Round 3
"Analysis and ponderance cannot replace action. Not killing however, is by no means staying idle. It is unquestionable that the universe is charging into the future, and those that cannot keep up will lose themselves in the dust."
-Tetrarch Valentus Dolor of the Ultramarines
Dramatis Personae Majoris
The Warmaster of Terra, Horus Lupercal
The Warmaster in the North, Lion El'Jonson
The King in the East, Roboute Guilliman
Mag Uruk Thraka, the Beast
After two spectacular wars involving surprise assaults, betrayals and strange strategies, the remaining three lords came to an unspoken ceasefire, as silent as the beach before a hurricane sweeps ashore. Horus, once in control of the most Astartes, has suffered the brunt of losses in the previous engagements, and needs some time to recover his Legions before he could go on the offensive once more; Guilliman was tied down by the rampaging Beast in his domains, leaving his allies to secure the western front; and the Lion, with the least number of Astartes, was cooking up other whatnot with his close ally Perturabo, hoping to turn tables on Horus. The fall of Russ and Dorn has made one fact glaringly obvious: the conquest of one world is of little importance in wars between Astartes, and extermination of the enemy was what truly decides wars. All three contenders to the Golden Throne prepared to engage their opponents in a war of annihilation, and all are trying to make sure they have the advantage before that happens.
As the galaxy's most prominent lords of war reorganised, drilled, recalled faraway detachments and changed their troop deployments, the Mechanicum was even more active than usual. As Lion delivered Forgebreaker to the Lord of Iron, Kelbor Hal melted Ferrus' severed arm and created a scintillating silver cape tougher than any clothing mankind has made for his Warmaster with the liquid metal. Though some Dark Angels remained at the front lines to feign difficulty at breaking through the Blackstone defences, the Lord of the First had came up with a more drastic solution: at his command, the Dark Mechanicum (which are not touched by Chaos in any way, for Magnus has been holding the Dark Gods at bay since the very beginning) was trying to install a weapon capable of shattering a world with one shot, the aptly named Planet Killer, on the Loyalty Eternal. On the same ship, another great breakthrough for the Dark Angels occurred: The Legion's Interrogator-Chaplains finally cracked open Sevatar's mouth, gaining his psychic insight on the position of his father. Lion decided to hunt down the Night Haunter himself for two reasons at this news – reinforcing his relationship with the Lord of Angels, and to take the honour of killing the one who started the bloody game in the first place. After setting up Luther as his stand-in on the Invincible Reason by giving him the Lion Helm, Lion quietly slipped away with a small fleet led by the xenotech-equipped Iron Duke towards Baal Secundus. Meanwhile, the Alpha Legion under Omegon, which had been providing the Iron League with intelligence and counter-intelligence services, began to funnel materiel to the strongholds of the League.
The Blessed Lady managed to rout Dornian loyalists gathered around Barbarus and rounded up Death Guard remnants under Captain Garro, slightly replenishing the losses sustained by the Warmaster. As for the elite but still mortal Old Hundred regiments, such as the Solar Auxilia and the Lucifer Blacks, Horus has began to expand their numbers in preparation for meatgrinder wars, instead of sacrificing his precious Astartes. Fulgrim was vexed by being unable to best his brother Jaghatai, and raised the amount of Astartes carrying sonic weaponry despite the protests of Lord Commander Vespasian. Though many Knight Houses have sworn fealty to the self-styled Knight King Lion El'Jonson, Horus was still in command of the Mechanicum's mighty military, for promises of sharing the things stored in the Dark Angels' secret archaeotech vaults was as good a promise as sharing STC templates. In return, though Russ' corpse was maimed beyond any usefulness by Angron, the Death Lord's could still serve some purpose; the Mechanicum, determined to prove their loyalty, transformed the corpse into some sort of enigmatic biological weapon, the only fact being that the red button was handed to Horus, the Wolf God. Meanwhile, the vats of Luna were bustling and bubbling with gene-seeds under cultivation as more and more Aspirants joined the ranks of the Sons of Horus; the Forge Complexes of Mars spat out war machine after war machine, and sealed vaults on Terra and elsewhere were opened. More Gal Vorbak walked off Bile's operating tables; Ferrus replaced his left arm with a bionic one equipped with arcane weaponry; and with much effort, Lorgar and his missionaries placated the masses while Malcador talked with the high and haughty in shrouded rooms, ones they never left if they did not shake off the 'lies' Dorn had sown during his invasion. The inheritance that the Emperor bequeathed Horus was being used to slaughter his own brothers, and the most important one of all, the Golden Throne, was taking up so much of Magnus' concentration that the mighty Alpha-plus psyker was completely unaware of the bloodshed that engulfed the galaxy.
