Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40k or Code Geass. I just play with their characters and technology here.
Chapter Nine: The Emperor of Mankind
Black Knights Drop Shuttle Courageous
Orbit of Holy Terra
Nunnally was awoken from her all-too-brief power nap by the passenger compartment's intercom blaring to life.
"We are currently approaching the orbit of Mars and will be disengaging the skimmer drive in approximately one minute."
Nunnally and the other passengers, having experienced constant Warp jumps throughout their lives, reflexively leaned back in their seats. Designed with a skimmer drive, Sleipnir-class drop shuttles exemplified the Black Knights' military doctrine of lightning-fast surgical strikes. The design's relatively tiny size and mass allowed it to easily transition to and from the Warp, giving it enormous operational mobility. However, those very same features also meant that, despite advanced inertial dampeners, passengers were all too aware of any Warp currents. With the Warp never being truly calm for the past ten thousand years, turbulence while entering and leaving the Warp was the rule rather than the exception, and jumping into gravity wells only magnified the effects.
"Disengaging the skimmer drive in ten seconds," a brief pause, "Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One. Skimmer drive disengaged."
The turbulence jostled the drop shuttle's passengers around in their seats, but their acceleration harnesses kept them firmly in place.
Curious as to the appearance of her onetime home, Nunnally bought her holographic interface back up and tapped into one of the shuttle's external cameras. The sight that greeted her caused her to wonder if the shuttle crew had miscalculated and jumped them in over another Imperial world. The cradle of humanity had been heavily urbanized during the exodus, but tiny patches of green and ocean could still be seen from space. The world in front of her was almost completely encased in smog, though small islands—which Nunnally soon realized were hive spires—occasionally poked through. Long lines of light, which the governor reckoned were the lights of densely-packed lesser hives, arranged in a vaguely geometric pattern crisscrossed the surface.
Nunnally's view of the new Earth was cut off by the massive flank of an Imperial cruiser. The Sleipnir passed close enough that she could even make out the individual weapons batteries encrusting the warship's surface. Several of the gun muzzles looked large enough to pilot the shuttle through with room to spare. The massive guns grew smaller and smaller as the shuttle banked sharply away from the cruiser, briefly bringing other ships into view while diving towards the atmosphere.
"Attention all passengers, atmospheric re-entry will commence in thirty seconds. Repeat, atmospheric re-entry in thirty seconds."
Nunnally dismissed her heads-up display and, along with the rest of the passengers, leaned back into her seat.
Black Knights 15th Militia Staging Area
Tharsis Region, Surface of Mars
"Get those drop-shuttles unloaded! I wanted them back in the air yesterday!"
The red dust of Mars hung in the air as dozens of Sleipnir drop shuttles touched down all over the volcanic plain. Just as many were circling the makeshift airfield in search of an open landing spot or preparing to take off. Even more had already shut down their gravitric drives and dropped their ramps. Hundreds of Archangel-type Knightmares crisscrossed the staging area, many of them pushing mountains of supply crates on grav-sleds. The low whining of the Sleipnirs' built-in overhead cranes and conveyer belts filled the air.
The Beijing and the Paris hung in the skies overhead, surrounded by their sizable escort fleets as another wave of transport ships departed from their cavernous hangar bays. Though mainly used to destroy enemy fleets and support smaller vessels, Black Knights dreadnoughts lacked little in the troop carrier role: each of the dreadnoughts was loaded to capacity with forty thousand militiamen. Each of the smaller cruisers contributed an additional twenty thousand troops to the rapidly-expanding Black Knights presence on Mars.
At the heart of the militia staging area, the larger silhouettes of Valkyrie-class utility ships dominated the landscape. Their mission pods giving them a bloated appearance, each Valkyrie boasted the carrying capacity of a dozen Sleipnirs. Each one was equipped with four gantry cranes and was tasked with hauling supplies too bulky for Sleipnirs to carry—mainly prefabricated fortifications—or large numbers of Knightmare-equipped troops.
