The road to the Spaceport was a long and treacherous, but not because of the kill teams, who had collectively broken off pursuit. The bombardments had broken open manufactorums spilling chemicals, fuel and radiation into the vast industrial zones around the great transport arterials leading to their destination.
The passage would take days and as such there was plenty of time for Xaphian to tell them everything they needed. The quest for knowledge was greatly pleasing to Tzeentch.
Many thousands of years ago, the human heartworld, Terra, also known as Earth, had taken pushed past its planetary borders and had taken to the stars. Using the three-eyed genetic mutants known as Navigators, humans had cheated time and space by traveling through the Warp, or the Immaterium in High Gothic, the language of Imperial Nobility. The Warp appeared to be a strange mirror dimension of such high energy that coming into contact with it would cause madness and mutation. A Navigators lidless third eye could look upon the Warp and map its currents without going mad. Once the correct protection was found for the space vessels, this travel became the most important form of travel to humanity. It allowed humans to colonise the galaxy much like pilgrims and pirates of the old world, with the Warp as their ocean. However a great storm in the Warp swelled up, trapping pilgrims from the homeworld. The storm blinded the Navigators, and mercilessly smashed apart space vessels. It lasted for five thousand years. In this time humanity fell in on itself, becoming cruel and barbaric and even crueller Xenos races preyed on colonists. This dark period was later called Old Night.
Towards the end of this time a man appeared. He called himself the Emperor; He formed an army and took Terra by force, claiming that only He could lead humanity to peace and enlightenment. He pulled down all of the religions of the old world and said only science was true, putting any who disagreed with Him to the sword.
He was mighty and charismatic, the galaxies most powerful psyker, and most adept genetic engineer. He created super soldiers called Thunder Warriors to help win His battles and pull down thanes and temples. He then cast the Thunder Warriors aside once His plan was complete.
Once the Emperor claimed Terra He sought to take Mars, as the great red planet had become the font of technology, ruled by the Mechanicus, with Tech Priests and Enginseers that could construct all manner of wonders and engines of death.
The terms Tech Priest and Enginseer seemed to confuse the Mobians, so Xaphian explained that the true scientific theory of machines had been lost during Old Night, and as such the wonder of them turned to worship. In this worship it was proved that machines have souls and personalities, and to appease these mechanical spirits the correct prayers, application of oils and incense is just as important as the code wafers that carry their programmed instruction. It also meant any needed 'percussive maintenance' with hammer or boot, carried even more significance. Thus the Tech Priests were the ruling caste and religious leaders of the machine cult, keepers of the protected knowledge of secret technology. The Enginseers were their acolytes and servants, serving as apprentices to their Forge Masters.
Tech Priests also had a view that to become closer to the Machine, they should replace their body parts with bionic alternatives, though never the brain wholly. While the brain could be upgraded with devices to speed thought processes, to remove it entirely would be to make artificial intelligence, which is the biggest evil to the Mechanicus.
The Emperor took Mars by convincing it's people that He was the representation of the Omnissiah, the machine God, by using His psychic powers to 'heal' a broken machine.
With the technological might of Mars behind Him, the Emperor created new super soldiers using his own blood and stolen power. Twenty 'sons' He created, the Primarchs, on the eve of their 'birth' they were snatched from Him, cast through the Warp across the galaxy.
The Emperor had already vowed to reunite the scattered colonies of humanity, so His sights were already set to the stars, but now it was personal. Using the gene samples taken from the Primarchs, He imbued normal men with their power, creating lesser versions of each of them, the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines.
With the Space Marines, the Emperor declared a Great Crusade, bringing war to the stars and conquering them for His own.
Eventually He found His sons, though two were lost permanently, whether killed on the Emperor's command or otherwise no one can ever say, it is as if all trace of those lost sons have been erased from history.
The Emperor gave His sons the Space Marines created with their genes and genetically elevated those that served them on the planets that they had been cast to into Space Marines, so that they may continue to be served by the people they had grown up with.
With these eighteen legions, the Emperor continued His Crusade to make Mankind the masters of the stars.
Many human societies that refused the Emperors rule were destroyed, along with Xenos races that the Emperor had engendered hatred and suspicion against; Humanity, in his eyes, was superior to all.
When the end of the Crusade was in sight the Emperor unexpectedly quit the campaign and returned to Terra for a reason He had kept to Himself. He picked his favourite son Horus Lupercal, Primarch of the Sixteenth Legion, the Luna Wolves, to lead the rest of the Crusade as Warmaster and be the first of his brothers.
