Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox or Warhammer 40,000. They are property of Nintendo and Games Workshop. The character Jakob is used with permission from SF Ghost, and with his blessing. Thanks a lot, friend, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
A/N: All right, here we go…
Prologue – Beneath A Blood Red Sky
Their baying chills the heart and spreads icy tendrils of fear through weak mortal souls. And yet worse, yet more terrible to behold, are the huntsmen of this fell pack. Following close upon the Hounds, urging them ever forward, come deformed shapes, running and shrieking, driven by the insatiable blood-hunger of their kind. With twisted crimson bodies they stride across the blighted land, crouched over as if the better to track their prey's terror. Masters of the hunt, they seek the blood of Man to spill at the foot of their master's Skull Throne.
- Quote, Anonymous
"Do I ask that you understand what must be done, Pepper?"
Dear God in his Heaven, do you have any idea what you are asking me to allow you to do? For God's sake…"Who is this 'God' you aliens always mention? Is he your deity? Do you worship him? Does he answer your prayers? Is he your guiding light? You small-minded furries, you should know that there is only the Emperor, and there is only his divine will."
You evil son of bitches. You can't, you won't, get away with this!
"Oh, but we can. It is either those two planets or the entire Lylat System. You don't want the deaths of all of Lylat's citizens on your conscience, do you not?
You're going too far this time. Billions of innocent people…"Will die? Yes, I know. You should try living in our part of the universe and witness for yourselves the kind of suffering we humans endure every damned day. Thousands of human lives die each day, nearly every minute, and you Lylatians have had it easy up to this point fighting your own pointless wars. Chaos plans to taint the entire universe, and will start with this system."
Why us? What do they see in the Lylat System? What the hell do they want with it?"You know just as well as I do why Chaos wants this system. And if they get their foul, rusted hands on it, the universe will drown in it's own blood."
But please…no more people have to die. You must see that.
"Innocents die so that humanity may survive, that is one of our motto. You will let us cleanse the taint from both of these planets, or it will consume the entire Lylat System. Either that or we will raze this entire sector to ashes just to not allow the taint to spread."
……
…
…
"General Pepper?"
…
…
…
…
"That's one of the things I admire about you, Pepper. You always think these things carefully. It served you well in the past. Let us just hope you decide what's best for you, your people and what possible offspring they may yield for another possible generation."
Goddamn it Inquisitor, is it just those two planets?"Yes. Falconia and Evergreen."
Fuck it, Kryptmann, just get it over with."You've made the right choice, General Pepper."
But please…make sure those who can't escape in time…don't let them suffer.
And with that the middle-aged Inquisitor smiled and turned off his communication system, cutting General Pepper off. Sitting at his desk he glanced over the window to his right and saw the planet that was Falconia beginning to burn as evil was beginning to consume it. He felt not remorse watching the planet die below him from the comfort of his personal Inquisitor battleship, and that was one of the many different reasons why this particular servant of the Imperium was feared throughout the universe.
Still smirking, he thought, 'In trying to save this planet to stay in good terms with that furry General, I wish you the best of luck, Calgar.'
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Location - Falconia
Time - 6:50pm LST (Lylatian Standard Time)
Cornerian Military Strength – Laughable
Chaos Taint – Extreme
Current Directives – Salvage
Contingency Directives – Cleanse
"BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"
The seventeen-year old blue falcon known as Falco Lombardi felt his heartbeat hasten and the sweat roll down the side of his head as he heard the diabolical chanting increase in volume just outside his door. He hid himself in the closet of his room where he tried his best to keep himself scarce and to not exist, hoping whomever it was that's just broken into his house wouldn't find him to do God knows what to him. He clutched a heavy blaster in his hand, trying his best just to not pass out from the panic.
'What's going on?' he thought, 'What do these people want?'
He didn't mean to run, hide and cower like this. It was only because he saw that large mob of fellow avians marching towards his house carrying torches, pitchforks and chainsaws and were chanting rather Satanic verses. And now they had broken into the house and were turning the place inside out, trying to find whomever dwelled here.
Which was him.
"Hey! Let's check for scum in here!"
Falco's eyes widened upon hearing that familiar voice, before he saw the door into his room burst open, where he closed the closet door completely. A group of four other avians stepped in, where one flipped the light switch and the room illuminated. Falco shook silently in the closet, where he gripped the blaster even more tightly in his hands.
