Cob Wargaming: 40k Narrative campaign finale

The Fate of Mechan 44

The Taint of Mechan: Final Mission battle report.

This is the final part of our 40k narrative campaign. Parts one, two, three, four and five are also available to view. Click the button below to read all about the Campaign structure and access all previous battle reports.

The Taint of Mechan 44

The Fate of Mechan 44 – Prologue

Lorentus’ Secret.

Lorentus sat patiently in the shadowed corner of his chamber; the faint light that radiated from the grand desk in the centre of his chamber barely illuminated his sillhoutte. But in the darkness the gleam of his remaining eye still sparkled as his gazed fixed stoically onto Captain Sejanus who slid his hulking frame into the room with a strange form of grace. Sejanus lowered himself to his knee before his Master and bowed his head low.

“There is no need,” Lorentus said quietly, “Please.” Sejanus’ confusion registered on his face only as a slight furrow of his brow. He raised himself back to his full height before his Master whose keen eye was still gazing at his favoured Captain.

“You called for me,” Sejanus said.

“I did,” Lorentus replied with a solemn ring to his voice. Sejanus had so often heard and sometimes rightly feared the booming commanding resonance of his Chapter Master’s voice, but here in his empty Chamber his voice seemed frail.

It rang with the eerie chime of a defeated man.

A silence passed between them. Sejanus took the time to study his master’s form as they exchanged a silent conversation of stares. He could see in the darkness that Lorentus was not clad in his ornate armour, and instead sat in his almost naked form. It was a rarity and indeed a privilege to see him like this. The remaining half of his face was the only flesh that still existed, the rest of him was a skeletal robotic form, made up of a mix-mash of Bionics collected over the centuries in countless bloody battles. Even in the faint light Sejanus could see the cogs and gears of Lorentus’ body turning, the bare mechanics of all his joints and muscles, the hinges, pipes and engines that kept his body running. Some of these mechanisms would be centuries old, Lorentus was as much a relic as he was a marvel, his body a mechanical masterpiece wrought with the skill of Engineers and Apothicaries that spanned generations. His form was what the Bloodless strove for, aimed for, and Sejanus marvelled at his Master’s progress and achievements, and felt the pang of pride he felt mix with that of jealousy.

Sejanus had a long way to go before he could resemble such a perfect Bloodless Warrior.

“We are nearing the end,” Lorentus said suddenly, his soft words cutting through Sejanus’ thoughts like the shell of Battle Cannon.

“Indeed,” Sejanus replied.

“Two hundred years,” Lorentus spoke loftily, “Two hundred years since Mechan was lost to us,”

“She is lost to us no longer,” Sejanus spoke proudly. Lorentus stayed silent, and Sejanus shifted uncomfortably on his feet as his words hung hideously in the air.

“Whilst the taint of Chaos remains here, she is and always will be lost to us,” Lorentus said flatly, “She was lost to us the moment the first foot of the first heretic set foot on our home,” Sejanus felt his cheeks flush with a deep shame and indeed his head bowed involuntarily. “Evil is the greatest enemy of progression,” Lorentus said suddenly, “Mankind is the greatest force of progression to ever exist, we strive to champion the force of change, and evil has always been at our heels, clicking at them, and dragging us back into the darkness of our ignorance. I wished you could have seen Mechan in all its glory Captain Sejanus,” Lorentus said with a great smile worming onto the scant flesh of his face, “Our home was a marvel, a hive of brilliant minds and new ideas. The greatest leaders, fighters and worshippers would have been born and bred here. The greatest of Mankind’s achievements were being accomplished within our libraries, factories and laboratories. Our home was a testament to the power of the human mind and spirit. Mechan was progression at its finest.” The gleam in Lorentus’ eye glimmered violently now, as it welled with tears. “We held in our hands the jewel in the crown of the Emperor. And we lost it. I lost it.” Sejanus opened his mouth to protest. The bravery and heroism of those who tried to defy those overwhelming odds was well documented, and indeed, even the forces of Chaos showed a rare glimmer of respect and awe at the defiance of the defenders of Mechan. But Lorentus silenced him quickly.

“We lost it, because we deserved too,” Lorentus said so silently it was almost a whisper.

“I don’t understand sir,” Sejanus said quickly.

“We were not visited by evil on that day Captain,” Lorentus stood now and stepped towards Sejanus his robotic frame moving swiftly and silently. “We invited evil, we welcomed the enemy of progression.”

“Sir,” Sejanus said alarmed, “You’re not making sense.” Lorentus stood before Sejanus now, his body illuminated now in all its glory. Sejanus could not help but cast his eyes on the intricate workings of his master’s robotic form.

“I have lived through much,” Lorentus stated plainly, “In fact, I have lived too much. I lived through that fell campaign, when the evil we enticed to us, finally came. On that final day, when Boltan fell, when Mechan breathed its last breath. I did not. I survived. I survived a day I should not. And I have lived and survived many more after that.” Lorentus lifted a skeletal, mechanical hand and placed it delicately upon Sejanus’ shoulder. It was strange to feel the warmth of a human touch radiate through a robotic hand. “I do not intend to live through another.” Sejanus recoiled in horror at these words, and Lorentus’ hand fell gently back to his side.

“What are you saying?” Sejanus demanded, so angrily he bared his teeth, forgetting his place in an instant.

“If I should fall.” Lorentus said softly, “Let me remain fallen.” Sejanus recoiled again as if he hand been struck. “That is an order.”

“It is an order I cannot follow,” Sejanus boomed defiantly.

“You can, and you will.” Lorentus said equally as fiercely. “It is an order that does not come from myself, Sejanus, but from the Emperor himself. I have escaped his judgement for too long now. I have done so knowingly, I have delayed his righteous vengeance for good reason, I had to help reclaim our homeland.” Lorentus fixed a cool eye onto Sejanus and held his gaze in a grip of iron, “More importantly, I had to ensure a suitable successor had been found, to rebuild our Chapter and our home. It has been a long wait Captain Sejanus, but at last I have found such a successor. It has been two hundred years, but I have finally found you.” Sejanus felt his mouth drop open involuntarily, it was an action not of shock or surprise but of horror.

“I could not.” He began, his words clawed drily out of his mouth, “It is an honour sir, of course. But I could not replace you,”

“Someone must,” Lorentus said flatly, “The Emperor has waited too long for me to repent for my failings. For our failings. I will not make him wait any longer.”

“Your service has been flawless. Your dedication unquestionable Master Lorentus. What could you possibly have to repent for?”

A long silence passed between them. Lorentus looked gravely into the eyes of his favoured Captain and a look of grim resolve settled over the sparse flesh of his brow.

“Every Chapter has its secrets,” Lorentus began, “Most are legend and rumour, but even those myths hold at least some truth. Only a Chapter Master may know which legends are true, and it is the duty of a Chapter Master to know and guard those secrets and ensure they remain nothing more than speculation,” Lorentus lowered his eye to the floor. “I have kept the secret for centuries, and I expect you to keep it for many more centuries to come.” Sejanus opened his mouth to protest, but he could not find the words.

Instead all he had was curiosity. A curiosity that froze his tongue and sent his mind racing.

“I have lost count now,” Lorentus began, “The first time I fell, I was only a Battle Brother, a lifetime ago. I can still feel the blade slipping through my ribs if I cast my mind back far enough, I can still remember what it felt like to lie there feeling my blood seep into the ground beneath me,” Lorentus allowed a small, almost warm smile to illuminate his face. “I feared the darkness of death, in those final moments. I am not ashamed to admit that. Even the last time I fell, in the Ruins of Caltar I feared that darkness, although I had seen it countless times before. Did you not wonder Sejanus? Did you not wonder how I survived? After so many saw me fall?”

Sejanus remained silent. He had heard whispers and rumours from the men about how Lorentus had been laid low. Brother Marxus was an incredible healer, one of the best to ever to serve the Chapter, but from the reports Sejanus had heard of Lorentus’ injuries, even he had believed that Lorentus was beyond even Marxus’ talents.

“Progression,” Lorentus continued, “Mechan was progression at its finest. We created much more than marvels in our laboratories Sejanus. We created miracles.” Sejanus watched as his Master now let his hand wander to his robotic chest. The mechanical fingers unclasped and unknitted the robotic flesh their and peeled it open. Sejanus watched in awe as Lorentus opened his chest cavity before him, allowing him to see the most inner and intricate workings of Lorentus’ mechanical body. At first Sejanus did not understand what he was looking at, the shock at what he saw stalled his mind. But soon his mind cleared, and he saw; not only that, he understood.

What he saw was a heart. A beating heart, nestled in amongst the workings of wires, gears and pipes. A human heart that pulsed rhythmically and gently. But the soft, velvety red muscle of the organ was not there, instead it was a shining, brilliant silver, the flesh was in fact metal. Sejanus could see his reflection shine it’s its brilliant surface, he could see the rivets that held the metal together…and yet, it moved with life, its tough surface moved with the delicacy of an intricate organ.

It was a heart yes. A beating metallic heart.

“We have mastered bionics over the centuries,” Lorentus said softly now, his voice resounding with a note of shame now, as he bared his open heart to Sejanus, “We have managed to replace limbs, we have cured blindness with bionic eyes, and eradicated paralysis from mankind. But here on Mechan we went a step further. We cured death.” Sejanus felt a cold sweat form on his brow, Lorentus’ tone became low; his Master’s voice that often rang with a righteous zeal suddenly sounded darker.

It suddenly sounded tainted.

“Lazarantium,” Lorentus said quietly, “That was what they called it. A metal that could replace the flesh entirely. A metal that lived and breathed, a metal that could replace the beating muscle of a heart or store memories and sustain neurons like a human brain. A metal that works like the flesh, but without its flaws. It never ages, it never tires. It feels no pain and is all but indestructible. A flesh that never bleeds, that never dies, a flesh made of metal.” Lorentus’ voice lowered to that of a dreaded whisper. “You will have seen such things before.”

“Yes,” Sejanus replied, even though he barely heard himself speak. He had seen such things yes. On the Daemon Engines and Hellish Daemon-forged creations that the Heretics of Chaos led into battle. And here stood Sejanus’ Master, with a heart forged of a similar hellish creation. “A miracle.” Sejanus said in a hushed tone, his shock and horror it his master’s confession made him forget his place when he added with a hiss: “This is no miracle. This is heresy.”

“It was supposed to be free of corruption,” Lorentus began, “Lazarantium would save Mankind. An entire human population wrought with it, billions of men and women that would never die, only grow in strength and number. A population that could conquer this galaxy. And the next. And the next. Spreading the wisdom and the progression of Mankind throughout the stars.” Lorentus placed his metallic hand around his beating heart. A heart that Sejanus now regarded with a horrified disgust. “There were only two of us selected. To test it. Our corpses taken from the battlefield and our broken, dead organs, restored and replaced with Lazarantium. We awoke from the eternal sleep of death. Restored. Alive. Ready to serve the Emperor once again. It appeared it was a success.” Lorentus gently closed his open chest cavity, and the pulsating, sickening metal organ was hidden from Sejanus’ disapproving stare. “But of course, the power to stay the hand of death, is a power that Mankind is not, nor never will be, able to handle.” Lorentus turned now, and returned to his seat in the shadowy corner of the chamber. “I shall not say his true name. It has been stricken from the records of our Chapter and our history. To even mention it would be an insult to the Emperor for his betrayal rivalled that of Horus himself. Instead I shall call him by a name that will be more familiar to you. Despotus.” Sejanus’ teeth knitted together with an involuntary hatred, for the Bloodless would never have an enemy as hated as Lord Despotus. Sejanus stared long into the eyes of his Master before he finally managed to ask with a furious growl.

“He was one of us?” Lorentus nodded solemnly before adding:

“I fought alongside him once. When I called him Brother. In fact we first fell on the same battlefield. I remember embracing him on that day we both returned to the land of the living. But he was changed. We do not know what changed him, whether it was remembering the horrors of his first death or whether the power of immortality was too much for him. His fascination with death became all too apparent, it became almost like an addiction to him. He would charge headlong into the fray, break rank, defy orders, all to seek out that final judgement he had evaded. He would hunt out death, almost desperate to find a way to destroy himself. I have seen him crushed beneath the Tank Treads of a Land Raider and obliterated by Lascannons. And each time he returned to us he would have slipped further from the Emperor.” Lorentus messaged his brow with his robotic fingers, his head bowing even further. Sejanus watched him, his stomach churning and heart racing. This was a conversation he wanted no part in. It was a secret he did not wish to know, let alone keep. “He fell to Chaos, of course,” Lorentus continued with a solemn and flat voice. “He butchered his way out of Mechan when we tried to capture him. For killing him would be nigh impossible. He escaped our grip, and of course we knew one day he would return. And return he did. With his entire Dark Crusade at his back. He left us a humble Battle Brother, and returned as an engorged Chaos Lord. The Dark Gods gifted him well for his Heresy.” Lorentus looked back at Sejanus now, his face fixed with a look of grim sadness.