However, after the Emperor left, Horus and fully half of his brothers discovered that the Emperor had lied, and had manipulated them all. There were Gods in the Galaxy, and they existed in the Warp. The Emperor was gifted with power by these Warp Gods, and that is why He was so powerful and was able to create the Primarchs themselves. However the Emperor betrayed the Gods, refusing to pay the agreed price for his power, instead wanting to use it to convince humanity that He was a God, which, by that point, He may as well have been.
The Gods were angry with the Emperor, and it was they that scattered the Primarchs, allowing them to learn the nature of the universe without their traitorous father to manipulate them.
Horus and eight of his brothers turned against the Emperor, guided by the truth of the Gods and bolstered by their power.
The Galaxy dissolved into civil war as brother fought brother for what they thought to be true.
Horus fought his way back to Terra, and laid siege to the Imperial Palace. During the battle Horus lowered the shields of his warship, the Vengeful Spirit and challenged the Emperor to single combat.
Of course the Emperor came with a small army, led by Horus' brother, the Primarch Sanguinius, Lord of the Ninth Legion, the Blood Angels. The Gods protected Horus from this cowardly tactic and caused the teleportation to go wrong, splitting their forces all over Horus' ship.
Sanguinius reached Horus first, but the Gods had made Horus the Emperors equal and there was no contest. Horus wept to slay his beloved and closest brother, but Sanguinius had been twisted by hatred for him, completely brainwashed by the Emperor.
The Emperor found Horus, but instead of seeing His sons sorrow, all he saw was a traitor and launched an attack that cannot be described on a mortal scale.A battle of titanic proportions followed, both in the physical realm and in the Warp.
In the end Horus was the truer warrior and eventually dealt the Emperor a mortal wound forcing him to the floor. However instead of finishing the fight Horus wept for his father, after all, he had been the closest to Him of all twenty brothers. In spite the Emperor used this display of emotion as an opportunity, and blasted Horus with all His psychic power at once, not only killing His son but also shredding his soul utterly so that nothing was left of his essence in the Warp.
With Horus dead the battle was done and the followers of the Gods quit the battle even when they were on the cusp of victory, such was the heartbreak over the psychic echo they felt when their beloved Warmaster was killed.
The Emperor's body was recovered from Horus' ship by Primarch Rogal Dorn, another of Horus' brothers, leader of the Seventh Legion, the Imperial Fists and the protector of the Emperors Palace. In a fit of utter hypocrisy, they placed the Emperor on an arcane Xenos device known as the Golden Throne, the secret the Emperor himself had been working on. This device stopped the Emperor from dying, even as His body rotted. He lives in death still, over ten thousand years later, but the price of His survival was the souls of one thousand Psykers fed to the machine to be absorbed by the Emperor. Even though He lives, He only talked to his people for a few hundred years before going silent, letting His followers lead the Imperium in His name. The Emperor had got what He wanted, mortals and Space Marines alike abandoned their secular society in favour of worshiping the Emperor as a God, forming a priesthood known as the Ecclesiarchy. Between the Ecclesiarchy and the secret police known as the Inquisition they kept the people of a billion billion worlds oppressed, trapped in ignorance and plundered for all their resources and conscripting as many as possible into their armies.
Meanwhile the followers of the Chaos Gods retreated to the Warp Storm known as the Eye of Terror and rebuilt their forces and learnt more of the Gods. It has been up to them and the followers they find and train to fight for the freedom of the Imperium. One day they will free the Galaxy from the oppression of the Emperor and allow the truth to be found. It is what they had been trying to do for ten thousand years.
Thing were of course more complicated that this brief summary, but Xaphian was sure his new companions would find everything out in time.
The Mobians listened to the portions of his tale during the times they rested, huddled in a place of relative safety.
"This Emperor sounds a lot like our Robotnik," Sally said, "Charismatic but evil. Especially styling himself as the Machine God. In some ways also like the Tech Priests, changing people into robots,"
Normally she would have expected Sonic to have some quick wit to lighten the mood of these grim histories but the blue hedgehog had kept himself quiet, huddled and shaking as he listened. She wanted to comfort him, but there was no time and no privacy to give Sonic the chance to get his thoughts out.
Xaphian interrupted her thoughts with a question, "Who is this Robotnik?"
"A man with a black and mechanical heart and a thirst for power." Sally began, starting the story of her own world.
Mobius was a world of two halves the humans in the North and the Sapients in the South. Of course some of the Sapients had gone North and were a part of their community. Sally knew little of the North, there had never been enough time to learn.
