Chapter 12: Lines Are Drawn
Reviewers:
Joseph Rosario: All right here it is! Don't blow a fuse. Next time though leave me a comment on what you think of the story or what you want me to do with it ok?
Oblivionknight7: Not much if they want the Federation.
Silvanas: Actually Enterprise is just under 700 meters. The Eldar/Tau idea is great. Thanks. But the Emperor and Q? Probably not. If the Emperor was like Q he would have never had to have been put on the Golden Throne. He would have been able to revive himself.
Liljimmyurine: Great idea! Consider it added.
Heart of Lies: Don't know. He'll probably wait and see what Picard does though.
The fleets of the Despoiler threw themselves at the ever thinning numbers of Imperium defenders around the Cadia system. Abbadon's attacks had been relentless. Wave after wave of Chaos ships attacked, never letting up for more than a few hours. The ships of Battle fleets Obscurus and Gothic were struggling to hold the line. On board the flagship of the defense fleet, a Retribution class battleship named the Renewed Valor, Lord Admiral Thendaris studied holo maps of the current bathe situation. Abbadon's forces had pushed back the loyalist forces back almost to Cadia itself.
All would have been lost by this point had it not been for the genius of Roboute Guilliman. He had arrived two weeks ago with the majority of the Ultramarines fleet. He had used the new engines the Tech Priests had named sub-warp engines to great effect. Ships would jump into the middle of a Chaos formation fire a double broadside and warp out. Abbadon had been totally unprepared for this new technology. Reinforcements were en route but for the time being the loyalists were on their own.
"Lord Admiral, the enemy fleet is coming in for another attack," Captain Galadron reported.
"How many ships?" Thendaris asked. He had barely five hundred ships left in his command.
"Approximately seven hundred." This would be it, the final wave. The defending fleet was weakened, many of its ships heavily damaged. But they were still loyal servants of the Emperor, and none of them would yield the Cadian Gate to the forces of the Despoiler. They would fight to the end.
"Prepare the fleet for battle. We will initiate a micro jump maneuver into their read quarter. They will believe we are striking at their center again. We will cripple as many of their ships' engines as possible and draw the rest into range of our guns." The Captain hurried to transmit the Lord Admiral's battle plan. Even if it worked, they still needed the reinforcements to drive the enemy back, and likely to survive.
On board Abbadon's flagship, a Despoiler class battleship named the Death of Hope, the Despoiler watched the tightening noose around Cadia. Finally, he would break through the Cadian Gate and Chaos would pour into the galaxy. He watched his fleet form up for another attack. The new technology the Imperium had brought to the battle was frustrating. They would jump into the center of an attacking force, open fire and jump out. This time he was ready for them. They would find themselves in a world of pain when they attacked again.
The Lord Admiral's fleet jumped to their assigned positions. Guilliman, on board the battle barge Octavius, coordinated the attack from orbit around Cadia. He had masterfully help the defenders together against Abbadon's attacks for over a month. So when the fleet warped in, the majority of them were in the enemy's rear quarter. A few massively damaged ships emerged into the center of the enemy fleet and were destroyed, but they served their purpose. The enemy focused so much fire on what they initially assumed to be the main fleet most of their fire hit each other. While they were confused, the loyalist fleet opened fire, destroying dozens of enemy ships and disabling many more. As the enemy turned their guns on the loyalists they warped back to their original position. Two ships had been lost, and another dozen damaged, but the enemy's losses were far greater. The defenders had bought the Cadian system, and the galaxy, a little more time.
Abbadon pounded the arm
of his command chair, splintering it. He should have known the
enemy's strategy would change!
"Curse the lackeys of the
False Emperor!" He cried. "We should have taken this warp blasted
system by now! I will lead the next attack myself. Have the fleet
assume a wall formation. No matter where those loyalist ships emerge
they will be under our guns!' Underlings rushed to comply with
their master's orders. Drauch'nyun hummed Abbadon's scabbard,
hungry for blood. He ran his hand along its handle, soothing its
spirit. "Soon," he told it.
The Guiding Light sped through the Warp as fast as its engines could push it. It led a fleet of twenty thousand newly constructed ships. He knew the fate of Cadia and possibly the entire galaxy depended on his destroying this Chaos incursion. He knew the Chaos Gods must be behind it. They knew he had been reborn and that he would soon use the great psychic engines to eradicate them from the Warp forever. He would face the leader of the invasion and kill them, proving once and for all that humanity would never give in to the darkness. Only a few hours more and the fate of humanity would be decided.
Abbadon's final assault began. His ships moved in towards Cadia. The loyalist fleet warped in but this time they were forced to retreat. Their long range artillery vessels continued to bombard his ships, but he continued on. Cadia would fall. The galaxy would feel the wrath of chaos. He would finally fulfill his master's command: let the galaxy burn. Suddenly he sensed a vast psychic wave break over the system. A massive Imperium fleet dropped out of the warp, as numerous as Abbadon's. But it was the lead ship that drew the Despoiler's attention. It shone like pure gold, and was shaped like the Imperium's emblem of a two headed eagle. He had never seen it before but he knew the Emperor was on board. If he could kill the Emperor here and now the war would be over. Without the psychic shield of the Emperor's power, humanity would swiftly prey to Chaos. He ordered the fleet to change course.
The Emperor sensed Abbadon's presence and knew he had found the Chaos gods' general. He would finish what began ten thousand years ago. One of the greatest betrayals ever would finally come to and end. After Abbadon was dead he would seek out the fallen Primarchs and kill them, thus ending the Horus Heresy once and for all. The time of judgment had come, and the Emperor had already pronounced Chaos guilty. Its punishment: annihilation. The threat of Chaos ended here and now.
How was that? Sorry about the cliffhanger. Don't worry, you'll see the final battle and I promise it will be spectacular. In the next chapter, the Dominion is introduced to the Imperium. Stay tuned for Battle of the Minds. See ya then!
ENTIILZA