The four avians looked like something pulled from the depths of Hell itself. Their faces, clothing and much of their feathers were clotted in thick blood, some of which dripped onto the floor. What appeared to be small skull racks were tied to their backs, which displayed freshly decapitated heads, and the eight-pointed sign of Chaos were drawn on their heads. They looked around the room, clutching their stained blades.
"Didn't Lombardi mention his son would stayin' put tonight?" one of the avians growled, "Jus' so he didn't have to go to his sister's play?"
Falco recognised the voice of this guy. It was Betters, a green-coloured eagle and a friend of the family. He then recognised another voice, which was his best friend at school, Kai.
"He did," Kai the crow said, "Least that was what he mentioned before he got busy cutting hearts out!"
Horror crossed Falco's face as he heard that. He felt tears well in his eyes before he blinked them away, suddenly feeling anger rise within him as he narrowed his eyes, gripping the blaster more tightly now. Better turned to the other two avians, where he frowned and wiped the blood from his eyes, where to Falco's disgust then licked them, savouring the taste.
"The little bastard's in here somewhere!" he spat, "Find him!"
One of the avian's nodded and walked towards the closet, where he stretched a hand forward to turn the knob. Suddenly Falco kicked the door open and knocked the avian down. The other intruders turned towards Falco.
"FALCO!" Kai exclaimed.
Falco aimed his blaster at them, seeing them advance slowly on them. He finger inched near the trigger as he stepped away from the closet, where the avian he knocked down got up and drew his blade. He then charged at Falco, who aimed down at his legs and fired, blowing his left leg off. The avian screamed in pain as blood begun to pour out onto the floor.
"Don't come any closer!" Falco cried, aiming his blaster at the remaining three avians, "Where's my family? WHAT HAVE YOU DOWN WITH THEM"
Betters smiled, "They're being prepared to serve Khorne for all eternity. As should you."
"What?" Falco cried, "What the hell are you talking about? What's going on?"
Kai then charged forward and cried out…
"CHAOS! GIVE ME STRENGTH!"
…where he tackled Falco onto the ground, scattering his blaster onto the floor. Falco was quick to punch his insane best friend off, before he reached for the blaster where he then felt a sharp pain shot up from his leg. He cried out in pain and turned his head to see Betters standing on his leg, where he then increased the pressure.
"Come on, son," Betters said, smiling evilly, "Time to submit yourself to the Great Powers."
Falco glared, before grabbing the blaster and aiming at his head, where Betters eyes widened before having a blaster bolt tear through his skull. Falco then got and fired at the other two Cultists and fired as they charged at him, one through the gut and the other through the chest.
He then looked down at Kai, whose eyes were that of fear as Falco aimed his blaster down at him. He glared.
"What the fuck is going on?" Falco demanded, "Why are you doing this?"
Kai shook his head, "I…I…I don't know. Something's whispering into my head! Please…make it stop!"
Falco's eyes widened, where he tried desperately to believe that this wasn't Kai's doing, rather it was something else. Kai then glared and swept-kicked him off his feet, where the then grabbed his blaster and whipped him across the head, knocking him out and sending him to that place where there was no pain or thought, where he would appear to float there in the darkness.
And somehow could still hear what was going on outside his mind.
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Planet Falconia, the sixth planet of the Lylat System, more or less teetered on the brink of Hell. It's populace was engaged in a massive orgy of violence, ritualistic murder, mutilation and burning. The planet's surface was ravaged and its population centre's were smashed and burning. It's populace, not counting those who were causing all this destruction, fled for their lives towards the nearest star port in their respective cities.
Unknowing to the population, the Holy Fleet of the Imperium of Man held orbit above the planet, ready to step in and hopefully quell the Chaos insurgency. The Ultramarine Battle-Barge, the headquarters of any Space Marine chapter, prepped itself to deploy it's living, superhuman cargo against the worst-tainted area on the planet, which was the capital city.
The massive doors that led into the launch bay of the Battle-Barge slowly opened, revealing one hundred Space Marine, each one flying the their respective colour of blue and their symbol the Omega insignia, with the Imperial Eagle crest on their chestplates. Armed to the teeth with bolters, flamethrowers, plasma guns and rocket launchers, they stepped through the doors and slowly walked into the bay.
