Fan Fiction ❯ Last Stand ❯ Last Stand of the Scorpion ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Warhammer 40k, Citadel or Games Workshop. I do, however, own the rights to this story under the rights of an artist and human being. So don't go stealing it. And, if you hadn't worked out, I'm an Eldar player. Long live the Craftworld!

Last Standof the Scorpion

Rain fell. Lightning struck, and the Striking Scorpion Exarch Lathelias, watched. The targets of his cold, grey eyes were the amassed forces of the 13th Black Crusade. Scattered around the ruins, also keeping watch, were the remains of a once proud army. Towards his left stood the remains of his squad. Most of them were either killed during the retreat, or were wounded by flying debris from a Falcon that had crashed near them. Out of the ten original members, only four stood proudly against the setting sun of this exodite world. Lathelias knew that, as soon as the sun set, the chaos attack would begin again.

To his right stood several Rangers, under the squad name `Wraiths', all watching the chaos war host through the scopes of their long-rifles, picking off targets wherever and whenever they could. Further back stood the towering Wraithlord Lamental, who had proven herself worthy of the towering constructs power when she held a Defiler at bay long enough for the Fire Dragons it was trying to crush time to escape. They stood around her now, and would until they had saved her from destruction, or were killed protecting her mighty form. The Defilers claws had managed to slash deep into her arm, rendering her shuriken catapult useless. Guarding the rear of the ruin were one squad of Dire Avengers and two squads of Defender Guardians with warlocks leading them. When the time came, their massed fire power would come in useful in denting the enemies' numbers.

Lathelias knew that they couldn't win. They were far too few and their enemy was far too large. And once night came, Greater Daemons would join their enemy, their only true opposition Lamental. He glanced at the Wraithlord again, but this time she seemed to be watching him. Lathelias could not be sure, because she had no true eyes, but her head was facing him. He ignored it. He had known Lamental when she was alive, and even then she had been far to in-tune with her own emotions and the emotions of others. He turned back to the enemy just in time to yell a warning to the rest of the squads to take cover. The chaos artillery had begun another bombardment. Lathelias was confident of the structures ability to hold, after all, it had been built by the Eldar and was a thousand times stronger than any mon-keigh construction, but he didn't want to take any chances. Once the bombardment had stopped, he jumped out of his cover to see what was happening. In the midst of the chaos army, swirling vortices of energy had started to appear. A warning from his armour told him, in its pleasant female voice that the sun had set. Lathelias yelled an order to his men. The battle was coming to an end.

Lathelias did not regret taking the rearguard mission. He was proud that he and his squads would be purging hundreds, possibly thousands, of the vile worshippers of the chaos gods from the universe. He was also proud that he was going to be giving the fleet time to retreat. He also knew that he would never see the Craftworld again. He knew that this would be his final battle. He did not have to be a warlock to know this. He had grown accustomed to death. He watched squad members die, he had watched enemies die, it really didn't affect him in any great way. He would regret the loss of a scorpion, especially if they were a particularly skilled warrior, but he didn't mourn for long. He didn't even learn many of their true names until they died. Until then he had always known them by their battle names. Lathelias had no name, other than the one he used in battle. He had trodden the path of the warrior for to long. He knew that at one point, he had had a wife and son, but they were all but forgotten. He had ascended to Exarch status almost a thousand years ago. His name would be remembered by not just the shrine, but by the Craftworld for his bravery. This he knew, as well as the fact that he, Lathelias, Exarch of the Striking Scorpion Aspect, was going to die today.

They rituals were almost complete. The chaos sorcerers had nearly finished calling upon their beasts of hell, and the Eldar Warlocks had nearly finished their spell. Lathelias let a rare smile pass his lips. Those chaos hell-spawn had no idea what would be waiting for them.

Lathelias called an order to the Guardians at the back of the building to move to the front. He then ordered the Rangers to take cover on the roof and snipe at the enemies as they came. He ordered Lamental to the front near him, where her giant hands would come in useful to crush a few heads. His squad stood back, as they would not be needed at the front until the last moments of the chaos charge. The Dire Avengers took up positions dispersed through the Guardians, while the Dragons set up around Lamental. Once their spell was finished, the Warlocks would join Lathelias' squad, where their Wychblades and close combat prowess could be used. From across the war torn plain, there were several shouts, and the 13th Black Crusade began their charge.

Lathelias flexed his claw and checked his pistol, then lead the prayer to Kaine. He could hear the thunderous roar of thousands of boots hitting the ground at once over his chanting, but he did not let it deter him. Once the prayer was done, he stood, raised his claw to the sky and cried "FOR THE CRAFTWORLDS!" It was answered by similar cries from the rest of the army. Lathelias emptied his mind and allowed the essence of Kaine to fill him. He would fight to the end, no matter what. The Guardians started firing over the ruined wall.

