This is the Liber Astartes, PART II

[Brother Cambrius]

Deep within the Liber's Heraldry Department, Brother Cambrius stirred from his position within an antechamber. Surrounding him were ritual, blessed paint pots the colour of orange and purple and candles, whose flames provided a warm glow around the marine. The warm light from the candles was paired with a pair of holograms, one each side of the stirring warrior. The image on the right displayed the image of a loyal Space Marine of the Imperium, the majority of his armour matching the purple of the holy paint pots surrounding the Space Marine. One the left in stark contrast was the image of a traitor Chaos Space Marine, the majority of its armour the same baleful orange as the other paints encircling the meditating marine. Both holograms spun lazily around, displaying every side of the heraldry of the loyal and traitor Astartes. As the meditating and praying marine stirred, the candles all suddenly blew out in a silent and unfelt wind, leaving only the purple and orange light cast from the holograms to provide light to the small chamber.

 

Slowly standing, Cambrius looked up to the symbol of the Heraldry Department; two paintbrushes crossed over each other, atop a blank shield and quietly muttered a prayer. Stepping over the circle of candles and blessed paints, the Legio marine turned off each hologram, leaving the room in pitch black darkness. With his eyesight adjusting, the marine picked up the paint pots with care, before placing them within a cupboard to the side, covered in purity seals. Turning and making the sign of the Aquila to the symbol of the LHD, Cambrius turned to leave the antechamber, passing the hat stand, on which a number of garishly coloured items of headgear hung, each one complemented with one or two long feathers. Pushing open the heavy doors of dark wood, Cambrius entered the main hall of the Heraldry Department, the artificial light shining over his midnight black Legio armour, providing an extra sheen to the bronze shoulderpad on his right, the golden skull leering out as the two alternating scythes’ blades behind it gleamed. The Heraldry Department had suffered the least within the halls of the Liber from the Typo Wars. There was little for the typos to feast on within its chambers, for the department focused primarily on images and colours, rather than words. Although some typos had infiltrated and altered names of some of the Chapters displayed within the central hall of the LHD. Cambrius winced slightly at the memory of witnessing Moderati Cedo Daeothar rage at seeing his beloved Fiery Lions be changed to the Fiery Loins, the image of a Space Marine of his chapter now complemented with an immolating codpiece. There was only ashes left of the Typo responsible as the Moderati Cedo’s gold plated melta annihilated the daemon and the area surrounding it. Cambrius smirked to himself, whilst Reyner’s infamous Incineratus setting caused absolute destruction; the wrath of a Moderati’s melta was something completely different and more terrible.

 

The Son of Doom felt a stirring deep within his mind and soul, something has started that he had to be a part of. Heading to the arming chamber within the Department, Cambrius retrieved his mace and stalker-pattern boltgun, just in case it was necessary. Mag-locking the bolter to his thigh and the mace to the gap between his back pack and torso, the Astartes left the LHD, bowing his head in respect to the Lexicanium Octavulg, whom he spotted lurking within his usual shadows just beyond the Heraldry Department’s entrance, the infamous force bowling ball slung to the psyker’s belt. Walking aimlessly down to the main hall of the Liber, the lecterns displaying the chronicles of their chosen Chapter, Cambrius spotted a distinctive blue hat and smiled at seeing Ace return to the Liber’s Halls. Ace was busy telling his fellow Liberites the tale of how he escaped from interrogation with the aid of Heru, who stood ominously behind him, spine flail in hand. The Heraldry Department will be back to its considered norm soon enough with their return. The norm being containing many garish and bright colour schemes created by Cambrius and Ace, whilst Heru kept them and the rest in line with the dreaded spine flail. Cambrius passed his fellow LHD members and began to head towards Hall Eight, he had no idea why he was, but it felt right.

 

The answer to why he felt the urge to head that way became clear as he heard a distinctive sound that brought a deep excitement within any Son of Dorn, the sound of bricks being laid down and the scrape of a trowel. Someone was building something and within the mighty fortress of the Legio, it had to be a fortification. Everything was a fortification in the minds of a Space Marine. Hearing a pair of voices around a corner at the entrance to what was Hall Eight, Cambrius soon recognised them to be those of Reyner and Ludovic. Approaching them from behind, the Son of Doom grinned at them before asking,

“Building a wall are we gentlemen? I didn’t realise we had to close off this area of the Liber.”

The two Astartes turned, the kneeling Reyner looking at Cambrius with a look of surprise,

“Brother Cambrius, I don’t recall voxing you to help out with this fortification.”

Cambrius frowned before giving a look of mock hurt and sadness,

“You didn’t call for me, a Son of Dorn? I’m rather hurt.”

Ludovic shook his head,

“Reyner thought you’d be too busy within the Heraldry Department, creating more mad colour schemes to help out here.”

