AN: Ok, so, I might have gotten carried away a bit with this chapter since it's a bit longer than most of my other chapter, but I figured you lot would enjoy that. Anyway, a few of you asked questions during the last chapter but I'm not going to be answering them, for fear of giving away spoilers of either this chapter or future chapters. However, I will say that Aesir can be made into Astartes/Jotunns since such a thing was implied during one of the conversations between Marcus and the Emperor/Adam.
Also, I'd like to thank souvikkundu0017 for betaing this to make sure that it wasn't filled with plot holes and other mistakes. Seriously, give this man a round of applause and a chocolate cake.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
XXX
"I hate coming back here."
Those were the words of Tig'ra as she looked out of her room, through the balcony towards the city of Aesir's Triumph, the capital city of Obros as of almost one and a half centuries ago. As she looked around, she couldn't help but sigh as she spotted a dozen different statues, some being of the Marcus within his armor, fighting the Xenos that were, to this day, still called the Cruel Hard Ones, while others were of her. Tig'ra's actions all those centuries ago were seen as an exemplar to the Felinid race of Obros, as such, she had quickly been elevated to saint-like levels by the inhabitants, along with their Aesir saviors.
"Then why do you come here so often?" Came the voice off to her side, a familiar voice as she turned to see the smiling form of Frida, the High Matriarch of the Aesir, her authority and influence was second only to Marcus himself, who she, along with all Aesir, held in religious awe and reverence. Frida too was looking around, her eyes glancing over the lines of buildings as well as the teaming masses that walked the streets between each building.
"Mostly so that I can stay in touch with my roots... But that gets harder and harder with every decade that passes. I doubt it'll be another five decades before I'm seen as some kind of Demi-goddess and ever step I take on the ground of this world will be considered holy in some way." Tig'ra grumbled slightly. Frida offered no sympathy, merely snorting in amusement since that was the treatment that all Aesir on this word had to endure. Sure, most of them took it with amusement, merely humoring the strange Abhumans and their cultural ways that had developed since freeing them of a Xenos occupation.
"Welcome to our world." Frida deadpanned as Tig'ra snorted since it was true. The Aesir had become something akin to Demi-gods or Gods to many of the Human civilizations that they had saved and uplifted, many saw the warrior race as divine. In the that respect, many Aesir on many worlds that they had liberated couldn't walk down a street without the Humans bending over in submission and awe, offering anything that the Aesir might want, or what the Human's believed the Aesir might want. Food, garments, finely crafted ornaments, even women offering themselves and families offering up their children as offerings that were, apparently, viewed as a great honor among such civilizations. The Aesir endured all of this with a mixture of amusement and pity aimed at the Humans, the former due to the backwards beliefs while the latter was a bit more complicated.
They pitied the Humans due to the frailty of the species; it was a crystallization of purpose among the Aesir, a result of their understanding of the purpose give to them by the Great Father. Humans were weak, thus, they needed someone to look after them, guide them and protect them until they could stand on their own. Many Aesir could not imagine such a day, while the Humans of the past had been mighty and would have stood well above the Aesir, the current era of Humans were laughing stocks compared to their ancestors. Thus, the Aesir did their duty with a mixture of amusement and pity at the plight and fragility of the Humans.
"I know, but was all of this truly necessary?" Tig'ra asked, her arms spreading outwards as she gestured to the tower as a whole. Frida merely shrugged at that.
"They built it and said it was ours, we've just been using it as they believed we should." Frida stated from her seat, glancing around the place. It was a true statement, the tower they stood in had not been made by Aesir hands, rather, by the local Felinids who viewed the Aesir as gods and believed that no god should live in such a lowly place as upon the surface of a planet. The spires that were built, as a result, stood well above the rest of any structure on Obros, standing as a symbol of status and of power, of how the Aesir stood well above everyone else. Tig'ra was not exempt from that, she knew, even with the upgrades that had been given to her, that the Aesir still towered over her in many ways, the Jotunns even more so and the Great Father, Marcus, stood as an indomitable giant over them all. Tig'ra sighed at that remark, knowing that continuing the discussion was pointless, especially given that the Aesir before her was clearly right, things would only continue on the downward spiral from that point onwards.
"Yeah, I know, I just wish it wasn't so... Decorative!" She snarled as Frida chuckled at that. The tower had been built with the best materials that the Felinids had to provide, everything within it was the best of the best while those that served within the Towers lower levels saw it as an honor unlike any other, such positions bringing great renown to their families and to their clans.
"Your people thought it was best to be as fancy as possible, nothing but the best for the 'Exalted Aesir.'" Frida said, half in jest as Tig'ra growled at the smirking Aesir, who merely remained in her chair even though the augmented Felinid was getting ready to pounce on her as, in truth, it was merely a show. Frida stood head and shoulders above the Felinid in terms of combat potential, in a fight, the Aesir would win without competition.
It still didn't stop the truth of the matter from being so damned annoying.
XXX
It was beautiful...
Autochthonia, He had called it, the name of this holy place with which they had been gifted. The newly promoted Fabricator-General could not believe his eyes as he looked around within the massive, artificial structure that had been granted to him and his gathering of companions. It was a Forge World unlike any other, a massive shell-like construct that had been made from the thoughts and will of one most blessed by the Omnissiah, His Chosen. Within the massive holy sphere, work had already begun in the construction of manufactorums, labs and any number of other things as Kelbor-Hal looked around, seeing the massive spires that shot out from the inner surface of the sphere towards the core of the construct, where a triumph of the Machine God awaited them.
A star, trapped by the arcane might and will of the Omnissiah, and ignited by the will of His Chosen. It was a tiny thing, but the yellow-orange glow burned with the same ferocity as the star which the Holy Forge World of Mars orbited, if not with more ferocity as it produced more energy every moment than most Forge Worlds seemed to within a month.
However, even as the work to establish a new Forge World within the Holy Shell World of Autochthonia continued, production was already starting through the miracles that had been bestowed upon them by His Chosen, along with being supplied to them by the Most Blessed Aesir themselves. Incredible machines controlled by those called the 'Hecatonchires', a crude name for those most blessed by His touch, with machines capable of taking any form of matter and converting it into usable materials. Already, a dozen Holy Nanoforges had been constructed and were turning everything that the Blessed Second Legion and His Chosen might have required. Dozens of suits of Power Armor, Bolters and vehicles were constructed every moment before the very eyes of Fabricator-General Kelbor and those that had gathered to him in the wake of His discovery.
Millions of Tech-Priests, dozens of Genetors, thousands of Magos, and hundreds of Artificers and Artisans; all of these individuals came with dozens of specializations and talents of their own, each bringing years of experience and talent with them. All of these individuals were hard at work, building and upgrading the surrounding structures with new designs and characteristics that were a far cry of what the mainstream Cult Mechcanicum used. Buildings were built with sharp lines and clean surfaces, a mathematician's masterpiece as the structures stabbed towards the trapped star at the centre of the Holy Shell World. Already, even after only a fifteen years, there had been changes within their gathering of like-minded individuals.
Augments had been changed, replaced with more advanced, more potent blessings as well as incorporating more subtle symbols of their faith as they changed the colour of their cloaks and hoods to match the change, shifting to either a darker crimson or black trimmed with red. Many had even taken to copying the designs of the Aesir, rebuilding themselves in much the same format as a modified version of a Hecatonchires as they learned more of their arts, aided by their own understandings of the mysteries of the Omnissiah.
It was at this point that the Fabricator-General stood, as he looked before him to see the holy form of one of the massive God-Machines built by the hands of His Chosen: The Jormungand.
Kelbor barely even moved as his optics merely locked on to the sight of the massive God-Machine, it's form held aloft by dozens of struts as it was checked repeatedly to ensure that all the components worked as they were intended to. Blessed workers and machines crawled over it, ensuring that the God-Machine was ready, should the time come to deliver the wrath of the Omnissiah upon the unworthy.
"Quite a sight, isn't it?" The question caught him off guard as he turned to the speaker only to stop at who he saw. It was Lady Frida, the High Matriarch of the Aesir, the Semi-Mortal Right Hand of His Chosen. Unsure of what to do, Kelbor merely responded as he would have normally, though, with much greater respect.
"It is a sight that I will cherish to the end of my days and beyond." Kelbor replied as the Lady Frida chuckled at that.
"Then I'm sure you can imagine how they were built, given that the Great Father created them from the Flesh of Yggdrasil with a single thought, filling them with power beyond imagination." Frida remarked as Kelbor nodded, he could imagine such a thing, the construction of Autochthonia having opened his eyes to such possibilities.
"Forgive my curiosity, Lady Frida, but... Have you seen them smite the enemies of the Omnissiah before?" He asked, curious as what little information they had on such machines was limited to what the Aesir had given them and the Blunder of the Wolves, as the Battle of Kilomiz was being called, usually with much amusement among those of the Most Blessed Aesir. The Lady Frida smiled at the question as she nodded, causing all of Kelbor's sensors to hone in on her, wishing to record everything that was said.
"Many times. They were used extensively during the Purging of Despair, to remove heavily entrenched Xenos and Orks, unleashing floods of Plasma, Lasers and other weapons upon anyone that tried to pick a fight with them. On the ground, for those fighting, it was a comfort beyond measure having a Jormungand watching over us, however, if they were brought to bear, you knew that things were serious. One notable time they were deployed was near the end of the Purging; A moon was infested with Orks and it was decided that it would have been too costly just to use soldiers on the ground. Instead, the Jormungand came into play and used its Ruiner Lance on the Moon, destroying it utterly. It made from an impressive sight." Lady Frida commented at the end with a smile as Kelbor felt his optics suddenly turn back to the God-Machine in question, a renewed sense of awe bubbling up from within his mechanical hearts.