“And so the evil we created, the evil we sent out into the galaxy, returned to us. He knew our planet and our cities well, we stood little chance of defending it. At first we thought he had returned for revenge. But we soon realised he was back for a purpose much greater than destroying Mechan 44. He had returned for the Lazarantium. He had returned to forge an eternal army, an immortal crusade that would conquer the stars in his name. We managed to hold them back long enough to destroy all of our research, our remaining samples and equipment for forging Lazarantium. If that had gotten into the hands of the Chaos Gods, then we would have all indeed, been doomed. Once our factories and laboratories were destroyed all that remained of the Lazarantium was the first two test subjects. Despotus. And myself. We knew we had to destroy him. We knew that capture was the only real way to dismantle his immortal form. We tried, but we were outnumbered. Capturing him was not an option. And so. Master Boltan tried to destroy him himself. He sacrificed himself to slay Despotus.” The realisation dawned quickly to Sejanus. It was an epiphany that hit him like a Tank Shell.

“But he didn’t destroy him.” Sejanus said flatly, “It is Boltan’s legacy that he slew Despotus and that legacy is a myth. The legend is a lie.” Lorentus nodded.

“He laid Despotus low yes. Just enough to stall the enemy forces and cover our retreat. But Despotus did not stay slain for long.”

“He still lives.” Sejanus spat.

“He does.” Lorentus sighed, “He still rules Mechan 44 today,” Sejanus took a sharp step towards Lorentus, and swore he saw his Master flinch in the darkness at the fierceness and violence of the movement.

“He is here?” Sejanus asked angrily.

“He is,” Lorentus’ lips became a thin white ghostly line stretching across his pale face. “We will face him on the Battlefield tomorrow.” Lorentus stood now, and the gravitas and authority he radiated now was unquestionable. They had conversed as equals up until now, and that informality was instantly forgotten as he fell to his knee before his master. “If I should fall. I will remain fallen Captain. And if we slay Despotus, you will ensure he remains slain. Despotus and I will die, and the folly of the Bloodless, the disease of Lazarantium will die with us. Our Chapter has kept this dark secret for too long, our sins have been wandering this world for too long. Tomorrow you shall end it. You shall cleanse our Chapter.”

Sejanus rose before his Master.

“The secret will die with me Master Lorentus,” Sejanus said softly.

“It will die with both of us.” Lorentus replied. “And if it does not die with Despotus also. Then all is lost.”

“I will not fail you,” Sejanus promised, “Tomorrow we end all of this. Tomorrow we will cure the Taint of Mechan.” Sejanus clamped his hefty forearm across his chest. “I will not fail our Chapter,” He swore. Lorentus smiled softly before he added softly:

“You will not fail your Chapter, Master Sejanus.”

The time is finally upon us!

After months of bloody battle the war on Mechan has reached its deciding pitched battle! The Taint of Mechan 44 is about to reach its epic conclusion! Lorentus and Sejanus have mustered their forces to face off against the last of Lord Despotus’ horde, not only to finally reclaim their lost homeworld, but also destroy their Chapter’s most infamous and treacherous son. With Lorentus’ revelation the stakes are raised even higher, the last traces of the living metal Lazarantium must be destroyed, should the forces of Chaos discover it’s power and try to replicate it’s miraculous effects on an entire army the Empire of Mankind is all but doomed.

Will Lorentus and Sejanus succeed in reclaiming their homeland? Will Despotus and the last traces of Lazarantium finally be destroyed? Will Sejanus keep his promise to Lorentus and become the Bloodless’ new Chapter Master? Or will the Chapter fall? Who will win the war for Mechan 44!? Let’s find out!

The Mission.

The mission is simple. It is a pitched 2000pts battle! The victory conditions are just as simple. The opponent must be completely destroyed! The only guarantee of success is to obliterate all traces of the enemy from the planet.

Of course over the course of the campaign the forces have been mustering resources and reinforcements and battling for perks and advantages in this final battle. The Space Marines have accumulated a grand total of 4 out of 5 perks. The forces of Chaos managed to secure only one. We will remind you of these perks throughout the battle report.

The Forces.

Space Marines - Lorentus' Finest

Chapter Master Lorentus - 130

Artificer Armour – 20

Storm shield – 15

The Burning Blade – Free (Lorentus receives this Relic for free as a perk for the Space Marines Victory in Mission 1: The Ruins of Caltar.)

Melta Bombs - 5

Digital Weapons – 10

Combi-Melta – 10

Total 190

Terminator Captain Sejanus – 120

Combi-melta -6pts

Storm shield – 5

Melta Bombs - 5

Total 136

Captain Nelson - 90

Articifer Armour – 20

Relic Blade – 25

Combi-plasma – 10

Melta Bombs – 5

Digital Weapons - 10

Total – 160

Librarian Quantum – 65

Level 2 librarian – 25

Storm Bolter – 5

Melta Bombs – 5

Teleport Homer – 10

Total 110

Elites.

Venerable Dreadnought ‘Sicarius’ - 100

Venerable – 25

Assault Cannon – 20

Built in heavy flamer – 10

155

Terminator Squad ‘Glory’ – 200

Additional four terminators – 160

Cyclone Missile luncher – 25

385

Troops.

Scout Squad ‘Shadow’ – 55

Camo Cloaks – 10

Snipers – 4

Missile launcher 15

Veteran Sergeant – 10

Teleport Homer - 10

104

Tactical squad ‘Fracture’

Veteran Sergeant with power sword and plasma pistol

Plasma gun and missile launcher

195

Tactical squad ‘Quake’

Veteran Sergeant with power sword and plasma pistol

Plasma gun and plasma cannon.

195

Fast Attack

Land Speeder ‘Blitz’

Multi Melta – 10

Assault Cannon – 30

Assault Squad - 85

Vet Sergeant – 10

Power Axe - 15

Plasma Pistol and combat shield – 20

Plasma Pistol – 15

150

Bike Squad – 63

Vet sergeant – 10

Teleport Homer - 10

Combi-Plasma – 10

Melta Bombs – 5

Power Sword 15

Plasma gun – 15

Total 128

Overall Total: 1998

As well as this The Space Marines receive 250pts of Imperial Guard reinforcements for their victory in Mission 2: The Valley of Kings.

250pts Imperial Guard

Senior Officer Harrow – 55

Plasma pistol and power sword – 15

Refractor field – 15

Fire Support squad – 35

Three Autocannons – 60

Imperial Guard Unit – 60

Flamer – 6

Grenade Launcher – 8

249 points

For their Victory in Mission Three: Hellfire Munitions, the Space Marines also receive a Leman Russ Battle Tank, equipped with a Battle Cannon, Lascannon, and two heavy bolters for free.

Chaos - Despotus' Horde

Chaos Lord Despotus. Veteran of the Long War, Sigil of Corruption, Burning Brand of Skaltharax, Gift of Mutation, Power Sword.

150

Chaos Sorcerer Amon. Veteran of the Long War, Sigil of Corruption, Gift of Mutation, Mark of Tzeentch, Plasma Pistol, 2 Mastery Levels.

180.

(All Psychic powers will be taken from the Discipline of Tzeentch.)

Chaos Cultist Squad (Dead Ned's Mutants). 13 additional Cultists, 2x Flamers, Mark of Khorne. Champion has a Shotgun.

160

Chaos Cultist Squad (Close Combat Prisoners). 2 additional Cultists, Flamer.

Chaos Cultist Squad (Ranged Prisoners). 3 additional Cultists, Heavy Stubber, Autoguns. Champion has a Shotgun.

Chaos Space Marine Squad (Punchy). 3 additional Marines, Close Combat Weapons, Meltagun, Veterans of the Long War. Champion has Gift of Mutation, Power Fist and Plasma pistol.

196

Chaos Space Marine Squad (Choppy). 3 additional Marines, Close Combat Weapons, Meltagun, Veterans of the Long War. Champion has Gift of Mutation, Power Weapon and Combi Melta.

181

Chaos Chosen. 2 additional Chosen, Veterans of the Long War, Mark of Nurgle, Pair of Lightning Claws, Power Fist, Power Axe, Power Maul. Champion has Gift of Mutation, a Plasma Pistol and Power Sword.

286

Helbrute.

105

Chaos Terminators. 2 Additional Terminators, Veterans of the Long War, Mark of Tzeentch, 4x Power Fists, 4x Combi Melta's. Champion has Gift of Mutation, Combi Melta and a Power Fist.

272

Raptors. Veterans of the Long War, Mark of Slaanesh, Meltagun. Champion has a Gift of Mutation and Lightning Claws.

165

Chaos Predator. Side Sponson Lascannons, Twin Linked Lascannon, Combi Melta, Havoc Launcher.

162

Pre-Game

Space Marines

Lorentus was chosen to be the Warlord, leading his Chapter into battle for what will be the last time in this campaign, and should things go wrong, it could be the last time ever in Cob Wargaming lore!

For his Warlord Trait he rolled Co-Ordinated Assault, meaning friendly units could re-reroll hit rolls of a 1 within 12” of him.

Librarian Quantum rolled both of his powers for the Biomancy powers. He gained Warp Speed, Endurance, and of course gained Smite due to Psychic Focus.

Due to their victory in the 5th mission: No More Talk. The Space Marines were allowed to choose three enemy units that had to be placed in Ongoing Reserves before the game began. They chose the Chaos Predator, The Hellbrute and the Chosen to be put in reserve. Although these units would arrive automatically at the start of Turn 2, it would rob the Chaos Player of some heavy firepower for the first few turns, allowing the Space Marines to lay down some fire with Sicarius the Dreadnought and their Leman Russ Tank without fear of much rebuttal. The Chosen were selected as The Space Marines have seen their close combat effectiveness and know it all too well! Not only this it was safe to assume that Despotus would want to join that unit and so delaying them would most likely stall the advance of the dreaded foe!

Chaos

Warlord: Lord Despotus

Warlord Trait: D3 units could Infiltrate.

Mutations: Despotus and Amon both gained the Fleshbane special rules which would hopefully come in very handy. The two Chaos Space Marine Squads rolled next, the power fist squad leader was deemed unworthy but his rival gained Adamantium Will. The Chosen Champion got +1 Strength which put him at Strength and Toughness 5. The Terminator Champion got an insulting +1 Iniative with his Power Fist and finally the Raptor Champion got Hatred which would only be useful against the Cadians. A mixed bag of results but that is the Chaos way.

Deployment.

The two sides rolled off for deloyment. The Space Marines won the roll off, but Chaos were allowed a re-roll as part of their perk for their victory in Mission 4: The Minds of Mechan. They won the roll off with this re-roll and elected the Space Marines to deploy first and go first. A strange choice you may think! But Chaos also are allowed a re-roll to seize the initiative as part of the same perk; and so they were clearly relying on this paying off.

Space Marines

Firstly, Sejanus was placed in the Terminator Squad and they were placed in Deep Strike reserve. They were joined by the Jump Infantry who also went into Deep Strike Reserve. These two units would be used to sneak behind enemy lines or show up where the fighting was thickest. All the tactical squads were made into combat squads in order to get a good spread of troops across the board and ensure each hero could have a handful of men to support them.

The bikers were hidden from any fire just in case Chaos managed to steal the initiative (a roll they would get a chance to re-roll should they fail, due to their victory in the 4th mission: The Minds of Mechan.) The bikers were crucial to the Space Marines, as they were relying on their teleport homer to drop Sejanus and his Terminators in a prime location without the fear of scattering. They were hidden behind a hill, with the option to zip around the side. The Plasma Cannon was always a threat and so was placed high on a hill to rain down some plasma on some advancing Chaos Space Marines! Next was to get a good spread of heroes. Nelson and his combat squad held the right flank with Dreadnought Sicarius in support. Librarian Quantum and Officer Harrow were placed on the Left flank with the Imperial Guard troops supported by the Autocannons, who were on a high vantage point and the Landspeeder. Lorentus and his combat squad, (which included the newly promoted Battle Brother Damocles) held the centre of the board with the Leman Russ Tank in support.

The Scouts infiltrated into the centre of the board also in some cover ready to pick off some troops.

Chaos

Chaos did not have much to deploy and were left with a real conundrum. They took as much cover as they could manage and infiltrated up both flanks. Despotus stood behind a hill in the centre of his deployment zone and waited for the Chosen to arrive. The Sorcerer Amon deployed in the Choppy Squad of Marines who were quite high up the Left Flank , hoping he would be in range to use his powers. For now it was mostly going to be a case of drawing in the Space Marines and attempting to get into combat whilst waiting for the rest of the Army to turn up.

Moving Scenery

The only bonus that Chaos did have for this mission was to move 3 pieces of Scenery which was a perk gained for Amon’s victory over Chief Librarian Solace in the 4th mission: The Minds of Mechan. This power was used to move the ruins containing the Infiltrating Punchy Squad of Chaos Space Marines further into enemy territory and also to give a bit more cover to the Raptors. This power was also used to shift the mountain slightly and block off the enemy Bikers who were clearly going to sneak around and finally to move the ruins containing the Scouts back towards their own Leman Russ which would hopefully block it in, block its line of sight and put the snipers out of range of Despotus and Amon.

The final battle was about to start! Chaos rolled to try and seize the initiative, and failed even with the re-roll they had gained. The Space Marines were going to get the battle underway! And so began the final battle for Mechan 44!

An overview of the battlefield before it all kicked off! (We'd especially like the dreaded Lord Despotus hiding behind a hill by himself...)

Space Marines

Turn 1.

Lorentus sounds the advance and the entire Space Marines army moves up towards their hated foes! The heavier firepower stays put however, so the Tank, Plasma Cannon and Lorentus remain still to fire their payloads and score some early blood.

