Kapitel 68: Chapter Twenty-Four: The Last Hold (Part VIII)
Detonations drowned out the Kaptin and the sound of tearing metal was heard. Then the vox went dead. Panic started to spread like miasma across the assembled Orkish horde. Shouting and waving his Klaws. Grunhag marched towards his army intending to bash them till they weren't scared. Before he made a dozen steps forward, a mighty roar erupted. Drowning out even the Orkish horde. A great wind stirred across the surface of Grungron. Its ashen atmosphere disturbed.
A second roar filled the skies and the great clouds of ash that filled the atmosphere around the Last-Hold moved. Blown away by some titanic presence. The clouds split open, forming a massive swirling gap like the eye of some volcanic hurricane. Down through the eye, a thing of legends flew. Something that should not exist and yet did. A Dragon had come to Grungron. Massive beyond words, a serpentine colossus with jaws large enough to bite a Battlecruiser in half. Eight taloned limbs clustered across its belly. Ten wings of blackened-leather and organic flames stuck from its back. Great gouts of plasma erupted from its maw with every breath. Emerald scales coated in layers of cooled magma and volcanic ash glistend. Like a falling star the Dragon dived through the atmosphere. Great silver ornaments dotted its body, what seemed to be strange jewelry crackeled with energy. Anti-Gravity generators based on the great Orbital plates of Terra activated. This impossible creature of fire flew through the heavens. Its massive wings and organic jets of ignited hydrogen let it navigate the skies.
The Dragons mouth opened and it let forth a roar to shake the stars. Gracefully flying towards Khazrik Hold. Circling around the super-volcano with almost lazy ease. The panicked fire of Squat turret operators going unnoticed as they glanced off the Dragons scales. Enraptured by the terrifying sight of such a creature. Neither Squat nor Ork noticed the singular metallic ornament upon the Wyrms forehead. Unlike the anti-gravity generators this object was a bridge of sorts. A cabin created with incredible technology and hosting the true power upon the battlefield. The Dragon was a mighty beast, an ancient predator long thought extinct. Yet within the cabin was the being that tamed it. The true Dragon of the Imperium. Vulkan, Primarch of the XVIII Legion.
Location: The Nocturne System
Date: 864.M30
Seated upon a throne of Jade and Obsidian the Primarch commanded the beast. His mind connected to the Dragons by powerful telepathic bonds. This was no simple beast or flesh puppet. The Dragon was claimed by Vulkan from cooling ashes. Decades ago the Emperor had tasked Vulkan with claiming a distant system known as Nocturne. Telling the XVIII Primarch the volcanic world held secrets precious to many. Which Vulkan would claim for mankind.
The Primarch arrived too late and found the Nocturne system in its twilight. The XVIII Legion searched the system for any survivors or clues to whatever catastrophe befell the humans upon Nocturne. All they found across the ruins of seven cities were signs of suffering and the touch of darkness. In the form of sadistic displays and signs of Eldar weapons. The greatest clue to the identity of whatever Xeno faction destroyed Nocturne came within the remains of the city of Hesiod. A mountain of skulls piled high as a Knight-Walker stands. Left in the city-center with a signature in the Aeldari lexicon inscribed on each skull. Reading "He Who Hunts Heads"
The bodies recovered across the planet were cremated in a great ritual of burial by the XVIII Legion. Creating a great conflagration that attracted the only survivor of the Eldar's handiwork. The last Firedrake from deep within the Nocturne. Drawn up by the heat, seeking any warmth upon this once burning world. The great reptilian beast did not seem to notice the Astartes and Imperials tending the pyre. It dived into the flames and stayed there for several hours. Vulkan was alerted and watched the colossal beast hide in the funeral blaze. After many hours it crawled forth. Scales glowing with heat. Vulkan and his honor-guard tracked the titan-sized wyrm across the ruined wilds of Nocturne to a great Volcano. Now snuffed out by Aeldari technology and glowing with only the faintest embers.