He was beginning to understand why the Omnissiah had Chosen Him, especially when he had built such Alters.
XXX
Taemera smiled as she looked down at the streets of Yggdrasil from Asgard, dozens of Aesir wondering around the streets, heading for their jobs and such, all of which was little more than extensions of the extensive military that made up the Aesir. Companies were little more than various R&D divisions for the greater military while hydroponic farms were used to provide food for everyone that might want some, with surplus left over to allow for the creation of rations and supplies that would last them decades as they were kept in stasis-locked warehouses.
The Former-Eldar smiled at that kind of preparedness, a trait that they had gained from Marcus due to his own belief that it was better to be paranoid and prepared for anything than to be unprepared and being caught with your 'pants down' as he had once said. The Aesir, along with the Jotunns of the Unbroken, agreed with that bit of wisdom fully, leading to a rather interesting line of cultural development for the race as a whole.
As soon as children were capable of supporting themselves and thinking for themselves, they were put into the first of many Academies, or what were called Realms, each one of these Realms was used to teach the children what they would need to survive in this Gods-forsaken Galaxy. The first Realm lasted from four years of age all the way to eleven, the next carried on to sixteen and the last one finished at the age of twenty, with military skills being instilled all the way through the process. Learning how to use the various ranged weapons of the Aesir military was mandatory for the Realms, along with squad-level tactics and basic hand-to-hand combat, among other things. After the getting into the Second Realm, the Aesir children were allowed to specialize, if they chose to continue on to serve in the military, either becoming Light or Heavy infantry, Engineers, Medics, or any other role of dozens that were available to them. Along with that, once they got to the Second Realm, they were required to learn how to use a Close range weapon, whether that be an Axe, a Sword or a Mace, it was required that they learn and master at least one of these, along with an additional CQC style, one of dozens that had developed over the centuries. The Third Realm, however, worked as something akin to an Officer's training school, for those that had shown a talent for leading their fellow students.
For those that didn't wish to continue onwards towards the military, they could simply chose to do so at the start of the Second Realm and then go from there, choosing other topics and progressing from there, becoming Doctors, Farmers, artists or anything else for that matter. No engineers, however, since such things were under the preview of the Hecatonchires. However, anyone that did become a civilian would have to undergo mandatory re-training every two years to ensure they kept their skills sharp and allowed them to serve as PDF soldiers if the need arose.
Taemera sighed in contentment, it almost reminded her of home, with the exception that, aside from the ODIN Field, very few of them even had Psychic powers. Still, as she turned back from the window of her room, she turned towards her own room itself as she walked over to an idol she had made of the last God of the Eldar that might still be able to do some good, Isha, she couldn't help but sigh once more.
"Even if I kept praying to her, it would take millennia for my power alone to even start to have a meaningful effect..." She muttered to herself as she sat down, holding the Idol in her hands, an Idol that she had made from Wraithbone with all the skill she had available to her. To Humans, the Idol would have looked flawless, but to an Eldar of her time, it would have been considered a third-rate attempt, at best. Throwing the Idol back on her bed, she sighed once more.
"... And that is if any of my belief in the Goddess is even reaching her, what with the Field and all..." She muttered to herself as she went to flop on to her bed, annoyed that one of the last few relics of her time might be left for dead and what remained had changed so far that it was utterly unrecognizable. It was understandable, especially after sixty million years, but it still forced her to latch on to something for stability, old Idols or even friends, such as Marcus. With Marcus, she had latched on to both him and the culture that he had created, for the sense of familiarity it had brought her.
It still didn't make it any easier to accept that her efforts were in vain.
"Not quite, Eldar." A voice suddenly filled the room as Taemera snapped to attention before spotting an intruder in her room. A heavily armored man, the armor plated in gold, and carrying a spear in his off hand, casting her mind out, she found her eyes widening as she saw the intruder within the Sea of Souls.
It felt like the Aesir, not a Aesir, but all of them, with links to every Aesir with an ODIN Field implant, including herself.
"By the command of My Lord, you have been allowed to carry out your devotion to your Gods with no difficulty. Your Faith shall go to those that you will it, and no one else, of that, I will guarantee personally." The being stated as Taemera finally registered what it said. Her mind working overtime as she quickly took in the implications of what she had heard before she looked at the being before her with a not too small amount of caution and interest.
"You're Odin, aren't you?" She asked, silently marveling at what the one she had bonded to had created. It was beyond impressive, beyond amazing, since it was a feat worthy of the Old Ones to have crafted a God, no matter how weak. The being nodded, merely confirming her suspicions as it carried on speaking.
"I am, indeed, called Odin. I serve at my Lord's discretion and have been ordered to allow the energy of your worship to be channeled as you wish. That is all I was ordered to inform you of, should you ever doubt the nature of your own beliefs. Fair thee well, Eldar." Odin stated as he disappeared once more, his form bursting into little more than a field of green sparks, which then quickly disappeared, leaving her alone in her room, but with a smile on her face as she glanced at the Idol once more. She knew how much energy there was in Faith, she knew that Psykers generated so much more energy than a normal person and she knew that she was especially powerful. However, for Marcus, for who else could the 'Lord' have been, to specifically order the collective will of a race to merely pass on the energy of her Faith to the one it was destined for...
Her smile grew into one of beaming happiness and joy, it seemed that even after so many centuries, Marcus was still too kind to those he cared for, showing once more why she had fallen in love with him and making her fall in love with him once more. Slowly, she stood up and placed the Idol back in its resting place as she hummed in thought.
"Hmmm... I think I'll need to get Marcus something as a 'thank you', I suppose. That is a Human custom...? Yes, it is." She muttered to herself as she started gathering a few things together with her smile still plastered across her face.
"Now... Where did I put my Webway Sigils?"
XXX
"Hard to Port! All batteries: Fire!"
The feeling of acceleration and the inertia of each movement, even for the augmented physiques of the Unbroken, were tremendous. Then again, that mostly had to do with how the power on the Necessityhad been turned down on many systems, artificial gravity and life support being two of them while the inertia dampeners were working overtime to protect them against the more extreme G-forces that would have reduced them to paste as they turned the ship around. Suddenly, the entire ship vibrated with power and a deep thump as the weapons on the Port side of the Devastation-Class Battleship Necessityfired upon the fleet of Xenos vessels. Over 135 Melta-armed Torpedoes, 120 Lance Beams, sixty beams of Plasma and thirty blasts of magnetically contained Plasma all raced through the Void and impacted the Xenos Vessels as it thundered ahead, completely unbothered by the strike as the Necessity and it's escorts turned and engaged the vessels.
In truth, the vessels they were fighting were few in number, but they made up for that by being utterly monstrous in size. Five vessels, each one being shaped roughly in ovoid, or egg-like shape, with the widest section of the vessels being almost fifteen kilometres from one side to another and almost forty kilometres long. The ends of the ships were solid masses of metal with a single massive exhaust while the fronts were strange, coming off and sprouting like a dozen blades with serrated teeth that curved slightly inwards as they moved to the front of the ships. All of this was made from the same black and dark green metals, though it was sometimes difficult to tell which parts were that dark green because it was a few shades away from being just as black.
"Re-engage Mirage Shields! Now!"
Standing at the helm, Marteleus did the mental equivalent of a shout through the ODIN Field, he felt the acknowledgement coming back from the Helmsman as the Battleship disappeared a moment later from the sensors of the Xenos. It had become their tactic of choice when dealing with these monstrous ships, having already destroyed, or disabled, ten such ships, and with only another five left, one of which was just another well-aimed strike away from being dead in the water.
"Bring us about and put us behind Narada-12. Load all Nova Cannons with Corpse-Ripper ammo, target Narada-11, 12 and 13 while we let the Brawlers deal with Naradas 14 and 15." Marteleus commanded as he redirected his attention to the communication system.
"What is the status of the Lord Primarch and the Boarding teams on Narada-7?" He asked, curious as to what his Lord's progress as he was about to finish up the last of these Xenos and then come and assist his Lord in the cleansing of yet another prize for the Unbroken. He smiled at that, capturing Xenotech and studying it would have seen many in the Imperium branded as hereteks and killed, but the Unbroken, their allies and the Aesir could skirt around that little law with ease as they took anything of interest into themselves before discarding the rest.
For example, this race of Xenos had a number of interesting technologies that were already drawing the attention of many. Their weapons seemed to consist of some kind of Particle Beam weapon of impressive power and range, along with some kind of multi-stage Torpedo system that launched a single projectile before splitting into dozens of smaller projectiles, each one being as strong as the massive Battleship-grade Torpedoes that the Necessity, and the five other Battleships in the fleet, used. The armor of this race was also impressive, Self-repairing on a level that was beyond the current abilities of the Unbroken while also being a fair bit stronger, considering that it had struggled off multiple hits from Melta-armed Torpedoes before finally giving in at certain points in the superstructure. Other parts of the armor had merely been burned through with close range Lance strikes and Plasma Beamer hits. Of course, the Shields on these beasts were also impressive, forming into concentrated, hexagonal plates rather than a bubble-like shield, Marteleus could guess that simply turning on certain sections of those Shields in response to incoming fire allowed far more energy to be concentrated within them. An impressive idea, but one that these Xenos clearly hadn't mastered considering that, even after nearly three hours, the Shields had yet to rise once more after being dropped the first time.
