Chapter Twenty-Five
"They struck first, we simply responded in kind,"
-Brother Captain Garitoss of the second Company, Heavy Hand Chapter
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Citadel Presidium Gardens
She had always prided herself on her calm and cool demeanor. Where other people will blanch and stutter, she would be as stoic as a tower and able to retain her wits even as everything around her might turn into chaos. Under pressure she worked best and her talent has always been finding the chinks of any armor including that of words. That's the reason why Tevos retained the position of being the Asari Councilor for so long even under the threat of so many. The moment however that she heard the sound of a rifle being disengaged, the Asari knew through a gut feeling of hers that everything that she and the other councilors had worked so hard at to placate the Triumvate would be wasted, and she is right.
The sickening "CRACK" that echoed almost eerily over the entire gardens of the empty Presidium made even her wince as the aide of King Regis who had stood in front of the old monarch took the fall for him. For Tevos, it is like watching in slow motion despite how fast events happen. One moment everything is going fine, the next everything turned to chaos as the body of the young Eldar is literally thrown off as the bullet hit her neck sending pieces of her flesh on the floor even as her body tumbled like a rag doll over the carefully arranged flowerbeds, her blood pooling around her.
Pandemonium immediately followed as the wizened looking old king much to Tevos' surprise moved with such agility despite leaning on his cane. Roaring in anger, his free hand outstretched at the general direction where the shot came, making everyone's jaw drop as a burst of lightning flashed from his hand to a raised aisle which immediately exploded in a shower of debris though there is no sign of the assassin whatsoever.
"Maila!" a pained voice followed Regis' attack making Tevos turn her head at the direction of Farseer Laetri who had begun running at the direction of her downed friend shoving past the Citadel guards who unfortunately received the brunt of her ire as one of them got smacked on the face causing the unfortunate Turian to be knocked out.
Tevos' eye widened though in alarm and she barely managed to open her mouth to scream "Stop" as one of the Turians (who have been eyeing the Triumvate leaders with distaste) immediately opened fire with his pistol catching the distraught Farseer by surprise as his bullet impacted on her shoulder making her stumble and lean heavily on her staff with her uninjured farm. The said guard never got a second chance to shoot again when he is immediately lifted off his feet to the air a few feet after a rather loud shot before exploding in pieces of goo.
Sounds of melee sounded everywhere and Tevos even felt her heart sank deeper as the Citadel guard immediately turned against the delegates of the Triumvate without warning forcing the other group to respond in such a savagery that it forced Valern who had been so smug looking seeing the C-Sec officers outnumbering the Triumvate politicians ten to one running back as fast as he could to the Citadel chambers as said C-Sec officers got their asses handed to them literally.
The red and black clad giants who looked so bulky and unimpressive with the way their armor seemed so overlarge in Tevos' opinion moved so quickly that it defied all fields of physics. Two steps is all one of the massive giants' needed as it reached one of the Turian officers who barely managed to pull his weapon out before a simple backhand clearly removed his head off from the firm set it had on his shoulders. Seeing their comrade decapitated on such a simple maneuver of course encouraged the rest of the C-Sec guards to move even faster earning another corpse at the hands of the same giant who simply punched the breast of the next Turian caving in his armor inside him and the bones beneath included while letting off a couple of shots with his free hand holding a pistol sending another two exploding in different bits like the first casualty.
The other two giants besides the one running amok along the Turian lines haven't been idle. One had procured a large hammer as long as half a human wielding a shield alongside it glowing with azure energy whiles the last one simply pulled out a sword that looked like an overlarge chainsaw whirring into life.
The three red giants crashed into the right Turian lines nearest to them like a freight train crying what seemed to be canticles of prayer and benediction even as they shrugged off simply the resistance fire that the few nearest officers managed to pull out before they steamrolled over their lines weapons falling down and ending lives.
At the left side of the line more trouble is brewing as the Protoss Hierarch whom Tevos labeled as a bore and a pompous, arrogant, lazy git with the way he allowed his subordinate to handle the negotiations instead of doing it himself are now wrecking trouble alongside said subordinate wielding what appeared to be laser blades out of their gloves nimbly dancing away from the arms fire that the officers are throwing at them. The two simply moved like dancers, gracefully avoiding the shots on a handsbreadth before reaching their targets, every stroke of their hands offering another sacrifice to the realm of Death.
