Games Workshop owns Warhammer 40K, Blizzard owns Starcraft and I'm only writing fanfiction :P

I hope people like the story, it's been a bit fast paced for my taste but I wanted to get to the end of this chapter fastly.

Fanning the flames of Revenge

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The flies warmed over the fallen one, in their voracity they had taken it for a corpse. But it bite back. As the black ship attacked several of the minor vessels plummeted to the ground in explosions of debris and fire. The flies had bitten though, and their stings had diminished the shell of the fallen vessel. No one would admit it, but the Castellan Shield was under stress. The Ollanius' Revenge wasn't build for fighting, no, it had been built to explore. To boldly go where no man has gone before. It had been there, during the Great Crusade, reaching far and farther into the stars. It's mind, it's cogitators, it's machine spirit was old. Far older than the machine itself remembered. And it didn't take well to be stung by flies.

"We are blind!"

Captain Herdess voice was beyond worried, she had directed most of the servitors to the turrets of the vessel, an amalgamation of ordinance batteries and minute laser weapons that had been constructed and improved by the Magos and his Jokaero.

"They are attacking our vox and auspex systems. Clever."

The voice of the Magos was as inflexible as ever. He stood on the bridge, extending its mechadentrites and connecting, pleading, to the spirit in the machine. The blessing to the Omnissiah subsumed in a language that no living being could understand, a chatter so fast, so mechanic that it would have made anyone cringe in fear.

A sliver of vision returned from one of the monitors as the eyes of Ollanius' oppened once again. They saw how the attacking ship, much smaller than their own, charged their lasers.

"Magos I don't know what you are doing but keep doing it!"

"I'm not doing anything Captain. I'm just asking the Machine Spirit. Nicely."

"Machine Spirit! You hear me? Get that thing out of th..."

"The Machine Spirit cannot be communicated in su..." A dark flare from the side of the vessel that pointed upwards interrupted the Magos. The dark cannons have fired. The dark cannons, weapons that they weren't able to understand and as far as they knew shouldn't work ever, still worked. A silent prayer of thanks to the Omnissiah and to the insistence of the Inquisitor on using such weapon. The cannons fired dark particles, hence the unimaginative name, that swarmed around the enemy ship clouding the sky in a night of darkness. "...ch way. Blessed Omnissiah!"

"Ha! Hit them hard Ollanius'" The excitement of the Navy captain almost transferred to the seasoned Magos who soon intoned prayers of thanks in chipping binary. The excitement couldn't hide one thing, the dark cannons were not built to destroy a ship, they were made to blind them, giving the Ollanius' Revenge time to move, either away or towards. And this time there wasn't going to be much moving. Not only were their systems compromised, their warp drive was far from repaired.

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They were engulfed by a black oily fog that clenched and stuck at its systems making their sensors beep in stretched noises.

"Fire!"

As the Yamato cannon fired those on deck realized two things. The first one, their targeting systems were off, for while the weapon pointed at the top of the enemy it hit at the bottom. The second one whatever they were against wasn't going to go down easily. It took the shoot and lost its shields, but whatever material it was made of was able to hold most of the damage, the tears they had made weren't going to be enough for the Thor.

"What was that? Charge the Yamato again. And Captain keep us up in the sky! I don't..."

At that moment the Scavenger was interrupted by the metallic voice of the adjutant.

"Targeting systems secured."

"This time we aren't going to miss."

Did they have time though? Their engineers were leading the cyber-attack against those below. But if the downed vessel was able to fire such a weapon wouldn't it be able to use its defensive turrets? And what was that weapon? The Terran Confederacy had never encountered such a device. Commander Sertes wasn't a pious man, but for a moment he wished he had taken the faith.

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Magos Dregmek was running, well perhaps running wasn't the word. He was moving fast. As fast as he could. And that was really fast. He perched from one arc to the next using his mechadentrites to propel himself forward. Speed was paramount. In his soul rang the defiance of the Machine Spirit, something had attacked it, something had attempted to corrupt it, like a virus. Magos Dregmek didn't consider the Ollanius' Revenge spirit an irascible one, in fact it had a benevolent knack for curiosity. The Mechanicus intoned a silent prayer to the Omnissiah, dismissing the thought that the Machine Spirit was angry at its own curiosity.

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"WARNING Impact imminent." The adjutant was unflinching.

