The_Crusader
TMF Regular
- Joined
- May 18, 2008
- Messages
- 233
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Faith
The fog had settled on the moor as it often did this time of night in the middle of the summer, and from the wall top Jonas could see the woods. All the children of Cyrene village had been told to never stray from the city walls for fear of what lived in the woods. Frankly, Jonas didn’t buy it. After 20 odd years of life, he’d never seen a thing come out of those woods other then the game that was typical to the planet.
There must have been something though, because roughly six months prior, the Emperor’s soldiers had stopped coming through the woods to collect the villages tithe and buy the various other crops and produce that Cyrene had to offer. Since then, the village had pretty much been independent of the Imperium, and many of the citizens had begun to forsake the Emperor.
“Paying attention over there boy?” The cry broke Jonas’ reverie as Davys, the town’s grizzled old blacksmith, came up next to him.
“No Davys, no. Just…thinking.” Davys was an ex-imperial guardsman, and notoriously inquisitive.
“yeah? About what?”
“just…why the soldiers stopped coming, and why the people are losing faith.” Davys clapped him on the shoulder.
“These are troubled times lad. Our little village has fallen on some hard times, people’s faith is tested. The soldiers will start coming again, one day.” The two men fell silent for a time, until Jonas asked,
“Davys? Your time in the guard, what did you see?”
“Boy, I’ve been from one end of this universe to the other and I’ve seen a lot of strange things.”
“Have you ever seen what’s in the woods?” Davys shook his head.
“Can’t say that I have lad. But I can guess. Mutants, Twists, abominations to all that’s good and holy in this Imperium.”
“how do you figure mutants? It could be anything.”
“No, it couldn’t. This is too far out from any known Ork strongholds, the Eldar would come en masse, if it were Tyranids, we’d all be dead already, and the Tau empire keeps itself to itself for the most part.” Again, the two men were silent. After maybe five minutes, Davys spoke again.
“Storms coming. Over there to the south, see? Its going to be nasty when it hits. Hate to be outside tomorrow night. As for me, I’m going down to Wilkes’ tavern. Have fun on guard duty kid.”
“Alright, g’night Davys. The Emperor protects.” Davys laughed.
“Lord kid, you sound like father Hector. Give it up; the Emperor’s forgotten this tiny little village. Faith is all well and good, but blind faith is idiotic.” He began to walk off before turning again.
“Oh by the way, the western wall is looking a little shabby. Weather worn I’d guess. You may want to put a word in.” Jonas nodded.
“I’m a stone mason Davys, but I’ll tell Hicks to get his crew on it.” Davys seemd satisfied.
“Night kid.”
The next night sure enough, the storm Davys had predicted hit and it hit hard. The rain poured down in veritable sheets. Jonas was comfortably inside his home having dinner with his wife.
“I’m headed down to the chapel after dinner, would you come with me for once?” his wife laughed.
“You still pray to the Emperor? Yes I can see why, his beneficence knows no bounds for Cyrene.”
“Molly please, the Emperor is the savior of mankind, we all owe him our very existence.” Molly sighed.
“Go Jonas, but I’ll be staying here.”
Jonas walked quickly through the pounding rain toward father Hector’s chapel. Father Hector was waiting for him as usual.
“Good to see you Jonas.”
“You too Father. I enjoy your sermons.”
“My boy, you’re the only one who does anymore. The people have lost faith, they think the God Emperor has forgotten us here.” At that moment, a cacophony of screams broke through the night. Jonas and Father Hector both turned.
“Perhaps there’s some credence to their doubt Father…”
Wilkes, the tavern owner, burst into the church.
“Mutants! They’ve managed to scale the north wall and they’re pouring into the town!” Jonas grabbed the nearest candle stand and rushed outside with Wilkes. It was true, there were mutants everywhere. Jonas was horrified by the sight of them, twisted horrors from his darkest nightmares. He saw a hulking beast with a distended jaw bearing down on Davys.
The blacksmith brought his hunting rifle up and blasted the mutant in the face. The beast seemed to simply shrug off the shot and ripped the rifle from Davys hands. It reared up and literally bit his head off with its gaping maw. His headless corpse fell into the mud, blood pouring from the stump.
“Emperor help us…” Jonas muttered. He dashed back to his house and shoved his wife under the bed.
“Stay there molly, don’t come out until its safe.” The front door shattered as a four armed horror burst in. Jonas grabbed his masonry hammer from the corner and brought it to a defensive position. The monster stood there, strings of spittle dripping from its mouth. It took two steps towards him. Jonas shut his eyes and prepared for the worst.
Suddenly, he felt a warm splash all over his face. Opening his eyes, he looked down. The monster was lying headless at his feet, its blood and brain matter all over him. In the doorway there stood a great armored angel, a smoking pistol in one hand, a great toothed sword growling hungrily in the other. The angel wore crimson armor, with a ruby droplet of blood in the middle of his chest plate, two golden wings spreading from it.
