Persona: Vice Governor Aquila
My name is Aquila, once Vice Governor of the Merdythia system in the Ultramar Sector. I use the word once because, according to the most recent of Imperial Calendars that we have found on our travels, all the planets in the system we once called home have been lifeless hulks for the best part of a century.
Home was destroyed in the advance of the terrible Xenos fleet designated in the aftermath as Hive Fleet Behemoth, the foul Tyranids on the path to their own destruction at the Ultramarines Space Marines owned planet of Macragge. Precise details of how such a host of ships were destroyed destroyed are vague at best, but the broad details are that it came under assault of the Imperial Navy, the Ultramarines' own fleet and even the mysterious Eldar.
Not that such information is easy to obtain these days, due to my actions during the apocalyptic campaign as well as our unfortunate cursed existence, I was branded a traitor along with all those who served under me. The official reasoning behind the excommunication order was that I evacuated the sparsely populated planets of Uqinox (pronounced Uck-e-no) and Scythia, and had their populations warped to safety rather than standing and fighting to the last.
But, if I were to have a wild stab in the dark, my branding a heretic was for publicly denouncing the orders of the Governor of the system, and inciting a coup that toppled him from power.
The coup was for the best intentions, Governor Voss had been severely hindering the progress of the System's defence from the outset, and towards the end he was declared an active security risk by an Inquisitorial party present at the time. But for the most part in the Imperium, it is the actions and the threat they pose to the iron fist grasp they maintain over the overall galactic populace that matter, rather than strategic or moral intent.
We managed to save over 5 billion men and women, nearly half of whom were civilians, spiriting them away on board of the transport vessels and battleships of Battlefleet Septimus. The fleet were under the command of Admiral Quarrus, a man who had faced the foul Xenos before and agreed with my idea of asset denial, as it had become clear the fleet was feasting on the worlds it overcame. With each and every person we saved, we denied the hive fleet mass with which to continue its advance into Imperial space.
I went a step further and was prepared to perform the ultimate tactic of asset denial, when my trusted guardsmen knocked me unconscious and sent me on the last transport to the fleet, even as the hive fleet arrived in its full and devastating glory. The majority of Battlefleet Septimus fled into the warp, our astropaths screaming as they did so, their mystical third eye bleeding and weeping pus as they attempted to pierce the warp shadow the Tyranids cast in front of their advance.
I woke just in time to receive the feed of the unmanned sensor ship's vid feeds, showing the millions upon millions of hive spores rocketing towards the planet I grew up on, and had been prepared to die for. From the reports we have gained from sympathetic Imperial forces, the death of the planet caused significant damage to the Hive Fleet, and considerably slowed its advance. That my home is now little more than clumps of rock and space dust because of that does little to make me feel at all proud of the damage we inflicted, even if it was the most effective thing we could do.
The fact that billions upon billions of men women and children died when they were under my protection did not cause those that are on the ships to hate me for what I have done. Instead they view me as their saviour, saving their lives so that they may continue fighting the dreaded enemy in the Emperor's name.
My name is now Commander-General Aquila of Ghost Fleet Septimus, and this is the tale of how we gained our title.
Chapter 1: They are Coming.
A shadow across the warp, a thousand chattering voices in unison, casting their presence before them. That is how our Astropaths and sanctioned psykers described the approaching xenos fleet. It approached at a ponderous but relentless rate, smashing aside system defences in it's path like a hammer upon glass.
We had of course, received visual and verbal reports from the wide eyed survivors and refugees on the few transport ships that managed to survive the terrors of the warp travel to our system, as well as the official feedback from the few surviving scout vessels and fleet ships that survived such encounters.
The refugees spoke of dread horrors in the night, and an endless rain of flesh and bone from the sky that blotted out suns and hives with almost unbelievable ease. The fleet ships reported an enemy that knew no fear or cared for their own lives, delaying tactics such as minefields and defence stations doing nothing to slow the Tyranid fleet advance.
My superior, and ruler of the Merdythia system for almost 40 years, was a man whose 'official' title was Supreme Governor and Commissar General Luthor Voss. He was a man who espoused Faith as a merit above all else, and had long claimed that the day to day running of the sector was not his concern, such 'unimportant' activities at risk of impacting his 'brilliant organisational strategy'.