"Ma'am, we've got company."
Colonel General Lilia Majka, head of the Black Knights 15th Militia, whirled towards the direction the Brigadier General pointed out. Even with minimal zoom, she could make out the large formation of Skitarii heading their way.
"Dammit! Tell them that if they're not here to help, clear out! I've got two hundred thousand pairs of boots to get on the ground before the rest of the Army Group arrives!"
Skies of Holy Terra
Somewhere Over the Former Mid-Atlantic
Stretching many kilometers into the air, the hive cities of Holy Terra were built atop thousands of years' worth of urban expansion. In these massive spires lived untold trillions in unimaginable squalor, their brief lives full of backbreaking toil in the service of a privileged few. Even greater numbers lived in the layers of cities below, unknown to the Imperium and oblivious to the events taking place above. Few out of the miniscule portion of the population fortunate enough to live where they could see the smog-choked skies over Holy Terra could see the streak of fire that briefly cut across the sky. Even fewer could say they knew the identity of that streak.
The stream of flame vanished as the Courageous and its escort craft, their hadron fields still glowing slightly from the heat of re-entry, reached the lower atmosphere of Terra. Two more of the escorting Excaliburs were already waiting at the rendezvous point. The quartet hovered in midair as the final two attack craft leveled out and decelerated, actually overshooting the group before bleeding off enough velocity to double back and form up.
"Contact. Five Imperial fighters bearing straight ahead. They are climbing to match our altitude."
Next to the gravitric-drive-equipped Black Knights craft, even the maneuverable Imperial Thunderbolts appeared somewhat clumsy in comparison. They shot past the formation at high speed, swinging around in an enormous arc to face the sextet of Black Knights craft. The Imperial fighters began circling the Courageous and its escorts, currently hovering in place, as lines of communication were established. Within minutes, the newly-expanded delegation to the Imperial Palace roared towards the horizon at supersonic speeds.
Black Knights Drop Shuttle Courageous
Skies Over the Imperial Palace
Though Nunnally knew it would probably prove wiser to rest before confronting the Adeptus Custodes and the High Lords of Terra, she couldn't resist the urge to sight-see around the Imperial Palace. Summoning her holographic display, she tapped into the shuttle's external cameras. Surface scans taken from orbit failed to do the massive complex justice: though she had arrived at Earth well aware that the Imperial Palace covered much of what she knew as the Euro Universe, Nunnally didn't feel truly dwarfed until the pyramids came into view.
As the Courageous and its escorts dipped lower into the atmosphere, the hive structures below came into view. Nunnally could even make out the individual main spires and the numerous smaller spires that surrounded them. Even the smallest of the spires housed more people than the entire Black Knights fleet combined. Several of the structures in the distance seemed large and official-looking enough to function as Administratum buildings. As the Courageous began weaving between the buildings, Nunnally's assumptions were proven correct as the emblem of the Administratum came into view.
Beneath the atmosphere of quiet awe, the same question lurked in everyone's minds. CC, Nunnally, Suzaku, Kallen, their twelve-Knightmare honor guard, even the nine Psychic Special Warfare operatives in the shuttle all quietly wondered: just how would they defend even the tiniest portion of the Imperial Palace? Modern Imperial hive cities were hastily erected and haphazardly expanded with little regard for proper planning. The countless twisting corridors and forgotten passages would make holding even a small portion of a hive a living nightmare at best. With only a few hundred million troops to their name, the Black Knights simply couldn't afford to deploy to anything not a strategic choke-point.
Tactical planning was pushed to the rear of everyone's minds as one of the aptly-named Titanoliths appeared through the smoke. A massive column kilometers in height, several Yggdrasils could easily be stacked bow-to-stern inside with plenty of room to spare. According to surface scans, twenty of the pillars were arranged in a massive ring around the Inner Imperial Palace. According to what few scraps of information Black Knights Intelligence could pick up, the pillars were hollow, their insides lined with the banners of every Astartes Chapter to have fallen in their service to the Emperor. Recent reports seemed to indicate that they were running out of room to hang new banners.
