Once My current Beta Cain O'Phelan is done editing I will re-post the revised version. So enjoy.
Chapter 14: Herald of the Imperium
Leaving Vigil, his warning now rests in the hearts of each one of Shepard's team, the mako continues its race to the Conduit. As they push their way through the rear guard of Saren's army, their foe's vanguard is attacking the Citadel. Moving through the Conduit the ordered and serried ranks of geth soldiers and heavy walkers sweep the Presidium with fire. Any resistance is quickly discovered and wiped out. C-Sec tries to rally its forces around the Academy and the main elevator shafts. Saren simply uses the frigates that have entered with him to pummel their defenses to rubble before unleashing his krogan. Broken and torn bodies are left in their wake. With the entry point secured the Geth move into the wards to delay C-Sec from stopping the return of the Reapers. Saren, his enhanced cybernetics gleam in the flickering fire, moves through the battlefield with his personal guard and leaves for the Council Chambers and the controls. He leaves behind a full platoon of geth, sixty mixed combat platforms overseen by a prime and an armature. This force is to wait for Shepard and kill him once and for all.
In the main barracks of C-Sec, Executor Pallin is trying to muster enough troops to retake the Presidium, so far his forces are just trickling in from the various ward offices. He immediately calls for aid from the marines of the orbiting Defense Fleet. All is going according to Saren's plan. As the ships defending the relay break their blockade to aid the beleaguered forces on the Citadel, the relay slowly builds up its charge. In the urban jungle of the Citadel C-Sec officers, off-duty military, and the various mercenaries and criminal groups are now slinking through a robot infested hell-hole. Gunships dart among the glittering skyscrapers as cannon shot and missiles crisscross the sky. Every few minutes there would be a burst of flame and shower of debris as another aircraft is plucked from the smoke choked skies. Geth fire teams scour the area with cloaked hunters leading them to optimal ambush points. Whole groups of fighters are wiped out in seconds with cold calculated bursts of fire.
Any major threat to their assault is meet with heavy fire from the dozen of geth frigates that have entered the Citadel. They hover above the important choke points and intersections laying waste to all who enter their weapons engagement arcs. They also bear the hated forms of the armature and colossi assault walkers. To the lightly armored infantrymen these walkers are a walking death sentence since most of their makos and gunships have been destroyed by geth drones and wasp fighters.
As the Battle of the Citadel begins another shape is slowly prowling the gas-filled void. Running dark in the depths of the nebula is the only capital ship of the Imperium Secondus and its captain, Warmaster Hoeth. Both he and his ship's machine spirit have missed the sounds and feelings of battle and long for its deadly embrace. Hoeth is currently sitting in his state room cursing his enemies for not yet striking, thus stranding him away from his crusade. His rage toward his foes has been building since has been stuck in this Emperor-forsaken nebula waiting for these… he isn't sure what to call them… heretical machines, that sounds good enough for him, to show so he can kill them and move on to his next target. After mentally reciting a benediction to calm the mind and appease the soul, Lord Hoeth shifts his mind away from his current lack of targets to kill to that xeno the lord primarch has forced upon him. He surprisingly has done very well on the battlefield and is showing the right devotion to the God-Emperor as well as converting other friendly xenos to their religion. He already conquered several dozen systems including a valuable forge world that is near one of their next targets, the Batarian Hegemony. It is a highly industrial world with massive orbital shipyards and construction plants. This planet will increase the war production capability of the Imperium exponentially.
Hoeth finishes the bane of all commanders, paperwork, and leaves his stateroom. A quick pause before the mirror ensures that the admiral is looking his best as befits a member of His Most Divine Majesty's Navy. He prays to his undying lord for foes to smite in his name. As he is joined by his Kasrkin protectors he gets welcome news and answer to his prayers as he steps onto the bridge.
On bridge of the battleship Asgardia a sensor technician motions for his supervisor. "Sir," the rating begins, "There seems to be fighting going on inside the Citadel. The enemies of man have begun their invasion." His supervisor nods and walks over to the XO and relays the message.
The XO returns the salute of his subordinate and steps closer to his captain. With a click of his heels and starts in a quiet calm voice, "Milord Hoeth, it seems that the enemy has begun their land invasion and have spread out from their beachhead. Orders?"
