37. When fate changes (part 2)
The Imperial counter attack against the Rangdan went well, the four legions and their primarchs formed four spearheads that quickly took back all lost Imperial territory and struck in to Rangdan space proper, although they paid a heavy price for their speedy advance. Behind the legions came more fleets and armies, the Emperor wanted the 2nd Rangdan war to be the last as billions were sent against the despicable xenos.
The 2nd Rangdan xenocide would go down in Imperial history as one of the most destructive wars ever fought but it would be one where a great many Imperial heroes and martyrs were born, such as Captain Ophilia Garen who instead of allowing the Rangdan to claim a foothold rammed her ship in to the surface of the world or the soldiers of 17th Solaeran mistborn who fought a 2 year long guerrilla campaign against the Rangdan after they were cut off and left stranded.
Aeoran and the 2nd legion were currently invading the Rangdan world of Korselos. The worlds that the Rangdan held were not like other worlds conquered by xenos, they didn't colonise or develop them, all the Rangdan worlds were near completely barren with all their natural resources drained and all life on the surface twisted in to new sick forms according to the will of the true Rangdan that resided on the world.
the Eternal mist and her fleet burst in to the Korselos system and found no resistance, there were no Rangdan ships or space stations waiting to meet them, it was unnerving at first but as they moved closer to the world and their scans picked up no enemies it only made them more suspicious.
The fleet soon came to rest above the world of Korselos, a rust red world with no features besides the great fleshy tower that stuck out of its norther hemisphere, the true Rangdan that resided on the world would be there.
"We should bombard the world and be done with it" Sanin Hal suggested, looking to the primarch that stood beside him, "Wipe this corrupted world clean"
Aeoran looked out of the view ports on the bridge of the Eternal mist, he looked down at the featureless world, focusing on the fleshy palace that housed the Rangdan.
"The power of a god" Aeoran heard the voice in the back of his mind, "The power of change in your grasp"
"The legion will land and we'll take the fight to these xenos" Aeoran gave his command much to the surprise of everyone on the bridge
Aeoran had always seemed like a practical commander with a keen eye for the bigger picture, Korselos had no strategic value at all and there were battlefields that the 2nd could be more use in. It completely went against everyone's impression of the primarch to order an invasion.
"My lord" Sanin Hal respectfully protested, "This world holds no value even the xenos don't defend it, allow the fleet to blow it to space dust and let us spend our manpower somewhere useful"
Aeoran looked down at the master of the fleet, he had a cold and steely look in his eyes, "Manoeuvre the fleet in to position, the entire legion will be making planet fall"
The primarch walked out of the bridge without another world and Hal had no choice but to follow orders.
The entire 2nd legion swarmed the planet, hundreds of thousand of marine, fortifications and a forward base was quickly set up a few hundred miles south of the flesh tower. The surface was as barren as it seemed from orbit, a flat expanse of rock and dust that allowed you to see for miles in every direction, the environment was occasionally broken up by holes burrowed deep in to the rock.
The 2nd legion had just finished setting up their fortifications when the Rangdan attacked, millions of twisted slave soldiers flooded from the holes in the ground, emerging from underground burrows. The Mist walkers were soon surrounded by a sea of xenos with bodies twisted to the sole act of killing, luckily the Imperials had enough foresight to plug up the holes that were in the bounds of their fortifications so the xenos were unable to appear inside the walls.
Servitors slaved to autocannons and heavy bolters mounted on the walls came to life and open fire on the ocean of targets, strike craft were sent off to conduct bombing and strafing runs while the battle brothers aided the weapon servitors with throwing munitions in to the horde or they cut down any individual that managed to climb the wall.
The primarch himself stood on the walls with his sons, swinging his great axe and releasing great arcs of energy that tore through the xenos ranks. The 2nd legion was holding out but they weren't advancing and it was clear to all that exterminatus would have been far more preferable.
The Rangdan came in an unending wave and didn't give the legion a moment to rest, they called in orbital aid to try and thin out the numbers but any hole made by an orbital strike was quickly filled. The captains of the 2nd wanted to retreat from the world but before they could bring these ideas to their primarch disaster struck.