Leading them was the Ultrmarines Chapter-Master, Marneus Calgar – the Lord Macragge, and his Command Squad, each of them brandishing their deadly close-combat force weapons. He frowned as he and his men stepped onto the metal floor that was the launch bay and proceeded towards the Drop Pods which was each waiting to take him and his Brothers down to the surface.
'Once again, we sacrifice for the aliens sake,' he thought bitterly, 'Not for the Emperor.'
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Falco felt himself being dragged by his legs down the street from his place as he regained consciousness, where he saw mobs of blood-covered Chaos-marked avians tear past him, burning houses, smashing the windows of shops and raiding supermarkets. Smoke filled the once beautiful, cloudless blue sky, which was now a bloody evil red; fitting for this planet which was now joined with what laid on the other side of this plane, which was nothing but endless pain, suffering and death.
Falco saw a group of blade-wielding avians burning a Cornerian badger soldier alive, him being tied to a stake and screaming as the flames licked up at him and slowly consumed his body. His legs turned to ash while all the while the group of avians which were tormenting him chanted evilly, holding their rusty swords and knive above their heads.
"BURN SCUM, BURN!" they cried out, "ALL FOR THE DARK GODS!"
Falco then saw a gang chase after a family of eagles, where in a panic they dove into the nearest hovercar they could find. But before the father eagle could start it, the gang surrounded the car and begun to smash it with their hammers. He watched as they were dragged out of the car, kicking and screaming and begging for mercy, before being surrounded and butchered by the gang's knives.
He closed his eyes, trying not to watch the violence but he could still hear it. That and that chanting began to increase and sound more disturbing as he was dragged to the centre of town. He was then kicked in the ribs where he forced himself to open his eyes, and he saw something so disturbing it seemed too horrible to be real.
It was his own father on the steps of the town hall, and was adorned in some kind of ritualistic ceremonial garments, complete with skull helmet, a free-flowing cape and he held a metal staff that had a glowing in embedded into it, in his hands. Before the town hall was a massive crowd, where each of them pumped their fists into the air as Lombardi chanted.
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" he yelled, "SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"
A mighty cheer rang about the warped crowd, where they all turned to see Falco thrown before them, where he was then dragged up onto his feet. Feeling a broken rib swim around in his torso, he slowly turned to face his father.
"D…dad?" he moaned.
Father Lombardi smiled, "Aw, son how good of you to join us on this momentous occasion. I wish I could have told you sooner of the celebrations but…"
He rolled his eyes around, still smiling.
"Things just…happen so fast."
Falco clutched his side and fell to his knees, where he saw his father walk down the steps towards him, where he appeared to not notice how badly beaten his own son appeared to be. He stretched a hand forward and caressed the top of Falco's head, where he shivered at the touch as if sensing the taint within him.
The taint of Chaos.
"Where's mum and…Becky?" Falco choked out.
Father Lombardi smiled, "As of right now their souls will forever serve the Destroyer."
Falco begun to shook with grief, where he cried, "They're dead?!"
Lombardi nodded, still smiling, "But I wouldn't say their lives are completely extinguished."
"YOU KILLED THEM!" Falco screamed, both in grief and in anger, "WHY?"
With that he was clubbed back down onto the ground by an avian with a hammer. He was then kicked to the side where laid on his back, looking up at the group of warped cultists, who stared back down at him, narrowed eyes and sadistic smiles gracing their faces.
"Bring him to the altar!" Lombardi ordered, "It's time!"
Falco felt himself carried by his arms and legs up the stairs in front of the door into the town hall, where he was placed upon what appeared to be an altar, right before the sickly image of the Chaos God of War: Khorne.
He was shackled to it, where Falco cried out in pain as he felt the spikes attached to them prick into his wrists and feet. Lombardi walked up the stairs and towards the altar, where he bared a gold-encrusted knife, amidst the cheers of the crowds down below as they pumped their bloody fists into the air, all the while chanting.
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"
Falco looked up at this father in sadness as he stood above him, where he held the dagger high above his head, a smug look on his face. He turned to the image of the Chaos Gods behind him, where he then looked up at the sky.
"ACCEPT THIS SACRIFICE, NOBLE GODS OF CHAOS!" he cried out, "MAY THE TAINT CONSUME US ALL!"
Falco screamed as he saw the knife come down upon his chest, where he then closed his eyes tightly. He only felt the knife skim his chest when suddenly a bright beam of light descended upon the crowd outside the town hall, where hundreds of Cultists were vaporised in a heartbeat, while hundreds where screamed as they felt themselves melt. Lombardi dropped the knife…
"WHAT?"