Along with that, their ships were slow, with poor maneuverability, partially due to the sheer bulk of the ships, but also due to only having a single Mag-vector exhaust for their engines, a poor design feature, if nothing else. Not only that, but their targeting was sub-par, at best, while their weapons had length reload times, with the Torpedoes being mounted on a spinning launch rack within the heart of the vessels many blades while the Particle beams seemed to merely have a long recharge time. Marteleus had already gotten a few other reports back from those that had boarded Narada-7, dark interiors with barely functioning Life support systems, the Xenos that inhabited these ships seemingly requiring individual life support systems that were implanted into them at birth. Not only that, but artificial Gravity was barely even present above knee height, there was no waste recycling system and almost all of the Jotunns were currently up to their ankles in what could only be described as Xenos piss and shit.
"Preliminary reports are coming through, War-Forger. A Breach has been made and secured through the efforts of the Immortals and the Primarch, Warforged have already started setting up further arrival zones for more forces. The Lord Primarch has stated that he wishes for you to finish off the other ships as quickly as possible and reinforce him and his forces aboard Narada-7, he states, quote, 'They aren't taking kindly to getting new neighbors'" Came the message breezing through his mind as he nodded.
"Reply saying that we shall end these Xenos' existence as soon as possible and join him in battle. Now, move us into position and prepare to fire on my mark... Fire!"
XXX
"Immortals! Suppressing fire!" I shouted as I brought my own weapon to bear against the Xenos that inhabited ships that I could only describe as copies of the Narada from the Star Trek Movie. I heard no verbal response, but I didn't need one as Heavy Bolters were turned on the newest advance of hissing, screaming Xenos and a wave of Bolts were unleashed upon the stupid creatures that had continued to advance. Honestly, I would have laughed if it wasn't so pathetic; Out of the three hundred Jotunns that had joined me in boarding this ship through the use of two hundred Anivillus Pattern Dreadclaws that had flown through the gapes in the armor before it could heal, then again, something must have happened because the ship hadn't healed after the engines had been taken out.
Curious, but a thought for another time as I brought my own weapons to bear, firing at the rapidly shrinking horde with a mix of Kraken Penetrator, Nano-Shredder and Adrathic Bolts.
The effects were visible to see on the creatures as they faltered and died as parts of them were eaten by the microscopic Power Blades or utterly annihilated by warheads that functioned like a poor man's disintegrator. I was the only one using any of the last two shell type, but plenty of others were using the Kraken Penetrator Bolts, especially the Immortals that had come with me from the Necessity. I smiled at that as I glanced around, spotting the hundred Immortals that were within the single vast chamber we currently occupied.
The Immortals were a recent thing, a more formal classification for those equipped with Terminator-like armor that covered them from head to toe. Each one was covered in thick, box-like armor with high shoulders and two disks on either side of the head, between the shoulders and the neck while the massive shoulders lacked the iconic Pauldrons of normal Power Armor or Terminator Armor. Instead, they were flat platforms that allowed for the positioning of a turret on each shoulder, one being a Mauler Bolt Cannon of significant power while the other was a three-tube Micro-Missile Launcher, each tube containing six missiles apiece. In the hands of each of these warriors were massive Rifle-like weapons with a belt-feed coming from a massive backpack. The Rifles were massive Combine weapons, combining a Jotunn Pattern, as the constantly changing patterns of Bolters had become known as within the Unbroken, Heavy Bolter and a Meltagun; They were often called Ravager Rifles, considering the damage they did to the enemy, I thought it was a good name.
Still, their weapons were matched by the advancements in their armors, let alone the augments in their bodies. The recent capture of a Dark Age weapons facility had allowed for a rather interesting development when the facility was found, but most of the data within was corrupted beyond belief. However, what hadbeen there was rather interesting, namely, a full, complete list of augments used by the ground forces of Humanity during the Iron War. Now, the reason this was important was because the Void Marines were far different to their ground side counterparts; Void Marines were built with rapid reactions and close quarter fighting in mind, they weren't, apparently, meant for slugging matches or frontline fighting.
The soldiers of the Terran Army, as it was apparently called, were built tough, strong and with more regenerative abilities than you could shake a Chainblade at. Multiple layers of Sub-dermal armor with each layer being backstopped by at least three separate Self-repair systems that were, individually, rather weak, however they were capable of regenerating entire lost limbs when working together. The entire skeleton had either been coated or replaced with some kind of allow that would absorb any impacts that wouldn't break it while bending and redirecting any force that might break them. The skull was literally replaced with a shock absorbing material before being layered in Black Plate armor with even more regenerative abilities while a second, cloned and cyber-augmented, brain was created in the chest cavity and was constantly being updated from the main one. Should the main one be taken out, the secondary one would take over and allow the soldier to keep on fighting, hence the name. The armor, likewise, had a dozen self-repair systems with even more Dust circulatory systems, the name given to the oil and powder feedstock that was supplied through a circulatory system analogue.
However, if that wasn't bad enough for those picking a fight with them, well...
I turned around just in time to see another horde of the fuckers coming, this time climbing down the jagged columns of metal that sprouted from muck-covered floor, hidden by a layer of liquid that I, honestly, didn't even want to know about. Looking at the creatures, I mentally wondered how they could have built this ship given their forms.
The creatures were large, easily four metres tall with hunched bodies, grey, stony hides that had lizard-like scales showing through at points. Four legs came out from their waists, each ending in a four-clawed hand-like appendage while their arms each ended with a mouth that looked like it belonged on a Venus Fly Trap. Their heads were similar, lacking any other features than their giant mouths with each mouth spouting at least three forked tongues. They were fast, their bodies tough and they had enough strength to rip through Power Armor with their saliva being corrosive enough to eat through it, I had already lost three Warforged to that, not knowing what to expect. Their hides were strong enough to deflect standard Bolt Shell, had they not come from a Jotunn Pattern Bolter, heavy ammo was still advised, if only to ensure for quick kills for maximum efficiency.
Still, that was all that I got as I blinked and looked on in time as an Immortal slammed into their frontlines, his fists crackling with energy from a built in Power Fist while the Field charge up before releasing the energy in a blast not unlike a Thunder Hammer. He slammed into the pillar, twin trails of fire behind him as he raised his Ravager Rifle and opened fire, his shots easily mowing through the Xenos while other provided support as he moved up the pillar. The lack of gravity made it easy for him as he advanced, the bodies floating out of his way as I smiled at that.
Jetpack-equipped Terminators, yeah, a great many people were about to shit their pants.
"My Lord?" I suddenly heard the question come as I turned back to the wider room. Quickly, I switched to the channel through which I could communicate with Marteleus, I immediately replied.
"Report, Marteleus." I ordered simply as I brought my own weapons around, already hearing yet another horde of the damned creatures running towards our position. It was easy to kill them, but damnit if they weren't fucking annoying.
"We have managed to disable the remaining five Narada-class vessels, their sheer bulk preventing us from destroying them utterly, however, we are now free to deploy reinforcements to your position via the Teleportarium." I nodded at that, sending my approval.
"Good work, Marteleus! I want reinforcements sent through as soon as possible, the rest of my Sharpened Shield to my position to clear out this ship. I want at least two thousand Warforged deployed on the other vessels to secure them, should they still be in good condition. I want these vessels under Unbroken control by the end of the day with only corpses of these Xenos remaining, preferably on the examination slabs of the Genetors and Apothacaries. Understood!?" I commanded sharply as I felt him standing straighter at the command.
"As you will it, so shall it be, Lord Primarch!" I nodded to myself before closing the communication channel as I quickly checked my ammo supply. I still had a good few thousand rounds with me, still, if I started running low, I could just use one of the corpses around as raw material for my armors Nanoforge, a useful addition to have, and also something that the Immortals carried with them as well, preventing them from running out of ammo when faced with swarms of lesser foes.
"Alright! Everyone get ready! Reinforcements are inbound. Once they start coming through at the designated points, I want us to start pushing outwards and start securing more of this vessel!" I shouted through the Vox as I looked around at my Warforged, all of them still on alert as more of the damned creatures continued to try and flood into the room.
They really were worse than animals, for even animals would have learned not to stick their noses were they'd get whacked, repeatedly.
Suddenly, I felt it, a swell within the Warp as the scent of Ozone filled my nose, even through my armored helmet. A flash of light came from behind me and I smiled at what I saw as 25 members of my Sharpened Shield appeared within a moment, they moved to allow more to come through as they quickly checked their weapons. Most of them were carrying any number of weapons, though, most seemed to have brought weapons with a low chance of collateral damage to them. Good, no point trying to take a ship if you were just going to blow it up underneath your own feet.
Lightning Claws, Chain weapons and Power weapons seemed to be the order of the day with a mix of Flamers, though I did see a few with Melta charges, Plasma Grenades and a number of breaching charges. For more conventional weapons, most of them had Jotunn Pattern Bolters or Heavy Bolters, though I saw a mix of Volkite weapons mixed into the general randomness that was the loadout of the Unbroken Warforged, let alone those of the Sharpened Shield.
