Agony coursed through the skull of Amman-Zhar who suffered a sudden severe migraine while resting in his personal quarters. Blood poured from the orifices of the librarian who had the psychic scream which left a shadow in the warp. Wiping away the thin trickle of gore that seeped from his eyes, he looked to the puzzle box and for a moment, he wondered if his tinkering with it had something to do with the psychic phenomenon.
Impossible he decided for surely it must be something else, a Tyranid Splinter Fleet perhaps? No, it could not for he had faced the abominable xenos in the past and the shadows which they left in the Warp were never so sudden. There had been something else that caused it, something which worried the Librarian.
Focusing his will upon the warp, he generated a small ball of fire which ignited above his palm and with a mere thought, he extinguished it. He then attempted send a telepathic message to his brother Librarians and all he got was a heavy, background static. Getting up from cot which he slept upon, he headed towards the vox-panel near the doorway of his room and before he reached it, the machine began to make a beeping sound.
Pressing the activation rune on the panel he heard the mechanical voice of a servitor calling for his presence and the Librarian replied that he was on his way. Giving one last look the puzzle box which had so consumed his spare time, he wondered rather darkly if it had something to do with the appears of the shadow that now blanketed the warp.
The sensors aboard the Battle Barge, Flame of Dymlos, detected the distress signal sent by the returning Strike Cruiser, Invictus. Klaxons blared as legions of Chapter Serfs, liberated press-gang slaves and Servitors rushed to their battle stations for all now knew of the approaching Ork Fleet. Void Shields and the bombardment cannons on the dorsal section of the ship were being powered up as psychic communications were being sent out to all other ships within the system and beyond.
A fleet of several smaller ships, captured during raids on Imperium trade routes or in skirmishes with pirates, accompanied the Flame of Dymlos like shoals of fish around a whale, most of which were still scrambling to get into place. They may have outnumbered the alien fleet but the enemy's ships were far larger than most of what theAquila Veritas currently possessed. It was not lost upon Chapter Master Aurelius Harker, that in some ways, their current situation mirrored that of the greenskins albeit in reverse.
Upon his Command Throne on the Battle Barge's Bridge, the Chapter Master listened to the information being relayed to him. All long range psychic communications were down, making it very difficult for them to get a message to their other Battle Brothers who mostly were still out plundering the space lanes while the few Astartes who remained in the system were mostly training the new militia of the planet. They still had access to mundane Vox-devices but these did not have the range to reach outside of the system and were only useful in maintain communications between the ships of their fleet and their forces on Aaru.
Clad in gilded Artificier armour with a Relic Blade resting close to him, the Chapter Master knew that he cast a sight which was both awe-inspiring and imposing, a beacon of calmness amidst the crew of the Battle Barge. His bare, patrician features were left exposed for all to see while an Iron Halo which was attached to the gorget of his power armour provided a degree of protection which greatly offset his lack of a helmet. Within his mind he ran through countless battle plans and strategies, recalling ancient teachings of wisdom and bitter experience in fighting the green hordes.
Already, the sensors had picked up which of the Ork ships was the largest and knowing the savage xenos, the leader of this Waaagh would be aboard it. They had also detected a smaller number of ships which had broken off from the fleet, ships which would no doubt attempt a flanking maneuver which spoke volumes of this particular Ork leader. It was one thing to fight a greenskin leader who was all brawn and no brain, it was another, all the more dangerous matter to face one they possessed even a modicum of tactical aptitude.
Like a sniper taking aim, they knew that they had only one shot at cutting off the head of this invasion before it truly began. All guns aboard the Battle Barge were being aimed at the largest of the Ork ships which likely was also shielded but the Flame of Dymlos had the sort of arsenal required to crack such defenses. While the Ork ships closed the gap and were getting within range, the Invictus which continued to send its distress signal flew over right over the Battle Barge.
