Now this was absolutely a treat to read. It completely in character for Kesar, and Emps carving the names of Custodes into his armor was a great touch. The weight that was clearly on Kesar formed of all the dead was wonderfully done, and soon we shall see if the number of dead matches or surpasses expectations. Perhaps it will even surprise all of us and be less than expected. As for your reward:
[] +5 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] +5 to the Emperor's Roll for the Ritual (Will Max Out the Bonus)
[] +10% effectiveness to one of Kesar's actions in Year 30 (Chosen by GM)
Ah, I'm glad that you liked the omake! It was certainly amazing for me to read that, like Kesar, the Emperor in canon also carves names into his armour, of fallen Custodians (at least after one battle).
Anyways, for my choice, I feel that in the spirit of the omake I will choose the second option, +5 to the Emperor's Roll for the Ritual (Will Max Out the Bonus), as this is the whole crux and point of the mission. Whatever happens will hinge on this, so better make the most out of it. For the fallen. For everyone.
Alright, I'll be closing the vote here. So this was a pretty great year for you, and Oriacarius really does manage the situation flawlessly. All compliances he dispatched forces to succeeded. Now going one by one, on Typhon, Baldur convinces them to join, but he isn't quite good enough to get them to give up their Titans. He does convince them to help with Gallain though. As for the Typhon Titans, they're effectively going to be acting as an independent Titan Legion mainly focused on the area near Typhon in exchange for services to their planet. Now on Gallain, they succeed wonderfully. Solarus coordinates danger close artillery fire, allowing them to essentially charge through the hives as explosions detonate all around them. And through it all they encourage more artillery to fire near them. Needless to say, Solarus loves these guys. On Moreau, things are fairly simple. Doom Slayer shows up, he rips through the monstrosities and orders naval bombardment of grouped elements and he wins the day. On Arbelis, things get dicey before the Wardens arrive. The local government realizes how screwed they are and the despots present unleash everything they have. The Imperial Army was initially holding out and had linked up with rebel forces, but then they were pinned down by servitor armies and then bombarded with chemical weapons which annihilated them. A few survived and fled to rebel bolt holes, but casualties were massive. Then came the Wardens, and they were greeted with nuclear bombardment and in response retaliated with orbital bombardment. At the end of the day, the Wardens won, but the planet itself is a ruined mess. However, it's one that Maticus can be happy with as the surviving rebels thanked him for it. And lastly we have the Mitu. So Oriacarius and Otto manage to rip through the Mitu fleet and destroy it completely. Moreover, they stage planetary invasions across their remaining worlds and conquer them. All that is left is a strange pseudo warp rift which drives Imperial Army soldiers mad if they view it, and Oriacarius has a decision to make.
Alright, I'll be closing the vote here. So this was a pretty great year for you, and Oriacarius really does manage the situation flawlessly. All compliances he dispatched forces to succeeded. Now going one by one, on Typhon, Baldur convinces them to join, but he isn't quite good enough to get them to give up their Titans. He does convince them to help with Gallain though. As for the Typhon Titans, they're effectively going to be acting as an independent Titan Legion mainly focused on the area near Typhon in exchange for services to their planet. Now on Gallain, they succeed wonderfully. Solarus coordinates danger close artillery fire, allowing them to essentially charge through the hives as explosions detonate all around them. And through it all they encourage more artillery to fire near them. Needless to say, Solarus loves these guys. On Moreau, things are fairly simple. Doom Slayer shows up, he rips through the monstrosities and orders naval bombardment of grouped elements and he wins the day. On Arbelis, things get dicey before the Wardens arrive. The local government realizes how screwed they are and the despots present unleash everything they have. The Imperial Army was initially holding out and had linked up with rebel forces, but then they were pinned down by servitor armies and then bombarded with chemical weapons which annihilated them. A few survived and fled to rebel bolt holes, but casualties were massive. Then came the Wardens, and they were greeted with nuclear bombardment and in response retaliated with orbital bombardment. At the end of the day, the Wardens won, but the planet itself is a ruined mess. However, it's one that Maticus can be happy with as the surviving rebels thanked him for it. And lastly we have the Mitu. So Oriacarius and Otto manage to rip through the Mitu fleet and destroy it completely. Moreover, they stage planetary invasions across their remaining worlds and conquer them. All that is left is a strange pseudo warp rift which drives Imperial Army soldiers mad if they view it, and Oriacarius has a decision to make.
Kesar Stared at the gift-pile he had made, after so many years it would be one of his newest traditions to share with his brothers and father. The Yule-Tide night of good fortune and health, while rarely celebrated (only every 5 years per Valhalla tradition), it was the only time before his cleansing of chaos on his home-world that would allow the citizens to gather in large quantities and celebrate their continued survival with holiday cheer (and of course constant check-ups by witch hunters, military units, ect, there was no half-assed part of this tradition that would allow chaos in, even if they did slip someone in and out at times, they were almost always caught, interrogated/killed before their plots could be unleashed.)
Kesar grinned as he spied a particular package that had taken him 5 years to truly finish, so much research, constant headaches, and often a pain in his ass...much like his Father at times. True their relationship was...strained...some would say. He himself would say he was distant from his creator, in a way the reason he understood from self reflection was because of his failure to his own mortal parents. he grimaced as the one time they were both with him during the Yule-Tide...before a soft smile graced his face. That had been one of his both best cherished memory of his parents...and often the saddest. He mourned that his mother and father would have never seen him free their world from the grip of the cultists...never meet his progenitor, never meet their "adopted" grandchildren, and never share stories that would have sent him trying to stop his parents from spilling stories of his more...rambunctious youth.