The South had been ruled by her father King Acorn. They had been involved in their own great war, but it was due to their Minister of War, Dr Ivo Julian Robotnik, that they saw peace. Her father had been a great friend to this human and his nephew, Snively, the only two humans there were in the South. Her father had called Dr Robotnik Julian, using his middle name with great affection. Julian had disbanded the army, at the time, it seemed the right thing to do, there was peace and was no need for it but as it transpired it was part of a greater plan.
In secret, Dr Robotnik had constructed an army of Robots alongside Sapients that had been transformed into robot slaves. Those roboticized Sapients likely had stumbled onto Dr Robotniks plans or had been lured there by the good natured portly War Minister.
With no army the Kingdom was quickly overcome and everyone that were captured got immediately converted into Dr Robotniks robot slaves.
Only a handful of them escaped the city, and nearly all of them children. They stayed in the Great Forest finding a hidden clearing that became known as Knothole.
It was in Knothole that the started to strike back at Robotnik, building the place into a home and base, fighting for their freedom.
They found others that had escaped in time, some that joined them and others like Shadow, who had his own story, stayed apart but worked with them on occasion against Robotnik.
At mention of himself, earned a "Hmpf" from the surly black and red hedgehog.
While their war had not lasted ten thousand years, it had lasted most of their lives, and even then they were barely adults, it's all the really knew anymore.
"Then I think we understand each other," Xaphian said, "We both do what we must against an uncaring foe. After the war is done we will rebuild, but all we can do now is fight with the weapons we can."
"Yes Xaphian, I think that is true enough, though I would like you to tell me something. If humanity as a whole has been conditioned to see non-humans as hateful, why do you help us?"
Xaphian smiled wanly, "I have experienced Imperial hatred first hand, and I feel sympathetic. Those who serve the Chaos Gods also want to work with enemies of the Imperium. I will not deny that there will be some amongst us that will not like you just for what you are, but such is human nature. Most will have seen stranger things and will not pay you any ill will, some may even treat you with reverence, touched by Chaos as you are."
"We are touched by your Chaos?"
"You are. It may well be your Chaos too. The Gods are infinite, who is to say that the Materium is the only realm the Warp mirrors? I have certainly seen Warp creatures with animalistic forms, mayhaps they got that from your world."
"That is certainly something to think about. We seem to have much to learn here. Particularly about Chaos," Sally seemed quite eager at the prospect of new knowledge.
"I am sure I can assist with that," Xaphian smiled, enjoying her eagerness, "but for now we have a Spaceport to get to"
XXX
The rift spat them out into cold darkness, alone and with none of the surroundings or Emerald that had been devoured with them.
Sirens were blaring loudly enough to drown out their voices, so they did not even bother trying to talk, as confused as they were at the sudden translocation.
His black eyes adjusting to the darkness, the larger of the two scanned his surroundings. They were in the bowels of some great technological beast. He would have thought it a bunker if not for the metal walls and bulkhead doors, a submarine perhaps, but that thought felt wrong.
His eyes followed an umbilical of wall mounted cables to a standing computer terminal. Swiftly for one so portly, he moved over to the familiar comfort of the machine, and away from the quivering other with him.
The computer lit up easily at his touch, revealing a back-lit black screen and green text. Smiling to himself he tried the first backdoor technique that came to mind before his chuckle was lost to the sirens, the computer opening up to him. What simple fools the owner of this console must be; it was all too easy.
Files, blueprints, documents, and historical records became available to him and he devoured the information quickly, feeding his massive and malevolent intellect.
Suddenly the sirens stopped and dim red emergency lighting flickered on above them.
"Oh this is good, very good. Snively?"
"Y-y-yes, D-dr Robotnik, Sir?"
"Make that Magos Robotnik, Enginseer Snively,"
"I d-don't understand sir,"
"Words Snively, words are important now. We are in a new place, with new customs. I mean to do just as I did with the Acorn Kingdom,"
"Yes sir. I see sir. But what of the hedgehog?"
"I would like to think that we would be rid of that meddlesome rodent, but the universe forever mocks me Snively. We will see that pest again."
"Then what should we do Dr. … I mean Magos Robotnik, Sir?"
"I will take this place in my iron fist and dominate, and you, you will be my servant as always, nephew."
"How generous, sir. What do we need to know?"
"These are a suspicious people Snively. They believe that an Emperor that has been on a life support system for ten thousand years is their God. They believe that technology is akin to religion and that machines are sacred and have souls. The machine-God that they say is the same as the Emperor, they call it the Omnissiah. This is too good Snively, too good. They will think us saintly for our ability with machines as long as we make them believe that they are not new innovations, they think innovation a sin. They will only follow blueprints they name as STC's, Standard Template Constructs. These will be easy pickings, Snively." Robotnik began to laugh, Snively joining in a beat behind him.