In other words, Voss focussed on his standing as 'The sector's most faithful servant' and did regular and lengthy orations to ensure the people knew 'who was the one they should praise along with the Emperor', whilst leaving everything else to those below him. Therefore when news of the Tyranid fleet heading in the direction of Merdythia reached us, he acted in accordance with his increasingly bizarre and lazy lifestyle. In a speech broadcast to every population hub in the sector, Voss invoked the Emperor's name, stating that each and every man over the age of 18 was to enlist in the militia and prepare to defend their system from the blasted xenos.
Then, with his 'brilliant' contribution to the war effort accomplished, he sequestered himself in his quarters with his personal advisors and favourites, claiming he was doing important work and was not too be disturbed no matter what.
This of course left the actual planning and defence of the system in the hands of the three senior administrators, Kell, Jarren and Osthio, and I. After a meeting amongst ourselves, so that I could brief them of the threat level as well as the more classified information I had received from both legal and less than legal sources, we decided that there was no other choice. We would have to hold a full war council for the first time in the history of the Merdythia sector, since the Ultramarines had liberated the planet almost 6 millenia before, and reveal onto them the true threat of what we were facing.
I sat patiently at the head of the large dark marble table as I waited for the rest of the council to arrive. The administrators sat on my right as they always had, their datapads and scrolls making each of them take the space of at least two normal people. About 15 minutes before the meeting started the representatives of the noble houses arrived, one after the other, not talking and merely eyeing each other cautiously.
Given the prestige and power that came with such a position, those that filled the representative roles could change quite quickly if they were careless, so it was not surprising that each Noble brought a squad of bodyguards. These men would remain under the watch of my own personal bodyguard platoon, to ensure that nothing violent would occur between them and ruin the atmosphere of the meeting.
At exactly two minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin, Colonel Kergis of the 1st Merdythia Corps arrived in his usual disciplined manner. The Colonel burst through the door and marched into the room, flanked by Lieutenant Rodgers and Captain Santez in perfect sync, as if all three were listening to the same silent drumbeat.
The Colonel was a tall stocky man just under 6 ½ feet tall that could bench press twice his own weight with little difficulty, just like many of our hivers, which put him in sharp contrast to his aides. Lieutenant Rodgers was a slender blonde female in her early 30's, from the planet of Scythia, her dark skin a distinct feature of the planet's inhabitants. Captain Santez was a small and unassuming man, barely 5 foot 7" and almost rakishly thin with a predatory look almost permanently etched onto his face, though I am assured by Colonel Kergis he is a dangerous man with either lasgun or blade in hand.
Following in behind them were Lieutenant Elizia Derosa and Sergeant Major Damian Baird, from the fledgling 2nd Merdythia Guardsman corps, both doing their best to match the disciplined show of the other three officers. Lieutenant Derosa was a Noble born woman in her early twenties, though given her time in her house's unofficial gang she had more scars than some of his longest serving Guardsmen. Sergeant Major Baird on the other hand was a voidborn in his 50's, though he had a youthful look that matched his attitude, often acting like a man half his age.
Lieutenant Derosa sent me an apologetic look as they came to a stop by their allocated seat, which I assumed was due to the lack of their commanding officer, Colonel Volander. It didn't really surprise me, as the new commander was deep in Voss's pocket, so he had probably ignored my summons to attend to whatever foolishness Governor Voss was currently enacting.
Colonel Kergis and Lieutenant Derosa sat directly to my right, the others standing behind them and Sergeant Major Baird looking considerably more relaxed than his counterpart. Obviously the two had decided who was going to face me directly given their lack of commanding officer, probably by drawing the tarot or some other ridiculous game of chance.
As the scheduled time appeared on my chrono, the doors of the conference room opened for what would hopefully be the last time. Silhouetted against the early afternoon sun in the background was the tall and imposing figure of Admiral Quarrus, the pale and gangly voidborn man in charge of Battle fleet Septimus. He and the remnants of his forces had been fighting hit and run actions against the advancing armada for almost a year now, and he had been a major source of information and knowledge on what could be expected.