But maybe, now that he had spent so much time with his brothers...just maybe...he could gain another family to grow. He had already packaged malcadors own gifts, mostly small runes to give a bit of aid that his sons had made during their 25 years of crusading in the former maelstrom area, but now? He could send them his gifts, not to mention some to his own friend kelbor in the mechanicus...hopefully he enjoys the STC's he had found and gathered for this occasion. He would request a private celebration with him later as they could reminisce and possible catch-up with one another before any business was needed to be done.
Remembering Vulkan's own little crusade Kesar only sighed...he understood his brothers need...and at best he wasn't sure what kind of runes would help...but maybe, just maybe he could show this off to the rest of his brothers and maybe get vulkan to understand that he could help in his own way, but for now...he very much needed to keep a careful balance of things. He hoped at least vulkan understood the meaning in some of the runes he had forged personally during his stint that would aid them.
But for now, he had a meeting to attend too...and hopefully his message to The Emperor reached him for this time off, he wasn't sure he would come, but at least he had to try.
____
The Emperor of mankind was not so many words...happy....so many things had been accomplished in the recent decades, Not only did the crusade for the maelstrom go off without a hitch, but also the chaos gods were severely weakened even further...though a pity (and after talking to the mechanicus on the issue) the loss of one of the omnicipedia's (even if kesar managed to save 35% of the production STC's and a few dozen military STC's that greatly eases the supply issue, not to mention the recreation of those old Hyper-space beacons that mankind made during the 18th millennium but discarded as a FTL due to...issues...with hyperspace on anything larger then data packages) it did limit the gains of the damned mollusk, and even further weakened the chaos gods even greater then before!
He was content afterwards to allow the wardens to continue to weaken the four...though he was getting concerned about reports of other Warp-Xeno's activity...similar to the enslavers, vampiry, and other nameless and he had thought completely banished horrors in the warp. That alone would have made him sigh, but for now, back to his happy time, Vulkan's little crusade while a pain in his ass and slowing the crusade down, if it wasn't for kesar saving the production and military logistical STC's, so many things would be so much worse for the imperium right now. However at least now he could begin truly reorganizing things...and of course his issues with magnus aside (due to his rightful mistrust in some aspects due to his complete lack of safety protocols and responsibility with warp usage) he could honestly say to himself that so far the crusade was becoming worth the effort...
Though gaining more and more of his humanity back in carefully made ploys (and reclaiming the power of Moloch without sacrificing his humanity had been one hell of a gambit, but now he could honestly say he was glad that worked out...though allot of his previous mistakes hit him on the head a few times with looking back on them...Kesar was one of them...). He was truly becoming happy with things, now if only malcador could try to stop throwing paperwork and dirty glares at him at every opportunity.
No matter, he had a meeting to attend to, and something he had been surprised at being invited too (Of course he took it to ignore the small mound of data-slates on his desk, he really needed to do them later before malcador tried to shackle him to his desk again and make him work alongside himself once more). He would be interested in seeing how this Primarch council would work out, and how things will develop...though why did he get the feeling that something was about to go so horribly wrong that it will go right when he got there?
Still, as he looked upon the chosen planet for this two decade long wait for the primarch council the emperor could only hope things didn't go completely out of control.
______
The emperor stared silently from his hidden position as the Primarchs all debated about all sorts of manner of things, usually catching up with each other, sharing new information, technology, gifts, ect. In a way it almost reminded him of the old christmas gatherings before it had all gotten the claws of the corporations and turned into a capitalist's wet dream of a season. Still, he did enjoy some of the small gifts some of the primarchs gave him...though angrons "gift" of "Go-Die-In-A-Hole" bit as well as a few not-so-subtle "hints" from his other sons/creations were...a bit unnerving in some cases. Not the worst he had seen, but at least nothing big has happened ye-
*BAM*
That was when kesar walked in...dressed in a black suit with white fur trim...almost looking exactly like a santa-claus outfit from the 2nd millenium. One part of him was amazed that almost everything was correct, the another part dreaded what was about to happen, and a third was just plain curious and going "how?". Then with a humming tone kesar then began to haul in a rather large thick bag towards the table and started to pass out boxes...that were wrapped...with a small bowtie on them...and with cheerful cards attached.
Dammit...somehow, someway, somewhere, somewhen...Christmas always somehow survived the fall of the federation.
A short explanation on what his now wayward son that had fallen to the capitalist scheme (and of course he drowned that out with practiced ease of ignoring the holiday cheer...almost like a certain green grinch it may seem, though he would completely deny such a thing). He sighed inwardly while keeping his face stone cold neutral and watchful of the proceedings as each of the primarchs displayed varying levels of intrest, some like sanguinius and konrad looked expectantly at the gifts, while others all but smiled (alpharius, omegron, and pertuabo were this...and strangely enough Leman as well as Magnus were doing so as well. Khan merely looked bemused of the strange tradition). the others held bits of intrests and curiosities of kesars homeworld...though he did mention it was only done once every 55 years or so, and there was only recently of moving it down by a decade after much arguments on the holiday.