There was something wrong here, thought the Chapter Master they had tried to hail the Invictus but received no reply. Despite the possibility of a damaged communications system, it should still have had some auxiliary mechanisms to allow at the least, short ranged Vox messages. As the Invictus passed over the Flame of Dymlos with only scant miles of void space preventing any physical contact between the two ships, some of the sensors aboard the ship suddenly became active.
'My lord!' called a Chapter Serf 'we are receiving warp signatures within the Teleportarium, the Invictus is sending someone over!'
'Let them in' replied the Chapter Master. 'I want a full status report from Brother Captain Mordent.'
The Serfs obeyed and began tapping away on their terminals, sending a clearance to the operators of the Battle Barge's Teleportarium to allow the Invictus to warp someone in. Patiently waiting for a moment to allow the dangerous teleportation process to complete, he briefly heard a series of gasps and sharp curses before gunfire chattered within the space. Chapter Serfs and Servitors were suddenly being massacred within the Teleportarium, their screams were almost drowned out by the distinct roar of bolter fire.
For a brief moment, the Chapter Master was stunned at the possibility that some of his Battle Brothers may have betrayed them. He always knew that his choice to secede from the Imperium had not been a popular one, even when presented with the Truth which the Emperor himself had sought to spread across the galaxy. Aurelius had his suspicions on who may be harboring treasonous thoughts but had never imagined that anyone would actually dare to act out such betrayal.
'What do we do my lord?' asked a worried Chapter Serf.
'Inform the crew that we must… repel the boarders' spoke the Chapter Master who struggled to say the words for he could hardly believe what was happening.
Warning klaxons blared within the interior of the Astartes Battle Barge, alerting the crews of the ship to the presence of the boarding party. Now this will be interesting thought Captain Lucretia Tarneth whose weapons and armour were painted with a fresh coating of gore. Looking to the five others of her company who also were all equipped with advanced suits of armour which were further fortified by portable force fields, they nodded, knowing what they should do.
On most occasions, Captain Tarneth would prefer to wear her highly stylish Mesh Woven clothes which had been crafted by the Eldar artisans from Vaul-Anarath, yet she was of course practical enough to know when to put on her armour for dangerous situations like this. The armour which the boarding party wore was a marvel of human engineering for each one was far more advanced than the ones used by Astartes, Adepta Soritas and even the Inquisition. Each suit came equipped with self-repairing, self-sustaining mechanisms with built-in energy sources and potent machine spirits which altered the functions of the suit to fit the wearer.
These advanced suits which were known as Hunting Rigs, were quite popular among the aristocracies of some Imperial Hive Worlds. On such planets, the nobility considered it a rite of passage to don such suits of armour and use them to descend into the anarchic regions of the Underhives and prey upon those who dwelt there, regardless of whether they were gangers or innocents… if such a word even existed in the case of the latter among the dwellers of such lawless places. Lucretia herself had never taken part in such ritualized hunts, largely due to having been branded as a heretic very early in life but overtime, she had grown quite familiar with the Imperium's own depravities and how to best profit from it.
For the Pirate Captain herself, she wore a pattern of Hunting Rig designated as "Matriarch" which was built for speed, finesse and stealth. The Matriarch Rig came equipped with a Chameleon Cloak, a seemingly simple piece of cloth which allowed the wearer to blend in with their surroundings and it made them more difficult to hit. Resting around her neck was a glittering amulet of Eldar-make which was in actuality, a Force Shield, the same sort used by the Autarch war leaders of the alien species.
'Let's move!' ordered Lucretia and her crewmates obeyed without a series of "aye aye, captain"
Having deployed within the Astartes Teleportarium, the Hunting Rig equipped pirates sought to cause as much internal damage as possible before escaping via Teleport Homer. They had also arrived with warp-based jamming device of Jokaero origin which would make sure that that they themselves did not have unexpected guests and they also brought a now primed, Naval Melta Torpedo which had been converted into a bomb and set to detonate within ten minutes. All they needed to do now was defend the bomb and make their daring escape before it engulfs the Teleportarium and other adjacent chambers in a blast of superheated gas.
