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by NoPoet

[20K] Revised 20K Timeline (updated April 2013)

17/03/2013 in 20K, Imp Lit News

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20K is the unofficial Warhammer 40,000 prequel series which I have been working on for a number of years. The following is a rough timeline including every 20K story that I am writing or plan to write. I have tried to remove as many spoilers as possible. Note that the timeline is subject to change and is undergoing constant revision.

This is “phase one” of 20K, a desperate time of derring-do. Phase 2, if I ever get that far, has a more mature and more adventurous tone with less of the grimness and grittiness of some of the earlier stories. Look for the crossovers and in-jokes as they appear. Fans of 40K as well as fans of general science fiction should find lots to be happy about.

Please ignore any repetitions or minor mistakes, this is the beta version and I already have the events right in my mind.

20K PHASE 1

40K’s mysterious and exciting history finally comes to life in tales of terror and adventure. Join the brave human pioneers of the Terran Empire as they begin their expansion into a galaxy where anything is possible.

KEY:
FRL = Fearless series
EW = Earthwatch series
SOL = Solstice series
Stories which do not have a series designation are independent stories (in TV parlance they would be “bottle shows”)

NOTE: Significant information is (deliberately) missing from the following timeline! Dates and events are subject to change.

===

20K Date Timeline

M21

975.M21 – Starships of the Alneran Republic, a hostile alien species whose territory lies within Solar Segment, encounter a mysterious alien being and take him prisoner. The strange hostage escapes when a Terran Navy ship attacks the Alnerans; the being will later turn up in Terran space, where his strange behaviour confounds his human rescuers. (“The Man Without A Past”)-

978.M21 – XMS Southern Cross encounters R’Shan, a member of an unidentified alien species who has been conducting unknown warp experiments within Terran space. (“The Man From Nowhere”)

978.M21 – The Fireblade prototype fighter begins its initial tests, intended to replace the Saxon class fighter. (“Flight of the Fireblade”)

985.M21 – The Centaur class light cruiser is commissioned, intended as a gradual replacement for the legendary Canyon class.

985.M21 – The Terran Empire discovers the first known Warp Gate within Solar Segment.

986.M21 – XMS Ontario and XMS Lexington are sent to investigate the Warp Gate. During the mission, a previously unknown problem with the Ontario’s Gellar Shield hurls the ship into a time-travelling, galaxy-spanning adventure, during which humanity makes first contact with followers of the daemon god Nurgle. (“Ghostwalkers”)

986.M21 – An expedition team of the Pan-Pacific Treaty, a coalition of coporations and nation-states who wish to remain independent of the Terran Empire, discovers a world belonging to the long-vanished Chinasian Bloc. The world has long been abandoned, but the expedition discovers disturbing evidence that the colonists had been conducting genetic experiments influenced by men who claimed to have travelled from the distant future – a time of terrible civil war. (“Legacy of the Future”)

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[40K] Deal with the Daemon

11/09/2012 in Warhammer 40K

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Deal With the Daemon

A Warhammer 40,000 story by Maugan Ra

PROLOGUE

Warp light bloomed and the daemonic assessors of the Black Tontine stepped forth even as the sorcerer lay dying. They came because my actions have violated the Tontine, and their very presence drove needles into our minds. Shrine gates rattled and the Aquila wept molten tears.
- The journals of Inquisitor Lord Felroth Gelt

Samuel Krista staggered down the hallway, his steps unsteady and his mind clouded by the drink. Up until mere moments ago he had been fast asleep, but then had come the knocking. Loud and insistent, it had echoed throughout his tiny hab with enough volume to jolt his addled mind into wakefulness. He didn’t know who it was, but by the Emperor, they were going to receive such a beating for waking him like this!

“I’m coming, curse you!” He roared, spittle flying past yellowed and broken teeth, pausing to snatch up a heavy metal club from its rack by the door. He was an Overseer, damn it all, and you didn’t treat an overseer with such disrespect!

