Author's comment: Now begins a long part of the book which contains a staggering amount of exposition and character development, but not much action. I apologize for the dry-ness, but in order to get the plot moving I need to have all the characters and who they are apparent to the reader. Perhaps when I go back and edit all of this (hahaha) I'll insert some more interesting sequences…eh
As always, review for the review throne!
Guardsmen got their feet and groggily looked around. Beneath them, the engine slowly clunked away, running splendidly on its new fuel.
Don and the other officers gazed at their planet. A single contrail lingered from a missile. The stood horrified as hundreds more joined it, streaking through space, lighting up with fire as they entered Sargos I and II's atmosphere.
"Throne above" Saide said silently, "They're going to destroy it…"
The missiles impacted
Down below on the surface, cataclysmic explosions mushroomed from impact sites. Cities were leveled in a passing glance, monuments dissipated, soil earth and mountains evaporated in a flash of light. The atmosphere, thick with xenos smog, burned as if a match had been set to it. All oxygen was consumed; noxious chemicals, sulfurs and nitrides flooded the air from the conflagrations. Vortices of gasses swirled violently around the planet as it died.
The handful of survivors that had cleared themselves from the rubble met an apocalypse. Guardsmen that had been left behind had about 30 seconds of reaction time before they were incinerated and about a minute before their remains were utterly destroyed. The screamed in agony as they exploded into flames and had the very flesh rent from their bones. Fortunately, the pain was brief, as they were annihilated only seconds later by the main part of the shockwave which turned their bones into fine dust in a screaming wave of death.
Sargos I's already thin crust fractured under the bombardment from space, hideous lounges of lava poured from chasms. The ships moved and fired again, repeating their bombardment. The entire planet shuttered and split, buckled and shattered.
There was no solid ground left, nor any atmosphere, The ball of earthy matter spun in space glowing like an ember. However, due to a small miscommunication the missiles did not stop.
As Sargos I was reduced to a swirling ball of fire, Sargos II was hit again by a mighty volley of deadly explosions. Being smaller than the mining planet, Sargos II took the explosions worse. The force of the terrible weapons was so powerful that their concentrated power was actually able to move it and set in spiraling into the system's star.
The two Sargos's, being binary planets, were immediately disrupted by this change. Sargos I, now liberated from its orbital path that it had followed for countless millennia, followed the gravitational pull of its brother planet in its death spiral into the star. Although celestial bodies do not move quickly, its fate was clear. It and its brother were doomed.
The guardsmen aboard Don's vessel stared dumbfounded at the occurrences. Some looked away, some stared blankly in amazement or horror. Saide shed a single tear for his home of ten years. Don laid his hand on Saide's shoulder.
"There were still people on those planets, at least thousands on each. This is…too big to comprehend." Saide sputtered. Lechor slumped down, dazed by what he had seen.
Roars of guardsmen cried in the room. Some were screaming, some were taking it surprisingly well, some were not. One (presumably a native to Sargos I) even killed himself with his combat blade. Most were just shocked.
Don was shaken out of his daze by Stevan. The tech persist brought the man to the control room.
"I stabilized the ship, that why you didn't feel any change. I also turned the gravity back on." The priest said.
"So I've noticed"
"However, there's something more; look here." He gestured to a control panel that was lit up an beeping. "Someone is scanning the space near us. Our systems are back online so we'll show up. "
"Let get out of here" Don said, the color draining out of his face.
"But sir, we cannot!" Stevan said, almost complainingly, "The tyranids have left a disturbance in the warp. We cannot just jump into the warp blindly!"
"Yes we can, and we will" Don said with a voice full of the command which he never had.
"That's madness, there is no telling where we would end up. Plus the warp engines are not ready to be used!" The tech priest sputtered, trying to create a reason not to jump to warp.
"What?" raged Don, "What do you mean? You told me that all systems were working."
Stevan threw up his hands and mandrills that, in another situation would have elicited laughter from Don because of his comical appearance in mimicking the mannerisms of a human. However, Don was not laughing now.
"You never told me you wanted to use the warp engines!" Stevan protested. Don slammed his hand down on a seat.
"How the hell do you think we are going to get away? Regular engines? You know what, just never mind. So what you are saying is that we can't use the engines at all."
"Well" Hemmed Stevan, "We could probably use them once, but I do not recommend it. That action would most likely cripple the entire system."
"Do it." Don said automatically.
Stevan, although used to having an amount of freedom, was still a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus and was therefore used to taking orders. Don's power came not from his rank, but from the force with which he commanded. Already confused and run down by the events on and following Sargos I, he complied. With a rumble of its engines and in bitter protest, the ship shot forward into the warp, bringing all its passengers with it.
Siade glanced down the long cargo bay. Guardsmen were milling about, come sitting on cargo, others playing cards. A lively bout of Corabassian wrestling had broken out further away from the temporary HQ in the front. Siade could make out cheers and groans from the thrall of people surrounding the improvised ring.
He caught Elban walking in its direction. "Say, you're going to break that up, right?" Saide asked, knowing full well that he wasn't and didn't intend to do anything of the sort.
"Umm, no." Elban said before he could think. He caught Saide's eye. "Err, what I meant is umm…the troops deserve some time to, you know, recover"
Saide fell silent. It had been a week from the incident. Yes, that's what I'll think of it as…an incident. Saide thought.