Harrow and his Imperial Guard have one mission in this game, they are a free unit for the Space Marines and even if they could kill one unit they will have made themselves useful. With their perk of moving scenery the Chaos Player has a unit of Chaos Space Marines very close to the left flank and so Harrow and his men head up to try and take them out.

In the Psychic Phase Quantum only rolls ONE Warp Charge and fails to cast Endurance on the nearest unit of Guardsmen to give them a 4+ Feel No Pain and Relentless. That would have been useful in trying to smash up some Chaos Space Marines, but alas it was not to be.

In the Shooting Phase Lorentus begins by trying to wipe out the Raptors with his Orbital Bombardment! Of course, and as always, it scatters miles off target and lands in the middle of nowhere. In 5 games it has only hit once, and it would have been nice for it to go off in this deciding game! But alas, and again, it was not to be.

Sicarius opens up on Amon’s squad of Marines and picks one off with his Autocannon. The Scouts start by trying to pick off some Close Combat weapon wielding Cultists. All 4 snipers somehow manage to miss! The Frag Missile however lands dead on and kills five cultists.

The Tank opens up next, and goes for the shooting Cultists which are camped in some ruins. It starts with its Battle Cannon which scatters miles off. It snap fires all its Heavy Bolter shots missing with all of them, and although it lands a miraculous hit with its snap firing Lascannon the shot is saved by cover!

The Autocannons open fire on the same Cultists and all 6 shots miss.

Quantum fires at the Chaos Space Marines and misses. Harrow and his men open fire at the same squad and ALL miss!

The large Guardsmen unit fires and manages to score 8/15 hits on the same unit, their small arms fire takes down 2 Chaos Space Marines.

The Landspeeder fires at the same squad and hits only once, and kills one.

An incredibly poor shooting phase, and entire 2000pts of shooting resulting in less than 10 casualties!

In the Assault Phase, Harrow and his Command Squad get ready for the charge, they lose a man to Overwatch and fail their charge!

A horrific first turn for the Space Marines, they haven’t managed to press home their advantages at all, the Chaos numbers are looking daunting and if the Shooting Phases continue like this, the battle is going to be a very hard fought one indeed…

Chaos

Turn 1.

Movement Phase: Wow! Chaos really lucked out with that Space Marine Shooting Phase, hopefully that luck would hold out because there was not much cover to be had! Perhaps the scenery should have been moved around better. The infiltrate rule meant that Chaos could not attempt any charges in the first turn so most of the force just went forward where they could. The Sorcerer and his squad crept around the cover to get within range of the Dreadnought.

Psychic Phase: There was a lot of potential in this turn for Tzeentch to prove its worth. First up was Firestorm. It was easily cast on the Marines but it scattered off the main group only turning one to toast. Next up was the main power, Doombolt, straight at the Dreadnought. This power can cause some serious damage to vehicles and anybody nearby. Unfortunately the Chaos player should have read the rules for Beam powers first! The Sorcerer blew apart a member of his own unit (Chaos doesn't do cuddles!) and failed to even tickle the Dreadnought. By way of apology the Sorcerer cast Boon of Mutation on the Champion of his unit who got Instant Death on his Melee attacks. Apology accepted.

Shooting Phase: Dead Ned's squad of mutants opened fire at the imperial guard in front of them. The flamer cooked one up good and 14 pistols took down another two although Ned missed with his shotgun. The Punchy Marine squad got a glancing hit on the Landspeeder and the ranged squad of cultists killed one of the hated Scouts.

Space Marines

Turn 2.

The Assault squad goes for a risky Deep Strike behind the Raptors, they are a serious threat to the Imperial Guardsmen who will stand no chance against them in close combat. They scatter miles off target (as per!) and end up almost off the board. Luckily they do not mishap, and although they are out of pistol range and miles from the fight at least they are on the board!

Sejanus and his men were relying on the bikes to get them further up the board but with them being blocked in by scenery they are too far behind. Sejanus uses the Scout Sergeants Teleport Homer to eliminate risks and plant themselves in the centre of the board. Sejanus eyes up Lord Despotus who is a mere 20” away and it looks like it’s going to be a show down between the two!

Captain Nelson continues his advance and moves alongside Sejanus, the two Captains together will be a challenge for the Lord and his Chosen and it seems like the only way to bring down the dreaded Lord once and for all! Sicarius goes with him, his sights set firmly on Amon and his men, even a hefty Close Combat Squad of Chaos Space Marines will be no match for the furious Dreadnought!

Harrow and the Imperial Guardsmen move to within striking distance of the Chaos Space Marines, they will not fail their charge this time!

Lorentus and his squad shuffle forward but ultimately stay put, they may be needed to take down the Raptors or mop up the Space Marines should Harrow fail in his one task not only this but a unit of Cultists is bearing down hard and fast on Librarian Quantum. They may also be needed to go and support Sejanus should all the units Chaos have in reserve arrive in front of him! So it’s best to keep him hanging around to make sure he can be utilized properly.

In the Psychic Phase Quantum manifests Smite on the Cultists heading for him. He kills four of them! He has enough Warp Charges remaining to cast Endurance on the Imperial Guardsmen. It goes off, but somehow Chaos manages to deny the power! Much to the Space Marines’ frustration.

In the Shooting phase, the Space Marines are hoping to fare better!

The Plasma Cannon scatters off, and the remaining bolters of the squad cannot kill any of the Chaos Space Marines in Amon’s squad. Sicarius picks up the slack by firing at the same squad, his Assault Cannon rips through them and kills three Chaos Space Marines! Amon is exposed at the front of the squad, and the zippy bikers have moved in a position to shoot him. They score two wounds, both are saved by a hefty 3+ Invulnerable save! Amon was a tough cookie to crack in The Minds of Mechan, and his ability to endure is still evident, more firepower will be needed to bring him down.

Lorentus and his men fire at the Cultists heading for Quantum, his unit fails to score any kills, but Lorentus kills two by himself. Sejanus and his men lend their guns to whittle the squad down further, their bolters kill four, and the Cyclone Missile Launcher kills three more, the squad is all but destroyed, they fail their morale and flee 6” backwards, giving Quantum some much needed breathing space!

The cultists camped in the ruins are a nuisance, the Landspeeder picks four off and the Autocannons kill four more. They hold however.

In the assault phase Harrow and all the Imperial Guard charge in avoiding the Overwatch this time!

Harrow makes his presence known and slays two Chaos Space Marines. In retaliation they slay two Guardsmen easily, and tie up the combat. The guardsmen can barely hit the Marines, let alone wound them and so the combat remains tied.

Chaos

Turn 2.

Movement Phase: First up the Terminators tried to Deep Strike but scatttered onto a scenery piece and ended up back in reserve. The rest of the forced reserves turned up at the back of the board on the left side and the 'shooty prisoner' cultists were rallied. The Chaos Raptors had no real option other than to double back to take on the newly arrived Assault Marines, the 'Punchy' Marines squad could handle themselves against some puny Cadians. Despotus moved over to his new found allies ready to lead them into trouble. Amon and his 'Choppy' Marines stepped up ready to breathe some fire, the 'close combat prisoner' cultists followed up in support.

Psychic Phase: First up was another attempt at Doombolt and this time the rules were down! More juicy targets lined themselves up, 2 Bikers and 4 Terminators all in a perfect line! It failed to cast. Next up Breath of Chaos was successfully cast, it scored 5 hits but despite only needing 4's to wound and being AP2 it only killed one Space Marine.

Shooting Phase: The Predator lined up a clear shot on the Dreadnought but it missed, oh dear! The Helbrute melted one of the Loyalist Terminators. A mass wave of firepower from the Sorcerer, the 'Choppy' squad, the cultists and the Chosen all fired at the bikers but could not kill any of them thanks to some lucky Jinking. Dead Ned's mutant cultists failed to penetrate the armour of the Space Marines in front of them, but the phase finished on high when the Raptors shot down two Assault Marines.

Assault Phase: The Space Marines Overwatch took a heavy toll in this phase. It counted for a Raptor which was enough to put the out of range. Dead Neds Khornate Cultists also lost a guy but they didn't cry about it and got into combat with the Space Marines in front of them. The other squad of Close Combat Cultists charged at the Bikers and lost 3 of there gang to Overwatch! They barely made it into Combat but this allowed Amon the Sorcerer and his squad to get in unharmed.

Combat Phase: First of all the ongoing fight with Captain Harrow. The combat basically relied on his power weapon, he hit a mighty 4 times but did not cause any wounds, in retaliation Chaos only wounded a single guardsman and the Cadians drew a blank. This meant the Chaos won the combat but the brave little Cadians passed their morale check. The mighty Khorne wanted the next combat, with the Space Marines only felling 2 of the Cultists and the Cultists having 4 attacks on the charge there was a mountain of dice to be rolled. Sadly only one Marine was slain and the combat was a draw.

Onto the big Biker based Combat on the left hand side. The compulsory challenge was eagerly issued by the Cultist Champion who somehow survived a blistering storm of Power Sword attacks, the other Cultists passed two 6+ armour saves meaning the Space Marines had not got any kills. in retaliation the Cultist champion dismally missed all his attacks whereas his unit scored lots of hits but also got no kills! The big boys showed them how it is supposed to be done, a Chaos Space Marine, his power sword wielding unit Champion and Amon each got a kill which wiped out the Biker squad. The kill earned Amon Feel No Pain. Crafty Chaos consolidated into a circle in an effort to protect the Sorcerer from incoming trouble.

The Fate of Mechan 44

Part 1.

Hate and Heroes.

The charge sounded out and Captain Nelson answered its call.

Thrusting his blade high into the air and echoing the call to advance; he and his men began their charge towards the encroaching heretics. The horde before them was a vast, ever shifting and writhing mass of bodies rose and fell before them, their shapes melting into one immense body that looked like a black tide of water that stretched to the horizon and even beyond it.

Nelson drew his pistol as the mass of bodies started to become the individual shapes of enemies. As the two forces hurtled towards each other Nelson began to glimpse the details of his opponents. Their wild, yellowed eyes, the deep red scars on their flesh and the bloodied carvings and tattoos of the symbols of chaos that defiled their flesh. The first wave, as Nelson would rightly expect, was nothing more than the slaves to darkness, the expendable foot soldiers of chaos, the foolish and brainwashed Chaos Cultists. Nelson and his men opened fire even as they charged towards their enemies, the drumming roar of their Bolters echoed the rhythmic pounding of their charging feet. The resulting wall of fire became a deadly salvo that reduced the first waves of enemies into nothing but a bloodied, red mist. The fools of chaos fell in their droves with their supple flesh, protected only by rags and rusty scrap metal, was ripped asunder by the furious gunfire of Nelson and his men. But their fire was becoming uncoordinated, and the mass began to advance too close in places, clambering over the tattered bodies of their comrades.

Captain Nelson halted his men’s advance with a strong fist raised high in the air.

“Take up positions!” He screamed, his voice amplified through his Vox Grill to become a deafening roar. His men around him suddenly formed up into ranks beside him, dropping to one knee and leveling their sights at the encroaching mass. “First rank!” He roared once his men were ready and the first rank of Battle Brother's emptied their Bolter’s within seconds. The heretics fell quickly, the mass pushed back with a gory spray of crimson. Nelson listened carefully for the gunfire to begin falling silent and as soon as he sensed his men were coming to the end of their clips he bellowed furiously, “Second Rank!” Another round of deafening Bolter fire rang out, and the Cultists fell even quicker now. The resulting salvo was an ear splitting shout, but Nelson still managed to lift his commands over the scream of the gunfire. “First Rank Reload!” He boomed, and no sooner had each Battle Brother slammed a fresh clip of ammo into their Bolters, Captain Nelson roared again: “First Rank fire!”

The precision and organisation of Nelson’s firing squad was impeccable; the mass of Cultists before them soon became nothing more than a thin tattered line. The cowards soon abandoned their advance and suddenly ducked for cover, throwing themselves to the ground, cowering behind rocks, behind the corpses of their foolish brothers in arms. Nelson halted his men’s fire with another strong fist lifted high into the air, he felt a smile creep onto his face as he watched them hide, as they cowered from his and from the Bloodless’ righteous fury.

Or so he thought.

The shot came from nowhere. The scream of the Lascannon rang out after the blinding, searing flash of light struck Nelson’s men. By the time Nelson ducked his head instinctively at the sound of the shot, it had blazed a bloody trail through his ranks, the bodies of his comrades were obliterated even before they had time to scream. Another blinding flash struck the line to Nelson’s right and another Marine vanished in the burning light, reduced to nothing more than a bloodied mist.

“Get down!” Nelson screamed, “Cover! Take…” His voice was drowned out by another deafening roar of cannonfire, another deadly round slammed into his squad and this time he heard the screams of his men, as their bodies were reduced to nothing more than a molten mess of armour and flesh. The line quickly broke, the military precision of it’s organisation reduced to anarchy in seconds. Nelson watched as his men dashed about him, scrambling into blackened craters in the ground or behind crumbling bullet riddled ruins. In the distance Nelson saw the looming silhouette of a Chaos Predator rolling towards him now, its hulking frame emerged from the smoky haze of the battlefield, its approach illuminated by its bellowing guns.

