Chapter 16: The Plague Stars, Into the Darkness.
The tension was high on the Quarian fleet, they were all on the edge as they expected their new visitors in the system Magelana. Arahi'ler was sitting on his new Capital ship, "Vengeance of Rannoch", this new marvel of Quarian Engineering was pride and joy of this young realm. Learning much from their war against the Imperium, they have constructed the leading vessel of the Quarian Reich, "Vengeance of Rannoch "was 3 kilometre (1.8miles) long vessel, armed and enforced by new combination of metals which was brainstormed by the New Quarian scientists in their efforts to Emulate the Imperium and their ships. It was armed with Quarian Pattern energy canons, equivalent to the Thanix cannons of the Citadel Armies, but unlike those the energy outburst was purple and concentrated, allowing it to pummel rapidly upon the enemy shielding and cause serious damage to the hull.
He gazed towards the mass relay leading into the system, expecting his guests at any moment now. Arahi was old at this point, a venerated leader of the Quarian Reich, he had a son and three daughters, all were unmasked and healthy, their features strikingly humanlike, lean and strong, they were all taught from birth to be the best of Quariankind.
Decades ago the Quarians were shameful assembly of nomadic travelers, loathed and disgusted by everyone in the galaxy. Now they were prideful and strong nation, going from meager 6 to 7 million in numbers after the great loss in the war against the Imperium. they now colonized about a dozen highly fortified and powerful worlds, with genome technologies and their very own natural metabolism, they have grew and prospered, numbering in tens of millions, the true number unknown as the secrecy of Quarian Reich was paramount to its survival.
"My leader, there is a power surge coming from the relay." The officer on the bridge spoke.
" They are here. " Arahi said and stood from his chair. Moments later the energy outburst happened, and flashes of light flickered as the gargantuan vessels of the Imperium of Man came to existence in the Magelana system, led by the truly colossal ship some 7kilometers in length, easily dwarfing the largest quarian vessel, it was almost humbling experience for Arahi when he once more saw that he was still far away from matching the might of humans.
With the leading vessel of the Imperium, dozens of smaller support and attack vessels joined as well, flickering into the system from the relay and forming defense formation. A third of the total imperial fleet now stood at the edge of the system and idled, 150 ships of the Navium III Indomiti , the pride of the southern Imperium came to combat the common enemy.
Arahi came to his son and told him "Come my son, let us greet our rivals with respect and honor, for today we talk about spilling the blood, not of the living, but of the damned. "
"What do you mean father? "His son's eyes gazed at his father, searching the answer to his puzzling statement.
"The galaxy now holds much more than the sane and lucid. It harbors monstrous creatures in its darkest corners."
"The plague stars…"
"yes my son. The monsters of our own kind still haunt us."
"Were the incursions from the Plague Stars that bad father, that you would summon our killers to aid us? "
Arahi stopped his steady march towards the cargo bay where they would depart for the meeting with the Imperials. He turned towards his son.
"You will learn that sometimes there are worse things in the darkest corners of space than allying with those who waged war against us, and thanks to whom we have a new home world. Think, before you judge my son, for honor and respect are not the traits reminiscent of Quarians alone, but of the other races, no matter of what they are capable off. "
The words of his father had the impact on the young mind, his eyes moved left and right as if searching for the correct response, he realized his father is right.
"I understand father. The future of our people stands as priority to our grudges and desires of revenge…I apologize"
Arahi smiled gently as he placed his hand on the shoulder of his son.
"One day you will rule when I am gone Valer'Spe, the future of our people will be on your hands, you must be able and willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure its survival. You must stand as an example of what it means to be Quarian, to your people and to our enemies.
Come now; let us be a shining example of that when we greet our guests. "
They went on their way to the cargo bay and entered the ship. They would meet on a specially constructed space station meant for ambassadors and foreign guests.
As they landed on the station, so too did the imperial shuttle, both delegates escorted by 4 light vessels of their choosing. the portions of both fleets took defense positions around the diplomatic station and stood vigilant against any potential incursions.
In the grand podium in the middle of the station Arahi arrived first with his son, he stood and waited for imperial delegation to arrive as well. Not waiting for long, the great double automatic doors opened and through them passed the colorful imperial envoy.
This was the first time any alien encountered the imperials in person without causing a war or fighting to break out. First in 30 years of Imperial existence.
"Ave leader of the Quarians, I , Tiberius, the leader of Imperial Navy salute you, may our discussion be fruitful. " he said as he raised his right hand in a roman salute.
"Heil Tiberius leader of the mighty Imperial Navy, I, Arahi'Ler vas Heimat, Leader of the Quarian reich and protector of Quarian people, salute you and welcome you into my homeland. " he said as he extended his right hand 90* degrees upwards and towards Tiberius.
"This is my son, Valer'Spe, and my designated heir. " he presented his son, who raised his right hand like his father and gently bowed a bit. And our two generals Promo'sat vas Merilik the leader of the Quarian fleet detachment and Iriako'tam vas Promiita the leader of New Quarian land soldiers.
"My pleasure" Tiberius spoke, "these are my compatriots. Lord Aurelian Solarian, he is my Co Fleet Imperator, he will be leading the left wing of the Imperial navy we came with. "Aurelian saluted silently.