The Fire Drake worked its way through the great lava-tubes and caverns of the volcano. Burrowing into the deepest most hidden depths of the mountain. Signs of battle and of death filled the subterranean chambers. The scorched remains of Eldar warriors and broken craft littered the tunnels. The transhuman senses of the Primarch and his guard tracking the Fire Drake with relative ease. The XVIII was not created for these duties, but like all of the Emperor's Angels they could adapt. At long last they found the Fire-Drake within the still glowing heart of the mountain. A great caldera littered with bones and broken stone. Here the beast squeezed its scaly bulk into a hidden antechamber. Curling itself up into a nest of lava.
Vulkan watched as the Fire Drake let the intense heat from its scales radiate into the hollow in the rock. Heating the cooling rock and revealing the chamber's purpose. The Drake had coiled itself around a clutch of obsidian eggs. Each the size of an Astartes. It suddenly made sense to the Primarch. The heart of the mountain had been where these great Drakes had nested and raised young. Needing the great heat to incubate the eggs. The Eldar had raided this mountain and taken or destroyed all other eggs. Leaving one remaining mother and her brood. Hidden away in the darkest depths she sought any heat to save her eggs. Drawn to the pyre of Nocturne, hoping to steal its fire to warm her nest.
Slowly Vulkan approached the resting Queen. The Primarch could feel the ancient intellect of the beast. The Fire Drake was no simple animal. She appraised Vulkan with fiery reptilian eyes, a deep warning growl issued from the Drakes jaws. Vulkan paid the warning little heed. His father had taught him long ago that sometimes things must be protected whether they like it or not. The XVIII Primarch did not know why the Emperor sent him to Nocturne but he would not pass up the opportunity in front of him. In his left hand, he held a powerful flamer of his own design. The other lay open, in a sign of peace towards the Drake. Slowly Vulkan leveled his flamer at the clutch of eggs. If the Fire Drake needed a flame for its offspring, he would provide it.
In the dim cavern, the Fire Drake saw the glint of raising metal and lunged. She had long learned at the hands of Drukhari raiders to fear such implements. Vulkan did not move, holding his free arm up even as the beast's jaws clamped around it. The Fire Drake could have swallowed Vulkan whole, out of trepidation or something else she instead latched onto his arm. Teeth designed to pierce armored scales ground into Vulkans forearm. Punching through the Primarchs armor and sinking into the meat of his arm, warp infused blood poured into the Fire Drake's gullet as she worked to rip the Primarch's arm from his body. Greatsword sized teeth ripped through metal, skin, and muscle, only stopping when they pressed into the Vulkan's bones. The fangs of a Death World apex predator could rip apart armored vehicles with ease, but could not scratch the biological perfection of a Primarch's skeleton.
Ignoring the pain, Vulkan walked towards the drake's eggs, dragging the massive beast latched onto his arm with him. Despite the monster's efforts, it was hauled along by the inexorable strength of Vulkan. Muttering soothing words to the scared queen, the Primarch ignited his flamer and let gouts of fire wash over the eggs. The stone around the eggs quickly started to glow with heat. A nest of melted rock for the queen's brood. Flames started to lap at the Fire Drake as well, warming her scales and invigorating the beast. Letting forth a growl like a Titans engine the Fire Drake gnashed her teeth. Biting down even harder, seeking to rip the Primarchs limb from him.
Vulkan felt his arm bulge out of its socket. Readjusting his grip Vulkan tried to pull his arm free. Giving the Fire Drake the opportunity it had been looking for. Moving faster than its great reptilian bulk should allow. The Fire Drake spun its body and yanked its mighty jaws upward, ripping Vulkans arm clean off. The Primarch's limb torn from its socket and its sinew shredded. Swallowing the morsel whole, the drake spun around. Its massive tail smashed into Vulkan, slamming the Primarch against the chamber wall.
Rising from the cracked stone, Vulkan looked down at his bleeding stump with a look of mild annoyance. Larraman Cells quickly clotted over the wound and a spike of growing bone jutted from the scab. Vulkans perpetual nature granted him regenerative powers beyond most of his brothers. As bone tapered out of his shoulder and muscle started to wrap around the regenerating limb, Vulkan approached the beast.