"I cannot dance around all those missiles and lasers while still pointing the Yamato." The voice of Captain Jackson sounded terse, tired, nervous.

"Crap." The Death Head was right thought Commander Serte. It is time that the proverbial fecal matter hits the proverbial fan.

"Defense Matrix is down. Yamato canon at 90%"

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The Magos intoned the rituals. Their shields were down, stripped by the weapons of the attackers. Most of their weapons were malfunctioning, somehow silenced by the attackers. The enginseers were praying all around, chanting the rituals on their weapons and armour. He... he wasn't praying in front of a tool of destruction. No, it was a way of survival. It had saved them many times and it would save them more. He kept praying while focusing his view in the Machine Spirit of the device. He saw it. Like a black cancer, one of its claws pining at the core. He sang in binary, focusing with oils and candles. The ritual was all that mattered. Deviation from the ritual was death. Little by little he instilled the will to fight in the Machine Spirit. Soon, with a prayer of thanks to the Omnissiah, the Magos released the defensive countermeasures.

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The adjutant was silent. Its eyes shone, with multiple colours jumping from one light to the other. Captain Jackson new the sign. And it wasn't good. Whoever was down there was not only able to sustain some of their cyber warfare they were also capable of hitting back. And they were hitting back with something strong, the Duke's Revenge firewalls were updated with everything legal and illegal. Whatever they were using wasn't of this age.

"Engineers! Ensure that the Yamato is operational. Now!"

As those men that had been focused on the cyber attack to the fallen ship did as commanded the weapons of the downed beast flared. They had driven too close.

"Yamato operational!"

"Men buckle up, this isn't going to be a nice landing. Fire!"

The captain shouted as the Duke's revenge was hit by lance batteries.

"WARNING critical damage. Breach in the hull." With a grin the captain thought that it was nice having the damned adjutant back. Then he fell with his ship.

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"Dark Templar Talrisis." The thought sounded troubled. Of course whoever was having it wasn't being followed by enough pack of Zergs to... lose count of how many pack of Zergs were following one.

"Dark Templar Talrisis. There has been a new development. Can the mission be aborted?"

Talrisis didn't need to look over his shoulder to learn that the Zerg were still following him, and stopping them was going to be beyond possible.

"I fear not tribe leader. What happened?"

"Our observers have spotted a small Terran transport fleet lead by a battlecruiser. At first we feared reinforcements but they fired at the unknown vessel. Both are grounded now."

Two terran contingents for the price of one? What was the problem?

"We fear that they will take heavy damage and be unable to damage the Zerg enough."

Dark Templar Talrisis wasn't a fool. He might be young. But he was knowledgeable when it came to time. One needed to be to pilot an Oracle. If the Zerg engaged and didn't have enough opposition they would end with a unified Zerg rush without target. Not for long. The Protoss scientist soon would be their focus.

"I understand tribe leader. Can something else be attempted? Can collaboration between the Terrans be achieved?"

It was a gamble, and a gamble that could have unforeseen consequences. The response took so long that Talrisis didn't expect it.

"It will be attempted. But I'm no Judicator. Anht zagatir nas dark templar."

"Anht zagatir nas tribe leader."

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"Listen men. The Emperor in its infinite wisdom only demands one thing from you. One simple little thing. That you die on your feet while shooting at His enemies. Don't worry about breathing, don't worry about living, don't worry about how crappy you are with your lasguns, don't worry about what is coming for you. Only point and shoot. You can do that. For you are the Imperial Gnavy!"

The Terrax trooper had been drilling the Navy with the Mordian and the Praetorian. And they had turned out to be reasonably good at standing and shooting. It was not a difficult demand that of the Emperor. They would hold.

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"Okay boys, we don't know what is out there. But we know it is going to be worth a lot of credits. So we say, no complicated speeches! Just go and get it!" The Death Head leader was clearly not fit for speeches, but as he jumped making his jet pack roar his men followed.

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"Activation Code: H4XL00T. Tribune Gyver you and the Classiarii are to secure the fallen enemy vessels. Take some Enginseers with you. It is the Omnissiah's will. For the Quest of Knowledge!"

Soon the Tech-guard marched in coordinated unison.

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"We are all mercenaries here. We know war. We know casualties. But we also know that our transports can take a beating and our brothers are tough. I say we go get them out of their cans. Who is with me?"