"To his right is the honorable brother Chaplain of the White Eagles, Julius Nepos, he is here to help combat the unspeakable forces we will no doubt fight against." Marine was deadly silent as he ogled at the quarians.
"To my right, is the Lord Marshall and commander of our ground forces, Romeluss. His skills are second to none when it comes to army leadership, he will make sure the land is scorched and purified from the chaotic taint. "
Romeluss smiled slightly and bowed a bit, he was used to the diplomatic encounters back in the original universe, being born into the noble family , his father often introduced his son to various noble families and dignitaries, even when kissing the hands of the noble ladies of the various Imperial houses his eyes and thoughts were ever concentrated on tales of war and the necessity to fight for the imperium. Much to his father disapproval of his only heir being on the frontlines.
"My pleasure" Romeluss spoke to the quarian delegation.
"And last, but not least, our technological expert representing his own faction which will aid us in the war, Techpriest Agrippa. " he presented the tall red cloaked Tech Priest.
Agrippa stood and watched the Quarians with curious delight, what a fascinating species, much akin to human in their facial features, the nose, the eyes, all are there, they were Caucasoid true and true, the difference was their purple skin and white eyes which lacked irises. He wondered how they could see like that and was eager to dissect one, should the chances presents itself ofcourse.
He held his hands behind his back, his right one was no longer human, it was replaced by cold and certain steel, truly marvelous technology, a vast improvement over his organic form. After his last encounter with the treasonous mechanicus, the damaged done to his body was worse than originally thought. His entire right arm was replaced up to his shoulder, his chest was reinforced with Dura Steel, an alloy created in this universe, it was very strong and could easily be used as armour. His spine was brittle from the combat and was reinforced with steel implants, while still organic, it was still vastly improved.
Agrippa took many years to truly recover from his damages, when he was healed, the Magos himself decorated him for valour displayed in defense of Imperium, he was promoted to lead one of the many Mechanicus military divisions, granting him the necessary autonomy to act whenever he saw fit in defense of the Imperium. He thought that this expedition into the Plague stars might help and provide the information for his current inquiry into these, Reaper machines of which he knew so dangerously little.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, leader of the Quarians "he said " I do hope our conversation will be of mutual interest."
As he made the sign of Aquila on his chest, Arahi noticed his metallic hand. What beings these were he thought as he gazed upon the Space marine chaplain and the priest of the mechanicus, were some of them even human the thought passed through his mind?
"Come fellow ambassadors, let us take a seat at the table, let us discuss our plan for the incursion into this realm we all know as Plague stars."
All members took their seats and began their discussion. Various servants scattered around asking if they could serve the delegates, handpicked for their unbreakable loyalty to Arahi, he would have no incidents take place here.
The servants left the room and the conference could begin. Arahi took the podium.
"Fellow guests, I will not dwindle on idle pleasantries and kind sweetened words for the enemy we must fight together is posing an existential threat to all of us.
The Plague stars were isolated from the galaxy as a whole ever since the great war in the Aurelian system, from that point onwards communications coming from that regions dwindled and it all went silent.
To make matters worse ,the plague stars was a region known for many alien races whom rose and died before reaching the stars, corpse worlds of the fallen empires, the vampire suns whose radiation took years from you even through meters of thick steel hull, it was also the home of the race of creatures known as the Rachni.
This is where the traitor Tali went. I have sent numerous scouts in order to track her down, but none have returned, until a month ago when rusted and near collapsing ship jumped back from the plague stars. The sole survivor of scouts came back, visibly suffering and aged beyond belief, he spoke of the various things I would dedicate to myth and madness, ships coated in moss and liquid greenish goo, space monsters and the like. But one sane thing I could get out of him was " Shapuria". "
"What is Shapuria?" Tiberius asked.
"Shapuria is a frozen world, whose surface is lined up with ruins of ancient civilization, it was newly discovered world before the plague stars were isolated from the rest of the galaxy, to my knowledge it is an unexplored world. I know the coordinates of its location, whatever my scout discovered; it is there where we will get our first lead in our quest. "
"Did the scout said anything else? " inquired Tiberius.
"Nothing but mad ramblings and one more word "Shayogan". "
"What is Shayogan?"
"That I do not know Admiral. that word is not in our tongue. Whatever it is, we will discover it on Shapuria. "
"I advise caution" Techpriest Agrippa voiced his concerns. " we are not facing only the enemy our minds know, this will put to the test even our souls. "
"Agreed. "Tiberius confirmed "our scouts will venture first, scout the relay pathway leading to Shapuria, our combined fleets will follow, we will proceed with caution through the entire way."
All assembled dignitaries agreed, the exchange lasted a bit longer, with plans and logistics being arranged, there was no time, or desire to share personal information, and after few hours of planning they have all returned to their ships, and creating united fleet formation, led by the Imperial Battleship and Quarian Flagship, followed by their heavy ships and their escorts, they slowly moved up to the relay which led towards the Plague Stars, its glow almost ominous as if warning the passengers of what perhaps lays beyond it.
The fleet entered the relay and the journey began, the tension was high on both fleets, for Quarians, the lessons of the war were still very fresh in their minds, they were fighting together with the enemy that killed the most quarians ever since Geth rebellion, and for the Imperium, they abhorred cooperating with any sort of xenos, bar the most dire and extreme circumstances such as this one.
They have entered the Star Juno, the first system inside the Plague Stars.