“Abomination.” The angel spat before turning and going back outside. Jonas followed.
Outside, four more angels, all armed and armored the same as the first, wrought death upon the mutants. At least a score of the villagers were dead, including Wilkes and Father Hector. The angels’ weapons spat fire and their roaring blades chewed through flesh as if it were nothing.
Heading towards the chapel once more, Jonas was struck from his feet. He spun in the air and landed on his back in the mud. Glowering down at him was by far the largest mutant of the group, two of its fellows on either side. Again, Jonas steeled himself for death. Strangely, he noticed a flare of orange in the night sky.
On great plumes of flame, another angel came crashing down upon the mutant leader, putting a bullet through the mutant on the left, cutting the one on the right in half with his great glowing sword. Truly, Jonas gazed upon the angel of death.
The other mutants had noticed him too, and began to mob toward him. The angel extended a finger toward the nearest mutant and incinerated it with a bolt of eldritch lightening. In a great storm of bullets and blades, the angels quickly dispatched the rest of the mutant horde.
The black armored angel removed his helmet. Half of his face was a leering silver skull with a glowing red eye sunk into the socket.
“Pile the corpses and burn this filth.” He growled. The angel returned his attention to Jonas and extended a hand, helping him to his feet.
“Th-thank you lord.” Jonas stammered.
“You think the Emperor has forgotten you. He has not.”
“How did you-“
“Because you let your guard down, and the enemies of man knew it. You lose faith; you lose the right to exist in this Imperium.”
“What do we do now?”
“You rebuild. You thrive. We shall cleanse the woods with blade and fire. The soldiers will return come the fall. Your village will see prosperity again.” Jonas nodded, taking in the angel’s commands.
“I pray for your sake that you do as I instruct.”
“Will we see you again my lord?” The angel shook his head.
“Pray that you have no further need of us. Remember, the Emperor protects. Take to the skies brothers! We shall excise this cancer from this world one degenerate mutant at a time.”
Gouts of flame erupted from the angels’ backs as they leapt into the sky.
Jonas watched them as they disappeared over the wall. The rain had stopped and the sun was rising.
“The Emperor protects.” He murmed softly, making the sign of the Aquila across his chest.
Okay, for those who need clarification, the Angels were imperial space marines, the angel of death was a librarian, and the ‘wings’ were jump packs. I hope you all enjoyed this story, whether you’re a 40k fan or not! Feedback is welcomed!
The fog had settled on the moor as it often did this time of night in the middle of the summer, and from the wall top Jonas could see the woods. All the children of Cyrene village had been told to never stray from the city walls for fear of what lived in the woods. Frankly, Jonas didn’t buy it. After 20 odd years of life, he’d never seen a thing come out of those woods other then the game that was typical to the planet.
There must have been something though, because roughly six months prior, the Emperor’s soldiers had stopped coming through the woods to collect the villages tithe and buy the various other crops and produce that Cyrene had to offer. Since then, the village had pretty much been independent of the Imperium, and many of the citizens had begun to forsake the Emperor.
“Paying attention over there boy?” The cry broke Jonas’ reverie as Davys, the town’s grizzled old blacksmith, came up next to him.
“No Davys, no. Just…thinking.” Davys was an ex-imperial guardsman, and notoriously inquisitive.
“yeah? About what?”
“just…why the soldiers stopped coming, and why the people are losing faith.” Davys clapped him on the shoulder.
“These are troubled times lad. Our little village has fallen on some hard times, people’s faith is tested. The soldiers will start coming again, one day.” The two men fell silent for a time, until Jonas asked,
“Davys? Your time in the guard, what did you see?”
“Boy, I’ve been from one end of this universe to the other and I’ve seen a lot of strange things.”
“Have you ever seen what’s in the woods?” Davys shook his head.
“Can’t say that I have lad. But I can guess. Mutants, Twists, abominations to all that’s good and holy in this Imperium.”
“how do you figure mutants? It could be anything.”
“No, it couldn’t. This is too far out from any known Ork strongholds, the Eldar would come en masse, if it were Tyranids, we’d all be dead already, and the Tau empire keeps itself to itself for the most part.” Again, the two men were silent. After maybe five minutes, Davys spoke again.
“Storms coming. Over there to the south, see? Its going to be nasty when it hits. Hate to be outside tomorrow night. As for me, I’m going down to Wilkes’ tavern. Have fun on guard duty kid.”
“Alright, g’night Davys. The Emperor protects.” Davys laughed.
“Lord kid, you sound like father Hector. Give it up; the Emperor’s forgotten this tiny little village. Faith is all well and good, but blind faith is idiotic.” He began to walk off before turning again.
“Oh by the way, the western wall is looking a little shabby. Weather worn I’d guess. You may want to put a word in.” Jonas nodded.
