The War Council
The dead and gone loomed heavy as the fate of mankind was decided. Less than a third of the immense ornate thrones were filled. Once the light of hope burned fiercely in this chamber, it was here that the Emperor had laid out his grand design to his Demi-God Warlords, it was here that the dream of the Imperium took its first steps to material reality. Once it had hosted a brotherhood of the best mankind could offer, a fitting prelude to the fulfillment of a glorious destiny.
Now those few that remain sat in brooding contemplation of all they had lost and the trials yet to come. As the Servoskul emitted an endless stream of raw data, an endless stream of woe, death, betrayal and loss. Of fruitless sacrifice and of impending danger. The Lion was coming, and doom rode with him.
"We are not alone in this war." decreed Rogal Dorn, the golden giant made the table hosting the war council look so small, almost comically if it weren't for the serious nature of the meeting. "The traitors assemble the majority of their strength against us for a single overwhelming attack because they know that every moment that passes is one where our allies draw closer. We will make them bleed for each inch of ground lost and they will pay for their treachery before this battle is done. We need only to steel our hearts and ready ourselves for the battle to come." If this had came from any other, it would sound like false bravado, the ritualistic repetition of propaganda, yet from the Praetorian, it almost sounded as if he was simply stating the reality of the situation, that overwhelming odds could and would be overcome through sheer determination and refusal to die.
Konrad Curze looked amused, he looked that way a lot of late, his lips almost permanently curled into that approximation of a smile tainted by a sneer. Though surprisingly he held his tongue, merely nodding at his brother's declaration. The Night Haunter was different in more than mannerism, his long dark hair had lost its greasy quality whilst the smell of death and decay was absent, even his pale porcelain skin had a cleaner and healthier look to it, the true difference were the eyes however. They had a tranquility to them that had never been present before.
Jaghatai Khan looked over the data intently, his face neutral as his eyes scanned over different reports, taking in all they could. His brow furrows and he speaks plainly to the assembled group "It is clear we cannot defeat this force directly, our numbers alone make that clear. Our best option is to hold out until other loyal forces can either drag the Traitor's attention away or break their attack over Terra" he scratches his chin in thought, his eyes still looking over the reports that continue to come in. All the while Zagreus Kane moped in the background, pouring over data independently and attempting not to cry oil from his visual apertures due to the continued crumbling of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The broad, wooden doors swung open once again, the room filling with brilliant light as a titan in gold strode in. His arrival was made with all the splendour expected, his size making him seem otherworldly, an excess in both proportion and power. It was fortunate, then, that Magnus was capable to weave the immense powers of the Golden Throne to allow the Emperor to make such regular appearances.
As characteristic of the Emperor, however, his face seemed disconnected from his body, twitching and motioning as if locked in fierce battle. In truth, he wasn't exactly anywhere at this point, his mind split in a dozen places coordinating both troops on behalf of his son and battling untold horrors within the depths of the palace.
++My sons. We gather before the final hour, wherein a terrible foe seeks to render this Imperium, all of it, into a new darkness. There is much to be done.++
Konrad let out an animalistic snort of derision at this beleaguered oration.
Sigismund looked up from the strategic table before taking a sharp breath ''We will make the initial enemy vanguard pay for there treachery at the Khthonic gates and having discussed with my captains we have come to a course of action'' shifting his gaze back towards the starmap he gestured in front of the Khthonic gates.
''The plan counts on using several destroyer squadrons to sally forth and give us a more accurate picture of the enemy forces but also harass them before falling back towards the main force. When they give chase it is hoped they will fail to notice even more destroyers on minimal power and hiding behind the asteroids in front of the Khthonic gates and so when they join battle with our main contingent he will find himself surrounded and either be forced to try and deal with our trick and thusly leave himself exposed to the massed guns of our main line or let the destroyers run rampant between his lines''
Sigismund turned towards his father Rogal Dorn ''It is here when they are most disorganised and reeling from this new development the rest of my fleet shall sally fourth and annihilate them UTTERLY! It is only then we will form our line in front of the fixed defenses in and around Pluto and engage in a traditional naval battle, before withdrawing when the enemy numbers become too extensive to handle in an effective manner. The stations will act as the rear guard and allow us to withdraw in good order towards the Kuiper Belt''
Dorn nodded, his face as severe and cold as ever. "Pluto will not withstand the enemy's advance. But every moment it holds is time to prepare our defences, gain information on the enemies strength and whittle away at the traitor's fleet. Ours will be a defence of layers. Each line will force the enemy to expend ever greater forces to breach, only to be met by the next layer. Bit by bit, we will chip away at the enemy before they reach the Inner System. The longer it takes for the Lion to reach Terra, is time allowing relief to fall upon his rear. He needs to destroy us, utterly and quickly. We merely need to survive him. I believe my preparations will permit this." Dorn said with his characteristic certainty. A short silence after Dorn's words was ended only by Zagreus' skeptical snort.
