The Lost Primarch Quest
- Thread starter Daemon Hunter
- Start date
- Location
- Elsewhere
Why do I even roll dice at this point?
Maticus' 3rd Company Training Rolls: 90, 98, 88
Congratulations to ten of your kill teams starting off at a bass of +35 instead of +20. This is going to change things.
Maticus' 3rd Company Training Rolls: 90, 98, 88
Congratulations to ten of your kill teams starting off at a bass of +35 instead of +20. This is going to change things.
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
so...those kills teams will be getting the nasty duty of hunting the daemons right?
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
So it seems when Maticus was told almost all of the Kill Teams would likely die, he took that as a challenge to make sure they took everything down with them.
- Pronouns
- The path chosen
that's Maticus for you .
January 5th Omake Rewards
- Location
- Elsewhere
Alright Omakes. Let me just say that I really do love if the emperor watched omakes. They're just my favorite. For the Omake, Scafrir's introduction was really well done, and he felt just as I imagined he would. The reactions were definitely the star to me though, as I just really love seeing the Primarchs discuss the events that unfolded. Moreover, the way you described the battle cannon Corvus had was just excellent and was something I could see happenning in cannon. As for your reward:
[] +10 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] Ask the GM a question and they shall answer (subject to veto)
[] GM reveals Corvus' current actions
Then we have a rather fun omake about the Eternal Novas. This feels a lot to me what a more grimdark version of Solarus' chapter would be like. The reliance on explosives, the lack of care for friendly fire, and general insanity felt so fun to me. I really liked the framing device of using Imperial Guardsmen on the ground, as that really showed the brutality. As for your reward:
[] +5 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] +10 to Solarus' rolls during the Ritual
[] +2 of Solarus' custom explosives for the initial landings (Currently will have 20)
Next up is the continuation of Kamangr's previous omake. Let me just say that I really loved Corvus in this. It felt just like him, and the little fluff details you added honestly made me feel like that the Hitchlock could have been a cannon event for Corvus. It was a really well done Omake, and I just loved reading it. For your reward:
[] +10 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] Ask the GM a question and they shall answer (subject to veto)
[] Corvus gets 2 extra actions in Year 30
Up next we have Green Lantern Kesar. The introduction you had was rather well done, and you managed to give Kesar a ring in a way that was surprisingly smooth. Normally this kind of crossover has a few issues, but it felt rather fun to read as if it could actually occur. Moreover, the entire scene on Valhalla was excellent, and felt natural. The way you intertwined the Green Lantern's poem along with the scene itself was great. As for your reward:
[] +5 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] +10 to Kesar's rolls for the ritual
[] Ask the GM a question and they shall answer (subject to veto)
Last omake reward for the day is Temnota, the chaos world that Khan just killed. I really did like this omake, and it helped me fluff out quite a bit of the world in question. I really liked the rather descriptive manner in which you wrote it, and seeing the functioning society that formed was just great. I will say that Be'lakor was rather surprised yet happy by the White Scar souls that went there way. As for your reward:
[] +10 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] GM Reveals When Be'lakor's plan is meant to trigger
[] GM Reveals Who Be'lakor's plan is meant to target
TinyGladiator
Just another SVer
- Location
- I move alot.
Ah, thank you so much for your kind words! I was just very inspired by the idea, and even more so when I actually got started on writing it. And, haha, yeah I do sure hope Be'lakor enjoys using those White Scar souls. Going to be interesting to see what he does with them (
As for what reward I pick, well I choose option three, GM Reveals Who Be'lakor's plan is meant to target, because that is one that needs to be known most.
- Location
- Elsewhere
It's meant to target Guilliman.
Fuck, that is bad and makes our situation really bad if our logistical master is stuck dealing with shit behind friendly lines.
- Location
- Califoirna
[] +10 to Kesar's rolls for the ritual
I take this one and thanks. I just hope the next part will be good as the first part.
Ps. I try to make them lore appropriate as possible for the omake series but if it's not reasonable as it should be, just point the flaws so I can continue to improve cause I really want to make this series in way it will be great and reasonable as it can be within this quest. Plus when I reach part 5, I hope I improve enough to make a epilogue that may give everyone worry with how screwed everyone else is if it was cannon.
I take this one and thanks. I just hope the next part will be good as the first part.
Ps. I try to make them lore appropriate as possible for the omake series but if it's not reasonable as it should be, just point the flaws so I can continue to improve cause I really want to make this series in way it will be great and reasonable as it can be within this quest. Plus when I reach part 5, I hope I improve enough to make a epilogue that may give everyone worry with how screwed everyone else is if it was cannon.
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Into the Unknown (Must Read)
- Location
- USA
The door slid open with the hiss of moving servos and disengaging pressure locks, as Ulyr walked forward. The room that he entered was in his eyes an oddity of the world, a room decorated with wood and natural items in every corner, managing that most elusive of goals, the ability to show wealth without being ostentatious in the process.
Walking slowly forward as even with the best genetic enhancements and medical treatments, feeling his bones ache and tremble, but pushed forward by the will that had seen the Robotic Assault Platform Mastery's Might controlled and mastered for the first time in several long millennium. A small echo fo pain from his decaying physical form would not hinder his work for as long as his mind remained sharp he would serve the Ytterian Technocracy, to the fullest extent of his ability.
With a vibration on his wrist, he shook himself out of his musings, chiding himself for being so absent minded in a war, lifting his left hand he gently activated the holographic watch that rested there. After a rather lengthy password was inputed into the system a screen flared into existence, showing a command center that to his experienced eyes was woefully close to full collapse, the maps that he could see showed a complete collapse of their fortifications in less than ten days if nothing changed.
"Lord General, we request support to field C3O3. The situation is collapsing, we have lost all heavy units and infantry has taken heavy casualties. We estimate that only 5% of our total forces remain fully operational, and perhaps another 15% can be sent back into the field within a day.
We are currently enacting Contingency 10-5, yet out prediction computers are presenting us with low efficacy due to both opponents being aware of our relative situation and our history works against us here." The shaking officer managed to report, their ability to hold together and their command together merited investigation.
"Halt the implementation of Cont. 10-5, instead utilize Cont. 20-10, 10-5 will not work at the moment place it in the Redlist as of this moment, and distribute the update too all military forces on C3O. Encrypt it with system 4 and system 10.
Enact Cont. 4-1 on the Unknown, and Cont. 14-4 on the Known, under the overarching protocols of 20-10. I will do my best to ensure that the world will not be lost, Ulyr out." Letting his voice fade, he lowered his arm and continued to move forward towards the door at the end of the hallway. '20-10 is the best option, out of the list we had, combining it with 4-1 and 14-4 should ensure that the military will suffer the lowest amount of true loss, yet the infantry will die to a man, but in war such sacrifices must be made to protect the civilians.'
Before he could reach the door, to his surprise the doors, the largest and most technologically advanced system on a world dedicated towards advancement of technology, slid open as the man he had come to meet walked out to meet him. "I overhead your commands to the troops, are you sure its wise to sacrifice the troopers in such a callous manner? Recruitment has always been an issue for the infantry, this will not improve that particular area."
Ulyr's sighed and shook his greying head, "K'Thal, the men are expendable in this fight, we have more men than we could ever arm. The last census was in the order of twenty billion was it not? I can maybe at best arm and train one billion men, but any more and the war will start to break down. The truth is that I have lines out of each recruiting office and a waitlist meters tall for people seeking any form of military service. Replacing Infantry is the cheapest and fastest method of refreshing our numbers on the field, trading a hundred million lives for the survival of a heavy armor division or a RAP is simple cost vs benefits.
I know you wish it was otherwise, but I have run the numbers hundreds of times and no matter what variable I add, it remains the same. The only time it changed was in the case of impossible variables, that I doubt anyone could make come true. In the end I simply have to view the Infantry as a mathematician views calculus. I can't let sentimentality prevent me from making such choices. I know that I am the single most hated man on the world and like any normal human I dislike the truth, but if hate is the cost of the world surviving another century, you know my choice."
K'Thal, nodded once as they crossed the threshold of his office, departing from his closest advisor and friend's side, taking his seat in the throne of the world. "I know, we have this discussion every time we meet. I understand your view, but can a man not wish to not see his friend suffer. Yet, on more pressing matters, if you have declared 10-5 Redlisted then the situation has changed. What is the current state of the domain?"
Taking a moment to breathe and swallow a pill to provide energy and a burst of strength, Ulyr began to speak in a voice that sounded far younger than his true age. "The situation is dire, the Known enemy is in a total collapse spiral, I estimate that they will cease to be a primary threat within the decade if nothing changes. Yet, where the Known is falling ever further behind, it is due to the Unknown recently Voiding a world from their control, allowing them to push forward with greater strength than before. We can expect the Unknown to being presenting as Known, we will have to update our databanks on this recent change and ensure that the entire military is on high alert for such events.
The Unknown due to their recently gained world, are pushing us with greater strength than they have been in recent years. Based on the simulations I have done and had my analysis teams complete, we have roughly a 40% chance to push them back with mundane systems and reestablish the status quo, with the effective removal of the Known from the war. However, I feel that this is not the best move and instead I personally crafted several simulations that investigated different responses to this situation." Ulyr paused for a moment to let his throat repair itself and to take a sip of water that had been provided by a simple robot.
K'Thal for his part simply leaned back in his chair content to let his old friend continue in his own time, for he had learned through the decades of working together that Ulyr was many things but a time waster was not one of them. Although, he did have a tendency towards the ruthless, as he recalled some of the previous examples of his friend's famed dispassionately ruthless response to military upsets in the past, a small smile graced his face as the quick retreats of both enemies had done much to ensure their continued success.
At Ulyr's cough, K'Thal returned his focus to the meeting that he was in. "The simulations that I conducted gave differing results, with the most promising being the one in which we invaded the newly Voided world, before the Unknown can truly void it. If we can take the world, we can split both the Known and Unknown apart and take control of one of the few stable warp currents in this region, granting us greater mobility. However, the only way to make the simulation work was if we utilized the entire Reason's Might section as the beachhead, supported by the Argus Guard, with a total of 40% of our available forces dedicated to the strike.
In the event of a success, we have a greater than 70% chance of winning this entire war in the century, which is by far the best result we have gotten for as long as we have recorded this war. In the event of a failure we still have a roughly 45% chance to stabilize with a status quo roughly equal to our current state. The only down side of a fail is that there is a 60% chance of the Known managing to retake their world and hold it against the Unknown. However, even in that case it supports us as the Known is currently focusing the majority of their wrath on the Unknown, which will continue according to the simulations if they manage to retake the world.
Our analytical teams are suggesting that if we let the Known have their world retuned to them, that we might be able to enact Plan Shadow Withdraw over the course of a few decades. The simulations are highly suspect due to it being so long term and variables currently unknown could shift the entire outcome, but its something that was suggested.
Something has to change, that has been agreed on by all of my analyst teams, we are at a critical junction that allows us an unprecedented opportunity to break the war in our favor. For the first time since our ancestors found themselves embroiled in this war we have the chance to see it end in your lifetime.
I have seen the reports and crunched the numbers, we are frankly out pacing the Eternal Forge's output by several orders of magnitude and are relying nearly entirely on our off world mining operations, for the needed basic supplies to use to make the materials that we actually use in our military. Unless we can either end this war within the century or have at minimum two decades free of high intensity war, we will almost certainly lose in two centuries. Every year I have to send more infantry out into the war to soak up the damage to the other military forces. Eventually, the trades will become unprofitable on both sides of the trade, something has to be done."
Ulyr fell silent as he completed his report, slumping in his chair showing all of his sixty six years of age in the moment. K'Thal pushed himself into action, rapidly activating and examining screens that contained the full reports that Ulyr had summarized for his benefit. Yet, no matter how hard he looked or queried his cybers the numbers remained stubbornly the same, a once in a lifetime chance had fallen into their lap and for the mere chance to end this eternal war in their favor was worth spending everything on the gamble. A grim smile twisted his lips as he considered what would be involved in taking a Voided world, flipping open yet another holographic screen he looked over the only report that had originated from the last and only time to date that they had laid siege to a Voided world.
He read the metaphorical report, written by insane hands, filled with insane ramblings and yet it was their only hint of what they were truly looking at. The Void consumed those that sought to fill it anew, and turned them agains their own to fill their new Void. It twisted vehicles and RAPs, broke the minds of those that could channel the Void . However, buried within the report were nuggets of much needed information that allowed him to piece together just how massive an undertaking Ulyr was planning. Glancing over at his old friend, currently asleep in his chair, he shook his head in a silent wish for his return at the end of this campaign. With a heavy heart he signed the plan, and thus Plan Archon was initiated.
The next day was a day in which a monumental event took place as the full might of the RAP Legion Reason's Might was roused to full power for the first time living memory and for the very first time in recorded history to fight on another world as a full unit. Ulyr watched as his brothers and sisters of the Commander corps prepared themselves for the coming battle, more than ready to take command of Mastery's Might once more and bring the light of reason to a planet cloaked in the Void.
Beyond the gleaming forms of the RAPs the massive ships stood silently waiting for their cargo to load itself onto their gullets. Dwarfed by the RAPs transports immense size sat countless smaller vessels each bearing the image of a soaring serpent, the icon of the legendary Sky Guard the best troops of the world and for the first time to be deployed in an offensive maneuver. Yet, even as the air within the complex was filled with stifling stress and an undercurrent of fear the men and women did their duty and did it well. Even from where he stood far above the ground Ulyr saw and smiled at their bravery, only for the smile to wither as he knew that most would not be returning after this fight, but everyone knew that this was their best chance to end this endless war.
Turning away from the expanse of the complex, he walked through a door that bore the icon of the Lord General, as the door slide open with a welcoming chime he relaxed infinitesimally as he gently sat down in his chair, enjoying the faint creak of wood and leather as he did so. Before activating the computer system, which had never failed to irritate him, sighing as his entire office was promptly covered in holographic boards displaying all manner of graphs, calculations, simulations in progress and at the very corner a few in progress chess games that were waiting for his next moves.
Shifting through the amount of screens shown was always the hardest part of this event, but it was always something that had to be done for the computer was purposely designed to be unable to have set presents. Grumbling as he manipulated the windows, such that he could find the information that he wanted, Ulyr once more considered rejecting the paranoia inspired computer for a more sensible system that actually stored the relative location of screens when shut down.
Yet, even he had to admit that it was a good defense against any spy or infiltration attempt from gathering any actionable information due to the completely randomized nature of the screens, and there had been such instances in the past that the system had blunted. However, for all the value inherent in the system and its success in the past, that didn't mean it wasn't terribly irritating to use when he needed to quickly find certain information.
After spending much too long digging for the needed information, he finally found the file that he was looking for at the moment. With a flick of a finger, a blur of color engulfed the office as the screens faded or shifted backwards as a large, to scale holographic projection of a planet took their place.
World KVFN, was an oddity in this region of space from their limited exploration. Most worlds bore a distinct lack of large scale ecosystems that supported more than small grasses and animals, yet the world in front of him was covered in thick jungle, with some points reaching more than three kilometers into the atmosphere. Moreover and much more difficult was the general lack of free ground, with only a few areas being open for the landing that he would need to enact. In total their spy satellites had only determined that there were roughly four points where large scale landings could be completed, making the world a nightmare for a large industrialized force to take, while making it a haven for infantry.
