//------------------------------//
// We Will not Fail the Chapter 
// Story: PonyHammer 40,000: Magic of War | Dark March 
// by Dragon Heart 
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	Deep in the Crisa'lide Catacombs, Pony Marine scouts were retreating from Necrony Warriors coming after them. The scouts were outnumbered and outmatched.

"Fall back and regroup!" one of the scouts yelled as they galloped for their lives. They kept galloping at their retreating speed, but then Necronies covered in raw, bloody flesh crawled out of the dirt. They flexed their claw-like blades and were frighteningly demoralizing. The scouts slowly backed away from the gruesome monstrosities, but the Necrony Warriors trapped them between a rock and a hard place. They aimed their gauss blasters and fired while the flesh-covered Necronies closed in on them.

From afar, a Necrony, strangely different from all the others, watched the massacre. "Lucky creatures." the Necrony said softly. "At long last you have found the tranquility of death. I was like you, once, clinging to life and blind to the truth." All around, Necrony Warriors were moving about the catacombs while other Necronies, shaped like giant beetles, rose black structures from the ground. Necrony war machines, shaped like giant spiders with three-pronged pincers, were harvesting dead Necrony bodies.

"When I uncovered the truth," the Necrony continued, "I too shuddered and paled with fear. Deep in these catacombs, I was remade. Here, my brethren slumbered for eons while the living grew like weeds." Elsewhere, a Necrony with a bladed horn awoke and claimed his bladed staff with his sinister green magic. "My Lord knew this day would come. He had plans for us all. We would purge this world once more. So come, poor victims of life. We will grant you tranquility in these crypts. Cronus will be a Tomb World once more." At a relic, a specter wielding a large scythe overlooked everything before it, and it wailed a low screech.


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The Blood Phoenixes' base was set up and the darkness of the catacombs was not very welcoming indeed. A Pony Marine approached Goliath with news.

"Captain." said the Marine, "The TechDrakes report that the plasma bomb is ready."

"Thank you, Sibling." said Nule. "We must now deliver it into the belly of these xenos catacombs and bring the sky crashing down upon these Necronies."

"Though it may cost our lives, we will not fail the Chapter." the Marine said.

"We fail if we give our lives needlessly, Sibling." Goliath stated. "To die in the Chapter's service is praiseworthy, but not if it leaves us without the means to fight the battles to come."

"Your leadership is our most valuable resource, Captain." the Marine said. "You above all must survive to continue the campaign."

The Captain smiled. "And so I will, Sibling."