And inside the system was chaos, destroyed ships, a planet engulfed in eternal firestorm fueled by its high oxygen content, the star's light was dimmed by the proto Eezo cloud which was stuck in its gravity well, what was probably a life giving star once upon a time was now a dim shadow of its former self, its rays blocked by some 70% from the Eezo cloud circling it. This would explain the dead worlds in the system itself, but upon deep scan some thermo life signs exist, as life adapted once more to the catastrophic events which befell upon it.
The fleet was not left alone for long as hundreds of vessels foolishly approached them.
Arahi and Tiberius shared the electro view screen, and upon hail their screens both turned on and in split screen they could see who is calling them. It was a turian, scared beyond belief, wearing armor unlike that of his kin, resembling patchwork of metal and skin, namely those of his fellow turians. Behind him a myriad of races were manning the command post. He stood up from his chair and on his thigh was sickly green fungus growth, grasping his leg tightly. He approached close to the screen, just like a bird pointing his right eye, all red and leaking yellowish mucus.
"What do we have here? " the turian spoke. "Tributaries? Or are you eager to join us."
"Explain yourself captain, what is all this?"arahi spoke
"This? "he took a step back, spreading his arms as if displaying vast empire "This my friend is the Domain of Plague, the realm of love and tolerance. As your fellow quarians can attest. "He presented his communication officer, a female quarian. Her mask was filthy, armor ripped in many places, the dim light inside the mask was gone, and her face was clear to see, cracks in her skin, infection was running deep on her nose as it constantly leaked, her ragged breath showing the respirator inside the suit was long broken, and from the filter in her mask ,with each sigh ,greenish brown mist was ventilated. Her eyes were the worst of all, widely opened and blind, underneath the skin were rapid movements of what one could say are small worms.
She waved, to the horror of Arahi, "Join us….leader" she gently said.
"Plague bearers! "Tiberius shouted. "Foul creatures! This is why many enter and almost none leave, these scavengers hunt them down upon entering the system."he stood from his command chair and pointed at the grinning turian.
"Please Human, there is no need for this, we are all friends in disease. And we have duty to share it with those in Ill need of it. "he inhaled ,rotten teeth visible. "Prepare to be blessed" .
The Screen died. And the plague fleet ,hundreds strong moved in. Against it 150 ships of the Imperial navy, and some 800 of the Quarian Reich stood fast.
"Battle stations! " Both commanders ordered. As the fleets took positions and began charging their weapons.
"Get me the head of that bird looking bastard!" Tiberius ordered, his crew all too eager to obey
"Primary canon charging, the machine spirit is willing!" gun commander pointed out at the screen that showed increased energy levels rising. Much to the cackling glee of the gun servitors who were mentally connected to the gigantic weapon, they too have felt the overwhelming surge of power.
"010101110110000101110010 "was flowing through the command circuit by the connected techpriests, their binary translating to a single word which drove the fleet onwards. "War"
Nova cannon on the battleship was reaching critical mass, the plague xenos could only look as they saw a weapon exhibiting the power of a small star, and to their terror it was aimed at their concentrated mass of ships.
"RELEASE THE RAGE OF THE MACHINE!" Tiberius shouted pointing at the center of the enemy fleet formation.
"War! War! War!" the crewmembers cheered onwards zealous in their eagerness to engage the xenos.
"Evasive maneuvers! " the drooling turian captain spoke, as he could not believe his eyes of the insane power readings his ship detected.
Battleship "Solar Macharius" shuddered slightly as the Nova canon fired, the gigantic gun was decorated in imperial symbolism, both of the Imperial Cult and the Adeptus mechanicus, there wasn't a piece on its surface not carefully decorated and sanctified, those symbols now began glowing blue like the star of Darius on whose planet it was diligently constructed.
From the mouth of the weapon burst fort the strongest weapon this galaxy has ever seen, the blue projectile launched itself at the fraction of the light speed, and before the plague xenos could react it exploded viciously in the middle of their formation, the yield equal to that of a small planetoid outright devoured dozens of vessels and crippled near half of the fleet which was simply not equipped with their small corvette like vessels to fight anything except those poor stragglers which happened upon this system.
"Imperia Victor!" shouted wild eyed gun commander, who was himself surprised at the accurate shot he made.
"Imperia Victor!" was swiftly followed from hundreds of throats on the gunnery command.
" Suffer not a Xeno to live! Hunt them down!" Tiberius issued an order to break formation and begin hunting down shell shocked xenos.
Smaller imperial vessels with improved engines rushed onwards, firing high yeald rockets and plasma weapons onto the remaining enemy vessels who could barely even return the fire.
Newest corvette design of the imperium, Gen III spewed the combination of proven and tried payload of the Imperium of Old and certain, thrice sanctified, and Mechanicus approved Eezo rockets, these were deadly to the minor races hulls and their weak Mass Effect technology shields. The EEZO quantities in the torpedoes bombarded the shields with thousands of small particles, effectively simulating the pounding of many guns at the same time, this in turn caused the shields to overload and shut down for venting excess heat, enabling other weaponry to strike at the now shield less hulls.
Using their portside weapons the ships fired and ate through the durra steel hull of the plague fleet, venting their unlucky crew into sub zero temperatures of space where they instantly froze and died.