Cambrius chuckled before joining Reyner on the floor, picking up a spare trowel and a brick, placing one down on the wall.

“Oh there’s always time for building forts for me and my kin. It’s quite literally in our blood. Incidentally Reyner, who did you vox for help with building this fortress?”

Reyner opened his mouth to reply but before he could answer, the distinctive rumble and vibration of adamantine feet became audible as the voice of DeathKnight2000 cried, “Son from the Ninth, I march to the eighth!”

Cambrius looked towards the corner where DeathKnight and the pack he was leading would emerge from, commenting,

“I think we’ll need more trowels…”

 

+++

 

Thought I'd add in a little bit myself. :rolleyes:

 

Cambrius

[ChaptermasterDemon7]

very nice Brother Cambrius.

[fivepointedstar]

That story really made me want to go off and build a fort too. Nice Work Bro Cambrius

[Ace Debonair]

Walking aimlessly down to the main hall of the Liber, the lecterns displaying the chronicles of their chosen Chapter, Cambrius spotted a distinctive green hat and smiled at seeing Ace return to the Liber’s Halls. Ace was busy telling his fellow Liberites the tale of how he escaped from interrogation with the aid of Heru, who stood ominously behind him, spine flail in hand. The Heraldry Department will be back to its considered norm soon enough with their return. The norm being containing many garish and bright colour schemes created by Cambrius and Ace, whilst Heru kept them and the rest in line with the dreaded spine flail. Cambrius passed his fellow LHD members and began to head towards Hall Eight, he had no idea why he was, but it felt right.

 

My Liber Dept. Hat's blue.

Fix that and you may keep your teeth. :P

 

Wow, that sounds so much more violent if you don't remember the year-old deal that was stricken about Cambrius finally writing his story! :(

 

Still, at least you didn't spill any ale Ace. Would've been much worse for you.

 

Probably. I could use some help working out who got me in all that trouble with the Dark Angels, though.

I've got the most delightful revenge scenario planned out. :)

[Brother Cambrius]

My Liber Dept. Hat's blue.

Fix that and you may keep your teeth. :P

 

Apologies, I clearly mixed up mine with yours. :P

 

Wow, that sounds so much more violent if you don't remember the year-old deal that was stricken about Cambrius finally writing his story! :devil:

 

You know, if I ever have any teeth pulled out by a dentist, I'm oh so tempted to see if they can be crafted into a die or dice so I can present them to you at Games Day UK if we should ever meet. :P

 

Thanks for the compliments Brothers! Good to be back in the writing saddle. :)

 

Cambrius

[Ace Debonair]

Apologies, I clearly mixed up mine with yours. :(

 

No worries. :lol:

 

You know, if I ever have any teeth pulled out by a dentist, I'm oh so tempted to see if they can be crafted into a die or dice so I can present them to you at Games Day UK if we should ever meet. :P

 

... And we're still in the top five most normal forums. ;)

[Brother Cambrius]

You know, if I ever have any teeth pulled out by a dentist, I'm oh so tempted to see if they can be crafted into a die or dice so I can present them to you at Games Day UK if we should ever meet. :(

 

... And we're still in the top five most normal forums. :P

 

Oh absolutely! :lol: We're a perfectly normal and sane region of the Legio...

 

Cambrius

[Dosjetka]

Nice little addition, Cambrius :rolleyes:

 

Ludovic

[Olis]

Phew, that took hours to read it all. Great stuff, I must say. I suppose I must consider introducing myself (and maybe Messor), now that we're Liber Moderati. :devil:

[Messor]

Phew, that took hours to read it all. Great stuff, I must say. I suppose I must consider introducing myself (and maybe Messor), now that we're Liber Moderati. :devil:

 

Aye, I was thinking the same thing. Though couldn't quite decide how. Don't wanna spoil a good thing XD.

[Dosjetka]

With all the new "recruits" working on the construction of the wall, despite the unmissable lack of trowels, Ludovic thought that the idea of building a fortress had become a bit more viable, but still wacky. Then again, that was in no way unusual with Brother Reyner's plans... He remembered various other attempts by the Astartes to construct an impregnable fortress, only to find himself severely lacking the resources needed, once even just managing to build a small fort made out of sand. It was quite amusing for the rest of the Astartes who witnessed the events at the time, but Brother Reyner's mood soured ever more with each failure. Sessions in the Pain Glove of the resident Imperial Fist successors didn't help him focus on his mighty task which led him to becoming increasingly sour and eventually disappear in the depths of the Liber for a length of time. At least now he has the help he needs, Ludovic thought while observing the dozen or so Astartes moving about the area. Every single one had their own task and carried it out as best as he could.

 

As smile crept onto Ludovic's face, but faded when he heard footsteps in the distance.

 

Metal on stone. More Astartes.