Commander Serte was relieved when Hammer Securities, Devil Dogs, and Skibi's angels raised their hands.

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"As the Emperor protects so must we."

Captain Ferros mobilized his troops around the medbay, they were going to be under assault soon and they would hold the line. The Emperor protects and so does the Imperial Guard.

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"Agent X44802K. It is time. Show them fear."

The Scavenger didn't like her. But the Scavenger didn't need to like her. He only needed to command. She was his. She didn't need to like him. She only needed to obey.

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"WHAT IS YOUR DUTY?" Brother – Captain Ran-Aldib demmanded.

"To serve Emperor's Will." Brothers Baldassare and Accipiter responded.

"WHAT IS EMPEROR'S WILL?" Brother – Captain Ran-Aldib demmanded.

"That we fight and die." Brothers Mihai and Agrippa responded.

"WHAT IS DEATH?" Brother – Captain Ran-Aldib demmanded.

"Our Duty." Brother Caleb responded.

"We are ready inquisitor."

"Good."

She had assembled the whole retinue. Onata the death cult assassin who was full of expectation holding her blades with anticipation. Sohd Na the infocyte who was full of fear patting his cogitator gauntlet with focus. Magos Dregmek the Explorator who was full of curiosity petting his Jokaero with humanity. Sister Silvana the Hospitalier who was full of faith and revised her Narthecium with determination. Athil the Eldar Corsair who was full of joy and caressed his melta gun with love. And the Kroot who was empty and stood away with grimness.

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The Scavenger was ready. At another time, at another life he had piloted a goliath. He had been good at it. Great actually. He couldn't help himself but look at the machines of the Spartan Company with some nostalgia. But there were newer walker models, such as Vikings of the Hel's Angels. Or his Thor, Scheherezade.

Not many things could hold him back when he was piloting. No. As long as he stood away from the enemy ships batteries he would be like the god of thunder incarnate.

"Take what you can and give nothing back."

The Scavenger's mechanized infantry jumped into the frail.

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The Protoss tribe leader studied the frail through the eyes of the Observers. It was hard to gauge how far Terran stupidity could reach but this ought to be a clear example of its extent. Both space crafts were on fire, something had ignited atop of them, shedding beacons of hate and revenge. The fires and the stars above Mar Sara the only light to illuminate the upcoming storm. For it was a storm, a storm of death with thunder of mortar and lightning of laser.

He had observed as Banshees flying mercenary colours had risen from the battlecruiser to soon be engaged by flying crafts from the unidentified ship. Although the known Terran units were capable of cloaking themselves whenever they were exposed their enemies ganged on them. It was like a dance. A dance that repeated itself across the battlefield.

He saw reapers blitzing around laser lightning. Shooting at big masses of Terran that somehow took their toll and kept firing. It was as if grim determination and resolve kept them standing. The Protoss respected bravery but that was fool, they were unarmoured.

Those that were, armoured, didn't fare much better. Marines, marauders, firebats and medics were fighting against Terrans that looked more machine than organic. Covered in red robes and heavy armour they gave their enemies pause. Each side fought with coordination, ones with the practice of veterans who avoided getting in the way of their allies and others with the perfection of automates incapable of committing a mistake. The ones in red didn't seem to feel pain, fear, or exhaustion. And they kept pressing.

The patterns kept repeating themselves, the tribe leader studied as a Terran ghost fought against the Terran who had pinned the potross Zealots. Those Terrans were good, they had shown a knack for tactics. But it wasn't enough. The ghost was a powerful mind. Tactics wouldn't be enough.

The centre of the battlefield though was something taken out of myth. He tried to see there, but it was difficult. As if there was a ball of void, a blank sphere of emptiness that made his head ache and his vision blur. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't see more than flashes. One of those strange marines raising a Goliath with its barehands, the Thor shooting at blank range at an unarmoured woman... He pushed. He tried to see. There was only pain.

His mind was dulled. Somehow damaged. He didn't understand it and he didn't like it. He wasn't able to influence their leaders. Their were somehow, protected from intrusion. There was a note of panic on his mind a thought that he soon repressed. The Zerg were going to be here soon. He searched the battlefield someone who could listen. Someone who could protect.

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Dark Templar Talrisis cloaked himself, the sound of battle above was almost as loud as the chatter of the Zerg behind.

He hoped the gambit would pay off.

The Zerg were rushing.

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