I smiled at that, however, it was always nice to keep your enemies guessing.
XXX
"Marteleus! I want those charges planted yesterday!" I shouted as I fired at the Xenos before me, newly hatched from massive gatherings of eggs that seemed to cover the chamber. Said chamber was large enough to hold literal millions of eggs as they were piled high on chain-like pillars, some hidden by the murky waters that came up to our ankles while others were glued to any visible surface with some kind of resin. At the centre of the room was a raised platform where a large specimen of this race of Xenos was currently holding station. It was big, almost six metres tall with thorns of dark metal probing out of the body and forming into some kind of cybernetic armor. The chest plate glowed with what looked like a power source, probably the only weak spot that I could identify as any injuries that were inflicted on to this one were healed instantly as we caught glimpses of wires pulsing with red light threaded through the flesh.
"Understood, My Lord!" He shouted back as I advanced forwards, a Triple-barreled Volkite Charger in one hand while the other hand held a Storm Shield shaped like a Tower Shield, the massive, rectangular shield working to protect me from the weapons that this Xenos Overlord had implanted into its arms. Said weapons appeared to be some kind of Gravitation Accelerator cannon, firing a kind of rapid growing, dark green crystal-like substance designed to grow around the target and immobilize them, it would stop growing after thirty seconds, by which point it would have encased both legs of an Astartes in a substance as hard as Adamantium. The Power Fields of my Storm Shield worked to protect me from such things, but the Crystals were also being used from crowd control, being fired and allowed to grow like gagged obelisks from the ground.
At the very least, it gave my Unbroken more cover to work with, not to mention giving the newly hatched Xenos less pathways to reach them. Peeking out from under my Shield, I snapped off three shots from my Volkite Charger, hitting the arm and head of the creature, a distraction to force it to heal. It did so quickly as it hissed at me, saliva hissing to the ground, burning through the metal below it as I advanced further, a Power blade extending from my forearm as I kept moving up, my Unbroken behind me as I quickly reached the creature and slammed into it. The Power Field of my Shield impacted the creature, grinding away flesh and metal as I ripped the Shield away before stabbing it straight through the chest, impaling the power source as I watched what happened. The regeneration stuttered for a moment before failing altogether, the regenerative wires losing their light before I watched the body hit the ground.
"Lord Marcus! The Incineration Charges have been set!" I heard through the Vox as I smiled, absently firing more blasts of red, thermodynamic death at the hatchlings as I nodded.
"Then we are done within the chamber! Pull out in a staggered, fighting retreat! Bring this corpse with us as I wish to study its secrets at a later date!" I ordered as I saw a few Immortals grabbing the newly created corpse, lifting it between them as they dragged it from the chamber as we slowly made for the exit. As we left, I saw two members of my Sharpened Shield step forwards, Tower Shields of their own extending to block the large doorway as I heard the Hatchlings trying to get through only to be ripped to pieces by the Power Fields. I smiled at that as Marteleus looked to me.
"The detonator, My Lord." He said as he sent me the required Vox frequency as I smiled before sending the activation signal. A moment later, the room before us was ignited by a low-powered Fusion device that incinerated everything within, a wave of fire lurching through the room as I heard the sound of eggs popping from the heat even as the same wall of fire tried to make it passed the Shields of the Immortals. Extendable sections of metal came out from the barriers, sealing the doorway as they increased the power of their Shields enough to protect us from the danger before us.
"Well done, my Sons, we are now one step closer to securing this vessel in the name of the Unbroken." I stated as I saw them stand proud, with backs straight. It was the truth since this was the third such egg chamber we had cleared out. Reinforcements from the Xenos was getting slower in their response times while we moved to take more and more of the ship. Recon units had already started moving deeper into the vessels, mainly Vorax machines, but they were working well to thin the herd, as it were, as they sent back locations and images of the chambers. Sure, some of the machines died, but the FOBs that were being set up were filled with the damned things, racks and racks of which were being teleported over and dropped off to ensure that we always had a good supply.
We couldn't drown the damned Xenos in robots, but we could get pretty damned close to it.
A Thought-command later and I was looking at a detailed map of the sections of the ship around us, detailing a number of things including the Transponders of the Unbroken around me, highlighted in green as I noted a few red dots, denoting the position of those that had died so far. As such, I was rather surprised to see so few had died upon this ship, only twelve out of the original 2,200 that had been on the ship after I had brought my Sharpened Shield across. Reports from other ships varied, with some having more casualties while others had less, but it seemed to be a matter of who had picked the ship that was carrying the heavy infantry.
Still, with casualties only in the double digits across all fifteen ships, I had to admit that things were going incredibly well. Lifting up my gun, I turned back to my gathered Sons.
"Come, my Sons! We have a ship to take!" I commanded as they roared their agreement with me, Immortals taking them lead as the Warforged closed ranks around me, weapons at the ready.
XXX
"-As you can see, Lord Primarch, the specimens that you recovered are, for lack of a better word, infested with some truly impressive and terrifying nanotechnology." Spoke the Chief Apothecary of the Necessity, Lyvon Barrus, as he gestured to the opened corpses of the Xenos Overlords that had been recovered, holes in their chests being the recognizable as being one of the favored methods of setting them up for death. Throughout the massive cargo holds of the Necessity, dozens of Apothacaries and Warforged were looking over the hauls of Xenotech as the ships were having massive tethers attached, to be taken back to Yggdrasil and placed in massive vaults located near the Tempest Galleries of the planet-construct.
"'Impressive and Terrifying'? Mind explaining that one to me in a bit more detail?" The Lord Primarch asked as his eyes skimmed over the unmoving corpse of the Xeno, Lyvon nodded simply before showing scans of the creature.
"From what we've been able to tell, those 'wires' that have been bug into virtually every single muscle tissue, bone fragment and organ are some kind of matter and energy conduit, they transport raw materials to Nano-machines that then use these materials and energy to reconstruct any damage done to the host body. Said Nano-machines are also constructed and transported through the conduits themselves, allowing for rapid movement to the most effected and damaged areas of the body. Not only that, but so long as a single cell of the creature remains, the system could, theoretically, allow for a complete resurrection within a handful of hours." The Apothecary stated as the Lord Primarch looked back to the creature, caution etched into his features as he noted it, looking for any sign that it might suddenly start healing.
"... Is it capable of coming back?" He asked, his voice cautious as Lyvon noted the Volkite weapon that the Primarch had forged was charging, as though getting ready to do battle once more, Lyvon smiled at that question before bringing up another scan, showing the chest section of the creature.
"No, it is as dead as a creature with such a device implanted in them could get." He stated as he highlighted another device inside the creature, a strange Hexagonal prism that had extended at the midway point to reveal a cylinder that glowed within it, said cylinder was the source of the various conduits.
"What am I looking at, exactly?" Came the question of the Legion's Primarch.
"This, Lord Primarch, is the source of the implants, it serves, as best as we can tell, as a hybrid of both a central control centre for the nanotech, a direct neural interface with the creature, and a power source of some description. When it was destroyed, it seemed that it did more than just depower the implants, it also caused the active nanotech to lose its agency, stopping mid-task as it no longer knew what to do while also causing the backup of the consciousness within to be erased as the destruction of the component seemed to cause a slight overlord leading to the destruction of several control engrams. In essence, Lord Primarch, killing these creatures permanently was as easy as stabbing them in the chest with a Power Sword." Lyvon explained as the Primarch nodded in understanding, his weapon powering down as he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good... Though, tell me, what is your opinion of this technology?" He asked the Chief Apothecary, causing Lyvon to pause in thought for a moment.
"It is an impressive technology, though it has several limits and obvious weaknesses that I would recommend removing in one fashion or another before even considering the use of it for ourselves. However, the creation of such implants would be difficult, not to mention costly, meaning that the entire Legion would be unable to benefit from such devices, though a select number of Warforged would be able to make use of these implants. If they did so, once the weaknesses had been removed, I cannot imagine them as anything less than effectively immortal, no matter what kind of weapons were thrown at them." Lyvon paused for a moment, as though in thought before turning back to his Primarch.
"I would, however, recommend that you get one such implant, Lord Primarch. Your own position within the Legion would make you a priority target for those that might wish to destroy the chain of command within our Legion." Lord Marcus seemed to glance his way, looking at him for a moment before nodding.
"Good point, I'll add it to my to-do list once the technology has been perfected." He stated before moving off, throwing a last comment back over his shoulder as he moved off.
"Keep up the good work, my Son."
XXX
I had to admit, the tech used by these Xenos, which my Legion had taken to calling Crawling Mouths, was rather impressive, though it was also disappointing as well. The hull material of the ships was made using a similar method as those implants that were within the Overlords of the race, conduits carrying raw materials and energy to power the repairs were layered between sheets of hard alloys that clearly seemed to have been built up by the Nanotech. It was obvious since there was no other way it could have been built, especially given the utter lack of welds or any other kind of connection points, though, it seemed to have been based on some kind of alloy similar to Adamantium before being altered, the molecules arranged in a complex lattice-like structure that further enhanced the strength of the allow. It was no Black Plate, but it was certainly a good deal better than normal materials. Along with that, the engine of the craft worked in a similar manner to the implants, a central control node that also functioned as a power source, though, we had managed to capture two such power sources in one piece.