Of course that was the world when under the control of the Known, now however the updated maps showed a much different story. The Unknown for whatever insane reason they had, had decided to eliminate the natural defenses of the world by the expedient method of simply using fire to burn down entire chunks of the world covering jungle. Reveling ground that had last seen light eons ago, but beyond the ecological damage their actions would inflict they had also opened up prime landing sites.
Expertly, manipulating the holographic image, he slowly examined all of the regions that had had holes torn open inside of them. Ulyr smiled at just how helpful the Unknown were in this moment as they had given him the perfect spot to begin the invasion. For some reason probably only understandable by someone driven berserk with rage they had decided to nuke a completely innocent section of forest, far from any other encampment of their on the world and even somewhat out of range of the ground to space defense system that the Known had spent decades constructing.
Increasing the magnification of the area, he examined the chosen location the best he could with the maps that he had to work with. He could see areas that would serve as good forward bases and others that would exploit the terrain to its fullest in the defense of his men, for this was the single most critical invasion that had ever been done in this war, for it was drawing nearly the entirely of the forces under his command to a single battle field. Compounding the potential for disaster was the simple fact that their tactics were not meant to wage planetary scale war and instead to force the opponent to spend lives like water in order to enforce their hold. However, in this situation they would have to go on the offensive and wage war in the style of the Known and Unknown, and with the landing zone chosen and already the information feed into the simulation systems, all that was left was to reach the world and begin the invasion.
Flicking the holographic world close, at the same moment that he brought forth a communication system. Ulyr spoke, his voice being broadcast from all sound systems across the world, from the lowest slums to the highest peaks, all could hear the voice of the Lord General as he spoke across the world for the first time. "The endless war that we have born for countless eons, that our ancestors suffered under, moves into a new phase this day. The Sky Guard flies forth from our home to take to the stars and wage war on another soil, the Assault Corps begin their march, the men and women of the army and its brethren make their way towards the pivotal battle. The simulations have given us hope, and now we take it with our blood and lives, when our ships grace the sky above our home the war shall tip forever in our favor.
As of this moment recruitment restrictions are hereby, eliminated and all military recruitment officers are ordered to accept as many as they have equipment for. No longer will the military of our worlds be bleeding, now comes the time to strike forth and retake our lost worlds. The enteral war begins its final end, the Unknown shall fall and the Known shall be forced to submit to our might in time. We shall take back our space and build a brighter future for all sons of Earth. To the stars we go once more, by my command."
As soon as his voice faded away as he turned off the planetary speakers, the same system crackled back on as the voice of his oldest friend K'Thal spoke, now with his fervor infusing his voice with power, "People of our world, the end of the war is upon us. We have come far from the times of our ancestors and much has been lost, the technology of the Fallen Star tells us much, of what was ours and yet lost. But all is not lost, for even now our scientists research the universe and from their work our military enacts their greatest gamble yet. Countless hours of simulations, have gone into the planning of the war to the smallest degree and now the pivotal moment that we have waited for has come. Rise up children of Earth and take arms against those that would see us destroyed for the mere crime of living. From the mutated, to the pure all whom bear the mark of humanity are one upon this world. Seek just employment in the military, or without, for all that aid us in this time give aid to those yet to come and with your help the future is ever brighter.
By my power as Scientist Lord of the Ytterian Technocracy, I declare Plan Archon initiated. Let, the fury of our might shatter our enemies for the final time, let our guns tear then apart in space and land, let us free ourselves of the chains of the past. To the stars we go to forge a grand destiny for all born of Earth. Look towards Sol and know the location of home eternal, and know that with this moment we come ever closer to seeing its lush gardens once more.
By the might of technology and reason, our march begins!"
K'Thal thundered over the planetary speakers, even as the military marched in massive lines towards their ships. Crossing through cities and mountains, countless ships flew through the air tracing their path through clouds, drawing symbols in their transit. Over the capital of the world a hundred and one ships traced with clouds the symbol of the Fallen Star, a grand circle with stars emblazoned within. From all corners of the world the sound barrier shattered as thousands of transports raced into space and towards their waiting ships.
The time had come for Plan Archon to begin, even Ulyr renowned for his stoicism could feel the excitement and hope of finally seeing this war ended once and for all. The fleets had easily slipped into the correct alignment, only assisted by the insanity that gripped the Unknown forces. With almost insulting ease they had managed to maneuver into the proper position to quickly land at the chosen site.
"Lord General, scanners are picking up Unknown transports heading towards Archon Zone. Orbital trajectories have been calculated to strike their convoys, do we fire or hold for now?" The smooth voice of Admiral Iuval, spoke from his office's intercom system. 'Well, say what you will but the Unknown aren't totally incompetent at war, just mostly.' Ulyr thought to himself as he pondered the ramifications of using orbital strikes on their convoys, but removing their response force or severely weakening it was more than worth the damage done to the world.
Pressing the button to connect him to the Admiral, he waited for the beep to sound before speaking, "Admiral Iuval, fire at will, During this campaign I expect you to strike from orbit any target possible, and be on standby for pinpoint strikes. Lord General out." Closing the connection before she could reply, but knowing her value and ability Ulyr instead simply looked over the last moment calculations, doing last moment refinement to the plans.
Yet, only one hour later, the time had come. Easing himself from his chair and picking up his cane he slowly made his way through the ship towards the hanger wherein Mastery's Might waited along side its secondaries. As he walked, memories long suppressed revealed themselves, the sound of the air shattering under the force of an atomic weapon, a hundred and one corpses being grounded under the tracks of a heavy tank, a RAP simply crushing a fort under its fort. Long forgotten, but power memories of the last time he had taken to the battlefield. He knew that both enemies knew of him and had standing orders to seek his death at any cost, for he was simply the best there was on the battlefield.
In the last battle he had been in, it had been by his sole effort that saw a route turned into a decisive victory for his world, and neither side could ignore such results, and to the Ytterian Technocracy he was the shinning star that all strove to be. Their Champion upon the battlefield, the ultimate warrior that saw their enemies break and flee, yet what none realized is just how much he loathed war and even more taking part in it directly. The battlefield was messy, constantly changing and awash with unpleasantness, yet gritting his teeth Ulyr pushed on resisting the urge to claim privilege of rank and simply remain in space safe from the soon to be new memories of battle.
Grimacing in both pain and having to force himself to move forward past his distaste for battle, ensured that his already slow walking speed only slowed even more. About half way to his destination, Ulyr wished that government employees were allowed rejuvenation treatments or even just simple genetic upgrades to extend lifespan, but that technology was reserved for the scientists, doctors and high ranking military officers with the notable exception of the Lord General. As his post was technically the liaison between the government and military it was counted as a governmental post, thus removing his access to the treatments that he had enjoyed prior to his promotion. To compound that twisted senseless logic the laws further stated that the Lord General must be brought up to their chronological age, in terms of biological age, seeing him go from a healthy 30 to a decaying sixty year old in a month.
Yet, even so it was what it was and he had a battle to win and a planet to save. There was no time for such meaningless thought, when there was something far more critical to be done and he was not about to let his people down, he never failed and he would not start now on the eve of their final triumph. As he finally entered the hanger, he could see Mastery's Might waiting for him towering above him even as its feet rested more than a hundred levels below him, and next to it stood the four patterned after it.
Immediately to its left stood the massive artillery variation that had long ago been given the designation Armament of Science, boosting the highest grade weapons possible for them to craft, with its onboard scanners and computer systems more than able to strike buildings from across the horizon. When it went to war it left only annihilation on the worlds it walked, in past eons it had broken worlds on its own simply walking over that which did not burn under the fury of plasma.
It was the one of the seconds of the legion, equaled only by its brother and surpassed only by Mastery's Might, and to the right of his own platform stood the gleaming form of the Efficiency's Beacon. Which stood shorter than the others and yet it boosted the single most advanced technology ever invented by those that had built it ages ago, it held in massive tanks on its back a constantly refilling supply of nano machines, that had been programmed with only one mission and that was to repair that which was damaged. Where the other four Champions of the legion marched forth to war and tore all in their path asunder, the Beacon was that which kept them in operational condition no matter what they faced. Massive rents in armor repaired in moments, frozen joints unfrozen, ammo replicated and yet for all the power that nano machines granted the RAP, it was always a risk to bring the titan from Yttera and into battle due to the chaotic nature of the machines, yet their value could not be understated.
Thus were left the two lesser, that stood to the sides of their greater and yet these had been built to support the other and the greater. Logic of History was granted massive guns and weapons able to annihilate at range, even as its brother Scholar of Order was outfitted with massive melee weapons ready to rend land apart, and shatter mountains.
In front of each RAP, stood their pilots waiting for his arrival, to take the place of the grandmaster of the legion and to lead the full might of the Ytterian Technocracy into battle. The four of them silently nod towards him, and slowly enter their platforms to ready themselves for the coming battle. Ulyr rested his weary body for a moment before entering the cavernous depths of Mastery's Might and start the arduous connection process. Lights snap on as the antimatter reactor is ignited with the rush of energy from the secondary plasma reactor, crackling sparks jump to and fro as the systems last operated centuries ago shake themselves back into full operation, under the torrential rush of energy born from the total annihilation of matter and captured through unknown technology salvaged from the Fallen Star by his long ago ancestors. Now millennium later their work would save their descendants pain and suffering once more as readouts snap into existence to aid in the task of mentally connecting with the core of the machine.
Programs start up as the foundations begin to function, only to cascade ever further until something approaching a mind awakens. Yet, for all of its power it is unable to act without a pilot a key restriction that had been placed upon it by the first to build it and none had since unbound it from the restriction. Then with everything done and ready, Ulyr took his seat upon the command console and felt cables punch through his shirt and lock into sockets long ago implanted in his spine. At the very moment of connection, he found himself in a endless void of darkness bereft of any sensation, yet then an instant later everything and more flooded into his mind.
He could now see more than ever before, he could hear the radio waves that directed the men and women of the ship, he could feel where everyone was within the massive form of Mastery's Might. With a thought, he lifted an arm that had been added so long ago that none remained to know why it had been added, but it had proved its use and so all the RAPs since had had it incorporated into their design. Manipulating the fingers of the arm such that all five fingers where closed into a fist, he alerted the crew of the ship that he was ready and to his sides he could see that the others of his rank were doing the same, and he knew in the same way that a person knew where their limbs were that all of the 30 were doing the same.
With a thought a communication snapped open as he spoke to Admiral Iuval, "We are ready, the Legion of Reason is ready for deployment. The connection is complete and we are as one, upon your command we descend." The mighty voice thundered throughout the ship as all stopped in awe of the voice of the testament of humanity's might made manifest. The next moment the ship shuddered as he felt the engines shift their burn direction, directing them towards the planetary surface. Time seemed to crawl by him as nanoseconds slowly tick on down, becoming seconds then minutes and finally the voice of the admiral spoke through the speaker systems of the RAP, "Time for descent, Lord General may reason guide your path and technology shield you." Iuval spoke with reverence and hope in her voice, even as the doors of the hanger opened wide letting him see outward.
The first thing, that all noticed was the greenness of the world as a blanket of green stretched from horizon to horizon, yet there was no time for such sightseeing for the battle was yet to be fought and won. At the first moment, servos spun up and began to move as the first step was taken and all of the 35 titans took their first lumbering step in unison and then another, speeding up from there as they began to move faster off of the transport ship that had brought them to the ground. Icons burst into existence as the scanners identified the enemy and a wave of annihilation struck outward from the oncoming wall of metal that was the Legion of Reason's Might.
A wall of metal and plasma tore deep trenches into the few Unknown soldiers that had managed to reach their landing zone, turning most to ash and then came the next volley and the next. Ulyr inside of the leading Engine of this annihilation simply tallied the dead and marched forth, the massive trees sought to bar their path and thus were annihilated with the same ease as the mortal troops that had tried to fight. Ash rained down across the world as streaks of light tore through the sky and the world quaked as mountains of moving metal walked forward implacably, crushing all in their path. Then came countless sonic booms as the sky was rent asunder by the landing force of the Sky Guard and the Military.
Dots of color raced across the sky of the world leaving death in their path, as nukes exploded with gigatons of force sending entire seconds of the planetary forest to the ground and breaking apart all resistance. Where the nukes did not fall, there marched the legions of men and women with roaring tanks at their side reducing trees and other impediments to nothing, and over head soared the air-force that took the skies with impunity as the ground to orbit guns were turned to rubble in the first day of landing and with them removed from play, the rest of the invasion began.
The sky burned as the fragile Unknown air-force sought to challenge their might and were cast down to the ground, as befitted such traitors of humanity. Their forces of the ground were crushed beneath the treads of the tanks and the march of the troops with the RAPs in the background annihilating all that they could find. Armament of Science took glee in arching shells of burning plasma and solid metal far across the horizon to impact a cultist force from beyond their compression, or to crush a city take over by the first invaders, each hit driving it and its pilot to ever greater acts of destruction.
However, for all the damage that Armament dealt it was Mastery that took the largest toll, as Ulyr piloted with the skill born of decades of effort and an intuitive sense of battle, each shot spelling the end for an entire army, and with precision orbital strikes all fell before his relentless onslaught, and in support marched Efficiency's Beacon refueling the tanks and airplanes, even as it built forward bases on the move for the men that marched across the world with them.
As the days passed the forest which once covered the world, was rent apart as massive tunnels of barren ground traced their way through the greenery, showing the path of the forces that had come to the world and the determination to see the war end in their favor once and for all. Day after day the forest fell ever further from its peek, and Ulyr made sure to keep a simulation updated with its current borders to ensure the planet's recovery after the war concluded. Yet, the simulations became ever worst for the planet as the fight went on and Ulyr grew ever more displeased with such things for they would not be able to do that which was their duty at the end of this, but perhaps once the war was ended they would be able to repair it all. Yet, for all of Ulyr's displeasure the campaign of extermination continued apace, three days after landfall the entire Unknown force had been shattered and the Known had been discovered and quickly placed in secure complexes built by the engineers and the aid of Beacon.
Then it was over, two full weeks of battle and now the planet was theirs, more than a billion Unknown dead, a hundred and fifty thousand lost to mundane methods and only a total of a hundred and three thousand lost to the void, which had quickly been discovered and eliminated before they could slink back home aboard the ships. In the end it was a grand victory of unprecedented scale, an entire world pacified in less than a month and only a total of two hundred and fifty thousand loses, yet Ulyr felt that the scale and speed only mocked him for how could people with little more than melee weapons and a few mutations deal that much damage to an army orders of magnitude more technologically advanced with almost no melee encounters, yet it was the same story every single time, for some reason whenever they faced the Unknown people would forget their training and rush into melee combat with a sword, which they could barely use.