Somehow not noticed by any save for Dorn, the Emperor took his place at the table, settling into a wide marble throne, the Master of Mankind furrowed his brow as he listened quietly. Though a conqueror by legend and a legendary warrior, he was not without peer, and lacked his better half - beloved Horus, taken too soon - in order to be an infallible commander, but he was certainly otherworldly enough to lend a great deal of strength to any conviction or push.
"So we die fighting them through every yard of space and *pray* that we shed enough of their blood with our own to win?" Konrad asked, he could not resist the not so subtle look at Sigismund as he referenced the latter's conversion though he had not yet told a soul of Jago's confession it still amused him a great deal. In the meantime however there was the small matter of a war.
He looked around at all of them. "You think too literally, Dorn. You focus purely on the material, numbers, armies, ships. You forget who we fight, what they are at their core. Fortunately I have some...expertise in the battle of the mind, in destroying men through their nightmares. From what I witnessed during the early betrayals and all the reports since, our brothers are fraying, their vaunted genius decaying into the rot of self indulgence and vice. Those weaknesses are what we need to exploit." He paused and then smiled and for a moment the old Night Haunter and the new Konrad shared the same space.
"There are two things the traitors hate more than anything in this Galaxy, more even than our dear father as difficult as it is to believe that…the first is dear departed Horus, his memory is almost as useful to us as he was alive and the other...there is nothing more in this Galaxy that Fulgrim wants to see than my head on a plate. I propose we give him what he wants."
"If that is the track you wish to undertake, I will ensure that your remaining assets will be put to better use in defending Terra and retaking Mars." Zagreus' moroseness steeling into nihilistic zeal.
"I am certain you will do a better job of taking it back than you did of holding it." Konrad assured him comfortingly.
Zagreus nodded, "Well when you die honourably in what will surely be a good use of the Emperor's gift, I will demonstrate with accuracy how your legions can be properly used in battle."
"Accuracy?" Konrad laughed in his face. "Little man of metal and soul of rust. The odds of my death in this conflict are one hundred percent. How is that for accuracy? I have known my fate since the day I was born, the very first time I opened my eyes I saw the day I would close them. Ask my father, your precious Omnissiah. I was born to die, a fact I share with every man woman and child in this galaxy. My fate is decided, but I am the one who decides it."
Zagreus continues to nod, aware of the eyes of many (including Him) had now turned to this highly honourable back-alley knifefight of words. "Such is to be human. Wasted potential, childish mewling. Act like the man your father begat and not the simpering Skitarii you are attempting to be. Resource allocation to a deathwish is not optimal use. Personal requirements for poorly concealed suicide = 0. Where 1 is victory, your morale is proof of 0. The loss of Mars has brought up it 0.5, but we have not yet reached a logical tipping point. Sigismund might be 0.5 your stature but he is 1.5 the son to the Omnissiah you'll ever be." Zagreus sits down suddenly, visual apertures flaring wildly.
"And a *devoted* son at that. My nephew is welcome to all the love and trust and good will my father has to offer. In the meantime though we have a war to win, and the way to do that is to strike at our foe's weakest points, their arrogance and need for validation. We should lead them on a merry chase across the stars. And kill them in the smothering darkness of the void."
Sigismund raised one of his hands before lowering it ''And what if they don't? We have all reason to believe the thrice cursed traitor Lion El Johnson himself is leading this advance towards Terra and so even in a diminished state of mind he might still at least be able to shepherd his fellow traitors towards our defenses and not in a wild chase across the void of space.''
"My son," The Emperor spoke, his voice a whisper, unamplified by his psychic might as it usually is. "My son, Lion, he comes to Terra--- Fulgrim, Roboute, Lorgar, Angron, they come here to destroy us all." As he raised his head from contemplative silence, the Emperor gazed at Zagreus Kane, two suns dying in his eyes, before turning to Konrad.
++It is under no delusion should we be to think that this is not the last effort of my 'thrice-damned' son, as questionable as such a statement can be. The Lion comes to bring Terra low, he gathers his armies in the Warp, he means to strike, and he means to burn the cradle of humanity, and you with it, Mechanicum, Primarch, Astartes, it does not matter.++
As if exerting himself in the process, he fell back into his seat, momentary dents and scars across his armour and face appearing before vanishing. "We must plan for victory. The Astronomican no longer lights the way for those beyond Sol, that much is plain to see. I have been guiding Perturabo's force back towards Terra but they will take time." Pausing for a moment, as if an invisible strike went across his frame, he resumed, "We must plan to hold the line, bleed them if you must, but as long as Terra stands, the war is ours to win."