With a snarl he slipped a Krak Grenade from his belt and prepared to pull the pin. As he did so, the gun turret swivelled in his direction and Nelson felt his heart sink in his chest. He whispered a silent prayer to the Emperor that he would have time to line up his shot.

His prayer went unanswered.

He saw the muzzle flash, but before the shot could wipe him from the face of Mechan, he felt a huge force bundle into his side. Nelson was sent sprawling, he tumbled to his knees and saw the Lascannon shot race past his shoulder. There was a meaty thwack, and Nelson glanced over his shoulder just in time to see one of his men take the full brunt of the blow, his chest plate was ripped asunder, his rib cage blasted open in a gout of burnt blood. The brave Battle Brother crumpled to the floor and Nelson whispered a quiet thanks for his sacrifice.

Nelson would ensure it was not in vain.

The Tank continued its ceaseless advance however, and now the dazed Captain could see the Tank treads rolling across the bodies on the floor, mashing the cadavers into a gory paste. He threw himself to the ground, and watched as the Tank rolled lethargically forward, it’s guns still firing, the shots slamming into the ground, sending gouts of mud and blood soaring into the air. Nelson froze for a moment, his mind choked with panic.

He was about to call for his men to fall back. To lose the ground they had gained was almost out of the question, but as the Tank rolled closer, risking the retreat was all he could think to do. He opened his mouth to speak, when a red flash blazed from the sky like a red thunderbolt. It struck the ground before him and Nelson watched with a smile as the blinding flash disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, revealing the hulking frames of his reinforcements.

It was the Terminators.

Nelson cheered heartily as more red flashes split the sky, and soon rank upon rank of his Chapter’s most elite warriors materialized before him. Amongst the scattering of elite warriors, one frame caught his eye, an immaculate suit of armour that was adorned with golden icons and covered with Purity Seals. and the glorious golden Terminator Helm of the Terminator Captain was unmistakable.

Sejanus had entered the fray.

No sooner had he appeared, he led his men forward, with a deafening cry, leading them straight into the firing mouths of those Lascannons that had decimated Nelson’s men. Sejanus' call to advance was even more deafening and commanding than Lorentus', so loud and dominating was that shout that it could be heard on all corners of the battle field over the sounds of countless guns firing.

Nelson was about to give the call for his men to rally, to join the advance. But already his men were in action, already they were scrambling to their feet, their blades and Bolters already in their palms as they joined Sejanus’ charge. Nelson lay their in the mud, watching his men abandon him to rally to Sejanus' call. Not one glanced behind them to see if their Captain had joined them. Not one of them even turned to see if he was still alive.

It was then, with a sickening, sinking feeling that Nelson heard an all too familiar voice begin to whisper in the depths of his mind.

"It is not your orders they are heeding now," it's sickly voice oozed. "They are no longer your men Captain...They are his."

Nelson pulled himself to his feet and with a snarl flicked upwards on his lips, he slowly joined his men in their advance,

Sejanus’ advance.

Nelson tried to push that voice from his head now as he trundled forward, but it was too late, as he charged at his enemy the whisper became a shout, and his jealousy for Sejanus turned into something far worse.

It turned into hatred.

Space Marines

Turn 3.

The Battle is heating up! The full force of Chaos is on the board now and they are beginning to make their Close Combat capabilities known. The Space Marines need a good turn to try and swing the battle back around in their favour again and whittle down the numbers.

Sejanus and his men head straight for the Predator that has wandered maybe a little too far forward. The Terminators should be able to punch it to death easily and eradicate the troublesome Tank nice and early. Nelson and his combat squad of ‘Quake’ move to tackle Amon and his men. Amon has indeed been a pain, but his men have been whittled down nicely, and although the Chaos Sorcerer made mince-meat of Chief Librarian Solace and his men in The Minds of Mechan, he will struggle to hold his own against Captain Nelson in a 1 on 1. Glorious vengeance looks like assured!

With Sejanus and Nelson looking to have the left flank secure. Lorentus moves up towards the Raptors and to go and help Harrow who is really struggling to bring down those Chaos Space Marines! Not only this but the Chaos player tried to Deep Strike his Terminators on this flank behind the Cadians and so it is safe to assume they will do so again, Lorentus has a score to settle with those Termies after they punched his lights out in The Ruins of Caltar!

The Autocannons and the Leman Russ have a tasty Line of Sight opportunity on the Predator and so shuffle forward a little to get it. If they can damage the Predator before Sejanus and his men move in, its destruction will be all but guaranteed.

The assault squad advance, they have to use their Jump Packs however to get within a safe charge range of the Raptors and so will receive no Hammer of Wrath when they charge in. But the Raptors need to be tackled and quickly! They will have the higher initiative and the Assault Squad will most likely be killed, but even if the Space Marines can take a couple of men out of their squad it will be worth the sacrifice. Chaos is trying it’s best to dominate this side of the board and the Space Marines won’t want this to happen!

In the Psychic Phase, Quantum attempts to cast Warp Speed on himself to make himself a force to be reckoned with in combat! If he pulls it off he will head into battle with Harrow, if not, he will remain on the side-lines, to even risk losing him is not an option at this point in the game. Warp Speed is cast with two warp charges, but Chaos has an obscene amount of dice and denies the power easily. Quantum will remain where he is.

In the shooting phase killing the Cultists becomes a top priority. They are vulnerable to shooting and if the Space Marines can get them to start fleeing it will clear the board nicely. The cultists that are surrounding Amon look a suitable target. Quake on the Hill open up with their bolters and kill two. Sicarius joins in and kills another 2. This is enough to force a Morale Test and so the Space Marines utilize their fire elsewhere instead. These Cultists ended up passing their Morale check however.

Nelson and his men fire some pistols into Amon’s squad but can score no kills.

The Autocannons fire at the Chaos Predator and hit twice, but cannot cause a glance or penetrating hit.

The Leman Russ uses it’s Lascannon at full ballistic skill. It causes a glance which is good enough! The Scout Squad fire a krak missile at the Predator and get another glance! With only one Hull Point left, Sejanus and his men try to finish it off with two krak missiles from their Cyclone Missile Launcher. The Tank survives however, and so Sejanus will have to go in to finish it off…

The Assault Squad fire some pistols at the Raptors but score no kills. Lorentus and his men fire some pot shots at the Cultists camped in cover but cannot cause any wounds.

In the Assault Phase, Sicarius charges in against Amon and his unit, they have no fire that can harm him and so their Overwatch is null and void. Nelson multi-assaults the Cultists and Amon’s unit.

Sejanus and his men charge the Predator. The Raptors miss their Overwatch and the Assault Squad makes it into combat against them.

The fighting began with Amon and his squad battling off against Nelson, tactical squad ‘Quake’ and Sicarius. Sicarius’ Hammer of Wrath needed to be dished out first, and it was Amon who he was in base contact with! The strength 6 hit did not manage to wound however, and Amon in retaliation issued his compulsory challenge. Nelson stepped forward Relic Blade at the ready, and the showdown began! Nelson swung first with his higher Initiative. To the Space Marines’ delight all three of his attacks hit home, and with the S7 weapon, Amon takes three wounds! Amon however has always been a survivor and his 3+ Invulnerable save has often saved his life.

However, the Fate of Mechan was about to be his final battle!

Tzeentch abandoned the Sorcerer pretty quickly and he failed his Invulnerable save twice! Nelson had laid the fell Sorcerer low with a single round of combat, and with 1 wound still left unaccounted for, a Chaos Space Marine also felt the bite of Nelson’s blade. The battle swung in the Space Marines favour and in the rest of the combat they pressed this advantage home. Sicarius misses all of his attacks, but so does the Chaos Space Marine Champion who is all that remains of the unit. The Space Marines Vet Sergeant dispatches the Chaos Space Marine Champion, and the rest of Quake mop up the remaining Cultists. Nelson, ‘Quake’ and Sicarius consolidate to move up behind Sejanus and back up his advance, things are looking good!

Sejanus opts to use a Melta-bomb, and goes first before the Powerfists, he has less chance of making the Tank explode than the multitude of Powerfists. He misses with his attack however and so the Termies have to resort to punching it to death. They succeed magnificently…too magnificently. The Tank explodes! It turns out to be a horrific explosion that kills THREE of the Terminators!! It is a total disaster and the most expensive unit on the board has been almost halved by an exploding Tank. And now when the smoke clears they are staring at Despotus, the Chosen and the Hellbrute all within striking distance…Things are suddenly not looking good.

And things only get worse.

Harrow’s fight is up next, and the cowardly Senior Officer is beginning to show his true colours…He fails to wound any of his adversaries, and they butcher three of his men in return. Harrow’s nerve abandons him and he and his men flee. They do not go far enough and are caught and overrun. Harrow meets a sticky end and the 250pts of Imperial Guard disappear with very little to show for their efforts. The War on Mechan is becoming very close indeed.

Maybe the Assault Squad can ease the very mixed emotions of Space Marines in this fight phase...No, no they cannot. The Veteran Sergeant is slain in a challenge with the Raptor Champion and they also lose another to the rest of the Raptor’s attacks. They cannot even wound any of their enemies in retaliation. They stay in combat, but it is clear they aren’t going to last until turn 4…

There’s tension as Turn 3 hands over to the forces of Chaos. The advantage in the battle is swinging wildly between the two sides and it is very unclear who will emerge victorious at this stage!

Vastly outnumbered the dreaded Chaos Sorcerer Amon and his men meet a sticky end at the hands of Captain Nelson and Dreadnought Sicarius.

Chaos

Turn 3.

Sejanus and Despotus finally come face to face on the battlefield

Movement Phase: Wow! If there is such a thing as a perfect death than that has to be the one for a tank in 40k! Three dead Terminators!

To start turn 3, the Chaos Terminators made a second attempt at Deep Striking behind the Leman Russ and once again they scattered. Teleporting is a deadly business! This time they went a full 12" directly to the right over a large rocky hill and behind the Cadian Heavy Weapon Squad. The 'shooty' cultists finished running off the board.

Since the Space Marine Terminators were now significantly depleted it was time for Chaos to risk the combat. The Hellbrute, the Chaos Lord and the squad of Chosen all closed in on the valuable target.

Shooting Phase: To start with the 'Punchy' Chaos Marines aimed at the Landspeeder, the perfect oppurtunity to take it out, unfortunately nothing could hurt it. The newly arrived Terminators opened fire at the Cadian Heavy weapons teams, of which 2 were cut down. The Hellbrute and the Chosen opened fire but every wound they scored on the Terminators was saved, even the Plasma Pistol! The Lord used the Burning Brand which hit all 6, causing another 2 wounds but once again they were saved, it appeared combat was the only option.

Assault Phase: The Space Marine Terminators fired at the first of the chargers, the Chaos Chosen, but they did not get any hits.

Combat Phase: Over in the jetpack fight, the Raptors somehow missed with all 7 of their attacks and were punished by the Assault marines who killed 2 of them and they once again remained locked in Combat.

On the other side of the table, the Chosen Champion was selected to issue the compulsory challenge which was accepted by Sejanus but both sides did not cause any wounds. This was followed by the Hellbrute and Despotus the Chaos Lord all failing to achieve anything! Chaos needed a miracle, the unit of Chosen stepped up, and dice were rolled. An incredible 4 Terminators fell to the Power Fist and Power Axe. The remaining loyalist Terminators failed to get past the higher toughness of the Nurgle sponsored Chosen.

Naturally the Morale Check was passed and the fight would rage on.

Sejanus and his Terminators clash with Despotus and his Chosen

Space Marines

Turn 4.

This is indeed a funny battle! Both sides are claiming the advantage in the battle their own turns only for it to be tipped in their opponents favour in the next!

Sejanus had a lucky escape in that fight, even though they couldn’t kill anything the damage done to them really could have been much worse. Despotus and the Hellbrute could have easily crushed the rest of the unit and maybe even Sejanus…it was time to call in the re-enforcements!

Nelson and his squad as well as Sicarius move up to support Captain Sejanus, and it looks like it’s going to be a huge punch up! The Leman Russ moves forward to get a Line of Sight on the great mash up of troops…if Sejanus and Nelson fail at least the squads will be nice and close together to drop a Battle Cannon shell on their heads!

The Deep Striking Chaos Terminators are a problem. The Landspeeder zips forward and plants itself in front of them. It will sacrifice itself to stall their movement long enough to manoeuvre Lorentus into a position where he can counteract them. Quantum and his unit will struggle to take them down especially now that they need to go and kill the unit that squashed Harrow! Lorentus leaves his unit in the centre of the board to pick off some more camped Cultists and moves to Quantum’s aid!

There’s not much Quantum can do in the Psychic Phase. There are only 3 Chaos Space Marines left, and Smite or Warp Speed seems like overkill. Instead he casts Endure on the Assault Squad unit. This gives them a 4+ Feel No Pain and should see them survive long enough to keep those Raptors tied up for another turn.

There isn’t much shooting to be had, most of the units are punching each other now.

The LandSpeeder starts the shooting phase off in a good foot however, and picks off a Terminator with its Assault Cannon but the wound caused by the Melta does not get past the 4+ Invuln. save of the Tzeentch Terminators. The Landspeeder will die next turn but in exchange for a Chaos Terminator it doesn’t seem like such a bad exchange.

Quantum and his unit fire some pistols at the Chaos Space Marines they are about to charge. They cannot wound any. ‘Fracture’ fire at the Chaos Marines camped in the ruins but cannot wound any either.

