Fulminata- A Warhammer 40,000 Story

Incursions

The two shared a laugh before grabbing each other's vambraces.

"It's good to see you again, Theos," Gladio laughed.

"Will you be staying?" Theos asked as he walked back towards the barricade. "It would be an honor to have the 2nd Captain fight alongside us."

Gladio chuckled. "Perhaps, but I still have other duties to attend to. I've been ordered to-"

All chatter in the hall stopped as a magnificent figure strode towards them. He stood tall, even for an Astartes, and his white armor shone more than any other Fulminata.

"Kaeso," Gladio called out. "I thought you had matters on the bridge?"

"Titus can deal with them," Kaeso replied. "My place is here, with my Chapter."

Gladio shook his head. Titus, of course, deserved to fight on the front lines too. He was a fierce warrior, and embodied everything a true Fulminata should be. Fate had not been kind to Titus, however. In one of the recent battles, he had been nearly killed by a crazed Greenskin crashing his cobbled-together jet right into Titus. It had been a miracle that Titus had even survived, but he had become more machine than man, and hadn't been authorized by the Apothecary to return to combat. He had been consigned to be an aide in the bridge ever since.

Gladio's heart was filled with sorrow when he thought of Titus. He had deserved better.

"We're expecting another assault soon," Theos spoke, "I don't know why they're taking so long, but I don't like it."

Kaeso nodded. "Very well. Have you heard any word from the lower decks? Titus has not been able to reach them through Vox nets."

"We've been able to pick up a little," Theos said, "But not much. We've been having similar problems. We haven't heard any distress signals at the very least."

"Very good, Lieutenant," Kaeso said, "Keep trying to reach them. I want statues reports from every deck as soon as possible. Relay them to Titus if possible."

Theos nodded. "Of course, sir."

Kaeso's Vox clicked. Some jumbled words came over, but Gladio couldn't hear any of it. He saw Kaeso's face darken as the words came. He cursed under his breath.

"Gladio, with me." He spun on his heel and walked back the way him came.

"Sir?" Gladio asked, speeding up his step to catch up with the Chapter Master.

"Daemonic incursion. The bridge is under attack."

Gladio nodded, readying his Bolter.

Cicero heard a sharp hiss behind him, like that of an animal. His sword was already in his hand before the sound had already finished. He swept behind him, cleaving a Bloodletter in half that hadn't even finished materializing yet.

"Incursion!" Cicero shouted.

"Yeah," Anius responded, slamming his fist into the head of another Bloodletter, "I can tell."

Anius grabbed his bolter from off a nearby rack, and began firing it at Bloodletters materializing in the armory. The harsh, thumping cracks of the Bolter filling the room. Cicero continued fighting with his Power-Sword. He easily parried the swings of the Bloodletters'' swords, practically messy compared to the elegant sword-play of the 1st Captain. The Astartes physiology enhanced his movement and reaction time, but only days in the practice cage could sharpen a mortal's skill to the level of Cicero.

The energy of the Power-Sword easily sliced through the Daemons of Khorne. Dozens of them materialized in the Armory, but none could take the two Captains. Anius had always been a crack shot, never missing a single shot in the skirmish. The dazzling display of marshal prowess that Cicero displayed would impress any Astartes.

After a few short, intense minutes, the Bloodletters were finished. Their corpses were strewn across the armory, slowly disintegrating into ash.

"Well," Anius said between breaths, "They're certainly getting bolder."

Cicero nodded, the blood evaporatingfrom his sword.

Theos glanced at the Chapter Master as he left with Gladio in tow. He raised his eyebrow. Kaeso seemed to be... off. A regular rank-and-file soldier wouldn't notice, but Theos had been promoted personally by Kaeso. He knew the man well. The Chapter Master seemed to be bounding around, unsure of what he can do to help. Kaeso couldn't fix the problem, and he didn't like it.

"Contact!"

Theos snapped to attention, pulling his Bolter up to his chest, and diving towards the barricade. He quickly popped over the barricade to see Bloodletters materializing in their ship. He brought his Bolter up to bear and began firing alongside the other Astartes.

The cracking bolter-fire filling the hallway as Bolts began to tear down the Bloodletters. Each Astartes was an expert marksman, far greater than any unaugmented human to hope to achieve. Though it took multiple shots to fell a Bloodletter, every single one of those shots found its mark.

There were too many, however. One jumped onto the barricade, slicing its sword down one of Theos's battle-brothers, Cimric. The Astartes fell to the floor, pulling out his Bolt pistol and shooting the Daemon through its skull, even as blood pumped from the gaping wound in Cimric's chest.

More Bloodlettersmanaged to clamber over the barricade, their tongues whipping around theirfaces in delight in a possible bloody slaughter. Devilish, sickly grins twistedthe faces of the Daemons as they wheeled their swords towards the Astartes.