However, beyond the issues with people forgetting the value of guns over melee combat, they had a new issue in the form of roughly 75 million Narenla in secure complexes on the world. Ulyr frankly didn't want to kill them for the simple fact of being on the world, it left a rotten taste in his mouth at the thought of killing defenseless sapients even if they existed in a state of war, after they had suffered the wrath of the Unknown. Another reason was that he frankly didn't want to potentially escalate that particular war to a much worse level, the Narenla might make no pretensions regarding their feelings of humanity, but the few times that they had communicated with his forces had been to arrange for prisoner swaps for his men and theirs tended to take prisoners rather than outright execute them, although they tended to have a very flexible definition of that when applied to humans, but they had never gone out of their way to massacre civilians and seemed frankly more interested in making sure that they were locked to one world than outright extermination. As the gateway swung open he found himself in front of a window with the leader of the Narenla on the other side with audio systems to allow both of them to communicate with the other.
Ulyr took the seat in front of the window looking through the nearly unbreakable window, at the Narenla on the other side and not for the first time wondered just why so many races in the galaxy were humanoid in form. The figure looked almost identical to a human except for his size which would tower over any normal human by several feet and the much thicker bioluminescent tendrils in place of hair, shaking the thought away he focused on the task at hand.
"I am so very tired of battle and I have no interest in executing anyone that can't even hope to fight back. As such I am allocating five transport ships with their data cores stripped of all non essential programs to transport you and your people from this wold back to your homeworld.
The war is moving into the end game, your people are simply too weakened by the ages to be a true threat any more, retreat to your worlds and I will do my best to ensure that we will allow you to withdraw from this war, but if you force my hand, there is not much I can do."
He knew that his voice was tired and empty of passion, but age took its toll and the weight of piloting a RAP did so as well, then there was the worry of the world and its recovery and in the end the sad truth was that he just didn't have the energy to fight anymore at least not against harmless imprisoned sapients. He truly hoped that they would take his offer and simply let themselves fade into the shadows for a few centuries, before returning to the light, perhaps something could be worked out then, but now the coin had been thrown and fate decided. The simulations had shown that there was no scenario in which the Narenla truly mattered anymore. If the pieces fell as predicted the Voided worlds would be rent asunder by nuclear flame and disease within the decade and the reclamation would then begin, and once it was started there was no chance for them to truly impact the ascension of the Ytterian Technocracy.
As he slumped in his chair the figure on the other side seemed to almost laugh as he spoke, "You want us to go back to where we came from, human? You, after all this time and blood, have the audacity to tell us that you're tired and wish to spare those that can't fight back? You don't even realise what I'm talking about, because in the end this doesn't matter to you.
You people might have forgotten us, discarded everything we were from your records, but we haven't forgotten what you did, what nightmares you were. Even as we both fall, you are still 'greater' than us and the arrogance of it clings to your mind more than your violent nature. The power you monsters wield will lay waste to everything, and you don't even realize it anymore.
Home... you do not talk about home to us. Or history, or bloodshed or anything else. I thought that you would be something more vile, that at least you could understand something about this or finish things with some dignity, but you're just pathetic and ignorant. You've lost your will to fight and just want to give up, for us to give up as well, as though nothing happened? You call this mercy? You're worse than those raving cultists."
He was only partially listening, suffering as he always did at the end of a battle, yet that comparison sparked anger and the anger drove away the creeping malaise that so often overtook him when leaving a battle.
"We are not cultists, nor are we worse or equal than them. We don't stand for their values, they seek the ruination of reality, the perversion of life and existence. We fight against them at every turn.
Do you know just why this is the first time you have suffered majorly against the cultists? You have faced them for nearly the same length of time as we have and yet you have only lost one world in all that time, and have suffered maybe three billion in losses to them.
We know more than you think for we have forces on every outbound path, and we allow you free passage outward, yet whenever the cultists try to leave they find themselves under fire from our border ships. I can not claim perfection for some of their ships have escaped our net, but the vast majority of our fleets is on the outskirts of the region guarding the outside from what lies within.
We have taken the majority of the Cultists' force upon our own, sparing your people the indignity of being twisted so far from your own nature. We lost five worlds to the plague of the insanity, and broke three more before the spread was halted and contained. We have done our absolute best to manipulate the war such that the both of you do not find yourselves on the same world at any given time. We have willingly given our lives to protect your worlds from their touch and have succeeded until now. Did you know that we have had hundreds of opportunities to end this war if we did not care one iota about lives lost in the process? If we so wished we could have broken each and every single one of your worlds in the first year of the war and from their ashes bring an end to these cultists, yet we restrained ourselves not for our sake but for yours.
We saw your technology, and knew that you were equally deserving of life. And so we stayed our fleets, allowing the war to drag onward for the countless eons, yet never did we break our first decision. And even now, when I am offering you the lives of seventy five million of your people safe travel back to your primary worlds, you dare equate me to those insane destroyers. If you wish for annihilation then you're doing your absolute best to gain such a result.
You have three local days to make your decision and that is final. I hope for the sake of your people that you make the right one for them before you throw this chance away."
Burning with fury and energy Ulyr stormed out of the complex and back towards his men, to enact the first step in ordering for the healing of the world and the planning of the next phase of the campaign.
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My longest omake to date at a little over 7.5k words long, spanning over 10 pages. All about the work of a human world finally ending a war that has lasted for thousands of years.
Walking slowly forward as even with the best genetic enhancements and medical treatments, feeling his bones ache and tremble, but pushed forward by the will that had seen the Robotic Assault Platform Mastery's Might controlled and mastered for the first time in several long millennium. A small echo fo pain from his decaying physical form would not hinder his work for as long as his mind remained sharp he would serve the Ytterian Technocracy, to the fullest extent of his ability.
With a vibration on his wrist, he shook himself out of his musings, chiding himself for being so absent minded in a war, lifting his left hand he gently activated the holographic watch that rested there. After a rather lengthy password was inputed into the system a screen flared into existence, showing a command center that to his experienced eyes was woefully close to full collapse, the maps that he could see showed a complete collapse of their fortifications in less than ten days if nothing changed.
"Lord General, we request support to field C3O3. The situation is collapsing, we have lost all heavy units and infantry has taken heavy casualties. We estimate that only 5% of our total forces remain fully operational, and perhaps another 15% can be sent back into the field within a day.
We are currently enacting Contingency 10-5, yet out prediction computers are presenting us with low efficacy due to both opponents being aware of our relative situation and our history works against us here." The shaking officer managed to report, their ability to hold together and their command together merited investigation.
"Halt the implementation of Cont. 10-5, instead utilize Cont. 20-10, 10-5 will not work at the moment place it in the Redlist as of this moment, and distribute the update too all military forces on C3O. Encrypt it with system 4 and system 10.
Enact Cont. 4-1 on the Unknown, and Cont. 14-4 on the Known, under the overarching protocols of 20-10. I will do my best to ensure that the world will not be lost, Ulyr out." Letting his voice fade, he lowered his arm and continued to move forward towards the door at the end of the hallway. '20-10 is the best option, out of the list we had, combining it with 4-1 and 14-4 should ensure that the military will suffer the lowest amount of true loss, yet the infantry will die to a man, but in war such sacrifices must be made to protect the civilians.'
Before he could reach the door, to his surprise the doors, the largest and most technologically advanced system on a world dedicated towards advancement of technology, slid open as the man he had come to meet walked out to meet him. "I overhead your commands to the troops, are you sure its wise to sacrifice the troopers in such a callous manner? Recruitment has always been an issue for the infantry, this will not improve that particular area."
Ulyr's sighed and shook his greying head, "K'Thal, the men are expendable in this fight, we have more men than we could ever arm. The last census was in the order of twenty billion was it not? I can maybe at best arm and train one billion men, but any more and the war will start to break down. The truth is that I have lines out of each recruiting office and a waitlist meters tall for people seeking any form of military service. Replacing Infantry is the cheapest and fastest method of refreshing our numbers on the field, trading a hundred million lives for the survival of a heavy armor division or a RAP is simple cost vs benefits.
I know you wish it was otherwise, but I have run the numbers hundreds of times and no matter what variable I add, it remains the same. The only time it changed was in the case of impossible variables, that I doubt anyone could make come true. In the end I simply have to view the Infantry as a mathematician views calculus. I can't let sentimentality prevent me from making such choices. I know that I am the single most hated man on the world and like any normal human I dislike the truth, but if hate is the cost of the world surviving another century, you know my choice."
K'Thal, nodded once as they crossed the threshold of his office, departing from his closest advisor and friend's side, taking his seat in the throne of the world. "I know, we have this discussion every time we meet. I understand your view, but can a man not wish to not see his friend suffer. Yet, on more pressing matters, if you have declared 10-5 Redlisted then the situation has changed. What is the current state of the domain?"
Taking a moment to breathe and swallow a pill to provide energy and a burst of strength, Ulyr began to speak in a voice that sounded far younger than his true age. "The situation is dire, the Known enemy is in a total collapse spiral, I estimate that they will cease to be a primary threat within the decade if nothing changes. Yet, where the Known is falling ever further behind, it is due to the Unknown recently Voiding a world from their control, allowing them to push forward with greater strength than before. We can expect the Unknown to being presenting as Known, we will have to update our databanks on this recent change and ensure that the entire military is on high alert for such events.
The Unknown due to their recently gained world, are pushing us with greater strength than they have been in recent years. Based on the simulations I have done and had my analysis teams complete, we have roughly a 40% chance to push them back with mundane systems and reestablish the status quo, with the effective removal of the Known from the war. However, I feel that this is not the best move and instead I personally crafted several simulations that investigated different responses to this situation." Ulyr paused for a moment to let his throat repair itself and to take a sip of water that had been provided by a simple robot.
K'Thal for his part simply leaned back in his chair content to let his old friend continue in his own time, for he had learned through the decades of working together that Ulyr was many things but a time waster was not one of them. Although, he did have a tendency towards the ruthless, as he recalled some of the previous examples of his friend's famed dispassionately ruthless response to military upsets in the past, a small smile graced his face as the quick retreats of both enemies had done much to ensure their continued success.
At Ulyr's cough, K'Thal returned his focus to the meeting that he was in. "The simulations that I conducted gave differing results, with the most promising being the one in which we invaded the newly Voided world, before the Unknown can truly void it. If we can take the world, we can split both the Known and Unknown apart and take control of one of the few stable warp currents in this region, granting us greater mobility. However, the only way to make the simulation work was if we utilized the entire Reason's Might section as the beachhead, supported by the Argus Guard, with a total of 40% of our available forces dedicated to the strike.
In the event of a success, we have a greater than 70% chance of winning this entire war in the century, which is by far the best result we have gotten for as long as we have recorded this war. In the event of a failure we still have a roughly 45% chance to stabilize with a status quo roughly equal to our current state. The only down side of a fail is that there is a 60% chance of the Known managing to retake their world and hold it against the Unknown. However, even in that case it supports us as the Known is currently focusing the majority of their wrath on the Unknown, which will continue according to the simulations if they manage to retake the world.
Our analytical teams are suggesting that if we let the Known have their world retuned to them, that we might be able to enact Plan Shadow Withdraw over the course of a few decades. The simulations are highly suspect due to it being so long term and variables currently unknown could shift the entire outcome, but its something that was suggested.
Something has to change, that has been agreed on by all of my analyst teams, we are at a critical junction that allows us an unprecedented opportunity to break the war in our favor. For the first time since our ancestors found themselves embroiled in this war we have the chance to see it end in your lifetime.
I have seen the reports and crunched the numbers, we are frankly out pacing the Eternal Forge's output by several orders of magnitude and are relying nearly entirely on our off world mining operations, for the needed basic supplies to use to make the materials that we actually use in our military. Unless we can either end this war within the century or have at minimum two decades free of high intensity war, we will almost certainly lose in two centuries. Every year I have to send more infantry out into the war to soak up the damage to the other military forces. Eventually, the trades will become unprofitable on both sides of the trade, something has to be done."
Ulyr fell silent as he completed his report, slumping in his chair showing all of his sixty six years of age in the moment. K'Thal pushed himself into action, rapidly activating and examining screens that contained the full reports that Ulyr had summarized for his benefit. Yet, no matter how hard he looked or queried his cybers the numbers remained stubbornly the same, a once in a lifetime chance had fallen into their lap and for the mere chance to end this eternal war in their favor was worth spending everything on the gamble. A grim smile twisted his lips as he considered what would be involved in taking a Voided world, flipping open yet another holographic screen he looked over the only report that had originated from the last and only time to date that they had laid siege to a Voided world.
He read the metaphorical report, written by insane hands, filled with insane ramblings and yet it was their only hint of what they were truly looking at. The Void consumed those that sought to fill it anew, and turned them agains their own to fill their new Void. It twisted vehicles and RAPs, broke the minds of those that could channel the Void . However, buried within the report were nuggets of much needed information that allowed him to piece together just how massive an undertaking Ulyr was planning. Glancing over at his old friend, currently asleep in his chair, he shook his head in a silent wish for his return at the end of this campaign. With a heavy heart he signed the plan, and thus Plan Archon was initiated.
The next day was a day in which a monumental event took place as the full might of the RAP Legion Reason's Might was roused to full power for the first time living memory and for the very first time in recorded history to fight on another world as a full unit. Ulyr watched as his brothers and sisters of the Commander corps prepared themselves for the coming battle, more than ready to take command of Mastery's Might once more and bring the light of reason to a planet cloaked in the Void.
Beyond the gleaming forms of the RAPs the massive ships stood silently waiting for their cargo to load itself onto their gullets. Dwarfed by the RAPs transports immense size sat countless smaller vessels each bearing the image of a soaring serpent, the icon of the legendary Sky Guard the best troops of the world and for the first time to be deployed in an offensive maneuver. Yet, even as the air within the complex was filled with stifling stress and an undercurrent of fear the men and women did their duty and did it well. Even from where he stood far above the ground Ulyr saw and smiled at their bravery, only for the smile to wither as he knew that most would not be returning after this fight, but everyone knew that this was their best chance to end this endless war.
Turning away from the expanse of the complex, he walked through a door that bore the icon of the Lord General, as the door slide open with a welcoming chime he relaxed infinitesimally as he gently sat down in his chair, enjoying the faint creak of wood and leather as he did so. Before activating the computer system, which had never failed to irritate him, sighing as his entire office was promptly covered in holographic boards displaying all manner of graphs, calculations, simulations in progress and at the very corner a few in progress chess games that were waiting for his next moves.
Shifting through the amount of screens shown was always the hardest part of this event, but it was always something that had to be done for the computer was purposely designed to be unable to have set presents. Grumbling as he manipulated the windows, such that he could find the information that he wanted, Ulyr once more considered rejecting the paranoia inspired computer for a more sensible system that actually stored the relative location of screens when shut down.
Yet, even he had to admit that it was a good defense against any spy or infiltration attempt from gathering any actionable information due to the completely randomized nature of the screens, and there had been such instances in the past that the system had blunted. However, for all the value inherent in the system and its success in the past, that didn't mean it wasn't terribly irritating to use when he needed to quickly find certain information.
After spending much too long digging for the needed information, he finally found the file that he was looking for at the moment. With a flick of a finger, a blur of color engulfed the office as the screens faded or shifted backwards as a large, to scale holographic projection of a planet took their place.