On to the Assault phase and Quantum starts with his charge on the camped Chaos Space Marines that have been a thorn in the side of Space Marines since turn 1! They lose a man to a Melta gun in Overwatch and then fail their charge! Disaster!! Quantum is stuck in the middle of nowhere with Raptors and Terminators about to bare down on him. The fight for the left flank looks all but lost.

Things are better on the Right flank however! Nelson and his squad and Sicarius manage to join Sejanus in the fray and the huge mix mash of units begin their epic clash that looks like it will pretty much decide the game.

Onto the fighting and the exciting combat is left until last, there is a small matter of the Raptors to sort out first! Quantum was hoping Endurance would help the Assault Squad…endure.

But even with a 4+ Feel No Pain they take too many wounds and are destroyed. The Raptors consolidate…but not towards Quantum where the Space Marines expected…but towards Lorentus! It looks like they want to take on the Chapter Master! A decision the Space Marines and Lorentus welcome!

Onto what looks like the deciding battle!

Things begin with Sicarius’ Hammer of Wrath. He bundles into combat like a wrecking ball and squashes a Chosen with his S6 hit! Great start.

Nelson performs a heroic intervention to free up Sejanus and allow him to go after Despotus! The Terminator Captain and the Chaos Lord have a score to settle that the Chosen Champion was interfering with. He is proving a tough nut to crack however as Nelson cannot wound him with his Toughness 5! Sejanus and Despotus swing at each other. The Lord swings first but his Powersword cannot penetrate Sejanus’ Terminator Armour. The Space Marines’ beloved Captain draws blood however and although he wounds three times he only manages to inflict one of those wounds upon the dreaded Despotus! But still he is weakened and the tide of the battle swings again…

Sicarius squashes a Chaos Chosen who was wielding a Power Maul and ‘Quakes’ Veteran Sergeant manages to kill a Chosen who had a Power Fist. None of the Chosen nor the Hellbrute manage to land any wounds, and so Chaos loses the combat by three. It is enough to cause Despotus and his men to flee from the fight, leaving Sejanus, Nelson and Sicarius surrounding the Hellbrute who cannot flee! The dreaded Hellbrute looks vulnerable, and with Despotus and his men needing to rally next turn, it looks like it will not survive long enough to get them back into the fray. Once again the Space Marines appear to have an ever so slight upper hand.

Despotus and Sejanus finally meet in one on one combat whilst Nelson and his men take on the Chosen!

Chaos

Turn 4.

Movement Phase: And then the table was bare! The Chaos Army was looking very small! Despotus and the Chosen both rallied and joined together to protect the Chaos Lord from shooting. The Chaos Terminators plodded over to the Landspeeder and the Raptors + 'Punchy' Chaos Space Marines set their wicked gaze upon the Librarian and his squad.

Shooting Phase: This phase opened with one of the greatest shots we have ever seen. A single remaining member of the Chosen squad had a Boltgun that was only just in range of the scouts, it was exactly 24” away. Because he had rallied he had to fire a Snapshot (hitting on a 6+). The Scouts were in cover, including their camo cloaks this brought their save to a 3+. The shot was fired, it somehow hit and somehow they failed the Cover Save and one of the scouts dropped dead, all they had to do was pass a LD9 Morale Check which they failed! Wow! They fled from their vantage point much to Chaos’ delight! 'Punchy' marines opened fire on the Librarians squad, their pistols took down one marine and the Meltagun took out the Sergeant, leaving the Librarian on his own. The Terminators blew a hole in the Landspeeder and it crashed to the ground, finally taken down.

Combat Phase:

The Raptor champion tore a chunk out of the Librarian but it was only enough for one wound. In return the Librarian killed one of the Chaos Space Marines, they failed to take his final wound and the combat was a draw, which was frustrating for Chaos.

The Hellbrute's combat raged on, this time he killed the Terminator Sergeant but a Meltabomb took a hull point of him and this fight was also a draw.

The Fate of Mechan 44.

Part 2:

Heroes and Heresy.

They seemed endless. Wave after wave of armoured foe seemed to appear from nowhere. Captain Nelson was in the thickest of the fighting now and no sooner had Nelson laid one of his enemies low, two more appeared in their place. The experience would have put Nelson in mind of fighting a Hydra, had he not been too busy parrying blows and dispatching heretics to compare the experience to ancient mythology.

He buried his blade through the neck of one of the fell Chaos Space Marines, before carving the head clean off with a precision flick of his weapon. The body had barely fallen to the ground when another hulking mass of armour leapt at him, a bloodied blade clutched in its hands. Nelson tucked his head low and a dreadful shriek sounded from his left as the blade skipped across the thick shoulder of his armour. The blade knicked the side of his helmet as his enemy followed through with the blow and Nelson heard the weapon score a grove on the Cermite. Nelson flung out a meaty fist and grabbed his opponent by the throat, he smashed his hefty blade into his enemy’s side, cutting through the Power Armour with ease and burying the blade to his opponent’s navel. He heard a spluttering choke of pain echo from beneath the heretic’s helm, and with a cruel twist Nelson withdrew the blade from his gut, allowing a torrent of blood to gush onto his feet. The blade fell from the Heretic’s hand and the body hit the floor mere moments afterwards.

More and more Chaos Marines charged at him now and Nelson took up his Relic Blade in both hands. He swung it in a great arc before him. The blow split the nearest adversary’s chest plate in half, and the wound opened widely like a bloodied maw. He flung out a leg in a hefty kick, and the stumbling body fell backwards. The falling corpse clattered into another foe, sending him sprawling, and as both the living and dead fell to the floor, Nelson pounced. He planted his foot on the breast of his flailing opponent, who fumbled for the pistol on his belt. His fingers had just reached the grip of the pistol when Nelson with a deafening scream brought his blade down through his enemy’s heart. The body contorted grotesquely around the blade that jutted from his breastplate, a gout of blood spluttered from the wound as the limbs of his foe thrashed violently with the throes of death. Nelson waited for the body to go still, before he quickly drew his own pistol from his belt. He took less than a second to line up his shot, and as he calmly squeezed the trigger the pistol shouted toward another heretic who barrelled towards him. The eye of his opponent exploded with a gory squelch, the heretics head snapped back so violently Nelson could hear his enemy’s neck break even over the sound of his gun firing. The body crumpled and landed at his feet with a metallic crunch of armour.

Nelson glared all around him now, and saw his men were dotted all about him, surrounded by enemies on all sides. The battle had encircled him now, it had swallowed him and his squad whole and the screams of the dying filled his senses, coupled with the cracking and splitting of armour, the rip of flesh, and the gory splutter of flowing blood. There was a blood curdling shriek to his left, and he turned just in time so see a heretic bury his blade through the mouth of one of his men, splitting his face in half. Nelson gave a furious roar, and smashed his blade into the small of the Chaos Marines’ spine, there was a gory snap as the Power Armour cracked like an eggshell and the traitorous Marine crumpled to the floor, allowing the body of Nelson’s Battle Brother to fall with him. The two men landed side by side, their blood pooling together on the muddied earth.

Nelson could hear so many screams now, and everywhere he turned he saw the blur of blades, and the flash of gunfire, the sound of battle was almost unbearable.

But something suddenly silenced it.

There was a deafening explosion that rang out like the boom of an erupting volcano. The very earth beneath Nelson shook, and indeed he saw the entire battle stop momentarily as friend and foe suddenly ducked instinctively from the sound of the explosion. Nelson scoured the horizon and saw a wall of fire erupting from the shell of a Chaos Predator, the tank was nothing more than a smouldering wreck, spewing black smoke into the sky. Nelson honed his senses and through the heat haze he saw the bodies of Loyalist Terminators littered all about it, the explosion had indeed been fierce.

There was something else that caught his eye. Amongst the numerous unidentifiable bodies there was something that was unmistakable. There was something that made Nelson’s mouth hang agape with shock.

A golden Terminator Helm.

The form of Sejanus lay sprawled on the floor, illuminated by the harsh red light of the blazing inferno before him. Nelson felt his heart kick up in his chest as he watched the body of Sejanus lie still for what seemed like an eternity. The Terminator Captain was not moving, and Nelson felt his limbs ache to rush to his aid.

But something stopped him

A black shadow suddenly emerged from the flames of the gutted Predator. The figure appeared from the red glow of the fire, strolling fearlessly through that inferno that seemed to stretch towards the sky. Nelson watched as the figure stepped into the light of the blaze, and he saw the mammoth frame of a man. Nelson gleaned a black suit of armour adorned with heavy chains, rakes of tattered flesh were stretched and hooked onto the horns and spikes of that dreaded suit, and the armour itself seemed to writhe and scream in some unimaginable agony. Nelson glimpsed two jet black eyes that glittered like obsidian, pitted deep in a face covered in grey flesh, the skin looked worn and ancient and was stretched too tightly over the sharp bones of his face that was littered with open wounds and scars. There was no mistaking who this man was.

It was the Lord himself.

Despotus.

Despotus strode through those flames that licked at his body, and as he approached the fallen form of Sejanus, his hand fell to his belt, his fingers wrapping gently around the hilt of a huge and wicked looking blade. Nelson watched the blade being drawn with a feeling that was almost alien to him.

Fear. A deep, terrible and unshakable fear.

The cruel blade was unfurled in all of its fell glory, and Nelson saw it was caked in blood that had no doubt been accrued through years of bloody battle. Despotus took up the blade in both hands, striding purposefully towards the fallen Terminator Captain.

Nelson felt his limbs yearn once more to rush to Sejanus’ aid. But again something stopped him. A whisper that was no longer a whisper. But a cruel scream.

Leave him.

Captain Nelson felt a cold sweat form on his brow, as a war of words took place in his mind that was so fierce it was almost maddening. His conscious began a war with this dreaded whisper that took on such fury Nelson feared it would split his head in two. He found himself taking two steps towards Sejanus, his grip tightening on his blade…before he would suddenly stop, his limbs falling numb as that cruel whisper began to persuade, to seduce him.

Leave him.

Nelson clamped a palm to his helm, the pressure in his head was building and he feared it would explode. Again he found himself rushing towards Sejanus, and again he found himself stopping in his tracks, his faith in the Emperor fought his hatred of Sejanus, his will to do good battled against his desire to do evil, in one moment, Nelson was both a hero.

And a heretic.

It was this thought that hit him suddenly. Heresy.

This wasn’t jealousy, or envy, or hatred.

This was heresy.

The war in his mind appeared to have been won, when he began once more to move towards Sejanus. His limbs strode with purpose, his feet clattered as he gathered up pace, racing to his aid.

But once again something stopped him. This time, it was not himself however. It was the form of another man that had suddenly began to advance towards him. The figure appeared from nowhere. A hood was drawn over his face, but Nelson could glimpse the lower half of the man’s expression. A cruel mouth was flicked up into a wide and dreadful grin, Nelson could see row upon row of teeth squashed into that mouth, teeth that littered that smile that seemed to grow wider and wider until it almost split the man’s face in two.

Nelson stopped as the man approached. He took up his blade, but his arms fell limp at his side as he watched as that gaping, cruel maw open. The mouth littered with teeth began to speak, and as it did Nelson heard that voice, not as a shout, or a bellow.

But as a whisper.

An all too familiar whisper that had become like a dreaded friend. A whisper that had plagued his thoughts for weeks. Nelson watched as the man drew a twisted, blazing blade that crackled with some archaic energy and as he held the blade aloft that gruesome smile grew ever wider. It grew wider and wider, until the flesh of his lips began to rip open and as Nelson watched in horror those cracked, bleeding lips mouthed the words:

Leave him.

Space Marines

Turn 5.

Well Chaos is always tricky! The Space Marines were sure the Raptors would go for Lorentus, but lucky Quantum held his own and Lorentus moves towards him and will be able to make it to his aid this assault phase.

The Space Marines have been plagued with some horrific luck in this game which has done it’s best to counter act all the perks they have earnt! The scouts who had a great view of the battlefield rally automatically and make it back to their vantage point, they were hoping to take down some Terminators but now will have to snap fire and will likely do nothing!

There is little to move on the board now, the battle has taken its toll! The Tank shuffles to try and glimpse some Terminators. The combat squad of ‘Quake’ with the Plasma Cannon, are pretty much the only Space Marine troops left on the board, they shuffle to try and take down some Terminators also.

In the Psychic Phase it is a no brainer! Quantum casts Warp Speed on himself giving him five attacks which should help in the combat he is struggling in.

‘Quake’ begins by shooting at the Terminators. The Plasma Cannon covers the whole squad and will cause some serious damage…but of course it overheats at the most crucial moment! The Space Marine doesn’t die at least, and at least something is achieved when a humble bolter manages to lay one of the Terminators low. It’s a funny old game like that!

The Leman Russ cannot land a hit with the only heavy bolter that can see and the snap firing scouts also all miss.

In the Assault Phase Lorentus charges in to help Quantum and the fighting begins! Quantum with his Warp Speed has an initiative of 7 and so goes first. With his flurry of attacks he manages to take down two of the three remaining Space Marines that minced Harrow and he also manages to wipe out the Raptor Champion! Lorentus goes next but he doesn’t have much left to kill. He takes out the last remaining Raptor and Chaos Space Marine and both characters emerge unscathed. The Terminators are eyeing them up eagerly however, and with their consolidation they prepare for the inevitable hail of Melta-Gun fire that will insta-kill both characters! Quantum bravely steps in front of Lorentus to shield him from the fire knowing that Lorentus is the only one who could realistically stop them.