So far the only ones who had not moved from their original positions are the human governor, the one named Amondeer, the crying Farseer who hauled the corpse of the aide behind an energy barrier set by the old King still leaning on his cane glaring hatefully at them. The governor and the standing Farseer are standing outside the barrier, one wielding a staff spear while the other simply had gloves with large spikes on it. Thanks to the barrier, the hail of fire from the front officers are simply shrugged off like it is nothing forcing Sparatus, who is yelling with all his might to crush the alien invaders to order the said guards to charge using their omni-tool blade weapons. That of course is a bad idea as the first five officers got torn to shreds either by the weapons of the two leaders or the lightning of the old king.
"Sergeant, radio C-Sec command! Get more men down here," the sound of Sparatus roaring brought Tevos' attention away from the whirlwind of blood and gore in front of her to the Turian councilor who is taking command of the C-Sec officers. "We have to use heavy weapons to destroy that armor, make sure that they bring them along with them,"
"What are you doing?!" hissed Tevos jogging to the Councilor who merely shrugged her off making her ire rise even higher. She's the Asari Councilor by the goddess. Who does this Turian think he is? Can't he see that aggravating the Triumvate members would waste every effort they made on the negotiation table? Of course he's aware that Sparatus held a grudge against the Triumvate for the humiliating defeat at Astranaar, nearly every Turian does. Urging a conflict like this however would surely lead to an all-out war and that is something that the Citadel can ill afford to do at the moment.
"Tell C-Sec to stand down?!" demanded Tevos trying to stop the chaos before it escalated even more.
"What?! Are you crazy? Can't you tell that they're all negotiations are off ever since they killed that- WATCH OUT!"
Tevos only had a second to turn her head to whatever it is the Turian warned her about when Sparatus manhandled her to the ground much to her indignation even more. The squawk of protest however that came from her mouth stopped halfway through as a dead Turian officer with both arms missing came flying to where her head supposed to be a second ago crashing in a ragdoll set of way to a pavement near them, the red blood spilling unto the cobbled pavestone.
"Get up," the usual ranting voice of Councilor Valern sounded eerily close to her ear making Tevos turn her head to the face of the ashen face of the Salarian Councilor who is covered in soot, his usual cloak pulled away from his head, one of his horns oddly bent on the wrong angle.
"Where did you come from?" demanded Sparatus who had rolled also behind Tevos, the usual pristine jacket of the Turian Councilor ripped in several places.
"Here and there," answered the Salarian councilor helping the two of up before taking a glance at the small group of C-Sec officers still alive and being decimated by the Triumvate officers. "STG forces on standby have secured blood samples of the blood of the deceased for future study, other elements are moving to secure the corpse for further study. Recommend we get out of here and let the rest of C-Sec reinforcements deal with them. If even one of them managed to get rid of us, the Citadel would lose its leaders and would cause to anarchy,"
"No!" snapped Tevos glaring at the two councilors who seemed to be unanimous on the decision of escaping and leave the heads of the Triumvate officers to be slaughtered by Citadel forces. Don't they know that such an action would drag the entirety of the Citadel community to war? Adding insult to injury, it's obvious by the mad gleam on Valern's eyes, he planned to let the Salarian Union study the corpses of whatever dead they might salvage for later which would be then heavily frowned upon by the rest of the primitives.
"We need to stop this," said the Asari Councilor taking cover at one of the outlying pillars as a severed leg flew past them to splatter on the raised Krogan monument creating a war paint of red on its stubby head. "We need to stop this escalation even more before it leads to war,"
"War is inevitable already Tevos," hissed Sparatus looking at the crushed body of one of the Turian officers lying over the bushes. "They've killed too many of our guards and someone killed one of their representatives. Our people have overlooked the disaster at Astranaar since we're the one that started it, however they started killing our men here first, and everyone would be baying for blood after this,"
"What are you talking about?" asked Tevos confused by the words of the Turian Councilor. "They are not the ones who started-,"
"Camera caught it, at the behest of the Turian Councilor, STG elements have reedited the video and showed that it was they who started hostilities and not us. Public support for war after all is very much needed," cut off Valern.