With a feral snarl, Krista wrenched open the door, raised the club above his head, and stopped dead. A cold weight settled in his stomach, and slowly he lowered his weapon, letting it drop to the ground with a clatter. Beads of a sweat formed on his brow, even though the air flowing in through the open door was achingly cold.

There were three of them, taller than any man he had ever met and clad in long black robes like morbid Administratum functionaries. All three of them stood a few paces from his door, their hands hidden inside the folds of their robes and their heads bowed. Licking his lips, Krista took a step backwards, thinking desperately of the window at the other end of the corridor. He could make it, he was sure, if he started running right now…

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[40K] Shade of the Bazaar

21/08/2012 in Warhammer 40K

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This is my first post on this site. It’s fairly old, I wrote this over 2.5 years ago, I just happened to find a place to share it. Enjoy. Leave comments if you will, I am open minded to comments and criticism.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Isaias looked at the broken man under his shoe, a fine trickle of blood was all that remained of the torrent that been springing from the criminal’s neck only moments ago. He savored this moment of macabre justice, for he well knew that like last time, this sweet tang of bloodlust filling his veins would dissipate and force him into a withdrawal as it had countless times before.

He must find new prey to give chase in his endless hunt. His cravings subjugated it to their whims, and he knew full well that he was a helpless pawn in their ocean of desire. He no longer even attempted to resist the urge to destroy life as though it was an object of disgust. Yet every time Isaias slaughtered the worthless criminals some still considered humanity, crawling and allowed to fester like cancer in the lawless undercroft of Imperita - which the Arbites and Sororitas Zealots were too overwhelmed to hunt for themselves – he felt power bordering upon the supernatural. As though he could take a walk in the warp itself and have its denizens bow before him, he desired no other drug, or comfort that could bring similar arousal knowing that the Emperor allowed him to enjoy his work.

Mercifully, underneath the burning forges of Imperita where Korzack Satasian Law and Imperial Rule faded with the natural light of the star Lorkan V blasting the sterile earth above there was no end to the scum of the universe, and with it hardly a pause before he could savor the killing blow once more.
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by NoPoet

Slowly Dying

02/02/2012 in Original

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A poem by Janshi

Author’s Comments:

Yes, gasp, Janshi has actually done a poem. The horror.

anyway, this poem was set in mind of a dying person, either literally or figuratively. I had an idea of adding a few lines that would give implication that the dying person had cancer but was not sure if I should actually put in the lines.

C & C would be gladly appreciated, need to know what to work on.

SLOWLY DYING by Lawrence Wang a.k.a. Janshi

Another year goes by
Another year gone
Another year added to your life
Another year taken from mine

By day, by week, by month, by year, I die
Slowly lingering
Always wandering
As Time marches by

Spring, summer, autumn, winter
The sapling blooms
The leaf fades
The tree dies

Everyday is a year
Every feeling a blessing
Every breath closer to oblivion
Everyday bittersweet

Listless, vagrant
Without purpose
Decaying, fading
Going, going

Soon the day is lost, the sunshine fast fading
Its last rays breaking o’er the horizon
Darkness looms, encroaching, invading
Poisoning the fair land

Soon the sun will fall
Taken from heaven’s grace
Leaving me alone
In Darkness’s embrace

A bonus poem by Janshi

Tick-tock goes the grandfather clock
Ancient gears in motion
Tick-tock, tick-tock, goes the clockwork
Like a locomotion

Never failing, never ending
Marching on and onwards
Tick-tock goes the grandfather clock
Singing the chimes of birds

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by LIRR

PAIN

06/04/2011 in Original

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Pain.

 

The one thing that truly never lets us down.

 

As rain pour down with the full fury of the heavens, skies hidden behind dark and angry clouds, I stand here on the pavement. The lightpost next to me sends a beam of pure illumination down over me, wraps me in sparkles as rain drops cut through the beam. My clothes are soaked, all the way through to my skin. My body shivers from the cold and I freeze at my very core, marrow frozen, heart covered with frost. Hair tangled and stuck to my face, drops of rain crawling down my cheeks, dripping from my jaw and chin.