Hoeth his eyes locked on to the relay shifts his posture ever so slightly, "We will engage their ship's once they emerge from the relay. We will then launch our aircraft to both attack their fleet and deploy the Thunderhawk so the Primarch and his guard can lead a speartip straight into the enemy, at the same time the rest of our aircraft will deploy the embarked arms and guards men onto the station to cleanse it. Prepare the men for battle."
A flight of gunships and shuttles leave from the Council chambers heading to the rapidly approaching Destiny Ascension. Unfortunately they were intercepted and several were shot down near the tip of one the arms. The approaching dreadnought used its extensive Guardian laser batteries to target the many geth fighters and frigates inside the Citadel. While the Citadel fleet moves closer to the space station it leaves several cruisers and frigates behind to monitor the relay. The bulk of the fleet forms a partial defense line halfway to the station, it consists of several dozen cruisers, four dreadnoughts, and over a hundred frigates. The tension on board these ships is palatable ever since terrorist attacks have drawn off the reinforcements sent by the Systems Alliance.
Still on Ilos Shepard is pushing the mako to its limits as he and his team rush deeper into the bowels of this tomb world. At each turn a geth ambush waits trying to slow them down for every second matters. Blasting through the last major fire base the mako is in bad shape, its barrier system has been heavily damaged. The shields are stuck at forty percent power with a reduced recharge rate. The IFV is also leaking control and drive fluids making it turn slower. The only things still work right is the engine and the gun. As a geth frigate flies overhead the vibration of its engines shake the light tank as it drops a pair of armatures just in front of the next turn. "Garrus focus on the walker on the right, I am going to run past them." Commands Shepard. Slamming his foot on the accelerator the mako leaps at the walker on the left as Garrus lights the other one up.
Pushing past the damaged mechs the team hits the top of another ramp overlooking the Conduit. A miniature mass relay, it stands several dozen meters tall and is glowing a bright blue as it begins its activation charge. It is guarded by four colossi and a screen of geth infantry. The mako charges the relay, Shepard heedless of the incoming fire knows that the shields only have to hold for a few seconds. Volleys siege pulse rounds are launched as Garrus tries to knock out the screen of rocket troopers. Shepard hits the rocket jets to dodge the first volley and manages to duck under the second. The third however brackets the mako, the shields failed and sent the IFV spinning. As the team strains against their crash harnesses the relay glows brighter and grabs the IFV and throws it across the galaxy into the lobby of the Presidium.
After securing the council the Ascension leaves the Citadel in the hands of a cruiser squadron, their escorts, and returns to its position in the center of the defensive line. The relay finished its transit, after a blue-white flash Sovereign emerges with a pair of geth dreadnaughts, fifty cruisers, and two hundred frigates. Using his advanced thanix cannons the reaper made short work of the pickets guarding the relay. With his advanced jamming systems the now dead ships did not have an opportunity to warn the defending warships of the approaching executioner's blade.
Sovereign looms in the center of a vast unfeeling horde, his advance sensors sweep the space around the Citadel and calculates the chance of failure. The returns comeback favorable, chance of success 99.9 percent. Despite his power and superior technology, Sovereign has learned that organics will fight tooth and nail to defy their fate that however, is not enough because the cycle is eternal. If he fails it is just a minor setback, for the legion will follow the only difference is that these organics will live a few extra pointless years. Still not wanting to be damaged by the risking the defenders alone he forms the geth up for battle. A long line of cruisers with dreadnoughts in the center, and the frigates clustering along the line and on the flanks ready to close and overwhelm the helpless. Sovereign moves himself behind his pawns and increases speed to begin the battle.
They open fire on the unsuspecting warships, blue-white bolts lance through the swirling pink gas as the Citadel fleet losses several cruisers and frigates to this surprise salvo. The Turian ships react with skill, precision, and speed that has been drilled into them from a young edge, they open fire scattering several of the incoming frigate wolf packs and cripple a geth cruiser. The defenders bring their ships into a ragged defensive line and fire back at the geth tearing a section of their line to pieces. The geth accept the dead ships, reform, and open fire again. Both red and blue bolts of metal crisscross the now debris chokes battlefield as the nebula bleeds.