Lathelias charged the first Chaos Marine to come through the door. He fired his mandiblasters as he charged, stunning his enemy momentarily, as he destroyed him with his claw and pistol. He could hear mandiblasters being fired behind him, which meant that his squad had joined the fray. Lathelias laughed. This was the battle he had been born to fight. This was the kind of battle that Scorpions excelled at. They would take much chaos scum into death with them. "Fight my Brothers!" cried Lathelias as he cut off one of the warriors head. "Fight for Ulthwe!"

Lathelias picked out a target with his HUD and fired his mandiblasters. He leapt into the air and landed on his targets chest, thrusting his claw straight through his chest. Lathelias jumped off backwards and wrapped his legs around another warrior's neck, using his momentum to snap the chaos monsters head off. As the marine fell, two more took its place in front of him. Lathelias yelled a battle cry and charged them both, knocking them to the ground. He fired his shuriken pistol into the face of one, splattering his brain all over Lathelias' arm. The second pulled a sword from its sheath and swung at Lathelias. He jumped away, missing the blade by inches, and clung to a ruined wall above the marine. It swung up at him but couldn't reach, so it started to curse in the human tongue. Lathelias laughed and dropped onto the marine, pistol firing. Lathelias landed gracefully next to the desecrated corpse of the marine. He scanned the ruins for another opponent, and found one in the form of a Chaos Sorcerer.

The battle raged for hours, and, thankfully, more Chaos units fell than Eldar. During a brief lapse in the fighting, Lathelias offered his prayers to whatever Eldar god had saved them in the first part of this fight. Looking around, he noted mentally the casualties. None of his own squad had been killed, but at least one member from every other squad had fallen, except from the Wraiths, as they had not been part of the close combat. The Dragons had fought well, but their speciality was tank hunting, not close combat, so now they were three less. Lathelias watched as the Exarch of the Dragons walked among the dead, finding the fallen members of his squad, plucking the spiritstones from their chests. The remaining Warlocks were doing the same for the fallen Guardians. The Dire Avengers were all praying for a glorious end, one that Kaine himself would be proud of. Lamental kept watch from the top of the ruins, making sure that they would know of the inevitable chaos counter-charge. Lathelias was proud that they were all so calm. They had all volunteered for this, but he was surprised that none of them had yet panicked. Eldar were known not to panic, but occasionally, their emotions would get the better of them in battle. A strange buzzing noise interrupted his thoughts, followed by the voice of a Warlock. The final battle was about to begin.

Lathelias roared the battle cry once again as the chaos flood crashed against them. He jumped straight into the fray, followed by his squad. They cut a swath of destruction right through the middle of chaos, followed by the remaining army. Stagnant, congealed blood splattered against Lathelias' armour, but he didn't spare it a single thought. He was fully concentrated on taking as many chaos scum with him as possible. He vaguely heard a death cry over the vox, and subconsciously he knew one of his unit was dead. "FOR KARANDRAS!!" he roared once more as he hacked and slashed his way to the centre of the hoard. He allowed a small amount of his own bloodlust into his mind, for now there was not enough time to allow his soul to fall into the decadent ways of his ancestors. His gore soaked rampage was brought short by a tremendous roar in front of him. He came back to his senses and a memory from long ago surfaced in his mind, telling him exactly what he was facing. One he had thought forgotten. For in front of him stood a Bloodthirster of Khorne, the most bloodthirsty and violent creature ever to set foot in this reality. Lathelias hesitated for a moment, then charged the monster. If it managed to get inside the building, all would be lost. The only one who had a hope in shais-el of defeating it was Lamental, and she was busy fighting a squad of marines.

The beast roared in anger as it tried to swat away Lathelias as he hacked and shot at the Bloodthirster's legs. Its hammer came close, but always missed by a hair, for Lathelias was far too quick. One blow, however, nicked his leg, and the next smashed him into the ground. A hideous sound came from the monsters mouth, one that sounded like a thousand men screaming in terror. Lathelias couldn't tell what it was doing until he noticed the varying pitch. It was laughing at him. Laughing at his pitiful attempts to hurt it, at his pathetic attempt to win. He heard, in his mind, what it was going to do to him and his squad, the rest of the army, and then, once chaos had won, it would hunt down his Craftworld and personally slaughter every man, woman, and child. Lathelias coughed up blood and replied to this threat. "You… won't get… the chance!" He yelled the last words as he activated the psychic charges lining his armour. The last thing he saw was an Eldar war mask, but it was different from any mask he had seen before…

Coming Soon…

Last Stand of the Dragon