Tevos only glared balefully at the two councilors who are obviously in league for some reason that she doesn't know. "You two have planned this all haven't you?" she simply hissed at them.
"We are sorry for not including you in this Tevos, but you had to realize that this is for the good of the Citadel community as a whole," Sparatus spoke shaking his head. "The galaxy doesn't have room for two community super powers and only one. How do you expect the peace to continue if there is another group of people that follow their own laws and not ours? How can we judge them if they break one in our sector and claim protection under their own law? Besides the scientific advancement is important as Valern stated it. We can make use of it for the good of the Citadel community and not leave it at the hands of Barbarians who haven't even had the sense to reach the heights we did. Besides look at them, they're monsters wielding weapons that they're too selfish to share for the good of all. That alone spoke volumes of their true nature Tevos,"
The Asaari Councilor only gritted her teeth at the two idiots in front of her. Can't they see that they had finally signed the death warrants of thousands because of what they did? Haven't they forgotten the fate of the fleet that is sent to subjugate Astranaar? And that is the Triumvate not even using the big guns yet. Another near miss of a bullet made Tevos cringe as it impacted to close for her liking to her good self. With Sparatus and Valern obviously blindsiding her, she knew that she can't win this fight currently now with everything going their way. She had to bid her time and wait for the right moment to attack. War would cost money and sooner or later, the Citadel will feel the effects of it no matter how confident the two morons feel.
"I agree, they needed to put down and shackled," acquiesced Tevos feinting agreement to their reasons with a nod and a distasteful voice bringing a smile to Sparatus' face at her positive reaction to their proposal.
"You've made a wise decision Tevos," spoke the pleased Turian. "Don't worry; soon we'll be putting these fakers down and for good. It's all for the Citadel community of course,"
"At what cost Sparatus? At what cost?" Tevos mentally asked in thought even as a patrol of C-Sec officers found them and led them away from the source of the fighting.
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Somewhere on the Immaterium
"My love is there something wrong?" asked the Emperor walking beside his Companion who are standing over the stream supporting a calm look of façade that would had fooled anyone except for him. The Emperor by now learned that Isha wore the said look only either when she's troubled or if there's something bothering her. Not to mention that it's quite uncharacteristic for her to leave their living room where Cana who had now calmed down a little from being in awe at the presence of two diving beings are listening to Sanguinis share the reason why he looked so different on the Immaterium with Laerys at his side adding the additional quip that would cause the two siblings to tease one another much to the amusement of their guest.
For some reason Isha took a shine to their guest that the Emperor cannot fathom. Isha had plopped him down on the kitchen after their meal giving him a rundown of being an overprotective father over his daughter. Surprisingly both Laerys and Isha didn't fail to notice the glares and silent treatment he had been giving Cana in the duration of the meal unnerving the poor Eldar. Let's just say being cowed by his Companion and adopted daughter struck a big deal on the Emperor's ego after the two women are done with him.
"Another soul passed unto the afterlife I've created and not in the normal way," Isha's soft voice spoke making the Emperor rose an eyebrow in surprise as he stood beside his love, her hand automatically intertwining into his as he sat alongside with her.
Ever since the Triumvate had been made, the Eldar population had climbed a steady growth through the two decades of their stay here. Unlike humans, the Eldar population under the guidance of their deity maintained a harmony that is completely different from the other two members. Being on the brink of extinction, the former leading society of the galaxy learned how to treasure life fully and losing a life that does not conform in the natural way is unheard of for the long-eared species.
"Do you know what happened?" asked the Emperor putting his last free hand to caress the lose hairs of the goddess making her automatically lean on his shoulder as he moved himself to make her even more comfortable. The familiar sweet smell of jasmine and rose made the Emperor sigh as he held her. He knew how much distraught his love can be every time someone entered the afterlife she created. Unlike him who concerns himself with the majority and the greater good, Isha cared for souls more specifically making sure to look after their hurts.