"I guess you're right. Just make sure no one gets hurt." Saide added as Elban tried to walk away.
"Saide, this is Corabassian wrestling you're talking about…"
"Fine, make sure that no one gets killed." Saide said. Elban grinned and started to walk away for the second time.
Saide, annoyed somewhat by Elban's attitude called back to him again.
"Elban wait, seriously, we have little to no medical supplies; we can't afford for someone to get hurt."
"I hear you" Elban said rather bluntly.
"What did you say?" Saide said sharply.
Elban snapped to attention, "Sir, yes sir!"
"Another thing Elban, I've been thinking about rearranging the commands, since we've got such an odd collection of…" Elban seemed not to be listening. "Elban!" How did this man make platoon command? He is barely over 20 and seems to have no respect.
"Look, Saide, I guess you're over it, but you do realize that my home just got destroyed, right? No wait, sorry I said it like that…its just…I need some time."
Saide nodded, "Fine, I understand"
He left the other man leave, a smile reappearing on his face as he got closer to the ring.
"Come on Hessert!" he yelled.
Hessert? Hessert never…eh what the hell, this entire place is turned upside down.
Saide thought that he was supposed to feel sorry for the planet that had been his home for the last 10 years, but he felt nothing, just a strong sense of duty to the people that had survived.
I guess I can give them another week or so, it's not like we're short on time…Funny, Don's been avoiding me after we jumped; probably doesn't want to explain his actions…Stupid warp drive; what good is it if it's going to spit us out in the middle of space and then just break? When I get a hold of Don…
Saide's mad thoughts were interrupted when he spied Creed in a crowed; he was getting closer to him.
Crap
As hypocritical as it was, Saide had been avoiding Creed since Saide dragged him aboard. Creed locked eyed with him.
Damn, can't run and save face now…Guess it's into the breach for me…
Creed stepped up to Saide, and for a second it looked like he was going to punch him. At the last second, he seemed to decide against it though.
"Words…"he said through clenched teeth, "Can never describe my hatred for you"
"What, that I saved you?" Saide said. As soon as the words left his mouth Saide knew that he had made a mistake.
"You..." Creed was livid. "I…" he sputtered. Saide tried to take a step back. Creed took this to mean something though, and for the first time in the many long years that Saide had known him, Creed used violence to achieve a problem outside of a war environment. With one hand he slammed Saide into a cargo container.
The move came as such a surprise to Saide that he couldn't even react, not that he could have anyways; Creed's grip was as strong as steel, tempered by the galaxies of hate that he was experiencing.
"I had every single mother [expletive]ing right to die down there; to be with my daughter, my wife. It was my duty to stay with them, to fall in the name of the emperor!" As he screamed this, his hold on Saide's chest constricted tighter and tighter until Saide found it hard to breathe.
Something changed in Creed's mind. He slowly let Saide go as he thought of another fact to hit Saide with.
"And how dare you preach the freedom to choose to the men and then take that chance away from me!" He thundered.
Caff had appeared, quite conscious of the situation, and was diverting guardsmen's attentions from the scene.
"Vermis" He snorted in disgust, "For all his self-righteous bullshit, at least he stuck to his guns. He did what he said he'd do…" There was a pause, albeit small in the verbal assault. "Look at you; you knocked out a man as his back was turned …why? For some idea of a greater good? What kind of shit is that?" He looked to Saide for a response; he expected Saide to defend his actions.
Siade was silent. "I…" he fell silent again, trying to find the words.
"Yes," continued Creed, "Tell me how it was the emperor's will that I break my oath to the PDF and let my family and home die without a fight. Tell me how my actions would have been unpractical, meaningless, and futile." Creed almost screamed; Saide stayed silent.
"Say something, you bastard!"
"…" Mumbled Saide. "What?" Creed asked with less on an edge.
"I said that I was sorry."
Creed was taken aback. This was not the response that he had expected.
"No, creed, you're right. You had every right to stay. It was me…and wrong of me to force you to come. It wasn't my decision to make…I…I was wrong." Saide was able to say.
Creed was dumbfounded. He came prepared for a shouting match, not this confession.
Creed didn't say anything, so Saide continued. "It was hypocritical and wrong. I can't take my decision back though. All that I ask…No, I can't even ask for forgiveness, even that would be selfish. All that I ask for is you help…The men need leaders, and I thought I needed…" But here Saide seemed to lose steam, "never mind" He trailed off.
"I am amazed" Creed said in a voice that Saide could not extract emotion from, "I swear, if you had said anything else…I don't know what I would have done…I…I sure as hell don't accept your apology, but you're willing to be the better man, and by the Emperor's name, I won't be the jam in the firing mechanism. "
"Creed," Saide said, realizing how hard a turnabout this was for him, "Thank you".
Creed gritted his teeth, and Saide could tell that tears of emotion lurked in his eyes. "Enough of this, I've got to go think" Creed wandered, much less driven than when he started.
"What was that about?" Caff asked once the crowd had cleared out and Creed was out of earshot. "I'll tell you later, but for now...I've got some confrontation of my own to carry out." He left Caff wondering and walked purposefully to the cockpit of the ship, where Don undoubtedly was.