy enemies. Let the Emperor guide my actions so that I can honor my chapter. Let the codex give me answers as Lord Guilliman intended. Let the Pretorian find righteousness in my actions. For thine is Imperium, the power, and glory external.”
Feet pounding up a hill the sounds of battle began to become a symphony. Cries of agony echoed as swords and spears clanged. Cresting over the hill Sgt Vorn Aldor saw the battle for the first time.