Diem Infamia Chapter 19

Lesser Tectum sat the darkness of the outer reaches as a turgid lump, a brown gas giant made of gases and chemical stews. It was so far from the system's star that it sat in perpetual darkness, the sun appearing nothing but a bright star from this range. Cold moons spun around it in a perpetual dance, airless rocks that offered no protection against the vacuum and deadly temperatures of the void. Yet the most unappealing feature of Lesser Tectum was its intense magnetic field, trapping stellar winds and cosmic background energies to create a radioactive quagmire of charged particles. It was cold and dark, ugly and hostile, a vagrant wanderer all alone in the night, yet still humanity had come.

Under the surface of barren moons vast mineworkings stretched, their mineral wealth rich enough to attract mankind despite the hostile conditions. Millions of men and women spent their lives labouring to extract the riches, most of them never seeing the stars above or breathing air that had not been recycled a thousand times over. Orbital ore processing stations drifted high as endless lines of shuttles ferried material from the surface, while system boats and defence monitors made endless patrols. Drifting cloudscoops sucked elements from the depths of the gas giant, drawing chemicals directly from its atmosphere. Some of these stations and ships boasted thick radiation shielding, those owned and operated by the wealthiest merchant consortiums and high ranking officials, but others didn't bother, it being far cheaper to replace the irradiated crews every few months than pay for expensive rad-baffles.

Kasarox looked upon this world of industry and smiled, everything was in place and the attack was about to begin. The Unhallowed was standing upon the bridge of the Cruenta Caede, that dark cave where Helots laboured in pits to control the ship's systems. The bridge was lit by glowing runes upon the walls and filled with whispering in languages no human mouth could pronounce. The crew were chained to their stations and many of them had fused with the consoles, the hungry spirit of the ship consuming their bodies and souls as glorious testaments to the power of Chaos.

Kasarox gave it no mind as he stared into a tactical Hololith, displaying the planet in detail beyond anything Imperial technology could manage. The surveyors of the Cruenta Caede were enhanced by unholy Warp energies, granting them range and clarity no Imperial auspex could match. The hateful icons of the Imperial lapdogs sailed in blissful ignorance of what was coming, labouring under the belief that they would live to see another day. They were utterly wrong. Closing upon Lesser Tectum was a hurricane of red icons, hundreds of Word Bearer ships on their final attack run. Names accursed through history were present: Devotion to Pain, Rapturous Damnation, the Eager Martyr, Perfidious Knife, Litany of Agony and the Transcendent Desecration, ships that had blazed a blood-soaked path across the galaxy. They were an armada to equal any the Word Bearers Legion had dispatched in thousands of years and the might on display could have conquered sectors.

Kasarox assessed his forces and knew they were a match for anything the feeble Imperium could muster, but that was not his primary concern. His eyes were tracking a score of smaller icons encircling the globe, smaller taskforces dispatched to cut off any escape route from the planet. The Word Bearers could not risk news of their attack leaking out, lest the primary Naval base learn that they were coming. No survivors could be allowed to flee nor send out Vox messages, this world must be wrapped in silence. Kasarox was satisfied everything was in order and addressed his master saying, "All forces are in position my lord, attack run commencing. We will enter auspex range in two minutes."

Dark Apostle Abulaz sat in a black iron throne, set on a pedestal overlooking the bridge. He was a majestic sight to behold, his amour shining and his aura dazzling, but Kasarox refused to be cowed, he would need all his wits about him for the coming battle. Dark Apostles were masters of the Legion but their concerns were lofty indeed, as Coryphaus actual battle plans were Kasarox's to direct. Abulaz's eyes shined with triumph as he declared, "All ships to flank speed. Let them see us coming and know they can do nothing to stop us!"

Kasarox paused slightly and dared to ask, "Are we certain their Astropaths are silenced?"

Abulaz sounded amused as he replied, "Worry not my Coryphaus, many sacrifices have been made and profane rituals completed. The Pantheon stirs the warp around us, silencing all the corpse-god's lackeys. Their pathetic Astropaths will be deaf dumb and blind."