A ship brat orphaned at a young age, Admiral Quarrus always with the habit of arriving exactly on time to a meeting, no matter whether or not he could have got there any earlier. This was evidenced by the fact he had spent the afternoon with me in my private quarters, the two of us reminiscing over old cases of smugglers and pirates rather than the monstrosity approaching us, a luxury that would soon be impossible to allow time for.
However, as Admiral Quarrus began to walk into the room his figure was eclipsed by the much bulkier figure in pitch black power armour that walked in from the direction of the entrance to my compound. Whilst the almost 9 foot tall figure of myth was certainly the attention grabbing figure, it was smaller, feminine figure that walked in behind the space marine that drew my gaze. She didn't walk so much as stalk into the room, an air of authority and power exuded from her body language that I had not seen from anyone other than the fabled Adeptus Astartes, that I had occasionally had dealings with during my time as Vice Governor.
Such arrogance usually only meant one thing and I stood hastily, my eyes drawn to the skull like insignia on the shoulder pad of the power armoured figure. The nobles had also noticed the sign and followed my hasty actions, bowing to the space marine who they obviously thought was in charge. I instead bowed to the young woman who was still stood with Quarrus, knowing that the Inquisitor had sent the power armoured figure in first for this exact reason and refusing to play such games.
"Inquisitor, I had no idea that any of the Inquisition had any interest in our system, shall I alert Governor Voss for you? He is probably the most suitable to help with your needs." My actions drew a small smile from the female as she shook her head, her blonde hair swaying lightly at the motion, and she reached up with a dainty hand to move the errant locks back into place in a manner that was both seductive and economical at the same time.
"There will be no need to inform this Voss person, Admiral Quarrus informed me that you had called this War Council. So therefore it is you, Vice-Governor Aquila, that I am interested in talking with." The nobles had worked out that they had been bowing to the wrong person, and all three tried to apologise graciously, cause the Inquisitor to frown slightly before waving her hand imperiously.
"Quiet! Now, be seated. The faster this meeting begins, the faster we can take action against these terrible Xenos." She turned her head towards the power armoured figure, and I was surprised to see the Space Marine stiffen slightly under her gaze.
"Brother Ios, if you could please wait outside and make sure that no one else disturbs us?" The figure half nodded and then paused, as if realising what the instruction meant and had nodded as a reflex rather than in agreement, speaking in the measured and level tone that Adeptus Astartes were known for.
"Are you sure my Lady? I don't know if I should leave you al…" The Inquisitor's eyes narrowed fractionally and the newly named Ios stopped hastily, which I noticed with some interest.
"Of course my Lady, your will be done." With the decision made for him Ios turned and stomped back to the doors, his heavy footfalls punctuating the cracking of the delicate floor tiles beneath his feet.
With the required personnel gathered and no more likely surprises I indicated to my guards for the doors to be closed, the Inquisitor taking the opportunity to sit down at the far side of the almost round table, directly in front of my own seat.
"Whenever you are ready Governor. Time is lives given the threat." Her voice now contained a underflow of something that I couldn't identify, and the idea to jump straight to the main reason for this meeting bubbled in the back of my head, but I shook it off and nodded in agreement.
"As you have all no doubt heard, a massive and terrible Xenos fleet approaches our sector, it is reported the armada is of a magnitude never seen before. Despite the most gallant efforts of our our esteemed Imperial Navy, the forces available to the Septimus sector will not be able to prevent the fleet from reaching our sector." I waved my hand towards the table in front of the Council and a three dimensional view of our sector appeared, courtesy of a techpriest waiting at the side of the room watching my every move.
"This is our sector, this is our home. I have come up with a plan for the defence, but it focuses mainly on the defence of Merdythia itself, as the other two planets are too sparsely populated to form a reasonable defence." It was interesting to see how little reaction Rodgers gave to the news of her planet being abandoned, but given the stories I heard about the lifestyle there she probably didn't miss it too much. I continued on with my directions, I could talk to Colonel Kergis at a later point if I thought it might be a more serious issue.
"Admiral, would it be possible to transport the populations of those planets to here? Give us more men to fight with against the enemy?" Quarrus nodded after a moment of thought, which was hardly surprising as we had discussed the idea before.