World KVFN, was an oddity in this region of space from their limited exploration. Most worlds bore a distinct lack of large scale ecosystems that supported more than small grasses and animals, yet the world in front of him was covered in thick jungle, with some points reaching more than three kilometers into the atmosphere. Moreover and much more difficult was the general lack of free ground, with only a few areas being open for the landing that he would need to enact. In total their spy satellites had only determined that there were roughly four points where large scale landings could be completed, making the world a nightmare for a large industrialized force to take, while making it a haven for infantry.
Of course that was the world when under the control of the Known, now however the updated maps showed a much different story. The Unknown for whatever insane reason they had, had decided to eliminate the natural defenses of the world by the expedient method of simply using fire to burn down entire chunks of the world covering jungle. Reveling ground that had last seen light eons ago, but beyond the ecological damage their actions would inflict they had also opened up prime landing sites.
Expertly, manipulating the holographic image, he slowly examined all of the regions that had had holes torn open inside of them. Ulyr smiled at just how helpful the Unknown were in this moment as they had given him the perfect spot to begin the invasion. For some reason probably only understandable by someone driven berserk with rage they had decided to nuke a completely innocent section of forest, far from any other encampment of their on the world and even somewhat out of range of the ground to space defense system that the Known had spent decades constructing.
Increasing the magnification of the area, he examined the chosen location the best he could with the maps that he had to work with. He could see areas that would serve as good forward bases and others that would exploit the terrain to its fullest in the defense of his men, for this was the single most critical invasion that had ever been done in this war, for it was drawing nearly the entirely of the forces under his command to a single battle field. Compounding the potential for disaster was the simple fact that their tactics were not meant to wage planetary scale war and instead to force the opponent to spend lives like water in order to enforce their hold. However, in this situation they would have to go on the offensive and wage war in the style of the Known and Unknown, and with the landing zone chosen and already the information feed into the simulation systems, all that was left was to reach the world and begin the invasion.
Flicking the holographic world close, at the same moment that he brought forth a communication system. Ulyr spoke, his voice being broadcast from all sound systems across the world, from the lowest slums to the highest peaks, all could hear the voice of the Lord General as he spoke across the world for the first time. "The endless war that we have born for countless eons, that our ancestors suffered under, moves into a new phase this day. The Sky Guard flies forth from our home to take to the stars and wage war on another soil, the Assault Corps begin their march, the men and women of the army and its brethren make their way towards the pivotal battle. The simulations have given us hope, and now we take it with our blood and lives, when our ships grace the sky above our home the war shall tip forever in our favor.
As of this moment recruitment restrictions are hereby, eliminated and all military recruitment officers are ordered to accept as many as they have equipment for. No longer will the military of our worlds be bleeding, now comes the time to strike forth and retake our lost worlds. The enteral war begins its final end, the Unknown shall fall and the Known shall be forced to submit to our might in time. We shall take back our space and build a brighter future for all sons of Earth. To the stars we go once more, by my command."
As soon as his voice faded away as he turned off the planetary speakers, the same system crackled back on as the voice of his oldest friend K'Thal spoke, now with his fervor infusing his voice with power, "People of our world, the end of the war is upon us. We have come far from the times of our ancestors and much has been lost, the technology of the Fallen Star tells us much, of what was ours and yet lost. But all is not lost, for even now our scientists research the universe and from their work our military enacts their greatest gamble yet. Countless hours of simulations, have gone into the planning of the war to the smallest degree and now the pivotal moment that we have waited for has come. Rise up children of Earth and take arms against those that would see us destroyed for the mere crime of living. From the mutated, to the pure all whom bear the mark of humanity are one upon this world. Seek just employment in the military, or without, for all that aid us in this time give aid to those yet to come and with your help the future is ever brighter.
By my power as Scientist Lord of the Ytterian Technocracy, I declare Plan Archon initiated. Let, the fury of our might shatter our enemies for the final time, let our guns tear then apart in space and land, let us free ourselves of the chains of the past. To the stars we go to forge a grand destiny for all born of Earth. Look towards Sol and know the location of home eternal, and know that with this moment we come ever closer to seeing its lush gardens once more.
By the might of technology and reason, our march begins!"
K'Thal thundered over the planetary speakers, even as the military marched in massive lines towards their ships. Crossing through cities and mountains, countless ships flew through the air tracing their path through clouds, drawing symbols in their transit. Over the capital of the world a hundred and one ships traced with clouds the symbol of the Fallen Star, a grand circle with stars emblazoned within. From all corners of the world the sound barrier shattered as thousands of transports raced into space and towards their waiting ships.
The time had come for Plan Archon to begin, even Ulyr renowned for his stoicism could feel the excitement and hope of finally seeing this war ended once and for all. The fleets had easily slipped into the correct alignment, only assisted by the insanity that gripped the Unknown forces. With almost insulting ease they had managed to maneuver into the proper position to quickly land at the chosen site.
"Lord General, scanners are picking up Unknown transports heading towards Archon Zone. Orbital trajectories have been calculated to strike their convoys, do we fire or hold for now?" The smooth voice of Admiral Iuval, spoke from his office's intercom system. 'Well, say what you will but the Unknown aren't totally incompetent at war, just mostly.' Ulyr thought to himself as he pondered the ramifications of using orbital strikes on their convoys, but removing their response force or severely weakening it was more than worth the damage done to the world.
Pressing the button to connect him to the Admiral, he waited for the beep to sound before speaking, "Admiral Iuval, fire at will, During this campaign I expect you to strike from orbit any target possible, and be on standby for pinpoint strikes. Lord General out." Closing the connection before she could reply, but knowing her value and ability Ulyr instead simply looked over the last moment calculations, doing last moment refinement to the plans.
Yet, only one hour later, the time had come. Easing himself from his chair and picking up his cane he slowly made his way through the ship towards the hanger wherein Mastery's Might waited along side its secondaries. As he walked, memories long suppressed revealed themselves, the sound of the air shattering under the force of an atomic weapon, a hundred and one corpses being grounded under the tracks of a heavy tank, a RAP simply crushing a fort under its fort. Long forgotten, but power memories of the last time he had taken to the battlefield. He knew that both enemies knew of him and had standing orders to seek his death at any cost, for he was simply the best there was on the battlefield.
In the last battle he had been in, it had been by his sole effort that saw a route turned into a decisive victory for his world, and neither side could ignore such results, and to the Ytterian Technocracy he was the shinning star that all strove to be. Their Champion upon the battlefield, the ultimate warrior that saw their enemies break and flee, yet what none realized is just how much he loathed war and even more taking part in it directly. The battlefield was messy, constantly changing and awash with unpleasantness, yet gritting his teeth Ulyr pushed on resisting the urge to claim privilege of rank and simply remain in space safe from the soon to be new memories of battle.
Grimacing in both pain and having to force himself to move forward past his distaste for battle, ensured that his already slow walking speed only slowed even more. About half way to his destination, Ulyr wished that government employees were allowed rejuvenation treatments or even just simple genetic upgrades to extend lifespan, but that technology was reserved for the scientists, doctors and high ranking military officers with the notable exception of the Lord General. As his post was technically the liaison between the government and military it was counted as a governmental post, thus removing his access to the treatments that he had enjoyed prior to his promotion. To compound that twisted senseless logic the laws further stated that the Lord General must be brought up to their chronological age, in terms of biological age, seeing him go from a healthy 30 to a decaying sixty year old in a month.
Yet, even so it was what it was and he had a battle to win and a planet to save. There was no time for such meaningless thought, when there was something far more critical to be done and he was not about to let his people down, he never failed and he would not start now on the eve of their final triumph. As he finally entered the hanger, he could see Mastery's Might waiting for him towering above him even as its feet rested more than a hundred levels below him, and next to it stood the four patterned after it.
Immediately to its left stood the massive artillery variation that had long ago been given the designation Armament of Science, boosting the highest grade weapons possible for them to craft, with its onboard scanners and computer systems more than able to strike buildings from across the horizon. When it went to war it left only annihilation on the worlds it walked, in past eons it had broken worlds on its own simply walking over that which did not burn under the fury of plasma.
It was the one of the seconds of the legion, equaled only by its brother and surpassed only by Mastery's Might, and to the right of his own platform stood the gleaming form of the Efficiency's Beacon. Which stood shorter than the others and yet it boosted the single most advanced technology ever invented by those that had built it ages ago, it held in massive tanks on its back a constantly refilling supply of nano machines, that had been programmed with only one mission and that was to repair that which was damaged. Where the other four Champions of the legion marched forth to war and tore all in their path asunder, the Beacon was that which kept them in operational condition no matter what they faced. Massive rents in armor repaired in moments, frozen joints unfrozen, ammo replicated and yet for all the power that nano machines granted the RAP, it was always a risk to bring the titan from Yttera and into battle due to the chaotic nature of the machines, yet their value could not be understated.
Thus were left the two lesser, that stood to the sides of their greater and yet these had been built to support the other and the greater. Logic of History was granted massive guns and weapons able to annihilate at range, even as its brother Scholar of Order was outfitted with massive melee weapons ready to rend land apart, and shatter mountains.
In front of each RAP, stood their pilots waiting for his arrival, to take the place of the grandmaster of the legion and to lead the full might of the Ytterian Technocracy into battle. The four of them silently nod towards him, and slowly enter their platforms to ready themselves for the coming battle. Ulyr rested his weary body for a moment before entering the cavernous depths of Mastery's Might and start the arduous connection process. Lights snap on as the antimatter reactor is ignited with the rush of energy from the secondary plasma reactor, crackling sparks jump to and fro as the systems last operated centuries ago shake themselves back into full operation, under the torrential rush of energy born from the total annihilation of matter and captured through unknown technology salvaged from the Fallen Star by his long ago ancestors. Now millennium later their work would save their descendants pain and suffering once more as readouts snap into existence to aid in the task of mentally connecting with the core of the machine.
Programs start up as the foundations begin to function, only to cascade ever further until something approaching a mind awakens. Yet, for all of its power it is unable to act without a pilot a key restriction that had been placed upon it by the first to build it and none had since unbound it from the restriction. Then with everything done and ready, Ulyr took his seat upon the command console and felt cables punch through his shirt and lock into sockets long ago implanted in his spine. At the very moment of connection, he found himself in a endless void of darkness bereft of any sensation, yet then an instant later everything and more flooded into his mind.
He could now see more than ever before, he could hear the radio waves that directed the men and women of the ship, he could feel where everyone was within the massive form of Mastery's Might. With a thought, he lifted an arm that had been added so long ago that none remained to know why it had been added, but it had proved its use and so all the RAPs since had had it incorporated into their design. Manipulating the fingers of the arm such that all five fingers where closed into a fist, he alerted the crew of the ship that he was ready and to his sides he could see that the others of his rank were doing the same, and he knew in the same way that a person knew where their limbs were that all of the 30 were doing the same.
With a thought a communication snapped open as he spoke to Admiral Iuval, "We are ready, the Legion of Reason is ready for deployment. The connection is complete and we are as one, upon your command we descend." The mighty voice thundered throughout the ship as all stopped in awe of the voice of the testament of humanity's might made manifest. The next moment the ship shuddered as he felt the engines shift their burn direction, directing them towards the planetary surface. Time seemed to crawl by him as nanoseconds slowly tick on down, becoming seconds then minutes and finally the voice of the admiral spoke through the speaker systems of the RAP, "Time for descent, Lord General may reason guide your path and technology shield you." Iuval spoke with reverence and hope in her voice, even as the doors of the hanger opened wide letting him see outward.
The first thing, that all noticed was the greenness of the world as a blanket of green stretched from horizon to horizon, yet there was no time for such sightseeing for the battle was yet to be fought and won. At the first moment, servos spun up and began to move as the first step was taken and all of the 35 titans took their first lumbering step in unison and then another, speeding up from there as they began to move faster off of the transport ship that had brought them to the ground. Icons burst into existence as the scanners identified the enemy and a wave of annihilation struck outward from the oncoming wall of metal that was the Legion of Reason's Might.
A wall of metal and plasma tore deep trenches into the few Unknown soldiers that had managed to reach their landing zone, turning most to ash and then came the next volley and the next. Ulyr inside of the leading Engine of this annihilation simply tallied the dead and marched forth, the massive trees sought to bar their path and thus were annihilated with the same ease as the mortal troops that had tried to fight. Ash rained down across the world as streaks of light tore through the sky and the world quaked as mountains of moving metal walked forward implacably, crushing all in their path. Then came countless sonic booms as the sky was rent asunder by the landing force of the Sky Guard and the Military.
Dots of color raced across the sky of the world leaving death in their path, as nukes exploded with gigatons of force sending entire seconds of the planetary forest to the ground and breaking apart all resistance. Where the nukes did not fall, there marched the legions of men and women with roaring tanks at their side reducing trees and other impediments to nothing, and over head soared the air-force that took the skies with impunity as the ground to orbit guns were turned to rubble in the first day of landing and with them removed from play, the rest of the invasion began.
The sky burned as the fragile Unknown air-force sought to challenge their might and were cast down to the ground, as befitted such traitors of humanity. Their forces of the ground were crushed beneath the treads of the tanks and the march of the troops with the RAPs in the background annihilating all that they could find. Armament of Science took glee in arching shells of burning plasma and solid metal far across the horizon to impact a cultist force from beyond their compression, or to crush a city take over by the first invaders, each hit driving it and its pilot to ever greater acts of destruction.
However, for all the damage that Armament dealt it was Mastery that took the largest toll, as Ulyr piloted with the skill born of decades of effort and an intuitive sense of battle, each shot spelling the end for an entire army, and with precision orbital strikes all fell before his relentless onslaught, and in support marched Efficiency's Beacon refueling the tanks and airplanes, even as it built forward bases on the move for the men that marched across the world with them.
As the days passed the forest which once covered the world, was rent apart as massive tunnels of barren ground traced their way through the greenery, showing the path of the forces that had come to the world and the determination to see the war end in their favor once and for all. Day after day the forest fell ever further from its peek, and Ulyr made sure to keep a simulation updated with its current borders to ensure the planet's recovery after the war concluded. Yet, the simulations became ever worst for the planet as the fight went on and Ulyr grew ever more displeased with such things for they would not be able to do that which was their duty at the end of this, but perhaps once the war was ended they would be able to repair it all. Yet, for all of Ulyr's displeasure the campaign of extermination continued apace, three days after landfall the entire Unknown force had been shattered and the Known had been discovered and quickly placed in secure complexes built by the engineers and the aid of Beacon.
Then it was over, two full weeks of battle and now the planet was theirs, more than a billion Unknown dead, a hundred and fifty thousand lost to mundane methods and only a total of a hundred and three thousand lost to the void, which had quickly been discovered and eliminated before they could slink back home aboard the ships. In the end it was a grand victory of unprecedented scale, an entire world pacified in less than a month and only a total of two hundred and fifty thousand loses, yet Ulyr felt that the scale and speed only mocked him for how could people with little more than melee weapons and a few mutations deal that much damage to an army orders of magnitude more technologically advanced with almost no melee encounters, yet it was the same story every single time, for some reason whenever they faced the Unknown people would forget their training and rush into melee combat with a sword, which they could barely use.