'Captain, we got movement! head towards us!' called one of her crewmates who was studying a Bio-Scanner.
'Positions gents!' called the Captain and all eyes were turned towards the doorway leading out of the Teleportarium where they could hear the booted feet of the Battle Barge's crew.
The heavy metal door slid open to reveal dozens of men and women dressed in either robes or navy uniforms and all were armed with a wide variety of slug throwers and laser weapons. In a split second, a deadly exchange of fire was traded between the ship's defenders and the invading pirates who mostly carried fore-arm mounted bolt weapons. Lasers and bullets from the ship's defender collided into defensive barriers generated by either Refractor or Conversion Fields, all of which had been taken from Imperial servants such as military officers or Ecclesiarchy priests, the bolt rounds on the other hand punched through light armour and detonated within soft flesh.
Taking the time to deliver a flashy flourish, Captain Lucretia, who wielded twin power blades, one which came in the form of a Colichemarde and the other a Main Gauche, leapt into the fray with blood pumping and adrenaline coursing through her veins. With the skill of a master swordsman, she stabbed, slashed, parried and cut with both of her blades; each step she made was done with a dancer's grace. Having been personally tutored in the art of sword fighting by a certain Corsair Prince, Captain Tarneth became a deadly whirlwind of flashing metal which sent rivulets of blood high into the air.
Sailing across the void of space, the Chillwind made its way to the planet where the renegade Space Marines had made their base. Wreathed in a cloud-like fog of darkness, the ship's Shadowfield provided a much needed degree of cover for the ship's approach for more than once, they had encountered smaller ships which rushed to join the battle to repel the Freebooter fleet. Thankfully, the ship had no need to give away its position and now that they were closing in with the planet, they saw the other pirate ships move into position.
Having extensively studied the information sent by the Vashanesh, in regards to the planets defenses, the crew of the Chillwind had already chosen where they would make planetfall while the other ships would do likewise in other regions. While attacking the renegade Space Marines as single, unified force did have its advantages, the crews of each ship were aware that if there was one major weakness the gene enhanced warriors had was that they could not quickly replace their losses. It was decided that their best chances of winning would be to hit the enemy, fast and hit them hard from several different fronts.
In the Chillwind's hangars, several transportation shuttles such as the Arvus Lighters and the rarer Halo Barges were being prepped to carry the crews down onto the planet's surface. There were also other cargo transports being prepared, all were vessels capable of travelling through both the void of space and entering a planet's atmosphere. Of the most prize vessels they had were captured Valkyrie Dropships which carried large, sealed cargo containers which were capable of transporting vehicles.
The mercenaries and pirates of their warband did not have the technical knowledge or the training to operate a battle tank but instead, they had cobbled together vehicles which were more fitting of their style. Vehicles such as bikes were the most common with many have attached sidecars that also had guns mounted at the front of the passenger section. Similar light vehicles with either three or four wheels were could also be found, each being capable of carrying one or two people.
Modified ground cars and civilian trucks could be found, many of which had been repurposed in ways that would not have been out of place among an Ork warband. Belching with smoke, bristling with guns, plated with crude armour and spikes, each of the vehicles had also been carefully given paint jobs to represent the faction among the warband which owned them. Take the Ordo Ignis for example who decorated their vehicles with symbols of blood, fire and people burning at stakes while all being appropriately armed with flamers and melta weapons.
Other groups like the deranged, combat drug addicted, all-female Psycho Sirens who favoured getting in up close and personal with Chain Weapons were rather fond of painting their vehicles with patterns depicting the teeth of predatory beasts to symbolized the cutting blades of a chainsword. The Ghostmen and the Regulators were far more practical in their choices with the former favouring open topped vehicles from which they could fire from while the latter used more heavily armoured trucks which were almost as durable as Imperial Guard Chimeras, almost. The most fearsome of all were the vehicles which belonged to the Lead Heads.
