Chapter 1
Two years previously…
-MY LORD, A MESSAGE JUST CAME IN FOR YOU FROM THE ASTROPATHIC CHOIR- High Tech Magi Orgenati, Planetary Governor of the Forge world Rorgatein IV, looked up from the latest production reports as his heavily modified servitor-secretary X067-TNY entered his office, clutching a data-slate in it's left claw.
CAN YOU GIVE ME A SUMMARY+ Orgenati asked, leaning back in his chair watching as X067-TNY slowly pondered his question. The servitor was a very high level model, virtually sentient and capable of handling a very high level of mental work compared to most servitors.
-I'M AFRAID NOT MY LORD. THE MESSAGE IN QUESTION IS ENCRYPTED UNDER LEVEL ALPHA-1 ENCRYPTION. MY MEMORY BANKS CONTAIN NO OTHER SUCH INCIDENT. HENCE I CAN NOT PREDICT THE CONTENTS- The statement was enough to bring Orgenati's thoughts on his secretary screeching to a halt.
BUT+ he murmured to himself, mechendrites shivering in shock+THAT'S HIGH LORD AUTHORISATION! THERE IS NONE HIGHER. WHAT COULD THEY WANT+ Orgenati quickly snatched the data-slate from X067-TNY and quickly scanned over the screen.
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Date: 3 563 996 M41
Author: Classified level Alpha-1
Recipitant: Planetary Governery, Forge world Rorgatein IV
Transmitted: Terra, Classified level Alpha-1
Transmitter: Classified level Alpha-1
Thought for the day: Treachery is rewarded with death.
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The information contained within this message is classified at level Alpha-1 and is intended for the eyes of the Planetary Governor of Rorgatein IV only.
Unauthorized access or dissemination of the information within this message carries the death penalty.
Access via direct Neural feed only.
Insert organic appendage for gene-analysis and input code ref-562beta.
Praise be to the Holy God-Emperor of Terra.
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Orgenati stared at the message in shocked silence for a full 3.7 seconds, before turning his gaze back up to the silently waiting servitor.
LEAVE+ he said bluntly, waiting for X067-TNY to leave the room before turning his attention back to the data slate. He carefully put his right index finger, which he had kept organic for just this purpose, into the indented hollow on the slate while simultaneously inputting the relevant code. The slate chattered to himself, comparing DNA, lifesigns and data streams, before coming to a conclusion.
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I.D. confirmed. Connect a Neural feed and prepare for data download.
Let His will guide us.
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Orgenati hesitated as he stared at the screen, before letting his gaze drift over to the I/O ports on the side of the slate. Stories of the High Lords tended to vary, but the legend that was occupying Orgenati's mind at the moment was that of the tendency of the High Lords to have their messages laced with kill-systems and viral-programs designed to destroy the soul of any mind which didn't have all of the necessary command passwords, many of which were stored in the subconscious and inaccessible to the waking mind.
Orgenati shock himself, before bringing a mechendrite up to the data-slate, extending several data cables. The systems meshed, and the stored message flowed out into Orgenati's mind.
There was silence for a few minutes. Then the mechendrite extracted itself from the slate, which Orgenati carefully laid back down on the table.
WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE MACHINE GOD…+ Orgenati mused to himself for a few seconds, ignoring the data-slate whine as it lobotomized it's own systems, before tapping the intercom switch on his desk. +TONY, SENT OUT A GENERAL SUMMON. I WANT ALL SECTION CHIEFS TO REPORT TO MY OFFICE IN ONE STANDARD HOUR FROM NOW. WE HAVE WORK TO DO+
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Present day
The edge of the Agrapinna System, Cadian Sector
Right on the edge of the Agrapinna System, a system that had seen some of the worst fighting outside Cadia itself (although Agrapinna and the other worlds of the system remained in Imperial hands, many of the surrounding systems had fallen) space began to boil. Oddly colored light, somehow not quite matching any color in the spectrum, outlined a growing, rippling distortion in space.
With a massive burst of Warp energy, a large body of metal ripped it's way into existence, small daemons peeling from it's sides and dissolving with frustrated screams.
For a while, the derelict hung silent in space, only the occasional flicker of energy from exposed power systems of burst of air from a ruptured corridor marking it out as anything but a dead hulk.
