Tides of War, Mass Effect/30k crossover

Author's note: You find this out later, but I think it'll help to point out here that this takes place AFTER the incident on 43 Hydra (where Alpharius and Omegon, twin Primarchs of the Alpha Legion, were told that in order to save the galaxy they would have to side with Horus in the Heresy. They did so 'For the Emperor') and AFTER the Edict of Nikaea (which I plan to bring into play later in the story - there are nearly 100 Legionnaires with the 25th and more than a few are psykers). Also, I'm at the University of Washington, so writing the story is a consuming hobby that I constantly have to put on the backburner. Finally - the 406th was unusual in the fact that all the ships were human-crewed, no servitors. Maybe this will come into play later. Heh. Thanks for reading and (hopefully) reviewing. Constructive criticism (fairly specific please) is VERY welcome. This is my first sci-fi story (the others were shorts for English 102 at my community college, hahaha), so I really want to improve on my writing.

Chapter 1

399.M31 [Calibration errors detected]. Minus fifteen hours to the Crusade Anomaly, recorded 2185 CE. In Warp transit towards the Galactic North (relative to Terra)

There were many assignments he could have taken, after his victories in the sectors of the space south of Earth. He struck down the greenskin leader, designated XLW-52 for Xenos Leader/Warlord 52, over the planet Gorn. He gutted the fleet of Farseer Baduria, winning six worlds nearly simultaneously from the Eldar, when word of the death of their leader came out. But his stroke of brilliance, his 'apotheosis', was the dethroning of the false human empire calling themselves 'The Collective'. It was a conglomerate comprised of several chitinous xenos races and humans.

It had been an affront.

So, in line with traditional compliance doctrine, he led the 406th Expeditionary Fleet, a relatively small detachment – three Emperor-class Battleships and fifteen Lunar-class cruisers – in a violent demonstration of Imperial authority.

Twelve planets had burned in the span of ten days. Three entire enemy fleets dispatched, and only one Lunar-class cruiser lost. It had been a display of tactical brilliance and true Imperial dominance. As a result, Lord Admiral Pento Ajall had been offered any reasonable command he wished. Naturally, he had been doing his research. The 25th Expeditionary Fleet, outfitted with some of the newest ships from the drydocks of Mars, was a fleet that he saw promise in. That was where his career lay. And the best part about it was the fact that a small detachment of Astartes from the Alpha Legion would be accompanying them.

Small.

Two strike cruisers, the Pallid and the Destroyer of Worlds (ironically, this small detachment wielded nearly a quarter of the firepower of all the Lunar-class cruisers Ajall had commanded in the 406th), would be joining his flagship, the Oberon-class Battleship Demon of Ullanor (named after the battle it had contributed to), in a mission to bring light to darkened corners of the galaxy towards the galactic north. There were a string of uninhabited planets they had already surveyed while hopping in and out of Warp travel – it had taken nearly a month to do that. There was potential for a few Mechanicus outposts here and there, but nothing exciting. No raiders, no reclamations, no glory of battle. Until recently.

The scout ships had reported a greenskin empire further up the proverbial road, near a cluster of stars and systems designated I-321. Officially, their primary goals were to seek out remnants of humanity and eliminate any ongoing threat to those remains, but not to specifically engage any previously unencountered civilizations. The 25th, while a fair-sized Expeditionary Fleet, would be inevitably defeated if left unsupported by further Army and perhaps even Astartes elements. He was to consolidate the systems in question, garrison them with a number of the Army regiments (the 25th had fifty on call), along with a detachment of the Legio Destructor Titan Legion and half the fleet, and move on, acting as a main scouting body for any later human incursions. It was a noble cause, one that Ajall could take pride in.

And if he remembered his schedule correctl-

"Lord, the Sergeant is in the briefing room. He awaits."

Ajall cringed at hearing the servitor's dull voice. It was one change from the 406th that he would never get used to. Unfortunate, but necessary, given the Emperor's undertaking.

()()()

Sergeant Pax stood at the end of the small, circular room, shrouded in shadows. He dwarfed everything in the room, even without his Mark IV Power Armor. He was the most dominating figure present. As it should have been.