However, beyond the issues with people forgetting the value of guns over melee combat, they had a new issue in the form of roughly 75 million Narenla in secure complexes on the world. Ulyr frankly didn't want to kill them for the simple fact of being on the world, it left a rotten taste in his mouth at the thought of killing defenseless sapients even if they existed in a state of war, after they had suffered the wrath of the Unknown. Another reason was that he frankly didn't want to potentially escalate that particular war to a much worse level, the Narenla might make no pretensions regarding their feelings of humanity, but the few times that they had communicated with his forces had been to arrange for prisoner swaps for his men and theirs tended to take prisoners rather than outright execute them, although they tended to have a very flexible definition of that when applied to humans, but they had never gone out of their way to massacre civilians and seemed frankly more interested in making sure that they were locked to one world than outright extermination. As the gateway swung open he found himself in front of a window with the leader of the Narenla on the other side with audio systems to allow both of them to communicate with the other.
Ulyr took the seat in front of the window looking through the nearly unbreakable window, at the Narenla on the other side and not for the first time wondered just why so many races in the galaxy were humanoid in form. The figure looked almost identical to a human except for his size which would tower over any normal human by several feet and the much thicker bioluminescent tendrils in place of hair, shaking the thought away he focused on the task at hand.
"I am so very tired of battle and I have no interest in executing anyone that can't even hope to fight back. As such I am allocating five transport ships with their data cores stripped of all non essential programs to transport you and your people from this wold back to your homeworld.
The war is moving into the end game, your people are simply too weakened by the ages to be a true threat any more, retreat to your worlds and I will do my best to ensure that we will allow you to withdraw from this war, but if you force my hand, there is not much I can do."
He knew that his voice was tired and empty of passion, but age took its toll and the weight of piloting a RAP did so as well, then there was the worry of the world and its recovery and in the end the sad truth was that he just didn't have the energy to fight anymore at least not against harmless imprisoned sapients. He truly hoped that they would take his offer and simply let themselves fade into the shadows for a few centuries, before returning to the light, perhaps something could be worked out then, but now the coin had been thrown and fate decided. The simulations had shown that there was no scenario in which the Narenla truly mattered anymore. If the pieces fell as predicted the Voided worlds would be rent asunder by nuclear flame and disease within the decade and the reclamation would then begin, and once it was started there was no chance for them to truly impact the ascension of the Ytterian Technocracy.
As he slumped in his chair the figure on the other side seemed to almost laugh as he spoke, "You want us to go back to where we came from, human? You, after all this time and blood, have the audacity to tell us that you're tired and wish to spare those that can't fight back? You don't even realise what I'm talking about, because in the end this doesn't matter to you.
You people might have forgotten us, discarded everything we were from your records, but we haven't forgotten what you did, what nightmares you were. Even as we both fall, you are still 'greater' than us and the arrogance of it clings to your mind more than your violent nature. The power you monsters wield will lay waste to everything, and you don't even realize it anymore.
Home... you do not talk about home to us. Or history, or bloodshed or anything else. I thought that you would be something more vile, that at least you could understand something about this or finish things with some dignity, but you're just pathetic and ignorant. You've lost your will to fight and just want to give up, for us to give up as well, as though nothing happened? You call this mercy? You're worse than those raving cultists."
He was only partially listening, suffering as he always did at the end of a battle, yet that comparison sparked anger and the anger drove away the creeping malaise that so often overtook him when leaving a battle.
"We are not cultists, nor are we worse or equal than them. We don't stand for their values, they seek the ruination of reality, the perversion of life and existence. We fight against them at every turn.
Do you know just why this is the first time you have suffered majorly against the cultists? You have faced them for nearly the same length of time as we have and yet you have only lost one world in all that time, and have suffered maybe three billion in losses to them.
We know more than you think for we have forces on every outbound path, and we allow you free passage outward, yet whenever the cultists try to leave they find themselves under fire from our border ships. I can not claim perfection for some of their ships have escaped our net, but the vast majority of our fleets is on the outskirts of the region guarding the outside from what lies within.
We have taken the majority of the Cultists' force upon our own, sparing your people the indignity of being twisted so far from your own nature. We lost five worlds to the plague of the insanity, and broke three more before the spread was halted and contained. We have done our absolute best to manipulate the war such that the both of you do not find yourselves on the same world at any given time. We have willingly given our lives to protect your worlds from their touch and have succeeded until now. Did you know that we have had hundreds of opportunities to end this war if we did not care one iota about lives lost in the process? If we so wished we could have broken each and every single one of your worlds in the first year of the war and from their ashes bring an end to these cultists, yet we restrained ourselves not for our sake but for yours.
We saw your technology, and knew that you were equally deserving of life. And so we stayed our fleets, allowing the war to drag onward for the countless eons, yet never did we break our first decision. And even now, when I am offering you the lives of seventy five million of your people safe travel back to your primary worlds, you dare equate me to those insane destroyers. If you wish for annihilation then you're doing your absolute best to gain such a result.
You have three local days to make your decision and that is final. I hope for the sake of your people that you make the right one for them before you throw this chance away."
Burning with fury and energy Ulyr stormed out of the complex and back towards his men, to enact the first step in ordering for the healing of the world and the planning of the next phase of the campaign.
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My longest omake to date at a little over 7.5k words long, spanning over 10 pages. All about the work of a human world finally ending a war that has lasted for thousands of years.
Kamangr
Stella!!
[V] GM reveals Corvus' current actions
[V] Ask the GM a question and they shall answer (subject to veto)
I'll take these two. Because Corvy going behind Kesar made me hold a grudge for sneaky pay-back for a while, and the Information brokering is the best I can think of doing for other Questers to figure out the best option.
[V] Ask the GM a question and they shall answer (subject to veto)
I'll take these two. Because Corvy going behind Kesar made me hold a grudge for sneaky pay-back for a while, and the Information brokering is the best I can think of doing for other Questers to figure out the best option.
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- Location
- United States
Just realized I forgot to actually choose for this. Also slightly disappointed that the explosive vests aren't a thing. Gotta say, I was really looking forward to exploding Astartes, and the epic last stand having the ability to explode moments before your death at the hands of enemy forces would give. That said.....I see why you didn't do it. While it's very Warhammer it's also entirely too Grimmderp for how we've fluffed and built our Legion, and in a somewhat unnecessary way as well since you can get the same value by just having someone drop a grenade at his feet.
As for my choice, is there really even a question? I choose:
[X] +2 of Solarus' custom explosives for the initial landings (Currently will have 20)
because while I don't really know if I even understand what this does properly, and Solarus is likely to have more than four rolls during the Ritual, the entire Omake was an ode to his love for explosions. It's one of the most fun, interesting, and important parts of his character! Plus, with fifty worlds and likely a series of massive naval battles the +2 might be the deciding factor in whether some Ritual Sights hold or not. Plus, I'm not actually very worried on whether or not our Hero Units are likely to hold, and much like Beltran it kind of seems like whatever kill team he's assigned to is almost certain to hold. If only because Solarus has +45 in duels by himself, and a team to back him up. Plus, unlike Beltran Solarus doesn't have a -75 CR Malus, and Solarus is somehow....less destructive to the Legion if he's Lost?
That last bit feels heretical for some reason, but a Lost Solarus doesn't have over +100 to personal combat, and even without a CR boost he has +240 CR, so he's not really at a huge risk on that front either. And....the explosives are just a more interesting direction here.
Hehehe, yeah I had fun and I agree the Vulkan negaverse would probably need an official one or go bananas
I do my best with tying them together so am glad it goes over well. As for reward, let's help Perty not fall behind.[X] -20% decay to one of Perturabo's projects
Yeah that was a wild ride even after the fact. and always wanted to use those gifs as I still crack up at the actual video from Jontron. and it was included after already being an idea but glad you like. As for reward, another delay in project decay.
[X] -20% decay to one of Perturabo's projects
I couldn't resist on the Kesar holding back bit, still gets a chuckle out of me even tho i wrote it. glad I was able to sell the interlude choices so well too. Reward is Khan having one of his projects not as decayed.
[X] -20% decay to one of Khan's projects
Ooooh, am curious about the project related to poems. Good to hear the analysis about the nanobots works cause it really is just IG warfare on a super teeny scale when used against Nurgle...but that can be an advantage in its own right. And speak of khan projects, time for a new reward thingee
[X] -20% decay to one of Khan's projects
- Location
- Elsewhere
| Guilliman, here's how to use stealth (11/15) | Vulkan Social. | Banning forced servitorization of criminals without forcibly doing so (3/6) | Taking Over the Codex Astartes for the Year From Guilliman | Catheric Evacuations Team (1/10) |
A big part of it is that Solarus would be instantly an Exalted of who he falls to, and one that would be able to make daemonic infused bombs. Imagine a briefcase bomb that causes a full scale daemonic incursion. Corrupted Solarus would make 10 of those a year as his base.
- Pronouns
- Psychic energy
Huh. I wonder how many thought of that same question?
Time Heals All Wounds.
TinyGladiator
Just another SVer
- Location
- I move alot.
Hiya! Decided to make an omake on an Eternal Warden, an Apothecary, which began to grow into something else that I didn't really expect. Anyways, uh, I hope it isn't too bad. I'm a little worried about this as I haven't really made a character for the Eternal Wardens before. Hope you enjoy it, despite that! 0u0
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Time Heals All Wounds.
Your name is Dian Vaidya, an Apothecary of the Eternal Wardens, and at the moment you were free of your duties.
No, that is incorrect. You are never free of your duties. Your duty is to save your brothers with your medical skills, tools and knowledge.
To oversee the next generation of Eternal Wardens was simple, if at times tragic when some failed. To tend to the dead is a difficult task, but not the hardest. To judge whether or not still living bodies, broken and struggling, were already dead or not was...
In all your time in the Eleventh Legion, even in the greatest and most nightmarish of battles, there was nothing that you feared more than the notion that you may make an error in your judgement and add a name to be carved into armour when they could have been saved.
So you make sure that such a thing never happens, that no matter what you would save as many lives as you could and to keep them from an all too early end. Even if they would need bionics to continue battle, or even to be interned into a Dreadnought to rest and retire from life until called again.
Wardens like the First Captain of the Legion barely spared a moment of their focus as they came up with plan after plan to save as many as possible, preparing strategies for anything. Others trained and sparred near constantly so that they could triumph over whatever they fought. And Primarch Kesar Dorlin himself dedicated so much, always trying to find ways to save his sons as he carved up new runes so that he wouldn't have to carve something else.
Therefore wouldn't it have been against your duty to not follow their example, the example of the greatest of the Eternal Wardens? To waste time, to waste your potential, was tantamount to turning your back on the lives you were meant to save.
That was unacceptable. You had to be better, you had to plan ahead and prepare for whatever came. The nightmares in the Warp, the roaring Greenskins, various Xenos both alive and extinct, other empires of humanity and even the lost and corrupted.
At first you began simply, studying a vast amount of medical and anatomical information on both Astartes as well as regular humans and even some on abhumans. You already knew a lot, especially of many various ways the body could be damaged or die from, but you made sure to expand your knowledge on the subject of biology.
You also made sure to go over what was available on psykers, particularly what wounds they could inflict that you could treat more effectively and what was possible for some of them to heal. Every little bit of data would help, and you made sure to remember everything that was important.
But you didn't just learn from texts, images and recordings. You knew before that the battlefield was the greatest teacher and tester, and the same held true after you made your commitment. You couldn't find something better outside of it, merely things to prepare for it.
During one battle you managed to reach and treat a Warden that had their legs blown off from an explosion. But the enemy still fired on his position while you were there, a few shots nearly hitting them, so you stood guard over his form and took what he could not. After that you decided to wear a combat shield over your right arm.
Another time you rushed over to a fallen brother and tried to drill into his armour to heal. Heavily injured and rapidly losing life but with your knowledge of Astartes physiology you knew that you would have just enough time to save him.
But you couldn't pierce through their armour as fast as you should have, it was warded with a reinforcement rune. He didn't die, but that one mistake came too close to that fate. So you studied the effects of what was in the ruinic library more closely to understand and take note of them all for the future.
And it was due to another case of research of armour, as you went to the Armoury for some notes on Terminator gear, that you went to the armoury and first met an interesting figure that you could come to regularly meet.
A Techmarine by the name of Solomon had provided you with all that you asked for when you met him back then, at first confused and then happy to help when he learned why you were asking about such things.
He started by talking at length about what he knew about various armours, their designs and specifications, and a few improvements that were projected to be implemented in the future. It was a lot more than you had expected to get from your inquiries, what was discussed about Terminator plate alone was enough to last you a few days of detailed study. But then he surprised you by then asking you about what other subjects he could help you with.
You tried to decline, you already had everything you needed and you didn't want to take up more of his time than necessary. You knew then the importance that Techmarines had more than you did before your pursuit of improvement, to have the knowledge and training to manage and maintain even the most complicated of Astartes gear in the most hectic battles was something to be respected. In a way, it was inspirational to what you were trying, and not something to heavily interrupt for your own sake.
He agreed, stating that there were a few tasks that he had to finish up too, but then said that he would be glad to help out again in the future whenever there was time. You thanked him for the offer and then left, immediately trying to find out how best to apply the information that Solomon had given you.
And then after compiling your notes on how to deal with potential threats and hazards while treating those wearing Tactical Dreadnought Armour, considering a variety of hypothetical scenarios against several different enemies that were most probable to occur, you hesitated for a few brief moments before decided to accept Techmarine Solomon's offer for help in your next avenue for research.
He knew more than you did about several subjects, and he knew them better than you would have even by studying them extensively.
That was when you started a form of routine with him, spending time together when you were both free from your duties to discuss a variety of subjects relating to your duty that he could assist you in.
Bionics and how much an Astartes body could be replaced by them, injuries that could be inflicted by vehicles they were in that became damaged or destroyed, how broken a body would be before it was too late for even a Dreadnought's life-support systems to save.
Then, as the depths of your knowledge was expanded and you memorised detail after detail for the tactics and plans you prepared for the battles of the future, your talks began to slightly shift. Knowledge and data was still shared, but occasionally there were discussions on other subjects. From philosophical considerations to reflections on the history of the Legion.
You began to visit each other more too, and you began to realise that you were spending more time with him than even your fellow Apothecaries.
During a few times when the conversations heavily diverged into other topics or when began to take a lot of time you voiced your worries that you were costing the Techmarine time that was better spent elsewhere.
Each time Solomon stated that he was glad to help you in your own duty, that the mindset was commendable and that to help those Wardens that saved the lives of their brothers was something that he considered more than worthy to do.
You had to agree, even as you thought of his role in a similar way. You both bore names on your armour, you both knew what it felt like to add another one to be worn. None of the Eleventh Legion would need to explain to each other why they wouldn't want that to happen, not when it could have been prevented. You both understood that loss all too well.
And he understood you. He approved of what you did, said that what you were doing was a quest for knowledge meant for the betterment of others. He even said that he had been learning a little from the talks too.
"In a way we both repair our own different machines," you had said one time, reflecting on how alike the two of you were. "I fix those of flesh and body, and you fix those of metal and circuits."
"Yes, yes, in a sense that is correct," Solomon replied a moment later. "Indeed, there exists a sizeable portion of the Mechanicum that believe organic matter is but another machine. Others disagree, 'There is no strength in flesh, only weakness', but I say that there exists potential and worth within both. Although, as to what you say, I prefer to see it that we are both healers. You heal the Astartes of the Legion, I heal the machines of our Legion, and sometimes we work together to heal by uniting flesh and machine."