Then, what light reached the derelict from the system's distant Primary was blotted out as a Dauntless-Class Light Cruiser of the Imperial Navy pulled up alongside.
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"Do we have any new information?" Captain Jaroin asked, glancing down at the lower bridge deck.
"No Sir," an ensign replied, "It's energy readings have increased slightly, but otherwise it seems dead, no active scans or signals of any kind." Jaroin frowned, before shrugging slightly.
"All right then. Helm, come to a Full Stop and turn 90 degrees to port. Karmien, send a message down to the main hanger, I want three shuttles loaded with storm-troopers for a boarding action. Gunnary Officer, arm our starboard weapons and take aim at the Sol's Fury. Any form of offensive action, and open fire immediately." Jaroin turned back to the main screen as his subordinates scattered to do his biding, letting his gaze shift to the derelict coming into view. He couldn't help wonder whether this event would benefit or harm the Imperium.
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Major Layson let his gaze drift around temporary command post near the hanger deck again. Everything seemed… slightly off was the only way he could think of it.
As per S.O.P. the storm-troopers had moved to secure the command deck and engineering. In fact, it turned out that the command deck had been literally torn from the ship's hull by the forces the Sol's Fury had gone through, and many decks, including main engineering had been opened to space.
And as they had moved through the ship, all his sergeants and lieutenants had reported some disturbing facts. The ship's crew was, as expected, mostly dead. Vacuum exposure, shrapnel wounds from exploded machinery and many who had died from other, less pleasant causes. Some had been found alive, which had been surprising (casualties from warp exposure tended to be 100 unless the ship had been exposed for only a few minutes). Most of the survivors had been either insane or showing early signs of daemonic possession, and hence had received the Emperor's mercy (a shotgun round to the head).
Otherwise, the ship seemed mostly normal. Except for the complete lack of Ecclesiarchy shrines or preachers of the Emperor's Word. It was disturbing; the ship was obviously one of the old Cyclops class cargo carriers, which had been gradually replaced with the newer Triton class, with a better cargo compartment layout. Yet even the oldest Cyclops had shrines and preachers, especially in this day and age. Yet this ship, which could only have been in the warp for a few minutes for there to be survivors did n…
"Sir", his comm. officer said, interrupting Layson's train of thought. "There's a report from the team investigating cargo-hold Beta. They say they've got a couple of live ones."
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Captain Jaroin studied the drifting wreck next to Hammerhead as he considered the report from Major Layson.
"What are your orders Sir?" Commander Karmien asked quetly.
"Hmm…" Jaroin hummed to himself for a few seconds. "I'm inclined to simply pull out our men and have the ship and it's crew destroyed."
"What about the ship's cargo," Karmien asked, his voice clearly indicating one who's playing devil's advocate. "The Cult of Mars would likely want to examine the strange Titans and their pilots that this ship was carrying."
"I know, Tech Magi Vorlensti was twisting my ear about them as soon as the report came in. Even so, they don't match anything in our arsenal, and regardless of what it looks like, without Ecclesiarchy shrines or priests, the Sol's Fury is not a vessel of the Imperium. At this stage, the Imperium does not need a new disturbance not so soon after the end of the war."
"Understood S…"
"Excuse me Captain." Jaroin looked up at the interrupting ensign in annoyance, who quickly stepped back. "My apologies Sir, but we just got in a high priority message. It's… well…" The Ensign shrugged apologetically, before holding out a data-slate. Jaroin snatched the data slate and glanced at the screen. The blood red words 'Classified level Alpha-1' met his eyes.
"I believe I shall view this in my quarters," Jaroin murmured quietly. "Take no action until I return."
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Karmien looked up as Captain Jaroin reentered the bridge, and found himself shocked at Jaroin's shell-shocked appearance. Jaroin walked stiffly to the center of the bridge and stood stock-still for a few seconds, before giving himself a shake.
"Send a message to Major Layson. He is to bring the survivors from the Sol's Fury back and have them secured under close guard. Then have the ship's cargo secured in our own storage spaces, dumping as much supplies as necessary to make room. Meanwhile, inform the Navigator to prepare for a Warp jump to the Imperium's base on Nemisis Tessara in the Nemisis system."
Karmien felt himself gape in shock for several seconds, before deciding to try to deal with the simplest problem. "But Sir, we have no fleet base in the Nemisis system."