Upon realizing they were being slaughtered and outgunned, the plague xenos sought to break from the combat and flee, but Destroyer class III were on top of them, these were equipped for 2 scenarios, defense of the bigger ships with their plasma canons, and chewing through the fleeing vessels.
Utilizing their rapid fire plasma weaponry with improved cooling, it allowed them few swift and powerful shots before requiring to cool down and vent excess heat.
The first shot was not the lethal; it always melted the engines which races in this universe placed always at the back. If the first shot did not cause critical explosion, the second one always ventured deeper into the enemy hull, destroying the engine and the ship as a result.
These ships now hunted down the foolish and fleeing ships which were pounded by EEZO rockets and were finished off by the destroyers. The imperial commanders named their maneuver SolarBlitzkrieg, and was proven and finest tactic against the minor alien empires which have not yet adapted to new imperial tactics,only Quarians and Citadel Empire were known to have developed a somewhat effective shield enforcer which prevented the overload upon EEZO Rocket impact.
Within minutes the Plague fleet was just steely remains and floating corpses, not one has managed to survive.
Arahi was stunned by the action of the Imperials ,he did not had the time to order his fleet to engage by the time imperial fleet began destroying the plague vessels. He realized, that unlike those ships he fought in the Aurelian, these were better models, the weaponry more or less the same, but the way they fought and moved, they most certainly have gone through few upgrades.
"Leader Arahi, we are done in this system, scavenging through the plague debris is out of the question, we cannot risk the pollution of not one of our crewmembers.
We should press onwards and reach the first system where your coordinates lead."
"Yes…ofcourse"he responded. "Quarian fleet, prepare for the jump, we have a few of those before reaching Shapuria. "
The ships left the remains of the plague fleet alone, avoiding them in a huge arch. They abandoned the EEZO chocked system and jumped, guns at the ready, towards the next system in their quest.
The jumps were uneventful, many systems were simply dead; burnt planets, frozen over from changing poles, unlucky ones to be hit with an asteroid that changed their axis by just a few degrees, making them uninhabitable. Curious life bearing planets where entirety of its life forms float with the wind which carries them around the globe as they feed on the gentle rays of their own sun. sand planets with horrifying life on them, in forms of kilometers long worms traveling the endless sand dunes causing electrical disturbance, nothing to pique the interest of the war fleets traveling the vast region of space known as Plague Stars.
Passing the outskirts they found primitive and barely advanced sapiens on certain worlds, still in their earliest development, they have used tools and fire for the first time, much to the amusement of the Quarian Scientists on board the First Reich Flotilla.
Their imperial colleagues were of different taste, much more enjoying the ruins of xenos empires that in their long years left the traces of their existence long after they have been snuffed out by unknown forces.
Techpriests were free to contemplate the application of technology to the imperial one if they could think of something, but the extreme stigma of new technologies and necessity of approval by Magos and 12 of his high ranking TechBishops meant that out of many, only scant few were approved for development and application, and of those almost exclusively made for one thing only, War.
They have come to witness horrifying sights, planets in the ending stages of world wars, nuclear explosions vaporizing all semblance of xenos civilization, much to the horror of Quarians, and to the joy of imperials.
After witnessing more than a few extinction events, even the Mechanicus priests stopped smiling and contemplated what madness grips this region.
They even stumbled upon the human colony, or what remained of it. Merely an outpost with no humans present was spotted in the hot hell of the jungle world orbiting too close to its star.
It was abandoned, after several mechanicus pleas to explore, the approval of joint fleets let the combined elements of Mechanicus and about a hundred Quarian All Terrain units allowed them to explore the ruins of the colony, Citing the necessity of the fleet to rest and harvest helium fuel.
As the fleet harvesters, under more than heavy protection, ventured and harvested the Helium fuel from the star, maximizing its already near full tanks, the transport vessel made a careful descent onto the world bellow.
The transport shook under the whipping of rain and the impact of the thunder upon its hull as it passed through the hurricane type storm that was engulfing much of the northern hemisphere.
They have made the landfall in the center of the colony; the colony itself has shown the signs of jungle growth, many buildings were partly or completely swallowed by the aggressive plants, the eager mechanicus detachment and the careful Quarians stepped out from the joint transport, mechanicus priests headed to the town center, while the quarians formed a perimeter, the rain and heat was unbearable, but inside their enviro suits, it troubled them none.
The mechanicus trio of priests followed by their non-sentient servants and Skitarii bodyguard entered the overgrown building, insider of it was no better than the outside, jungle has taken over , wet floor, filth and debris was scattered all around, broken windows and damaged electronics was present, and it was eerily silent.
Communication was lacking, the hurricane carried magnetic particles in its winds, preventing any link with the main fleet. Trio of priests searched for any working console in order to mine for data, none was found on the first floor. Two priests decided to take the basement and one of them would take the second floor.
The elevators were broken as usual, gigantic branches have entered the elevator shaft and grasped tightly the elevator itself, no repair was possible. So the groups took the stairs. Climbing was not easy, fear of weak and decayed floor and the chocking darkness stopped the climb, but the main door to the second floor was welded shut, taking his tool the techpriest gave it to one of the novices following him and told him to cut it open, the young priest obeyed and began eating at the metal with his tool.
As he was done he tried to pry the door open and was instantly recoiled as the door vented foul stagnant air.
"By the omnissiah, what in the blazes is that…" he placed a hand on his mouth.