And, having watched him do their work on simple maintenance on your equipment, you had to agree that the work of Techmarines did seem to be a sort of healing. To soothe and appease the Machine Spirits, to know what was broken and how to repair it.
Weapons, armour, gear, vehicles and all else in need of repair weren't just objects. To Solomon they had life, all of them were a part of the Eternal Wardens and fought with them. You began to look at your own gear in a different light after a while of interaction with him, and you made sure to preform the rites to ensure they all worked properly.
Over a decade had passed since you first met Solomon and gained a rapport with him. The both of you had done much together during that time, from at times fighting together in battle and at others tending to those that were wounded enough to require more than just an Apothecary. Through your efforts together you managed to save more of the Eternal Wardens than you would have otherwise.
Together you fought for the Legion and you both gave all you could for it.
Now, at the dawn of the great Ritual War, you were headed to meet Solomon again. This time you had something else to talk about other than more research, there was something important you had to do.
You found him where the Dreadnoughts rested at, he spent much of his time there when there was nothing else he needed to work on.
You did not often come here, not unless your skills were needed.
"Ah, Dian?" Solomon said as you came up beside him, in front of a Deredeo that was deep in his slumber. "Perfect timing, I was just about to head to you."
"I wanted to meet you here, actually. And I wanted to see over the Dreadnoughts with you."
"Oh? Would this be for your research?"
You shook your head. "Not quite."
A moment of silence fell as the two of you watched over your fallen brother, your eyes drifted over to the names that were carefully carved across their body. You wondered what dreams that would manifest in any Warden that was inside one of these, if they ever relived the moments that made them how they were now.
If they thought about those that died around them, while they just barely clung to their half-lives.
"Through their noble sacrifices and tragic sufferings they are granted rest," your said as your thoughts slipped out. "And as they have given up everything to fight for the Imperium now their fate is to do nothing else except to fight more."
"One day they might be able to stay awake with us," Solomon reminded. "Perhaps even a time where they could be healed, brought back from their state. It's not impossible."
"Few things seem impossible in this age," you admitted. "But no matter the future, it doesn't change the here and now."
A few more moments of contemplative silence passed before Solomon spoke again.
"When you see them, Brother Dian, you don't think of them as those that survived." It wasn't a question.
"No, I do. I just think about the names that they bear, the hardships that they go through above all else. They can only fight, only in battle will they have a chance to forge new bonds or keep holding onto the ones they made before their internment. Such brief times, fleeting moments that come and go over their lives."
"Then why do you come here now, if you feel this way?"
You sighed at that, you had asked yourself that question many times the moment you considered to come here.
"This war in the Maelstrom will, most probably, be certain death for most of the Legion." you grimly stated as you faced your brother. "And for the Iron Warriors, White Scars and Ultramarines too. I have been considering as many situations that could occur as I can, and even in the best cases in the most relatively calm battlefields it doesn't look good at all."
"Indeed," Solomon nodded, their voice now tinged with sorrow. "I doubt we will ever face a war as terrible as this any time soon, even if we would be capable of waging such a thing. The costs would be... colossal. The worlds and armies on them we will face would be worse than Cadia or even Aleph, worse by orders of magnitude. This will be a trial like no other."
"It would be worth it if this all succeeds, to purify at least move of an area of space as vast as that terrible rift and all the riches inside could shape the future of the galaxy in a way that might truly determine the fate of the Imperium."
"That it would. But I know that's not all that you're concerned about, and you didn't answer my question as to why you are here."
You hesitated for more than a moment, your silence stretched over as you considered the reasons that you possessed. Self reflection over your thoughts was something easier done when it was about something rooted in the physical, a problem to fix or a strategy to construct.
"Part of the reason is that I need to face them, the Dreadnoughts, to remind myself as to what shall happen to those if I falter when we enter the Maelstrom. I will cause more names will be etched onto their bodies through a mistake or an inability to treat them, and some others of those in my care will be entombed like the ones around us. And, no matter how greatly I try or prepare, I know that I will always have those that I fail to save."
You turned around and looked upon the other Dreadnoughts that were in the area, various different types of Castaferrums, Contemptors and Deredeos filled your view and of the names carved into them you recognised more than a few.
"And they remind me of my nightmares when I see them, brother, my failures." your voice full of sorrow and bitterness. "Every time they wake up, they must think 'how long has it been?', 'what happened to my brothers?' and 'will I have to carve another name?' To not even know when your closest companions fall, to know that you weren't there and you wouldn't have known until you woke up perhaps years later. They can barely even train themselves for the battles they face. I will not lie, Solomon, I feel as though I am intruding upon those that that are deep in mourning for those they already lost and will suffer more news of death whenever they awake."
You turned away from it all, from Solomon and the Dreadnoughts, and looked toward the ground.
"I understand your views and I hold nothing but respect for your duties here and for those you tend to. And it is unfair of me to feel this way, to say what I am saying here while they rest. But... being in this place brings up thoughts I would prefer to not think, makes me feel as though I am an unwelcome intruder. I'd rather spend my time preparing to ensure that those that fall will be as few as possible, that would be the best thing I should do for them."
A hand fell on your shoulder as you finished your little speech, and you turned to face the Techmarine that was by your side.
"Just as you understand me, Dian, I understand you." Solomon spoke, voice firm but not cold. "It pains me also to see such things happen to them too, but remember that the spirits within them and the machines they are united with burn brightly along side all the Eternal Wardens. No matter what we face, or what we suffer, we fight to bring a brighter future for humanity. For those we cherish."
"For those we cherish." something like a smile formed on your face as you repeated the words. "You always know what to say, Solomon."
The Techmarine shrugged and lowered their hand. "We are all brothers, and we all stand together."
The two of you lapsed into silence again, surrounded by figures of those that had given everything they had and would continue giving until they had nothing more left to give. That thought about their nature, at a time where you were really considering several things about yourself, made you realise that it sounded quite personally familiar.
You looked over the Dreadnoughts with new eyes, your contemplations now reached a place that perhaps they should have already reached.
"Another reason I came here," you began as you took out something that you had kept in your armour. "Was to give this to you, brother."
"And what is it?" the Techmarine asked as they took it.
"A gift. Perhaps my legacy."
You saw him realise what he held in his hands as you said that, and yet he examined the contents inside to confirm it.
"Hah, you cited me as co-author, editor and a source. And, goodness, it's formatted better and illustrated in more detail than even what some of the teachers I served under in the Mechanicum presented. Though they certainly didn't possess your drive for education and sharing knowledge."
Solomon focused on reading, engrossed in seeing the fruit borne from years of effort, before he voiced something that was on his mind.
"I thought you said that you would have preferred to have compiled and shared all your research and tactical analyses when they were completed, that you still had so many more details and hypothetical to consider before even making a first draft."
"I still believe that is the case, and I lament the fact that I have little more time to work on it, but as I said...," you sighed as you looked down at the names you carved into your armour. "...the Ritual War will be certain death for most of us."
Your brother stopped reading at that and slowly looked back up at you.
"Consider it a promise, Solomon." you said before he could say anything. "Hold onto the original for me, so that afterwards we could both continue our work on it together for the next version. Or, if I do not make it, you continue it with another Apothecary in my stead."
"I doubt I'd find any that would be as driven as you." the Techmarine chuckled for a moment, before they became solemn again. "And if I die while you live?"
"Then... I will have cherished our moments together, and make sure to continue my work with this project. And I promise keep your name on my work, as the one who helped and inspired me to get this far."
Solomon, your cherished companion, gave a smile at that. And you gave one back too. Together you two, and all the rest of the Eternal Wardens, would fight in this war and whatever happened... you would all stand there together. Even beyond death itself, the memories always kept alive by your thoughts and deeds.
A few moments passed before the Techmarine seemed to realise something. "Wait, did you say that this was the original? Than you have a copy for yourself?"
"Oh, of course!" you said, genuinely confused at the question. "This Ritual War could provide a wealth of information to decipher, well more than almost any other battle the Legion has faced. To waste an opportunity like this would be unthinkably lax and pointless, it would be inexcusable and a disservice to the Legion if I did that."
Solomon seemed to find something about what you said funny, as they began to laugh harder than you had ever seen him do so before.
"And I have already shared several other copies towards the other Apothecaries," you continued on without pause. "You did give me permission when I asked if your work could be shared back when I accepted your help if you recall. I've already submitted all the necessary paperwork for First Captain Oriacarius and he has thankfully allowed it."
The laughter kept going for a little while longer before it died off, Techmarine Solomon's face bore an expression of amusement and amity to you.
"I do hope that they find our efforts worthwhile," he said as he lifted up the first edition of a decade of research and carefully considered plans. "I should give you a gift in return for handing me this and your promise. I had some plans for improving your shield, the power capacity definitely could be tuned. Hopefully I will be able to get it done in time for the war."
You nodded at that. "Thank you, I would be extremely grateful for the added protection."
"I'll work as quickly as I can. Also," he said as he turned to look at the guide again. "I can not believe that I somehow missed the mandatory notice for my part of the paperwork that's required for this. Is it... not needed?"
"Ah, do not worry about that. I requested for your notice to be delayed long enough for me to share the copies and give you the original. That's actually the last reason I'm here, to tell you that you should go and deal with that now. The amount required has grown slightly due to the delay, actually."
Solomon's reply was delayed by a few moments, the smile on their face now faded away. "...yes, I am glad that I do not have to worry about not doing more paperwork."
"And, on the topic about shields, I included several passages that strongly recommended them. You're probably going to get at least several requests for combat shields from other the Apothecaries. In hindsight, I probably should have given you more advance notice for that."
"Well," the Techmarine said as they put the guide you both worked on inside a secluded part of his armour. "I am certainly glad to be able to support my brothers as much as possible, if nothing else."
-----
Time Heals All Wounds.
Your name is Dian Vaidya, an Apothecary of the Eternal Wardens, and at the moment you were free of your duties.
No, that is incorrect. You are never free of your duties. Your duty is to save your brothers with your medical skills, tools and knowledge.
To oversee the next generation of Eternal Wardens was simple, if at times tragic when some failed. To tend to the dead is a difficult task, but not the hardest. To judge whether or not still living bodies, broken and struggling, were already dead or not was...
In all your time in the Eleventh Legion, even in the greatest and most nightmarish of battles, there was nothing that you feared more than the notion that you may make an error in your judgement and add a name to be carved into armour when they could have been saved.
So you make sure that such a thing never happens, that no matter what you would save as many lives as you could and to keep them from an all too early end. Even if they would need bionics to continue battle, or even to be interned into a Dreadnought to rest and retire from life until called again.
Wardens like the First Captain of the Legion barely spared a moment of their focus as they came up with plan after plan to save as many as possible, preparing strategies for anything. Others trained and sparred near constantly so that they could triumph over whatever they fought. And Primarch Kesar Dorlin himself dedicated so much, always trying to find ways to save his sons as he carved up new runes so that he wouldn't have to carve something else.
Therefore wouldn't it have been against your duty to not follow their example, the example of the greatest of the Eternal Wardens? To waste time, to waste your potential, was tantamount to turning your back on the lives you were meant to save.
That was unacceptable. You had to be better, you had to plan ahead and prepare for whatever came. The nightmares in the Warp, the roaring Greenskins, various Xenos both alive and extinct, other empires of humanity and even the lost and corrupted.
At first you began simply, studying a vast amount of medical and anatomical information on both Astartes as well as regular humans and even some on abhumans. You already knew a lot, especially of many various ways the body could be damaged or die from, but you made sure to expand your knowledge on the subject of biology.
You also made sure to go over what was available on psykers, particularly what wounds they could inflict that you could treat more effectively and what was possible for some of them to heal. Every little bit of data would help, and you made sure to remember everything that was important.
But you didn't just learn from texts, images and recordings. You knew before that the battlefield was the greatest teacher and tester, and the same held true after you made your commitment. You couldn't find something better outside of it, merely things to prepare for it.
During one battle you managed to reach and treat a Warden that had their legs blown off from an explosion. But the enemy still fired on his position while you were there, a few shots nearly hitting them, so you stood guard over his form and took what he could not. After that you decided to wear a combat shield over your right arm.
Another time you rushed over to a fallen brother and tried to drill into his armour to heal. Heavily injured and rapidly losing life but with your knowledge of Astartes physiology you knew that you would have just enough time to save him.
But you couldn't pierce through their armour as fast as you should have, it was warded with a reinforcement rune. He didn't die, but that one mistake came too close to that fate. So you studied the effects of what was in the ruinic library more closely to understand and take note of them all for the future.
And it was due to another case of research of armour, as you went to the Armoury for some notes on Terminator gear, that you went to the armoury and first met an interesting figure that you could come to regularly meet.
A Techmarine by the name of Solomon had provided you with all that you asked for when you met him back then, at first confused and then happy to help when he learned why you were asking about such things.
He started by talking at length about what he knew about various armours, their designs and specifications, and a few improvements that were projected to be implemented in the future. It was a lot more than you had expected to get from your inquiries, what was discussed about Terminator plate alone was enough to last you a few days of detailed study. But then he surprised you by then asking you about what other subjects he could help you with.
You tried to decline, you already had everything you needed and you didn't want to take up more of his time than necessary. You knew then the importance that Techmarines had more than you did before your pursuit of improvement, to have the knowledge and training to manage and maintain even the most complicated of Astartes gear in the most hectic battles was something to be respected. In a way, it was inspirational to what you were trying, and not something to heavily interrupt for your own sake.
He agreed, stating that there were a few tasks that he had to finish up too, but then said that he would be glad to help out again in the future whenever there was time. You thanked him for the offer and then left, immediately trying to find out how best to apply the information that Solomon had given you.
And then after compiling your notes on how to deal with potential threats and hazards while treating those wearing Tactical Dreadnought Armour, considering a variety of hypothetical scenarios against several different enemies that were most probable to occur, you hesitated for a few brief moments before decided to accept Techmarine Solomon's offer for help in your next avenue for research.
He knew more than you did about several subjects, and he knew them better than you would have even by studying them extensively.
That was when you started a form of routine with him, spending time together when you were both free from your duties to discuss a variety of subjects relating to your duty that he could assist you in.
Bionics and how much an Astartes body could be replaced by them, injuries that could be inflicted by vehicles they were in that became damaged or destroyed, how broken a body would be before it was too late for even a Dreadnought's life-support systems to save.
Then, as the depths of your knowledge was expanded and you memorised detail after detail for the tactics and plans you prepared for the battles of the future, your talks began to slightly shift. Knowledge and data was still shared, but occasionally there were discussions on other subjects. From philosophical considerations to reflections on the history of the Legion.
You began to visit each other more too, and you began to realise that you were spending more time with him than even your fellow Apothecaries.
During a few times when the conversations heavily diverged into other topics or when began to take a lot of time you voiced your worries that you were costing the Techmarine time that was better spent elsewhere.
Each time Solomon stated that he was glad to help you in your own duty, that the mindset was commendable and that to help those Wardens that saved the lives of their brothers was something that he considered more than worthy to do.
