Last stand of the Apocalypse Angels

 

Gorash III- Hive Sturgis-  Librarian Gabriel stood with the shattered remnants of his chapter alongwith the pdf forces of Hive Sturgis.  The end was upon them.  The Khornate horde would soon end the Hive and them along with it.  They could at least buy time for a few refugees to escape.   Escape to where Gabriel did not know.  The warp surged around him vibrating the air in a rising pitch coming to a cresendo.  This final slaughter would be a final offering to the dark gods.  The enemy had plans for this.  Gabriel did not know how to thwart them.  But it did not matter at least for duty informed him of the correct path.  He had a duty to resist.  He had a duty for the fallen Imperium to make it's murders bleed and suffer for what they had done.  He had a duty of honor to see to it that his chapter's final battle was as glorious and heroic as the millions of battles that had proceeded it in the Chapters history.  Col. viktor of the pdf had sent out a scout unit.  the plan was to catch the horde in a preliminary bombardment that would disrupt the hordes final preperations and assault.

The forces of the Imperium marched into the smoke and darkness.  The lone scout sentinel screaming over the box for artillery adjustments.  They had caught the horde off balance.  The sentinel driver screamed as a landraider appeared before him it's weapons blazing.  Despite a number of hits his sentinel though damaged was operable.  "The emperor protects!  Was that the best you can do?!" The driver screamed defiantly as he reached for the vox to call in a artillery strike.  Suddenly the ramp dropped and berserkers poured out.  Kharn was at their head.  In the blink of an eye he launched himself into the sentinel grabbing the barrel and using it to lift and propel himself over the gun shield.  The driver's mouth opened in shock and horror a mere heartbeat before Kharn beheaded him.  The khornate horde surged forwards driving towards the imperials.  A group of spawn having survived the bombardment slammed into the imperial forces.

The Imperial forces surged forwards to meet the grim hordes of Kurgan the cruel.  Troops piled out of transports weapons ready to unleash death.  A sudden flash revealed the exalted eightbound arriving on the battlefield but suddenly all became still as a fiery comet slammed into the battlefield.  Waves of hate and rage assailed all upon the battlefield as Angron emerged from the crater.  Violence rolling off him in waves as he howled joined by Kurgan the cruels exaltation of triumph.

Librarian Gabriel understood then.  The death of his chapter at the hand of Angron would seal the blood ritual and the resulting warpflare from the rift would engulf hundred of worlds on this dark side of the galaxy.  Untold horrors for countless billions.  Kurgan the cruel, the slayer of his captain would have his ultimate triumph.  Gabriel gritted his teeth and began to issue orders.  The battle was lost and their fate sealed, but he could stop the ritual and deny Kurgan his ultimate prize.  Let his victory taste like ash he thought.  He ordered all the artillery and heavy guns to target Angron.  Destroy or stymie the beast and the ritual would fail.  Everywhere Imperial forces opened up as battle was joined.  Even the bishop of Sturgis strode with the soldiers of the Imperium.

Angron shuddered under the fire but strode forward in a rage the Khornate horde followed.  The eightbound began a rampage amongst the armor while the berserkers tore through infantry and the corrupted knight began it's own rampage in Angron's wake.  Heldrakes buzzed overhead and everywhere was suddenly awash in slaughter.  Kurgan the cruel butchered the pdf soldiers and took hold of the bishop laughing as he did so before crushing him into a sticky pulp.  the tide of violence rolled over the Imperials and their line began to give in half a dozen places.

The apocalypse angels continued to hammer Angrom with Artillery and devestator fire staggering the daemon primarch and leaving hundreds of jagged wounds but on he came along with the rest of the horde.  Gabriel led his marines into the eightbound in a furious clash of blades and bolter fire.  Suddenly Chaplain Janus arrived with the remaining assault marines slamming into Angron and hacking at him.  Angron badly hurt began hacking them down but each of them as they died triggered strings of Krak grenades looped around them hurting the daemon primarch near to death.  But they had not killed it.  Janus and his marines were gone but the beast remained greiviously injured but still alive and coming for Janus and his marines.

The Khornate horde rolled forth butchering the Imperial survivors.  Through his psychic gifts Gabriel felt the last of his brothers die and the echo in the warp as the blood ritual reached it's cresendo and Angron slaughtered the last of his marines.  The Slaughterbound stopped it's attack content on the final death, that of Gabriel himself be at the hand of Angron thus completing the ritual.

Librarian Gabriel, the last Apocalypse Angel waited until Angron drew back in a killing blow and then struck.  he thrust his sword out and poured his psychic might into it blasting a beam of force into angron shaped like his sword only giant sized.  He poured all his own anger and rage into the attack along with waves of violence and hate Angron himself was giving off.  He reached his safe limit and drew yet deeper upon the warp.  His bones seemed to be aflame and still he drew more.  Nothing mattered, consequences didn't matter, only destroying this abomination mattered.  The color around Angron's neck glowed with scalding heat burning the primarch.  The sword struck and an invisible force began peeling it away until at last, in a perfect instant the blade was through.  No longer a sword it had been reduced to a giant dagger that buried itself into Angron's chest where his heart should be.  A flash and a boom drove Gabriel to his knees his armor smoking like the flesh it contained in tendrils of warp fire.  A silence descended only to be broken by Kurgan the cruel's howls of rage.  He had done it.  He had banished the daemon primarch for a time.  he had foiled the ritual.  Gorash III would fall and burn but a hundred other worlds had been spared for the moment.  He began to rise up determined to meet the end in triumph on his feet.  The Slaughterbound was on him before he could do so.  A clean stroke decapitated Librarian Gabriel last of the apocalypse angels.  Though he did not know it on holy terra the bell of lost souls rang out then for him and his fallen chapter.