Korselos had two moons, one slightly smaller than Luna and another that was about twice the size of the first, there had been nothing on either and the fleet didn't concern themselves with them. There was nothing on either of the moons but there was something in one. Korselos happened to only have one moon.
The larger moon's surface cracked and burst, flinging debris and meteorites towards Korselos and the 2nd legion fleet, thousands of Rangdan ships emerged from it like hatching from an egg.
Sanin Hal looked on in horror as alarms blared across the fleet and every man and woman in orbit scrambled to get the fleet in to a defensive position.
"What the fuck is going on!?" Sotris called for all captains across the fleet to report in as Hal formulated a defensive strategy
"Send an astropathic message for aid from any fleet nearby" Sanin ordered before directing ships and squadrons
The debris from the fake moon that hid the fleet hit them first, they had spread out their fleet to avoid wide spread damage but still many ships were hit and either completely destroyed or dragged down to the planet with the meteor. The Rangdan ships came next and opening salvos were exchanged.
The 2nd legion and their primarch looked up to the heavens with horror as they saw giant chunks of burning rock fall to the surface and following in the flaming tail were their ships.
"My lord, we need to retreat while we can" Thal urged Aeoran to order a retreat from the world
"It's far too late for that" Erstwal looked at the sky and felt both his hearts sink
The massive form of the Eternal mist came falling through the heavens, looking irreparably damaged as it burnt up through the atmosphere it was quickly followed by the other ships of the 2nd legion, their fleet had been destroyed to the last and now they were trapped on the world with billions of monsters hell bent on their destruction.
The 2nd legion would be stuck on Korselos for 6 months, their fortifications would be overrun in the first month and the legion would be forced in to the sub terranean tunnels. The 14th legion would eventually receive the distress call and would make it to the planet, they would deal with the xenos fleet and send units to the planet but only small units of the 2nd would be found and there would be no trace of their primarch. Or at least that was how it was supposed to go.
The 11th legion was much closer to the 2nd than the others and would receive their message first, it would only take them 3 weeks to respond.
The Korselos system was swarming with the Rangdan bio-mechanical ships, thousands of jellyfish like creatures of varying sizes with macro weapons grafted to their sides. The Rangdan ships were equal to any Imperial ship and many space battles were usually won by taking out the true Rangdan that controlled the fleet but for the entire war the Rangdan fleet had been stalling the Imperial advance.
Ovis' opening move was dynamic, the Rangdan ships were looking for warp signatures so he used his grav drives. Hundreds of ships appeared in the midst of the Rangdan fleet, their violent entry through gravitational propulsion gouging lanes in the Rangdan formations, but these ships were completely unmanned. As soon as the ships appeared their reactors went critical and blew large holes in the Rangdan formations.
The real fleet appeared seconds later as the Rangdan were seeking to fill the holes made by the ship bombs, they opened with lancer fire and a torpedo barrage that caused even more wide spread damage. Ovis had no time to fight the xenos fleet and ordered his ships to brute force their way to the planet, he was relentless in his attacks on Rangdan formations and refused to give them any reprieve.
Ovis and his fleet blew through the Rangdan fleet and made it to orbit, he left contingents to sweep up the remaining ships and keep them at bay while he and the legion made planet fall to rescue the 2nd legion. The main bulk of the legion headed to the 2nd's fortified position while smaller groups would investigate the ruins of the 2nd's ships on the world for any survivors.
Atris sat in a stormbird as it flew over the dust plains of Korselos, even over the sound of the engines he could hear the sound of the slave army below, the lascannons mounted to the fuselage were constantly firing in to the horde as the flew overhead. The first son of Ovis was tasked with searching the wreckage of the Eternal mist for survivors but it was clear his father wanted him to find his brother.
The wing of stormbirds carrying Atris and the 1st company hovered over the twisted and still burning wreckage of the Gloriana-class battleship, Atris assessed that it might be salvageable but it would have to spend years in port. The stormbirds flew in to one of the launch bays that had its doors ripped off and allowed the marines to disembark.