You had to agree, even as you thought of his role in a similar way. You both bore names on your armour, you both knew what it felt like to add another one to be worn. None of the Eleventh Legion would need to explain to each other why they wouldn't want that to happen, not when it could have been prevented. You both understood that loss all too well.
And he understood you. He approved of what you did, said that what you were doing was a quest for knowledge meant for the betterment of others. He even said that he had been learning a little from the talks too.
"In a way we both repair our own different machines," you had said one time, reflecting on how alike the two of you were. "I fix those of flesh and body, and you fix those of metal and circuits."
"Yes, yes, in a sense that is correct," Solomon replied a moment later. "Indeed, there exists a sizeable portion of the Mechanicum that believe organic matter is but another machine. Others disagree, 'There is no strength in flesh, only weakness', but I say that there exists potential and worth within both. Although, as to what you say, I prefer to see it that we are both healers. You heal the Astartes of the Legion, I heal the machines of our Legion, and sometimes we work together to heal by uniting flesh and machine."
And, having watched him do their work on simple maintenance on your equipment, you had to agree that the work of Techmarines did seem to be a sort of healing. To soothe and appease the Machine Spirits, to know what was broken and how to repair it.
Weapons, armour, gear, vehicles and all else in need of repair weren't just objects. To Solomon they had life, all of them were a part of the Eternal Wardens and fought with them. You began to look at your own gear in a different light after a while of interaction with him, and you made sure to preform the rites to ensure they all worked properly.
Over a decade had passed since you first met Solomon and gained a rapport with him. The both of you had done much together during that time, from at times fighting together in battle and at others tending to those that were wounded enough to require more than just an Apothecary. Through your efforts together you managed to save more of the Eternal Wardens than you would have otherwise.
Together you fought for the Legion and you both gave all you could for it.
Now, at the dawn of the great Ritual War, you were headed to meet Solomon again. This time you had something else to talk about other than more research, there was something important you had to do.
You found him where the Dreadnoughts rested at, he spent much of his time there when there was nothing else he needed to work on.
You did not often come here, not unless your skills were needed.
"Ah, Dian?" Solomon said as you came up beside him, in front of a Deredeo that was deep in his slumber. "Perfect timing, I was just about to head to you."
"I wanted to meet you here, actually. And I wanted to see over the Dreadnoughts with you."
"Oh? Would this be for your research?"
You shook your head. "Not quite."
A moment of silence fell as the two of you watched over your fallen brother, your eyes drifted over to the names that were carefully carved across their body. You wondered what dreams that would manifest in any Warden that was inside one of these, if they ever relived the moments that made them how they were now.
If they thought about those that died around them, while they just barely clung to their half-lives.
"Through their noble sacrifices and tragic sufferings they are granted rest," your said as your thoughts slipped out. "And as they have given up everything to fight for the Imperium now their fate is to do nothing else except to fight more."
"One day they might be able to stay awake with us," Solomon reminded. "Perhaps even a time where they could be healed, brought back from their state. It's not impossible."
"Few things seem impossible in this age," you admitted. "But no matter the future, it doesn't change the here and now."
A few more moments of contemplative silence passed before Solomon spoke again.
"When you see them, Brother Dian, you don't think of them as those that survived." It wasn't a question.
"No, I do. I just think about the names that they bear, the hardships that they go through above all else. They can only fight, only in battle will they have a chance to forge new bonds or keep holding onto the ones they made before their internment. Such brief times, fleeting moments that come and go over their lives."
"Then why do you come here now, if you feel this way?"
You sighed at that, you had asked yourself that question many times the moment you considered to come here.
"This war in the Maelstrom will, most probably, be certain death for most of the Legion." you grimly stated as you faced your brother. "And for the Iron Warriors, White Scars and Ultramarines too. I have been considering as many situations that could occur as I can, and even in the best cases in the most relatively calm battlefields it doesn't look good at all."
"Indeed," Solomon nodded, their voice now tinged with sorrow. "I doubt we will ever face a war as terrible as this any time soon, even if we would be capable of waging such a thing. The costs would be... colossal. The worlds and armies on them we will face would be worse than Cadia or even Aleph, worse by orders of magnitude. This will be a trial like no other."
"It would be worth it if this all succeeds, to purify at least move of an area of space as vast as that terrible rift and all the riches inside could shape the future of the galaxy in a way that might truly determine the fate of the Imperium."
"That it would. But I know that's not all that you're concerned about, and you didn't answer my question as to why you are here."
You hesitated for more than a moment, your silence stretched over as you considered the reasons that you possessed. Self reflection over your thoughts was something easier done when it was about something rooted in the physical, a problem to fix or a strategy to construct.
"Part of the reason is that I need to face them, the Dreadnoughts, to remind myself as to what shall happen to those if I falter when we enter the Maelstrom. I will cause more names will be etched onto their bodies through a mistake or an inability to treat them, and some others of those in my care will be entombed like the ones around us. And, no matter how greatly I try or prepare, I know that I will always have those that I fail to save."
You turned around and looked upon the other Dreadnoughts that were in the area, various different types of Castaferrums, Contemptors and Deredeos filled your view and of the names carved into them you recognised more than a few.
"And they remind me of my nightmares when I see them, brother, my failures." your voice full of sorrow and bitterness. "Every time they wake up, they must think 'how long has it been?', 'what happened to my brothers?' and 'will I have to carve another name?' To not even know when your closest companions fall, to know that you weren't there and you wouldn't have known until you woke up perhaps years later. They can barely even train themselves for the battles they face. I will not lie, Solomon, I feel as though I am intruding upon those that that are deep in mourning for those they already lost and will suffer more news of death whenever they awake."
You turned away from it all, from Solomon and the Dreadnoughts, and looked toward the ground.
"I understand your views and I hold nothing but respect for your duties here and for those you tend to. And it is unfair of me to feel this way, to say what I am saying here while they rest. But... being in this place brings up thoughts I would prefer to not think, makes me feel as though I am an unwelcome intruder. I'd rather spend my time preparing to ensure that those that fall will be as few as possible, that would be the best thing I should do for them."
A hand fell on your shoulder as you finished your little speech, and you turned to face the Techmarine that was by your side.
"Just as you understand me, Dian, I understand you." Solomon spoke, voice firm but not cold. "It pains me also to see such things happen to them too, but remember that the spirits within them and the machines they are united with burn brightly along side all the Eternal Wardens. No matter what we face, or what we suffer, we fight to bring a brighter future for humanity. For those we cherish."
"For those we cherish." something like a smile formed on your face as you repeated the words. "You always know what to say, Solomon."
The Techmarine shrugged and lowered their hand. "We are all brothers, and we all stand together."
The two of you lapsed into silence again, surrounded by figures of those that had given everything they had and would continue giving until they had nothing more left to give. That thought about their nature, at a time where you were really considering several things about yourself, made you realise that it sounded quite personally familiar.
You looked over the Dreadnoughts with new eyes, your contemplations now reached a place that perhaps they should have already reached.
"Another reason I came here," you began as you took out something that you had kept in your armour. "Was to give this to you, brother."
"And what is it?" the Techmarine asked as they took it.
"A gift. Perhaps my legacy."
You saw him realise what he held in his hands as you said that, and yet he examined the contents inside to confirm it.
"Hah, you cited me as co-author, editor and a source. And, goodness, it's formatted better and illustrated in more detail than even what some of the teachers I served under in the Mechanicum presented. Though they certainly didn't possess your drive for education and sharing knowledge."
Solomon focused on reading, engrossed in seeing the fruit borne from years of effort, before he voiced something that was on his mind.
"I thought you said that you would have preferred to have compiled and shared all your research and tactical analyses when they were completed, that you still had so many more details and hypothetical to consider before even making a first draft."
"I still believe that is the case, and I lament the fact that I have little more time to work on it, but as I said...," you sighed as you looked down at the names you carved into your armour. "...the Ritual War will be certain death for most of us."
Your brother stopped reading at that and slowly looked back up at you.
"Consider it a promise, Solomon." you said before he could say anything. "Hold onto the original for me, so that afterwards we could both continue our work on it together for the next version. Or, if I do not make it, you continue it with another Apothecary in my stead."
"I doubt I'd find any that would be as driven as you." the Techmarine chuckled for a moment, before they became solemn again. "And if I die while you live?"
"Then... I will have cherished our moments together, and make sure to continue my work with this project. And I promise keep your name on my work, as the one who helped and inspired me to get this far."
Solomon, your cherished companion, gave a smile at that. And you gave one back too. Together you two, and all the rest of the Eternal Wardens, would fight in this war and whatever happened... you would all stand there together. Even beyond death itself, the memories always kept alive by your thoughts and deeds.
A few moments passed before the Techmarine seemed to realise something. "Wait, did you say that this was the original? Than you have a copy for yourself?"
"Oh, of course!" you said, genuinely confused at the question. "This Ritual War could provide a wealth of information to decipher, well more than almost any other battle the Legion has faced. To waste an opportunity like this would be unthinkably lax and pointless, it would be inexcusable and a disservice to the Legion if I did that."
Solomon seemed to find something about what you said funny, as they began to laugh harder than you had ever seen him do so before.
"And I have already shared several other copies towards the other Apothecaries," you continued on without pause. "You did give me permission when I asked if your work could be shared back when I accepted your help if you recall. I've already submitted all the necessary paperwork for First Captain Oriacarius and he has thankfully allowed it."
The laughter kept going for a little while longer before it died off, Techmarine Solomon's face bore an expression of amusement and amity to you.
"I do hope that they find our efforts worthwhile," he said as he lifted up the first edition of a decade of research and carefully considered plans. "I should give you a gift in return for handing me this and your promise. I had some plans for improving your shield, the power capacity definitely could be tuned. Hopefully I will be able to get it done in time for the war."
You nodded at that. "Thank you, I would be extremely grateful for the added protection."
"I'll work as quickly as I can. Also," he said as he turned to look at the guide again. "I can not believe that I somehow missed the mandatory notice for my part of the paperwork that's required for this. Is it... not needed?"
"Ah, do not worry about that. I requested for your notice to be delayed long enough for me to share the copies and give you the original. That's actually the last reason I'm here, to tell you that you should go and deal with that now. The amount required has grown slightly due to the delay, actually."
Solomon's reply was delayed by a few moments, the smile on their face now faded away. "...yes, I am glad that I do not have to worry about not doing more paperwork."
"And, on the topic about shields, I included several passages that strongly recommended them. You're probably going to get at least several requests for combat shields from other the Apothecaries. In hindsight, I probably should have given you more advance notice for that."
"Well," the Techmarine said as they put the guide you both worked on inside a secluded part of his armour. "I am certainly glad to be able to support my brothers as much as possible, if nothing else."
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Bastet Portrait (Aka Best Kitty)
Dauan Tienar
To the endless horizon
- Location
- Victoria
What Bastet actually looks like now that we are visiting Magnus for a social to finally meet best kitty.
- Location
- Elsewhere
What Bastet actually looks like now that we are visiting Magnus for a social to finally meet best kitty.
That is one of the most adorable things I've seen drawn.
- Location
- Elsewhere
Well this is going to be a rather interesting update. Seems that Bastet is fairly neutral on Kesar sadly, but when she wanders off, she finds Maticus who she really seems to like. Meanwhile, Kesar finds that Magnus seems to be hiding something important from him when he gives the information on a few of the Maelstrom worlds. You'll be getting a vote on whether or not to press him on this.
Bastet's Current Temperment: 40 + 10 (Omake) + 20 (Nice Guy) - 20 (Magnus' Current Mood) = 50
What Does Bastet Do Table Roll?: 12
Maticus Interacting with Bastet: 95 + 20 (Nice Guy) + 10 (Omake) + 10 (Bored Bastet) = 135
Magnus: 48 + 40 (Magnus) + ??? + 20 (Insulted) = ???
Kesar: 89 + 45 (Kesar) + 10 (Past Interactions) = 144
Bastet's Current Temperment: 40 + 10 (Omake) + 20 (Nice Guy) - 20 (Magnus' Current Mood) = 50
What Does Bastet Do Table Roll?: 12
Maticus Interacting with Bastet: 95 + 20 (Nice Guy) + 10 (Omake) + 10 (Bored Bastet) = 135
Magnus: 48 + 40 (Magnus) + ??? + 20 (Insulted) = ???
Kesar: 89 + 45 (Kesar) + 10 (Past Interactions) = 144
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
shit as long as magnus doesnt have a +36 or higher....
we might be able to notice some real good shit. As it is, we need to press him...things like this especially for the maelstorm cant be hidden otherwise we get blindsided.
we might be able to notice some real good shit. As it is, we need to press him...things like this especially for the maelstorm cant be hidden otherwise we get blindsided.
Exposition on Pre-Maelstorm War Preparations Focusing on The Eternal Warden’s Apothecarion
Dauan Tienar
To the endless horizon
- Location
- Victoria
The Apothecaries of the XI Legion were not just there to carry out extraction, growth and transplants of geneseeds or to heal their injured brothers. As a part of the Eternal Wardens who were the bane of daemons, they were charged with countering Nurgle and his putrid creations.
Under the command of Chief Apothecary: Rikard, there have been 504 345 pathogens found to have been either directly sourced from Nurgilite daemons or have been found by Biomantic Apothecaries to have Nurgilite influence inside of them.
With the first preliminary scout reports mentioning that the vast majority of planets faced in the upcoming Maelstorm Ritual War being Nurgilite Worlds, the Apothecarion's activity has been kicked into overdrive. New quarantine procedures have been created. New vaccines and drugs have been made. All of them have been meticulously filed, catalogued for effects and kept on hand for when the Legion encounters Nurgle's vile filth and plagues.
Each pathogen found by the Apothecaries has been tested to the brink in overbuilt and vacuum-sealed laboratories. Urged on by the paranoia and contingencies of Oriacarius, Rikard spared no expense when it comes to the investigation, experimentation, containment and eradication of these diseases.
Despite the Chief's bouncy optimistic attitude, when it came to his duty he pursues it with a fervour only rivalled by First Captain Oriacarius' love for intricate planning or by Solarus' passion for explosive objects and opportunities.
DNA was sequenced, methods of immune system evasion were catalogued, effects on the innate and adaptive immunity of humans were recorded. Slowly but surely patterns emerged from the list of pathogens. Commonalities were formed and tentative hypotheses on the current limits of Nurgle's pathogens outside the warp were crafted.
Sprouting from these hypotheses is the quarantine and recommended combat doctrines against Nurgle's daemons and diseases.
For the quarantine procedures, total isolation is utterly mandatory. There is no telling if a pathogen would suddenly develop a new vector for infection such as going from a mucus based vector to an airborne infection vector. As such, all Apothecaries dealing with nurgilite infestation must wear grade A, type 1, version 7 hazmat suits with the accompanying oxygen tank on top of their environmentally sealed armour(High frequency of maintenance is also mandatory. Especially on the Seals). This is followed by a promethium fire wash procedure and chem showers to eliminate as many microbes as possible before heading into and out of quarantine and labs.
The recommended combat doctrine is simply enough fire to make a Salamander blush and copious amounts of phosphex that would make the Death Guard salivate. For the resulting extremophile mutant strains, it is recommended to utilize organic solvent chem weapons to weaken their cell membranes for the ensuing flame sterilization.