Jaroin smiled cheerlessly. "I never said it was a fleet base," he replied.
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Shinji sat quietly, huddled up between an freighted ensign and a silent Tech priest as the assault shuttle disengaged from the ruined Sol's Fury. Although the shuttle and it's men were defiantly part of the Imperium, the stormtroopers were regarding them with barely disguised hostility and baffled respect.
Shinji let his eyes rise to meet Asuka's, a characteristic scowl covering her face and an uncharacteristic glint of fear in her eyes. He gave a timid smile, which Asuka returned with a half-hearted grimace of her own.
If nothing else, Shinji thought as the shuttle accelerated, we're together. Perhaps they'll let us send a message to Fabricator General Kane, or someone else back at the Imperial palace to confirm who we are.
To be continued…
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Cadia; Often described as the Cadian Gate, the Cadia System lies directly in the path of the sole stable route in and out of the Eye of Terror. As such, it is a heavily armed Fortress world, with several million Guardsmen constantly stationed against a Chaos incursion.
Despite this, during the 13th Crusade the world was virtually gutted before the Chaos forces were driven back and anarchy still roams across it's surface.
Zaraphiston; One of Abaddon's closest servants, Zaraphiston is a Sorcerer-engineer accredited with the development of many weapons, most noticeably the Defiler.
Blackstone Fortress; Discovered by the Imperium, these mysterious, abandoned space stations proved to be highly useful staging points for Imperial forces. Indeed, until the Gothic war, the Blackstone Fortresses had never fallen to a foe.
Abaddon, however, knew of the true nature of the Blackstone Fortresses (or Talismans of Vaul according to the Eldar), and put that knowledge to good use. During the Gothic War, Abbadon successfully captured at least one of the Fortresses and destroyed the others.
During the 13th Crusade, a Blackstone Fortress was unleashed on Cadia, wrecking the immense Fortress of Kasr Partox and vaporizing an entire army. During and after the battle, an allied force of humans and Eldar, silently aided by the Necrons, damaged and drove off the Fortress. It has not been seen since.
Planet Killer; The flagship of Abaddon, the Planet Killer is a ship capable of reducing an entire planet to rubble. It is believed that the ship is in fact impossible to build, and only the fact that natural laws hold no sway within the Eye of Terror allowed Abaddon to have the ultimate weapon of terror built.
It was first unleashed in the Gothic War, and rained havoc with Imperial forces, as well as having destroyed at least three worlds. The ship's only flaw was it's lack of speed, allowing it to be badly damaged, both by the multiple waves of torpedoes fired at extreme range in the Gothic War and later during the 13th Crusade it was too slow to avoid the debris from it's own attack.
Defiler; A six legged tank, armed with both heavy weaponry and a pair of massive pincer-claws, a Defiler is a weapon designed to break the backs of armies. The true horror of a Defiler, however, is that it is not manned in any conventional sense, but is instead possessed by a daemon. Where a Defiler walks, men die, and as the name suggests, they defile everything in their wake.
High Lords of Terra; A semi-democratic body, the high lords consist of 12 people (including the Fabricator General, Lord Militant, etc) who rule the Imperium in the Emperor's name. Some are elected, others get the position through being the heads of their respective orders.
Planetary Governor; The official title of the ruler of a world, although local titles (King, Sultan, etc) are more commonly used.
Forge world; One of several classifications of worlds, a Forge world is literally a world virtually covered in an immense factory churning out the tools, weapons and ships of the Imperium. Usually property of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Agrapinna; One of the worlds in the Cadian sector, the planet came under heavy attack during the 13th Crusade. Although the planet, and indeed the system at large, remains solidly in Imperial hands, many of the surrounding support worlds (such as the Agri-planets of Yayor, Ulthor and Dentor and the mining worlds of Albitern, Amistal and Tabor) have been taken or destroyed by the Chaos Legions. Mass rationing is effect across the system and without fresh supplies, many of it's forges have fallen silent.
Ecclesiarchy; The Cult of the Emperor's Word, the Ecclesiarchy is the official religion of the Imperium, and is the only Cult permitted by the Inquisition. With a few exceptions (most noticeably the Adeptus Astartes) every person in the Imperium follows the Cult of the God-Emperor.