XXX
Sonic had moved a short distance away from the group, though still well within sight. The others had bedded down, trying to catch some rest amidst the rubble. His eyes lingered on Tails who was curled miserably into a tight ball, trying to hug himself futilely with his only arm. His eyes also passed over the sleeping form of Knuckles and the ugly laser burn wound right over his heart, the wound he had taken when he interposed himself between Sonic and the Imperials.
Sonic felt wretched, guilt and anger warred inside him. He turned away again, looking out onto the ruined plascrete jungle.
Plascrete … just a higher tech concrete, at least that's what he had gotten from the sorcerer's description. All the history and new science was dull to him, he yearned to just run and not look back, but then something worse might happen to his friends. He had instead listened just to keep his mind off his own destructive thoughts.
"Sonic."
He hadn't heard Shadow move up next to him, but there he was.
"Shads," Sonic's voice was dull, without the usual care free tone.
"I said we would talk later,"
"Mmmm," Sonic said noncommittally,
"It gets easier."
"I don't want it to get easier!" Sonic seemed horrified, "Why, how do you do it Shads?"
"You know why. I told you about the ARK … about her,"
Sonic remembered. It was an uncomfortable conversation. Rotor had just been roboticized and Sonic had blamed himself, but it had come down to stopping Robotnik or saving Rotor who was in the trap meant for him. Sonic had isolated himself and couldn't bear to be the hero anymore. It had taken Shadows story to bring him back. They had shared an understanding that evening that had brought them closer, friends perhaps, but they kept up their banter and rivalry.
"Yeah, I guess I do know why. Sorry Shads, this is hard for me," he rubbed the back of his head splaying the quills haphazardly, "But, how'd ya keep going? How do you live with each death?"
Shadows already stern face frowned further, "Like I said, it gets easier. I don't kill without a reason, but sometimes it's required. We are going to find many living enemies here, not just Swat Bots. They have powerful weapons and will not hesitate to use them on us." Out of his quills, Shadow produced the gun that had maimed Tails.
"Chaos, Shads! Why do you have that thing?"
"Why not? We need weapons to protect us, so why not use the enemies' weapons against them? Xaphian took the others; I think we should give them out. I know you can use a sword."
Sonic backed away a step, "I don't want to kill more Shads."
"I know, but you want to protect our people right? It's hard now, but it will be you or them. It is the right thing to do. Remember Tails, remember what they will do if you let them."
"You're … You're right Shads," Sonic was glum but resigned, "But it's not much comfort."
Shadow rested a hand on his shoulder, "I know, but we stand with you. You are not going through this alone." Not like I did, Shadow thought, the face of Maria hanging in his vision for the briefest of moments.
Suddenly Sonic was hugging him. Shadow froze, unsure, and then it was over.
"Thanks Shads."
"Uh … Hmpf, no problem. Use that speed against anyone who comes against us." Shadow turned and walked back to where the others slept, though Sonic could see the Sorcerer's eyes were open and watching him. Sonic turned back to the ruins thinking about Shadows words. He still was not happy about it but he knew Shadow was right, at least for now, he would do what he could for the others protection.
XXX
Robotnik had continued to search the computers files, fixing his plan in his mind. Snively was quivering behind him muttering curses and insults but he pretended not to hear. His nephew had always been resentful but he didn't care, he knew in his black heart what was best, Snively would know that one day, and if not … well, robots can serve just as well.
Eventually Robotnik heard the sound of approaching boots, his enhanced hearing allowing him to know that there were three pairs.
He turned towards the bulkhead doors expectantly, waiting for it to open.
Through the door came two individuals that seemed made mostly of metal and clad in armoured red robes. They both carried large staves with units that gave the bulbous heads a crackling electric field. Robotnik knew them to be Skitarii warriors, bodyguards of the Mechanicus. The third was a smaller individual, completely covered in a flowing red robe with an embroidered emblem of a skull within a cog. This third figure had their hood up, shrouding their face completely, leaving only the faint glow of five greenish-yellow lights at the level where eyes should be. Three long metal armatures extended out of the figures back, one ended in a huge lifting claw, one in a selection of precision tools, and the last in injectors and fine cutting blades.
The smaller figure emitted a burst of noise that hurt Snivelys ears, but Robotnik understood the binary blurt. He kept his features still, betraying no emotions before speaking in reply,
"My apologies Magos for intruding upon your vessel. I regret I cannot reply in the purity of binary, I have not been blessed with the bionic upgrade. I am Magos Robotnik, and the fleshbound one next to me is Enginseer Acolyte Snively."