He was noticeably nervous of the Inquisitor's presence at the end of the table, with good reason I thought harshly, the Inquisition were never good news to anyone they met with.
"Aye, though it would take time, maybe two weeks to get the word out and get them gathered. Probably another week to get them boarded, but it's certainly feasible." I nodded.
"Good, now let us find out what we have to fight the enemy with, Colonel Kergis?" The man nodded and stood, not even looking at the papers he had brought with him as he started a speech he had probably memorised days ago.
"As of muster today, the Merdythia Marauders have 500,000 infantrymen fully trained and ready to fight. Including defence forces for the Sector as well we have almost a million true Guardsmen and 1.5 million conscripts that have just finished their required training, not including administration and command aides. Our ammo is well stocked and we have a full quota of heavy weapons and mortars, with crews ready and trained to use them. Our Sentinel numbers are below the required amount due to difficulties in production in the last quarter, though given the defensive nature of this attack this will not be a huge issue. Our other mechanised units are fully prepared however, meaning we have nearly 10,000 Leman Russ tanks, and 1,000 Basilisks ready and functioning, though most of these are currently fixed defence emplacements around the various Hives." He took a breath, his face red with the constant stream of words before he continued.
"Our auxiliary units consist of almost 300,000 men and women from the two outlying planets, with another 500,000 people on those planets that have done conscription in the last 10 years, so will be able to fight effectively as well. Lastly we have 400 Lightning Hawk fighters, 200 Marauder Bombers and 4,000 Valkyries make up our air support." Colonel Kergis sat back down, looking quietly pleased with himself despite his best efforts to remain professional as Lieutenant Derosa stood uncertainly.
She drew herself up and repeated something to herself silently several times, that looked ominously like the Emperor's prayer for mercy before beginning to speak nervously, causing me to arch an eyebrow. Had I really made myself out to be that much of a bogeyman that the Guardsmen were nervous of my response to their expected subpar report? Whilst I liked to be known as a man who abhorred bad performance, I didn't want to get to the point where people started trying to lie to me to try and avoid such a result.
"My lords, as of this morning, we have 650,000 men and women as part of our infantry platoons in the Second Corp. These guardsmen are mainly made up of underhivers, so they are experienced in combat for the most part but undisciplined. Our conscription quotas were reduced by 30% by Colonel Volander, who claimed it would help save fuel and ammunition from training the recruits. The training itself has been sporadic, as Volander prefers to focus on drill and parade form rather than fighting prowess."
She shivered slightly under my unwavering stare and I couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for her, having only been in a position of command for three months, it was natural that she was feeling the strain of such a difficult position. Sergeant Major Baird stepped in, obviously trying to save their corps pride.
"Our Equipment is all well maintained and due to the lack of training, we have enough surplus heavy weaponry to fit 5 additional heavy weapons companies and their infantry attachments. Our vehicles have been maintained by myself and our cadre of tech priests, and I can offer our full complement plus 100 extra Leman Russ's, twenty Leman Russ Vanquishers and 1 Shadowsword super heavy tank." I will admit, that last detail was the first piece of information that I hadn't known of as I walked in, and I could see I wasn't the only one.
Kergis looked outraged at what he no doubt saw as a gross case of military misconduct, but before he could build up sufficient fury to start one of his parade ground rants he was famous for, the Inquisitor spoke up in a serious but still polite manner that had my back hairs rise.
"It is evident your superiors didn't know of these developments Sergeant Major, why did you keep it to yourself?" Sergeant Major Baird was now sweating rather heavily under the additional attention he was now receiving, but kept his head high as he started to try and explain his actions.
"Governor Voss decreed that the Shadowsword tank, which was badly damaged during the taking of this planet almost 6 millenia ago, should be left as it was as proof of the Emperor's power rather than repaired so that it could be used once more. So, if I had told anyone I would have just ended up on charges and the thing melted down or worse." I nodded, it sounded like the type of ridiculous law Governor Voss would pass when I wasn't looking or from before I rose to my current position of power. I decided that such creative and positive behaviour needed to be rewarded for the prize we were presented with.