Massing their ships the geth fighter's mange to drive a wedge in the defending frigate screens and the robotic wolf packs pounce. They swarm a weakened combined Salarian and Turian cruiser squadron. At close range they open fire with their lasers, guns, and torpedoes. As the Turian Commodore watches another one of his ships die at the hands of their agile attackers he orders, "All ships cut engines and reroute power to weapons and barriers. Fire all weapons set to proximity detention with minimum safe arm distance. The space around the ships ignite as the missiles and guns fire. Once the dust parts the geth have died but only two cruisers out of six remain in the squadron.
Sections of the defenders line bend but don't break as the iron-willed Turians hold at heavy cost. The ships heading toward the Citadel return and relive the pressure on the weakest parts of the line. The frigates pull back as both sides open fire with another volley, this fighting is similar to the wars of Earth's 1700 and 1800s. Bloody and casualty intensive as shots pass each other heading for the kill. Barriers flash as they struggle to stop the heavy slugs, ships explode as their shields fail and their armor is shredded. The geth ships have stronger guns but are not as durable resulting in a two to one exchange rate with the Citadel fleet. The geth can sustain losing two ships for each one of the defenders, while the Citadel fleet cannot.
As the heavy ships recharge their weapons the frigates and fighters move back into no-man's land for close range knife fights. The geth fighters augmented by drones inflect a three to one kill rate on the Citadel's fighter squadrons forcing them purely on the defensive. Using their superior numbers they push through the defenders screen and charge the cruiser line again. The Turian Admiral orders the dreadnoughts to flood the area with torpedoes, once the sensors clear and the blue radiation wave's disperses the damage is shown. The Citadel has lost all of their fighters as well as the geth and a third of the defending frigates are left limping back to their line followed closely by half of the geth ships undeterred. The larger vessels open fire but can't turn back the tide. The Destiny Ascension is isolated by the wolf packs and is slowly being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
As the Salarian, Asari, and Turian ships are getting slaughter Adm. Hackett is readying his fleet for a counter-attack. His vessel were not part of the initial battle and victims of the surprise attack because vessel belonging to the Inquisition drew the Alliance ships away with acts of piracy and sabotage. Running dark the ships of Earth form into a series of wedges as Hackett thinks about his strike his decision is made for him when a mayday from the Ascension rings out, "Mayday, Mayday, this is the Destiny Ascension. We are heavily damaged; shields, guardian lasers, and sixty percent of our mass accelerators are off-line. Armor rating is critical, we have the Council onboard," Are the panic calls sent from the matriarch in command of the dreadnaught to the entire nebula. The only ships that could aid them are the Asgardia (as if the Imperium cares about the safety of the xenos) and the Alliance (who the Council considers annoying upstarts).
Hackett hopes that the upcoming sacrifice of his men will be worth something in the long run or the letters he is going to write will be that much harder. "All ships form up on the Everest spearhead formation, we are going to save the Council and Ascension." His ships approach the battle running on minimal power, invisible to sensor nets trying to interpret the chaos of space combat. Once within close range, switches were turned and reactors spiked as the Alliance fleet went from drifting on standby to charging with every gun blazing. They cut a swath around the crippled dreadnaught with a hail of bullets and beams. Their sudden appearance killed a geth cruiser squadron and several dozen frigates at the cost of half of the Alliance fleet being killed or crippled. Hackett watches with grim eyes as the Ascension moves out of the combat zone and closer to the Citadel. He hopes that the Council will remember the thousands of lives he sacrificed for them and a crippled battleship, which might still die. He his ships shore up the weaken sections of the line and hopes that they could hold out a little longer until reinforcements come from the relay to either rescue them or avenge them.
Sovereign calculating that this new force will only delay the cycle orders the geth to charge again this time he will aid them. The form a wall of white insectiod shaped hulls in front of the monster ship. Hackett orders the entire fleet to focus on killing the Reaper, the fleet answers with a massive volley that does nothing. Sovereign beam weapons fire and cut a dreadnought in half, it hangs motionless for a second before exploding in a terrific fireball. The geth fire as the Citadel forces are stunned, they gut half of the remaining escorts and several Alliance cruisers are crippled. It is only a matter of time before the defenders collapse and are annihilated and the cycle resumes.
"Now, Hoeth it is time to reveal the might of the Imperium and show this galaxy the true masters of the stars, those who follow my father, The Emperor of Man," commands Horus from the balcony overlooking the bridge of the imperial battleship. The Warmaster is happy that he and his ship will indulge in their battle lust and slay the foes of Him on Earth. He acknowledges the command with a faint smile as he turns his icy gaze to his bridge crew.
