Men, EDs and Machines

 

"The stern-faced leaders in their temple of doom

Creating nightmares made for me and for you

Here come the raiders they're invading us all

We stand in silence with our backs to the wall"

        --Excerpt from Gamma Ray's Damn The Machine

 

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 In the galactic south of the Imperium of Mankind lies one of the most notorious of its Hive Worlds: Armageddon. It was aptly named, cause it really was the end of all; it had seemed to the first colonists. Rumours went, that a general in the predecessor of the Imperial Guard had coined the name. He had exclaimed that this seemed like the end of the world, but in his own native tongue: "Shima tikre ountar tirmal edla harmagedon!" or roughly: "This looks like we've come to the end of worlds!” But as said, it was only a rumour, a legend. Just like that of the Eagle, the Wolf and the Hound of Chaos.

 Armageddon had a very adaptable plant and animal life, it had appeared. The many volcanoes erupted oftenly and with force. The worst regions being that of the East of the Acheron Meridian. They had so many volcanoes, that the people dubbed it the Fire Wastes. Later, the Fire Wastes would prove to have one of the richest ore findings throughout the Imperium. To the West of the Acheron Meridian, however, there were no volcanoes, and due to Armageddon's peculiar rotation, most of the year on that part was left in darkness. This left it very cold, making the colonists name it the Deadlands, as nothing seemed to live in the cold. They were wrong. Unlike the 80 degrees Celsius sands of the Fire Wastes where nothing lived, many creatures lived and thrived in the icy Deadlands, like the six metres tall snow grizzly, a hideous predator. Its prey consisted mostly of the small, but numerous feathered lizards: ice lizards that lived on fish and the like in the seas of Armageddon. But these creatures are since long gone, due to the epitaph of survival of the fittest.

 The reasons are as follows: Armageddon once was a lush, green forest covered planet, with the exception of the Fire Wastes and the Deadlands, and people settled down there, on the fields that were, and lived of agriculture. Then, when the ores where discovered in the East, and the oil in the Deadlands, Armageddon quickly was turned to industry. The Imperium's rulers (the Emperor mortally wounded from his fight with Karzhan and no longer fit to rule in the eyes of his minions) used the template from the first true Hive World: Ichar. Eight major Hives were quickly erected (count a few hundred years as relatively quick) and several minor ones. The major hives were to be named as follows, in no special order: Death Mire (due to its surroundings), Volcanus, Tempestora, Acheron, Infernus, Helsreach, Tartarus and Hades. Many huge factory complexes were also built, in the middle of nowhere. The lush, planet covering forest was reduced to a small strip that departed the continents Armageddon Prime and Armageddon Secundus form each other, and supplied the planet with oxygen.

 Most of the animals fled into this thin strip, and the jungle became placed under protection of the Imperial Law. But not all animals fled to the jungle, some fled to the mountain ranges Diabolus and Palidus, where no sound human would go, these two mountain ranges housing some of the biggest volcanoes known. Amongst the fleeing animals, were tribes of feral Orks, who'd probably been there since the dawn of time. Humans have encountered them on every planet they've began colonizing, for record.

 But there were those animals that didn't flee, and those plants that survived the horrible toxins and poisons spread out by the human factories. Most of the plants were tiny shrubs and cactuses, plants that could survive months without water, and then storing gallons of it, when the Season of Storms broke after the Season of Shadows. These plants also quickly became highly toxic to all animals that tried to eat them, as the plants took their water from the polluted rains that came from the Ash Wastes, which were created by the many factories and Hives. But amongst the herbivores on Armageddon, two have proved superior. The first being the Rock Turtle; it looks like a rock when it pulls in its head and legs. Its hard shell has saved it from many a predator, humans and Orks included. It's not too big, about half a metre high. The much bigger then is the second herbivore: the Seven feet armadillo. This armadillo is, as its name implores, seven feet long. It's not truly an armadillo, as it's no mammal as such. Only reptilian animals have proved successful out in the Wastelands of Armageddon. The Armadillo lays eggs, which easily can be mistaken for rocks. Humans and Orks oftenly miss them, but some animals don't.

 Like the Sand Raptor. The Raptor is a bi-pedal dinosaur, the size of a horse. It lives mainly on eggs from the Seven feet armadillo and the Rock Turtle, but it can attack and kill young turtles and armadillos, but never grown ups. Armageddon natives (humans as well as Ork) take the eggs that the Raptor lays and nurses them themselves, to get the perfect riding beast for the climate of Armageddon.