"Yalt and Gern, you and your squads will stay here and secure an evac point" Atris set about assigning missions, "There are life signs throughout the ship, most of them will be Rangdan but there seem to be concentrations in the torpedo room, the bridge and the engines. Loret, Korson and Keret squads head towards the bow and search for survivors, I'll take Jaeson and Bors squads towards the bridge, Dere and Filem squads will head to the engines, keep in contact"
The squads confirmed their orders and all headed out, the squads heading to the bridge and engine were to stay together until they had to split up. The halls of the battleship were dark, the ground was covered in broken bodies and the walls were splattered with blood. Atris took point as another astartes kept an eye on the auspex for any signs of life.
The brother stopped the group outside a bulkhead, "Seven in here"
The astartes raised their bolters as Atris drew his arm back and then shot it forward, his fist piercing right through the reinforced door, he pulled it off and was greeted by a hail of las fire that left his armour carbon scorched.
"Hold fire" A woman's voice came from inside the dark room
Atris could see six men in the room, at least two of them had been men at arms and the other four likely just picked up dropped lasguns. The seventh occupant was an older woman, she looked around 50 and wore a simple robe, same as any other legion serf although they seemed to respect her a lot more than such a station would warrant.
"Who are you?" Atris asked
The woman stood up, using some toppled over console to support herself, "I am Elia, the mother of Aeoran and I'm guessing you are our rescue party"
"Yes we are, I'm Atris 1st son of Ovis, the 11th legion is here to help"
One of the men helped Elia leave the room, they were all gaunt and Elia had clearly broken her leg, Atris ordered one of the battle brothers to carry her and the group moved forward.
"Have you had contact with any other groups of survivors?" Atris asked
"No" one of the men at arms answered, "When the ship first crashed those things were everywhere, me and a few of my men headed to the primarch's mother as the ship was falling and attempted to get her to an escape pod or transport but those monsters swarmed in and trapped us in that room, we've been surviving off rodents and condensation, I sent a few men out to find food but none ever came back"
"Do you know what happened to my brother?"
"Lord Sotris? I doubt he died in the crash but if he was anywhere on the ship he would be on the bridge"
The group moved to the bridge, encountering small groups of Rangdan slaves, the enemy seem to have focused most of their efforts on the bulk of the 2nd legion and the number of Rangdan monsters on the ship had dropped after a few weeks. They met few other surviving voidsmen, mostly finding them on the verge of death. The squads soon split as two went to check the engines.
They remaining squads soon reached the bridge, the bulkhead leading to it was torn to ribbons by what was clearly a large number of attackers but that was just foreshadowing the scene on the bridge. They entered the bridge of the Eternal mist and found absolute carnage. The bodies of both men at arms and astartes were littered everywhere but as many Imperial bodies there were there was even more Rangdan, the monsters were piled high with either deep gashes or great bolter wounds.
"Spread out and find survivors" Atris ordered
The squads went around each body and checked for signs of life, the apothecary went about taking the gene-seed from the fallen astartes so it could be later given back to the 2nd legion. Atris searched through all the bodies littering the bridge but he couldn't find his brother.
"He's not here" Atris tried to think where his brother could be on the ship
"Does his armour not have a beacon, you could track that" Sergeant Jaris Bors suggested
"I couldn't find the signal when we first scanned the ship, I assumed the beacon was damage but now I'm thinking he might not be on the ship at all"
"Could he have been thrown out when the ship crashed?"
Atris couldn't go back to his father with nothing or the primarch would tear the planet apart until Sotris was found, he was brought out of his thoughts when one of the battle brothers called out that they had found a survivor. The survivor was an astartes and he was in bad shape, missing an arm and leg and covered in numerous other wounds, but his sus-an membrane had activated and put him in to a coma to save his life.
The apothecary was called over to treat his wounds before carefully bringing him back to conciseness, after the appropriate chemical cocktail had been injected it only took a couple of seconds for him to spring awake.
"Do you know your name?" the apothecary asked
"Sanin Hal" he spat up a few globs of coagulated blood
"What is your legion?"
"The 2nd legion, the Mist walkers"
"Rank?"
"Master of the fleet"
Atris soon pushed the apothecary aside and started asking Sanin his own questions, "I am Atris, 1st son of Ovis of the 11th legion, do you know what happened to my brother?"
"Sotris?"
"Yes, where is he?"
"He slaughtered them, they came in the hundreds and he cut them all down like wheat but they just kept coming, we held them off for almost 2 weeks but they overran us"
"What happened to my brother?"