…which cluttered to the ground. Suddenly the Cultists to the side of him felt high-calibre sniper rounds tear through their chests and create a wall of blood behind them, where they fell down and died in an instant. Falco struggled against his binds, but stopped when he felt the spikes in them move deeper into him, where he felt his wrists being slowly slit.
Lombardi growled, "The Imperials are here!"
Falco turned his head to the left, where he could see what appeared to be drop pods descending from the air and landing in the distance, one of which then landed right before the town hall. He turned back to his father, who slowly bent over and recovered the knife. Falco saw him raise it once again.
Lombardi narrowed his eyes as he prepared to kill Falco once again…
"ACCEPT MY SON, GREAT ONES…ARGHHHHH!"
…before feeling several storm bolter rounds tear through his chest and out the other end, where he was promptly blown to pieces, right before Falco's watering eyes. The knife, which the would-be Chaos Cult Leader had held, as if in slow motion, fell to the ground.
"F…Father!" Falco exclaimed, then said softly, "No…"
Only the bottom half of his torso was still standing, where it promptly fell to it's knees and collapsed completely on the ground. Falco turned the other way to see a squad of ten ultramarine-blue coloured power-armoured human soldiers approaching, one of whom was completely massive and his storm bolters were smoking.
Falco's eyes widened, 'Space Marines?'
The Marine made their way up the steps, where the Marine spread out amongst the front of the town hall…
"Town hall secured, Lord Calgar!"
…where the large Marine, known immediately as Lord Calgar, stepped up to the altar and looked down at the stricken avian, where he looked fearfully back. Calgar noticed the blood dripping from his wrists, where he used his large hands to pull his chains apart, where Falco cried out in fright and passed out once again.
Meanwhile the entire city was in conflict as hordes of avian Cultists clashed with the Space Marines and the Cornerian Defence Force, them in their thousands while the Imperials and the CDF only numbered hundreds. The city begun to burn even more as Imperial heavy artillery rained down on the city and masses of avian Cultists continued to burn everything in their path either with lit torches or makeshift flame-throwers, where those not of Chaos ran for their lives, escorted by Cornerian Defence Force soldiers.
A pair of Motorcycle riding Marines tore through the streets of the city, their boltpistols and bike-equipped frontal bolters blazing away at the Cultists. Much to their chagrin they were covering the fleeing alien avians as they ran for their lives, carrying their children and provisions with them, as well as screaming in panic as they fled.
"Why in the name of the Emperor are we protecting xenos?" of the bikers asked.
A sign of good will, the other line replied, Just so Pepper doesn't try to stop us as we leave this miserable system.
"What if we can't seal of the portal?"
Then we shall resort to 'Plan B.'
A hover-truck transport carrying refugees tore their way past the bikers and headed downward main street, where it's six onboard Cornerian soldier fired wildly at the rapidly pursuing Cultists in their cars, laser rifles and gatling guns blazing from both sides. One bulldog soldier gritted his teeth as he fired off his laser rounds, before he turned to the driver.
"GET THIS CRATE MOVIN'!" he exclaimed, scaring the refugees on board, "I CAN WALK FASTER THEN THIS PIECE OF CRAP!"
The bulldog then received a blaster bolt to his chest where he grunted in pain and fell backwards near the refugees, scaring them even more. Another soldier, a ferret, saw this and where he felt anger well up within himself, from seeing his best friend down.
"YOU BASTARDS!" the ferret yelled, "FUCKING FREAKS!"
He aimed at the driver of the nearest pursuing car and shot him through the windshield, where it and it's occupants swerved off the road and into the nearest group of blood-crazed Cultists, where it then exploded and scattered pieces of the corpses everywhere. The driver of the truck, a panicked hippopotamus, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his left hand as he tried to keep the vehicle/refugee transport on the road, where his windshield was cracked from receiving so many rocks and blaster bolts.
Suddenly…
"HEADS UP!" he cried.
A truck driven by a maddened Cultist stopped in front of them, where the transport ploughed into it, sending several refugees and Cornerian soldiers flying and screaming. It was then followed by a massive explosion where it blew the trucks apart, and which it could have been heard by everyone in the whole city were it not for the other explosions and the sounds of gunfire – both of laser blaster rifles and boltguns.