Still, he grumbled inwardly as the primarchs all finished with their gifts, (which case the newest and most interesting of the bunch was a final copy of the cultist counter rituals, rituals, and behavior patterns...that alone would greatly aid the imperium against chaos), there was also some Null tools and some extra rune books he had printed out...then after about a full on hour of dealing with the pleasentries, kesar then stood in front of the Master of Mankind with a golden wrapped gift with a platinum bowtie.
On one hand the emperor could hardly refuse...on the other it was one of the most irritating traditions of the year...and on a third limb, it was gold...so he HAD to take it.
With a calm and barely concealed smile The emperor accepted the gift, and with (some prodding...okay allot and Horus looking at him expectantly...dammit), the emperor began to open his gift...
When he was finished he only stared...and stared...and stared somemore untill kesar began to look a bit worried...and Horus stared to look more and more alarmed.
Konrad and Sanguinius already ducked for cover a long time ago, and magnus was chanting "NOT-AGAIN!" repeatedly as he tried to usher his brothers to the (only recently) installed primarch bunker.
"Father, is it not to your liking? I mean the rune does make the material 1.5x stronger then adamantium..." kesar began before Horus yelled in horror/terror/amusement.
"KESAR YOU FOOL!" he leapt from his sitting position to try and tackle his youngest found brother out of the way of the soon to be emperor hug of doom...
The Emperor was laughing, loud, clearly and hugging the life out of both horus, kesar, and vulkan who had joined into the golden hug of doom. The other primarchs were pulled in Telekinetically and with plenty of warp fuckery...needless to say the primarchs were experiencing the first every POWER-HUG...
"SUCK IT GRUG, GOLD WINS IN THE END, EVEN IF IT TOOK OVER FORTY THOUSAND YEARS, I WIN!!! GOLD RULES, COPPER DROOLS! YES, YES, YES, YES! HORUS YOU NOW HAVE A RIVAL FOR BEST-SON-EVER AWARD!!!" the emperor crowed out as he was grinning like a loon while shinning like the heart of a blue giant about to go hyper-nova.
The sheer intensity of his joy, happiness, and warmth to one of his now favorite sons (and wanting to know everything about his now possible best son ever...sorry horus...), The emperor's will across the warp affected even the chaos gods...turning their realms into a ironic-inverted places of order.
____
For tzeentch, his ever-changing crystal lybraniths turned into normal libaries with the simplest pathways to and out of it, all made of gold, not to mention getting stuck in a single form for about 5 seconds much to its horror and fustration as so many plans absolutely failed.
For Nurgle, its garden was cleaned, purified, and of course turned into the nicest place you could wander around in....isha ALMOST escaped...though she did get a few signals and made a hideaway for a breakout attempt as nurgle tried desprately to turn everything back to normal even as living sponges, brushes, and buckets filled with cleaning solutions chased every daemon across its territory.
Khorne? Khorne was sitll busy fighting the blood war...but its home was turned into a copper fortress and all their weapons turned into plushies and for a single moment...they didn't know what the hell they were doing since all their rage was sent into pure confusion on what to do with themselves, which case the fragment of tzeentch took its chances and ran like a bat out of hell...almost literally.
Slannesh...well...slannesh suffered one of the worst cases of dysfunctional and blue balled to the point it was screaming in fustration as everything and everyone within its court was now stuck in a straightman's jacket...and were completly numb due to the incestant cold sapping all feeling across its place. Not to mention everything had been changed to as spartan in acomidations as possible and even almost unappealing!
the chaos gods were enraged at such a change, and horrified to boot as they would take the next decade to try and undo what the anathema accidently just did to their realms...
___
[X] Plan Concluding Business
-[X] The Mitu Conglomerate - While the Xenos had previously been embroiled in a conflict with the Orks, a series of reverses has occurred allowing them to end the threat of the Xeno menace. However, this leaves the Mitu still capable of military conflict, albeit diminished after Sanguinius' actions, and as such the Wardens have been assigned to deal with the situation. If needed, Sanguinius has tentatively offered the assistance of his first captain. Threat Level: Maxima Extremis
--[X] Oriacarius + Otto + Vigilance + 70000 Astartes + Titans
-[X] The Fractured Conclave - After Ashani was released and subsequently executed, the Fractured Conclave fell apart. While the Alpha's death has introduced some semblance of order, their military strength has fallen drastically. Moreover, a subversive cult worshipping Kesar has been causing them no end of problems. The situation has temporarily stabilized, but the Wardens have been tasked with bringing the worlds into the Imperium. Threat Level: Hard
--[X] Night Watch + 100 Astartes
-[X] Typhon - An isolationist world containing an understrength but highly skilled Titan element, the locals were dealing with a routine raid by Galain forces. Acting quickly, the local Imperial Army helped drive back the raiders, and negotiations were reluctantly opened up by the Typhon government. Thus far, they have proven to be incredibly stubborn and protective of their Titans. Even the Mechanicum is impressed at the lengths they are willing to go to keep their Titans operational and whole. Despite this, the goodwill earned by assisting in the defense of their world has opened negotiations to a world that normally would have spurned such things. *Threat Level: Hard*
--[X] Baldur + 10000 Astartes
-[X] Galain - A world of bloodsport, several thousand extremely skilled gladiators fight within artificial urban stadiums on a daily basis. These men and women form the elite of their military elite, only subservient due to a highly addictive drug dispensed weekly. The Imperial Army has reported that the enemy forces are incredibly dangerous within the urban hives, but are far more manageable in open terrain. Threat Level: Extreme
--[X] Solarus + 30000 Astartes
-[X] Arbelis - A brutal dictatorship in the midst of a rebellion, the local Imperial Army commander was minutes from supporting the dictatorship before several incidents came to light following a desperate push from rebel forces. Following the incident, a section of the upper hives on Arbelis was bombarded by Imperial forces before anti-orbital weapons forced a withdrawal. Initial reports show a highly skilled rebel force with high support among the local populace. Nonetheless, the upper hives have proven to be deathtraps for the Imperial Army. Perhaps Astartes may be different. Threat Level: Extreme
--[X] Maticus + 25000 Astartes + Knights
-[X] Moreau - A forge world run by heretical tech priests. The local mangos have focused on creating hybrids of xeno, human, and animal DNA. Their creations have been wildly uncontrollable, and the use of live test subjects disgusted the local Imperial Army commander. Moreover, there is evidence they have been incorporating artificial intelligence within their hybrids, a crime for which death is a must. Threat Level: Hard.