"They took him. I saw them rush him and he killed every one that approached him but there were too many, even for him, he was dog piled and dragged out, I tried to help him but…. Well you can see what happened"
Atris knelt on the bridge for a moment, absorbing the information he was just given, Sergeant Bors came over to comfort him.
"Once we cleanse this world of the xenos filth then we can find hi…."
"My brother isn't dead" Atris shrugged the sergeant off and stood, "We're heading back to the transport, contact the other squads, I need to talk to my father"
The 2nd legion had been fighting non stop for weeks, no battle brother had gotten any rest and their ammunition was almost spent, sections of wall had fallen and were plugged with the corpses of their enemy but no matter how many they killed more just kept coming. Erstwal had stopped aiming, he just fired his bolter in to the horde, he would hit something vital no matter what, he thanked the Emperor for eliminating his need for sleep, his Catalepsean node had allowed him to remain in combat for close to a month but even he could feel his enhanced body start to falter.
The Primarch on the other hand had not slowed by a nanosecond since fighting began, day and night he fought on the walls, moving to the most hard hit areas and encouraging his sons to keep fighting, he kept their spirits up as they waited for their brother legions to come to their aid.
The Rangdan assaulted the walls with their usual abandon, the slave soldiers not caring if they jumped in to the blades or barrels of their enemy, those behind them would use their corpses as the foundation of a ramp to reach the top. The legion was being hit from all sides and the rangdan were finally making it over the walls.
Erstwal saw the xenos forms grab brothers standing right next to him and drag them in to the horde, he dropped his bolter and drew his power sword, hacking at any limb that grabbed at his brothers but it was hopeless as more hands sprouted from the mass and grabbed him. He tried to pull himself free and he felt his brothers trying to pull him free as well but he was just further entangled in the alien mass, Erstwal grabbed the few grenades he still had and pulled the pins, thrusting his arm in to the horde.
Erstwal was thrown away from the Rangdan, flying in to the air and off the wall. He fell to the ground, landing with a heavy thud, there was pain throughout his body as the small wounds he racked up over the weeks and the fatigue finally caught up to him, he could also feel that his hand had been blown off and his enhanced body was quickly working to clot his blood and seal the wound.
He lay on his back as he watched the Rangdan swarm over the walls, he knew he needed to get up but his body wouldn't allow it, no matter how much his body was enhanced it still had its limits but despite that he kept pushing. Erstwal managed to flip himself over with great effort before pushing himself to his knees, he didn't have the energy to stand but he still drew his combat knife and faced the Rangdan horde that was approaching him.
He could see the walls had been broken and his brothers were scattered. This was the end of his legion. He chuckled, he always knew he would meet his end in war but he never expected to meet it alongside his whole legion, it really didn't matter anymore.
"Come on you xenos bastards! Come and try if you think you can!" Erstwal screamed as he raised his knife, "Aeoran!"
Erstwal swung his knife at the Rangdan leading the horde but before his blade could cut flesh a bolt of plasma took the monstrosities head off. He felt his consciousness fade as the shadow of his saviour was cast over him.
Aeoran swung his axe around in a whirlwind, cutting a path through the Rangdan war forms, he didn't have time to think he only focused on killing. He let out all his rage and frustration on the enemy before him, he had been doing it for the past few weeks but it still didn't abate, the guiding voice had never been wrong before but this time it had led him to destroying his legion.
His sons were dying around him and going to save one from being dog piled meant leaving 10 to die, he wasn't sure how long he could keep up his slaughter but he wasn't about to stop while there were still enemies around him. The primarch carved a bloody path through the horde, reducing everything before him to a bloody mush, the twisted xenos threw themselves at him but he killed any that got in his reach.
Hundreds of claws reached for him and he cut them all but thousands more took their place, he cut them but more came and finally one claw grabbed his armour, Aeoran turned the monster it belonged to in to pulp but another managed to grab him and then another and another. What was one claw quickly turned in to a hundred and Aeoran threw them off but more piled on and tried to drag him down, the primarch used his insane strength to keep himself from being dragged down but even he knew he would falter soon as more enemies jumped on him.