Not two far away down main street, two Dreadnought walkers tore through the crowds, their bolters chewing up any avian that got in their way, where a squad of six Marine followed close behind, firing their bolters.
"DIE CHAOTC XENOS!" the sergeant accompanying them cried, "HOW COULD YOU LET CHAOS TAINT YOUR WORLD?"
With that he swung his chainsword and beheaded the nearest avian, where another four ganged up on him, where he aimed his boltpistol and put lead between each other their eyes. He then shoulder-charged another Cultists, before swinging his chainsword at his feet and sweeping him off, before slashing downwards to his chest.
Sergeant Miller, do you copy?
Miller then tapped are earpiece.
"I copy, Lord Calgar," Miller responded.
Status?
"We can't hold this position much longer!" Miller exclaimed, "Half the populations' being tainted."
Just as I feared, Calgar said on the other end, We are nearing the source of the invasion. If we can't shut if down from there, we will have to resort to 'Plan B.'
Miller's eyes widened, "Plane B, my lord? But we will…"
Miller stopped speaking in order to duck a sword swing from an eagle Cultist, before he delivered an uppercut swipe from his chainsword, slashing his chest upwards, before he finished him off by blowing his chest apart with his bolt pistol. Another Cultist charged from behind him, but was then tackled by another Marine, who then grabbed his head and crushed it with his bare hands.
Miller tapped his radio, "As I was saying, my lord: We will have to get off the planet by then!"
That is affirmative, sergeant, Macragge said, Withdraw to your designated extraction point immediately. Do you understand?
"Yes, my lord!" Miller exclaimed, narrowing his eyes in determination, Over and out.
With that he cried out amidst the explosion of a grenade, chainsword hoisted into the air, "FALL BACK, BROTHERS! TACTICAL RETREAT!"
The squad of six complied where they begun to turn and run the other way, the two Dreadnoughts following slowly behind, keeping the thousands of pursuing Cultists at bay. The Dreadnought fired their vulcan cannons, chewing up as many Cultists as possible. But then suddenly…
"CHHHHHHAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSS!"
…a Cultist with a bomb-strapped to his chest jumped down from a nearby building and landed on top of one of the Dreadnoughts, where he laughed maniacally into the air and detonated himself, the resulting explosion tearing the Dreadnought walker apart, scattering pieces of metal everywhere, one of which was sent though the back of one Marine.
"ARGHHHHHHH!"
He fell forward on his face, where he drew his last breath as he felt the metal through his chest and punctured both his lungs. Miller looked away sadly as he continued to run, many dire thoughts running through his mind.
'A good servant of the Emperor gone to waste,' he thought, 'Along with his gene-seed.'
The other Dreadnought opened up with his flame-thrower, torching even more Cultists before it swung his mechanical arm and sending dozens flying into the air, smacking into the buildings and into other Cultist groups.
'So many Chaos-tainted xenos,' the soul within the Dreadnought thought, 'How could they be so foolish in opening the daemon gate?'
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"Hey, I think the kid's coming to!"
Falco opened his eyes slowly, where he felt himself to be moving and that his head was touching cold steel. His ribs hurt and he could what appeared to be bandages tape around it and also his cut wrists, where he groaned in pain. Two Cornerian soldiers, a cat and a black fox, looked down at him, where the cat removed a damp cloth from his forehead and smiled.
"Don't worry, kid," he said reassuringly, "We'll get you outta here!"
Falco struggled to make his mouth work, "My…my family?"
The cat looked over at the fox, who shrugged and shook his head sadly. The cat looked back down at Falco with sympathetic eyes.
"We haven't seen them around," the cat replied, "But you can help us find them."
The truck then passed through a steel gate and into the courtyard outside the spaceport. A metallic wall surrounded the massive starport itself, where Cornerian soldiers stood on guard, heavy weapons ready. Falco felt himself being gently raised to his feet, where he stepped off the truck along with the other soldiers and refugees.
"Oh my God," Falco said softly.
Thousands of dead avian bodies were stretched out all over the courtyard, as if ready for identification. Falco saw several distraught family members of the dead crying over their husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and other family members' bodies. Falco felt like he was going to throw up, but he kept it down.
"Aw, jeez…" the fox soldier said softly, seeing Falco's reaction.