--[X] Doom Slayer + 30000 Astartes
Oriacarius' year began with a bit of good news. A new forge world had willingly joined the Imperium, one that built Titans. While normally this would still be pleasant, it wouldn't have been an event he truly noted. What elevated it enough to receive a mention was the unique design of their Warhounds. Sleek and agile, these Titans were meant to face other massive creatures in melee. Wielding claw-like hands and possessing incredible agility for their size, they have proven their worth multiple times against a nearby Xenos race that had long since perished. Already, the forge world was receiving a large number of orders for the Ursan Pattern Warhound, and they reportedly had a backlog long enough to last two millennia. However, as a representative of a Primarch, Oriacarius was able to secure an order of Titans to supplement the Legio Decio.
*Gain several Ursan Pattern Warhounds. Warhound Titans meant for melee combat.*
Deploying the Legion took quite a bit of thought on Oriacarius side. So many factors had to be considered from the logistics of a campaign to deciding which commanders and Astartes were sent. It was a daunting task, one he had seen Kesar struggle with at times. Nonetheless, careful consideration and near-constant vigilance and paranoia guided Oriacarius into his decisions. Astartes companies were chosen in pseudo-random patterns to prevent diviners from predicting his actions, false orders were sent and retracted to fool informants and spies, vox communications containing no useful information were sent out to fool any nearby cloaked ships, and every world was assumed to be as dangerous as a Maxima Extremis world.
It took days of planning, and more than one of the Wardens were frustrated by his seemingly nonsensical orders and requests. The Veterans of the Legion followed his plans without pause, but the Scouts and less experienced Wardens often hesitated and asked their direct superiors if this was some sort of hazing ritual. It irritated the First Captain at times and made some of his contingencies more complex than needed. But in the end, they were still his brothers, and he had to acknowledge that to most, his orders would seem strange and unnecessary. Preparation, however, was critical, and he would be damned if he sent in his brothers unprepared.
Negotiations with Typhon were far simpler than Baldur initially expected. Opening up with applauding them for their well maintained Titans seemed to earn him enough goodwill for them to take him seriously. Combined with the gratitude that came with fighting off a raid, it left the Captain with considerable leverage.
But that alone wouldn't have been enough. Promises that they would be treated as a normal Titan Legion slowly eased the suspicion that was forming against the Imperium. As he continued negotiations, Baldur mused that it was similar to discussing a matter with the First Captain. He always would assume you were some sort of infiltrator and his paranoia had to be eased in order for a proper conversation. There were some interesting parallels between the resources the Sigillite had sent him and the methods the First Captain used, but that was for another time and place.
Right here and now, Baldur was slowly wrapping up negotiations. Typhon adamantly refused to allow their Titans to join the Legio Decio, and Baldur was careful not to push the topic. There were tech priests that held Titans in lower regard than the people of Typhon, and the last thing Baldur wanted to do was alienate such a world. While the Wardens could certainly crush their military, doing so would also cripple the Titans and earn a rebellious planet. Instead, it was better to take what he could get and move on. But there was something else that he could do.
"Forgive me for asking this, but what would it take to conduct a joint military campaign on Gallain?"
The answer was transport and the ability to act as an independent force. Captain Solarus was rather pleased with the reinforcements, even if he did treat them as he would a mercenary task force of considerable strength. The Typhon Titans seemed slightly put off by Solarus' sheer exuberance, but the presence of Zachariah by his side seemed to be a moderating influence on the Captain, preventing any stronger feelings from bubbling up.
Having a princeps in the command center was a rarity, and one that wasn't afraid to go against Astartes was unheard of. There was certainly an element of irritation from some of the Wardens, but Solarus seemed unphased by the frequent questions and requests for changes to the battle lines that came from the princeps. Only a select few were acquiesced to, but it mollified the princeps, so the Wardens counted it as a win. What did surprise them, however, was one of their requests.
In Solarus' career, he has yet to find a problem that cannot be solved with enough explosives. Naturally, this leads to preposterous claims that he uses far too much. And so, what the Princeps requested from him was beyond rare. "I'm concerned Captain Solarus, that we're not using enough explosives in this operation."
Just like that, the volume in the command center died down, as the 27th Captain turned to face the Princeps. Hesitantly, as if wondering if this was a dream, Solarus spoke. "Would you prefer more danger close artillery strikes at your position?"
