Medusa System, Medusa IV, the Oraanus Rocks.
Storm General Amadeus DuCaine, former commander of the Tenth Legion stood upon the mountainside.
His Mark I Thunder-pattern armor was repainted in the black of the Iron Hands, its pauldrons draped with chains of alternating black-iron and white-iron links.
A row of iron spikes jutted from the back of his gorget up over his skull, symbols that he had survived countless trials to be accepted into the Clan Sorrgol.
DuCaine had embraced Medusa's culture of competition. Stripped of his armor, he fought in brutal contests, emerging victorious and becoming chieftain of Sorrgol.
As clan-chief, he now wore new armor. His cloak was the clan's banner itself, woven of metallic threads and heavy silk, inlaid with slabs of onyx, obsidian, and sapphire as weight and ornament, its center emblazoned with the silver sigil of Sorrgol.
The Oraanus Rocks stretched hundreds of kilometers north to south, formed of ultra-hard diorite. DuCaine stood on a slope, instructing his warriors:
"Boys, our doctrine is a balance of concentrated strikes and all-round assault, war fought at extreme speed…"
Gabriel, now acknowledged as one of the Sorrgol, stood only ten meters away. He had grown used to DuCaine addressing young warriors as "boys," even "girls." What might be insult elsewhere was here taken as camaraderie.
Unlike other Iron Hands or the ten warrior clans of Medusa, DuCaine treated neophyte as children to be cared for, trained, and raised. He alone did this among them.
"Our duty on Medusa is to guard this sector, every system, every outpost, every mineral site."
"Like this diorite beneath my feet, unique to Medusa, a precious resource."
Gabriel's golden Garuda had helped locate a rich vein of diorite, earning him five tons of it. He had analyzed it: a prime representative of crystalline intrusive rock, a major component of granite, which when specially treated formed iron-crystal, a material the Iron Hands used in place of stone.
When the day's lesson ended, DuCaine laughed:
"Boys, dismissed, go eat."
Then he approached Gabriel.
"Has Adams found a new site?"
Adams had previously uncovered two ancient ruins, developed jointly by Clan Sorrgol and Gabriel. His finds brought relics of lost technologies, and in driving off rival clans' warriors, he proved his might and command, securing his swift rise as clan-lord.
Now DuCaine trusted none could surpass the grim Death Lord in unearthing ancient ruins.
"Adams has pinpointed the location. Word will come soon."
DuCaine laughed aloud.
"Excellent news!" He took a platter from a servant and handed it to Gabriel. "Eat your fill, we'll march, and claim what's ours."
The plate held black-worms, a local delicacy. Though called worms, they were actually algae that, once fried, resembled insects.
Gabriel remarked: "Before Medusa, I'd never seen algae that could draw energy from atmospheric friction."
"That's Medusa," DuCaine said proudly. "Unique in all the galaxy."
After their meal of meat and black-worms, DuCaine looked to the sky.
"The lads tell me the Iron Moon is near. For Medusa, today is a day of terror."
Gabriel's comm-bead chimed. He listened, then said:
"We must move now, strike down the beasts at the ruins. You wouldn't want to be caught in battle once the Iron Moon arrives."
"Of course," DuCaine bellowed to his clansmen: "Boys, move out!"
Colossal steel land-crawlers, each over a hundred meters long, rumbled forward, drawn by teams of Yaluk-beasts.
Yaluk resembled a blend of great cats and primates, towering several meters tall, broad-shouldered, long-armed, their bodies thick with black fur and manes.
Sorrgol warriors pressed the ignition runes inside their crawlers. Arcs of electricity lashed out, striking the beasts. With a roar of pain and fury, the Yaluk surged into a frenzied run, hauling the steel leviathans forward.
Ten kilometers on, alarms shrilled red across DuCaine's console.
Gabriel read the sigil: a cogwheel rimmed with teeth, a skull set at its core.
"Avini!"
"Santor's Avini," DuCaine muttered, recalling Gabriel Santor. Unlike others, Ferrus Manus had favored him, his first Medusan to undergo gene-forging.
"Storm and Hammer!"
DuCaine was used to Medusan ways: when clans met, their first greeting was artillery fire. Manus himself encouraged this rivalry, believing competition forged strength.
The Avini opened fire first, their land-crawlers unleashing dense bombardments. One shell smashed into a Yaluk, bursting it into bloody mist. Others hammered Sorrgal crawlers, tearing rents in armor.
When the barrage ceased, DuCaine gave his order:
"Raise the storm!"
Sorrgal guns thundered in reply. Shells converged on a single Avini crawler, flipping the hundred-meter giant into the air. Flames blossomed inside, and a massive armored figure forced the hatch, an Astartes of the Tenth Legion, staggering from the blaze.
Gabriel frowned, silent.
'Though I strive to understand Medusan culture at my lord's command, this brutality is hard to get used to.'
'Lord Manus and my Lord differ utterly, it is unthinkable that my lord would sanction such savage contests among his people.'
He forced his attention back to DuCaine's tactics. Under his command, crawlers advanced in turn, one drawing fire while others struck, then pulling back before destruction.
'Not "Storm and Hammer," but akin in spirit.'
Gabriel noted the method on his data slate.
For ten volleys the duel raged, Sorrgal gaining the upper hand. Avini were first to break, withdrawing in disciplined fire.
One unlucky Legionary perished in the flames, along with ten Avini clansmen, eliminated by Medusa's harsh law of competition.
DuCaine did not pursue. Rivalry had limits, bound by restraint.
Another thirty kilometers, and they reached the target mountains.
.....
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