Another burst of binary,
"I understand, I will submit to your inquiry, though my Acolyte has yet to learn the purity of Binary Cant."
The Magos made an irritated noise before replying in a language they both understood, "Processing … You entered my vessel during Warp travel, such a thing should not be possible, the gellar fields are still in activation, no power fluctuation has been noted. No weaknesses identified. You will explain." The Magos's voice was tinny and flat, as if produced by a speaker unit.
"Warp trickery, Magos. I am both Factor and Forgemaster to Magna Mobius, Robotropilis Civitas. Our world had been under siege by mutants and warp beasts for years before my time. Snively and I were the last bastion of humanity, utilising STC's of my discovery to keep the creatures back. However on the completion of the greatest weapon the STC's had granted me, the Warp creatures unleashed an attack that cast us through a translocation portal that left us here. I can provide data from my inbuilt bionic data feeds if you would be interested for research purposes."
"Processing … Processing … Data not found on colloquial planetary designate Mobius."
"Terran contact was lost during the Great Crusade. Organics continued to hold to the Imperial Creed until only the forge city remained. All remaining followed the teachings of the Ommnisiah, as such the machine spirits protected us for thousands of years and proved that flesh is weak."
"If all followed the Ommnisiah, why was a Factor required?"
"Interface with menials was required, they were not worthy of binary cant or even rudimentary bionic upgrade, yet they were required for too detailed tasked for servitorisation. We were also required to deal with mutants for resources. Distasteful work but required to keep the cogs spinning efficiently."
"Understood, your requirements seem pragmatic and logical. You mentioned STC's?" This was the first time any emotion entered the Magos's mechanical voice. He was eager, hungry for the possibility of lost knowledge.
"I did, such purity of the machine they brought. Such power and might. If you could provide this humble servant of the Ommnisiah aid then perhaps our forges could prosper with my knowledge."
"What aid can this servant of the Ommnisiah offer?"
Robotnik hid a smile, "I need to find the energy source I was working with. With that I can return home and bring the Emperor and Ommnisiahs justice to the heretics there. I can also the provide the Imperium as a whole a new edge against its foes"
XXX
Xaphian handed out the weapons, first a sword to Sonic, "To you Mr Hedgehog, this sword. Be careful with the blade, it has a monofilament edge, invisible and impossibly sharp, as such it has better armour penetration than you'd expect." Sonic took the weapon without comment, though he looked unhappy.
"And to you Princess Acorn, take this," He handed Sally the strange light rifle, "This is a Las-gun. Compact laser technology with a rechargeable powerpack, should be good for forty five shots before needing recharging. There is little recoil so there is no need to compensate. There is little in the way of armour penetration, so it is best to aim for the little armoured areas, either that or try to hit the same spot multiple times."
"Thank you Xaphian. I can't say I have much experience with guns, but I did get some tutoring with my Father a long time ago. I believe I remember much of it."
The sorcerer turned to the forlorn one armed, twin-tailed Fox, "To the brave two-tail, have this," He handed over a smaller version of the gun he had given Sally, "Easy to use one handed, and should be adequate for your protection right now. We will get you something more fitting once we are in orbit."
Tails fumbled to take the gun, almost dropping it, "Thank you … I think. I hope I don't have to use it." His voice was unsure, tinged with the sadness he was trying to supress, and frustration at the lack of dexterity he seemed to have now with only one arm.
Xaphian turned once again, this time to Knuckles, but before he could say anything, the red echidna stopped him, "No. I only need my fists. Trust me; I'm stronger than I look."
"As you wish, I look forward to see that," Shadow was the last he turned to, "Now you already have the bolt pistol, and you have your own Chaos powers. You should be well armed enough, don't you agree?" Shadow gave a curt nod. "Excellent! Well let's assault a spaceport shall we?"
"Are we likely to meet people similar to the one who attacked us last time?" Tails sounded worried.
"Possibly, we might see different types of assassins and probably no Administratum adepts this time. If we are unlucky there might be a Space Marine or two."
"Xaphian, maybe you could give us more information about people we might be fighting. I am sure it is all very ordinary to you, but it is very new for us." Sally commented, sounding equally authorities and curious.
"Very well, but that might take a bit of time. Let us plan our attack for the morning then, and have this time for briefing and preparation." Xaphian sat down on a chunk of ruined statue and began to tell them of the forces of the Imperiums most feared weapon, the Holy Ordos of the Inquisition.