"This galaxy is mankind's by right. Let no one challenge our rule. The humans and xenos here do not know of the Emperor and his teachings but they are willing to learn. We shall teach them through the flames of war our lessons will be burnt in. Through might of armies ours lessons will crush those who oppose us. Through the purity of our devotions the Emperor will guide and protect humanity and those xenos who recognize our superiority. We will cleanse this galaxy of the heretical machines, their maleficarum rulers, and the bless those who are worth with light of the Emperor. Jump the ship into the jaws of death, May the Emperor protect us all," commands Hoeth as he underlings ready the chip for battle. The crew harden by his words prepare to sell their lives dearly for the Emperor and humanity they will not be found wanting.
In the midst of mortal combat a tear in reality forms. A blood-red oculus bursts into creation between the two fleets. The swirling pink gas is replaced with blood-red vapors and beams of purple that vaporized those unlucky ships to be hit them consigning their crew's soul to the warp. The portal widens as both fleets maneuver to avoid this anomaly. Using its massive engines the 18km long battleship emerges from the placid sea of the immaterium. As the portal closes the ancient scared hull of His Most Divine Navy's Vessel the Emperor Class battleship Sword of Asgardia hovers over the battle field, its presence is a shock to both sides as they wait for it do something. The ship radiates dread and feeling that war is all we know. That feeling is manifested by its hundreds of guns, cavernous launch bays, meters thick armor and imperial iconography that adorns its hull. The gothic script on its bow is close enough to Latin that most of the ships could interpret it through translation software its message does little to reassure the beleaguered defenders. The message is this: We are the sword and shield of man. We are to be wielded without remorse and hesitation against the impure, the corrupt, and xeno. Ave Imperator. Next to the following script is a massive two-headed eagle that is holding an engraved banner bearing the word Imperium of Man.
The radio's, communication equipment, and other visual display crackle to life as the powerful vox casters and logic engines on-board the Asgardia breaks into the communications network of the entire nebula. To those who can see them a pair of figures stand out in a hazy grey background. The first is an older man in his late fifties, his eyes hold gaze of everyone as he stares at them with a cold steely gaze. His face has old worn look only seen typically on the most harden and grizzled veterans or mercenaries. His uniform is reminiscent of Earth's Napoleonic wars mixed with a horror show, the double-headed eagle prominently displayed on his breast. The other could only be described as a god, that being is a giant clad in thick storm blue armor with eyes that radiate power and compel supplication.
The man steps forward and stands at perfect attention, his spine a rod of steel quench in the righteous fury that is the birthright to His children. "I am Lord Tiberius Hoeth, Warmaster of the Imperium Secondus of Man. I am the master of this holy vessel Sword of Asgardia. I am the instrument of my master, the God-Emperor of Man, divine right to rule. I present to you my lord's most blessed and holy son Lord Horus Stormrider, Primarch of the II Legiones Astartes." Making the sign of the Aquila upon his chest the old admiral bows to the giant as he steps into the limelight.
"I am Horus, son of the rightful ruler of the galaxy. My sons and those that follow will be the saviors of this galaxy. Those that oppose us and our Most Noble and Holy Crusade shall be purged without mercy, without remorse, without hesitation. The threat's that the Geth and their corrupt master presents demands action. The Knights of the Storm shall answer their call to battle and with our comrades of the Imperial Guard and Navy will shall vanish the foe as my father demands of those who consorts with the demonic and impure. The reckoning of this galaxy will begin. May Imperial justice account for all in the balance. Ave Imperator." Turning toward Hoeth his voice can be heard saying the following orders to his Warmaster before the link is broken, "Show these idolaters what the punishment is for serving the demonic."
Throughout the nebula everyone is silent scared into idleness as they process the living god's proclamation. The machines are the first to recover as their programs do a threat analysis and determine that the imperial battleship is the greatest threat. Sovereign cannot let them stop the cycle. As the machines reorient their guns to the new ship, the battered forces of the Citadel fleet reform another defensive line and hastily repair their ships and wait for the next attack. Hoeth orders his ship to turn broadside to the machines and his helmsmen react quickly and with precision. A Turian Captain thinks these new comers are all talk and stupidity, who else would give your foes a bigger target to hit.