Falco fell to his knees, where he could not help but sob quietly, hands covering his eyes but the tears running through his fingers, and dripping slowly downwards towards the asphalt. He forced himself to look upon the bodies again as he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"C'mon, kid!" the fox soldier exclaimed, "Last ship off Falconia's leaving now. And we better be on it!"
Falco nodded and got back up on his feet, where suddenly screaming could be from outside the gate, where it opened slowly again to reveal another truck full of refugees…this time being chased by daemons and Cultists. Tzeentch Horrors were the daemons to be precise; those hideous mounds of pink flesh with large rubbery mouths.
"God Almighty!" the cat cried.
The daemons scraped away at the truck, where they then frolicked through the gate. Immediately the soldiers within the compound opened fired open them, where they squealed as they opened their near-rubbery mouths and fired balls of Chaotic fire back at them, a few of the Cornerians screamed as they burnt to a crisp.
One Horror lunged at Falco, where he cried out and dove out the way along with the Cornerian soldiers near him, where immediately the Horror lost interest in him and went after the avian refugees, who all fled into the starport buildings in terror. The two soldiers fired at the daemon, which squealed as it fell to the ground and appear to disappear into the ground in crimson fire.
Falco picked himself up again, and turned to the soldiers.
"NOW WHAT?!" he demanded.
"RUN!" the cat cried, "INTO THE STAR PORT!"
Before he knew what was happening, he was being rushed by the two soldiers where he saw more daemons of different shapes, size and breeds tearing over the wall and towards the star port. Falco bent over and quickly picked up a blaster, where he aimed at the nearest daemon and fired, along with the soldiers who fired their laser rifles as they ran.
"CLOSE THE BLAST DOORS!" the cat cried in his earpiece radio, "NOW!"
They dove through the large doorway into the star port's main building, where it's large titanium doors slowly closed, leaving the daemons and the Cornerian soldiers unfortunate to be left outside to fight, where the Cornerians were all quickly cut down by the Cultist and daemonic hordes. One Cornerian soldier felt the axe of a Cultist split his chest open, while another was devoured in one bite by a large-mouthed Horror.
In the star port, the people begun to board the several large Cornerian transport ships, where they all pushed desperately to get inside. Falco sighed and stepped into the line of the nearest craft, where he dropped the blaster he had just picked up, leaving it to lie there until the inevitable was to occur to this once peaceful world.
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Meanwhile Calgar and his Command Squad fought their way towards the outskirts of the city, crushing any Cultist that dared stand in front of their bolters, chainswords and power swords. They smashed through the walls of a tenement block into a lobby area, where they were confronted by a pack of incredibly feral Cultists.
"False Emperor's minions!" a female Cultist hissed, "CRUSH THEM!"
The Cultists drew their blades and rushed towards the Marine, where Calgar simply loaded up his storms bolters and fired, blowing the Cultists completely away and leaving only a piles of screaming gibs lying there. More Cultists, however, rushed from all sides where the Marines were quick to draw their swords and engage them.
A sergeant engaged three Cultists at once, where he swung his power sword and sent them flying due to the power emitted from the blade. He then drove his blade through the chest of another Cultist, before blowing his head apart with his plasma pistol. The Marines then continued forward, where they smashed through the flimsy wall on the other side of the building.
"The source of the invasion must be nearby," a Marine cried out, then pointed, "LOOK, MY LORD!"
Calgar saw several Horrors emerging from what appeared to be a basement near a condemned building. The Chapter-Master nodded and pumped his fists into the air, where he called out in his best authoritarian voice.
"BROTHERS, WE MUST SHUT DOWN THE PORTAL ON THIS PLANE OF EXISTENCE!"
The Marines all let out a battle cry before drawing their guns and firing at the incoming horde of daemons, where Cultists were already joining the battle, also emerging from the basement. The Marines slowly walked forward, guns blazing and cutting down their enemy. Calgar, impatient, charged forwards and swung his mighty fists, sending several Cultists and daemons flying.
The Marines then moved down the basement, where their eyes widened as they saw that it led down a massive flight of torch-lit stairs towards the large doorway, and several Daemons and Cultists were emerging from what laid beyond the door. Calgar fired his storm-bolter at a Horror, blowing it's legs off before he stomped on it's head with his massive armoured foot, his eyes narrowed in fury. The Marine next to him swung his power sword and decapitated a Cultist.
"We must be nearing the source!" a Marine exclaimed, "The daemons are pouring through in their dozens!"
