Kill-Team Theron: Operation Corpse Song

The Space Hulk, Edifice of Dispare, has remerged into the material relm following a two-hundred year absence. A distress call rings out from its tiwsted form, one bearing the mark of the Inquisition. Kill-Team Theron will scour the Hulk for the Inquisitor Lord Calum Dorsis, and hopefully return with knowlege that will benefit the Imperium... if they return at all.

Chapter One: A Sirens Song
He had to be hearing things again.

Martin Holland, personal Astropath to Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Jorden Moris, looked over the shoulder of Namius Tabrin, The Red Oddessy's Cheif Navigator, to see the twisted and warped hunk of steel and adamantium that loomed in the Black Ships veiwscreen. He had never in his short life seen anything so gargantuan, so alien, so... sinister. As he stepped out from behind the Navigators throne and looked upon the Hulk, he realized why the called it the ''Edifice of Dispare. ''He stood motionless, caught in the still chaos that was the hulk, bulkheads twisted this way and that, enitre hulls warped and moulded into insaine shapes and forms. He fought back a queasy feeling and forced himself to look away. He was startled when he heard, or rather, felt something whisper his name. It wasen't unusual for him to hear voices, but rarely did they come in so clear... so... strongly. A firm hand on his shoulder rudely yanked him back to reality as he stifled a small yelp.

"Boy." The Navagator spoke firmly, "Inform the Sector Command that we have a visual on the Hulk, and are awaiting the Inquisitors orders." The Navagator had a tacturn but not overly unkind face, though his anceint and heavily wrinkled features may have had something to do with his sagely apperence. His white main of hair was long but receding at the forehead, and his moustache cascaded down his lavishly robbed body to his waist. His dark brown eyes spoke of great wisdom and nobility. Martin nodded, wondering just how old the Navagator was, but dutifully pushed those thoughts aside as he prepaired and sent the message.

The Navagator stared impassively at the hulk, for it was not the first he had seen one, still he felt the aura of evil that permiated each and every one of them. It was always distinct, the dread one felt looking at the mauled and twisted cluster of metal, but it ceced to bother Namius long ago. He didn't take his eyes off it for a second though, not even when one of his attendants presented him with his daily glass of citrus juice. He sipped the tart beverage lightly, enjoying the flavor as it ran down his throat. "Boy." he adressed the young Astropath, "See that the Inquisitor receives this." One of the Navagators attenants passed a dataslate to Martin. "Yes sir." He dutifully bowed and hurried out off the bridge, thankfull to be away from the veiw of the Hulk.

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A clash of blades echoed throught the arena. Two figures locked in a struggle of wills and ability, a battle that would never end. One bore the skull and laurles of the Lords Exemplar, while the other was marked with the fanged skull of the Marines Baleful. The other members of the Kill-Team stood at the sidelines, accompanied by one mortal figure.

"They are really at it this time." Murmered Takashi, his bionic eye studing both marines intently. "Aye," Calos responded "I think it has something to do with Specters comment, about the cloak." Takashi smirked, remebering fondly the Marines Balefuls jab at the Lords Exemplars need for flare. His gaze passed over the Watch Captain and the Apothacary, who were likewise captivated by the struggle of egos that took place before them, while the Sniper tended to his wargear for a second time and the Black Sheild had found a distant spot to meditate. Then Takashi's gaze was met by another one, cool, green eyes stared back at his own for but a moment before casually breaking off to return to the sparing marines. Takashi breifly studied the owner of those green eyes, he was easily dwarfed by the Space Marines that surrounded him, yet he stood as if he were the largest man in the room. He exuded an aura of dominance, of raw ferocity that was belied by his lithe but muscular form.

Ferdinand Rotter, Acolyte of the Inquisitor, met the Imperial Hounds gaze for only a moment, but that was all he needed. He was hardly interested in the Space Marines that duled before him, he had seen them spar over trivial egos enough to understand that neither would defeat the other. He was bored, as impossible as it might seem, but he had just formulated a plan to entertain himself. He waited for a lull in the pace of the battle before him, and then let loose a sharp whistle. Edge, the Deathwatch Sniper, twitched slightly, he knew that tone from his own youth in the ruined hives of his homeworld. It was the kind of whistle that heralded a block war between gangs. Though no such war would happen here, its malevolent nature was unmistakeable. All eyes fell on the human, now cracking a lopsided grin.

