Hello everybody, thank you for all the reviews, now I changed the Dark Machanus to a Rouge Mechanus for good reasons that you will discover soon. Also I am looking for a Beta Reader, if you can please PM me, I don't know how to get a Beta Reader so you will have to guide me through it. I am surprised no realized what I put in the background in the end of the last chapter. My friends said I was evil for adding this and I am EVIL!
neterlan: Yes, I did rush Hadrian's battle with GutSplitta, for that I am sorry but I just couldn't keep the battle going. I hate to say it sbout my self but I didn't plan out the battle before writing it and it was too late later to fix. As for Kassandra and Dohan, I know nothing about trade systems or economics. The Geth idea has merit but I have a better plan for them. Also the Space Hulk has potential, but Event Horizon was a fucked up movie,Seriously. Yes the Ork's language wasn't perfect but it fit well enough. The Ordos Chronos, I don't know,I doubt I will be able to use them really, time travel stories confuse me to be honest, I mix things up too easily. Also, the Quarians are on the path but Hadrian can't really force them plus many Missionaries take decades to ready a colony to become worshipers of the God-Emperor if not centuries.
ReaperScion: I don't think so. The Lost Primarchs are believed to be dead or dealt with so I would need several millenia of where they have been. The idea would be good but too problematic to use. They were cast out and most likely destroyed by the Emperor.
Eipok: That is just the name of the Story. It is still the Imperium of Mankind.
Kamzil118: No, Chaos is not here just yet. Maybe, Blood for the Blood God!
woodse: Thank you.
Blackholelord: Thank you for the review, i will use a bit of your ideas as they are really useful.
Now I shall show the Council's reaction to the invasion and other things, BWHAAA! (By the way spell check tried to make it BLOWHARD! HA-HA!)
Sheras
Two Weeks Later
Taia Sulnion sat in the Kodiak shuttle with her team, Sheras had been silent for a month and due to it's close position to the suspected Imperial Space and the Terminus the Council had a team formed from the best of all the Citadel governments as well as a Spectre,a Turian named Nulius Luccelin. The team consisted of three Turians, one of which was her, from the Turian's Black Watch, two Salarians from the STG and an Asari Justicar, Justicar Samara. Their mission was to secure examples of Imperial technology, or if it was just pirates to eliminate them.
Taia was wearing light combat armor carrying a Vindicator Rifle and a Disciple shotgun. She stood at 5' 4" with a slim hour-glass figure most Turians would stare at but she oozed an aura of cold bitterness. She had light blue face plate markings. She looked over the schematics of the colony, it was fairly simple due to the modular design of most colonies in their infancy but Sheras was ten years old so it could be radically different now from years of rebuilding or required changes.
"Touch down in five mikes!" The pilot called out as he made the final approach to the colony landing pad. Suddenly warnings flashed as alarms screamed. The pilot cursed as he tried to evade the missiles fired from the colony. "Anti-Air fire!"
Nulius tried to reach the cockpit, but the maneuvers the pilot did to try and evade made it impossible as he staggered. BOOM! A missile hit the side of the cockpit shattering glass and killing the pilot.
"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Nulius screamed as the ground rushed up to embrace them. Taia was knocked unconsious in the resulting crash. Several minutes later Taia slowly came aware to see strange figures stalking the wreckage, she couldn't make much out of the smoke and her foggy sight but she could tell that they were nothing she had ever seen before. One turned towards her and seemed to see that she was alive. Striding forward it easily lifted a large jagged piece of metal and tossing it away. As it reached down for her, she slowly blacked out, remembering the events that caused the Council to be worried about the Imperial's Space.
When Dohan's vessel managed to return to Citadel space he immediately went to the Citadel as the knowledge he gained of the Imperials would get him a great reward from the Council. The Council Watched the recordings Dohan and his guards had made, they saw the impressive city and defenses then the horrible battle tearing through it. The numbers and firepower amazed and scared them equally as they saw how outclassed they truly were.
After Dohan left Tevos turned to her fellow Councillors, "There must be something we can do in case the Imperium or it's enemies turn their eyes towards us. First thing is to alter the Farixen Treaty and possibly look into alternate ways to build Dreadnoughts. Ship technologies will need to be better then they currently stand."