Calgar nodded, where he charged forward and tackled several Cultists, where they all tumbled down the steps, before they all screamed in pain as they felt bolter rounds tear through them. They all then advanced through the large doors, encountering more resistance as they entered a massive chamber where they saw it.
"By the Emperor! The daemon gate!" Calgar cried, "It's in it's final stages!"
The gate itself, where before it littered what appeared to have been a Cornerian archaeological team whose bodies appeared to have been a few weeks old and decomposing, was still spewing forth more daemonic entities from the warp itself. Calgar bit his lip, before mowing down as many of the daemons as possible, them falling left and right, before his bolter magazine emptied.
"Damnation! We're too late!" a Marine cried out as he fired off his plasma rifle, "We must…AWKKK!"
He was then dashed to the ground by a Horror, where it in turn was then set alight by a flame-thrower wielding Marine. Suddenly a massive roared echoed from the gate, and what laid on the other side. Calgar pounded his fists and tapped his radio.
"This is Lord Macragge to the fleet," he cried, "Falconia is unable to be salvaged. Repeat: Falconia is now beyond saving. Permission for fleet to carry out Exterminatus?"
Your permission is granted, the other line replied, Falconia and the avians can feel the Emperor's wrath for their ignorance. You have ten minutes to be off world.
"More than enough time!" Calgar exclaimed, before punching a Cultist across the face, then pummelling him into the ground, "Out!"
He then switched his off com, before swatting another Horror out of the way with his massive power-fisted hands. He pumped his left fist into the air.
"IN THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR, WE MUST WITHDRAW!"
The Marines all nodded and they walked backwards towards the doorway, weapons blazing. Just as Calgar was the last to exit did a massive red-coloured hand emerge out of the body and grip the stone floor. Calgar aimed his bolters upward at the ceiling and fired, bringing down rock upon the portal and the chamber, crushing any unlucky daemon and covering the portal.
'That should give us all enough time,' he thought, determined.
The Marine made their way back up the large staircase, passing by the bodies of both friend and foe, of Space Marine, Cornerian soldier and avian Cultist. Calgar felt both his twin hearts pounding furiously against his chest as he continued to run, pushing his muscles to their limits.
Soon the Space Marines reached the surface, where immediately they saw a Thunderhawk transport touch down in front of the cave. Calgar wiped the sweat off his brow as he and his men stepped on board, where it immediately took off and blasted into the blood-red/crimson sky.
On board, Calgar twiddled his fingers as he tried his best to keep the rage within him. Rage over these ignorant xenos and how they doomed their whole world. He knew that this entire 'containment' mission was a failure, that there was no need to destroy a planet belonging to such a weak galaxy, but now there that last option left.
'May whatever Gods these 'furries' worship have mercy on them,' he thought.
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Falco tried his best to get comfortable as he sat in the rather overcrowded transport ship; the sounds of people's crying, depression and mourns of loss making his heart feel incredibly heavy. All the while he tried to piece together what was happening, as everything appeared to have only occurred a few minutes ago, where he was just looking after the family house and not wanting to go to his sister's school play.
He did realise that strange things were going on in the city, and possibly the entire planet, after he heard about the disappearance of a Cornerian archaeological team that checked out a supposed network of catacombs beneath the condemned 'Wilkins' building. Afterwards, everybody starting going out late at night, to utter to themselves and five cases involved people cutting strange symbols on their arms.
That he saw on the Evening News on the TV set.
Alright everybody, this is your captain speaking, the announcement system said, where the captain himself sounding dispossessed, We're about to take off, so hold tight, pray, and if the situation is at a disadvantage, repent sins. Opening roof…
The roof of the starport opened slowly and mechanically to reveal the deathly sky, where already Space Marine Thunderhawk transports were disappearing into the sky and getting to safety. The dozen large transports ships all fired up their engines and took off separately, causing massive damage to the empty hangars.
Brace yourselves.
Falco gripped the railing as the transport he was on shifted violently as it exploded from the hangar and into the air, where already the refugees cried out in panic, while others closed their eyes in silent prayer and held their children tightly to themselves. The ship begun to vibrate as it hit the atmosphere, where thunder sounded off around them. Falco closed his eyes tightly and did not open them again until…
Oh my…
Falco looked out the window and saw the blackness of space, where he also saw what appeared to be the entire human Imperial Navy holding orbit above Falconia, which was previously a beautiful planet, now rapidly being taken over the Chaotic clouds which slowly engulfed it.