Running a quick series of mental calculations, the Princeps nodded. "As long as orbital weapons aren't used, the God-Machines will scarcely notice. Their vision may be clouded, but they are well used to the chaos of a battlefield."
Turning towards Zachariah, Solarus' face took on a gleeful smile. "And you told me to tone it down for their sake. Oh, there's so much more to do." Turning towards the Princeps, Solarus listed his ideas. "Tell me, how do you feel about incendiary bombs, chemical bombs, and cluster bombs?"
"No phosphex, and nothing corrosive."
Sighing happily, Solarus looked the Princeps up and down before giving his thoughts on the Typhon Titans. "I have a feeling you and I will get along just fine."
And they did.
The battle that followed was little more than Titans breaking into hives as artillery cannons fired volleys of explosive shells around them. Void shields easily prevented damage to the God-Machines, and devastated any Gallain forces that tried to charge the Typhon Titans. Where Titans did not go, deathstrikes did, as Solarus watched his symphony of destruction consume entire armies.
One Remembrancer captured an eight-minute sequence where the Warhound Titan Lightbringer broke through a hive wall, tore a whole through dozens of Olympia battle tanks, and let lose a dozen shots which collapsed a fortified spire. All the while explosions thundered around it, setting fire to everything, while a cloud of white tear gas spread across the district, churned up with every motion of the God-Machine.
Gallain fell in a matter of weeks. With Astartes forces easily taking hive after hive once the defenders broke. Gladiator after gladiator charged the Titans, the promise of extra doses of their drugs motivating them into action. Gladiator after gladiator died in the process, either killed by artillery, or by the Titans themselves. It was an effortless compliance and one which was the first official engagement of a new Titan Legion.
On the world of Moreau, the battle was rather simple. Doom Slayer deployed alongside his brothers, and then he ripped and tore. Initially, the battle plan called for orbital bombardment followed by lightning assaults before the cycle repeated. In reality, what happened was that Doom Slayer killed everything he saw too quickly for such a plan to be viable.
Instead, the plan evolved into following the trail of carnage left by the Astartes and make sure that he doesn't get swarmed. In fairness to Doom Slayer, he did make sure not to travel too far from his brothers, and to always make sure that he wasn't endangering them. However, he also did not hesitate to advance wherever and whenever he could.
The battle plan became a race where the orbital bombardment line was the finish line, one that kept moving forward. It represented a constant lightning assault across the planet as Astartes shattered entire cities worth of monstrosities before moving on, leaving the Imperial Army in disarray as they set up garrisons and patrols in the rapidly shifting theater.
The hereteks of Moreau were shocked at the sheer speed of the assault, as were the officers aboard the fleet above. Initial expectations had the western hemisphere conquered after two months. Instead, the Wardens had taken it within 4 weeks. It was a mastery of carnage wrought by the Wardens, one that would be used as both a training video and propaganda under the orders of Captain Maticus. And of all the Wardens present, none embodied the sheer brutality that the Doom Slayer showed on Moreau.
The number of kills credited to the Doom Slayer would never be accurately known. Estimates range from the low ten thousands to nearly a million. Through the entire battle, there was just a single creature that managed to slow him. A horrific hybrid of what seemed to be a wolf, human, and lizard. It took him several minutes to kill it in a way that didn't regenerate. As he repeatedly stabbed it with Eviscerator, he seemed more annoyed at the delay than anything, although several Astartes were relieved at the short rest they were given.
The Imperial Army task force present was also suitably impressed. Despite several unofficial statements saying that the four-month compliance could have been completed in four weeks if the guard could have kept up, the overall mood was positive. The few glimpses they got of Doom Slayer, however, stuck with them. With a number of Imperial Army guardsman saying that if they could have kept up with him, they would have been done in four days. It was a magnificent compliance, one that stood in staunch contrast to the next report Oriacarius received.
Arbelis was a compliance that began with disaster. The Imperial Army had nearly sided with the nobles present, and it was only a near-crippling assault by rebel forces that ended with a rebel soldier missing an arm bursting into the Imperial command center that prevented such an act. Evidence of acts including torture dungeons for the amusement of certain nobles, a strange legal system that declared non-nobles to be little more than livestock, and most damning of all, evidence that several supposed rebel attacks on Imperial forces were orchestrated by the nobility. Furious, the Imperial Army commander ordered a general assault, and billions of soldiers landed on Arbelis, forcing the noble forces back into the upper hives.
It helped that the rebels were highly skilled at what they did, as well as being more than happy to differ to the trained Imperial Army soldiers. The initial planetary landings went well, but the heavy defenses led to Astartes support being requested. Following that request, the foothold on the planet slowly expanded, linking up with rebel strongholds and facilities and gaining more and more control over the planet's infrastructure. Despite constant attrition, the Imperial Army was holding.
That is until the air turned poisonous. One day, the Imperial Army was assaulted by legions of combat servitors, forcing a brutal firefight that took the lives of millions of soldiers. It was in those opening hours that everything fell apart.
An odorless gas was released in the hives, one that closed the trachea, preventing breath or screams. Men and women of the Imperial Army simply seized up, their eyes widening in horror as they clutched their throats. A silent death, but one that was all the more terrifying. Several commanders received vox communications, but all they heard were three short taps, three long taps, then three short taps. Some commanders ordered NBC warfare equipment to be donned, but they were, unfortunately, the minority. A wave of death spread across the hives, damning billions to death. The few rebels and Imperial forces remaining had no choice but to hide in rebel bolt holes. A few plans were made to retake ground, but eventually, the forces left understood that they would have to rely on Astartes.