"In this case, your ingenuity is a boon to us Sergeant Major, I assume you must have had the sacred blueprints to the machine in order to repair it?" Baird nodded unsurely, not following my line of thought, and it was evident by the raised eyebrows in the room that he wasn't the only one.
The Inquisitor again was the one to ask the question, the others either knowing me well enough or patient enough to wait for me to start explaining.
"Why do you ask Governor, what is your plan?" I grinned, and motioned again, the screen changing to that of Merdythia Prime, the main hive on the planet, pop up windows of Secundus and Teritas Hives visible in the corners of the screen.
"The enemy's fleet power is overwhelming according to the reports, though it is supposedly much easier to assault them whilst they are engaged in ground support operations, so we cannot expect our fleet to control their landing area. Given this, we cannot force the enemy to a field of our choosing whilst protecting our population centres themselves, therefore the hives themselves will be where we shall fight the aliens to a standstill when they do launch their invasion force. We have heard of the rain of spores they use as a bombardment and landing tool in the reports, to counter this, we shall concentrate our AA protection over this small area." I motioned and a 10 km boundary around the hive's outer walls appeared, similar smaller boundaries appearing around the two smaller hives.
"This will mean the enemy will attack the hive walls on foot, and therefore have to pass our brave men and women of the Imperial Guard. And in addition to the strength and faith of our troops, they will also have to deal with the true strength of the Imperial Guard, our formidable array of righteous firepower that we can lay down against them." I looked over at the Noble representatives pointedly before speaking to them directly for the first time.
"Lord Vectis, the High districts are to switch to the production of AA guns, emplacements and ammo, including the two factories currently producing weapons for various militia bands. Don't think I don't know what the production figures should be." The tallest of the nobles looked shocked and angry that I had discovered his ploy, but I moved on too swiftly for him to protest.
"Premier Ajax, the Western districts will switch to the production heavy weapons, we must have superior firepower to stop them reaching the Hive itself! You are too co-ordinate with Sergeant Major Baird and his tech priests in producing some more Shadowswords. If we can produce even half a dozen more of those mighty machines, they shall be more than worth the effort." Without pausing I turned to the last of the nobles, the man barely in his twenties and with a boyish look about him that matched his age, if not his attitude.
This Noble was a recent rising star that I didn't know as well as the others, who had led his house to the top by toppling a succession of steadily more prominent houses through inter house wars and under the table dealings. This all occurred within two years of his father's death at the hands of a rival house's assassins, though some like to slander and ruminate that the assassins were hired by the heir himself.
"Lord Davies, you are to produce the weapons and ammo that will be required to arm our citizens, they shall fight with us against this threat." Lord Davies nodded and looked over to Colonel Kergis.
"Colonel, I have 500 militiamen that are armed, trained and ready to fight. They know their way round the hives and excel at close quarters." Before anyone could comment on the unknown precedent that the noble had set, Lord Davies turned back to me.
"I will also order the opening of our house warehouses and armouries to you Governor. What is in there is currently unknown to me, having just recently taken the mantle of Head of my house. But I shall endeavour to have a rough estimate to you by tomorrow evening." This move by Davies was interesting to say the least, and I couldn't help but grin at the looks on the other two noble's faces as I nodded my head.
"That is most generous of you Lord Davies, this shall be remembered. Now my lords, I ask that you start preparing you men and factories for the coming months. We shall work out more detailed requirements and production targets soon, but first I must finalise the defence positions with the Guardsmen." The nobles nodded, understanding my dismissal for what it was without any protest and stood quickly, heading out of the room hastily but not before bowing to the Inquisitor once more.
As my aides unlocked the doors and opened them to allow the nobles out I could barely hold in a laugh, the three nobles forced to step cautiously around the hulking Astartes that stood in the entranceway, if the Astartes had been stood any closer to the doors he would have been leaning against/through them. As the doors closed again I took the liberty of leaning back in my chair slightly, glad that stage one of this scheme was over and done with.
"Well, none of them are panicking yet, that must mean that it has gone better than expected." To my surprise it was the Inquisitor that laughed whilst Colonel Kergis frowned, no doubt disappointed by my momentary lapse in professional conduct, before speaking his concerns out loud to me and the table as a whole.