"I have no desire to hurt you great beast, but you are leaving me few options," Vulkan said in his soft, rumbling baritone. "So I apologize in advance for this"
Vulkan charged forward, his hulking form barreling towards the Fire Drake. The drake roared a challenge and shot forward, its mouth opened wide to swallow Vulkan whole. While the Lord of the XVIII lacked much of the grace and speed of his brothers, he could still dodge the beast's lunging bite. Landing next to the drake's head as its jaws shut on empty air, Vulkan's uninjured arm shot out. His vice-like grip locking onto one of the Drakes mighty horns. Yanking on the horn with all his power and slamming the drake's massive head into the cavern floor. Without pause, Vulkan then smashed his forehead against the Drakes scaled skull, knocking it out cold.
By the time the brief exchange of blows was over, Vulkan's arm had completely regrown. Testing the dexterity of his new fingers, Vulkan grumbled slightly to himself as he inspected the limb. It would be a chore to reacquire the calluses on his hands that he had worked so hard to obtain. His tools would feel strange in that hand for a while. Rubbing the spot on his head where it had collided with the drake, Vulkan poured over new information. What he had done was more than a simple headbutt. It was a crude form of telepathy. He had literally smashed information into the Drakes head and at the same time ripped pertinent data from the beast. Now he knew he needed to know about caring for the drake's eggs. Hopefully, when the Queen awoke, the message of peace and care he had implanted would not be affected by a mild concussion.
Voxing his flagship. Vulkan ordered one of the unused Titan bays of his vessel to be repurposed. These forge-vaults had been designed to stop a rampaging avatar of the Omnissiah. They would act as a new nest for the Drakes. Soon an Imperial Lander touched down near the mountain. A combination of mining equipment and Titan maintenance craft pulled the unconscious Fire Drake onto the surface. With her eggs stored in a field-cremator repurposed as an incubator. It took several hours to get the beast and her brood up onto the XVIII Legion flagship.
Extensive scans of the Nocturne were conducted. Searching for more Fire Drakes or similar treasures. Gene Samples from a view mummified Drakes hid deeper within the mountain were the only product of this endeavor. Soon it came time for the XVIII Crusader Fleet to depart. As the cooling ember of a world faded from view. Vulkan swore he would avenge Nocturne and that he would protect its last gift.
In the ensuing weeks of the Warp-travel, the Primarch worked to tame the Fire Drake. Awaking nearly one solar day after being knocked unconscious the beast was a maelstrom of fury. Nearly killing two Astartes unfortunate enough to be caught in her ire. Upon detecting her eggs. Safe and simmering in an incubator hot enough to carbonize flesh. The Fire Drake calmed down and became surprisingly receptive. With great effort, Vulkan managed to form a bond with the Drake. The strength and compassion of the Primarch winning over even a primordial god-like beast. Naming her Ayida after a fire serpent of ancient myth, Vulkan was bound to a beast of war without comparison. A telepathic link was forged between Drake and Demigod. The Primarch of the XVIII soon took to riding her into battle, becoming a fearsome sight to behold for any enemy of mankind. Eventually, the clutch of eggs rescued from Nocturne hatched. Each wyrmling was bound to one of Vulkans most trusted lieutenants. Starting a new legend, of the Drakelords of the XVIII Legion.
As the years wore on and the Great Crusade raged through the stars, Vulkan started to notice a change in Ayida. A hunger had been ignited within her, one that seemed to be unquenchable by normal foodstuff. Upon the battlefield she would devour entire light tanks whole, digesting both machine and meat. She began to go as far as to raid fuel deposits and heaps of scrap for inorganic food. The already massive drake grew with each of these meals. Her exotic stomach acids and strange innards worked to turn steel and ceramite into scales and claws.