"No, it's beyond our sphere of influence on the Vale," answered Isha sadly. "I could feel our people's emotions there; mine more specifically since they're connected to me. Anger, infinite sadness, thirst for revenge, betrayal. I believe that the plan to keep peace with this galaxy is failing John. There is a war coming John, against who I do not know but it is coming I tell you. I just hope that our people will be ready,"
"They will be," answered the Emperor confidently squeezing her gently. "We will be despite us not noticing beyond our veil of influence,"
It is true, unlike the two other races of the Triumvate who focused on rebuilding their lives, the humans of the Imperium thanks to their slightly large number when they migrated to this new galaxy rebuilt the war machinery that the Imperium of Man is so proud of as much as they can while welcoming the coming of the new age under the rule of the Emperor of Mankind. With the view of Isha and the Emperor limited to the pocket sphere of influence that the Triumvate now held due to some kind of interference that blocked the eyes of the two deities, the Emperor despite the disapproval of Isha slowly raised the armies of the Imperium once more.
The usual Imperial Guard no longer is the paper and threads as they are in the Forty-First Century. Gone are the pathetic leathers and weak flak armor that they had replaced by a full body armor of heavy garbs and thin flak armor that can absorb small arms of fire in fair amounts. All in all, the Navy and the Guard now fighting alongside the legendary Astartes can keep up with their larger inspirations without falling behind too much.
"So what do you plan to do?" asked Isha looking up sideways at him, her beautiful eyes shining.
The Emperor despite himself smiled only grimly at her.
"Warn them of course. I believe it is high time that our son and daughter take the reins now. They had led the Triumvate in time of peace wonderfully. I would be interested to see how they would fare leading them them in a time of war,"
"With Cana of course," beamed Isha making the Emperor scowl at how enthustiastic Isha seemed to be with the "supposed" lover of his adopted daughter.
"With Cana," added the Emperor with a grunt, the two words felt like lead as it left his lips.
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Back at the Presidium
Another thick squelch followed by a large grunt threw off another C-Sec officer as the Governor of Roma took cover once more behind the barrier set by King Regis as he rested for a second to catch his breathe. In a few moments Farseer Amondeer joined him, the usual elegant and aristocratic robes of the Eldar of Atailoc covered with grime and dirt, courtesy of the battle currently ranging around them.
"There's no end to them," panted Constantine as he took the bolt pistol strapped at his side to let loose a couple of rounds at the direction of the advancing officers forcing most of them to yelp in surprise at the sudden small arms fire though one of them took a direct shot at his shoulder screaming in pain as it then exploded thanks to the bolt round.
"I agree," nodded Amondeer grimly. "We are not equipped to handle a battle currently. Though we might be winning for now, we won't hold out long against them especially if they managed to bring heavier weapons and reinforcements to overwhelm our defenses,"
"Ideas on how will be able to get out of here?"
The two former friends however jumped out of their skin as out of nowhere Selendis landed in front of them nimbly in a crouch scaring the lights out of the Governor and the Farseer as they jumped in fright weapons drawn. This of course merely made the Protoss Executor looked at them non-existent eyebrows rising at their actions. Grumbling about unfair aliens able to move so nimbly, Constantine crouched again keeping an eye out for any C-Sec Officer lucky enough to evade the continuous lightning storm that Regis is sending them before staring back at the Executor. Like them, gone are the polish on her armor replaced by the blood of their foes and scratches. Unlike them though, the Protoss shield is obviously turned on judging by the shining jewels on her armor. Despite her less than acceptable appearances however, Selendis still looked as nonlachant as ever.
"You don't have to worry about how we are going to get here," the usual proud but feministic voice of the Executor sounded on their heads. "I've contacted the fleet outside; they have managed to thrash the enemy ships and are sending one of our transporters here that would beam us directly to the Spear of Adun. We just need to get out of this building outside where it can reach us. Apparently the Citadel has some rather large anti-air guns and with the current numbers of our ships, we won't be able to punch through,"
"I see," nodded Amondeer easing his grip on the Singing Spear on his hand. "Are the others aware Executor?"
"Yes I've already informed them. Only Hierarch Kaldalis isn't since he's having too much fun fighting our enemies for some reason," the Executor explained looking at her back on the direction of the Protoss Hierarch who looked to be some kind of destruction let loose as he decimated an entire platoon of C-Sec officers by himself roaring "FOR AIUR!" again and again.