He knew he inspired pure awe in the crew members, but more importantly they feared him. Fear was a useful tool, and the Emperor had always understood that.

Betrayal, however, was not something the Emperor readily saw.

Pax hadn't been with the Primarch all those years ago…when they had been told to commit fratricide to save the galaxy. Pax hadn't been there when his brothers had sworn an oath to fight against their forefather, their primogenitor. He hadn't been there when they plotted the course of this…heresy.

And he knew he never would be.

He knew he was too much like the old Legion, short-lived as it was. He was one of the few who were of the original founding. Pax had been one of the first. He had been there when the Emperor commanded his fealty for time eternal. When word had reached Pax's ears about the cabal's prophecy, he had argued vehemently against the current course of action. They hadn't fought alongside Him. They hadn't witnessed Him effortlessly pluck an Ork warlord up from the ground with his mind and literally make him explode. They hadn't witnessed Him destroy an entire squad of bipedal Eldar walkers with seemingly solid lances of pure white light, conjured out of nowhere.

The rest of his Legion never would.

For that reason, he had taken his group of Astartes, the group loyal to him and the Emperor, and split off discreetly from the main Legionary forces, opting instead to join the 25th Expeditionary Fleet, on a voyage far away from the Emperor and his Primarch.

Never before had he been so conflicted about his duty in three hundred and fifty years of service.

His thoughts about his allegiance were interrupted by the arrival of the Lord Admiral. Ajall, Pax recalled his name, was a honourable man, if a bit overzealous. A practical genius. Pax was quietly glad that he was attached to the 25th. He nodded as a formality, and in respect.

"Lord Admiral. I trust you are ready to execute the Duty you are bound to?"

Ajall flinched visibly. Pax was aware of his quietly threatening voice. Unfortunately for the Lord Admiral, Pax always talked like that.

"Of course, Sergeant. How fare the glorious and lauded Pallid and –"

"Just say their names. They are what they are, and that has no effect on the present. Remember that."

Ajall looked physically sick from the fear that was coursing through his body. Trembling, he continued.

"How fare the two Legionary ships?"

Pax snorted in amusement. Noticing Ajall's reaction, he wondered if it had been interpreted as the growl of a particularly fierce predator, closing in on its prey.

"They make with haste alongside us, as your astropaths tell me. The eddies of the Warp, however, are much harder to predict. Tell me – what does your gut tell you on ETA?"

"F-fifteen m-minutes …"

Pax started to laugh, but thought better of it. Ajall might have died of fear at that point.

"I am not beneath asking questions of an officer who is in every way my superior, Lord Admiral. I may not be directly under your command, but I know when to defer to advice and knowledge. Even an angel doesn't know everything, so I hear…"

Ajall hazarded a small chuckle, and was evidently relieved when Pax did not reach out and snap his neck. Pax shifted slightly towards the table in the center of the room, and motioned his hand up and across. A hologram lit up of the Ork-held system. Bright red dots appeared on the displayed cluster of planets. The last recorded positions of the enemy ships were focused around a rocky ice planet. Another figure came up – a number of life signs scanned on the planet. The top number displayed the estimated enemy disposition, but the second number was of a slight surprise to Pax. Life signs registering as human or near human were significantly numbered. Ajall noticed this as well.

"A human presence, no doubt. On the old star maps provided to us from Terra, this group of planets was formerly an outlying system of the empires that existed before the Crusade. We should make all haste to find and liberate these humans."

Pax nodded thoughtfully.

"Plan of attack, Lord Admiral?"

"We come out of Warp outside of the system, marshal our forces, and lead a two pronged invasion. One contains all the Army ground forces and a few – perhaps four? – cruisers, the other consists of my battleships along with the rest of my cruisers and your ships. We break the enemy over our back, sweep in, and take the planet within a week."

The sergeant inclined his head.

"The Alpha Legionnaires will provide static support. Our ships can be placed under your directive, and we will succeed the Army regiments in planetfall. A sound plan, Admiral Ajall. Let us hope it does not fail."

Ajall nodded absently, now drawn into the moving figures of the simulations in the hologram. Pax melted away into the dark, retreating from the room and to readying his men for the coming war.