"That is true, though Vectis may still be trouble yet, he is not used to being out-politicked by you still, especially in front of the others. And I wouldn't trust that Davies boy with my shoelaces, when a Noble offers you something like that it's either a lie or a trap." That thought sobered the mood once more and I nodded.
"True, but whatever they plan, the Xenos may beat them to our ruination if we are not careful." I leaned forward once more, determined to get the focus back onto the looming swarm of monstrosities bearing down upon us.
"Now Colonel, speak to me of defence. Administrators, speak to me of supplies and equipment." Colonel Kergis paused for a moment before beginning, this was not part of the meeting he could have prepared for in advance, so he had to think through his recommendations carefully.
"I suggest that we clear the land around the hive itself as much as possible, if the enemy has to charge us through open and level terrain they will be easier targets for our men to gun them down. We may want to consider a series of trenches, for our guardsmen to fire from whilst our heavy weapons cover from the walls above." I nodded; it was a good plan to begin with. Sergeant-Major Baird looked at the 3-D image, and then pointed at two sections of the wall with a furrowed brow.
"These areas of the fortifications are poorly maintained, we will need to strengthen them. In fact, we should reinforce the entire wall structure as well as the gates themselves, they are not built to withstand this kind of attack." Lieutenant Derosa chimed in next, seemingly more confident now that I hadn't shouted at her and Sergeant-Major Baird for their actions and those of Colonel Volander.
"Also the sewage gates will need to be blocked to stop infiltrators, we have heard rumours of assassin creatures in the underhives from survivors of other planets in the Xeno's advance. It will be hard to find every exit from the hive, but I can have some of my personal squads sweep the underhive after this Council meeting, ensure none of these creatures are already here." I had to give it to the two of them, they were more than enough to make up for the ineptness of Colonel Volander.
It was a shame that I could not overrule Governor Voss and have one of them made Colonel, certainly Colonel Kergis wouldn't mind a competent adversary for the theoretical war games he had run since the founding of the Second Corp a decade ago, Volander was known toflounder and fluster whenever his initial plan was disrupted. Speaking of, I nodded to Colonel Kergis, taking advantage of the silence that followed Lieutenant Derosa's comment to start laying a strategy in place.
"Your men are to move out and bring as many of the peoples of hive Secondus and Teritas here as possible. PDF members and gangers have priority, especially if they bring weapons and equipment, we will need every gun we can get. We can probably fit another 5 million souls here if we properly clear the under hives and construct temporary shelters, but first we must get the people moving." He nodded and whispered to Captain Santez, who stood up and left silently with my quick nod of approval, obviously to go and carry out that order.
Then, I turned my attention to the three Administrators, and as was typical of the three, Kell went first, being the most forward and talkative given his Noble upbringing.
"I have held in our starports the last two shipments of weaponry and equipment that were to be sent to the Agryppia crusade, which means we have a million suits of flak armour and enough weapons to probably make a third regiment of Guardsmen." I nodded, for all his pomp and proprietary Kell could certainly do his job, and that job was keeping me happy. Osthio summoned his courage, the adept much more used to just delivering his reports to me alone rather than in front of so many imposing figures.
"I, I have been checking our food stores during the meeting and calculating the incoming numbers of refugees, we have enough food for almost 3 months once the hive fleet cuts off our supplies from the agri worlds. In terms of medicine and other essentials, we are well stocked, a-and I have already ordered the guard to be tr-tripled around the silos and water pumps in case of rioters." Jarren continued without a break, his strong and deep baritone voice a stark contrast to Osthio's stuttering and tremoring, the tech priest rumoured to have been trained on Mars itself.
"I have been in contact with the Arbites, they are preparing to begin culling the underhives of any mutant activity, we don't want to be fighting a war on two fronts. The Ecclesiarch are activating their militia, they should be ready in a week, and should be useful to throw back any intrusions into our city. My tech-priests are already at work awakening the main Hive defences, it will take some time but it will be done well before the Xenos arrive." I nodded, exactly what I had had planned, but the administrators had outdone themselves with their preparedness.