 

This got Ludovic's interest piqued because no other reinforcements had been called for and yet two Space Marines were walking down Passageway 175 directly towards Hall 8. Ludovic hoped that it was not a pair of neophytes who had gotten lost (yet again) or who had heard of Hall 8 and the Typo infestation and had thought that they could single-handedly fight off those monsters. Ludovic sighed deeply and readied himself to deliver a stern lecture to the presumed wayward sheep.

 

He couldn't have been more wrong as two black-clad Astartes came around the corner, both firmly clutching meltaguns in their ceramite gauntlets. While both were slightly shorter than Ludovic, they had such an imposing presence that none would or could ignore their presence for long. One by one, all the Astartes on the construction site stopped what they were doing and gazed at the two figures.

 

Moderati.

 

* * * * * *

 

I thought that I'd help our new Mods with their intro scene :D

 

Ludovic

 

EDIT: Changed a couple of mistakes.

[Ace Debonair]

Phew, that took hours to read it all. Great stuff, I must say. I suppose I must consider introducing myself (and maybe Messor), now that we're Liber Moderati. ^_^

Aye, I was thinking the same thing. Though couldn't quite decide how. Don't wanna spoil a good thing XD.

 

I've got plans for that. :)

 

I'll be a few days yet though since I have like a hundred things to do first. :lol:

 

I thought that I'd help our new Mods with their intro scene :D

 

Ludovic

 

Nice. :D

 

EDIT:

Forgot the smiley faces. :(

[Dosjetka]

EDIT:

Forgot the smiley faces. :(

I was just about to post about how cold your comment was without your usual plethora of smileys :)

 

Ludovic

[Ace Debonair]

I was just about to post about how cold your comment was without your usual plethora of smileys :)

 

Ludovic

 

Proof my face tells the story better than I do. :(

[Olis]

Phew, that took hours to read it all. Great stuff, I must say. I suppose I must consider introducing myself (and maybe Messor), now that we're Liber Moderati. :lol:

Aye, I was thinking the same thing. Though couldn't quite decide how. Don't wanna spoil a good thing XD.

 

I've got plans for that. :(

 

I'll be a few days yet though since I have like a hundred things to do first. :)

 

Ah, well then. If it is already in hand, then I shall hold fire on any sort of entry. I'll wait and see if we're chucked into the deep-end, eh? ^_^

 

 

@ Ludovic - Appreciate the intro, brother, it's a good set-up for some exposition on us minty fresh Mods. :D

[Ace Debonair]

Ah, well then. If it is already in hand, then I shall hold fire on any sort of entry. I'll wait and see if we're chucked into the deep-end, eh? :P

 

I'd say more, but I'm really trying not to give my new ideas away ahead of time. :P

 

 

EDIT: Let's just say I'm gonna try to cover all the bases at once, and it's gonna be a major headache to pull off properly. :D

[Brother Cambrius]

Brother Cambrius noticed the sudden silence and stillness of those around him whilst he knelt and added a fresh brick onto the fortification from the meagre pile he had. Turning and standing up, the Son of Doom's pale features turned paler yet again and he stiffened to full attention, trowel full of cement dripping onto the floor in thick blobs in his hand. Noticing the two faces behind the infamous sunglasses, Cambrius simply breathed out quietly, "New Moderati...".

He had no idea what to expect from them both, noting the shining weapons in their hands, held at ease. Cambrius saw that one looked very exotic and different from the other classic melta. This was going to end very interestingly...

 

+++++

 

Thought I'd add my own little bit of filler, without stepping on anyone's toes (hopefully... :D).

 

Cambrius

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

EDIT: Let's just say I'm gonna try to cover all the bases at once, and it's gonna be a major headache to pull off properly. :D

Hmmmmmmm... I'll hold off for the moment as well then :P

[Aqui]

EDIT: Let's just say I'm gonna try to cover all the bases at once, and it's gonna be a major headache to pull off properly. :D

Hmmmmmmm... I'll hold off for the moment as well then :P

 

Same here. :P

[Ace Debonair]

Alrighty then.

I can't do it all in one go, so I'll be dividing the story into manageable chunks. ^_^

 

Now as the story develops, there may well be contradictions and I might forget who exactly went where and for what purpose. I may even contradict earlier stories a bit.

But this is a story about 40K, more or less, so contradictions and multiple-choice-pasts are all part of the package. :lol:

 

First, I've got to set the scene. Then I'll start writing up everything that happens next. So:

 

-=-= Part 1: The Plan =-=-

 

Ferrata sat behind his desk, studying the reports. Hall Eight was, amazingly enough, being secured from multiple angles. KingHongKong and Grey Hunter Ydalir had broken past the Typo forces to reach Hall Nine, where a cadre of veterans had been trapped by the encroaching menace. They'd formed a flying column of guerrilla soldiers - Space Marines fighting on their own turf, turning their knowledge of the terrain into yet another weapon. Dark Apostle Thirst had rallied the Heresy Department into summoning up some Tzeentchian Literary Daemons to use as a diversion - they seemed immune to the corrupting effects of the Typos and were keeping the enemy out of Halls Nine and Ten. There were confused reports of a fortification being constructed in the corridor between Hall Seven and Hall Eight - whatever the cause, Liberites were rallying to it and it was keeping the enemy at bay.

