Soul Drinkers Chapter
11-03-2009, 02:56
The Ierios System lies within the southern reaches of the Ultima Segmentum of Imperium Space. It was discovered during the height of the Great Crusade, when the Emperor himself and his Space Marines arrived and found the third planet from the central star, a giant nebulous ball of gas, had a moon with humans living upon it. Heralding the Emperor’s arrival the people of Ierios VII rejoiced and were glad to be welcomed back once more into the fold of the Imperium of Man. No conquest or warfare was needed, and the Imperial Iterators hardly had cause to speak more than once at grand festivals. Ierios VII was peaceful and wealthy, its natural resource that would make it important to the sector being the vast amounts of promethium that lay below its oceans and lands.
Seemingly for little more reason than to honor the people of Ierios VII for their clear display of loyalty to Him, the Emperor ordered one of his Primarchs, the great Roboute Guilliman, to construct a resplendent temple atop a tall summit that overlooked the capital hive-city of Ierios VII, Eldritch. Carved from white marble imported from Macragge, Gothic arches stood atop great Dorian columns of majestic height, reinforced by golden flying buttresses. Marble statues of the Emperor, heroic Primarchs, and Space Marines stood along the carved steps of the mountainside leading to the entrance of the Sepulchre Imperialis. Within the marble halls hung great banners and tapestries displaying scenes of battle, the Emperor leading His soldiers into battle. Space Marines charging into lines of filthy xeno scum. It was a temple worthy of the people’s veneration for the Emperor.
Time however, does not stand still…
+++M42.321+++
Southern Ultima Segmentum, Ierios System
Designation: Production World
Current Status: Rebellion
People ran down the street haphazardly, most covered in dirt or flecks of blood. Fear and mayhem coursed through the air like a living thing as screams echoed around the buildings from behind them. The sound of revving Rhino engines of the Adeptus Arbites could be heard, as well as the sickening sound of flesh being crushed under tons of rolling metal. The occasional autogun blast would raise a staccato above the roar of sound.
What had started as a peaceful protest against the new curfew laws that had been passed by the Senate had quickly turned into a bloodbath. The Arbiters had stood in a tight line, forming a wall of shields and shock mauls before the steps of the Senate House, keeping the protestors at bay. Everything had been calm and orderly, with a festive mood pervading the area, families holding hands pointing up at the gargantuan size of the Senate House, its coliseum-esque construction towering over the city’s northern reaches. Banners of the ruling cartel house hung from the sides alongside the sable black and gold of the Imperium.
Major Hanleck, an Arbiter officer, had sighed with relief when the crowd had marched slowly and peacefully towards the line of his men. At first he’d been afraid that they might charge, but they had simply shouted slogans and made gestures, a few orators amongst the rabble rousers giving speeches about the injustice of the recent law passed by the Senate and the heads of the cartel families that ruled through it. A young boy had stepped forward, closer to the line than any other civilian. One of Hanleck’s troopers had squatted down to rub his hair and smile at him. The boy looked up and smiled, reaching around his back to pull around a small backpack. The Arbiter had cocked his head in obvious curiosity, and Hanleck was stepping forward to reprimand that Judge for not being stricter when the backpack exploded.
The Arbiter Judge that had been kneeling disappeared in a ball of atomized heat, as did the few Judges around him. Hanleck was launched backwards, up the Senate steps, and knocked unconscious. His subordinates, not as skilled or experienced as their leader, did the only thing they knew to do in reaction to one of their own being killed. Autoguns were un-slung and sliders cocked, then the volleys began, firing at random into the crowd. Hundreds of protestors were scythed down within seconds. Screaming erupted and the crowd of several thousand convulsed into a mob. Some fought back, throwing stones and fists. Others fled in terror, trying to get through the press of Humanity to get to safety. Not many made it.
Marshal Law was declared and by nightfall the streets of Eldritch were spotted with corpses. The open square before the steps of the Senate was a charnel house, with civilian bodies lying in great piles around ruined statuary and landscaping. Arbiter armored Rhinos combed the streets, loudspeakers declaring that the new curfew would be enforced with deadly force. Major Hanleck was taken to the women of the Ordo Hospitaller of the Adepta Sororitas, who immediately took him into intensive care. Governor Amelia Shandra, of the Cartel House Shandra, sat in her palace feeling numb and knowing that she was at fault for the riot.
Not many knew of the troubles the last few years had brought to Governor Shandra and her regime on Ierios VII. For the better part of three years terrorist attacks had been mounted against the gargantuan manufactorum of Hive Irittas, which helped to refine the massive amounts of promethium that was drilled from beneath the world’s surface. Pipe lines had been cut, worker strikes mounted, and even one of the orbital holding tankers had been sabotaged, causing an explosion of such massive proportions that Shandra had to spend months covering up the fact that it had not been an accident. What was worse, Ierios VII had failed to meet the Imperial Tithe for the third time in a row the previous year, and even the new curfew laws that were meant to help cut down on the terrorist attacks was not helping to repair that damage.