"Ammonia, combined with other gases, none lethal to us, but their presence implies organic matter. lights on, we proceed inside. " The senior priest responded and turned on his staff light.
The inside of the second floor was dark, the windows were chocked by jungle growth and other secreted material or brown greenish color. Walking inside they followed the cables running on the floor, with each step they felt buzzing in their ears and the filth and secretions were thicker, even the smell assaulted the senses worse than ever. There was scant electrical presence in the consoles, and they approached what seemed like a server room, massive in size, the door was made of plasti glass and was stained from time, it was impossible to see what was inside.
Almost angrily the senior priest interfaced with the door handle and busted it up, shortcutting it, they have swung open wide and this triggered the generator on standby which created enough of a power surge to fuel the lights.
The room was now clear for all to see, human carcasses were webbed up and stuck to the ceiling and walls, coated in silk all the way to the neck, but not the head. The head was pierced in the forehead by something as all skeletons and meaty remains indicated that all have died the same way.
"By the Omnissiah…"one of the skitarii said as he gazed around himself and saw walls stained with brown red from the blood of his race.
Then from the walls and holes, and even from the jungle growth, crawled out the native fauna to this planet and the presumed killers of the humans in the room.
To describe them bluntly would be to call them spiders, arachnid in form, they were green, with yellow stripes, their armour was not chitinous, not fully. They had scales on their legs, long hair their heads which shook violently when pointed in the direction of the mechanicus priesthood.
They began to growl and drool; they used their 8 eyes on the head and twitched their heads to each new target in the room, more and more of their numbers appeared.
There was an explosion in the lower levels and the room quaked, then the lights died.
The growl turned to feral scream as the spider like beings were not keen to intruders ruining their resting places. They descended upon their new victims.
"Fire! Open fire!" senior priest shouted.
The skitarii opened fire with their advanced rifles, each shot melting the creature not adept to withstanding such shot. One of the skitarii used his flamethrower; promethium burnt the creatures to ashes. Those unlucky to fall were dragged into the holes, some outright were eaten on the spot, as the spider creatures filled their mouths with jelly like silk which hardened and chocked them, then the spiders took their proboscis from the mouth, impacted the head and began draining their victims of all their life.
"Fall back! By the Omnissiah! Fall…Ahhhghghhh!" the priest was being torn to shreds by the obviously hungry creatures which began stabbing him with their proboscis, one unlucky creature broke its sting impacting the metal leg of a priest, screaming violently. "
" Tomius! Priest Tomius! Respond….. They got the senior priest! We gotta get outta here!" the skitarri squad leader shouted in his vox chat, but the disturbance form the storm and the cacophony of fire fight in the room was too much for anyone to hear.
Meanwhile, the two priests who reached the basement had discovered what became of the colonists.
The basement was pitch black, droplets of water fell from the ceiling onto the floor, mucus and ungodly disgusting smell permeated the hallways, side rooms were blocked off by debris, almost as if someone sought to protect themselves, this made skitarii squad worried.
"The air is so foul down here" one priest said
"Yes. This gas composition…calcium, this can't be…"
"What is it brother?"
"This gas composition would imply only one thing… only the remains of many corpses can cause…"
It was at this moment that priest on the second floor activated the generator via his tempering with the door mechanism, generator gave its best and sent electricity to all rooms, it illuminated the basement revealing the generator room itself, in it horror was the only word to describe what the men saw.
On floors, ceilings, walls, humans were melded together, swollen, some were exploded from within. They then saw one of the human crawling up, her legs dried up, eaten by spiders, she crawled towards the mechanicus priests he saw.
"help meeeeeeee" she groaned in visible pain.
"What is this madness! One skitarii shouted.
Casually, a spider approached the crawling human, and to the horror of all spreaded her legs, and finding her female organ pushed itself inside. Womans's screams were enough to put fear into the strongest man. It didn't took long for the spider to complete its blasphemous job, few thrusts and it completed the impregnation process. It then lifted the foaming human and as if by magic her stomach was already swollen, seconds later bursting open and releasing hundreds of small spiders, then she was promptly discarded aside by the creature.
"Kill them! KILL THEM ALL!" Second priest ordered, driven mad by the sights. At this command about 20 skitarii soldiers opened their advanced rifles towards the general direction of the spider, causing utter destruction; many dying humans were impacted, sweet death bringing them release. Some shots went in the direction of the generator itself, perforating it and it exploded violently, engulfing the room in fire.
"we are falling back, now! " one of the priests ordered. They rushed to the surface while thousands of enraged spiders were on top of them.
Outside the Quarians saw that the second floor was illuminated by fire and explosions, one side of the building exploding outright as several skitarii began to jump down from the open hole.
They started walking to help, but the jungle went alive, the foliage rustled around them and even from the abandoned buildings thousands of spiders crawled out and proceeded to attack.
Quarians used their own energy weapons, forming a defensive line they begin firing all over the place, they were surrounded now.
Remaining skitarii from the second floor joined them in the battle.
"Keelah, what happened!? " Quarian captain spoke.
"What do you think it happened, we were under attack!" Skitarii leader responded, covered in bug guts.
"I can see that! Where are your priests!?"
At that moment skitarii squad leader saw that they were the only ones out
"They must be still stuck inside, we must…"
"Look! There they are." Skitarii soldier shouted pointing at the door of the town center.