It was some kind of variant on Matter/Anti-Matter power generation, replacing normal Baryonic with Dark Matter that seemed to create more energy from the reactions. This was also supplemented by the fact that the hull material seemed to capture unassociated atoms and matter within space and then used Baryonic matter conversion to generate more power. The engines themselves were powered by a mix of the two, working like a Fusion Torch engine, but also seemed to pulse with points of increased acceleration when it collected enough converted Baryonic matter. It was a surprisingly efficient and energetic reaction. Still, with all this energy, the Crawling Mouths had to do something with it, as a result, they had some rather impressive weapons.
Their main weapons of choice were actually a series of Particle Accelerators that fired Neutron-degenerate Matter within a tube of hyper-gravity that kept the pulse stable before it impacted the target. Once the pulse of Neutron Matter impacted the target, the supporting tube cut out and the Neutron Matter explosively uncompressed itself, resulting in no small amount of damage to the target. Their torpedoes were also interesting, a single 'Mother' torpedo was capable of launching over 49 additional projectiles from within its body, each one was tiny in comparison to their 'Mother', but they made up for that by using a kind of Conversion warhead that converted the point of impact to Anti-matter before allowing it to react with the surrounding matter. Admittedly, it was only small chunks, but those chunks were still enough to utterly eradicate an entire Tracker with a single, well placed, hit. Of course, that also said nothing of the fact that they had very good tracking systems, capable of keeping up with said Tracker while it was performing maneuvers that would have amazed the Eldar. The Torpedoes themselves weren't actually made, but, rather, they were grown from pre-designated locations from the nanotech that infested the ships.
As for the ship's Shields, those seemed to be based on some kind of Flash-converted Cold Plasma, contained within a hyper-gravity sheath and a magnetic bottle. The sheath could be shaped and distorted to ensure that it used as much power as was needed and focused it only where it wasneeded rather than allowing the energy to be wasted forming a complete bubble. It was actually a shame that the system wasn't as robust as it should have been, then again, such things were understandable given the reports I had gotten from the Apothecaries.
Apparently, the Crawling Mouths had once been a proper, intelligent race of beings, however, such a time had long since passed. Warp-based mutations and the energies of the Warp ran rampant within their systems, unrestricted within their biology as it had apparently, over generations, twisted them into what they currently were, little more than savages that didn't even know how to repair or rebuild those systems that the nanotech couldn't fix, such as the central Shield capacitors after they had been knocked down, which had required some kind of pico-engineered crystal focusing system that I had yet to look into, my guess is that it must have required proper tools to recreate rather than the self-repair systems that this race had created. Still, the self-repair systems kept the ship running even as Warp energy tried to twist it, such things were, apparently, repaired in short order, but such things could have been avoided had these vessels even hadsome kind of Gellar Field equivalent.
As for personal weapons, most of them seemed to gauntlet-like weapons that seemed like some equivalent to rifles that fired that same rapidly growing crystal, but there were a few other things thrown into the mix. Large cannons, similar in size to Ravager Rifles, that used the same Neutron Pulse design as their main weapons while other things like Matter-Conversion weapons were also present, usually as Grenades, but there were a few rifles that seemed to fire a beam that did a similar thing, though, they were bulky as shit.
Still, a good haul, all things considered.
XXX
"Hold on, Brother, you want me to what?" Horus smiled as he heard his Brother speaking through the Astropathic connection. It had been hard finally getting a connection, mostly due to the nature of the protections that his Brother used around him, but it seemed that Marcus was more powerful than he liked to let on considering that he had noticed someone looking for him halfway around the Galaxy. It certainly implied as much, though Horus made a note of filing such information away for later thought, other things needed to be discussed at the moment, resulting in the smiling sliding off his face.
"I require the aid of the Second Legion with a particularly stubborn world of Humans that needs to be brought to Compliance. My Legion could take them, but doing such a thing would incur grave casualties upon both my Legion and the Imperial Auxiliaries that come along with them. You and your Legion, despite being on the other side of the Galaxy, would probably arrive here the quickest, hence my request." Marcus seemed to run over those facts before nodding.
"I can understand that logic, though, you mind telling me what you're up against before I consider throwing my lot in with you and the Luna Wolves? I prefer knowing a bit about any possible enemy before engaging them, at least, when given the chance." Horus smiled and nodded.
"The enemy is a highly advanced race of Humans, they had a small overall population, but have strong defenses in the form of hordes of Machines the likes of which I have never seen before along with a series of turrets around the singular Hive Spire that makes up their presence upon this world. It has strong shields that prevent Orbital Bombardments along with walls that seemed to be constructed from Adamantium with Ceramite layers over them, making it difficult for anything but massed weapons fire to damage them. Of course, these walls are also protected by an energy field of some kind along with a series of moving turrets that are mounted along the tops of the walls." The Primarch of the Sixteenth Legion explained, images appearing as he spoke while Marcus merely took it all in with a vague note of interest behind his eyes.
"Thank you for the information, Horus. I'll gather a force and make our way down to you, preparations should take a week and you already know how long transit will take. Hold tight until we arrive." With that, the channel was disconnected as Marcus disappeared back into the Aether. Horus smiled as he returned to the Materium.
It seemed that he would finally get the chance to see just how greatly the Second Legion had changed since the last time he saw them.
For some reason, he dreaded the answer.
XXX
One week passed with few difficulties. The Siege around the enemy capital, called Dower Lake, for the massive lakes of cool liquid nearby, was going well even though that all the Luna Wolves and their support could do was throw shells at the enemy and watch them either be stopped, either by intercepting Lasers or the energy field itself. A No Man's Land extended for over ten kilometres from the walls of the city, filled with the wrecks of their machines and the corpses of Imperial soldiers and Astartes alike.
Looking at it once more, Horus sighed, the last week had been annoying, the walls showing that they weren't just for the defense of the city, but also to keep the local wildlife out, something that would have been difficult under normal circumstances given the fact that the creatures were massive reptiles, easily a dozen metres long with razor sharp teeth and claws and hides that would ignoring anything but Heavy Anti-Armor fire from either Artillery or other Tanks. Securing a breach head was difficult, if only because these creatures kept wondering into their FOB and killing them as food. Still, Horus knew he had very little choice in the matter, since the only other choice was to muster his entire Legion and strike the city, something that would cost him greatly and would leave the city in ruins.
However, as though picking up on that thought, a voice spoke from behind him.
"But that is why you called me, right, Horus?" Came the voice as he turned to see a form fading into visibility, revealing itself to be his Brother as the armored helmet retracted back into the collar of his armor as Horus, once more, noted how little the armor had changed over the last 27 years. Nodding to his Brother, he gestured to the besieged city before them.
"Indeed it is, Brother. I believed that this situation required one of your Legions... Uniqueanswers. Care to give me your initial impressions?" Marcus nodded as he raised his helmet once more for a moment as he seemed to glance down at the massive fortifications. Horus was willing to admit that he did not know what kind of technologies were packed into that armor, but he was willing to bet that it was advanced beyond anything the Imperium had, especially since his Brother had used Aesir technologies to build it. Several minutes passed in silence before the helmet finally retracted once more, showing his Brother with a smiling face on it.
"Impressive, highly intricate, but impressive all the same." Marcus said before turning back to Horus. "You've really picked one hell of a place to lay Siege to, you know that, right?" Horus gave a bitter chuckle at that as he nodded.
"I take it from your statement that you can shed some light on what kind of fortifications that we face?" Marcus nodded easily enough.
"The walls are ten metres thick of alternating plates of Adamantium and Ceramite, each section being segmented to ensure that a lucky shot won't cripple the integrity of the entire wall. Behind that, the wall is hollow to allow for a dozen emitters with a dozen redundant backups per emitter, all to project some kind of Cold Plasma barrier that is meant to handle kinetic projectiles and Plasma-based weapons. Laser based weapons wouldn't have the necessary power to burn through the wall. Anything that wouldhave enough power would be picked up and targeted through a mix of Heat, EM and Motion-based sensors before being hit with those cannons." Marcus explained, pointing to one of the turrets in question as Horus nodded, they originally had a number of Reaver Battle Titans with them, but they had been the first to be destroyed in battle. Originally it was assumed that they were merely seen as a priority target, but with this new revelation, it was possible that it was due to the Defenders believing that they had weapons powerful enough to breach the Wall.
"And the turrets themselves?"
"A mix, the main ones that have been used to take out anything you've thrown at them are basically upscaled Conversion Beamers, easily on the same power level as Titan-scale weapons but a shit load more power efficient. The secondary ones are basically upgraded autocannons, loaded with either flak shells for air targets or loaded with Air-bursting rounds to deal with infantry."
"And the machines?"
"Can't identify them... Probably homegrown designs based on either their own research or fragments of knowledge that survived the Old Night." Horus nodded at that, if any of his Brothers could be described as being knowledgeable of the Galaxy before the Old Night, then it would have been Marcus. Taking his word for it, he turned to his Brother once more.
"How long until you can come up with a solution to get around those Walls?" Horus asked as Marcus grinned.
"Give me and my Legion an hour and we'll have something for you, but I've got a few ideas in my head for a pincer attack that might work, still pretty rough, and I'll need to check a few things first, but, assuming that everything can work out like I'm hoping, then we'll be looking at a good victory." Horus nodded once more as he turned and marched off with only a few parting words as he went to gather his Legion in preparation to whatever the Second Legion might unleash.
It was always better to be safe than sorry, especially after last time...