"Excellent work, let it be known that we are not unprepared!" I looked over at the last resource that I had not already assigned, though this resource was the most unlikely to yield much use.
"Inquisitor." I began, noticing the glint in her eyes even as she turned to me with a smile once more.
"Have you any more information on our enemy that may be of use to us in planning our defence, any help at this point will save innumerable lives." Her demeanour shifted slightly, her staring becoming piercing for a fraction of a second, before she lightened again and nodded.
"I will see what I can find out Governor, it is… refreshing to find a governor that is actually competent at what they are meant to do without complaint." I smirk, obviously I have made a good impression on her, and I decided to try and improve that impression with my last words in the conversation.
"In the duty of the Emperor's service, there is no need for complaints. After all, the service is a reward unto itself is it not?" that grabbed her attention, it was a quote from some famous space marine chaplain during the first Armageddon war, she was obviously surprised that I knew it well enough to repeat it back word for word to her.
Her grin increased, but there was a wary glint in her eye as she stood, which made me more suspicious of her reasons for being here, especially as she still had to mention what that reason was.
"Very well Governor, I leave you to you work, I imagine you have lots to prepare." She strode to the doors and pushed one open, which surprised me, it usually took two men to open those doors with any amount of ease.
As she did so, the tall figure of a Vindicare assassin appeared out of the shadows, pistols drawn and ready whilst the characteristic long rifle was on his back, easily in a position to be drawn if needed. The door closed once more and I waited for a moment before my Head of Security nodded, signalling that they were actually leaving, and with that confirmation I turned to Admiral Quarrus.
"Are the Mortis missiles ready?" Admiral Quarrus nodded, some of his confidence returning now that they were out of the threat of the Inquisitors presence.
"They have been moved into place, but Aquila, this is a suicidal plan you have enacted, and I'm sure that the Inquisitor suspects something is amiss if you take her last words as they are." I shrugged lightly as if disregarding the threat.
"My duty is to the Emperor, and the people that I govern, and if I can save even a few of them from Voss's madness at the cost of my life so be it. The Inquisitor can suspect all she wishes, but by the time she finds out, it will be far too late, I factored her arrival in well in advance." I had known of the approach of an Inquisitor to my sector for months, the classified vessel moving ever closer to my area of space was a giant warning if nothing else, especially as all records of the ship disappeared within hours of the ship leaving a sector.
It was easy to let her know of the safe parts of the plan whilst leaving out the rest. I gestured to the controlling tech priest, ignoring the confused looks from the others present. The visual of the system returned, and this time faint images of the Tyranid hive fleet appeared on the edge of the system.
The true scale of the threat became blatantly clear, the fleet moving slowly over the worlds of Scythia and Uqinox and engulfing even the space in between to take up almost 20% of the sector's volume. Thankfully, on the other side of their twin suns, Merdythia remained unassailed.
"From the reports that we have received, the swarm will not greatly deviate from their path for a single world, it is more likely that they will send a small number of the smaller vessels to try and harvest our world before returning to the fleet. It is this tactic that I plan on taking advantage of. By focussing the fleet near Merdythia, I plan to annihilate these ships using our navy, which should cause the main fleet to return here." A small portion of the swarm split off from the main swarm and headed round the sun to Merdythia, where they were suddenly removed by the arrival of Battlefleet Septimus.
The main body of the swarm then paused part way out of the system, before turning and heading back towards Merdythia. Colonel Kergis coughed into his hand before asking the question that I knew was on the minds of pretty much everyone in the room.
"How does this help us Vice-Governor? As you've said the battle fleet will have no chance against the main swarm, surely we would do better just to weather their assault until they run out of forces with the splinter fleet." I acknowledged that fact with a tight grin, it was an idea that I had considered first, but even if such delaying actions didn't cause the swarm to return then chances were most of the planet would be purged as cowards regardless.
"We did our duty to the Emperor, if this works it will slow the Xeno's advance by almost a year. You can see the size of the swarm everyone, such a plan will give the rest of the Imperium precious time to organise a response capable of meeting such an overwhelming force head on. And besides…"
The battle fleet fled for the edge of the sector as the Tyranid fleet descended upon his home, the planet almost disappearing from view under the weight of ships descending into orbit. Then with a click of my fingers Merdythia was turned into a miniature sun, engulfing a portion of the Tyranid fleet and sending other sections of it reeling.