Two priests were running, their las pistols near depleted, only the flamethrower soldier held the tide of monstrously hungry creatures from swarming them, he was beset from above and brought to ground, realizing he is about to die, he busted his own flamer unit causing catastrophic explosion. The whole town center was burning now, even though it rained profusely, promethium refusing to extinguish even when wet.
"What are you looking at?! Rally to me, we must push to the transport!" one priest said.
At that moment from the wall burst forth a giant spider, easily 10 meters in size alone, screaming madly as her skin burnt from the generator explosion.
"The big mamma…"skitari squad leader said.
"Are you going to ogle at her?! Shoot at it!" priest commanded and opened fire, others following suit.
Her thick skin reflecting many blows, but few found their mark, she got into melee range and began thrashing with her long legs and mandibles, killing quarians and humans alike, until grasping the Skitarii Squad leader.
"Ahhhh, you fucking bitch…let go!"he went berserk stabbing her with his durra knife, causing deep gashes and serious wounds on her face.
"mother…fucking….piece…arghhh!"he kept stabbing her even as her jaws slowly cracked his spine, then in an instant, his spine gave way.
"URGHH!" he spouted blood from his mouth…and then with a defiant will took his knife and stab her one last time in her eye. She let go of him instantly, screeched sadly and fell down, the queen was dead.
"ha ha…got..ya…mmmghh "he said as darkness came over him, only the sight of the priest standing over him pierced the dark.
"You aren't dead yet. "he said as he extended needle with blue liquid which he injected into him. he yelled loudly and then went limp. As if nothing the priest picked him and packed him on his back, they proceeded to push forward to the ship
Quarians and humans dying to the onslaught, but more than half of the expedition made it, the doors to the ship were solidly shut, and the engines roared to life even as the ship was crawled ontop by the spiders, blasting off into the sky the ship burnt hundreds and rest fell off from the rapid climb.
They have landed onto the main ship, and were disinfected twice, and debriefed. The loss of priests was unacceptable, the fate of the humans in the colony was safe to say sealed. They were damned, but in case some were still alive, they wouldn't have to suffer the indignity meant for them by the xenos.
One cruiser approached the atmosphere of the planet and had done some calculation, then released from its cargo one of the many bombs it carried with it, it sped towards the surface burning upon entry and then impacted the ground.
With the strength of 50 megatons it exploded; everything within 8 kilometers turned to dust, rocks melted, organics just simply vanished when the fireball from the blast reached them, hundreds of kilometers around it life forms suffered third degree burn as the flash scorched their bodies and vaporized them wholly. Jungle hundreds of kilometers around was engulfed in a firestorm which would choke the atmosphere for years. Even the hurricane was crushed by the blast of the bomb destroying its cohesion; it would dissipate fully within few days.
Where there was a lush jungle with thousands of various life forms, now there is a gigantic crater, for hundreds of kilometers around the blast, only death reigned.
"it is done" the purgatory officer spoke as he saw the deeds his bomb has made. "May imperial justice accounts for all balance, the Emperor protects" .
"The emperor protects. "was a silent reply of his crew.
The fleets swiftly and in silence reorganized, the fuel collection completed, and ventured to the relay, warping into the next system beyond this one. Leaving only death behind them.
After a few uneventful jumps they finaly arrived in the system "Shapuria". The commanders shared the hologram council and discussed their next move.
"So this is the system. " said Tiberius.
"Yes, the homeworld of some unknown race, only 4 planets orbit this dim and dying sun, three are totally barren and dead according to scans. And there is Shapuria, the planet of the same name as the system, second from the sun, in all its frozen glory."
"The sun is dying." Agrippa spoke.
"What?" Arahi'Ler exclaimed
"The sun, it is dying, for the better part of the 60 000 years or so. You can see the dimming was caused by some sort of a weapon, there, that black spot on the surface of the sun, mass driver weapon, it caused the sun to overburn, it shrunk by some 10% , insignificant in the grand scheme of things. "he paused "But enough to put the planet in the permanent Ice Age."
"Thankfully for us, the frost preserved all the constructions, good 30% of the planet is coated in constructs."
"Comrade Leader, we have detected something." One of Arahis quarian tech operators spoke.
"Show me."
"There, it is weak, but it is a signal from our scout vessel."he pointed at the biggest peak of the buildings.
"What is that building…" Arahi was intrigued.
"Unknown, but our scout vessel is there, the power is weak, and the hull is frozen. But the signal itself comes from inside the complex."
"From inside… I don't like this. "
"Indeed, it could be a trap." Tiberius added.
"That may be so fellow admiral, but it is either finding the signal, or spending several years jumping system to system in hopes we find Zorah. And that time is what we can't afford, wouldn't you agree with me? "
"I agree Arahi, between hammer and a hard place, we have no choice. We must send our ground troops ,and get our fleets into orbit for protection."
"Can't we scan the surface of the planet, search for hostiles." Arahi told his tech officer.
"I have scanned the world comrade Leader, no heat signatures and no life signatures, the severe frost makes it impossible to scan deeper."
"Damnation…" Arahi spoke angrily.
"it comes to the foot soldiers now, I will tell Romeluss to gather his finest ground soldiers and prepare them for cold environment. " Tiberius told Arahi.