XXX
I will admit, when I first discovered that Horus was trying to contact me, I was wary of such things, my knowledge of the Heresy lingering in my mind as I considered such things before discarding them, it was too early for that shit to kick off. I knew a fair bit about the Heresy, but I considered too things to be the main conditions for the Heresy to kick off, namely the fall of Fulgrim and Logar to Chaos, hence why I had already put in place plans to ensure that neither such things happened. The latter of which was actually rather easy, involving a Cyclonic Torpedo to Cadia as it was now. Fulgrim was a bit more difficult to deal with, but I had come up with a few methods and deployed them, hidden, within his Crusade Fleet.
Now, I stood on this random world, helping my Sons build a tunneling machine to aid us in breaking through the fortifications of these upstart Humans. The defenses of this city were impressive, true, but they were limited in that all the guns were pointed outwards, with their war machines having not been built to work inside the city itself. Said machines looked like knock-off copies of the metal skeletons from Terminator, they were strong when compared to a normal Human, but weak next to the power of an Astartes. Still, they had massive numbers on their side, so it was best not to underestimate them.
Regardless, that was merely one prong of the attack, the second prong came in the form of a Grav-cannon that would bring the walls crashing down, mainly by applying a sloped gravitational field that would pull the top of the wall down to the ground. We had run the numbers a dozen times and the theoretical was solid, it would work.
Still, man plans, the Gods laugh, literally in this case.
"Marteleus, is everything ready?" I asked as I looked at the massive machine hidden in a valley, it was basically a giant version of one of the Imperial tunneling machines like the Mole, the Termite, or the Hellbore; a giant cylinder with enough space to hold at least a few hundred Astartes. The sides of it were heavily armored, but no weapons beyond the massive drill were even present, then again, that wasn't the point of it. Turning, I came to see Marteleus standing at the ready, his armor having been augmented and upgraded heavily since the last battle, as had all those who had become veterans within my Legion. All of them had changed their armors to have a bulkier, more angular appearance, designed to increase the chance of a deflection and increase the apparent armor thickness, if hit with an energy weapon. Most of them carried Rifles, but more than a few of them had oversized gauntlets designed as a hybrid weapon system incorporating any number of weapons along with Power Fists of impressive strength, some even had a Rifle in one hand and the other being given these Hybrid weapons. Along with that, the legs were changed, reverse-jointed to allow for greater movement speeds along with increasing the range of their kicks, it also had the benefit of making them stand well above other Astartes when they chose to stand tall. However, the most interesting feature on these new suits of armor being worn by the Warforged were the three, highly flexible tendrils that extended out of the back of each suit of armor, tipped with a single-edged blade that were, once more, hybrid weapons.
These blades were an idea, a fusion of Transonic blades, Power Fields and Nano-shredders, resulting in what my Legion had taken to calling Mist Blades. These things were utterly lethal, and tended to leave behind residue that would eat a target alive.
With a Mist Blade, there was no such thing as 'it's just a scratch'...
"Ready and awaiting your command, Lord Primarch." I nodded at that as I looked him over and mentally smirked, he was armed with the Power Fists, combined with what looked like a Twin-linked Multi-Melta on each arm along with a number of shoulder mounted turrets hidden in the shoulders. Secondary arms were tucked away, hidden around the sides of the chest plate, but they, like on all suits of Jotunn Pattern Power Armor, could unfold to allow for the use of additional weapons, such as the Bolters that were currently stored inside the thighs of each suit of armor.
"Then begin boarding of the craft. I want Immortals near the exit hatch, as I want them out the door first once we come to a stop, their heavy weapons will help to suppress anything that tries to keep us locked in the craft." I stated as I observed said units already moving, their armors having changed only slightly, gaining a sleeker look to them with smoother surfaces, but they still stood a full head over the Warforged, who, in turn, stood head and shoulders above normal Astartes.
"As you command, My Lord." Marteleus stated as I turned back to look at the city. In the distance, I could see a built up of forces, dozens of tanks, artillery pieces and more, clustered along the edge of the No Man's Land.
However, they had yet to move.
At such a distance, I could hear the engines of hundreds, if not thousands, of vehicles, just waiting for the chance to move and attack the wall ahead of them with Astartes lining up, I could pick a few out from the distance I was at, most of them were shifting in anticipation for what was to come. I supposed it was only natural, after all, these Humans had resisted their attempts to pacify them for a fair amount of time, now, that wall had become a symbol of defiance.
And the Luna Wolves were going to rejoice when it came crumbling down.
XXX
"What the hell are those damned Imperials doing now...?" Came the voice of one Chief Sentinel Ethan Dov'veric as he sat in one of the central control rooms, looking at the screens before him as he saw a massive build-up of forces on the other side of the unofficial No Man's Land between the Wall and the Imperial lines. He could see dozens of vehicles, and literal thousands of the Imperial Supersoldiers, most of them looked anxious for some reason, though he could make out a few dozen of them that seemed to glance in the direction of the Wall. Still, whatever it was, he had a bad feeling in his gut about it...
"Who knows with those idiots. I still don't understand why they haven't given up already. The Wall is going to hold against anything those Techno-Barbarians can throw at it, with a very generous margin for error. Not to mentioned the fact that they can't call in orbital fire since we've got Shields to protect us from that." Came the voice of another person in the room, Senior Sentinel Harvey Fil'gotis. The Senior Sentinel had been manning the Wall for over a hundred years, life extension technologies keeping him alive even though he could have gotten better stuff at a higher rank, though, he seemed content to just let younger men, such as Ethan, out rank him.
"Maybe, but we've already seen the kind of support these idiots have. If they really wanted to, I have little doubt they could try flooding the wall with sheer numbers. Sure, they'd die by the Tanker load, but it still would have been better than this waiting." Ethan remarked as the tension was starting to effect some of the other Sentinels as well. Since they had arrived, the Imperials had launched virtually non-stop attacks on the Wall in the hopes of creating a breach, however, their silence for the last week was making everyone nervous, ratcheting up the tension as many started to wonder when the other shoe was going to drop.
"Who knows... Maybe their getting ready to finally pack up and leave the planet, we're not going anywhere, so I honestly don't see why their making such a big deal out of one city when they're probably trying to take the whole fucking Galaxy." Harvey snorted at that, only half joking since he knew the math. The idea of a single race being able to conquer an entire Galaxy was about as possible as the Galactic Core suddenly turning into a giant dick and flying towards the Dark Eye of Night. "Yeah, good luck with that..."
Ethan only offered a single snort at the sarcastic tone of his companion as he kept looking at the build-up, sitting just outside of the range of their defenses, but still within view of their optical sensors. Suddenly, he saw something out the corner of his eye, a massive figure that towered over the other supersoldiers, his armor was well made and his bald head exposed to the elements. However, as Ethan zoomed into the figure, he also spotted a few other things, but there was one thing about this new figure that made him pause, uncertainty and dread boiling in his stomach.
This figure, clearly the leader of the invasion, was smiling.
The Chief Sentinel didn't get much of a chance to contemplate that as alarms started ringing all around him.
"What the hell!? Structural sensors within the wall are detecting an increase in the amount of stress on the wall, it came out of fucking nowhere!" Came the shout from Harvey as he shot up from his seat at the monitoring station. "It's like gravity just increased a few dozen orders of magnitude...!"
"Seismic sensors are reporting something coming from below! It's too steady to be an Earthquake, what the hell!?" Came another voice as Ethan took this information in before his eyes widened in horror.
"The Imperials are breaching the wall! Their using some kind of gravity altering device to bring the wall down while another force digs under it to attack us from within!" Ethan shouted as he ran over to the wall and slammed his fist into a nearby intercom system even as his fist hit another, bit, red button, near it.
"Attention! This is Chief Sentinel Ethan Dov'veric! We are at condition red! I repeat, we are at condition red! The Imperials are breaking through the wall and are mounting an underground assault on the city! All Sentinels are to report to Wall Sector 27 through 35 and begin digging in to prevent them from getting a foothold along with City Sector twelve! We cannot allow the Imperials to gain a foothold! This is not a drill!" Ethan shouted down the intercom system, his voice echoing through the hallways loud enough to wake the dead. Then again, even the dead would be needed for this battle.
Ethan had a gut feeling, and that feeling was telling him that things had just gone from bad, to utterly horrific...
XXX
All throughout the city, Sentinels rushed to armories and armed themselves with anything and everything they could get their hands on while Defiant-class Mechanoids, looking very much like faceless, mechanical skeletons, marched ahead of them with weapons in hand. The Sentinels marched to catch up with them as barricades were quickly put in place after each Sentinel had slipped into their Power Armor, massive constructs that were smoother, slimmer with a much hunched profile when compared to those worn by the Space Marines of the Lune Wolves. Over their heads, they did not wear a helmet, rather, an orange, reflective polymer visor covered their heads entirely as they shouldered their weapons and prepared.
For most Sentinels, their weapons seemed rather standard, Gauss Rifles firing Ceramite-tipped HE rounds or Arc cannons firing ion-laser directed bolts of Lightning. Their armor, once more, was bog standard stuff to them, a Ceramite reinforced suit of armor with dozens of muscle enhancements and even an ablative Shield mounted on the left shoulder. The Defiant were armed in a similar manner, though they carried weapons with either a larger calibur or large capacitors, most would have considered such weapons as being Anti-tank weapons while the few armored vehicles the Sentinels had were used to rapidly transport them, serving as little more than combat dropships as they were deployed along the possible positions of attack.