"Father, I have never stopped fighting. Not once, not for a moment. I fought on the dark and sinstained streets of Nostramo, I fought the enemies of your blundering Imperium, I fought the conspiracy set to lay humanity low, I fought your pet Sigilite and the ignorance and mistrust of all of you who doubted me. I have fought and fought and I bear the scars proudly and without complaint. I have lost my legion, most of my sons, I have lost my sight and I have lost…"
Fulgrim "everything dear to me. And I still fight, I fight the traitors, I fight my own nature and I fight for every damned soul in this Galaxy for they deserve justice. Terra will stand or fall as it will but rest assured it will do so on all of our bones. But please tell me that you have more than words of encouragement, that the mighty Emperor of all Mankind, our all knowing and all powerful father has something concrete to offer us. Now at the end, the very end of everything perhaps would be the most opportune time to reveal that at least one of your schemes is coming to fruition in time to do a single damned bit of good."
The Emperor gave Konrad a slight smile, a break in his otherwise terse expression. "I know, my son." His voice softer than usual.
Konrad said nothing… black pools of hurt and confusion stared intently at the Emperor before they looked away.
"Curze is correct." If Dorn was pained by the admission, he did not show it. "His melodrama aside, he is correct about the nature of our enemy. The Lion was never one for accolades, but Lorgar, Fulgrim, Russ...they ever desired validation for their actions. If the zeal that drove their conquests could be utilised against them, it would not be an opportunity to ignore."
Konrad's head snapped around, then in a third first of the lifetime occurring that day he took a deep breath and nodded. "The Fabricator General did raise an important point. Our resources are limited and your strength is best used holding the line. I will not need much, I believe Khan is also adept at the unconventional. Meanwhile your son is perhaps overambitious in his desire to take the offensive but merely waiting passively is unlikely to go well. Give us what you can spare and we could buy you time for further preparation, our … antics may also produce opportunities for Sigismund to sally forth and cause further disruption. There are so few of us here today … but each of us has their own strength. Father did not create any two of us alike, perhaps today we can vindicate that choice. Layer our strategies as we do our defences, give the traitors no two problems that can be overcome with a single solution."
Jaghatai was silent as he watched Konrad speak, waiting until he was done before speaking himself. " Konrad's words are correct, with his smaller force and my son's mobility, we can keep the traitors on their toes." His eyes lock onto a single symbol amongst the data, "The White Scars will be like lightning, striking at those who seek our deaths. My only concern is the creatures that the Traitors bring to battle, their so called Daemons. An enemy that was not like any being I have ever faced and one I am sure will be a critical part of our foe's plans."
"Daemons … yes … our much maligned warp predators." Konrad looked towards the Emperor. "During my exile beyond known space. I was contacted by a representative of an ancient race … he spoke of much I did not understand and I do not entirely trust him. But he warned of ancient wars and warp deities and a grand plan. I do not wish to waste this council's precious time … or convince you all that I am mad just when that comforting lie is at last being put to rest. But I believe that we cannot battle this foe in complete ignorance, as novel an approach as it may be in this Imperium. Father … you are known to the superstitious as a wizard, even a God … are they right about you?" He did not sound challenging, or accusing for once, merely … in search of understanding.
The Emperor's gaze flitted back to the center of the table. Did he sigh? No one could really say for certain. ++Daemons. A primitive word, but one that aptly describes what these things are. Warp-entities, wild ones. They are the amalgamation of emotions, souls, energies that all peoples of the galaxy, xenos, humans, produce. They are the after-effects of your emotions, of your vices and virtues. Defeating them is in the most basic sense, impossible, because they are what defines us as sentient, so perhaps daemon is the most apt term. My mere presence wards off their weaker ones, as for the greater ones…++ He paused. ++Blade and bolter should bring them down.++
The laser eyepieces of flashed. Zagreus stood up, quickly collected his papers, gave a bow to the Omnissiah, and gave a nod to the rest. "It was a pleasure talking with all of you. The Adeptus will ensure that you all have as much ammunition as you need, as long as not a single shot is wasted and the demand is reduced in time due to inevitable losses. I have elsewhere to go, praise be the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus. We have work to do." Zagreus shuffles off as quickly as his squeaking leg augmentations could go. He really did need to transfer to a proper tread-pattern.
Konrad shook his head in slight disappointment but seeing that none of his siblings seemed interested in pressing the matter he remained silent.
Perhaps seeing the moment at hand conclude, the Emperor raised his hands to his sons, covering a wide berth with a sweep of them, before settling them flat on the table as he stood. ++Discussions of war and strategy await us, day after day, while the questions of the more esoteric variety will be answered, in due time, war is our priority now, the defence of the cradle of mankind. The Imperium will not die with us failing, as your brothers, my sons, will carry that legacy, but…++ In a rare moment of the bleakest, darkest comedy, the Emperor let slip a slight smile, ++It would be a careless waste to die now.++