Like the Psycho Sirens, the Lead Heads were a single gendered faction, composed entirely of men who took copious amounts of drugs such as muscle enhancing steroids and were quite fond of piercing themselves with bullets as ornamentation. Their vehicles were large, converted trucks, the sort which would normally be used to transport promethium but like all the rest, were now covered in plates, spikes and were completely loaded with lots of guns. On many occasions in the past, the vehicles of the Lead Heads were used as battering rams and sledge-hammers for all out assaults.
Quietly waiting for the warband to finish their preparations, Naranair already had his own transport prepared. His back leaned on the sleek hull a Venom Transport which was equipped with twin Splinter Cannons and a Flickerfield while the Dark Eldar Captain himself had now carried a Blaster and a Shard Carbine. Riding at the back were a group of four alien mercenaries who were all heavily equipped for war.
Two of which were Kroot mercenaries he had picked up in Footfall, both carried long range hunting rifles and modified Tau Pulse Carbines which had the grenade launcher part replaced with a human made ones so that it could fire some actual explosive ordnance rather than grenades which can only blind targets. The third alien mercenary who operated the rear-mounted Splinter Cannon was a shape-shifting Lacrymole which often took the form of human youths as a way to catch prey off-guard. The fourth creature was a rather large, Loxatl mercenary which was equipped with the common Flechette Blasters used by the reptilian aliens.
When the human members of their warband were finally ready to depart, Naranair called to the aliens underlings and they quickly mounted up on the back of the Venom. Drawing forth a webway device, the Dark Eldar Captain activated it and soon, a gateway appeared before the parked Venom. Naranair quickly then climbed into the cockpit of the vehicle and he began to power up machine.
Soon the Venom lifted off from the deck of the hangar and gracefully glided into the webway portal which would bring them to the planet below.
The Teleportarium of the Space Marine Battle Barge became a grisly abattoir as dozens of bloodied corpses now littered the entryway. While the bravery of the ship's defenders was, admirable, it sadly did not make up for their lack of skill in trying to repel the small, well-armed boarding party. It was not much of a surprise supposed Captain Lucretia whose powered blades dripped with gore for there was hardly any cover to use.
Had the pirates not been equipped with the Hunting Rigs, they would have been overrun by the Chapter Serfs. Oddly, they had yet to encounter a single Space Marine which the Captain supposed was a mixed blessing in itself for if they had encountered several of the Astartes then she would have highly doubter their chances of survival. With only a few minutes left before the improvised Melta bomb detonated, the Captain now had half a mind to teleport out of there.
'Four minutes Captain' announced one of the boarders who wore an Orrus Rig and Lucretia nodded to the man.
'Is the Void Duchess still within range? Asked the Pirate Captain who remained confident of their chances.
'Aye captain' replied another of her boarding party who was equipped with a Malcadon Rig which had been modified to fire Eldar Mono-filaments and was carrying the Teleport Homer. 'But she will not remain in teleportation range for long.'
'Then let us leave this place' announced Lucretia who sheathed her Main Gauche and pulled out from her belt, the detonator of the bomb.
A familiar feeling of weightlessness and displacement came over the Pirate Captain as her body and those of the boarding team were partially being sent into the Warp. She counted for a moment, making sure to time things just properly for the Captain had always had a weakness for the dramatic. It was then at the very last second that Captain Lucretia thumbed the detonation device of the bomb and as they disappeared from the material universe, they barely missed the great blast wave of super heated gas which caused sections of the ship to suddenly melt into slag and crew who were caught became clouds of ashes before they even knew it.
A slight, mischevious grin spread across the face of Captain Lucretia for despite not seeing the destruction, she reveled in the knowledge of what had happened and what her role in it had been.
The Flame of Dymlos violently shook as an explosion ripped through the ship. Chapter Serfs and liberated slaves screamed in terror as bodies were violently thrown about. Chapter Master Harker also lost his footing during ordeal and he was forced to steady himself on the wall next to him.
'Status Report!' demanded the Chapter Master over the vox, he had been on his way to the Teleportarium which was quite some distance away from the Command Bridge.