At the Wall, the defenders worked quickly to encircle the point where the walls had already started to buckle, turrets had been moved, but it would be difficult to fire them on the attackers since this attack created a vast blind spot in the defense network. Instead, the Sentinels set up mobile gun batteries armed with oversized Gauss cannons that would rain down HE shells on the Imperials while cover was created through the use of five metre high mobile walls that extended and connected to one another. Each wall was a metre thick, made from a steel frame with a layer of Adamantium over the outer face as fully armed and armored men quickly climbed up ladders and prepared for war. They looked up as they saw metres of some of the strongest materials begin to warp and buckle as the unstoppable force of Gravity took its toll upon the wall before them. Already, some nervously gripped their weapons as the top of the Wall that had protected them for so long seemed to dip down, material slowly starting to tear.
Meanwhile, similar fortifications were taking place within the City, in a massive Plaza where the Imperials were due to emerge. Walls were built high while dozens of Defiant were stationed around and in front of these Mobile Walls to ensure that the Imperials did not get a breach head like they wanted to.
The minutes ticked by with an utter stillness that filled the hearts of the defenders with a strange mixture of utter terror and steely determination, their weapons at the ready while sensors continued to ring out, saying that both the invaders were getting closer and the wall would soon fall.
It was merely a question of which would happen first.
Said question was rapidly answered as the Sentinels looked out as a massive monolith of black metal started emerging from the earth below them, none wasted their time as the spinning drill head burst from the ground, opening fire as Defiant rushed towards the object, weapons firing at full-auto as they moved, unbothered by the heavier loads as they advanced while the massive construct continued to unearth itself. Twenty metres, fifty metres, a hundred metres, the digging machine continued to rise until it stood well over three hundred metres above the battlefield of choice before stabilizer legs popped out from the sides, clamping down on the ground around the machine as the defenders continued firing for a moment.
Their fire slowly petered out as no return fire came at them, smoke drifted lazily across the field of battle as the dust kicked up by the rain of artillery fire made it difficult to see exact what was happening around the construct as Defiant moved closer to it. Slowly, they moved towards the cloud of smoke as they moved to investigate the object, weapons at the ready as their sensor-filled heads moved from side to side, searching for a target.
It never found a target, but it's potential targets found it.
Suddenly, the Defiant closest to the towering machine were scythed down by a wall of fire, massive mass-reactive bolts hitting their Ceramite construction and blasting through it, exploding internally or externally and, for a moment, forming miniature stars before disappearing, leaving only ashes and ruins behind them. The first Imperial warrior stepped out of the cloud of dust, advancing as the first lines of machines were cut down without pause, followed by the second, then the third, and so on as the Sentinels finally saw what kind of enemy they were facing before them.
And then they knew despair.
The first line of Imperial warriors were massive, hulking beings, standing easily a metre over a fully armored Sentinel, who stood around 2.3 metres tall. Each one was a veritable walking arsenal as they advanced without pause, headless of the return fire that was being sent towards them. They hefted massive weapons that fired streams of Bolts towards them, the sheer size of each Bolt ensuring that it would, at the very least, knock a Sentinel off his feet with heavy damage done to the armor. Unfortunately, these armored giants were deadly accurate with their weapons as weak points were instantly denoted and targeted as Bolts slammed into weak visors and utterly annihilated the heads of the defenders. Shields and heavy armor protected these Shock Troopers from counter-fire as wave after wave of Gauss-accelerated bullets and lightning bolts rained down on them, only amplified by the unending rain of artillery shells.
Their Shields cracked, their armor was ripped open and their flesh was ripped apart, but they refused to simply die. Many watched in horror as those that had their heads blown off simply regrew them without pause, not even stopping in their approach as flesh healed, armor repaired itself and impossibly strong Shields reactivated themselves. As they grew closer, the Defenders were shocked to see that none of the damage they had dealt had lasted beyond a few minutes of the armored giants' advance.
The Defenders learned why these Giants were called Immortals.
However, what made this even worse was that, behind the initial advance came more of the Giants, smaller than those in the lead, but still towering over a fully armored Sentinel by at least thirty centimentres. Most seemed to be armed with Rifles, but each of these creatures advanced quickly, protected by armor and Shields that held strong as only sporadic counter-fire was aimed at them, most prioritized the leading Giants over those smaller giants. In a moment of quick thinking, one of the Senior Sentinels retargeted the Artillery guns to target the Giants directly rather than raining shells down on them, the idea being to damage them too greatly through sheer kinetic power that they couldn't regenerate.
It would have worked too... Had the Giants not taken to the air as soon as the gun was orientated towards them.
Suddenly, the leading Immortals took to the air, trails of flames and smoke leaking behind them as they landed, the sound echoing like thunder as Power Fields expanded on their impact with the ground, ripping through the Defenders that were too close to them as Mauler Bolt Cannons swiveled around and started firing from their shoulders along with barrages of Micro-Missiles. The Sentinels were scythed down as the Immortals targeted the mobile guns and large concentrations of enemy forces, their underbarrel Meltaguns being put to use as the few Sentinels with something approaching the same bulk of sheer armor were scythed down by the Fusion-grade Plasma beams, utterly annihilated as they offered little in the way of resistance as the Warforged advanced behind the protection of their Heavily Armored Brothers.
Within minutes of their arrival, the encirclement had been broken as the Unbroken charged ahead, few in number, but against these Humans, who had relied so heavily upon their automated defenses, the only threat they faced was that of massed heavy weapons fire. Then again, such things were hardly any different to their standard methods of operation, so they advanced, mindful of their surroundings, but confident in their immediate victory.
"The Unyielding! The Unbroken!"
XXX
"The Unyielding! The Unbroken!" Horus smiled as he heard the deafening warcry of the Second Legion echoing through the city, even over the sounds of gunfire that came from ahead of his own Legion as they barreled forwards, not willing to be outdone by their Brothers in the Second. Beside him, his Honorguard of terminators defended him as Land Raider Proteui, Spartan Assault Tanks and a few Mastodons charged into the breach formed through the efforts of the Second.
"Come, my Sons! To victory!" Horus shouted as he pointed his Power Sword at the massive breach in the formerly impenetrable walls of these Humans. The Mastodon he stood on seemed to speed up as he had little doubt that the Son of his in the Driver's seat was pushing the vehicle as hard as it could go, putting it at the tip of the spear thrust that would charge straight into the heart of the breach. Beside the Mastodon, dozens of other vehicles charged beside him, APCs picking up the rear as they raced with Astartes who had chosen to simply run towards the target as fast as they transhuman bodies would allow. His Legion raced to be the first into the Breach after him as the return fire of artillery shells and bullets came at them even as Horus smiled.
"Lupercal!" Came the warcry of the Luna Wolves, echoing into the distance as they rapidly closed the distance between themselves and the defenders. From atop his perch, Horus jumped, the first into the breach as deployment ramps on a dozen vehicles slammed open as Astartes rushed to follow. Already, dozens of others followed behind him as the sound of Bolters and brutal melee filled the air, the defenders dying in droves along with their mechanical servants, but still reaping a toll in turn.
Still, it wasn't enough.
The floodgates had been opened and the Sixteenth Legion was pouring through like an unstoppable wave of water even as other tunneling machines burst from the ground, more members of the Second Legion pouring out of them in a constant rain of Astartes as their terminator-equivalents took to the front of every assault. Horus even saw them charging straight towards the enemy at one point, their Shields cracking before recharging as their armors seemed to cycle through being damaged before repairing themselves with an almost unnatural speed. Injuries that would have killed a normal Astartes were shrugged off by these warriors as they kept going, utterly defiant in the face of death, spitting upon it and calling it weak as they returned from that point a dozen times with neither complaint nor difficulty.
It was a powerful thing to witness, much less fight against as the effect was obvious. The defenders simply refused to engage the Immortals of the Second Legion, falling back wherever those men approached as the Warforged of the Second came at them with a savagery and merciless efficiency that often left him amazed as none survived their passing. His own Legion was nothing to scoff at either, killing dozens in turn as they advanced forwards, supported by heavy weapons as those members of the Second Legion worked to expand the breach. Legion Basilisks and Medusa were used to send down a rain of artillery shells while other vehicles added their own weight of fire. Messages quickly carried over the Vox network as the Second Legion quickly reported that they were targeting the AA guns of these Human defenders.
Horus grinned at that, with such defenses crumbling, the Imperial forces could bring their utter supremacy at warfare to bear upon the inhabitants of this world. Already, he started composing a message to the ships in orbit to begin deploying air assets to aid them in this fight, telling the officers of the Second to send information on which sectors were cleared as it happened. They complied as they sent him and the officers of his Legion a constantly updating map showing where the air cover was the thickest and where it was clear, even including a cipher to show what the colours meant. Horus merely looked at it with a half-smirk, it seemed that the Second Legion had taken on his Brother's sense of humor, if only slightly since they weren't calling him or his Legion idiots.
"Forwards! For the Imperium!" He shouted as his Power Sword cut through another one of the skeletal machines used by the defenders in the vain hope that they could still come out victorious.
"For the Imperium!"
Such a hope would see them utterly crushed and broken by the day's end.