Purity runes always are a staple against Daemonic forces. It is mandatory to head into battle with a Rune of Immunity and Fire or Plasma Rune to ensure maximum elimination of Nurgilite influences.
It should be distinctly noted that all the above procedures were just the minimum prepared by Chief Apothecary Rikard within the first year of preparations for the Ritual War...
Under the command of Chief Apothecary: Rikard, there have been 504 345 pathogens found to have been either directly sourced from Nurgilite daemons or have been found by Biomantic Apothecaries to have Nurgilite influence inside of them.
With the first preliminary scout reports mentioning that the vast majority of planets faced in the upcoming Maelstorm Ritual War being Nurgilite Worlds, the Apothecarion's activity has been kicked into overdrive. New quarantine procedures have been created. New vaccines and drugs have been made. All of them have been meticulously filed, catalogued for effects and kept on hand for when the Legion encounters Nurgle's vile filth and plagues.
Each pathogen found by the Apothecaries has been tested to the brink in overbuilt and vacuum-sealed laboratories. Urged on by the paranoia and contingencies of Oriacarius, Rikard spared no expense when it comes to the investigation, experimentation, containment and eradication of these diseases.
Despite the Chief's bouncy optimistic attitude, when it came to his duty he pursues it with a fervour only rivalled by First Captain Oriacarius' love for intricate planning or by Solarus' passion for explosive objects and opportunities.
DNA was sequenced, methods of immune system evasion were catalogued, effects on the innate and adaptive immunity of humans were recorded. Slowly but surely patterns emerged from the list of pathogens. Commonalities were formed and tentative hypotheses on the current limits of Nurgle's pathogens outside the warp were crafted.
Sprouting from these hypotheses is the quarantine and recommended combat doctrines against Nurgle's daemons and diseases.
For the quarantine procedures, total isolation is utterly mandatory. There is no telling if a pathogen would suddenly develop a new vector for infection such as going from a mucus based vector to an airborne infection vector. As such, all Apothecaries dealing with nurgilite infestation must wear grade A, type 1, version 7 hazmat suits with the accompanying oxygen tank on top of their environmentally sealed armour(High frequency of maintenance is also mandatory. Especially on the Seals). This is followed by a promethium fire wash procedure and chem showers to eliminate as many microbes as possible before heading into and out of quarantine and labs.
The recommended combat doctrine is simply enough fire to make a Salamander blush and copious amounts of phosphex that would make the Death Guard salivate. For the resulting extremophile mutant strains, it is recommended to utilize organic solvent chem weapons to weaken their cell membranes for the ensuing flame sterilization.
Purity runes always are a staple against Daemonic forces. It is mandatory to head into battle with a Rune of Immunity and Fire or Plasma Rune to ensure maximum elimination of Nurgilite influences.
It should be distinctly noted that all the above procedures were just the minimum prepared by Chief Apothecary Rikard within the first year of preparations for the Ritual War...
-Remembrancer Niamh Dion
Year 30 Part 1 Difficult Discussions
- Location
- Elsewhere
[X] Plan Urgent Farewells
-[X] Magnus
-[X] Eternal Wardens
-[X] Magnus
-[X] Eternal Wardens
With one year left before the Maelstrom would be assaulted, Kesar found himself in a strange position of having both too little and too much to do. For once, his reports on ongoing compliances within his domain weren't sent to him. Instead, they were Oriacarius responsibility. Kesar himself focused entirely on the Ritual Crusade as he continued to work with Perturabo and the Khan on a number of key projects. While he did, however, there was one gift from Primarch Dorn that was deemed important enough to reach him.
It was a masterfully crafted series of equations, ones that even Perturabo could barely understand. They covered ideal exploration and contact routes for the Imperium and they were already making a remarkable impact. The Crusade had begun to accelerate once more, and Kesar looked forward to seeing what would be discovered while he was in the Maelstrom.
*+10 to all Primarch Compliance Rates*
There was one meeting this year that Kesar wasn't looking forward to. The sheer curtness of the message told Kesar all he needed to know. Four words and a painting. From that, it wasn't hard to understand Magnus' state of mind. The Cyclops felt as if he had been wronged, as if his skills and knowledge were considered and disregarded, as if he simply wasn't worth knowledge of the ritual.
Kesar could sympathize with him. He had a similar conversation with Horus on Boraetia, even if he expected Magnus to be far less charitable than Horus had been. Truthfully, Kesar couldn't disagree with leaving the Cyclops in the dark. For all his brother's genius, he was simply too arrogant and careless. If he knew about the Archdaemons, it would only be a matter of time until he overstepped and had to be punished by the Emperor.
If he had wanted to, Kesar could have simply said he was busy. Perhaps he could have had Jagathai take his place. But such an act would have only insulted Magnus further. So it was for these reasons that he waited in the Vigilance's hangar as a Stormbird of the Thousand Sons landed within it.
For once, the Khalsa weren't present. Kesar had sent them off before this, preferring to give Magnus privacy for the upcoming meeting. The sight within the Stormbird told him that this was the correct choice, for within the vessel were a four individuals. The first was Magnus as expected and the second was Bastet, a psycat of some skill that his brother had taken in. Then there were two Astartes pilots that Kesar didn't recognize.
Before Kesar could study them further, the Cyclops stepped out of the Stormbird, his steps creating an echoing sound through the hanger, one Kesar could tell was subconsciously amplified by his brother. Behind him, Bastet stalked forward. As if sensing Magnus' irritation, the curious gaze of the psycat seemed to study Kesar himself. Restraining her own curiosity, she sat on her hind legs and lifted a paw before beginning to groom herself.
Turning his attention back to Magnus, Kesar took in the irritated gaze of his brother. He hadn't seen such an expression on his face ever since they had met. Even when the Primarch council met, the Cyclops never felt wronged. Insulted perhaps, but he had realized he was at fault for the matter. In this moment, however, Magnus thought himself to be fully in the right. "Anything to say Kesar?"
"There's a lot I could say Magnus." Shifting uncomfortably, Kesar wondered what Magnus was looking for, an apology or something more. "I'm sorry you had to discover the Ritual in this way."
"Did you even try to argue for my inclusion?" Magnus visibly seethed as crackles of lightning seemed to form around his fingers. "Or was I discarded from your thoughts in seconds? Was I deemed reckless and irresponsible? Do you have any idea how much I could have helped? How many lives I could have saved if I had been as trusted as you?"
Kesar's shoulder's visibly dropped. As much as he hated it, Magnus was right. He could have argued for his brother as he did for Khan. It would have been harder, but he was confident he could have managed it. But that wasn't why Magnus hadn't been included. In truth, it was because Kesar agreed with the Emperor in part. There was also a much more personal reason why he hadn't argued for Magnus, that being his worry of what a Lost Thousand Son could manage. "Brother... I regret saying this, but while I understand what you say I also understand what could happen if you or your sons were taken by the powers that will be faced. I've already seen it happen before, and the war that will be faced will be many orders of magnitude more worse and dangerous."
"THEN WHY WAS I LEFT IN THE DARK!" Magnus' roar rattled a number of loose objects within the hangar as the Primarch paced angrily. "How could I ever have prepared if I didn't know that those powers even existed? Tell me Kesar, how many of our brothers know the truth? What … place did father, no, the Emperor place me? How important am I to him?"
"It's not that simple brother." Raising his hands to try and defuse the situation, Kesar tried to look Magnus in the eyes. "Knowledge of them alone is dangerous, especially to those heavily connected to the warp and able to use it. It's how they can influence you, corrupt you without even being aware of it. That is the reason for the reactions that occurred last meeting, for your proposal. It's why it's so difficult to face them, why they are so dangerous." Hesitating at some of his worst memories, a small tremor appeared in his voice. "That is the reason for the reactions that occurred last meeting, for your proposal. It's why it's so difficult to face them, why they are so dangerous. And these monsters... they try to strike from every angle when they retaliate. I don't know what the Emperor planned for any of us when we were made, or his reasons for us now, but I know he must have known and been preparing for these nightmares for much longer than anyone else. I am not sure if he wanted you to face these beings at all, to lose you to them." Slowly, Kesar took out Epitaph, raising it so that the light caught on the numerous names carved into it. "...I know I wouldn't want to risk and lose my sons to them, if I felt I had a better way."
"Do you know why my sons mutated on Cadia Kesar? Why they lost all semblance of reason and turned into monsters?" Magnus' gaze seemed to soften, and sorrow filled his voice. "It was because I didn't know better. Because the Emperor never shared the fact that the Archdaemons existed. If he had just told me, they would still live." A humorless laugh escaped him, the Primarch seeming to recall a now tainted memory. "When the Emperor helped me fix the problem, he never told me about them. He just left everything as it was, letting me stew in my own ignorance. Are you going to do the same? Will you refuse to share what you know like him?"
Sighing, Kesar looked towards the ceiling as if searching for an answer. "I will share with you what I can, but there are some things that I must keep secret. There-"
"Why pretend that this will be an open dialogue Kesar?" Surprised at the interruption, Kesar momentarily stopped speaking as Magnus bulldozed through the conversation as his voice grew louder by the moment. "We both know that when it comes to subjects father forbids you will not tell me the truth of them."
"There are things I have not shared with anyone but Father!" Raising his own voice in response, Kesar's expression briefly turned irritated before he forced himself to calm down. "There are reasons why Father forbids it, some I agree with, some I don't. The one I do agree with him on is that it is dangerous, even for us." Softenning his voice, Kesar tried to convey how serious he was. "Especially for us Magnus. Several of us have come into situations that nearly destroyed us because of the warps inhabitants. Or worse."
"Who does know Kesar? How many of our brothers were deemed unworthy of this information?"
"Alpharius and Konrad discovered this independently. Mortarion for reasons I still don't know." Magnus' face seemed to almost explode with anger at the knowledge that Mortarion knew of the Archdaemons, something Kesar didn't miss. "Perturabo and Dorn know due to their work on Cadia. Guilliman and Vulkan know as well. As does Lion and … Leman."
"What?" Magnus' voice was deceptively calm, the kind of calm that Kesar knew spelled an upcoming disaster. "Are you … telling me that not only was I utterly ignored. But Leman Russ was trusted with this information and I wasn't? And that you, Khan, and Perturabo all kept this from me?" Throughout the sentence, Kesar wished his brother grew angry. Instead, the Cyclops' voice grew sad. "That the three of my brothers I trusted most didn't return that trust. No one else told me?"
"Magnus … " reaching forward to embrace his brother, Kesar was stopped by Magnus' outstretched hand.
"No, Kesar. We're done." The Primarch stepped back, back from Kesar's outstretched hand. "I came here for answers, and I got them." A sad smile coated the Cyclops' lips, one that didn't seem like it would leave for days to come. "I just didn't think they'd hurt so much."
"Brother please." Pleading to his brother to stay for just a little longer, Kesar took a tentative step forward. "Stay a little longer, I feel there are more answers to give."
"But I can't trust you anymore." Kesar froze at those words, the sentence something he never expected nor wanted to hear.
In a confused almost desperate voice, the Daemonsbane asked a single question. "What?"
"You and the others kept the truth from me for so long, how can I know that this time you'll share? Why is now different?"
"But … we're family Magnus." Kesar was lost, how could a conversation break down so badly in such a short period of time. He could deal with anger, but sadness was another thing entirely. "Because … because I don't want to lose anymore brothers."
"Maybe someday Kesar. But not anytime soon. You, Jagathai, and Perturabo, you broke the trust I had in you. That can't be rebuilt. Not easily at any rate." Magnus looked at Kesar fully, loving eyes with the Daemonsbane as he spoke. "But maybe this time, you'll trust me as I used to trust you."
"Then promise me Magnus, promise me that when the ritual ends that we'll meet." By now, Kesar realized that the situation was unsalvageable. All that he could do was hope for the future. Although, there was another part of him that called for him to take the blame, to absolve Perturabo and Khan of any wrongdoing.
"I promise you that Kesar." Magnus briefly hesitated as he removed a dataslate from his armor. "Maybe this will help ensure you return." The Cyclops tossed over the information, as Kesar briefly looked through it. "It's how I learned about the ritual."
In the dataslate was a host of information covering nine worlds. From defenses to daemonic forces present nearly everything Kesar could ask for was available. All of it, however, was related to the Prince of Pleasure. "How did you get this?"
"I was looking into future conflicts for the Imperium, and I saw these worlds." The rest of his brother's words seemed to fade away as Kesar realized something. This wasn't an event you could see unless you were involved in it. That had been how the White Scars had predicted the Ritual Crusade. And while Magnus was good, he wasn't better than Malcador and the Emperor. Which meant that he had either been given this information, or he was going to be getting involved. Both were problematic, but the latter could jeapordize the entire endeavor while the former painted some worrying issues that had to be solved immediately.
And so, Kesar chose to
[] Press him. As much as he doesn't want to, Kesar just can't let this be. He has to know what Magnus is hiding. No matter how hypocritical it may be. *Will inform Perturabo and Khan about Magnus' deception*
[] Let it go, but let him know Kesar knows. As much as he needs to know, it would be hypocritical to press Magnus. Just let him know that Kesar knows there's more to this information. Perhaps he'll share something. *Will inform Perturabo and Khan about Magnus' deception*
[] Let it go. As much as he needs to know, Magnus isn't in the mood to share. Just part ways now. It can't be that bad. Right? *Will not inform anyone about Magnus' deception*
Then there was Magnus' friendship with Perturabo and Khan, for that Kesar chose to
[] Do nothing. Each of them made a choice. It's time to accept it. *Magnus' relationships with Kesar, Perturabo, and Khan fall by two stages.*
[] Take the blame unto himself. Each of them made a choice, but Kesar made the important one. He chose not to tell Magnus, perhaps that was why Khan and Perturabo didn't either? Share with him just how much Kesar did. *Magnus relationship with Kesar falls 3-4 stages. Relationship with Perturabo and Khan falls by zero to one stage.*
Edit: Vote by Plan for this as each of these results modify the other.
Bastet's Current Temperment: 40 + 10 (Omake) + 20 (Nice Guy) - 20 (Magnus' Current Mood) = 50
What Does Bastet Do Table Roll?: 12
Maticus Interacting with Bastet: 95 + 20 (Nice Guy) + 10 (Omake) + 10 (Bored Bastet) = 135
Bastet will be in the next update.
Magnus: 48 + 40 (Magnus) + 20 (Eldrad's Advice) + 20 (Insulted) = 128
Kesar: 89 + 45 (Kesar) + 10 (Past Interactions) = 144
Magnus' Composure: 1 - 20 (Crit Fail) + 20 (Eldrad's Advice) = 1
What Does Bastet Do Table Roll?: 12
Maticus Interacting with Bastet: 95 + 20 (Nice Guy) + 10 (Omake) + 10 (Bored Bastet) = 135
Bastet will be in the next update.
Magnus: 48 + 40 (Magnus) + 20 (Eldrad's Advice) + 20 (Insulted) = 128
Kesar: 89 + 45 (Kesar) + 10 (Past Interactions) = 144
Magnus' Composure: 1 - 20 (Crit Fail) + 20 (Eldrad's Advice) = 1
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