Constantine only sweat dropped watching the bored to the death Protoss Hierarch before now so active as he disemboweled Turian after Turian alongside the occasional human that dared to stand against his way. He's aware of course that Kaldalis are prone to temper tantrums when angered and had a tendency to lash out letting his emotions lead him rather than his head. That's the reason why that despite him being Hierarch, it is Selendis who managed the day to day daily demands of the position in a political viewpoint. Not that Kaldalis is weak, far from it in fact. The Protoss is one of the best warriors he had seen, even being able to defeat Chapter Master Septimus of the Heavy Hand in a fist fight without overly exerting himself in the process.
"Go Selendis," ordered Amondeer at his side. "Get everyone ready, we'll be covering Alana and Laetri. Make sure that the Astartes lead the way,"
"Yes Farseer," nodded Selendis at them before jumping out of Regis' shield dancing nimbly away in a fit of acrobatics as the C-Sec officers began firing at her. For the life of him, Constantine still had no idea how in the world do Selendis manage to preserve her modesty with how graceful she moved when fighting.
The Governor however gulped in alarm as the said Protoss turned her head back at his direction with eyes narrowed at him. Any male pervert could obviously feel "the glare" that promised eternal pain and Constantine is no exception. As it is, he did the best thing anyone would do in his shoes….run away at the moment to escape "the glare" and at the same time avoid thinking about the graceful Protoss' amazing legs.
"Are we ready?" asked Constantine standing beside Amondeer who had aided on putting Maila's corpse clinging at the back of a teary-eyed Laetri who simply nodded at him.
"Good, once Executor Selendis gives the signal, you and Captain Alana stay at the middle with King Regis. We'll be covering you from behind and make sure that no one will take pot shots at our rear as we move outside where one of the Protoss ships will execute a flyby to pull us out of here. Understood?"
"Understood," replied Laetri and Alana, the latter looking worriedly at her swollen belly. She's obviously terrified for her baby. Seeing her worry, Amondeer immediately glided to her side placing a comforting kiss on her brow.
If not for the fact that they are in mortal peril at the moment, Constantine would have teased his old friend mercilessly at being whipped.
"Governor, Farseer we're ready," the voice of Selendis echoed on their heads making both males whip their expressions to that one of stern countenance as they prepared to charge alongside the rest of the Triumvate entourage.
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Presidium Gardens
Captain Pallius Sinatus of the Phoenix Fang Third company barely felt the small vibrations that his heavy boots are creating as he trudged alongside the blasphemous station of these Xenos that dared spat against the goodwill of the Imperium. The death of the Eldar girl haven't moved him an inch, but the distraught face of King Regis, one of the leaders that is dear to the heart of the Governor and the Emperor's son, Sanguinis more than make up the crime of these heretics.
Beside him his brothers Hamaliel and Samandriel ran being them the tip of the spear followed by the Protoss Hierarch and Executor alongside the rest which is keeping an eye on their flanks as they headed outside bypassing the venerable weird architecture that these Xenos had around them. Rounding another wall that would lead them to the final set of heavy doors leading outside the Presidium open airway some sort of tank with a turret on it stood ready alongside a dozen groups of those "Turians" alongside it weapons pointed at them. Instead of being afraid and panicking, Pallius only roared in his guttural tongue in Gallic in defiance against such foes.
"Die Xeno!" he yelled, machine's weapon swiveling to face him. Pallius held his hammer aloft and with one mighty heave threw it making the large weapon make a small "whoomp, whoomp" sound.
It flew through the air, cracking as it spun around on its axis, until it slammed into the white hull like a thunderbolt. The shields around the tank blinked out, a great rent dent hammered into its form and it even skidded a few meters back from the sheer force of the impact.
"For fire and blood!" Pallius roared as he thundered forwards deftly aware of his brothers charging beside him their own weapons ready. "For Renewal through sacrifice!"'
The three Astartes hit the small group of C-Sec officers like a thunderbolt, scattering the majority of them and knocking down dead even a few as they butchered them. Pallius with his warhammer cracking in azure energy, each swing of his echoing another gong of death offered to the Emperor, his brothers adding momentum to the charge, the sound of bolt pistol going off working side by side with the whirring of the chainsword as it depacitated bodies in the most messy way them taking advantage of the chaos the three Astartes created plunged in the leaders of the Imperium every bit as strong as their stations deserved.