Kasarox was relieved, for all his incompetence the Dark Apostle retained potent sorcerous skill. The Unhallowed turned as he heard a chime and saw the Hololith flashing, a declaration that the fleet was passing into the Imperial's auspex range. Kasarox watched as the throne-worshippers realised they were under attack, seeing the vast fleet closing at full speed. The first thing that happened was the crawling lines of shuttles dissolved into anarchy, pilots panicking and fleeing in all directions as the truth dawned. Larger cargo ships began lighting their engines, preparing to run for deep space, but their reactors were cold and slumbering, they would not get far.

Kasarox counted down the moments as the Imperials struggled to comprehend what happening and he pulled his lips back in scorn as the tally grew and grew, these wastrels were slothful and unprepared, poor foes even by the standards of the false Imperium. Finally a series of blips displayed defence platforms stirring to life and Starforts disgorged fighter craft as defence ships heaved about and ran out their guns, forming a ragged line of defiance in the void. Kasarox saw there was not a true warship amongst them, merely system boats and defence Monitors and he declared, "They've seen us, they intend to make a fight of it."

Abulaz grinned as he laced his armoured digits and ordered, "Sweep them aside."

Kasarox turned to the bridge and ordered, "Send escort squadrons to take out those defence platforms and direct Swiftdeath fighters to clear our path. All other ships are free to attack, tell them to destroy everything, no prisoners, we are here to destroy not raid."

The crew relayed his orders and the Hololith showed a red wave flooding towards the Imperial line at top speed. The pathetic Imperial defence barely had time to fire a single barrage before the fleet barrelled over them, drowning them in tides of firepower. Defence platforms burst like rotten fruit, fighter squadrons blinked out of existence and system boats were burned to ash in moments. In return the Word Bearers lost not a single vessel, their opening barrage so overwhelming that they blew away anything they touched. It was a humiliating display, the Imperials had been completely outmatched and outclassed, a featherweight boxer set against a heavyweight champion and had been demolished in a single punch.

Abulaz laughed in triumph, "See the power of the Dark Gods made manifest, our might is matched only by our majesty!"

Kasarox however was not laughing, too busy tracking the action and he declared, "Imperial resistance is breaking, they won't last another minute, but civilian craft are fleeing in all directions."

Abulaz replied dismissively, "Order perimeter guard squadrons to intercept and tell them I will take the head of any Captain who misses a single one."

Kasarox waved a Helot to relay the order then asked, "Shall we commence the second phase?"

"Yes," Abulaz affirmed, "Let us burn these worlds to ash."

Kasarox gave his orders to the crew, splitting the fleet into distinct formations each one heading towards one of the fifteen moons that orbited the gas giant. The Cruenta Caede led the way towards one of the biggest moons, followed by an armada of other craft. As Kasarox had planned bigger ships led the way, shielding the smaller craft behind them with their bulk and shields. Everything was going as expected but then a Helot cried out and the Unhallowed frowned as an icon broke orbit. It was an Imperial mass-hauler, firing its engines hard to gain acceleration. Kasarox frowned as the vessel began to move but not away from the fleet; instead it was heading towards them. The Unhallowed glanced at the vectors and saw its speed was increasing, then he grasped the intent, the vessel's captain intended to ram his ship into the oncoming armada, selling his life in an attempt to take an enemy down with him. It was a brave and bold manoeuvre, noble and selfless, but utterly pointless.

"Forward lances are to target that ship's engines, fire… now," Kasarox ordered. Brilliant spears of light shot forth from the prows of the Word Bearer ships, blasting through the mass-hauler's shields and gutting its engines in a single salvo. The mass-hauler was no warship, its engines died quickly, leaving it spinning adrift in the void. No doubt the crew within would be struggling to survive, fighting for their lives in the wreckage of the craft but Kasarox gave them no consideration, the ship's orbit was already decaying, it would inevitably crash into the planet and kill everybody on board.