What was worse however was the reports that Shandra’s Arbiter agents were reporting. A secret society seemed to be leading the actions of the terrorist attacks, proclaiming that a new age was coming and that it would be here soon. That was happening in Hive Irittas, more than two hundred thousand kilometers away. Within Eldritch itself, an underground movement had risen sharply, with violent acts spiking to such an extreme that the Arbiters were pressing for the Senate to pass stricter laws so that they would be given a free hand in fighting back. Small gangs of hoodlums would pounce upon the unexpected passerby and leave them dead and bloody, but not just the old and women, they were directly attacking Arbiter Judges and PDF members. Like it or not, Ierios VII was in serious trouble. And it was getting harder each day to conceal the fact.
Seemingly for little more reason than to honor the people of Ierios VII for their clear display of loyalty to Him, the Emperor ordered one of his Primarchs, the great Roboute Guilliman, to construct a resplendent temple atop a tall summit that overlooked the capital hive-city of Ierios VII, Eldritch. Carved from white marble imported from Macragge, Gothic arches stood atop great Dorian columns of majestic height, reinforced by golden flying buttresses. Marble statues of the Emperor, heroic Primarchs, and Space Marines stood along the carved steps of the mountainside leading to the entrance of the Sepulchre Imperialis. Within the marble halls hung great banners and tapestries displaying scenes of battle, the Emperor leading His soldiers into battle. Space Marines charging into lines of filthy xeno scum. It was a temple worthy of the people’s veneration for the Emperor.
Time however, does not stand still…
+++M42.321+++
Southern Ultima Segmentum, Ierios System
Designation: Production World
Current Status: Rebellion
People ran down the street haphazardly, most covered in dirt or flecks of blood. Fear and mayhem coursed through the air like a living thing as screams echoed around the buildings from behind them. The sound of revving Rhino engines of the Adeptus Arbites could be heard, as well as the sickening sound of flesh being crushed under tons of rolling metal. The occasional autogun blast would raise a staccato above the roar of sound.
What had started as a peaceful protest against the new curfew laws that had been passed by the Senate had quickly turned into a bloodbath. The Arbiters had stood in a tight line, forming a wall of shields and shock mauls before the steps of the Senate House, keeping the protestors at bay. Everything had been calm and orderly, with a festive mood pervading the area, families holding hands pointing up at the gargantuan size of the Senate House, its coliseum-esque construction towering over the city’s northern reaches. Banners of the ruling cartel house hung from the sides alongside the sable black and gold of the Imperium.
Major Hanleck, an Arbiter officer, had sighed with relief when the crowd had marched slowly and peacefully towards the line of his men. At first he’d been afraid that they might charge, but they had simply shouted slogans and made gestures, a few orators amongst the rabble rousers giving speeches about the injustice of the recent law passed by the Senate and the heads of the cartel families that ruled through it. A young boy had stepped forward, closer to the line than any other civilian. One of Hanleck’s troopers had squatted down to rub his hair and smile at him. The boy looked up and smiled, reaching around his back to pull around a small backpack. The Arbiter had cocked his head in obvious curiosity, and Hanleck was stepping forward to reprimand that Judge for not being stricter when the backpack exploded.
The Arbiter Judge that had been kneeling disappeared in a ball of atomized heat, as did the few Judges around him. Hanleck was launched backwards, up the Senate steps, and knocked unconscious. His subordinates, not as skilled or experienced as their leader, did the only thing they knew to do in reaction to one of their own being killed. Autoguns were un-slung and sliders cocked, then the volleys began, firing at random into the crowd. Hundreds of protestors were scythed down within seconds. Screaming erupted and the crowd of several thousand convulsed into a mob. Some fought back, throwing stones and fists. Others fled in terror, trying to get through the press of Humanity to get to safety. Not many made it.
Marshal Law was declared and by nightfall the streets of Eldritch were spotted with corpses. The open square before the steps of the Senate was a charnel house, with civilian bodies lying in great piles around ruined statuary and landscaping. Arbiter armored Rhinos combed the streets, loudspeakers declaring that the new curfew would be enforced with deadly force. Major Hanleck was taken to the women of the Ordo Hospitaller of the Adepta Sororitas, who immediately took him into intensive care. Governor Amelia Shandra, of the Cartel House Shandra, sat in her palace feeling numb and knowing that she was at fault for the riot.
Not many knew of the troubles the last few years had brought to Governor Shandra and her regime on Ierios VII. For the better part of three years terrorist attacks had been mounted against the gargantuan manufactorum of Hive Irittas, which helped to refine the massive amounts of promethium that was drilled from beneath the world’s surface. Pipe lines had been cut, worker strikes mounted, and even one of the orbital holding tankers had been sabotaged, causing an explosion of such massive proportions that Shandra had to spend months covering up the fact that it had not been an accident. What was worse, Ierios VII had failed to meet the Imperial Tithe for the third time in a row the previous year, and even the new curfew laws that were meant to help cut down on the terrorist attacks was not helping to repair that damage.
What was worse however was the reports that Shandra’s Arbiter agents were reporting. A secret society seemed to be leading the actions of the terrorist attacks, proclaiming that a new age was coming and that it would be here soon. That was happening in Hive Irittas, more than two hundred thousand kilometers away. Within Eldritch itself, an underground movement had risen sharply, with violent acts spiking to such an extreme that the Arbiters were pressing for the Senate to pass stricter laws so that they would be given a free hand in fighting back. Small gangs of hoodlums would pounce upon the unexpected passerby and leave them dead and bloody, but not just the old and women, they were directly attacking Arbiter Judges and PDF members. Like it or not, Ierios VII was in serious trouble. And it was getting harder each day to conceal the fact.