Maticus did not let them down. The first sign of his arrival was when several mushroom clouds appeared on the horizon. Nuclear weapons unleashed at probable landing sights after Stormbirds and Stormravens were detected entering the atmosphere. The skies turned white as lance batteries struck back as the 3rd Captain's feints succeeded in drawing out the first wave of nukes. A second wave was launched, but Maticus had learned from Oriacarius, and ensured his forces had gone to some of the less desirable landing sites instead.
New chemical weapons were unleashed, a gas that corroded metal within minutes, a gas that targetted the nerves making one unable to even move, more mundane gases such as tear gas were around every corner. But the most common weapon was the nuclear missile. Thousands of detonations coated the planet as war began. One in which neither side held back. Maticus had ordered the Warden fleet to commence unrestricted bombardment, with areas with known rebel forces left whole. Continents broke as lava spilled from the cracks, the sheer weight of explosives straining the planet to its limit.
Then, as the last of Arbelis' nuclear weapons were unleashed, the bombardment of the Wardens ceased, and Astartes were able to bring this world to heel. Assisted by rebel maps and force analysis, the Wardens under the command of Maticus were able to break through hordes of servitors and dozens of artillery volleys and burn the upper hives. It was a war of area of effect weapons, where even in the upper hives heavy ordinance was used. Neither side hesitated to do so, for by now the two had escalated too far to go back.
When Maticus finally cleaved the last head with the Sword of the Lost, Arbelis was a ruin. One that appeared as if the Death Guard had fought on. Not a single city was untouched, and not a single home lacked a bullet hole. Despite the carnage, Maticus did not weep, for it was a single act of kindness that convinced him that this was the correct course of action. A middle-aged man that seemed more at home in a factory than a battlefield came up to him. Wearing hastily made rebel coloring, he was the local leader of the rebel forces now that the entire upper leadership had perished. When he was told that the Nobles were dead, Maticus was expecting some condemnation. Even if he had done everything correctly, the world was still little more than ruins. But the man surprised him when he spoke.
"You don't know how bad it was before you came. Every day I wondered, would this be the day my little girl was taken as a Noble's plaything. Would I come home to some seventh son of Noble burning it down with my family inside? There's not one person here that didn't lose a family member to those monsters. I'm old enough to remember the last time someone fought back in public. I barely got my family out of the neighborhood before I saw the fires and heard the screams. When I went back days later, that image of charred corpses of my neighbors haunted me. Don't let anyone tell you that these monsters didn't have this coming. They escalated beyond reason when they heard you were coming. What you did here, was minimize the destruction. And for that, Arbelis will always remember to thank you."
The Mitu Conglomerate was a broken empire. Ravaged by the Imperium, then looted by the Orks, the once-proud xenos were a shadow of their former self. Yet, even in their defeated state, they were still dangerous. Enough that they expected another of those Primarchs to break them one last time.
Instead, they got Oriacarius. With the genius of Admiral Otto and the unending plans of Captain Oriacarius, the battle in space was merely a formality. Weak points that had been cataloged on the captured Mitu vessel were targetted, and every move they made was countered by the First Captain while Otto acted as a supporting officer, ensuring Oriacarius could focus entirely on the main parts of the battle.
Throughout the battle, the First Captain focused on cutting off any and all avenues of retreat. When the Mitu realized the battle would end in death, they broke apart, trying to find some semblance of escape. They failed and they died.
The ground battle that followed was expected to be far more dangerous than it was. Oriacarius was well and truly in his element with every one of his actions based on a series of contingencies that turned the battle into a chess game where he had prepared for every possible game. None present were disappointed in this, as the Mitu defensive lines crumbled before the command of the First Captain.
It truly was a masterful display of strategy and tactics. One second only to Primarchs. Desperate strategies were employed by the xenos, and horrific organic psytech monsters were created and deployed. Every one of them was countered by the First Captain. Whereas the Doom Slayer's compliance of Moreau was quick and unstoppable, Oriacarius' conquest of the Mitu was slow but unstoppable. The Legion of Wardens marched forth, and the xenos broke before them.
All that was left was what seemed to be a warp rift, but one the Astartes had never seen before. The Storm Seers confirmed that they could close it if needed, but the lack of daemons spilling from it gave Oriacarius pause. This could very well be a trap, and closing the rift may be what triggers it.
Sending out a servitor, a set of temporary fortifications were constructed around the area, one prepared for a dozen different enemies. The servitor walked towards the warp rift before turning back. Its memory was uploaded to a dataslate and then that was viewed by Oriacarius.
GM Note: Special thanks to @TinyGladiator for the following snippet. He's the one that wrote it.
He saw a bridge of bone, a great spinal cord big enough for constant convoys to deliver their cargo of flesh. Vehicles that looked as armored sea life left abandoned, carapace thick as a tank's yet left transparent to reveal the bodies and viscera housed within.
Surrounding them was darkness. There were no stars, no lights, no other worlds. It wasn't physically outside the galaxy, so far off into the outer reaches of space that there was nothing. It was a realm even further away, contained in a bubble so that the nightmares outside couldn't enter as they were pushed away by the empty dreams of psykers culled and processed.