To the outnumbered Hellbrute now! Sejanus opts to use a Melta-bomb and so will strike last. Nelson swings with his S7 Relic Blade but cannot land a glance or pen. Sicarius and the Hellbrute swing at each other next. The Hellbrute misses with both attacks, but Sicarius is not as forgiving. He penetrates the Hellbrute and stuns it!

Sejanus clamps a Melta-bomb onto the Hellbrute now, and it is enough to finally take it down. It does not explode however, which is good, the explosion probably would have killed Nelson and Sejanus and probably even Sicarius giving how effective exploding vehicles have been in this game!

They use their consolidation to prepare for Despotus to return to the fight. Nelson and the last remaining member of his squad, the ‘Quake’ Veteran Sergeant, move behind Sejanus, who moves behind Sicarius who shields the two Captains from the fell Chaos Lord’s advance. Despotus and his men will have to try and navigate around the Dreadnought if they do not wish to charge it which will cost them valuable movement and may even deny them the charge on Sejanus…that’s the plan anyway…

Chaos

Turn 5.

Chapter Master Lorentus prepares to settle an old score with the Chaos Terminators

Movement Phase: Chaos was still clinging on, they would not fade back into the darkness without a fight! The Chaos Lord and his remaining Chosen prepared to charge back into battle with the Dreadnought and avenge the Hellbrute. It would take too much time and allow the Space Marines a round of shooting on the Lord and his scant looking Chosen unit for them to try and move past the Dreadnought. The Chaos Terminators headed up for the Librarian, it was about time the psyker bit the dust.

Shooting Phase: The Chaos Terminators opened fire on the Librarian in an effort to soften him up, this worked too well. When the smoke cleared the Librarian was a crumpled heap on the floor and the Terminators were left with no one to charge. The Chaos Lord unleashed his Burning Brand of Skaltharax and took down the Veteran Sergeant who was cowering behind the Dreadnought but did no other damage on the Captains with their 2+ armour saves. The Chosen Champion chanced his Plasma Pistol on the Dreadnought but it failed to wound the big box of metal.

Combat Phase: To start with one of the Chosen fell to Overwatch fire which was a huge blow to Chaos, at this stage they needed every warrior they could get. The only combat was a frustrating mix of missed punches and bad luck. Despotus tried a Krak Grenade on the Dreadnought which missed. The Dreadnought flung a lumbering claw out which also missed and the Chosen warriors also missed with every attack! Despotus and his men were stuck in combat with two Space Marine Captains ready to surround them. Things didn’t look good, but Despotus had yet to prove his worth and killing some named Captains would really sting the Space Marines! So bring it on!

Dreadnought Sicarius shields Sejanus and Nelson from Lord Despotus.

Space Marines

Turn 6.

Things are going right down to the wire here! The troops are sparse on both sides, but the Space Marines definitely have the upper hand in terms of numbers. Lorentus moves forward to tackle the Terminators. He needs to finish the unit off here, or else they will run rampant amongst the back lines! There are three of them left, he will have five attacks but they do have a 4+ invulnerable save… the odds are against him but if it is to be his end at least it will be a glorious one!

There is little movement left to do after this. The Tank moves forward to put some distance between it and the Terminators. ‘Quake’ moves off their hill also to ensure that the Terminators will have to move out into the centre of the board if they kill Lorentus, and stop them hopping from target to target evading some firepower.

There is no Psychic Phase and only Lorentus can line up a shot on the Terminators. It is an optimistic shot with his Storm Bolter. But miraculously it manages to slay a Terminator! Reducing the unit down to two Terminators.

The fighting begins with Lorentus who avoids the hail of Overwatch and makes it into the fray with the Terminators.

He swings first and manages to score two wounds! Enough to finish the unit off! BUT! They pass both their 4+ Invulnerable saves! The Terminators return the favour with a flurry of Powerfists. Lorentus only takes one wound, but his Iron Halo cannot deflect the blow! As it was in the Ruins of Caltar in the first mission, Lorentus is crushed, and killed instantly by a Powerfist! It seems like a huge moment of fore-shadowing as his fate had been decided all this time! Chapter Master Lorentus falls and the Terminators are free to wander the back lines unopposed.

It has been a long and glorious campaign for Chapter Master Lorentus! We are sad to see him fall, and especially for him to be killed at the hands of his old nemisis the Chaos Terminators!

He has served nobly however and will be a great and fondly remembered character who will go down in Cob lore!

On the other side of the board Nelson and Sejanus charge back in to the fight with Despotus. The Chosen Champion issues the compulsory challenge and Nelson again accepts! Nelson strikes first and strikes hardest, he scores a wound which kills the Champion and ends the challenge before it has even really begun!

Sejanus and Despotus find themselves once again locked in a brutal combat! Sejanus cannot wound his opponent this time, and it is instead Despotus that draws blood this time! Sejanus takes a wound! Things get worse when the last two remaining Chosen swing at Nelson and scores a wound on him.

The Captains are starting to feel the strain of the battle. Sicarius helps out and crushes one of the Chosen. A look at the board reveals that the Space Marines have pretty much got this wrapped up, unless Despotus pulls off a miracle and slays Nelson, Sejanus and manages to krak grenade Sicarius to death. But it is a fight to the death and Chaos ain’t dead yet!

Battle Brother Damocles (in the red armour) watches on as Lorentus falls.

Chaos

Turn 6.

Movement Phase: In reality, the game is over, but true to the narrative of the campaign the Chaos Space Marines played on looking to cause as much damage as possible! On a positive note however, the Chapter Master is dead! Hurray! Only the Terminators were able to move and they prepared to face their next victims, more juicy Space Marines! Could their nefarious ways continue?

Shooting Phase: The only shooting available saw the Chaos Terminators shoot down the first of the Space Marines who had spent the vast majority of the game standing around, leaving only 4 of them left.

Combat Phase: The Chaos Terminators easily made the charge into the Space Marines without even taking a hit from Overwatch plus they all survived the attacks made against them. The Power Fists easily made mincemeat of the Space Marines, the crunch of bones was music to the ears of Chaos! This was the unit that Damocles, the named character from the Hellfire Munitions mission was in and so Chaos was happy to kill off another named character! The consolidation roll was high and it was enough to get them in cover from that nasty looking Leman Russ Tank. In the other fight that seemed to be dragging on, Sejanus missed, again! Nelson scored a wound on Despotus but the Chaos Lord managed to strike one back taking both characters down to a very vulnerable looking 1 wound! Could Nelson be the next to fall? Or will it be Despotus who bites the dust!? It’s a tense looking fight! Both the Dreadnought and the Chosen missed which meant another tied combat!

Battle Brother Damocles meets a grisly end at the hands of the unstoppable Chaos Terminators

Space Marines

Turn 7.

Chaos Terminators are the bane of the Space Marines! The heroic Battle Brother Damocles stood no chance and it was a shame he could not live out the battle! Nelson is gravely wounded and it would be a cruel twist indeed if Despotus could dispatch the Captain before the game ends! The game may be pretty much won, but the characters and heroes of the Bloodless look very vulnerable indeed!

In the movement phase the army clumps together, rallying around the scouts in the centre of the board. The Tank and ‘Quake’ move closer together trying to put some distance between themselves and the oncoming Terminators!

The scouts fire their snipers and manage to score an AP2 hit which brings one of them down! There is only one lone Terminator wandering the board now!

Onto the fighting! There is only Despotus and one Chosen left, facing off against Nelson, Sejanus and Sicarius! Nelson swings first, the wounded Captain is baying for blood and blood is what he gets!

He strikes Despotus twice and wounds twice! The Lord cannot save either of the wounds and not only is he struck down, but the final Chosen takes the left over wound and dies! The fight is won! But of course…Despotus still gets to strike as he falls. The Chaos Lord opts to try and take Nelson down with him…but Nelson lucks out, he takes two wounds, but saves them both. It was a tense armour save but in the end Nelson looks set to survive this battle!

Sejanus and Sicarius consolidate to take down the last remaining Terminator who is the last remaining Chaos troop on the entire board. Nelson remains near the back, nursing his grievous injuries.

Chaos

Turn 7.

A single Terminator left! A single model from the starting horde. A single model with fire in his eyes! He marched out of cover and aimed his Combi-Melta squarely at the Leman Russ. It Hit! A Penetrating hit! Immobilised! Things were looking good! The Terminator rolled his charge distance, hoping to finish the Tank off and instead got a double One! Snake Eyes! Stranded in the middle of nowhere! A very large amount of surviving Space Marines looking down their barrels at him! He had a good run and although we’re not sure a firing squad is a noble way for the last remaining Chaos warrior on Mechan 44 to die, but we doubt the cowardly Space Marines will have the guts to take him down in close combat! Better to die on your feet than live on your knees little Terminator! Hopefully you’ll fight the good fight next turn but we have a suspicion that it will no doubt be the last!

The Fate of Mechan 44

Part 3:

Heresy and Healing.

Nelson stood mesmerised by the approaching figure until it finally stood before him. Nelson stared hatefully into the eyes of the dreaded Sorcerer that had been plaguing his mind for weeks, but his enemies eyes no longer represented that of a man, but of a serpent. The yellowed eyes were cut with a pupil that was nothing more than a dark slit.

“It is an honour to finally meet you Captain Nelson,” The Sorcerer finally spoke, taking his blade up in both hands. Nelson tightened the grip on his Relic Blade, feeling the numbness in his arms begin to fade. “It is always strange to find yourself rattling around the thoughts of someone you have yet to meet.” The smile on his lips widened even further, it was so wide now that it stretched around the corners of his face, the corners of his mouth vanishing past his ears. “So often I find the doors of my loyalist brothers closed to me.” A hideous pointed tongue flicked out from between those crooked and innumerable teeth. “But yours was wide open Captain,” He allowed a soft trickle of laughter to flow from his blackened maw. “Hatred and envy are indeed a great qualities Captain, and they are qualities that make great servants to Chaos,” Captain Nelson felt a snarl stretch across his lips as his teeth clamped together so tightly the enamel on his teeth creaked and cracked. “Every follower of Chaos has a rite of passage,” The Sorcerer continued, even as Nelson’s hands gripped harder upon the hilt of his blade, “Let this be yours.” The Sorcerer motioned over his shoulder and Nelson followed the gesture with his eyes and saw the still form of Sejanus still being slowly advanced upon by the dreaded Lord Despotus. Nelson could see the malice in the Lord’s eyes almost as clearly as he could see the keen edge of the blade glint with maleficence.

“Leave him to his fate,” Amon the Sorcerer continued, “Leave him and take up your rightful place next to Despotus. Do not play second fiddle to some favoured lackey of your Master, who has usurped your position.” The Sorcerer smiled broadened even further and as his smile widened his head was teased apart, like a trap door slowly being opened. Nelson felt his disgust rise further in his chest. “There are no Master’s amongst us, there are only Gods and men,” Amon continued, “No rank determined on your favour or your sycophancy to your Masters, your worth is judged on your ability, you do not need status to elevate yourself above others, just raw power,” Amon’s unholy grin widened and stretched further, Nelson watched it was an almost fascinated disgust. “Leave him Nelson, leave your hated comrade and instead, join us.” Amon extended a hand towards Nelson and he watched as it stretched unnaturally toward him.

Captain Nelson considered the hideous hand that was offered to him. To take it would be to surrender to Chaos, to grant his darkest desire and allow Sejanus to fall would complete his unholy pilgrimage towards that darkness he had fought his entire life. It was true, these dark thoughts were not truly his own but the manipulation of this fell Sorcerer who had been plucking and toying with the strings of his mind, but his hatred and jealousy had allowed this darkness to grow within him. It was his own weakness that allowed himself to be led to this exact moment, where he stood on a bloodied battlefield, staring at the extended hand of friendship from his most hated foe.

It was this weakness that he had been hiding all this time. This weakness he had never seen. But in that moment, as that hand stretched towards him, groping, reaching for his palm, he realised one man had seen this weakness.

Lorentus.

Lorentus has seen this kink in Nelson’s immaculate mental armour, he had seen the potential for Nelson to fall to darkness and that was why he had not been promoted. That was why he had not been chosen above Sejanus. Not because Sejanus was better suited, or more favoured but because Lorentus had seen what Nelson could not.

He was weak.

This revelation stung Nelson worse than any blade ever could. He was weak, it was true, even though his arrogance and his pride had never allowed himself to see it. This weakness had allowed his thoughts to be infected, it had allowed him to be seduced by this evil temptation, to be manipulated by the darkness he never thought could control him. All this time he had thought it was Lorentus who was wrong, but in fact it was him. Nelson felt a deep remorse that was almost soul destroying, but as he felt the weight of the blade in his hands, he knew with a grim resolve that there was still time to change things.

There was still time to prove Lorentus wrong. There was still time to prove himself wrong.

And most importantly, there was time to prove this cursed Sorcerer wrong.