The fact that it was Tevos saying they needed to be ready for war was possibly the most surprising to the other two, usually it was Sparatus who was the Warmonger. Unfortunately, the others agreed with her, but that would do nothing truly. These Orks just rammed their way through the forty repurposed Quarian vessels making up the Imperial's lines to the planet itself. They had to be prepared on the ground as well.
Valern nodded, "We could possibly find allies among the other factions, one might help us. The only problem is we know nothing about them or were they are located. We will need to prepare for the eventuality that we are on our own." They couldn't hope to find help so they needed to prepare. "We could use the scans we got from the Imperial weapons we took from the Imperials on the Citadel. They may not be their energy weapons but they are still used so that would indicate they are still effective. I also suggest bringing in the Krogan, while outclassed one did stand against one of these 'Space Marines."
Sparatus pulled up a file on his Omni-Tool, "Yes, also a colony near the area we believe might be near Imperial space went silent nearly a month ago. It could be Terminus pirates but it could be Imperials or one of their enemies. I suggest we send a team from our special forces to ascertain what happened and maybe discover anything the attackers left behind. If it's pirates they can take them out, if not they can test our better gear against them and possibly recover some technology from them."
Tevos and Valern could see the merits in the plan, recover possible alien tech or show the public that they could still defend them from threats. The team though would need to be some of their best and brightest. The three poured over lists of agents of the Citadel and the three main member governments. They made a list of seven agents to check out the silent colony. No one knew what horrors they would uncover on that planet.
Taia slowly came to as she tried to stand, after a few minutes she finally was able to stand and she looked around. She appeared to be in the Colony sewers but it was a little bigger then the schematics showed.
"AH, your awake Turian. Now I know you must be wondering whats going on. Well, I shall tell you. As a man of Science I have decided to study your species and the ones you work with. Your fellows are alive but possibly not for long. Your weapons are on the table nearby, I suggest you arm yourself. I look forward to seeing if you survive. Good Luck!"
Taia looked to her left and saw a table with her rifle and shotgun as the voice said. Running over she grabbed them and looked around. She turned, hearing a scratching sound only to see a figure stumbling towards her. She took a step towards it but stopped when the figure stepped into the light. She gasped in disgust and horror, before her stood a Turian but he was dead. She could tell as an arm was ripped from his body and claw and teeth marks littered his body with a couple bullet wounds as well. The Turian turned towards he and gave a gurgling scream and shambled quickly at her. Taia pulled her Disciple and fired three rounds at the Horror. The rounds hit causing the figure to fall back but it was already trying to stand back up. Taia moved quickly and stepped over it and fired two shots into it's skull, pulverising it. The body stilled and Taia sighed in relief until it started convulsing trying to move again.
She turned to the tunnels and listened as she crept through the dark corridors. Suddenly she heard gunfire and flashes of light. Running towards the sound of fighting she turned the corner to see Nulius and a Salarian firing on the Horrors attacking them, hundreds of different species including a couple they had never seen before charged the two only to meet a withering barrage of bullets and fire from the Salarian's Omni-Tool. Switching to her Vindicator Rifle she charged through the mass towards the other two.
"Spectre, Jahun it is good to see you two. I thought I might be the only one." Taia gasped as she fired at a massive brute of a creature. The Spectre threw a grenade into a cluster of former Asari as he turned to her.
"We managed to contact two of the others before who ever is behind this cut us off. We were headed to a meet up point when this horde attacked us." They were saved by the timely arrival of Samara as she came out of a side tunnel throwing a Singularity at the horde giving the others breathing room. The four fought their way out as the horde stopped getting reinforcements from the pipes and tunels around them for the moment but who knew how many were here, the colony had several hundred colonists and there were other species there too.
Reaching the met up point they found one of the other Turians and the other Salarian waiting for them, the Salarian seemed to be even twitchier then most Salarians were. The Turian saw them first. "Spirits, am I glad to see you. We have been fighting dead bodies for the last fifteen minutes, Sir."
Nulius nodded, "We just killed several dozen back there, soldier. First we need to get above, I think most of these things are in the sewer tunnels since we were brought down here. I think our nice host wanted us to meet their pets." He pulled up the limited schematics of the sewer system that they had gotten. "We can't be certain as to our position but from what I saw on our entry the sewer seems to all met at one point, a treatment plant I believe."