“I’m a stone mason Davys, but I’ll tell Hicks to get his crew on it.” Davys seemd satisfied.
“Night kid.”
The next night sure enough, the storm Davys had predicted hit and it hit hard. The rain poured down in veritable sheets. Jonas was comfortably inside his home having dinner with his wife.
“I’m headed down to the chapel after dinner, would you come with me for once?” his wife laughed.
“You still pray to the Emperor? Yes I can see why, his beneficence knows no bounds for Cyrene.”
“Molly please, the Emperor is the savior of mankind, we all owe him our very existence.” Molly sighed.
“Go Jonas, but I’ll be staying here.”
Jonas walked quickly through the pounding rain toward father Hector’s chapel. Father Hector was waiting for him as usual.
“Good to see you Jonas.”
“You too Father. I enjoy your sermons.”
“My boy, you’re the only one who does anymore. The people have lost faith, they think the God Emperor has forgotten us here.” At that moment, a cacophony of screams broke through the night. Jonas and Father Hector both turned.
“Perhaps there’s some credence to their doubt Father…”
Wilkes, the tavern owner, burst into the church.
“Mutants! They’ve managed to scale the north wall and they’re pouring into the town!” Jonas grabbed the nearest candle stand and rushed outside with Wilkes. It was true, there were mutants everywhere. Jonas was horrified by the sight of them, twisted horrors from his darkest nightmares. He saw a hulking beast with a distended jaw bearing down on Davys.
The blacksmith brought his hunting rifle up and blasted the mutant in the face. The beast seemed to simply shrug off the shot and ripped the rifle from Davys hands. It reared up and literally bit his head off with its gaping maw. His headless corpse fell into the mud, blood pouring from the stump.
“Emperor help us…” Jonas muttered. He dashed back to his house and shoved his wife under the bed.
“Stay there molly, don’t come out until its safe.” The front door shattered as a four armed horror burst in. Jonas grabbed his masonry hammer from the corner and brought it to a defensive position. The monster stood there, strings of spittle dripping from its mouth. It took two steps towards him. Jonas shut his eyes and prepared for the worst.
Suddenly, he felt a warm splash all over his face. Opening his eyes, he looked down. The monster was lying headless at his feet, its blood and brain matter all over him. In the doorway there stood a great armored angel, a smoking pistol in one hand, a great toothed sword growling hungrily in the other. The angel wore crimson armor, with a ruby droplet of blood in the middle of his chest plate, two golden wings spreading from it.
“Abomination.” The angel spat before turning and going back outside. Jonas followed.
Outside, four more angels, all armed and armored the same as the first, wrought death upon the mutants. At least a score of the villagers were dead, including Wilkes and Father Hector. The angels’ weapons spat fire and their roaring blades chewed through flesh as if it were nothing.
Heading towards the chapel once more, Jonas was struck from his feet. He spun in the air and landed on his back in the mud. Glowering down at him was by far the largest mutant of the group, two of its fellows on either side. Again, Jonas steeled himself for death. Strangely, he noticed a flare of orange in the night sky.
On great plumes of flame, another angel came crashing down upon the mutant leader, putting a bullet through the mutant on the left, cutting the one on the right in half with his great glowing sword. Truly, Jonas gazed upon the angel of death.
The other mutants had noticed him too, and began to mob toward him. The angel extended a finger toward the nearest mutant and incinerated it with a bolt of eldritch lightening. In a great storm of bullets and blades, the angels quickly dispatched the rest of the mutant horde.
The black armored angel removed his helmet. Half of his face was a leering silver skull with a glowing red eye sunk into the socket.
“Pile the corpses and burn this filth.” He growled. The angel returned his attention to Jonas and extended a hand, helping him to his feet.
“Th-thank you lord.” Jonas stammered.
“You think the Emperor has forgotten you. He has not.”
“How did you-“
“Because you let your guard down, and the enemies of man knew it. You lose faith; you lose the right to exist in this Imperium.”
“What do we do now?”
“You rebuild. You thrive. We shall cleanse the woods with blade and fire. The soldiers will return come the fall. Your village will see prosperity again.” Jonas nodded, taking in the angel’s commands.
“I pray for your sake that you do as I instruct.”
“Will we see you again my lord?” The angel shook his head.
“Pray that you have no further need of us. Remember, the Emperor protects. Take to the skies brothers! We shall excise this cancer from this world one degenerate mutant at a time.”
Gouts of flame erupted from the angels’ backs as they leapt into the sky.
Jonas watched them as they disappeared over the wall. The rain had stopped and the sun was rising.
“The Emperor protects.” He murmed softly, making the sign of the Aquila across his chest.
Okay, for those who need clarification, the Angels were imperial space marines, the angel of death was a librarian, and the ‘wings’ were jump packs. I hope you all enjoyed this story, whether you’re a 40k fan or not! Feedback is welcomed!