XXX
(Play 'Cities in Dust' by The Everlove for full effect)
"Fallback! Damnit! Fallback!" Ethan shouted as he pulled along an injured Sentinel as he fired his Gauss Rifle with one hand. The Hypersonic rounds impacted the white armor of the leading Supersoldier, the first few shots doing nothing before the armor gave in, the helmet carved in and killing the warrior within even as his companions continued onwards at inhuman speeds. They were being forced to pull back to the central towers that sat in the middle of the city, the heart of the defense network and the place that sat directly over the Shields that protected them from Orbital strikes. As they pulled back, Ethan could only thank whatever god might have existed that they were fighting the original Invaders and not the Others.
The Others, as many had taken to calling them in hushed, terror-filled whispers, were a nightmare to deal with. Their weapons were strong enough to crack open Power Armor with melee weapons that would leave a man dead within moments from even a single scratch, causing the victims to dissolve in a mist of black particles. Their armor, as well, was impossible, simply shrugging off more damage than they had any right to before standing back up from wounds that shouldhave killed them a thousand times over. The Others were not warriors, they were creatures from the darkest nightmares, forged into existence by the Psykers of the Imperium.
Ethan grit his teeth at the thought, the City had long since had a simple policy about them since the Fall; A zero tolerance policy, in which any Psyker was to be shot and killed as soon as it was discovered. It was a good policy since it prevented things like this from happening!
"Seal the Gate, Damnit! Seal it now!" He shouted through his communicator, ignoring the protests of his men as he knew that he was leaving others out there to die, but he had no choice. The Keep had to be held to ensure the Anti-Orbital Shields did not fall. Not only that, but it was one of the last, few places where the defenses had not been completely compromised by the Imperials and the Others, already, his suit connected to the local network and informed him that at least twelve million people, barely a sixth of the City's population, had been evacuated to the Warrens below the Keep, a final defensive position that was made to survive even the planet cracking below them, with airtight shields over the courtyard and fifteen metre thick Adamantium and Ceramite walls, not to mention the turrets mounting Anti-Matter cannons to keep the Imps out.
Still, that meant nothing if they Imps managed to get through the gate as it rumbled closed.
"Right side! Right side!" Came the call of another one of his soldiers as those gathered around the gate opened fire, mowing down the Supersoldiers as they tried to advance, a Mobile Gun hidden by cover and protected by a force field ensured that the return fire did not destroy it. Still, even as the fighting continued, Ethan could not help but look at the remains of the City.
Once gleaming spires of glass and metal that reached for the heaven had been reduced to rubble and ruins by the relentless advance of the Imperials and their pet monsters. Sentinels fighting in familiar streets, markets and homes as they tried to salvage some false hope at the idea of being able to push the Imperials back out. The chance still existed, since the Keep had the ability to produce Defiant at an impressive speed, but Ethan did not have much hope of that even happening, especially with what he had witnessed. As the Gate rumbled closed, Ethan felt a solitary tear roll down his face as he took in his last sight of the City, not as a beautiful marvel of engineering, but as little more than a corpse-covered ruin.
With a deep, resonating thump, the Gate was sealed shut, leaving the last inhabitants of the City and the last of the Sentinels in relative quiet as many collapsed as the adrenaline finally left their systems as they stood in the safety of the Keep.
"Finally... It's over..." Ethan muttered to himself... Only to make an unpleasant, horrifying, discovery.
"No, not yet." The voice was distorted, layered and utterly alien as to make it inhuman as Ethan snapped up to see the source of the voice step out of the shadow of the Keep. From around the Courtyard, they looked on in horror as Others stepped out of the shadows, weapons drawn and looking to be ready to wipe them out without a single second of hesitation as Ethan's own eyes locked on to the speaker.
He was tall, taller than any other Imperial Supersoldier, save for the one that had lead the White Armored ones into battle. He was clad in armor darker than the void, symbols having been engraved into the surface of his armor that Ethan only noticed thanks to the magnification system in his visor. They showed no power flowing through them, but Ethan had no doubt that such things could change within mere moments as he looked upon the blank face of the helmet, red lenses glaring down at him even as he struggled to get to his feet, his body rebelling against him and screaming its refusal to move. Trying to raise his weapon, it turned out to be a futile gesture as the Gauss Rifle was blown out of his hands before it was even raised beyond the floor, the weapon exploding in his hands, leaving him with a sparking lump of metal that had been ripped in half and was leaking coolant. Ethan snarled at that even as he noticed that other weapons had suffered a similar fate.
"... However, it will be over soon. How soon this ends is entirely up to you, Chief Sentinel Ethan Dov'veric." The figure stated, causing Ethan to freeze at this being knowing his name. Subtly, he checked his sensors for any signature of Unreal Energies and, to his horror, found each one of the Others emitting it in miniscule amounts. It identified each and every single one of them as Psykers, only making things worse as Ethan knew the danger of such things, after all, Psykers could do a significant amount of damage with but a name. Ethan snarled at that, knowing that he had few options available to him.
"... And, I assume, that you want me to order my men to surrender, Psyker?" He hissed the name with enough venom to melt tank armor, but the Psyker was utterly unmoved by it as it simply nodded.
"Yes." It said simply, no further elaboration needed, which only seemed to enrage the Sentinels further. Ethan said nothing, merely forcing himself to his feat as the weapons of the Others tracked him as he took three steps forwards from the sealed Gate before opening his visor and spitting at the ground. Silence descended over the Courtyard at that, a proclamation of his intent to not order his men to surrender, the leader of the Others merely looked at the spot on the ground where the spit had landed before looking back at the Chief Sentinel, locking gaze with his hate-filled eyes.
"A pity." Was all the creature said before it lifted its arm, revealing something in its hand that made the eyes of every Sentinel widen in horror.
A detonator.
Without a second thought, the Psyker pressed the single button on the detonator and the ground shook as explosions filled the Keep, breaching the armored walls of the impressive structure before enough holes were made to compromise the structural integrity of the Keep, causing it to fall upon the walls surrounding it, snapping in half as it fell and compressing the wall slightly. The Others seemed unaffected by it, but the destruction of the last fallback position in the City was enough to break the hearts and morale of the few remaining Sentinels. Ethan fell to the ground, not even looking up as he heard footsteps approaching him before he saw the greaves of the Leader-creature.
"Don't worry, Mortal, for your people will survive to live under Imperial rule. You, however, shall not live long enough to witness such a thing." Had Ethan looked up, he would have seen three barrels glowing with energy before they discharged into his uncovered head, boiling his brain and burning a hole through the back of his armor.
Chief Sentinel Ethan Dov'veric died before his body even touched the ground, his subordinates soon joining him as they were killed barely a nano-second later in a killzone of Bolter shells and Plasma.
And with their deaths, and the destruction of the Keep, the Defenders surrendered barely an hour later.
One more world, brought into Imperial Compliance.
XXX
Looking over the remains of the city that had held off Horus for months, I couldn't help but frown slightly as I looked over the destruction that had been wrought on to the city. It was a shame that it had had to be destroyed to bring into compliance, but I never enjoyed such things, doing so to a Xenos world, I could get behind, especially if they were oppressing Humans. However, I could barely tolerate doing this to Humans who would not bend the knee, sure, if they were morally corrupt and doing something utterly repulsive, but these Humans were merely wishing to be left alone.
Even now, I could hear the howls of joy and glee from the Luna Wolves, who were reveling in the 'glory' of a completed campaign and were simply waiting to be let off the leash with a new target. I felt my frown grow slightly as I looked down from atop the tower I now stood on, the tallest structure that was still standing, even though a concentrated barrage of artillery shells had snapped it in half with the top half falling to the ground below. I looked around and saw the carnage that filled the streets, bodies, both of the defenders, both Human and Machine, along with the bodies of Imperial Army soldiers mixed with Astartes, even some of my own Sons had been killed during this, a few hundred of them, but Horus had lost a few thousand during this Siege, he was more willing to accept such loses given that it had finally meant victory.
I shook my head at such an idea, my Legion, while concentrated in a single fleet, was still smaller than many of the other Legions, even those without their Primarchs. That simply meant that I, and my Legion, always had to have force-multipliers on our side, not to mention being as prepared as possible before the first shot was even fired.
"I trust that you were able to get samples of everything?" I asked, not even bothering to turn around as I noted a shadow stretching from a figure behind me, thin, but much taller, an almost skeletal appearance but stretched upwards. I saw the head nod once before I nodded in turn.
"Good. Take it to Vault seven and leave it there for me to go through later. I'll be sending out orders soon, be ready to leave when they are sent out." I commanded as the shadow nodded once more before disappearing altogether, I glanced over my shoulder once to see that I was utterly alone once more as I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"... The only easy day was yesterday..." I muttered to myself as I suddenly picked up a communication from the Necessity in orbit. I felt my eyebrow twitch at that.
"If it's not one thing, then it's something else..." I muttered to myself as I opened the message. I blinked once, twice, then thrice as I saw the contents in my mind's eye, not believing it for a moment before I exited then re-entered the message, only to find the same thing once again.
... Ok, it appeared that the Unbroken had managed to find Cybertron... Somehow...
XXX
AN: CLIFFHANGER OF DOOM!
... I know, I'm an asshole, but I couldn't help it. The next chapter will carry on from this, and I have much planned for the next chapter, along with the following ones after that. Also, for anyone curious, the Immortals look something like the 'Heavy Repeater' by AlienTan while the new suits of armor for the Unbroken look like the 'Lemurian EXO Armor' by PeterPrime, both of which are on Deviantart.