"I always wanted to end my career with a bang." There was stunned silence for a moment before Colonel Kergis laid back in his chair, exhaling slowly in an obvious attempt to keep himself calm.
"Well, I always knew you were mad, but this makes a surprising amount of sense. Asset denial, dealing as much damage to the enemy whilst preserving the Emperor's vital space fleet, it's almost a textbook Imperial response to a massive Ork Waagh. I assume that is what you meant by the Mortis missiles?" I nodded even as Adept Osthio spoke up, voice more certain now the Inquisitor was gone.
He was focussing on the numbers, as he always did in these situations.
"What are the number and size of the warheads? Will help with damage calculations you see." Adept Osthio was already typing away as the others recovered, there focus obviously on the intent behind my plan as much as the numbers on the surface.
Administrator Kell spoke first out of the others, slowly and thoughtfully in an obvious use of his Noble upbringing and experience.
"You know Vice-Governor, with what you plan, it could be considered treason against Governor Voss. I assume you plan on evacuating our men beforehand, which is why you would keep the fleet so close, otherwise we would remove them the moment the initial splinter was destroyed. Such an… Economical move would not go down well at all with the Governor." Whatever others might say about Administrator Kell, he was definitely the most politically adept of my administrators, and that suaveness was something I could use.
"Which is why he must not know until it is too late, I will keep him distracted until it is impossible for him to act, don't worry about that." The assembled people nodded, though it was clear that each of them would be coming to me in the coming days to ask further about the plan and their parts in it.
"Now, I have told you all this because it is vital that we work together to ensure that we deliver the most effective blow to the Xenos scum, but no-one outside of those gathered here can know what it is we plan. Is that understood?" Colonel Kergis looked conflicted, as I had expected, but the others all nodded a moment later.
Given the amount of work ahead of us, as well as to give them all a chance to come to terms with what I had told them, I ended the meeting shortly afterwards. Despite the official difference in standing between those present and myself, I made sure to speak with each of them individually before they left and thank them for attending, such personal touches were essential in building the connections I would need for my plan.
Admiral Quarrus was the last to leave, the man planning on using his fleet to relieve a similar plant in the Redemptus system and analyse the types of enemies we would be facing on the ground, leaving me alone in the ornate room. I waved out the serfs and techpriests, wishing for some short time to myself to reflect on the day, as well as what my next moves were going to be.
I wandered slowly over to the southern facing wall, which contained several large tinted glass windows, each depicting a different Imperial Saint that had something to do with the system. The centerpiece was, as always, the one to grab my attention and draw me into walking over to it. It depicted one of the heroic Adeptus Astartes, an Ultramarine in shining blue armour and bedecked in the Emperor's light, as it smote down one of the feral orks that had previously dominated the world and used the humans there as slaves or prey.
As I stood there looking up at it, light poured through the window, a gap in the usually cloudy Merdythian weather. I became awash with the various colours of the mural and a feeling of peace washing over me as it did so. It was a sign from the Emperor I am sure, reaching out to reassure me that my idea was not against his will or taking his name in vain.
A moment later, a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention and I spun round. My hand reached for the hilt of my sword, only to freeze when I found myself looking down the blade of a razor sharp sword, mere centimetres from my eye. Despite the fact that I could and probably should have drawn my own sword and knocked the blade away from its dangerous position, that wasn't so much the reason for my inability to move as the identity of the person holding the blade. There was a frigid moment of silence before my attacker spoke, with a much harder and colder voice than I remembered.
"My mistress will be most… interested in your plotting behind her back. I did warn her of you Aquila. Your charm will be the death of you someday soon. In fact, that day may well be today, depending on what else you are hiding from us..."
A/N: After a long break, I felt if I returned to this story I was going to have to go through it from the beginning. Admittedly for a 12 k word story that's not the end of the world, but it still took almost two weeks to get to the point where I felt I could start on a new chapter instead of rehashing old material. Hope you guys think it was worth it.
Defias out!