Taia nodded, "There was a Treatment Plant on the southern edge of the city schematics we received. We can probably enter the plant there and enter the city proper but our host could have defenses rigged at the plant. We would have to be quiet as well to avoid anymore of these things, who knows how many could be around."
The group slowly made their way through the sewers as they kept to the shadows, not wanting another horde to attack them. Unfortantly, they were seen and were currently being chased by thirty undead. Coming to a dead end Samara noticed a raised section for repair work to the power and water lines. She charged forward as she hosed a zombie with her Tempest sub-machine gun.
"Up there, that raised platform. We can hold them off there." The group ran for their lives but the Turian stumbled as he hit a broken piece of concrete. Before he could get up the horde was upon him, grabbing at his flesh ripping and tearing at him to try and quench their unending hunger. They looked on in horror from the raised platform in disgust until a Salarian zombie jumped Taia from behind knocking her down as it tried to gnaw her face off with it's unnatural strength.
The others were dealing with two others that had been on the platform, their uniforms showing them to be electrical repair workers. They had stayed on the platform away from the zombies only to join them after dying of thirst and hunger. Taia was struggling to hold the zombie off when something flashed and the head rolled of the platform. Seizing the opportunity she heaved the body off the platform before it tried to get up again.
"Thank you, Nulius," but Nulius shook his head as he picked up a medium sized throwing axe from where it bit deeply into the concrete platform. He turned to see a shadowed figure standing in a pipe sitting high on the wall, a single glowing eye watching him. The others noticed the figure who retreated back into the pipe, the glow from it's eye dimming.
"We can't stay here, those poor souls tried that and look what happened to them." Jahun whispered as he looked around the room. Suddenly loud bangs and shouts were heard coming from a long way off, causing the horde to scream and flood down the sewers away from them. Taking advantage of this the group quickly ran towards the Treatment Plant. The ladder leading up to it was in sight when three figures came into view in front of them, bursting out of the ground. The entrances around the room slammed shut keeping them locked inside.
"I see you made it this far, Xenos. So now I get to introduce my prize specimens. These are Tyranid Raveners, it took a lot of work to get these bodies before they were reclaimed into biomass but they were worth it. Have fun!" The madman laughed before cutting the signal. They looked at the three figures in growing horror as the undead figures slithered towards them.
The Citadel was abuzz about an attack on a Batarian freighter. It was found floating dead in space a day ago, most of the crew was dead except for lowly technician who had barricaded himself in a supply room. He spoke of a large white four armed creature tearing through the crew, their small arms useless against it. He had escaped by locking and barricading the room he was in. It proved to be a failure when it tore through the vents and attacked him.
He managed to light it on fire and it started to melt from some kind of digestive acid. He had been cleared to return home and when he was asked what his plans were now he smiled and said he was going to settle down and start a family. The strange attack was ignored by the Council, the Council was focused on a possibly abandoned Imperium ship, it was damaged with chunks ripped out but it was emitting a distress call that they couldn't translate but it repeated, implying it was an automated signal. The ship was ripe for salvage and the possible technology on it was too valuable to pass up.
Tevos looked over the reports of the preparations while Sparatus argued over the need for security for the scientists on board. "They will need it, you don't know whats on that ship. We have no idea why it was abandoned!"
"I have to agree with Sparatus, for all we know some AI or bio-weapon could be aboard. It would be safer for the science teams." Tevos said, marking a name on the approval list. The list contained names in nearly every field that didn't require Ezzo, sadly the list had twenty names total. They had a large converted science vessel to transport the team, it was just a matter of logistics now.
Soon the vessel was underway towards the vessel sending forty unfortunate souls to their demise. The team would take four days to reach the wreckage as they were trying to stay unseen by anyone, the hulk was worth it's weight in Ezzo so they couldn't afford anyone finding out until they had secured the wreck. Especially not the Imperials. They had no idea what they would find on that ship.