"I will do so as well, my finest SubZero Division will assist the ground troops. The nature of the world prevents vehicles from being deployed, we risk falling through the ice."
"yes, the odds are against us. But we will overcome, let us assemble our ground troops they will deploy in earnest. " Tiberius said as he gazed at the white ball of snow bellow him.
" let us get to it then, I will be in the conference room should you need me Admiral. ""
"ofcourse, honor and glory Arahi. "Tiberius spoke
"Honor and glory admiral." Arahi said and shut down the video link.
"Shista…this will be bad, I can tell. " Quarian leader said to himself.
Few hours later the fleets began deploying their finest soldiers adapted to cold climates. Arahis Sub Zeros were Quarians wearing Enviro Suits with substantial thickness and armour, striving to emulate those of the space marines they fought. But they were just that, empowered suits, not power armours akin to astartes ones, and they were slow and cumbersome, relying on mass effect technology to power and move them.
Imperials have sent many thousands of geared imperial guard, whom had experience of warfare on the cold worlds in the original universe. Mechanicus detachment, led by Agrippa himself. And upon his request the healed Squad leader of the Skitarii was named his second in command and leader of the ground skitarii forces. His acts in the face of danger impressed Agrippa and he sought him personally, the confused leader hesitated, but accepted the invitation with joy. His wounds were lighter than they appeared, the timely intervention by the priest saved him, and the spine was quickly reinforced by Steel addition, making Squad leader combat ready.
The ground units were also accompanied by 200 battle brothers led by Chaplain Julius Nepos, near third of the entire marine detachment sent with the fleet, out of 700 battle brothers.
The reorganized Space marines now wielded 250 marines per company instead of 100, they now numbered some 3000 in total throughout the New Imperium of Man, they constantly increase their numbers as the ever expanding Imperium has many dangers assailing them, Xenos being the least of their worries, as the galaxy had many unknown horrors to throw at them, and these marines were used as border units of terror, where they were no xeno dared invade or raid.
Each company now called itself Legio, or Legion in low gothic. With the fleet were 3 Legios, Legio Nortica, Legio Polaris, and Legio Iulius. Each named for the world they conquered.
Legio Iulius was undermanned, still green and combat young, they conquered the world Iulius with another Legio as support. This would be their first real deployment, and all 180 brothers were sent with the chaplain to supervise their actions on the ground.
This combined fleet of Xenos and Humans now descended on the frozen surface of this world, away from the shuttle standing near the giant complex, they decided to take it slow, and advance block by block until they reached it, not risking to be ambushed.
They landed some 20 kilometers away from the shuttle as a precaution in a great clearing of what appeared to be, once upon a time in the history now long forgotten, a park of sorts.
First to arrive were the marines, their thunderhawks landed them on the clearing, Chaplain advised against using drop pods, it would be humiliating to fall through the ice or get stuck.
The brothers were swift as soon as the hawks landed they rushed from the transports, faster than the eye could see they took defensive positions, and not a second later charged for the surrounding buildings, busting inside with guns ready.
It was clear, the buildings were frozen, and temperature was some -30 inside, and up to -40 outside where the wind blew harshly. After securing the buildings, they moved forward until they cleared the entire city block surrounding the park. Only when the landing was deemed secure was the signal given for the majority of the force to arrive. First to land were mechanicus followed by the Quarians and Imperial Guard in their frost protection suits.
Agrippa stepped outside and gazed at the frozen buildings, inhaling the freezing air through his mask, he sighed and the warm vapor flew from his mouth. They were smaller habitats, some 3 floors tall and amazingly preserved by the cold. In the distance he could see the huge spires of the city center ominously standing watch over the dead city.
"Deploy the equipment, we will claim that building as our command post" it was a rather big building which the marines quickly scouted. Now the skitarii would make detailed sweep of the grounds and establish their technology there, including warmth devices in order to keep the ground operation smooth.
Various priests hurried about, installing turrets on top of the buildings and other security devices, then the patrols of servitors were sent to move through the city streets. The Park layout was favorable, it contained a huge open area of space where the fleet landed, and surrounded in square like shape by the small habitat buildings each going 2 blocks deep, that entire part was then divided from the other part of the city by a highway which was some 50 meters wide . it was a small urban island split from the city prime, perfect for defense.
The clouds were ominous on this world, and it was white for as long as you could see, the spires were north, and beyond the spire was a huge mountain towering over them, with the dark and white clouds spewing snow for who knows how long.
Many soldiers disembarked, taking shelter in the buildings and installing generators to provide warmth and protection against the maddening cold.
"By the Omnissiah its "cold here, warp must have frozen, followed by my balls. "the Skitarii squad leader spoke to himself as he disembarked from the transport, his words drawing attention of Agrippa.
"I didn't get your name soldier, what is your name?"
"My name lord? Its Felix, Ignatius Felix."
"Felix. Good, you see that big building there Felix?"
"Why, yes I do sir, what about it."
"Well that building is our new HQ, and I need it clear for deployment, you understand me right?"
"You mean…"
"Yes, Felix, I mean you are about to lead a squad of our finest men inside, and check it, top to bottom for hostiles and report back to me."
The smile on Felix's face disappeared.
"Yes lord, I am on it. "he signed the Aquila on his chest and then began assembling his men, shouting all the way. Agrippa couldn't help but smile gently.