"Now, don't anyone take this the wrong way." He started, spreading his hands innocently and glancing down to avoid the firey gaze from Nerus' bionic eye. "But, we all know this little pissing contest of yours," he jestured to both the Marines, "is goin' nowhere." He confidently, almost arrogently, swaggered into the arena, stopping just short of the duleists.

"You little-" Nerus started, only to be cut off by the Acolytes raised hand, "Please, lemme finish." Ferdinand spun on his heel to face the rest of the Kill-Team, "I'm just suggesten' we try somthing new." Specter shouldered his way past Nerus, eyes boring into the back of the humans head, "What do you mean 'something new'?" Ferdinand's boney finger shot out at Takashi, "I'm sayen', you two tag team Beastheart there."

Takashi exchanged startled glances with Calos, both more than a little surprised by the mortals audacity. Nerus was practically shaking with indignation "Listen here, boy!" he practically spat "We are Space Marines! Not your Throne Damned playthi-" Specter cut the Lords Exemplar off, "What do you wager if we win?" "If?!" Nerus snarled. Takashi glared at Nerus, the slight was more than enough to get him interested in the wager.

"I'll polish both your sets of gear for the rest of the month." The Acolyte extended his hand, but right as Nerus reached for it he added, "But if you lose, I get to do what I want to those cloaks of yours." Nerus immidately recoiled from the young mans hand like he was a venomous serpent, only to have Specter firmly grasp it in his place. "Deal." Specter gave Takashi a sideways glance, reciving the Imperial Hounds nod as the final agreement.

Takashi took to the arena, it was at this moment that Kris realized he had never seen the Imperial Hound in the sparing ring before. Though he knew well the Imperial Hound was no weak link in hand to hand combat, he had his reservations about his abilites against fellow Space Marines, especially the like of Specter and Nerus.

Takashi gripped the handle of his cerimonial power sword, and stood montionless, still and resloute as a statue. Nerus slowly moved to his left, mirrioring Specter as he moved to the right flank of their oppenent. Rather than follow his opponents, Takashi kept his gaze locked on the patch of ground not but a few feet in front of him, performing the minute muscle exersizes that had been drilled into him since his tenth year. He remebered those days, though vaugely, holding his current stance for hours, even days at a time until every muscle screamed for relese. But as he did then, he stood montionless.

Calos had seen this side of Takashi before, when the boysterous humor subsided and he became as cold as steel, two different warriors.

Nerus took the first lunge, left power sword screaming twoards Takashi's throat with blinding speed, but they met another blade in a flash of light and motion. Nerus was shocked at the sheer speed at which his opponent moved, and stuggled to bring his right blade to bare as the Imperial Hound lept to the side, spinning and bringing his blade in a wide arc to his opponents midsection. Nerus blocked expertly but was sent reeling when Takashi's right foot came up with blinding speed and crashed against his face. Specter lunged, claws aiming for his targets back, but was halted midair as Takashi's left foot slammed into his chest with a mighty clap.

All those who witnessed this dispaly of sheer skill were stunned, not even Gridar, with his extensive knowlege of each members bioloigy, expected Takashi to be capable of such a feat as keeping both Nerus and Specter at bay, let alone putting them on the defenceive.

Nerus redoubled his efforts, shifting to a style reminicant of the great sword duelists of anceint Terra, blades pointed at his foe as they surged forth. Takashi countered both blades with a sweep of his own, and slammed his shoulder into Nerus, sending him tumbling back. Nerus regained his footing just in time to block a downwards stroke, and brought his free blade up in a savage stabbing motion, looking to flay his target. Takashi lept back, narrowly escaping Nerus' furry. Specter saw his opening, rushing forth with a left handed swing, whole body soring through the air like a feline predator twoards his target. Takashi spun into the blow, knocking his foes strike away with the flat of his blade and bringing his elbow sharply into his face, sending Specter sprawling next to Nerus. The two took a moment to look at one another, quickly, without a word, the two formulated a plan of attack.

