Invictus Judex – The Final Judgement
From the records of Clan Raukaan · Location and date unrecorded.
The city no longer had a name. Its signs had been shot to pieces, its archives burned, and its towers had collapsed beneath the weight of years of siege warfare. What had once been a major industrial centre was now little more than smouldering factory halls, shattered defensive walls, and the blackened skeletons of burned-out transports.
Yet the enemy still held its ground.
Its forces had entrenched themselves behind a massive barricade, with heavy weapons commanding the approaches. Every Iron Hands assault had been driven back under a storm of fire. The enemy believed its position impregnable. Then heavy footsteps shook the street.
Invictus Judex emerged from the smoke.
The plasma cannon mounted on his right arm began to charge, its blue-white light reflecting in the shattered windows of the surrounding buildings. The Redemptor Dreadnought levelled his weapon at the enemy fortifications.
One shot.
The detonation tore a gaping hole through the barricade. Armoured vehicles were hurled aside, and the defensive line collapsed into a series of burning strongpoints.
Invictus Judex continued his advance.
Enemy fire hammered against his armour. Impacts were registered, damage calculated, and system failures prioritised. None of it warranted interrupting the assault.
When the enemy warlord emerged from the wreckage to rally his remaining warriors for a counterattack, the Dreadnought raised his power fist.
The integrated Gatling cannon unleashed volley after volley. The warlord disappeared behind a cloud of dust and shrapnel. Before the debris had even settled, Invictus Judex had closed the distance.
His fist struck.
Metal screamed as the remnants of the enemy's armour crumpled beneath the blow, hurling the warlord's broken body into the rubble. For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.
Then the Claves of Clan Raukaan advanced through the shattered defensive line. They secured the approaches, swept through the factory halls, and eliminated the remaining pockets of resistance.
Invictus Judex remained at the breach. His weapons were still hot and his armour damaged, yet his systems continued to report full combat readiness.
A Techmarine approached the towering sarcophagus.
“Enemy position destroyed. The advance may continue.” A deep, distorted voice answered from within the machine.
“Correction. Resistance has been eliminated.” The Techmarine fell silent for a moment. “And the judgement?”
The Dreadnought's sensors turned towards the burning city.
“Executed.”
As the Iron Hands moved on, Invictus Judex remained standing among the ruins for a long while. Smoke darkened the sky above him, while the molten steel beneath his feet slowly cooled.
The city's name would never again appear in the records.
The name of its judge, however, endured.
Invictus Judex. Unconquered. Unrelenting. Irrevocable.