 

And yet, the Liber was losing.

 

Typos seemed to rise eternally. The fighting had been non-stop for months. The Typos were also spreading insidiously into unprotected areas and attacking the wealth of knowledge kept in the Liber, corrupting it to spawn yet more of the vile enemy. Hall Five had lost it's upper floors, although Aquilanus and Brother Cambrius had taken a kill-team to reclaim it. Liberites had already had to purge everything in Halls Three, Fourteen, and Twenty-Two.

 

A noise made Ferrata look up from his reports. Lord Ragnarok was stood before him, arms folded and an impatient look on his face.

 

"Well, Ferrata? What did you want me for?"

 

"I know you've got most of your Wolves protecting the tavern, but I was wondering... could you spare a small squad to plant some explosives in hostile territory?"

 

Lord Ragnarok gave a snort of laughter. "I know just the pack," He grinned. "Where do you want the bombs?"

 

"Here," Ferrata pointed to a data-slate, showing a complex map of the Liber, a labyrinth of halls, towers and corridors. Ferrata was pointing to the middle of a corridor underneath Hall Eight.

 

"Under the Hall?" Ragnarok looked puzzled. "You want to cave the Typos in?"

 

"They won't expect it. I'm going to have some Liberites set up bombs here and here." Ferrata pointed to two rooms either side of Hall Eight's upper floors. "The last one is going above it, but we'll get the other three in place first."

 

"And then what?"

 

"Then I want everyone to pull back to a safe distance. Everyone not actively killing Typos has to help the serfs get the data-slates in the nearby rooms away from the bombs. Then when the time is right, we'll detonate them and hit Hall Eight with everything and everyone at once."

 

"Sounds good." Ragnarok nodded. "I'll round up the pack and give them their orders."

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

So, that's where we're up to.

 

Anyone think this plan's going to go off without any problems? :P

[Erasmus of Baal]

Though it had been decades since his last mission as a Scout and he disliked slinking in the shadows, Brother Erasmus relished the stealth of this operation; being nearly invisible within the Liber, he decided, had some distinct advantages.

 

You want to hit them with everything we’ve got, Ferrata? he thought to himself. I think I can make that “everything” a bit bigger.

 

The timing of this plan to crush the Typo incursion was quite convenient for Brother Erasmus, in fact. The special favor he had called in from Honor Hold had just arrived: Six plasma pistols and two plasma guns, each complete with the “Honor Hold Special” - a primer that turned it into a startlingly powerful explosive device. It would perhaps a bit overkill to use more than one or two pistols for this, but, well, victory requires no explanation. Of course, he would hear no end of it from the Techmarines if he detonated all of the devices, but that was just fine in Erasmus’ opinion. Carrying that many weapons in anything other than a crate just wasn’t worth the effort.

 

Stashing most of the weapons in his Chapter’s locker, he kept three pistols and one rifle with him. He was having a very difficult time containing his glee over the explosive presents that he had for these infernal Typo demons.

 

 

_{Sorry I'm late! Trying to work myself in as appropriate to my only occasional and, erm, explosive visits to the Liber. Here's hoping I'm not seen as being too Gary-Stu-ish with those Honor Hold Specials...anyone else want one?}

[Messor]

_{Sorry I'm late! Trying to work myself in as appropriate to my only occasional and, erm, explosive visits to the Liber. Here's hoping I'm not seen as being too Gary-Stu-ish with those Honor Hold Specials...anyone else want one?}

 

*Former Devastator Sergeant Messor raises his hand*

Do like guns, even the exploding ones.

[ChaptermasterDemon7]

-Raises hand as well after sheathing power sword- Ill take one, my combi-plasma has been acting up.

[Olis]

_{Sorry I'm late! Trying to work myself in as appropriate to my only occasional and, erm, explosive visits to the Liber. Here's hoping I'm not seen as being too Gary-Stu-ish with those Honor Hold Specials...anyone else want one?}

 

Nah. I've got my Caliver with me, I'll be fine. B)

[Messor]

_{Sorry I'm late! Trying to work myself in as appropriate to my only occasional and, erm, explosive visits to the Liber. Here's hoping I'm not seen as being too Gary-Stu-ish with those Honor Hold Specials...anyone else want one?}

 

Nah. I've got my Caliver with me, I'll be fine. B)

 

Calivers be so much more *bad B)* than meltas.