The geth and the Reaper open fire and the ship is enveloped in flames as torpedo, rail gun round, laser, and liquid metal beam slam into its void shields. The Asgardia is sitting in the middle of a hurricane of fire and is not even scratched by this pyrotechnics display. Hoeth comments to his XO, "The lasrifles of the guard would have a better chance of penetrating the void shields then these fools." The geth and Sovereign cease-fire as their weapons build up a dangerous amount of heat. As they cycle the cooling systems and reload programs they reevaluate the threat and begin damage assessment. The Citadel forces are expecting a massive fireball to grow out of the torrent of fire, they are shaken and stunned as the fires die off revealing an unscathed battleship. The ship is truly cursed by the demons that inhabit the corners of a person's mind or the deep blackness of space.
"On my command launch all aircraft, half will attack those who oppose the other half will escort the two battalions of armsmen and guardsmen to the station. Cleanse it and be sure to leave no witnesses to our technology might. They are to secure the center spire as the Primarch and the First Captain's command squad deals with the primary enemy target. All weapons are to fire in salvo, wipe the weaker heretical machines first then their demonic master," commands Hoeth from his pulpit.
The logic of the machines has been defied, it should not be possible to create a ship that big and powerful based off of the mass effect field. The cycle does not allow for that kind of innovation. Sovereign now begins to calculate the chance of failure and the results scare him. He is partially organic and is feeling a very organic feeling of fear for the first time in thousands of year. He orders the geth to form a wall to shield him as he charges the Citadel. His only hope is to start the cycle and overwhelm this ship with his brother Reapers.
On the crowed dangerous gun decks of the Asgardia hundreds of toiling ratings and press-gang victims heave massive chains and turn giant capstan wheels all to load the multi-kilo tonne shells into the waiting breeches. One by one the massive guns are wrung out and turrets on the spine and bow align themselves with their assigned targets. In the hangar bays thousands of aircraft are held in suspension fields waiting for the launch command. Hoeth gives the order to launch and swarm is formed as the attack craft form up above and below their carrier's current plane. On the other side the hundreds of transports meet up with their escort and charge toward the Citadel with a single Thunderhawk in the van. The armed forces of the Imperium, the Hammer of the Emperor has been readied and the death-blow is approaching.
Hoeth commands the ship to fire. In one long rolling salvo the guns spit forth fire and fury as shells the size of skyscrapers are hurled into the void. The geth are approaching rapidly, when the Asgardia fired they were at one hundred and fifty kilometers away. In imperial combat terms that distance is the same two people boxing. The geth could react fast enough before the shells that are bigger than the geth ships impact erasing them from existence. After the first volley only twenty-five percent of the geth forces remain, these are going to be the victims of the veteran Fury and Starhawk pilots and their crews.
Like the mighty eagle that adorns their ships the fighter pilots dive into the scattered geth forces. The nimbly weave through the debris cluttered battle space as they hunt for their prey. Swarming their targets in squadron strength they attack, their las and autocannons their tearing beaks and their missile their terrible talons. The guardian fire diffused against their thick armored hides as the geth died one by one. The fighters return to their pre attack positions, above and below their home. They watch as its five hundred plus point defense guns wipe out the geth fighters and drones in a blistering salvo.
The aerial assault forces circled as their escorted wiped out the geth air cover hovering in the skies of the Citadel. Uncaring of the collateral damage they struck with plasma missiles and void screamers. Hundreds die as the wreckage and spent ordnance hits the ground. Anti-air posts are smothered by missile strikes and promethium bombs. The guardsman, led by the Kasrkin, jump into the smoke choked wards. As they float to the ground they are enveloped by the exhaust and heat trails of rockets and multi-laser fire. The drop zones went from a city block to a torn, blackened, cratered wasteland. Spreading out in a loose skirmish formation the Kasrkin mow down the counter-attacking geth with overwhelming bursts of hell gun las-fire. With the first wave secure, the regular guardsmen land and begin moving inward to the embassies leaving the armsmen to hold the junctures.