Nelson took one last look at the outstretched hand before with a blistering speed that belied the sheer weight of the weapon, he swung his Relic blade in a might upward arc with an ear splitting cry. The blade passed through his enemies forearm with ease, and the arm glided to the floor with a meaty thud. The Sorcerer reeled backwards, his smile vanished almost instantly, the wide arcing grin reduced to a thin snarl within seconds. Nelson whipped the blade back towards his enemy now with a blood curdling scream. Amon lifted his blade to parry the blow, but such was Nelson’s sheer fury that the blade could not stand up to the power in that swing, and as the two blades met, the Sorcerer’s sword was split in two with a baleful crack. As Amon’s serpentine eyes widened, Nelson lifted his blade as high as he could; his voice booming from his Vox Grill like the roar of a lion. He brought the blade down screaming upon the defenceless Sorcerer, and buried his hefty weapon into the crook of Amon’s neck. The blade passed through his collar bone with a gory snap and bloody squelch, the power of the blow allowed the blade to bore through the Sorcerer’s chest, passing through several ribs as if they were dry twigs. Amon fell to his knees under the weight of the blow and as the blade finally lodged itself, a great gout of blood erupted from his maw, his many teeth coated in glistening crimson. Nelson wrenched the blade free, and watched as the deep red blood began to pump down the Sorcerer’s armour, coating its blackened surface with a glorious coating of gore. The Sorcerer lifted his eyes to his executioner, and that smile crept back onto his face. He opened his mouth to speak allowing crimson to trickle from behind his lips.

“I hope you don’t live to regret your decision Captain Nelson,” The Sorcerer hissed, his poisonous words followed by a rush of blood that gushed past his red teeth and down his chin. Nelson opened his mouth to reply, but found no words. Instead he wheeled his bloodied blade backwards, and pouring all of his strength into his arms, he swung his blade at his hated foe. The blade passed through the Sorcerer’s neck as if it wasn’t there. The head rolled off his shoulders with nothing more than a flow of blackened blood. Both body and head fell to the floor, and as Nelson watched the body fall still he cast his eyes to the severed head that lay in the bloodied dirt. He felt a wave of disgust wash over him as he saw the expression that would be frozen on that fell Sorcerer for all eternity.

A smile. A wide, tooth filled smile.

Nelson left that smiling head where it lay, and raced to Sejanus’ aid. He sprinted as fast as he could, covering the battlefield with a blistering speed. Bullets whistled past his head as he ran, shells and explosions sent the earth soaring into the air all around him but still he pressed onwards. Despotus stood over the body of Sejanus now, and Nelson picked up his pace to an unimaginable speed as he saw the blade edge being arrowed down towards Captain Sejanus. He grew closer, and the form of Despotus loomed larger, he was almost within striking distance when he saw the dreaded Lord brace himself to strike. Nelson knew there would be no time to parry the blow, there would be no guarantee it would not strike Sejanus.

There was only one thing he could do.

He gave a mighty bellow as he raced towards the Chaos Lord. Despotus did not look up but instead began to bring the blade downwards. Nelson suddenly fell to his knees and with a mighty skid he slid across the earth before he landed between the two men. He saw the whites of his enemies eyes widen as he raced into his sight. Nelson saw this look of confusion first, saw this perplexed glare that burned into him. Nelson saw that look first.

Then he saw the flash of the blade.

The mighty sword passed through his Artificer Armour as if it were no more than scrap metal. Nelson felt the thick, keen blade bury itself into his gut, and bore a gory passage through his innards. He gave a growl of agony as the hot blood began to flow beneath his armour and Desoptus with a snarl ripped the blade from Nelson’s torso. Nelson’s growl turned into a wounded howl as the blood pumped from his wound, his body suddenly turned cold as the shock of his injury began to settle in. The pain in his abdomen began to build to a blinding crescendo as Despotus raised his blade again, a blade that now dripped with the Captain’s fresh blood. He wheeled his arm backwards with a look of sheer disgust and hatred and Nelson braced himself for the killing blow.

Again he saw the flash of the blade.

But it was not Despotus’ blade he saw.

The blade appeared from nowhere. It slashed a gory groove through Despotus’ chest plate and Nelson saw sparks fly from that ruptured armour. The Lord stumbled backwards and Nelson saw that blade flash again, only this time it was accompanied by a golden blur, and as Nelson’s swimming sight settled, he saw a glorious golden terminator helm.

Despotus parried this blow with a furious roar, a hideous snarl was etched onto the grey decaying flesh of his face, and with a hateful hiss he swung his blade back at Sejanus. Sejanus caught the blow in the shoulder, but with a great gout of sparks Nelson saw his armour had held. The Terminator Captain swung his blade in response, and Despotus swatted the blow away with an artistic flick of his sword, and the blades sang as they connected. The two exchanged blows before Nelson, their blades biting at each other’s armour, their edges shrieking and screaming as they clattered together. Sejanus matched Despotus blow for blow, whenever the Lord managed to draw blood, Sejanus would cut the dreaded Lord right back, and soon they looked as worn and bedraggled as each other. Nelson staggered to his feet, he touched his hand to his wound and soon his fingers were coated in blood, Nelson felt his mouth go dry and he knew, with his heart sinking low in his chest, that he would not be able to stand much longer.

He intended to do the most with the time he had left.

He took up his sword once more, a sword that now felt like it weighed a thousand times more than it had done so previously and stumbled towards the two combatants. He gave a furious bellow as he swung his blade clumsily at the Lord. Despotus saw the incoming blow, but just a fraction too late, he managed to divert the attack away. He knocked Nelson’s blade aside with such force that the weakened Nelson could not stay on his feet; the power of the parry sent him sprawling but Despotus also lost his footing. Sejanus pressed the advantage home, and with a blood curdling roar, Sejanus drove his blade into Despotus’ side. The Lord gave another hiss. As Sejanus twisted the blade free, the wound did not bleed, but instead Sejanus saw a tangling network of severed wires spit sparks as he withdrew the blade.

Despotus reeled at Sejanus with a scream, he swung his blade with such force that although Sejanus managed to lift his blade to parry the attack, the force at which it passed across him sent the blade arrowing out of his hands. Sejanus stumbled for his balance, and as he looked back at his opponent he saw the blade flash again. He felt the blow scrape across his chest, and although the armour held he saw a great chunk of his breast plate come loose and tumble to the ground. Sejanus clamped a hand over his chest and weakly stumbled backwards, only able to raise an arm over his face in defence as Despotus arced his weapon back to strike again.

But as Despotus’ eyes widened with the promise of the killing blow a furious battle cry erupted to Sejanus’ left. Both men looked and saw Nelson charge at Despotus, the Chaos Lord could not react quick enough, and Nelson buried the blade to the hilt into Despotus’ chest. Captain Nelson followed through with all of his might, and with his last ounces of strength he heaved the mammoth Chaos Lord into the air on his blade, before flinging him to the ground.

Nelson however also collapsed; his body landing beside the Lord. His last ounces of strength vanished, and as the grievously wounded Captain clutched for breath he felt his limbs fall lame. He turned his head to face the Chaos Lord, and saw the hilt of his blade wedged in the Lord’s breast plate. Despotus writhed and squirmed underneath the sword like a snake trapped in the talons of some great bird. Nelson feared the Lord would get back to his feet, but soon Sejanus loomed large over his flailing body and Nelson knew with a rush of relief that it was over.

His wound screamed now and the corners of Nelson’s vision began to darken. The world began to slip away from him, his sight slowly blurring and narrowing. But even through his failing sight he saw Sejanus take hold of Nelson’s blade, and with a furious cry, he began to slice through Despotus’ chest. At first Nelson thought he was twisting the blade to dispatch his foe, but even through his weakening sight he understood that Sejanus was not cutting Despotus.

He was carving. He was carving a great hole in the Lord’s Chest.

Nelson watched with a sort of confused wonder as Sejanus reached down, and ripped Despotus’ heart clean from open chest cavity. Such an act seemed so barbaric that Nelson was sure he was hallucinating. He was sure the throes of death were making him see things, for now Sejanus was holding the heart in his hand, and Nelson saw that it was a strange silver colour.

More than that, it was still beating.

Nelson’s vision drifted further away from him and one of the last things he saw, was Sejanus hack that strange, silver heart into a thousand pieces.

The very last thing he saw however, was the face of Brother Marxus, the company Apothicary staring down on him with a smile.

Space Marines

Turn 8.

The Space Marine army line up the Chaos Terminator and prepare to rain down some fire on him! There is a grand total of 2 sniper shots, one krak missile, 6 heavy bolter shots, one lascannon shot, 6 bolter shots, four assault cannon shots and one heavy flamer hit that are rained down on the Terminator.

And it survives them all!

It appears that the Space Marines will not be gifted the victory in what was admittedly a cowardly way! Sicarius decides that he will be the one to wade in a finish the last Terminator off!

He bundles into combat with the Terminator and although his Hammer of Wrath doesn’t wound, he flings his Power Fist downward and smashes the last heretic on Mechan 44 into the dirt. The battle is officially won! The campaign is over and ends with a Space Marine Victory!

The Bloodless line up and rain down their fury on the final heretic on Mechan 44...but to no avail.

The Fate of Mechan 44.

Epilogue:

Part 1.

Sejanus' Promise.

Sejanus found him in a quiet corner of the battlefield.

He had picked his way through the carpet of bodies strewn across the landscape for what seemed like an age. He had scoured every fallen friend and every slain foe until he had found him. Along the way he had seen innumerable horrors inflicted upon those bodies and seen unimaginable suffering in each of those frozen faces, but with a heavy heart he thought that he had seen nothing he hadn’t already seen a thousand times before.

He manoeuvred his huge frame gracefully across the littered and bloodied battlefield, and as he passed his comrades, those few that still remained standing, they dipped their heads low in respect as he walked. He nodded silently in thanks at those who stopped and bowed before their new master, but it was an awkward and clunky gesture, he was not used to these great shows of respect, his new rank fit him uncomfortably like a great cloak that was too big and too heavy on his shoulders. The respectful yet invading stares of his comrades he found he could only meet for a second before he would turn sharply away and continue on his grim pilgrimage across the desolate landscape. The deadly silence of the field was cut only by the soft scrape of his armour plates clattering as he walked, no other sound seemed to be able to permeate the air so thick with noiselessness.

Sejanus soon found himself navigating the slope of a gentle hill. The bodies here were thickest, and the ground beneath his feet vanished beneath a covering corpses that lay on the ground thicker than a blanket of snow. It was now that his footfall became clumsy and his gait turned into that of a stuttering shamble as he began to walk over the broken bodies of both friend and foe. He whispered a silent apology to each and every one of those brothers whose bodies upon which he stood, it was of course deeply disrespectful to those great warriors who had fallen, but Sejanus had something very important to do.

He had a promise to keep.

Sejanus kept climbing and navigating up the gentle slope, until he reached the top of the modest hill. The battlefield stretched out around him in all directions in a desolate panorama strewn with bodies, blackened craters and the smoking charred remains of tanks that were now nothing more than smouldering nests of twisted metal. It was then his eye fell upon a small clearing at the foot of the slope just behind him. He could see a scattering of fallen Chaos Terminators, their great hulking armoured bodies laid strewn in a great circle around the fallen body of another. Sejanus recognised the unmistakable and glorious suit of red and gold armour that those bodies encircled, and with a heavy heart he began his descent down the slope towards that body.

Somehow the silence seemed thicker here, as he approached the fallen form of Lorentus, Sejanus even felt his breathing surrender to the silence and it faded away from his senses. The atmosphere felt almost dreamlike, even his footfall and scratching armour succumbed to the sleepy silence and as Sejanus fell to his knees before the body of Lorentus, even the crunch of his armour beneath him could not make a sound.

Lorentus’ shattered body lay in tatters.

The armour plating had been ripped asunder in several places, the glorious golden chest plate had been smashed open, and the intricate machinery of Lorentus’ body that Sejanus had admired barely 24 hours ago, now lay in ribbons. Hundreds of years of progress and technological advances lay smashed and ripped beyond repair. Sejanus cast a morose glance over his Master’s body and saw the torso had been ripped clean from the waist, Lorenutus’ lower half lay more than 4 feet from his body, and a trail of wires and ruptured pipes were strewn across the ground like exposed innards. Lorentus’ left arm was missing, but his sword arm was still attached and even though it was greatly damaged at the elbow, Lorentus still gripped his blade tightly in his hand. The sword he had wielded was the blade of Boltan himself, the great relic they had recovered in the Ruins of Caltar; the blade Lorentus had laid down his life for, and here he lay with it clutched in his lifeless hand once more. It filled him with pride to see how strong that grip remained on that blade, and the gory grooves carved into the chest plates of the enemies littered around him, told Sejanus that Lorentus had taken a great many enemies down with him.

Sejanus finally plucked up the courage to stare into his master’s face. Lorentus’ bionic eye had been smashed and broken, the robotic skull beneath was exposed, the mechanics had been ruptured and crushed by some hefty blow that had no doubt finally felled Lorentus. But Sejanus felt relief wash over him when he saw the last flesh on Lorentus’ face still remained. His cool grey eye still stared out to the heavens amidst the flesh that although bloodied and beaten, kept a faint rosy glow of life.

A glow that Sejanus had to ensure was extinguished.

He bowed his head low, and whispered countless prayers and thanks to his fallen master, Sejanus owed him much. In fact he owed him too much, more than he could ever explain or even comprehend. What he was about to do did not feel like the thanks his Master deserved.

But it was his final wish. A wish that Sejanus had promised to keep.