"What's happening down there?" a refugee asked, distressed, "Our homes!"
"Where are we gonna go?" another asked.
Suddenly…
"NO!" Falco practically screamed, "PLEASE GOD, NO!"
The Imperial Navy begun to charge up their massively powerful lance cannons, where they all fired downwards at the planet's surface, instantly blowing chunks out of it, exposing the planet's rapidly destabilising core. Falco's eyes widened in horror as he saw his planet slowly die before him. The Lance cannons then charged up again and fired, striking the core.
The Imperial Navy then begun to pull away from the planet, as well as the transport ships. They were half-a-light year away when the planet finally exploded in a magnificent fireball, the resulting shockwave shaking all the ships violently. Falco lost his footing as he tried to stand up and instantly fell back down, smacking his head on the metal floor…where he passed out once again. The sounds of distress coming from the avian refugees as they saw their planet explode was the last thing he heard.
--- 11 YEARS LATER ---
"So that's how it happened?" Fox asked as he and Falco watched the chunks of rock previously known as Falconia drift by the observation deck of the Great Fox.
Falco, who was dressed in his best grey suit, nodded and replied, "Yeah. Every god damn second of it."
"Whatever happened to Kai?"
Falco exhaled painfully and shuddered, "Last I heard, he was sliced up the middle by a Scout Marine and his feathers used to decorate his armour."
The avian's eyes were closed and his head bowed in sadness and he faced the window, revealing what was left of his home planet, which it's pieces floated sadly around in the dark void that was space. The fact that another world, Evergreen, suffered the same fate a day later did not help one bit, it only made Falco even more bitter. Fox, Krystal and a pink furred cat dressed in a maroon flight suit looked over at the avian sadly, where the cat put a paw on Falco's shoulder and squeezed gently and comfortably.
Falco opened his eyes slightly and took her hand in his, smiling softly, "Katt."
"I'm really sorry," Katt Monroe replied with heavy sympathy, "But you didn't think you going to go attend your own memorial by yourself, right?"
He nodded, "Yeah."
He then raised his head and turned around, where he walked slowly towards the door, which opened for him and he disappeared behind them. Fox and Katt watched him leave, where the both of them were still feeling sad for him, where Fox rubbed his left shoulder uncomfortably and lowered his head, looking down at the floor, where Krystal still looked out into space.
"So this is Falco every August 5th?" Katt queried, eyebrows narrowed sadly.
"Yes, he's a husk on this day and every day of his home's destruction," Krystal replied, "And somehow we always feel his angst."
Katt looked at him curiously, eyes narrowed, "You do?"
Fox chuckled softly and looked back up at Katt, "We're the only family he's got. It's our obligation."
He then gazed out into space, where he noticed the hundreds of other starships scattered around the same sector, each one filled the surviving populace of the planet and each one paying their respects to their homeworld. Fox felt terrible for each and every one of those avians, and how they must have lost someone or everyone dearest to them, as well as their homes.
"I think I know what is really sad about all this?" Fox spoke.
"What?" Krystal asked, stepping up to stand alongside him and follow his gaze out into space.
Fox sighed, "We've gotten used to this. Somehow…ah…."
He rubbed his head fur as he thought about what would be the appropriate words to describe his thoughts.
"…our senses are numb towards the suffering of others. And I think I know why."
Krystal hugged Fox around the chest and rested her head on his should, where she nodded and said, "I know what you mean."
Watching the both of them, Katt contemplated whether she should check up on Falco, and see if the weight of his repressed guilt and sadness had not overwhelmed him. She stepped towards the door, but before she could step out of the observation deck, she froze and quickly changed her mind, knowing that he would mind him and the others if they took a glimpse of his pain.
----------
Falco sat on the floor against his door as he sobbed into his hands, finally allowing himself to release his bottled up inner emotions and pain. The tears appeared to leak through between his fingers and land on the floor as he couldn't stop thinking about the events of that day, and how the human race took everything from him. He ran his arm across his eyes and wiped the remainder of his tears away as he finally took control of himself.
He then thought, 'Damn it, I wish Jacques were here. He'd have something spiritually enlightening to say. Though he's one of those…bastards!'
He then thought about his former team mate, The Only Good Human, and how he had left the Star Fox team a year ago…