Engagement at Effingham

The imposing grey edifice that was the fortress monastery of the Wardens of Dubris stood high upon the chalk cliffs of Dubris, its walls battered by the artic north winds.  For millennia the role of the Wardens of Dubris had been to protect the sector from the enemy both within and without.  A role, that the Wardens had not yet been found wanting. 

Deep within the fortress monastery the Lord Warden sat on his throne adjudicating the grievances of the chapter`s churls.   For three long hours the Lord Warden had been dealing with the tedium of chapter duties.  His eyes scanned over another dispute concerning budget allocations and tried his best to stifle a yawn.  Turning towards the chief librarian the Lord Warden spoke softly “Emperor save us from this drudgery.”  The librarian smiled “Wielding a chapter in times of relative peace does not quite elicit the same thrill as wielding a bolter in battle, this quiet will not last my friend, your time to once more stride across the battlefield will come.  This morning I read the auguries they spoke of the release of an ancient enemy, of dark times, and of death.” 

As the last word fell from the librarians lips the audience chamber doors flew open and a vox-caster servitor hurried into the room.  The monitor on the machine-man`s face came to life with a recorded message from inquisitor Grilli.  “During an attempt to purify a profane site my forces were assaulted by the Volkstan.  To thwart my endeavour the Volkstan unleashed a warp entity of untold power.  I was unable to contain it.  I implore you to despatch forces to counter this menace without delay." 

The Lord Warden sat back in his chair “I wonder what trouble the inquisitor has stirred up, I am sure that it is not as dire as he paints it.  Chief librarian Ainger, take a squad of men and see if you can deal with this problem.  I will ready the first company in case the threat is as dangerous as the inquisitor says.”

The settlement was eerily quiet as Chief Librarian Ainger deployed her squad into two sections.  One section took higher ground while the other section swept round the buildings in search of their enemy. 

The Wardens of Dubris became aware of their enemy when frost started to appear on the visors of their helmets and a sinister voice invaded their minds.  The voice spoke in a tongue that the marines could understand, but they knew what it had planned for them.

Brother Borrows was the first to see the demon, and he ordered his squad to open fire.  Superheated plasma and bolt-gun rounds flew through the air towards the abomination.  Gallglut Fatflesh was not fazed by the marines attempt to kill him and strode through the wall of death.

The demon turned its head left and right sniffing the air as if it was searching for something.  Its head stopped as it picked up the scent of a psyker, the chief librarian.   Gallglut Fatflesh grinned as it bounded towards the librarian. 

Ainger let loose with her bolt-pistol, the rounds exploded on the demon`s chest blowing chunks of flesh away, but they did nothing to slow down Gallglut.  The librarian tried to raise her force sword to defend herself, but the demon reached up with preternatural speed and wrenched the marines head clean off of her shoulders.

The Wardens of Dubris laid down a withering barrage of fire as they tried to pulled away from the abomination, but a wayward shot from brother Brown`s heavy plasma gun caught brother Fuller on his right leg fusing his armour and leg into one molten lump.

Gallglut Fatflesh tore through the section of marines like he was swatting flies.  His hands punched through power armour, breaking bones and crushing limbs.  Brother Broadley was the last marine to fall, in the desperate combat the indomitable warrior blew two holes in the horror facing him.

Brother Brown set his heavy plasma gun to maximal fire and took careful aim at Gallglut as the demon charged towards his position.  The marine pulled the trigger, but instead of discharging superheated plasma the weapon vented the built up the energy.  Brown threw down his gun in disgust and pulled out his bolt pistol.

The demon slowly smashed brother Harvey`s head into the shipping containers the rhythmic banging sent a shudder through the remaining members of the squad.  

The marines steeled themselves to their fate and emptied their weapons into Gallglut Fatflesh.  The demon was thrown off of the containers by the weight of fire hitting it and landed with a crunch as its neck broke.

The battlefield fell quiet as the final empty cartridges bounced off the shipping containers.  Brothers Jones, Borrows, and Brown went around their injured comrades to see who could be saved and whose gene seeds needed to be returned to the chapter.  The cost of the fight had not been as high as it could have been.  The only fallen marine was chief librarian Ainger, she would be entered into the hall of heroes, and her deeds would not be forgotten.

The Thunderhawk gunship returned to take the marines back to their fortress monastery, they would all need to recuperate from their encounter with Gallglut Fatflesh.  As the gunship was taking off brother Jones looked out of the window and saw the demon sit up snapping its broken neck back into place.