INQUISITORIAL RECORDS FROM THE SPACE HULK: INDEFATIGABLE INCIDENT

Colonel Harlson shot the Lieutenant managing his communications a sharp look which was met with a muffled apology and much adjusting of knobs and flicking of switches. Unable to raise the moon at all Colonel Harlson returned to his desk and continued to read over a report about a helmet his regiment didn’t even use, Imperial efficiency at its finest.

An hour later the moon was still unreachable via any conventional mean of communication, but it didn’t matter, within the hour night would fall and the moon would come into view of the Capitol. It wasn’t like the Colonel had the time to ponder the failure of his Vox system, violent tides and a large earthquake had forced his men back to the Citadel as outlying platforms of the city fell into the ocean. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were dead, his men held them back with bayonets as the Regiments supplies were bought into the Citadel. When the platform began to give way Major Ryemar of the 3^rd Company, 1^st Battalion gave the order for his men to charge the civilians so that they wouldn’t obstruct the retreat of the rest of his Battalion. His entire company perished in the sea, but his sacrifice resulted in the preservation of order and a total evacuation of the remainder of the Regiment. A box of medals was thrown into the sea in commemoration of his bravery and a statue will be built to him in the city square.

With such a pressing matter on his mind it was no surprise to anyone that it took Colonel Harlson until almost midnight to return to the subject of communication. Still unable to raise his sister Regiments on the planet’s moon the Colonel stepped outside of his office. The hallway was deserted, not a soul was transferring data, cleaning the floors or even skylarking by his office hoping to be noticed. Puzzled the Colonel and his staff took the short bridge that connected the former Imperial Governor’s office which he now used as a Headquarters with the rest of the Imperial compound which had been occupied by the Regiments officers. He hadn’t taken a half dozen steps across the ornate bridge before he was stopped in his tracks.

Gazing up at the sky the Colonel’s stomach plummeted, two of his aids screamed aloud and primary aide threw himself over the edge, driven mad by the sheer insanity he was staring into. Where the moon had been last night and every night for the past dozen or so millennia now there was a swirling maelstrom of purple and blue fire. Fragments of the moon still hung in the sky like a child’s mobile albeit one from crib of a particularly twisted child.

The Colonel ran across the bridge. His feet slamming into the hard metal as the fireball pulsed and flickered violently. Making it to the officers garrison he demanded a full Regimental meeting right there in the foyer.

Admiral Yallond checked his chronometer, two minutes until Warp disembarkation. Suddenly he felt an object pressing into his spine. “Drop the ssstaff sssir” said the familiar voice of his first Lieutenant who pressed his laspistol even harder into the young Admirals back forcing him towards the command chair. The Admiral sat in the chair as the rest of the officers on his bridge drew their own pistols and entered the last few commands which would enable the ship to exit the warp. The bridge doors flew open and a party of the ships security detail ran into the room, Yallond’s hope was restored as he saw an end to this bizarre mutiny. These officer’s had literally been on his ship their entire lives, in-fact every man aboard the ship could trace their ancestors back ten generations to the ship’s creation. The detail raised their weapons and trained them on the bridge officers who paid them no heed but continued with their work. They inexplicably lowered their weapons and stood down “Damn your eyes men kill these mutinous scum,” the Admiral bellowed gesturing to the First Lieutenant who was standing before him, unmoved. The Security Officer removed his helmet and nodded to the fifteenth Lieutenant who activated a ship-wide broadcast.

“Grettingsss crew of the Indefatigable, I am glad to be addressssing you this monumental day. For today we ssshall reveal ourssselvesss to our graciousss hossstsss. We will prepare thisss planet for the arrival of the Great Devourer Fleet. Long have we ssslinked about in the ssshadowsss but no more. Rissse up my children, ssseize the ssship and prepare for the great devouring”

Smiling the First lieutenant holstered his pistol and retreated to the main command station where he would bring the ship screaming back into real-space. As he did so a horrendous scarping noise came from behind Admiral Yallond, something made him shake violently. His mind began to swim, clouds of blackness began to encroach on his though causing him to fall from his seat and squirm about on the floor. Blood began to run from his eyes as bile filled his throat making his every breath torturous. Struggling and with whole body tremors Admiral Yallond heaved himself upright and lent on the secondary command module. It was then that he saw it. The monstrosity stood before him, it’s extended cranium pulsating, it’s talons caressing the First Lieutenant who was in tears at the act of praise. As he stood bewildered by the abomination it spun to face him. The beasts tail lashed out behind it poised to strike but it hesitated desiring a more imaginative end to the Admiral’s life. It reached out to him with a glowing talon, he was frozen in place unable to move. As the beasts filthy talons came close to his head Admiral Yallon marshaled all of his strength of will and managed to make one final, desperate act of heroism. His Father had lead the Fleet during the Fallux Crusade, his Great Great Grandfather had fought beside a Space Marine Battle Cruiser and even saw one of the demi-gods in the flesh and now he was to make his own contribution to his now ended family story. With all his might he threw his arm down on the panel mashing the various controls with his open hand.

The ship lurched violently as the Geller fields deactivated and it was thrown from the warp into real space. The beast threw him back into his chair and trust it’s tail into the Admirals chest. A broad smile spread across the Admiral’s face and he bagan to laugh uncontrollably, the beast was enraged, it’s plans had been in motion for ten generations and now it was hurtling through the passage between real-space and the warp. Admiral Yallond reached into his jacket and took out a picture of his wife, gazing at it he spat blood at the feral creature who withdrew it’s tail from his body. Suddenly everything began to change. Yallons skin began to tighten and wrinkle, his hair turned white and fell out of his head. His uniform began to perish and fade while the leather that made up the padding on his seat disintegrated into nothing. Every piece of metal on the ship turned black and cables rotted in their place plunging the ship into total darkness. Only the light from the foul beasts cranium illuminated the room as it frantically looked around desperate to get a grasp on what was happening, in the last few seconds of his life Admiral Yallond saw the First Lieutenant slumped on the floor, he looked a thousand years old and his skin began to fall away into nothingness leading only a ridged skull sticking out of a rapidly disintegrating uniform. Yallon opened his mouth and laughed through the congealed blood, his eyes turned to slime in their sockets but he didn’t stop laughing until his tongue turned into a rancid piece of meat and he finally succumbed to the powers of the warp.

A Sergeant burst into the officers meeting, breathless and unable to do anything but beckon the Colonel with his limp arm. Colonel Harlson went to the man who motioned towards the sky, he told the sergeant to sit and the officers went out onto the bridge. The Warp Storm was now twisting violently and it was clear what had caused the anomaly. An Imperial ship that looked to be several thousand years old was floating aimlessly in the place that the old moon used to occupy. “By the Emperor,” gasped the Regimental Priest as several of the lower ranking officers sighed in relief, they were glad it was at least an Imperial ship.

“Space Hulk,” said the Colonel gesturing to the sky “that’s what they call them isn’t it Marius?”
“Yes sir,” said the young Lieutenant stepping forward, pushing a transfixed Major aside who snapped back without hesitation.
“Are your men well rested Marius?”
“Yes sir. My men are always ready to serve the Emperor,”
“Then off with you, investigate that Space Hulk and report back. Do not I repeat do not engage any hostiles on board, we’ve only got the one platoon of Scions left in the sector and I won’t lose them on some decrepit old ship,”

With a swift salute the Scion Lieutenant turned on his heels and went off to ready his men.