The Imperials were busy themselves with increased Batarian pirate attacks on the mining fleets. It was really an exercise in futility due to the Imperial Destroyers and the refitted Quarian Cruisers guarding the Liveships, which caused the pirates to take heavy causalities forcing them to flee but it was causing fleets to be delayed which was causing problems to the Manufactorums on Thonos. Hadrian finally had enough and sent a team of Tech-Priests and their Quarian Adepts to find the location of these pirates so they could nip the problem in the bud.
The last thing he said as he left his office, "Get me the latest maps of the Batarian Space." With that he spun and headed out. As he was heading down Neela appeared waiting for him. She was wearing a red cloak with a Mechandrite implanted over her right shoulder blade, Neela was the first Quarian to embrace the idea of mechanical implants with the Mechanus.
"I want these pirates found and eliminated by any means, Neela. Use Exterminatus if you have to and don't bother with the Council. They are of no consequence in this matter. Take the Skitarri Rangers and a Cruiser and hunt them down!"
Neela nodded and headed out to gather supplies and ready a few Maniples of Skitarri.
Samara dove to the side as one of the Ravener's arms slammed into the concrete next to her. Throwing a Biotic warp into the thing's side she threw it away from her and fired a burst of rounds from her Tempest at it, to no real effect unfortunately. The rest of the team was faring no better as the tough chitin armor easily protected the three undead Reaveners from their weapons. Her Biotics were a little affective but she could not fight all three at once.
Taia and Nulius were firing at another while Jahun used an Incinerate Omni-Tool program to fend the last one off as the last Salarian, a twitchy fellow named Ipol, tried to use his Omni-Tool to cut through the grating blocking their path up into the plant. The Raveners were no worse for the wear as they tried to cut down the intruders but they were sluggish and slow due to the fact their bodies were dead and had gone through Rigor Mortis. This did not give them much of an advantage but it was enough to survive.
A presence had been watching the fight for the past five minutes but had decided not to intervene just yet, he wasn't sure the Xenos were worth the effort to kill three undead Raveners. Sadly, he needed them alive to distract his target. Former Arch-Magos Genetor Fabrious had fled Mars with a sample of the Curse Of Unbelief and several Dark Artifacts including a Sacrosan Wave Generator. He had been sent to kill Fabrious and if possible destroy the Dark Artifacts.
Sighing he pulled out his Plasma Pistol and Power-Sword and he leapt down three stories onto the closest Ravener, his bionic legs easily taking the impact as he used the force to push the Power-Sword deep into the undead creature, causing it to scream in faux pain as it's body barely registered damage due to deteriation of the nerves. Seeing another leave the two xenos and head towards him he fired two shots at it before he leapt off the Ravener and fire another shot at it while it screamed. The first two shots hit and burned the metallic shell, causing the thing to be blind for a moment as it clawed at it's eyes.
The other Ravener clawed at him while ignoring it's burning chest. The two Xenos fired at the chest using the blast mark to hit the inner flesh to do more damage. It was a smart move as the high velocity projectiles ripped through the weak flesh underneath, most of it rotted and dissolving. Finaly as it surged forward he used his Power-Sword to cut off the head and fire a charged shot into the gap causing the body to explode from the unstable plasma blast. Turning to the other Raveners he noted the blue Xeno managed to cause the one it was fighting to explode while the other was swiping at the other three Xenos.
Putting his Plasma Pistol at his waist he grabbed a Krak Grenade and leapt onto the thing's back, scrabbling for a hand hold he stabbed into the back and hung there, only his augmented strenght and stubborn will keeping him there. Pulling the pin on the grenade he smoved it in a small tear on the back and he pulled out the blade allowing himself to slide off the creature's back just in time to see the grenade go off. He shrugged of the bits of flesh and bone as he cleaned and sheathed his Power-Sword before turning the Xenos, by The God-Emperor he wished he didn't need them so he could just leave them to die but sadly he needed them to reach his target.
One of the Xenos stepped forward cautiously and spoke, luckily he had downloaded the local Xeno languages to the Cogitor in his brain, "Who are you? Are you an Imperial?" At his nod the Xeno seemed to up his guard at that. "I want to know why you are here, then Imperial."