As for Roboute, he was busy employing the Pharos' arcane abilities to negotiate with Perturabo himself, who was aboard the Iron Blood. Though Tauro Nicodemus managed to secure an unofficial ceasefire by a careful display of force, the Primarch of the Thirteenth had other, far-reaching concerns. Though Guilliman's massive assets meant that he was capable of simply destroying the Beast by meat grinding, Horus, who held most of the Emperor's relics, would let the realm of the Ultramarines bleed, but even if the cobalt-clad prevailed, they would only get the throne of an Imperium asunder and a second psychic beacon. This was not attractive to the practical Battle-King at all, as Imperium Secundus, which stretches from Nocturne to Sotha and from Baal to San Leor, was already a galactic superpower in its own right, and the Emperor has already passed away; while on Horus' side, his seizing of the title of Warmaster and his being the de facto Emperor has earned him the permanent enmity of Lion and Perturabo, their only differences being how exactly they should execute him once they have defeated Lupercal. In light of their respective positions, even though neither side was fond of the other, Imperium Secundus and the Iron League formed a grudging partnership after Perturabo gave up his core holdings around the destroyed Olympia and Guilliman seceded the Cryptus system, near the Blood Angels' homeworld of Baal, which had supercooled crystal rings that could be used as natural defences and a massive solar power array from a bygone age simply referred to as "the Great Mirror". After smoothing out details such as the exchange of manpower and materiel, this pact has solved the border strife between the two factions, and more importantly, the two have reached an agreement regarding Horus and Terra: Lion, Warmaster of Imperium Primus, and Perturabo, the Praetorian of Terra, would lead the main force in the coming war, and the lands of Horus will fall to the two; in return, Imperium Secundus, and its regent Guilliman, would receive a fair share of the Emperor's inheritance. Two beacons mean two Imperia. As the armies re-deployed following the signing of the pact, Ahzek Ahriman, leader of the Thousand Sons that had flocked to Imperium Secundus, with his fellow Cult Magisters, prepared to unleash a massive psychic power using the rituals Magnus had prepared as a failsafe, as recorded in his book, to destroy the Beast once and for all.
Later generations have no idea how Horus managed to sense the unspeakable alliance between the Iron League and Imperium Secundus but judging by their respective positions on the galactic plane and his relationships with the leading brothers of the two factions, any reasonable strategist could expect this turn of events to happen. Since the Warmaster of Terra has already gained a temporary advantage in number of arms, it would be much more reasonable to go on the offensive and engage them separately instead of waiting for his opponents to come for him. After considering his situation, Horus marshalled his forces towards Imperium Secundus – more specifically, Baal and his mightiest brother Sanguinius, along with the First and Ninth Legion forces in orbit there.
The Warmaster of Terra's aggressive counterattack has included most of the Sons of Horus, the World Eaters, the Word Bearers and the Emperor's Children, units from the Death Guard, the Alpha Legion and the Iron Hands, three of the four Blackstone Fortresses, six Titan Legions led by the Legio Mortis, aided by forces from the Ordo Reductor, Skitarii, and elite mortal regiments. Some may contest the wisdom of mobilization of such a scale, as it would certainly alert the enemies of Lupercal, but that was his strategy: by marshalling such a force, he wants to force the other Primarchs and armies into one, decisive battle. If he could kill Sanguinius, arguably most powerful of all the Primarchs, in the process, that would also be a favourable bonus.
In the eastern warzone, things were slightly different. Roboute Guilliman was aware of his enemy's uniqueness. On one hand, these fugitives of Ullanor have gained excellent equipment by raiding Astartes between battle-lines; on the under hand, he knew that he couldn't out-dakka the Orks in space like the Imperial Fists once could, or the Dark Angels, not with their Attack Moon. In order to maximize his advantages in the coming battle, the Lord of the Five Hundred Worlds planned a daring assault, using one of Ultramar's most important Forge Worlds as bait: Tigrus.
No matter how the Orks detected it, they had arrived at the seemingly defenceless world of Tigrus with their great WAAAGH. Though the Ultramarines fleet cannot take out the Ork fleet in a battle of annihilation, they had created a sphere of denial around Tigrus along with the Imperial Armada, ensuring that even Attack Moons cannot break out on their own: the Orks learned that after having three destroyed by Ultramarine boarding parties. Forced to attack Tigrus, the Orks sustained losses by anti-orbital batteries installed by Guilliman, suffering setbacks as boarding roks were destroyed in mid-air. Orks on the ground were impeded by heavy armour forces such as the Aurora Chapter, staining the ground green with every foot gained. And as a bell tolls the death knell, the sun was eclipsed by two massive ships – the Ultramarine Gloriana-class battleships, Macragge's Honour and Living Truth, that could have heralded the coming of one and only person: Roboute Guilliman.