Leading his skitarii , Felix entered inside, as Agrippa pondered the world he was on, oxygen was present in acceptable quantities, but the planet is not supposed to be cold, he has scaned the ground and it still has traces of plant remains. This was once a life bearing world, someone or something killed it for reasons unknown.
Within an hour Felix signaled the building to be clear, and equipment was carried inside, the building itself reinforced and fortified, the entire park looked like a military bunker, with AA and AT turrets, and many Anti Infantry turrets and gun emplacements in the buildings overlooking the city prime, nothing could get in without the soldiers noticing it.
They also installed the Vox System, even though the frost and system disturbances they could speak with the fleet in orbit, they could not afford to have radio silence on an inhospitable world.
The dim sun was setting, and the compound was lit by the lights, and for the first time in many millennia life claimed the dead world for its own. Inside the tolerably warm buildings soldiers and quarians took shelter, each to his own building, not eager to sit close to the xenos the humans first took the eastern half of the park for themselves, leaving Quarians to take the right, no quarian objected, for they understood the feeling all too well, their ancestors being nomads for 300 years until their dignity was restored.
Only the Astartes cared not where they slept, taking quarters at the south blocks from the park, this way they could control and oversee both the guard and Quarians from their position. They established fortifications in their buildings and then waited, vigilant and ready for enemy to come, needing not sleep, or food, they stood watch over the camp.
Agrippa did not sleep that night, for the nights on that planet were short, it took the planet 19.3 hours to revolve around its axis, another anomaly, as Agrippa calculated that it once took 22.5 hours to do the same.
He found several data pads, or so he thought they were, his Prothean knowledge helped him distinguish what is useful here or what is not, for in their cycle, most races sought to emulate the Protheans in technology and customs, it wouldn't surprise him these were the same. But it was contrary, scouting the buildings and the remaining tech which was by this point frozen and destroyed beyond repair gave him assumptions that these xenos never met the protheans, as they lacked the touch related transmission and similar technology which protheans exclusively used.
Leaving the remaining xenos tech aside he calculated the routes which will take the least time for expeditions to reach the city spires and find the signal. 20 kilometers is fast to walk on normal conditions, but under frost, snow, ice and who knows what other hazards, it would take at least 5 days to arrive, and 5 days to come back. For they were not in the rush and would not risk another ambush like they suffered on the jungle planet.
During the night, the temperature fell to -55 degrees Celsius, a bone chilling cold descended on the camp, soldiers inside slept soundly as they were happy to leave their ships, even though some grumbled about the cold, but were nevertheless happy to be on the ground. It was warm +5 degrees Celsius inside the buildings.
Quarians needed no heat producing tech as their common enviro suits could calmly tolerate of up to -80 celsius temperature, and their enviro reinforced suits of up to -130, and up to 80+ for warm weathers. These were made for fighting on all sorts of ground situations.
Nevertheless they were surprised as several servitors carried heat generators to the Quarian quarters.
"What is all this Istom? ( quarian name for machine humans) "
"Lord Agrippa wishes to provide some heat generators, we have spares. He says, that even though your suits help, the machine spirits do not like cold, hence, you should warm your quarters. "
"i…. we..we accept gratefully Istom, tell your Lord he has our thanks. "
The servitors did not respond and left two generators on the floor and exited the building. Quarians were surprised by this gesture, and for a moment they all stood there, silently contemplating what had just happened.
Night fell upon the camp, and only auto turrets and diligent servitors patrolled the compound, ever vigilant.
As the old martian poem went "Rest easy body, for machine spirit watches over your dreams.
Rest easy flesh of my origin, for while the certainty of steel exists, no harm will befall you.
Rest easy oh you weary flesh, for you are weak, and steel strong, until the day we are one. "
The dim sun gazed once more upon the planet bringing barely noticeable warmth and the soldiers began waking up, coffees were had and preparations done for the march ahead. The spirits of men were high, and they formed the formation, each squad leader and officer briefed of the safest paths to follow.
Agrippa himself decided to be in charge of the Skitarii and Mechanicus expedition, as they were needed for their technological expertise.
Quarians themselves took left of the Mechanicus, their strong enviro suits whirring with mass effect drives, they were 2 meters tall in those, carrying heavier versions of their common Quarian Energy rifles.
One of the guard remarked how they had two chapters of marines to watch over them, much to the laughter of his comrades, and the rage filled gaze of his commissar who was close enough to hear and promised him he will dig the snow with his hands and not the shovel for breaking discipline in the unit.
The guard was also ready, warm suits, portable generator units, fully charged las rifles made especially for cold weathers so they wouldn't jam. Officers and the guardsmen were ready for march towards the spire.
The astartes were silent, they were ahead of all three columns, spreaded so they could scout ahead of the units and warn of any danger, some 80 of them would do that. While the 100 battle brothers would watch the backs of the advancing expeditions, making sure no harm befalls them.
All units were ready as they could be, and awaited order to move out.
Agrippa inhaled the cold morning air once more, silently observed the spires of the city as they stood out from the city like teeth against the crushing snow which didn't stop falling.
"Expeditions, move out. We march towards our quest"
He began walking in full mechanicus gear followed by his skitarii and other priests, other expeditions also began their slow and steady march against the wind and the snow pushing them back.
Soon enough they were gone from the sight and disappeared into the blizzard.
The Cold march begins…