Kasarox turned his attention to their target and saw the Cruenta Caede was closing into range of the largest moon and those of its ground defences. Energy spikes from the planetoid flared in the Hololith and he yelled, "Brace for impact!" Throughout the ship crewmen hastened to reinforce shields and close bulkheads, racing to reinforce their defences before they were hit. Suddenly searing blasts of energy ploughed into the fleet, moving at light speed to gouge at shields and deliver ship-killing levels of firepower. Across the fleet defence fields failed, prows took deep wounds and lives were snuffed out in a heartbeat. One Iconoclast escort suffered a pair of lance blasts, her shields blowing out as energy ripped through her and tore her apart stem to stern.

Again the ground defences fired and the Cruenta Caede lurched as a lance beam slammed into her shields, feedback sending her gravity fields into spasm. The helots cried out in fear but Kasarox swayed on his feet and grinned, the Imperials had divided their shots and failed to make any real impression on the fleet, now it was his turn. Kasarox called out, "Hold formation… wait for it… now first wave break formation. Second wave: launch missiles!"

In the Hololith the stars wheeled as the Cruenta Caede heaved to, pulling out of the way of the smaller ships behind. All the heavy ships that had led the charge did likewise; they had taken the brunt of the Imperial's defensive power on their shields and so spared the less well-armoured vessels behind. From the rear of the formation came forth slab-sided barges, ships made up of nothing but engines and hundreds of missile tubes, laid out along the flanks. They were planetary bombardment barques, specialist Legion warships used when the Word Bearers desired to scorch worlds bare. Along the flanks of the vessels hatches swung open, then spewed fire as wave after wave of Bloodtide missiles shot out into the void. Each missile was covered in icons of Chaos and bound to Daemons whose energies spilled off the warheads in waves of fire. Ethereal flames of every colour imaginable wrapped the missiles end to end, burning in the void despite the total lack of air.

The burning missiles flung themselves at the planetoid, the Neverborn trapped within them crackling as they relished the slaughter to come. Fingers of defensive fire lifted from the ground, seeking to swat the missiles out of the void, but the Daemonic warheads were well protected. Some of them spat balls of fire, blowing holes in the defensive barrage for them to fly through. Others shed sheets of flame, like ablative shields, detonating ordnance before it could touch the warheads. Some even shimmered and vanished, reappearing many metres away as they skipped across the warp to evade destruction. Few if any missiles were intercepted and the remainder reached the ground, to explode in showers of red fluid.

From the missile's interior spilled oceans of Deamon blood, far more than their casings could possibly have contained, burning and dissolving all it touched. Specially prepared in the temples of each ship the bloodtide flowed over the ground like water and burned like acid. Void shields proved useless against the Deamon blood, the torrent falling through them like rain. Defensive installations melted, the souls inside screaming as it chewed through the walls and started devouring their bodies. Men screamed as flesh sloughed off and bones dissolved before their eyes, the only mercy that their deaths came moments later. Rad-shielded city domes cracked and fell apart, exposing millions of innocents to hard vacuum. Families clung to each other in desperation as the only world they had ever known was destroyed, parents unable to offer any consolation to their children as death swept over them. Even the deep mineworks were no protection, the acidic blood consuming the ground itself, dripping into deep caves and tunnel shafts, bringing the cold embrace of the void in its wake. Air whooshed out through the resulting gaps, leaving men clawing at their throats as they flopped to the ground, helpless as fish dragged from the ocean.

High above Kasarox grinned at the carnage he had unleashed, the planetoid's surface looked like it had been chewed apart by vermin and the defences had fallen silent. He had just killed millions of innocents and knew across the other moons similar dooms would be falling. The rush flowed through him, his hearts thundering with giddy triumph and his spirit filled with the sickening rush of murder as his claw pulsed with pleasure. There truly was no thrill like killing a helpless victim and just for once Kasarox allowed himself to revel in it.

Gleefully the Unhallowed declared, "Target destroyed."

Abulaz was also grinning as he announced, "I can hear their deaths echoing in the Warp, it is delicious."

Kasarox affirmed, "I will send in Legion squads to root out any survivors, none shall be spared."

"See it done," Abulaz declared, "But we will not stay to watch. Find me a worthy target to taste my power, I wish to test the Daemon Maw!"