His knees were buckling but he fought back against the weight as he threw the aliens off him, claws scratched at his face as his vision was overtaken by the disgusting faces of the Rangdan soldiers, he could no longer see what was going on in the battle and he had dropped his axe since it wouldn't help in his situation. Aeoran thrashed around and threw Rangdan off but more just piled on, he could feel this was the end.
"Shame" Aeoran heard the voice, "You will go no furt…."
The voice suddenly cut off and Aeoran felt a cold aura wash over him, he recognised it instantly. The monstrosities piling on him were ripped off, a great claw tore through the mass surrounding him until a hand reached in and wrenched him out.
Reinforcements had arrived. Marines rained down from the sky as stormbirds and other attack craft dumped ammunition and explosives in to the Rangdan horde, more fortifications were dropped in and the walls that where a few seconds ago laying in ruin were now reinforced.
"Get up" Aeoran's pushed himself to his knees as his axe was thrown in front of him, he looked up and saw Ovis standing over him with an outstretched hand
"I have to commend you on your timing" Aeoran grabbed his axe and accepted his brother's hand
"You know I'm more concerned with style that strategy"
A defensive perimeter had been re-established but the twisted slave soldiers of the Rangdan still ran rampant inside it, the two primarchs and the fresh astartes quickly got to work slaughtering the mutated monsters. It took some time but they soon secured their foothold, many astartes of the 2nd legion were dead or severely injured and those that weren't had been in active combat far beyond what their enhancements should have been able to handle, so they were forced to rest. The only silver lining would be that the Rangdan forces had pulled back their assault for the time being.
Aeoran and Ovis stood in one of the command buildings with their captains, the Mist walker captains looked like a ragged bunch with many of them still missing limbs or sporting other injuries while the colours and heraldry on their armour had almost been entirely scratched off.
"Have you got any reports from the rescue squads?" Asla asked her father
"Most are reporting no survivors and those that are found are near death"
"Any word from Atris?"
"None so far, I can only assume his communications are down" the air was tense as both primarchs had their minds else were
Aeoran had a grim look on his face, "She might still live, there is always hope my lord" Thal knew what his primarch was thinking and tried to comfort him
"I have accepted that this is my fault, these are the consequences of my actions" Aeoran focused on the hololith before him, forcing himself to organise the withdrawal of Imperial forces
Erstwal stepped forward, his hand still missing, "Why did you order the invasion in the first place?" the captain was clearly angry with his primarch, many of his brothers had died in the ill-fated invasion
Aeoran looked at the captain, his eyes were cold, almost lifeless, "You do not hear the voice of the future, the voice that guides us on my father's shining path, I always assumed it was in our best interests but now I have some doubts"
"Are you doubting the Emperor's dream?"
"No, our species must be unified and conquer the galaxy but maybe his shining path isn't as rigid as he believes"
Erstwal sighed, his anger sated, "We should not be so careless with our lives"
"I know that now, let us leave this damned rock and blow it to hell"
Everyone was agreeing with the primarch when a vox message reported World beast stormbirds inbound. The two primarchs went out to meet them, all the other squads sent out to the ships of the 2nd had already returned so these stormbirds could only carry one group.
The ramps lowered and Atris disembarked to find his father waiting for him, nothing needed to be said, he already knew what he was going to ask.
"I did not find Sotris, there was barely any survivors on the ship" everyone saw Aeoran's head sink a bit lower at the news, "But we did find one important survivor"
Aeoran looked up, watching a small handful of voidsmen limp off the transports, two marines came out carrying a stretcher with his master of the fleet atop it. He was missing limbs and one of his eye sockets was empty but he was alive, the primarch gave him a nod but completely forgot about his son when he saw who came after him.
Limping down the ramp on crutches was his mother. Aeoran ran to her and fell to his knees, he was sure she was dead, likely in the crash or at the hands of one of those monsters.
"How are you still alive?" he asked, barely believing she was still alive
"I was saved by some brave voidsmen, they deserve commendations"
"They can have whatever they want" Aeoran pulled his mother in to his arms
Ovis watched the reunion before turning to his son, Atris had been given one mission and despite the favourable results he had still failed.
"Do you know what happened to him, do I need send a message to your mother?"
"I believe Sotris is still alive, he was last seen being dragged off by the Rangdan slave soldiers, he is likely still alive in that giant tower"
Next time: When Fate changes (Part 3)