Where every the geth and their walkers are found the guardsmen react with their trademark discipline. Troopers quickly form to firing lines and in time with the cries of "First rank fire, Second rank fire." They unleash accurate fusillade of searing death. The guardsman are happy fighting in this galaxy, these robots die with a single hit and don't get back up. A far cry from the unstoppable Necrons back in their original galaxy. Along with geth anyone else be it human or xeno encountered that saw them use their weapons were mercilessly cut down to protect their secrets. The Council will get their Citadel back through the streets will be covered with the blood and bodies of both foe and innocent. As the Guardsman wipe out all before, members of Mechanicus follow and interface with the Machine-Spirits of the Citadel. They copy of the data banks that the Citadel has accumulated and wiped out any trace of their passing. They also removed the footage of combat that features the Imperium. To deny the enemy knowledge is to make them weak.
The Thunderhawk landing in the lobby of the Embassies. As the command squad rushed down the open ramp, bolters raised at the ready but no firing occurred. The sixty geth that Saren has left are nothing more than a pile of dead robots amassed around a destroyed Mako. Upon seeing the battle has shifted Horus commands his men, "Our quarry has left. To the Council Chambers so we may end this demons life. Quickly brothers." The Space Marines move quickly through the wreckage and aftermath of Shepard's pursuit.
They reach the chambers to watch the battle between the defiler and the defender. They watch impassively as Shepard commands his team well and dodges the worse of Saren's enhanced strikes. "He fights well for a mortal," remarks Olympias as Shepard ducks underneath a scything talon to crack several of Saren's ribs with a rifle butt blow. Though Shepard is fighting at his best the Turian has been enhanced for his purpose and strikes down his teammates one by one. Listening to Saren gloat Shepard is filled with emotion commonly found in the Imperium (The original one) hate, anger, and rage flood his senses. He moves nearly as fast as an Astrates. Igniting an omni-blade he plunges into the Turian's chest and kicks the smoking corpse into the atrium below. He rushes over to his fallen friends and administers medi-gel slowly rousing them awake. As he overrides Saren's control of the Citadel the relay lights up as more Alliance ships pour into the nebula. They will arrive too late to take part in the battle.
In space Hoeth detects the arrival of more Alliance ships. So far he has killed dozens of heretical scum and has not lost a single ship to the enemy. This is all too easy he thinks. The only target that is left is the Reaper Maleficarum. "Master of Ordinance," starts the Warmaster, "It is time to administer the Emperor's Judgment. Kill the reaper, one round. It is best not to wastes the Emperor's bullets on such a pathetic foe." One massive turret swivels until it is aligned with the reaper and fires. A bolt of plasma easily the size of a small warship erupts from the muzzle and slams into Sovereign milliseconds later. As the reaper is beginning consumed with the fury of a nova he transfers his consciousness to Saren's body. The cycle must be started, nothing can stop it.
Saren's body begins to glow as all the useless organic material was burnt away. Shepard and his have already jumped down to inspect it and are falling back into their combat stances. None of them have healed enough to survive this fight. They plan on selling their lives dearly for the galaxy, so others may live. With an inhuman shriek the reanimated puppet leaps at Shepard faster than the eye can track. He reappears just about to slam a glowing blade into the human specters throat when a steel blade encased in lighting erupts through his rib cage. The body is cut into two pieces and the remains flung into the air. They are stuck by white lighting and dissolved.
Shepard and his team look upon their saviors. The being wielding the blade is a nine foot tall giant clad in thick dark blue armor bearing a golden eagle on the chest and one shoulder and the other holds a pair of lightning bolts erupting from a trio of clouds. He is joined by several seven foot giants dressed similarly bearing massive guns and blades. One has a staff and eyes that are glowing white and fades to a dark grey. The larger one regards Shepard for a second and smiles.
The smile is one a child might receive from a parent. With a hiss he removes his helmet and clips to his armor. "I am Horus, the demi-god says in a deep angelic voice that compels worship, "The second son of the Master of Man. You have done well on your quest Shepard. Humanity has gained much glory and honor through your actions. Your rulers however will not see your achievements, they will see your failures. They will not reward you, they will ignore you. Do not fear, for when the galaxy is at its most desperate. Seek me out, for the Imperium Secondus will be ready to drive back the darkness. Victory shall be gained through the trials and fires of war." With his message given the giants vanish in a flash of white light. Hoeth recovers all of his men and aircraft and is joined by the Primarch as he readies the ship to jump.
Turning Hoeth asks, "Your orders Milord?"
"Now, replies Horus making the sign of the Aquila to the stars, "We make ready for our Great Crusade. This galaxy will be tempered and honed by the fires of war for humanities' domination."
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