Sejanus gently raised his head, and with a steady hand he reached for the blade of Boltan that was still gripped tightly in Lorentus’ hand. But as Sejanus wrapped his hand wrapped around Lorentus’ he found those fingers gave no resistance as he gently unpicked them from the blades hilt and carefully, almost lovingly removed the precious weapon from his master’s hand. Sejanus placed his hand on the ruptured breastplate of Lorentus’ armour and reached inside, he found the clasp on Lorentus’ body and unpicked it, opening his chest cavity wide. Sejanus looked upon the object he had expected to see, and still found himself reeling back in disgust, even though he knew exactly what he would see.

The metallic heart stared out at him beneath the tangled mess of battered and broken wires, it stared out exposed to the heavens.

And in that dead and lifeless chest it still continued to beat, pulsating softly, almost grotesquely in amongst the broken and still body.

Sejanus closed his eyes and taking up the blade of Boltan he raised it high arrowing its razor sharp point down over his Master’s fell heart.

And as he prepared to plunge the blade downward with all the strength left in his shattered body he did not pray that Lorentus or even the Emperor would forgive him for what he had to do.

He prayed he would be able to forgive himself.

Post Game.

Space Marines.

For the narrative, the hard fought war on Mechan 44 is finally over! The Bloodless have reclaimed their homeworld. Despotus has been slain and Sejanus, who started as a humble Veteran Sergeant has catapulted himself through the ranks to become the Bloodless’ new Chapter Master! Of course it has come at a heavy cost. Chapter Master Lorentus has fallen, but with him so have the last traces of The Bloodless’ heretical secret, the living metal Lazarantium has finally all been destroyed and Chaos nor the Imperium will be able to use its miraculous and nefarious properties to conquer the galaxy.

Sejanus has fought in all but one of these battles and survived them all, he’ll make a great Chapter Master and we look forward to fielding him in the future! We’re sure that Master Sejanus and the Bloodless will re-join the fray at some point in the future, but for now the Chapter needs to focus on rebuilding their shattered home world and their strengthening their depleted Chapter. So we’ll make sure we give them plenty of time to do that!

A rare happy ending in the 41st millennium but we’ll happily take it!

Dreadnought Sicarius dispatches the final heretic on Mechan 44 in the final combat of the campaign.

In regards of this battle it was an absolute roller coaster! We must say we were pleased to have such a topsy-turvy game for the final showdown, no one side ever looked comfortable and just when one side had the advantage something came along and tipped the balance once again!

For the Space Marines, the game should have been much simpler than that, we must acknowledge the great efforts and tactics of the forces of Chaos as well as lament the Space Marines hideous luck for making it such an intense battle. The Space Marines had the advantage of numbers, they had the best part of a 500 point advantage over the forces of Chaos, and they took three of their opponents best units off of the board for two of their turns and still they struggled to capitalize on these advantages. The first few turns the Space Marines could not get much work done, and Chaos left a lot of its units camped in cover, making Cultists who usually die in droves, last until turn 4! The Space Marines had only a handful of troops left at the end of the battle, which was a testament to how hard-fought the fight was!

Ironically it was the shooting that let the Space Marines down, a place where they usually excel and they did much more work in combat, a place where they usually struggle! Nelson slaying Amon was a big turning point, the Captain did well to fell such a tough target so quickly which meant he could assist Sejanus in taking down Despotus. Once the two Chaos heroes were slain the battle was pretty much done, although the numbers were thin on the ground by then. The Space Marines to be fair lucked out in a lot of the Chaos players combats, the Raptors were nowhere near as deadly as they usually are, neither were the Chosen, and the Hellbrute pretty much didn’t land a wound all game. Despotus was bogged down slugging it out with the Captains who were a pretty even match for him, this prevented him from running rampant amongst some weak troops and evening the odds out a little. The Chaos Terminators got a lot of work done, had they not had mishap-ed in turn two and arrived on the field earlier maybe they would have done even more work and caused the Space Marines even more problems than they already did.

But all in all a great game and a great campaign! We’ve enjoyed it greatly and we hope you have too!

Chaos

Despite the miracle of the surviving Terminator, both sides had terrible luck this game. For Chaos to win this battle was going to be a tall order but there were a few key things that could have been done differently. The ability to move scenery was the only pre-game bonus that Chaos had. If different pieces had been moved to create more cover for the advancing troops or to take cover away from the encamped Space Marines, then the battle could have been very different. Our dear Despotus should have started in a squad of Chaos Space Marines and headed in battle sooner rather than waste turns waiting for his buddies to appear.

All in all this was a fantastic battle that swayed from side to side, it had some very memorable moments that certainly won't be forgotten for a long time. The same will be said for this campaign, it was a way for us to pick up 40k again for the first time in years and restart our armies. The campaign pushed us to learn the rules, build our armies and experiment with different combinations. But the Taint of Mechan has been cleansed, the campaign has finished and so has 7th edition of 40k, now is the time to move on and get stuck in with the new rules which we will be sure to do in time.

Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed this process and we welcome your thoughts and opinions.

Afterword.

A huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read through our battle reports! We really do hope you have enjoyed them. As always we welcome your thoughts and ideas and any feedback you may have! You can find us on Twitter or leave us a comment in any of the comment boxes that are dotted around! Thanks again guys, we'll see you again soo to kick off a new 40K campaign to sample the joys of 8th edition!

Until then here is the final part of Sejanus' and Nelson's story.

Happy Wargaming!

The Fate of Mechan 44

Epilogue: Part 2

Nelson’s Promise.

Captain Nelson picked his way through the carpet of corpses to a solitary corner of the bloodied and blackened battlefield. The silence in the air hung like a thick fog, it was so deathly quiet it was hard to believe the cacophony of battle had raged over this earth mere hours ago. He stepped over the hulking bodies of his men and his enemies, glancing over their twisted, mangled limbs, their armour caked in dried, congealed blood and their hideous contorted faces frozen in eternal pain and horror. He had seen the look of death many times, and it did not faze him, even when he saw the dead faces of men he had conversed with this very morning. But that was, and always will be, the cold reality of war.

The fighting had been thick here, more often than not he could not find a patch of earth to walk on, and instead he found himself stepping on the ruptured chest plates, splinted shoulder pauldrons and shattered bodies of the fallen. The corpses lay so thick in places he found himself clambering over them, ungracefully hurdling the small walls of armoured bodies and when at last he could finally find some earth to step on, the ground beneath his feet was soaked in blood, the earth that splashed up his armour was a dire, muddy crimson. He glanced around the obliterated panorama and saw the bodies littered from here to the horizon. The only forms that were still moving were those of the Apothicary’s silently picking their way across the fallen, looking for the living, or salvageable. Nelson thought silently that they would be lucky to find anything living on this dead floor. He watched them only for a moment, their silhouettes dotted across the battlefield, their forms stooping and checking, before they straightened and moved on, continuing in their thankless task until they just became dots on the distant horizon. Dots that stooped and checked and straightened and moved on.

It was then that one particular form caught his eye. A great mass of armour was huddled so low to the ground it looked like a hulking boulder. Nelson delicately picked his way towards the figure, already knowing that it was who had been seeking on this torrid bloodied field for the past hour. As he drew nearer the mass of armour slowly morphed into that of Captain Sejanus, he knelt on a single knee, his head bowed low, his sword was planted before him in the earth, and his bloodied Terminator helm rested over the hilt, its empty eyes stared at Nelson as he approached. Sejanus turned his head slightly at the sound of Nelson’s staggered footfall, but that was all, he had returned his gaze back to the ground when he spoke:

“You were told to rest,” Sejanus said.

“I was,” Nelson replied.

“Your wound is deep,” Sejanus still would not meet Nelson’s gaze and as the Captain approached he could see why. Sejanus was watching over a body on the floor.

“Deep, but not fatal,” Nelson said proudly with a faint laugh. “Marxus has allowed me to enjoy my ruptured spleen and liver for a few more hours before he replaces them. I thought I would like a little time to say goodbye to the organs I was born with before they are gone,” A wry smile wormed its way onto Sejanus’ face.

“You’re in pain,” Sejanus remarked. “I can hear it in your voice Captain,”

“Only a little,” Nelson lied, the pain was in fact agony when he walked, or moved, or drew breath. He glanced involuntarily down at his abdomen and saw that his hand was clamped over the wound. He had not even realized he was holding it. Had he been doing so this entire time?

“You should really rest,” Sejanus continued, Nelson saw that his eyes were turned towards him now, examining him with a keen eye. Nelson could not meet that gaze, it was too intense, too probing, and he felt as though if he met that stare it would see right through him. Instead he cast his eyes downward and at last saw what Sejanus had been so fixated on.

The body of Lorentus lay still and silent. It was cradled, almost lovingly amongst the corpses of his men that lay all about him. Lorentus’ armour had been ripped open, the mechanics of his body were a shredded mess of torn metal, frayed wires and ruptured pipes. Nelson had heard he had fallen, and had also heard that this time, he would be beyond the skill of even Brother Marxus. It saddened Nelson that even a quick glance over his shattered body confirmed this. To see the Master of his beloved Chapter like this bit harder than any blade that had ever cut him, but, the one solace that Nelson could find was that the last flesh of Lorentus’ face still remained. The flesh was bloodied, but his expression was that of calm; a look of peace. Nelson thanked the Emperor for that.

“You fought well,” Sejanus spoke suddenly, his eyes still fixed on the Captain, “Lorentus would have been proud.” Sejanus stood now, Nelson felt his head bow involuntarily as he did so; there was an aura that exuded from him now that was unmistakable. The aura of authority. “Almost as proud as I am Captain,”

“Thank you,” Nelson replied quietly.

“It is I who should thank you Nelson,” Sejanus said now lowering his head and Nelson watched as he dropped to his knee before him. The power of the gesture shocked him. After all, this was his new Master, his new leader, and yet here he was on bended knee before him. “You took a blade for me, something which I shall not forget,”

“I would take countless more,” Nelson said and there was no doubting his truthfulness. Sejanus rose again, and a weak smile passed across his face.

“A gesture that hopefully will not be necessary,” He said. Nelson grinned softly, but as a silence passed between the two he knew that there were still some words that had remained unsaid for too long. His heart which had only just stilled itself from the rage of battle and the shock of his wounds began to beat hard again. He struggled for the words that he had to say. In the end, he said it as simply as he could.

“I’m sorry,” He said, meeting Sejanus’ stalwart gaze that had settled upon him once more. Sejanus did not question or press him, but waited patiently for the Captain to finish. “I doubted you. I doubted Lorentus. I doubted everyone and their faith in you. I never thought you would be worthy enough to be our Chapter Master.” It was Nelson who now dropped to his knee. He thrust his Relic Blade into the ground before him, the effort sent a bolt of pain searing through his gut, and he could not hid the grimace of agony that passed across his face. He bowed his head low before Sejanus and spoke. “But I was wrong. Forgive me, for my doubt, for my pride and most importantly for my jealousy Sejanus. Forgive me and you will forever have my faith, my loyalty and my service.” There was a long silence, and Nelson kept his head low, staring into the bloodied earth beneath him. The deathly quiet was unbearable and Nelson dared not lift his head for fear of the expression on his Master’s face. But when Sejanus finally spoke and split the silence his voice soothed his fears.

“There is nothing to forgive,” Sejanus said softly, and as Nelson cautiously lifted his gaze, he saw a hefty outstretched hand reaching for him. Nelson took it, and Sejanus hauled him to his feet, that searing pain bored through his gut again and Sejanus kept Nelson locked in his grip, to support the wounded Captain, who staggered slightly. “Faith should never be given blindly,” Sejanus continued, “Faith should be earnt, and won. I am glad to have earnt your faith Captain because today, you won mine.” Nelson felt Sejanus’ grip tighten, and he gripped his Master’s hand back as powerfully as he could, so Sejanus could not mistake his authenticity and appreciation. Sejanus withdrew his hand, and suddenly turned and stooped to retrieve his Terminator Helm that had watched the two men converse silently. “A faith earnt is a faith that survives,” Sejanus said solemnly, “But a faith rewarded is a faith that endures. Your loyalty is my reward.” Sejanus now stepped towards Nelson, and gripping his hand once more, he passed the Terminator Helm into his palm. “Consider this your reward. I could think of no man better to lead our First Company, Terminator Captain Nelson.” Nelson felt his breast well with pride.

“Thank you.” Nelson said, clamping his arm across his chest and cradling the helmet in his hand.

"Nor could I think of any man better to be my relacement when the day should come," Sejanus added. Captain Nelson could not hide the look of shock that steamrolled across his face.

“It is an honour Master Sejanus,” Sejanus planted a hand on Nelson’s shoulder and stared deeply into his eyes; a smile spread across his face that was almost as warm as his touch.

“Not Master,” He said softly, “Not to you Nelson, never Master. Only Brother.” Nelson gripped Sejanus’ forearm.

“Brother Sejanus,” He said proudly. Sejanus grinned and finally released his grip on Nelson. Whatever doubts there had been, whatever jealousy or hatred Nelson had felt for his now beloved Chapter Master they were utterly forgotten. Those feelings vanished without a trace and they would never return.

“Now Brother Nelson,” Sejanus said; that grin was still thick on his face and it widened as he added with a rare peel of laughter, “Go and get your new spleen.”