Both Space Marines stood, pacing slowly twoards their target who had taken the stance of his Chapter, arms slung out before him, blade level at his foes. Nerus and Specter picked up their pace, rapidly closing the gap between them and their foe, weaving inbetween one another like a pair of serpents as they sprinted. Both lunged at their target simoultaniously, Nerus sliding on a knee, bringing his blade to bear at his foes legs, while Specter lept into the air, claws rushing twoards Takashi's throat like a pair of crackiling missiles. In one blur of motion, Takashi had Nerus on his knees, his own blade pointed at his throat, and Specter flat on his back, Takashi's own blade pointed at his throat.

There was a stunned scilence that filled the arena, save for Ferdinands content applause. "Nice work there Beastheart!" "Now Nerus if you don't mind?"

Takashi offered a hand to Specter, who took it. With one motion Takashi hauled up his fellow Space Marine, who gave the Imepiral Hound a good natured pat on the shoulder. Takashi then offered Nerus the same kindness, only to have the Lords Exemplar bat his hand away, making in intelligble snarl as he did so. As Nerus hauled himself up and Ferdinand approached him, the bell tolled. They had arrived.

"You heard it Theron," Gridar bellowed "to the breifing room!"

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Martin hurried through the narrow corridors of the Black Ship, moving with as much haste as possible to the Inquisitors quarters. Suddenly he felt a hand on his collar and then two gloved hands clasped over his eyes. He was paniced and confused, but only for a moment, he knew full well whos hands blocked his vision.

"Going somewhere?" A soft, familliar voice cooed. "Sasha, I d-don't have time. I know I promised bu-" He was rapidly spun around to face a pair of large, feline eyes. "Jorden can wait for that data slate. I mean, its not like the hulks going anywhere, right?" The young felinid pilot squeezed her psyker lover tight, causing him to squrim uncomfortably. "L-l-look Sasha this is important! I promise we can-" "C'mooooon!" She wined, lightly shaking him. He took a moment to take in her apperence, the black Inquisitorial uniform did not conceal her lithe, shapely form, but it did cover all but her eyes, which were large and shared obvious cat like qualites. "Fine, fine!" Martin gave in, more out of fear for Sasha and her highly emotional tirades when she was denied than any outward lust. She yanked him into a nearby room and shoved himself up against the nearest wall, it was exremely dark, save for Sasha's glowing feline eyes as she yanked down the bandana that covered her face. Her feline features were in no way offputting to Martin, it wasen't her form that brought them together, it was the fact that of all Jordens retniue, she was the only one who was personable to him, who treated him as more than a tool or danger due to his mutation. Sasha in kind related to the young man two years her jounior, outcast and akward, unsure of the world, just as she was so far from her homeworld and everyone she knew.

They shared a passionant kiss, a loving embrace holding them together, feeling one another warmth in an otherwise cold and hostile univerese. Then the lights rudely tore them from their reverie. Sasha whirled around, refastening her bandana with superhuman speed, her eyes met the pale, dead eyes of a born killer. He didn't speak, he simply shoved the felinid aside and roughly grabed the Astropath by his collar. "Glaw! I can e-e-expla-" Damon Glaw, Afriel Strain Solider and by far one of the most deadly members of the retniue, backhanded Martin with brutal force, and yanked the data slate from his hand. Before he made his way out the door, the clone of famed Commissar Sebastian Yarrick uttered one phrase, "Indolance begets weakness, weakness begets heresy, heresy... begets damnation."

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The Kill-Team had assembled in the briefing room, standing before them was Jorden Moris, looking stern as usual, accompanied by Sister Superior Isador, who's pale blue eyes regarded the assembled Space Marines with a mixture of reverence and awe, Hector the servo skull, who hovered sliently over the Inquisitors shoulder, and Chev, the Inquisitor's faithful Cyber-Mastiff, his tail wagging in a surprisingly friendly way for a lethal killing machine. Jorden nodded to the Kill-Team before powering up the holoprojector, which displayed a massive, twisted mass of long-dead ships, the Space Hulk no doubt.

"As you probably know, the Edifice of Despair an ancient Hulk, dating back to before the even Imperium existed." Jorden said, gesturing towards the holo-projection. "This is the very reason that Calum Dorsis, Lord Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos, was so interested in it. 80 years ago, he boarded the Edifice with an elite team of Inquisitorial opratives and Storm Troopers. None of them returned."

"What was the Inquisitor looking for?" asked Specter, suddenly interested. He had dealt with a Space Hulk once before, the Blood of the Warp. The Marine Baleful still remebered the narrow corridors, the darkend expanses, and most of all, the hordes of Genestealers. He had lost many good battle-brothers in that Hulk.