"For Aiur!" the ground out thunderous voice of the Protoss Hierarch drowned even that of the prayers of benediction the Astartes is throwing non-stop as the massive figure crashed to the Turians left not disoriented by the opening act of the Space Marines. Following him from behind and guarding his flanks Selendis twirled like a tornado of blades slicing and dicing anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in her sphere of influence. After them is Amondeer and Constantine working in tandem showing the skill that earned the two the respect they had even before they arrived on this galaxy when they fought a planetary invasion, courtesy of the Dark Eldar when Constantine was a young boy and Amondeer wasn't a High Farseer yet. After them sparkling in power and energy despite his old age is King Regis and apparently the most powerful psyker that the Imperium currently had. Lightning bolts flew in regular occurrence from his hand incinerating every Turian left and right while those who charged in with their blades immediately met the courtesy of conjured blades that outdueled them in no time. At her side making sure that the pregnant Alana and the corpse of Maila remain safe is Laetri. The Eldar Farseer have recovered enough from being distraught and are now helping King Regis on warpcraft turning to mush the brains of large number of Turians before they can even realize what is happening and what is going on and who is doing it? All in all they are obviously winning.
Sending another frog looking thing on yellow armor flying with a simple swing of his hammer, Pallius charged in like a juggernaught downing even more of the enemy along the way as he pummeled his way through shrugging off every set of fire that the enemy is sending his way. Of course with every step that he took, this only prompted the charge of the Triumvate to deepen even more as they finally reached the massive gates where the sight of thousands of skycars float above.
"Brothers, hold the line. Keep everyone safe. For Lady Isha and the Emperor!" roared Pallus slamming the last of the amphibian looking things even as larger numbers of the bird things approach them from the way they just came.
"I am fire! I am steel! I am his fury reborn through the ashes! Come face me heathens and perish!" challenged Pallius as he and his brothers prepared themselves to face the incoming horde when out of a sudden, the familiar winging sound of a Protoss transporter passed by them and with a flash the entire group of the Triumvate vanished into thin air as they are transported directly to the Spear of Adun waiting above.
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Somewhere on Kahje, Homeworld of the Hanar
"This one has followed your commands, this one plead that you honor our bargain and let it go," a distraught jellyfish spoke in a panic against the hologram of a man smoking in front of him.
"Indeed, your assassin worked wonderfully though he missed the intended target. I guess fair's fair. You promised us success and your agent obviously failed that though the results he created are still the same. Kai-Leng, kill him!"
"This one begs, this one is sorry for-," the jellyfish never finished his begging as the sound of a pistol reverberated on the empty room underwater.
"Mission Accomplished sir, placing evidence that the assassination is made by the Triumvate," a man in underwater bodice spoke to the hologram who now contain a pleased looking man on it even as he kicked the corpse of the Hanar.
"Good work Kai-Leng, I knew I could trust on you," the Illusive Man said with a smile detailing his face with the success he is making.
Omake:
Jiraiya doesn't know how he got here or why but he certainly isn't complaining. When Pein brutally murdered him, he had been thrown into this tree on the afterlife watching a very beautiful woman bath. Blood flowed freely from his nose and the Super Pervert didn't even realize that black tentacles already immobilized his soul trapping him to where he is peeking. When the woman turned however Jiraiya's eyes widened like saucers and an ungodly scream of pain, horror and disbelief echoed along the Warp as the very brains of the Super Pervert denied the monstrosity of the woman form recorded by his eyes and burnt at his brain.
"I've been awaiting you for a long time Jiraiya," Slaanesh chuckled as she walked towards the screaming Super Pervert.
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Hiya so another chappie done. Like I said before guys, I would be focusing on major events on these chapters and mostly dedicate them each to a large part of the story without including the others. Please bear with me. And I noticed that the support of this story grew low, that's the reason why I updated so late too. Sorry for being vain but meh, its tiring writing 5K words without being appreciated. Anyway please review .
PS: The Space Marines of the Triumvate honor Isha since she's the Emperor's Companion.
PS: Hope you like the Omake.