 The most dangerous of all animals on Armageddon, however, are the 20+ metres long Armageddon Ash Waste Sand Cobras! These beasts usually become a length of 30 to 40 metres, but there have been reports of a huge wyrm living in the Plains of Anthrand. The rumours say that this wyrm is full 200 metres long, and has lived on Armageddon since the first human colonists arrived. It's the mother of all cobras. The sand cobras in general aren't too picky about their food. They eat what the heck they feel like. In times of dire need, it can happen that they eat smaller cobras. Many are the Ash Waste adventurers on Armageddon that have ended up as a Sand Cobra's dinner.

 But, this isn't the story of Armageddon's plant life and ecological system. It's about men and machines, and their eternal struggle to get control over the other. And it was just fitting for Armageddon: It had never been a peaceful world. From the days when the colonists tried to push back the Orks from the fields, through the Deamon Age, into the Age of the Imperium when Kevlinn invaded and took it under command. The numerous wars waged upon him and Armageddon's final and inevitable liberation at the hands of Commissar-general Rolf Yarrick. Smaller civil wars, the Genestealer incursions and the Chaos Cults of the Underhives also wracked Armageddon. But the battle that became Armageddon's last, was also its most glorious (how wars now can be glorious). A huge alliance of Orks and Berzerkers invaded the poorly prepared Armageddonians and almost all resistance was swept away at once. But, despite this, Armageddon held through it all. And in the end, how you twist and turn it, it was down to one man:

 Imperial Commissar Sebastian Yarrick, the Saviour of Hades Hive. And it's in that very Hive that this story begins in its true nature: 

 

 Hades had changed, that was obvious. Where children had played, and people gone on market to buy their daily needs, these places were now empty. A ghostly feel was over the huge hive city. Hades was built to house a full seven billions of people. To even think the fact that such a big thing can be suddenly abandoned and left empty is a scary thought. And it had been abandoned in a hurry. Apartments and habs remained as they were, people only grabbing the most essential and setting off. Mag-lev bikes had been thrown away as people had thought it sounder to go by foot, or just that the mag-lev rails had seized working. In the many ports, several Thunderhawk transports remained. It was as if people hadn't cared of the interstellar ships, and tried to get out of the Hives, into the wastelands instead. Overall, the city looked normal. The scars from the Last Armageddon War was still visible, but it was unsure if those scars would ever go away... The city of Hades remained as it always had, waiting in vain for its inhabitants to return.

 The great Crystal Oak, that was like a trademark for Hades Hive, had grown wildly the last four hundred years. It stole most of the artificial light on Upper Hive Lv 45. But, still, it was a crystal plant, from Elysium, and the light filtered through the patchworks of twigs and branches and through the leaves and the tree itself, due to its semi-transparent, glass-like construction. It had broken through the wall surrounding it on several places, but still the water remained in the fountain around it. Not far from the Crystal Oak, about a few hundred metres, a statue stood. It had been left untouched by whatever had scared the inhabitants of Hades away. It was also unscathed by the claws of time.

 The statue was of an old man, dressed in the greatcoat and peaked cap of an Imperial Commissar. In his left hand he held a mighty storm bolter and his right arm ended at the elbow. It was replaced by a huge Orkish so-called battle claw. He raised his huge claw in defiance towards the northwest, and the ruins of an old pyramid, a monolith and the wreckage of a so-called Space Hulk. The old man didn't only miss an arm. He also missed his left eye, it being replaced by a bionic implant. He stood upon a heap of Orkish skulls and Berzerkers' helmets. On the base of the statue, one thing could be read on each side. On the one facing the Crystal Oak, one could read the following:

 Commissar Sebastian Yarrick, Saviour of Hades Hive.

 "Iron Will, Iron Fist"

 In smaller lettering above it, one could read: "This statue was erected in honour of".

 On the side facing away from the Crystal Oak, one could read one of Sebastian Yarrick's most famous quotes:

 "The green tide of Orkdom is upon us and we are alone. There can be no mercy. No surrender. If we survive this day it'll be a miracle!"

 Underneath the quote, a text could be found, though it had been covered in dust over the years. Overall, the old man seemed to be looking back at past glories and lost honours and memories.