"A powerful archotech weapon from the Dark Ages, supposedly able to devastate entire cities with it's power." Jorden responded. "The exact specifics are unknown, but Calum was determined to retrieve it before it fell into the wrong hands."

Calos gave an amused chuckle. "And now you want us to retrieve it. Sounds fun, but what sort resistance awaits us?"

Jorden payed the remark no mind, having long gotten used to the Sentinel's sense of humor. "Bio-scans have revealed a colony of Gene-Stealers lurking aboard the Edifice, but that's nothing new. What is troubling is that our Astropath has been detecting strange psychic emanations coming from the hulk, possibly a side effect of the weapon. Either way, be cautious.

"As if we weren't going to be." grunted Nerus, still fuming over his bout with Takashi and the loss of his cloak.

Ignoring the moody Lord Exemplar, Jorden continued. "We received a Inquisitorial distress beacon from deep within the hulk, making your mission thus; find the source of the distress beacon, recover the archotech weapon, and if Lord Inquisitor Calum is alive, then recover him as well."

Kris whistled, a low, sharp sound. "That's quite the tall order Inquisitor."

Jorden almost smiled at the Watch Captain's reply. "If I doubted Kill-Team Theron's abilities, then I wouldn't be sending you."

"Point taken." said the Golem, turning to his team. "Kill-Team Theron, move out!"

Jorden brooded over the Holo-Projector long after the Kill-Team had left the briefing room, staring intently at the projection of the Space Hulk. There was a niggling doubt settling in his gut, something that had been bothering him the entire time. Inquisitor Calum had bored the Edifice of Despair with more than enough manpower at his back to taken on an army, let alone a Space Hulk. So why had the Lord Inquisitor disapeared? He still had no answers. The door to the briefing room swung open, revealing the armored form of Damon Glaw.

"Sir." said the Afriel Strain Soldier, giving him a curt salute before handing him a data-slate. Glaw was flanked by Raul Ruiz, a mercenary who had joined Jordens retinue some time ago. He smoked an Iho-Stick as usual, and wore his shaded lenses. His pale skin was almost as colorless as that of the Afriel Strain that stood beside him.

"What's this?" said Jorden, taking the slate and looking over it's contents. His eyes slowly widened with shock as the horrifying significance of the data-slates contents dawned upon him.

"Has Kill-Team Theron departed yet?" he demanded with urgency in his voice.

"Yes sir." said Glaw, who seemed unperturbed by his superior's plight.

"Throne dammit!" swore the Inquisitor. "Get them on the vox, NOW!"

Chapter Two: Serpents
They were waiting.

Therons boarding pods tore through the thick walls of the Space Hulk, making the continous groan of steel against steel. Kris stoot at the very front of the pod, flanked by Sakael and Gridar, his hand firmly gasping the handhold above him. His vision remained locked forwards, watching the armored door of the pod intently. He always felt uneasy within Space Hulks, they reeked of xenos and chaotic scum, and the walls were twisted and warped by fell forces. Were it his command, he would see this almagamation of sin and taint blasted to oblivion, its fragments scattered to the stars.

Sakael murmered in prayer, his voice drowned out by the constant and all consuming sound of the pod boring deeper and deeper into the Hulk. He prayed to the Emepror, and his Primarch, to bless him with the strength to purify the path that lay before him and his brothers, and to grant him a death worthy of their forgivness.

Gridar checked and rechecked his medical supplies, and monitered the vitals of each of his fellow Marines, his musings were innterupted by Calos and Takashi's idle chatter. "Have you ever even cleared a Hulk before Beastheart?" Takashi ran a quick double check on his Plasma Cannons components, making sure they were in order, it had never malfunctioned on him before and he prayed the Omnimessiah would not abandon him now. "No, but I have taken on more than my fair share of Genestealers." Calos chuckled, "Haven't we all?"

The crack and thrum of power claws grating against themselves brought their attention to Specter, who was running his claws across themselves anxiously, "Whatever you do, don't let them corner you, and take precise shots, you will be out of ammo before you know it."

Nerus snorted at Spectrers advice, his mood doubley insufferable due to the loss of his cloak, "Every Scout worth seeding knows that! I still cannot beleive we haven't been outfitted with Terminator armor! It is an outrage!"