Examinations by Magos of numerous fields and even experts of both the Aeldari and Chaos were consulted. The results were always vague but lockstep: something had triggered the start of a metamorphosis. Ayida was entering the next stage of her life cycle, becoming something unknown to the Imperium and missing in the fossils of Nocturne. Imperial Adepts had determined the Fire Drakes of Nocturne were unaffected by the damages of time. They grew larger and more intelligent with every passing year. With the end of this cycle there was no decay or injury, but slumber. The Fire Drakes would grow too large to move or even wake. They would fall into a living death below the great mountains of Nocturne. The Aeldari had killed or captured these volcanic leviathans, leaving the titanic husks of now eternally sleeping titans for the Imperium to research.
What was happening with Ayida was not like the fire drakes of old. She grew neither sluggish nor stagnant. With each ton of draconic muscle added to her frame, she only grew stronger and more alive. Magnetic scans started to show the development of new organs and even limbs within Ayida. Immature wings started to grow from her back and her crocodilian form lengthened into a more serpentine shape.
The answer to the mystery of the Fire Drakes evolution came when a particularly brave genewright managed to get samples of Ayida's stomach tissue. Fragments of incomprehensible DNA were interwoven with the Drakes innards. Fragments that were acutely familiar to the XVIII Legions apothecaries. Somehow, defying all logic and reason, Vulkan lived within his drake. The arm torn from the Primarch in his first encounter with Ayida had survived. The flesh and bone of the Emperor's son had fused with the drake, protected from digestion by constant regeneration. A constant flow of psychic energy and transhuman tissue fused with Ayida, awakening a long-buried secret within the great beast.
Vulkan had long suspected this connection, but could never be certain. In the years since Nocturne, the Primarch had often experienced what could be called 'Phantom Perptualhood'. He had often awoke from his sleep with the sensation of returning life and reknitting flesh. He could feel himself regenerate from wounds that did not exist. It had bothered Vulkan and he was glad to have an answer, even if it raised more questions. The discarded tissue of a Perpetual rotted like a mortal's, sometimes even faster than what would be expected, as if the Universe sought to erase evidence of the impossible. Somehow the limb stolen by Ayida's jaws resisted this natural decay. The font of energy that powered Vulkan's soul steadily leaked into the fire drake, provoking a long forgotten metamorphosis.
This was truly the next stage of a fire drake's existence. The slumbering titans that once populated Nocturne were stunted failures, malnourished children who had long forgotten the truth of their existence. A drake was simply a young dragon, robbed of the key ingredient of their life-cycle, an ingredient Vulkan had accidentally provided.
In prehistoric ages, when reptiles had ruled ancient Terra and the Aeldari were young. Stellar Dragons swam the Void. They were one of the eldest creations of the Old Ones. A species woven from the mysteries of flesh and souls. Their enigmatic creators had designed them to be the ultimate guardians and stewards of treasures and wonders. The Stellar Dragons were reptilian godlike beasts of unmatched power. bound to their creators and masters through biological necessity. Clutches of dragon eggs could survive on any world, hatching as adapted drakes for that world. For these drakes to become dragons, they required the power of a Called God. Something Vulkan had given through his flesh and soul.
Ayida became so massive that her size began to rival the Hammerfall, the Gloriana-Class Flagship of the XVIII Legion. Feeding off the wrecks of Orkish and other enemy ships, the Drake Queen became something unseen to the galaxy for millennia. With eight mighty wings that bled flame, ten taloned claws, and a serpentine body long enough to coil around the XVIII Legions flagship. She had become a Stellar Dragon.
When the Old Ones faded into myth, the dragons had faded as well. Unable to hatch new members of their kind, their failed descendants populated the galaxy. Each bastard breed inherited a shadow of the Stellar Dragons' glory. Crotalids plunge into the Warp with idiotic uncertainty, where their ancestors swam the Sea of Souls. Exodite Megadons being little more than exotic pets born of spliced genes. The Children of Draugnir were limited mimicries. With only Ayida and her children inheriting the legacy of the Stellar Dragons. For the first time in an age, dragons thundered through the heavens, bound to the Imperium and the XVIII Legion. Inspired by their bond with these ancient titans of legend, Vulkan and his legion took the name the Dragonforged as their own.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein