Chapter 25: In Motion
Reviewers: Thank you all. You are the true driving force behind this story. I don't know what I'd do without you.
Liljimmyurine: What's cameo? I'm using the Ulthwe Craftworld.
BGTom: Sorry.
SPECIALGUY: Even if they didn't have the strength, they wouldn't tell the humans that.
Oblivionknight7: Soon my friend, soon.
Grayangle: You're so smart. You'll see the situation in the 40k galaxy.
Marine Brother Shran: Thanks! I thought I already revived Guilliman. If that got deleted I'm sorry. You're right; I should bring in the Tau. May the Emperor light your way.
Sean: Thanks. The Eldar probably will reclaim their home system, but there are too few of them to rebuild their civilization for a while probably. I might have Guilliman go through the wormhole. I've already gotten a request to go to the Halo universe, but I'll add your idea to the list.
Grufbar: HAHAHA! Good idea. That would be funny. I might just do that. Thanks for the idea.
Around the wormhole, components were being brought through. The Emperor had ordered that two of the Transwarp Hubs be brought to the Imperial galaxy for use in the Crusade. With them they could strike anywhere, anytime. A small group of Federation vessels had been brought through. They were led by Voyager. Captain Janeway had wanted to see The Imperium of Mankind for herself. She saw the two massive palaces on Terra, and the machine surface of Mars.
"Captain, scans of the system complete," Chakotay reported.
"What have you got," Janeway asked.
"The population of Earth is off the charts. Mars is seventy percent covered with factories, and our sensors can't penetrate some of the structures. I'm reading hundreds of thousands of vessels in the system. Most of them are clustered around two Transwarp Hubs that are under construction."
"Well, the Terran system in this galaxy seems more like a fortress," she remarked. Her opinion of the Imperium didn't change much.
"Captain, we're being hailed," Kim reported.
"On screen." The face of an Imperial Lord Admiral appeared. His face was much sharper than Madthayn's and he appeared to not be in a good mood.
"Federation vessel, I am warmaster Grond. Why have your vessels come through the wormhole?"
"We came to offer what help we could," Janeway replied.
"Very well. Contact Battlefleet Command for instructions," he said and then closed the channel.
"Quite the charming fellow wouldn't you say," Paris joked. No one laughed. "Tough crowd."
Several hours later, Voyager received instructions for the Federation ships to join up with a recon squadron. They would be part of the first wave in the crusade designed to test the Orks defenses.
When the Transwarp Hubs were brought online, the massive Imperium armada began forming up into fleet divisions. The Emperor's flagship joined a force of vessels that would strike at the heaviest Ork forces once the battle was joined. The recon group departed first. The Emperor had decided to use the Transwarp Hubs to strike the central Ork held system first and form a steel hard defense and push our. Orks usually scattered when their main force was destroyed. As the Imperial departed, they had no idea what kind of a fight they were in for.
Back in the second galaxy, Lord Admiral Madthayn had received word on the second Great Crusade. His orders were to stay in this galaxy and continue the fight against the Tyranids and Necrons. On Earth, the citizens who had come through the wormhole were being settled in. They were amazed at what they saw. Clean, shining streets. Friendly, helpful people, and all the new technology. Replicators, holo suites, and transporters. They had been briefed on all this before coming through the wormhole but they were still in awe of everything. The Federation citizens helped out as best they could. People from two very different cultures were attempting to come together. It would be an interesting experience.
At Utopia Plenitia the Enterprise-F had finished its repairs and was on its way to join with a battlefleet heading out to battle a new Tyranid Hive Fleet. They picked up Admiral Picard's shuttle on the way. As the ramp lowered to the deck heated words could be heard.
"Impossible! That goes against everything the Federation stands for!" Picard said as he came down the ramp.
"But it could be our best hope against the Tyranids in both our galaxies," Madthayn replied. They had been discussing the development and use of biogenic weapons against the Tyranids. Madthayn argued it could be a quick and effective way of eliminating the Tyranids without losing massive amounts of ships. Picard knew that the Federation had never used bio weapons in its entire history. It could cause a massive political backlash.
"Let's resume this discussion after we've defeated the hive fleet. Then you may be a bit more inclined to see things my way."
"Very well," Picard replied.
On the way to meet the Tyranids Picard and Madthayn talked about integrating the Romulans and Cardassians into the Imperium. The integration of the Klingons had been fairly easy because of their honorable nature, but the Cardassians and especially the Romulans were very sly and tricky. Madthayn said that the Imperium could put several Inquisitors in deep cover, as well as mind scrubbed agents. Picard wanted to allow tem to join willingly and trust them. The biggest problem, they both agreed, would likely be the Obsidian Order and the Tal'Shiar. Picard also voiced concern that Section 31 hadn't done anything so far. They were obsessed with protecting the Federation. Picard could only think that they didn't know what to do with an enemy as powerful as the Imperium.
A day later, the armada dropped out of the warp and closed with the newest Tyranids fleet to penetrate the galaxy. This fleet was the largest one yet, comprised of over five thousand Hive ships. Madthayn has known this and had assembled a fleet of fifteen thousand vessels to meet them. Eight thousand were Imperial vessels, the rest were Federation, Klingon and Andorian ships.
"All vessels, this is Lord Admiral Madthayn. Today we stand again against the Tyranid threat. However this time it is we who outnumber them. All vessels, you have your orders. Engage the enemy and may the Emperor light your way!"
The Imperial battlefleet moved to engage the Tyranids, but this time they had a surprise for them. On board the smaller bio ships, torpedoes materialized near vital organs and exploded. The Federation, after learning the Tyranid vessels had no shields, had come up with the idea of beaming Photon Torpedoes on board the Tyranid ships and destroying them from the inside out. It now appeared that idea had been a very god one. Hundreds of bio ships were now drifting, dead without their heart organs. The largest vessels, the hive command ships however, had hull plating too dense for transporters to penetrate.
"Admiral, the transporters can't penetrate the hulls of the largest of the bio ships," Liandra reported.
"Very well then. Have all ships open fire," he ordered. Liandra had proven to be a valuable member of his crew. Despite the Imperium's lack of trust in AI's since the Dark Age of Technology, AI's were being installed on many Imperial ships, albeit with a termination switch in case they got out of control. Liandra however, had proven to be nothing less than a model officer. She knew when to be kind and when to be harsh. She was everything an officer could hope to be.
Every ship under Picard's command obeyed and concentrated their fire on the largest remaining Tyranids vessels. Unable to withstand the torrential amount of fire, the Tyranid ships made to withdraw, but Madthayn would have none of that. He positioned his fleet directly in the Tyranids path. Having no choice, the Tyranids fought to the death. The Tyranids fought with a fanaticism savage even for them, destroying dozens of Madthayn's ships. Still he held his ground, sending every Tyranid vessel he engaged straight to hell. His ship took several bad hits, including one to the command deck. Then, suddenly, there were no more enemies. They had all been destroyed.
"Hail Lord Admiral Madthayn!" Picard ordered. He had seen the Harbringer of Vengeance take a hit to its command tower.
"They're responding sir." The bridge of Madthayn's flagship was in bad shape. Smoke and fire were all over the place. Many consoles had exploded. Madthayn himself appeared all right, with the exception of a gash to the head and what looked like a broken arm.
"Well, we beat them," he said.
"Indeed. That was a foolish thing you did Madthayn."
"Perhaps, but it was necessary. It any of those vessels had escaped, the Tyranids might have adapted to our new tricks."
"I see, is your vessel fit to travel?"
"Yes, but we will be restricted to Transwarp. Our warp screens have taken heavy damage. Take your ships home Picard. My fleet will follow as swiftly as we can, and think about what I sad earlier Picard. If we had used bio weapons, those that lost their lives today would still be here."
In the Imperial galaxy, on a remote planet in the Halo Stars, two figures stood on a ridge overlooking a primitive town. One of the figures resembled a sorcerer and had magic rippling off him in visible waves. The other man was a huge brute that looked every bit like hired muscle.
"This is where we shall reside until our powers regenerate," Tzeench said.
"Why not just go down there and take the souls we need?" Khorne replied. The two Chaos Gods were the only ones to survive the Emperor's weapon. Nurgle and Slaanesh had both been caught in the full force of the Oblivion Beam. The two survivors were severally weakened. Ever a Primarch could destroy them as they were. It would take time and a lot of soul energy to restore them enough to return to the Warp. But at least they were here, on a planet far beyond the Imperium. Once they were restored, they would join forces ad destroy the Imperium once and for all.
How was that? Will Picard consent to the use of bio weapons to save lives? Will the Romulans and Cardassians join the Imperium? And what about Section 31? Find out soon. In the meantime don't forget to review, because like I said at the beginning of this chapter, you reviewers are the life blood of this story. See ya soon!
ENTILZA