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All of Washinton’s Children

16/03/2011 in Original

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“We knew it would all break down, in the end. It was inevitable. But American pride was always such a curious thing. We were too big to fail. Too awesome in our power. Nobody else could even touch us, right?”

I laughed inwardly as I spoke to the others, my own words humorous to my ears. I don’t truly know what I was thinking, telling them the real story. I was breaking their perceptions, I suppose. Giving them a little taste of the truth. I continued my anecdote.

Wrong. How wrong we were. America was no more invincible than a butterfly in a hurricane. We were blind to the dangers all around us, unafraid in our ignorance. All of the West was.

“In the end, it was our arrogance, our pride, that brought about our downfall. Too big to fail, right? Right?”

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Reaper

18/02/2011 in Original

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My name is Jonathan Heckart. They call me Reaper. I am number one.

I have always ordered my steaks cooked a nice medium-rare. I’ve done it that way since the day I was old enough to eat red meat. That’s the way my father ate his steaks. And it’s the way my father’s father ate his steaks. All down through history, Heckart men have ordered their steaks medium-rare. Read the rest of this entry →

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Splinterjack

24/08/2010 in Original

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They call me Splinterjack. I am number forty-six.

I am going to tell you a little something about myself. To begin with, I will explain, in a roundabout way, the nature of my existence.

I am a creature of immaculate terror, a horrible thing conceived in fear and borne of nightmares. I stalk the darkness, filling the void of night with the screams of my victims.

I am a nasty, spiteful thing, really I am. But I am not without my virtues. You see, I’m a rather conflicted being at my core. I suppose we all are, when it comes down to it.
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by NoPoet

[20K] Pyramid

25/09/2009 in Warhammer 40K

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[Author's note] This is a revised and slightly updated version of my story “Pyramid”, modified to bring it into line with my 20K universe.

++ EARTHWATCH EYES ONLY ++

Author: Albert Lamm
Location: ++ Location denied ++
Transmission Time: 210017/M20
Received: Saturn, Relay point 5

Sir,

We recently received this transcript of an archaeological survey conducted in the Antax system, eighteen light-years from Earth. The data pad was damaged due to explosive decompression of the subject’s shuttle and we have therefore lost the first part of the recording. However, we do not believe that any vital information has been lost, as the earliest entries would most likely have been routine observations of the planet and its topographical features.

As you may recall, the Terran First Fleet discovered Antax only two years ago despite its proximity to Earth, shielded as it was by a radiation cloud of unknown properties whose dissipation prompted the discovery.

The survey team was a group of mostly Euro-Federation xeno-archaeologists, transported by the Centaur class cruiser XMS Dauntless. A small group of Empire Guard accompanied the dig. The Dauntless is still missing in action and until this document was recovered, no-one had heard anything from the expedition.

As of this moment, Solar Command is not aware that we have this information. I await instructions on how to proceed; the implications of this document are terrifying to say the least. I recommend destroying this document and putting the whole thing behind us.

The families of the expedition members would not thank us if we went public. I cannot imagine what they are going through while they believe their loved ones to be missing, but it is better than how they will feel if they find out what really happened. Frankly, the whole incident sickens me to my stomach, and makes me aware that our galaxy may be more hostile than previously believed.

Yours

Albert Lamm
Earthwatch Command
Extrasolar R&D

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by NoPoet

Documenting A Necron Invasion

17/09/2009 in Warhammer 40K

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=Documenting a Necron Invasion=

A Warhammer 40,000 story by The No Poet

Do not trust anything I say in this vox log. What you hear will be hard to take. I speak the truth, and the truth is a lie.

I am a survivor. My name…I’m not going to tell you that. It’s important they don’t know who I am. Oh Throne, oh Throne…they won’t get me in here. They can’t. They don’t know me, they don’t know what I know. I can feel them searching for me! It brushes against me like fingers down a chalkboard, like fingernails being drawn along the curve of my spine. That reaching mind…like a searchlight beam sweeping the foliage, looking for hidden soldiers.

Toy soldiers, all in a line. All dead without their skins or their faces. Meat for the machines.

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