He glared at him and noticed his throwing axe at the Xeno's waist. "I am Lucas, Bounty Hunter in the Imperium. I was hired to hunt down the Rouge Tech-Priest Fabrious as he is guilty of Tech Heresy. That is also my tomahawk , return it Xeno."
Taia was looking the Human over as he spoke. He was about six feet seven inches with a slight build but had firm sturdy muscles and he had obvious cybernetic augmentation, mainly his eye and right forearm and hand had been replaced. He carried a strange pistol at his waist and as he spoke he rested his left hand on the butt while holding the other out for his tomahawk. Nulius nodded and tossed him the blade and turned towards Taia.
"Taia help Jahun get that grate open while Samara and I try to find out how we are going to get out of here." He nodded to Lucas and said as he walked away. "I thank you for the help but we don't need your help now, you can go now."
Lucas laughed, "I have hunted him across five different Sectors, he is cunning and intelligent. You won't find any way off planet that isn't guarded by Skitarri Rangers and Combat-Servitors with Heavy Bolter emplacements. Hydra Anti-Air tanks will knock you out of the sky in a second. He must die for you to escape here and I need your help to kill him."
Samara spoke up as Nulius opened his mouth, probably to deny Lucas' help, "We should listen to him, he will know our enemy better then we do. We don't know anything about this Fabrious or his aims or intentions, the Imperial does. Our orders are to stop whatever is going on here." Nulius nodded as he put out his hand to Lucas, who didn't seem to like them nodded and reluctantly shook hands.
Jahun and Taia managed to get the grate open and the group climbed up into the Treatment Plant and Lucas leant out to check the streets to see a hundred or so reanimated corpses wondering the street and he could see a pair of Skitarri armed with Transuranic Arquebus. Stepping back inside he turned to the Xenos, "Its no good this way, there are more then a hundred undead out there and two Skitarri out there with sniper weapons."
Taia shrugs, "Theres just two of them, we can sprint from building to building as we take down these zombies." Nulius agreed with her but Samara noticed that Lucas when to a wall and was knocking his fist on it looking for something.
He just kept knocking as he shot that idea down, "The Skitarri have unparalleled accuracy with any weapon, they are capable of hitting a target at several kilometers with pin point accuracy with a reaction time in the milliseconds, you would be dead before your third step out there. No, I have a better idea but first we need to find out where Fabrious is first." He then pulled out his sword and started cutting the through the wall, the cheap metal walls falling quickly to the Power sword's field. After a minute of the wall fell revealing an access tunnel.
As they walked down the tunnel Lucas asked Taia, "You have a layout of this Hive City, yes? I need to know the largest building in the city and a route to it. Fabrious will be there working on his newest "Project" so hopefully we can find a path inside." He turned to the side as a corpse lunged out of a side path and as it stumbled past him he stabbed it in the skull, killing the horrid thing quietly. "Try to keep quiet through here, who knows how many are in here."
On the other side of the city Fabrious was hard at work on his newest creation, he was positive that Lucas had tracked him down again. That man had the relentlessness of the Skitarri Rangers and was as hard to kill as an Astartes. He still couldn't kill the man, he did enjoy their game of cat and mouse as they tried their hardest to kill the other as they fought across entire Sectors of space but soon the game will end with him victorious.
He looked down at his current subject and grinned, these new Xeno species had such potential for his studies and they did make good reanimated corpses stop people from bothering his work even if their weapons were pitiful.
Citadel Space
The science vessel New Knowledge arrived at the derelict vessel. The vessel was massive but it made the crew and team uneasy, it had this malovent aura around it plus it's looks were creepy the thing was crimson red. The bow was a screaming human skull in pain. On the side in dark letters was the name, The Bloody Chalice, but the unfortunate crew couldn't read the High Gothic script. They headed for the vessel not knowing the horrors awaiting them or that they were being watched.
"Yes, Khorne will be pleased, more sacrifices for the slaughter. Blood for the Blood God!" A large figure yelled in bloodlust as hundreds yelled back. "Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
The Bloody Chalice sat silently awaiting the poor fools listening to the false distress beacon. There was only the laughter of blood thirsty Gods.
Well, this one needed some work before it was ready. Yes Chaos has arrived but there is still hope in the bowels of that ship. Can the Council teams survive or will they die like countless others in the grim dark 41st Millenium.