 By the Crystal Oak, the silence was suddenly broken by a whining sound, as a Warp portal opened itself. Out stepped a smaller group of men and women. Stepped, well, the majority fell out of the hole and onto the concrete ground of Hades. Of the squirming mass of children, one could make out a camouflaged greatcoat. Rolf struggled out of the pile and stood up and looked around. McKenzie, being the last one to step out of the hole, his leg nearly cut off by the closing portal, took a deep breath and took in the surroundings. As he saw the Crystal Oak, he knew full well where he was.

 "Ah, Hades Hive!" he exclaimed and looked around. "It's been such time! It feels so... wet..."

 McKenzie looked down and saw that he was standing knee-deep in the water of the fountain. He got out of the fountain and smiled sheepishly towards the others. Now firstly did he notice that the hive was abandoned. "Not good," he muttered.

 The rest of the kids had now gotten to their feet. They looked awestruck at the surroundings. They'd never seen anything like this before. The huge, spike-like Gothic buildings. The many gargoyles and eagles carved out of stone and the fine mica-glass windows. The fact the entire place was abandoned didn't seem to concern them. Kevin still had the strange and giddy feeling left from his first warp-travel.

 "Ooh, what was that?" he asked. "Better yet, where are we?"

 "We appear to be on Armageddon," Edd said carefully. "A name that really fits this Hive world. It lies in the galactic south of the Imperium." Edd didn't mention his concern over that the entire place was abandoned.

 "You mean we're really in another solar system?" Nazz asked. "We really did it?"

 Yep," Eddy replied. "We're a full one thousand light-years away from Earth."

 McKenzie turned round and saw the statue of Sebastian Yarrick. "What do we have here?" he said and strolled off. The others followed far behind. After a few minutes, it had gone up for the kids that a thing this big, shouldn't be so empty. It seemed like a ghost town.

 "Hey look!" Charleston shouted and ran towards the statue as he recognized the person, almost flattening McKenzie in the process. "It's Sebbie! But, I can't remember he had a statue erected over him?" Charleston said with a thumbing.

 "Who's Sebbie?" Kevin asked, cocking an eyebrow. The old man looked imposing, despite his obvious age. There was something familiar with him, Kevin thought. He recognized the nose and the overall facial structure. He threw a glance at Rolf, and then back at the statue. "Naaah!" Kevin said in disbelief.

 "That's Commissar Sebastian Yarrick." McKenzie said as he walked forward to read the inscription on it.

 "Guess it must've been erected while we prepared the defences elsewhere..." McGranth said and looked up at the statue. Sebastian had been a good friend of him, just as the commissar general had. "How far into the future do you think we are, Master Lexicanum?"

 "About four hundred years after the Fall of the Imperium, I guess." McKenzie said as he read what it said. Some of it was written in High Gothic, and he'd gotten a bit rusty.

 "And from the time we had on Terra?"

 "Maybe seven hundred years..." McKenzie replied simply. McGranth couldn't believe it. 700 years! Had it been that long since the Outlaws first showed up for the Imperial citizens? And how the heck had McKenzie been able to take them through so many years of time? Seemed impossible.

 "What does it read?" Charleston asked as he looked over McKenzie's shoulder.

 "It says that this is a statue erected in honour of Seb. And it also states his personal motto." McKenzie walked round the base to the other side. "Here it reads one of his most famous quotes:" McKenzie read it out to the others. "Seems he was no optimist." McKenzie brushed away the dust covering the last of the text. As it was written in High Gothic, it took a while for him to interpret it, but when he finished it, he looked crossly at Charleston. "Can I have a word with you?"

 Charleston swallowed hard. He understood what McKenzie had read. He had seen through his lie those many years ago that had made them abandon the Imperium and go for the Outlaws.

 "I remember you said Sebastian was killed by a Dark Eldar dark lance, right?" McKenzie asked briskly. Charleston nodded meekly. McGranth was also a bit intrigued of what McKenzie had found out. "Then," McKenzie said and showed the text he'd read. "How comes it reads here they found his dead and broken body, outside the Imperial Palace some four hundred years ago? There was no sign of violence on his body; except for his broken back and that he was obviously dead. Dead, from that his power claw had been rammed into his old body!" McKenzie crossed his arms over his chest and looked sternly on Charleston.

 "You lied to us, brother commander?" McGranth said and looked shocked.

 "I believe he has, Grand Commander." McKenzie replied, not letting go of Charleston with his gaze for a second. Charleston gave up and sighed.