'Melta charge detonation in the Teleportarium my lord' replied a Chapter Serf back on the Bridge. 'The ship has sustained catastrophic damage in the adjacent decks, casualties are still counting'
'Block of all damaged section and reroute power, I want all repair Servitors mobilized!' demanded Aurelius and the crewman obeyed. 'What is the status of the Invictus and the Ork Fleet?' asked the Space Marine who could hardly believe in either possibilities that the crew aboard the Invictus had either turned traitor or if the ship had been taken by pirates.
'M-my lord' spoke the Chapter Serf he had been talking to over the vox with a stunned quality to his voice.
'What is it?' growled the Chapter Master who found that this day was just getting worse and worse.
'It-its not the Invictus my lord!' shouted the Serf and all of a sudden, the Flame of Dymlos began to shake again.
'Damnation! What is going on out there!?' demanded Aurelius Harker.
'Ship fire my lord!' replied the Serf 'enemy ship is firing at us! Void Shield still stable!'
By the Emperor, thought the Chapter Master who was now faced with a dire dilemma. The hostile ship which had masqueraded as the Invictus was likely now flanking the Flame of Dymlos yet if they turned around to face them then they could be left dangerously exposed to the Ork Fleet. The situation would have been similar for the fleet of smaller ships which were outclassed and outgunned by the alien Cruisers.
'Hold positions and maintain the bulwark, launch all Fury Interceptors to engage the ship' ordered the Chapter Master with resignation for although his tactical mind told him that they should all break formation and engage in hit and run tactics, he knew that if they did so, they would leave Aaru completely exposed to a full-scale invasion.
There were thousands of people depending on the Aquila Veritas for their protection and if they could not protect the lives of innocents then what use was their crusade? Death or Glory thought the Chapter Master who secretly knew that this day would one day come but he had that it never would.
With eager eyes did Kaptain Bashnag Starkilla watch as the human fleet came closer to his own. Atop Da Wurld Krumpa and every ship in the Freebooter Fleet, Da Jolly Ork was raised high, a sign to show the enemy that Da Boyz were coming for them! A feral smile spread across the Kaptain's face as they powered through the void of space and the grotz which operated the various terminals were reporting that all guns were ready to start the dakka.
'OPEN FIRE LADZ!' roared Kaptain Starkilla and his command was immediately relayed to every other Ork Ship.
Laser Lance batteries, Torpedoes and Macro Cannons, Plasma Projectors were launched from the renegade Space Marine fleet while the Orks fired back with their own, slug-throwing weapon, rockets and Zzap Kannons. Within each of the Freebooter ships, work-gangs of gretchin and snotlings were whipped by Runtherdz to load the guns with slugs and rockets. Squadrons of specially trained "Rokkit Grotz" clambered onto the cockpits placed at the front of torpedoes, each one of the little greenskins seeking their one shot at glory.
From the hangars of the Freebooter Kroozers, Fightas-Bommers swarmed out like angry buzz-squigs, each leaving a trail of smoke and flooding the communications channels with a unified roar 'WAAAGGGGHHHH!' In the distance, Kaptain Starkilla also saw several human fighter craft being launched from the hangars with many going after the Void Duchess. Hardly worried about the ship of Captain Tarneth which had enough firepower to take on an Imperial Navy Battle Cruiser, the Ork Kaptain watched the bright display as human naval weapons crashed against the shields of Da Wurld Krumpa.
Now this was a proper fight, thought Kaptain Starkilla as both fleets became fully engaged in the void battle. Long range fire continued to be exchanged between them and the Ork Fleet powered on, eager to get in close enough to board the human ships. In the mind of the Freebooter Kaptain, he already began to visualize all the improvements he would make once they captured the ships.
A Looted Battle Barge would make a fine addition to his fleet.