And the Astartes saw a tiny world on the other side of the far bridge. Maybe it was once a moon or a large asteroid, or maybe it was once the original home of the Mitu. Whatever it was before didn't matter, what did was what the world was now. The center of the Conglomerate, the heart and brain of the Xenos race.
It was covered in jutting towers of hardened flesh and bone and metal all merged together until it was seamless in its connections. From the tips of almost every one of the towers were what looked like broadcast relays that glowed brightly as they discharged energy away to keep this space from breaking. Other towers existed too, some with weapons unmistakeably perched and grown out of them. The whole world appeared as some sort of giant, nightmarish thing of the deep sea.
It was named The Reef by those that saw it. It was the home of the Mitu and it was where their last stand would commence. And it would be their tomb.
It would be simple to end them. Simply close the warp rift and let them starve. It would be a poetic end to their existence. They spent centuries preying on psykers in fear of the warp, and now they would be trapped within it.
And who knew what manner of difficulties there would be in taking the Reef? It was an island in the warp, one with a single entrance. It was undoubtedly fortified beyond anything the Wardens had encountered before and reality may not even match the reality of the materium. If so, it would be good practice for the daemonworlds of the Maelstrom, but losses will be high.
Privately, Oriacarius feared that perhaps the xenos would be made enough to collapse the bubble, leaving them all stranded in the warp. A prospect that phased even him. There was also the fear of reaching too far. This warp rift was surprisingly fragile according to the Storm Seers. If left unsustained, it would collapse within a month's time. If conflict within the realm destabilized it, such a fate would befall the Wardens as well as the xenos. In the end, Oriacarius decided to
[] Close the warp rift and let them starve.
[] Order the Wardens forward. The Reef will be the Imperium's. Expect heavy casualties.
Okay... while I know that it would be dangerous, that it would be utterly, utterly dangerous and that there's little time left to recoup losses and that it would definitely be a hard target to face... I kinda want to invade The Reef. (And not just because I came up with the idea.)
It's perfect training for what lies ahead, against the many daemon worlds that would be faced and encountered. Of a battle in the Warp. Of a world fortified well already, in ways perhaps only possible with manipulations of the Warp, and prepared to fight with whatever power they have against the Astartes. Of taking a twisted world that itself might itself fight or break as the battle goes on.
It's madness. It might go bad. The rift might close, even if the Storm Seers try to hold it open. It might even be where the Mitu really show off how powerful they truly are, what wondrous nightmares of flesh and Warp technology can achieve in a realm beyond the Materium.
But it is something that could be grand, could immensely help with not only the White Scars and Iron Warriors with all the information that this could bring but even the already heavily experienced Eternal Wardens as they face a threat connected with the Warp on a way even they have not managed yet, but oh so soon will face in great numbers and ferocity. There could be Mitu technology to find and take, even more than what the recovered Mitu ship can bring. There would be confirmation that Chaos would never take with these creatures, or that they would survive in any other way, and that they would be dead for good. It would grant experience, knowledge and traits to those that survive this nightmare fortress that could prove vital to the coming Maelstrom War, especially as they share whatever needs to be known and taught.
This Reef might belong only to the horrors a mind could conjure as it feverishly dreams of horrors in the abyssal depths, but the Eternal Wardens gaze into the abyss and brings its end. They never blink in the face of the Warp, their eyes glare with steel as the daemons cower.
also i gotta admit the idea of a big battle in such a location just sounds fuckin' awesome and i totally wanna see how that goes
[X] Order the Wardens forward. The Reef will be the Imperium's. Expect heavy casualties.
We don't have the time or resources to thoroughly clear it out so just close it and let them starve. We need every single space marine we can get at the maelstrom, not dead at the Mitu's hands.
Hiya! Uh, well, I decided to make this omake (rather quickly too, jeez what happened) after reading through the update and really thinking on the idea and merits of invading the Mitu world (which I still think is worth whatever happens, and would give the perfect experience needed for training for the upcoming Maelstrom War and also to help make plans for it, although I perfectly understand if ya don't agree.) and then just getting inspired to write about what might be happening in The Reef. Anyways, uh, hope it's good! 0u0
----- The Great Barriered Reef.
Within what was now known as 'The Reef' by the Imperium, there was discord and desperation.
Thousands of hulking transport constructs quickly moved as fast as possible all across their stronghold planet, all bloated with as much flesh that they could hold both processed and unprocessed, as the Mitu race prepared for the calamity that they were facing.
Worker drones swarmed all across the floors and towers of the bio-mechanical fortress, carrying slabs of human and Ork flesh to be used as raw material to wherever they were needed by their Mitu masters. Whenever one broke down or began to run too inefficiently it was cannibalised by another one of its kind, most of the body eaten with the rest left haphazardly to be fully recycled later.
The Mitu themselves were no less rushed as they scrambled across their secret world. Some of them were collapsing from the amount of psychic strain they were undergoing from rapidly and precisely managing as many constructs as possible. Or from communicating countless orders and directions to other Mitu, trying to keep order. Or from using and maintaining any of the psychic barrier towers that kept their dimension from falling.
The Warp was feared by the Mitu Conglomerate nearly as much as it was researched and manipulated, its powers and properties used to their whims. The stronghold planet was meant to have the Warp used as a defence, unable to be breached or destroyed from afar, and it would allow them to further understand the Warp and safely channel its potential in a sealed environment. The idea that the sealed nature of the world could result in it's doom was considered and discarded, the benefits were seen to outweigh the consequences.