The Primarch of the Thirteenth took advantage of another trait ingrained in the greenskins: they lust for war just as a hirquiticke lusts for coitus. As its WAAAGH was denied a propa' fight over and over again, the Beast needs a quick victory to quell the rising tendency of rebellion among his leading Nobs. When it noticed the ships under repair in Tigrus' orbital dockyard, the Beast ordered the Attack Moon to press forward and blast the ships into the cold void before the ships could disengage from their repair harnesses. This command would lead to the fall of the Beast.
Two Attack Moons filled to bursting with Orks braved the hail of Imperial ordnance as was da orky way until they entered tellyportin' range and –
Secundus-affiliated Mechanicum activated a trap reverse-engineered from teknorklogy. A superweapon array installed on Tigrus and its moon locked on the Attack Moons' position and launched a massive gravity blow, rending an Attack Moon apart instantly while destroying the engine of the other. As the relative position of Tigrus and its moon changed, the superweapon had only one effective shot, but that one shot had already ruined WAAAGH the Beast, giving the Astartes a chance to board the Attack Moon and slay the Beast.
Thallax cohorts of the Ordo Reductor and Skitarii surged forth from the dockyard, engaging Orkz that were still alive in brutal void combat. Imperial ships slid gracefully from their harnesses that have been long since disengaged as their brought their torpedoes to bear on the surviving Attack Moon. The Judicious Truth and the Star of Ultramar were already severely damaged to the point of being incapable of remaining on the front lines, but the battle barges' cover gave Guilliman the chance that he needed to play his trumps: two coffin ships carrying two Imperator Titans – the Iax Iaxtus and the Umbra – reached deploying distance, protected by strike cruisers. The two walking cities braved their Ork counterparts as they smashed and pulverized a landing zone into existence, allowing the Skitarii and Invictarii contained within their legs to join in the battle. More orbital support came in the form of the Fulmentarus, dedicated shock troopers clad in Terminator armour, finally clearing the way for the main Imperial force to land. Guilliman observed from orbit the results of his decision to hold back the Salamanders. Since their defeat on Nocturne, Guilliman has made extensive use of the Eighteenth Legion's unparalleled artisanship, putting them under the care of Eikos Lamiad, Tetrarch of Konor, to further the interests of the Imperium with their craft. Now the Orkz were being pushed back, and the Beast, who had long since prided itself on arming its WAAAGH with Astartes equipment, despaired as it realized its enemy not only had a better tactical mind, he also had more soldiers, better weapons, and to top it off, the astronomical resources necessary to support both.
The green tide was drowned by the blue sea.
As the saying goes, 'fighting the Ultramarines is a terrible idea, but it gets worse when they have Titans'. The smooth execution of such an unconventional void-to-surface combat was reliant on the Ultramarines' rigid command structure, with the edges being smoothed out by the Primarch's own orders. Among the first landings were Damocles-pattern command Rhinos that provide battlefield comms. With Stormbirds and Thunderhawks raining death from the skies, the outlet of greenskin reinforcements was soon discovered. Guilliman himself led the assault towards the outlet, though the strike force would have been crushed by the Attack Moon's moving mountains had the Iax not overloaded its plasma annihilators in a terrific explosion that destroyed the moving landscape. We have no way of knowing if Guilliman was reminded of the Dark Angels' Rangdan Xenocides, which cost them fifty thousand battle-brothers, but it was certain that when he stood face to face with the Beast surrounded by the corpses of his gene-sons, he would accept no negotiations.
So he chose to fire at the Beast's face, enraging it.
The WAAAGH energy surrounding the Beast was pushed to great heights as the Beast's rage grew, and sensing the build-up, Ahzek and his fellow Magisters prepared to launch their coup de grace: The Rubric. It was not modified to drain the WAAAGH, but to allow it to run free and unbridled. A race such as the Orkz needs order to be a viable threat to mankind.
And with the WAAAGH unleashed, all hell broke loose. The desire to kill all the treacherous Nobs, the desire to turn the Attack Moon into the largest Rokkit Moon evar, the desire to make a greater WAAAGH, these thoughts were twisted and amplified by the Rubric until da Orkz could not think straight. Weirdboyz exploded in bursts of green lightning, the Beast's guards turned on each other, and…weird stuff started to happen to the Beast. Seizing this chance, the strike force and the teleported Thousand Sons charged forward for the final strike.
Not many of the heroes who followed Guilliman (who was hospitalized afterwards) survived the final battle against the Beast. Thousand Sons survivors are limited to Ahriman himself and Hathor Maat of the Pavoni; of the Ultramarines, only a few Invictarii with their commander Drakus Gorod managed to make it out of the ruined battlefield. However, the greatest threat to Imperium Secundus was finally dealt with, and these survivors will witness the battle between the Warmasters….
T.N
Hello! Sorry for the delay for this chapter. Please comment and/or follow, and if possible, join us at qq group 611893544!