Looking up to the day lit sky with apprehension, Scout Sergeant Andros Maithen saw the brief explosions which could be seen all the from Aaru's surface. He had already received word of a xenos fleet being detected within the sector and that the small fleet of ships which belonged to the Chapter were already engaged in battle. He wanted to be up there, to join the battle once the ships came in close enough to for boarding actions but there simply had not been enough time send transports to pick up the Space Marines who were still on the planet.
The best he and his Battle Brothers could do at the moment was to prepare their charges, the militia companies for the possibility of a ground invasion. A soft, frustrated sigh escaped the lips of the Scout Sergeant as he then turned his attention to the township he had been assigned to. The eyes of several men and women were focused on the lone Space Marine who naturally was seen as a lead figure.
Big speeches were never his specialty; he tended to leave that sort of thing to the Force Commanders, Chaplains and those Brothers who were made for commanding roles. Taking a deep breath and pretending that he was talking to a band of young neophytes, he began to speak in a tone that was loud, firm yet calm at the same time.
'I know you are all scared' announced the Scout Sergeant who decided to just give it to them straight. 'But we all knew that this was an eventuality which may have one day come for such is the way of the universe. In times like this, we must all look to one another for only together do we stand a chance at survival. All I can say is that remember your training, remember all that I have taught you and I promise that we will get through this together.'
His words seemed to have the desired effect for although it was not the rousing speech which put fire in the bellies of troops, it made them feel a bit more confident as they looked to one another and they knew what the stakes were. Like the Space Marines themselves who called each other a Battle Brother, these militia would see each other as kin, regardless of what planet the person had been born on.
'Sergeant!' shouted one of the women named Kirsten who had so far proven to be a fairly competent hunter and a promising sniper. She then pointed up to the sky, behind the Scout Sergeant who immediately had a bad feeling about this and he looked to see what it was.
'Oh hell' breathed the Scout Sergeant as a massive cargo lander was descending from orbit and judging by its trajectory, it would land in the forests north of the colony. Looking to his charges again, he quietly regretted not having had more time to train them.
Emerging from the temporary, Webway Gate, the Venom flew over plains of golden grass; its profile was blurred thanks to its Flickerfield. Commoragh manufactured Bio-Scanning equipment which had been installed into the cockpit's piloting terminal was now specifically set to seek out human prey and Naranair detected a small number not far away. Activating the thrusters of the skimmer vehicle, the Dark Eldar Captain and his mercenary underlings sallied forth like a bird of prey finding something to devour.
Moving at a speed which could only be achieved by superior, Eldar technology, Naranair soon found his targets and he readied the Splinter Cannons attached to the bottom of the craft. Before the prey even knew that the fast moving Venom was near, the Captain had opened fire and he brought down a pair of humans with a single burst before his underlings began shooting as well. In less than ten seconds, several bodies hit the grassy ground and those who had survived the sudden onslaught were quick to flee.
'Disembark!' commanded Naranair as he slowed down the Venom just by a fraction and the Kroot along with Loxatl leapt out from the back while the shapeshifter remained on the rear Splinter Cannon. Toxic shards, pulse rounds and razor-sharp Flechettes were unleashed by the aliens who shot at anything which moved and they all reveled in the thrill of the hunt. Naranair then mercilessly pursued the fleeing prey and before long, the Bio-Scanner was not picking up any moving humans.
Turning the Venom around decelerating its movements, he then headed back to the spot where he had first opened fire and it was there that he set down the skimmer. Pressing a button that would open up the cockpit, the Dark Eldar Captain soon leapt off from the driver section with a Shardcarbine clenched in his gauntleted right hand. He then approached the fallen form of a human he had shot and was glad to have had the foresight in replacing the Splinter Cannon's ammunition with an alternative toxin which were not powerful to kill a target but was rather intended to incapacitate someone through sheer pain.
His fallen victim lay face first on the golden grass and the Captain carefully turned the human over. He then came face to face with a dark skinned male specimen of the Mon'keigh species whose features were contorted in exquisite agony. Naranair then pulled out his flaying knife and he spoke in a low, threatening tone, 'I have so many questions to ask you…'