The world was more useful for research and the development of new Warp based technologies instead of where a final battle would commence. In the event that an enemy managed to reach as far as the portal to the world and the constructed dimension it was hidden in, protected in, and there would be no Mitu specimens on the outside able to reopen the way that lead to it then it was already considered too late and that all Mitu would die. And now, as that precise event had occurred, it seemed like that would very likely happen.
The Mitu were to be sealed off. They were masters of several worlds, ones of humans and other beings, and now they would slowly die on a world made and powered from their slaves. Despite all that they had built with their power, how careful they had been to harness and use the energies of the Warp, they would be trapped in it and it would slowly consume them.
But the desire to survive, to cling to life, was strong in many beings and the Mitu were no exception.
With the amount of recovered bio-materials harvested from all the Orks that were culled and brought back to the fortress there was a tiny, almost impossible, chance that a self-contained system of perpetuity could be made if they were used. The spores of the Orks grew easily and quickly, and while individually the psychic potency of an Ork was negligible it was possible to use it for their Warp technology.
It held incredible risk, and disaster could strike again if even one batch of farmed Orks managed to break out of their processing facility, and it had a high chance of not working, that it would just hasten the Mitu's demise before any gains exceeded the losses if they went with the project. And they had to try it, for they had no other options that did not involve what dwelled outside their dimension.
But then the possibility that the Astartes would launch a last attack through the portal, or to even actually invade them, instead of just sealing them off came. A possibility that too was discarded until evidence for it started to rapidly build up.
Even as several defence towers and weapon constructs were already being repurposed or dissembled to frantically keep up with the projected designs and material costs needed for potential survival, even when the chances for survival without the war reaching their fortified stronghold were already extremely low and would drastically get lower, the Mitu began to prepare for what they knew would be their end if the Astartes army came through that gateway.
Some Mitu suggested that they should close the portal to ensure that they could not be invaded. But to close the portal could prove to have dire consequences for the survival of the Mitu, as they needed as much time as they could before they could develop any means of self-sufficiency and the stability of their pocket realm could rapidly lose cohesion if it was forced to close in such a manner.
The proper controls for the portal only existed outside of the created dimension, in case that the beings inside the Warp ever managed to breach the barrier due to a catastrophic experiment or massive attack that would somehow overload the stabilisation towers and a dimensional quarantine or complete separation was required.
Other Mitu suggested, in the event that an army did arrive through the portal to invade the hidden stronghold, that the portal should be closed then to seal them in. Those foolish to even suggest this were culled and used as material, a fate that only rarely happened since they had first discovered and enslaved those of other races. To cut off their only means of retreat meant that each and every warrior that came would fight to the very end, potentially causing more damage than they would otherwise if they could run.
No, yet again they only had one true course of action for potential survival in case the enhanced human warriors came to invade them. Fight them off until they ran, or impossibly kill all that would arrive without destroying their pocket dimension and stronghold, and force them to close the portal from the outside all while the Mitu focused as much power as possible in sustaining their realm's stability.
And so the Mitu prepared, both in the event that they would be left to starve and in the event that they would fight a coming army of extermination.
Deploying the Legion took quite a bit of thought on Oriacarius side. So many factors had to be considered from the logistics of a campaign to deciding which commanders and Astartes were sent. It was a daunting task, one he had seen Kesar struggle with at times. Nonetheless, careful consideration and near-constant vigilance and paranoia guided Oriacarius into his decisions. Astartes companies were chosen in pseudo-random patterns to prevent diviners from predicting his actions, false orders were sent and retracted to fool informants and spies, vox communications containing no useful information were sent out to fool any nearby cloaked ships, and every world was assumed to be as dangerous as a Maxima Extremis world.
It took days of planning, and more than one of the Wardens were frustrated by his seemingly nonsensical orders and requests. The Veterans of the Legion followed his plans without pause, but the Scouts and less experienced Wardens often hesitated and asked their direct superiors if this was some sort of hazing ritual. It irritated the First Captain at times and made some of his contingencies more complex than needed. But in the end, they were still his brothers, and he had to acknowledge that to most, his orders would seem strange and unnecessary. Preparation, however, was critical, and he would be damned if he sent in his brothers unprepared.
This behavior on the outside must make the Wardens look extremely mysterious. They always arrive like they expected things to turn sour or become WORSE than the present brother Legions thought they would be, the ones in the exchange regularly receive missives from Marines who weren't on ANY duty roster (Alpha Legionnaires), and no one can find out where they came from or where they went and the Wardens feign ignorance.
And the EW are always reacting in the right way despite having no briefings and have at least SOME kind of suggestion for a situation unforeseen immediately despite it blind-siding the rest of a command cadre.
They must all seem like they're on the ball and prescient, but really it's just the extreme unfaltering loyalty of the Legion to its upper brass that makes them follow nonsensical orders. Likewise, the Wardens don't usually know or even really implicitly trust the Alpha Legion (not from any dislike at all, but more because they know better than most Legions that these guys--and not all of them even know who the Ghost Legion really is--are up to something and they do indeed have to be the ones to deal with the consequences. No one likes hearing bad news--or even good news with some kind of catch).
But to everyone else it makes them seem like they're the OUTWARD "complex hypercube chess-masters five dimensional planners" instead of that mostly being the product of high command and protocol so transcendently written that it's been distributed at nearly every level throughout the Wardens' doctrine.