 "Okay, I admit it; I lied!" he said with an open-handed gesture. "But did I have a choice? I knew what you would say if I told you the truth. We'd be stuck in the Imperium, and these children would most certainly find themselves slaves to darkness! I lied, with a clean conscience, that we would avenge, not only Sebastian, but also the entire Imperium and the Emperor, given our time! We could in no way have defeated Kharn as it was! He had for crying out loud the Axe of Khorne or Khaine or whatever, again! He retained the damned thing on Armageddon, here! He only invaded Armageddon as a distraction, and I knew it! He only wanted the Axe back, and for that, he pulled upon himself the attention of three full Space Marine Legions and unnumbered Imperial Guard. And he nearly won, brothers, he nearly won."

 "Then why didn't you tell us so, Ed?" McGranth said and looked distrustfully upon his friend.

 "I tried, but no one cares to listens to the big and obviously stupid Lieutenant Commander of the Assault Company!" Charleston made a pause to regain his breath and let this sink in. This had obviously been brewing in him for a long time. "Just because I'm tall and brawny, doesn't mean I'm dumb." he continued in a calmer voice. "Sebastian knew it too, but again, no one listened to him. His grandfather hadn't either, you know, the day he was killed. Neither did Luthor von Strab, Herman ignored him and Holt... well, that's another story. Seb told me stuff that no one else would listen too, and I always knew what he meant, and that it was undoubtedly true. Seb and I shared the same ability; to solve puzzles that seemed unsolvable to others." Charleston turned to McKenzie. "Sebbie undoubtedly told you about Holt, but did you listen? No! He told me before he paid his visit to Holt, and I believed in his theory, cause it sounded okay. He trusted me more than you, Edward, because I listened to him!"

 McKenzie stood dumbstruck for a while. Then he silently nodded. It was time to pay more attention to his friend. Both he and McGranth had always seen Charleston as someone acting under them, not someone to listen to. He just did as he was told, and that was it. Charleston never complained; he did his duty with delight, it seemed. But apparently, he'd had other things on his mind, all the time.

 Jonny broke the sudden silence between the assembled humans.

 "This place sure is quiet," Jonny whimpered, pulling Plank closer to him. "Where is everybody?"

 "He's got a point," Eddy agreed. "Shouldn't there be people here?"

 "I don't understand," McKenzie muttered as he scratched his head. "It appears as though the entire hive was abandoned, and in a hurry!"

 "Why should somebody just up and leave a whole city empty?" Ed wondered as he looked up at the huge construction that was the main spine.

 "I don't know," McGranth answered with a shrug of his armoured shoulders. "Commander, Master Lexicanum, I suggest we go take a look. You guys," McGranth said, turning to the others, "You stay here. Rolf, I put the responsibility of their safe-keeping on your shoulders."

 Rolf saluted, and seeing he'd made his point, McGranth moved away form the plaza with the others two Marines. They walked down an alleyway named UHLv45/56lj, or by most Hadesians: Rue Morgue (Road of the Dead), due to the fact that many dark and hideous murders had been conducted on this alleyway, despite it being so high up into the Spire.

 Looking down upon the three Marine officers were nearly faceless gargoyles and angels. Saints looked down on them from the arched windows of the gothic buildings. McKenzie made a simple flex of his mind, finding no other life than themselves and the kids back at the statue.

 "I don't like this..." McKenzie said quietly, "Where is everyone?"

 As he said that, the three got out of the alleyway and out to another plaza. This, however, carried clear signs from battle. A statue had stood in the middle, or if it was a monument; it was hard to tell, nothing was left of it. McKenzie let a faint gasp leave his lips as he saw the incredible destruction. McGranth simply nodded. He'd seen the kind of damage a lascannon could do when it hit rockrete. This was far worse. Something, undoubtedly something big, had destroyed most of the plaza with controlled and sustained bursts of some high-energy, rapid-fire weapon. Probably a gatling-system, as it was called in the Imperium.

 "Look at this place..." Charleston said and gave a low whistle. "It's a disaster area, so I guess they had to evacuate." Unwillingly, he trailed his hand down to his power sword's resting place at his belt.

 "Evacuate from what, is what I'd like to know..." McGranth said, grabbing his storm bolter firmly. He had a weird gut feeling, which he didn't like.

 High up above the Space Marine officers, something was watching them, intently. It's nearly invisible in the shadows, but its red, unblinking eyes revealed it to be a mechanoid being. It's been on a long stalk, for months now. Finally, something to report. Twisting its inhumanly agile body, the shadow climbs upwards, towards the up-link mast of Hades Hive Main Spire.