The Thunderbolt fighters that had escorted them peeled away at high speed, swinging their noses around and rocketing away in the other direction as a flight of Stormtalon gunships rose up to meet them. Several came so close to the Courageous that its passengers could see the Custodian behind the controls. The shuttle and its escorts roared over the Inner Palace at blinding speeds, twisting and turning into the gaps between the pyramidal and monolithic structures that made up the Imperial Palace. At several points, the craft seemed to nearly slam into a building only to bank sharply around at the last second.
The shuttle began slowing as the largest pyramid of them all began looming ever closer. Even from dozens of kilometers away, the size difference was almost immediately obvious. Though the rest of the Imperial Palace was by no means lightly defended, the central pyramid was completely encrusted in gun emplacements. The largest batteries looked capable of fitting a Trundholm-class cruiser down its muzzle, while even the smallest visible at such distance could probably accommodate an Avalon-class destroyer without any problems.
"Approach vector locked," announced a slightly tinny voice over the shuttle's intercom, "We will be landing in approximately ten minutes."
The last image Nunnally saw before dismissing her holographic interface was the Courageous' escorts peeling away at high speed. The Excaliburs climbed sharply for several seconds before circling the pyramid, while the Stormtalons disappeared behind the horizon. She assumed the Custodian gunships were bound for a repair hanger somewhere. She remembered a time when Knightmare helmet radios put out a tinny, distorted voice due to technical limitations. The effect had become so ingrained in their society's collective psyche that newer power armors used software to artificially insert the effect.
"We are now on final approach."
The passenger compartment shook slightly as the shuttle touched down. The distinctive whining sound of the gravitric drives slowed then stopped entirely. The twelve Archangels were already out of their seats and preparing to disembark when the ramp dropped.
Docking Bay G98
Imperial Palace, Holy Terra
It was a rare occurrence that all twelve of the High Lords of Terra gathered together, and security was appropriately heavy for the occasion. Besides the dozens of Custodians lined along the path, Vindicare assassins had taken hidden positions around the hangar bay, their massive Exitus rifles trained on the Courageous' open ramp. Dozens more Custodians and several Culexus Assassins waited behind the main blast doors, ready to storm in at the first sign of trouble.
Though Inquisitor Kirschman had informed the High Lords of the appearance of the governor of the Black Knights, they were barely able to hide their expressions of surprise as Nunnally stepped down the ramp. A few Custodians' grips around their guardian spears visibly tightened as Kallen and Suzaku stepped down the ramp. As CC stepped down the ramp, an overhead ventilator released a brief but powerful gust of air. Though initially powerful enough to give even an Astartes pause, the wind's force had sufficiently dissipated by the time it reached ground-level that it only blew CC's hair aside. For a brief instant, the mark of Geass on her forehead was visible to all.
A loud thud echoed throughout the chamber before CC's hair settled. All those gathered turned towards the source of the noise. This time, most were unable to hide their shock. One of the High Lords of Terra, the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, had fallen to one knee and bowed his head. His guardian spear lay on the ground in front of him.
"What is the meaning of this?" one of the other High Lords demanded as the other Custodians in the room emulated their Captain-General's action.
"The mark upon her forehead," to who the Captain-General was referring required no explanation, "is well-known to the Adeptus Custodes. The Custodians have safeguarded its secret since the time the God-Emperor himself walked amongst mortals. The God-Emperor himself bore the mark on his throat, and only one other carried such a mark. My fellow High Lords, you are witnessing the return of the Empress."
"This is preposterous!" another of the High Lords—the Inquisitorial representative, specifically—sprang up and stepped towards CC, "She has enthralled your minds with some foul sorcery! We have allowed the Great Enemy into the halls of Holy Terra its-"
The Inquisitor never finished his sentence, having been interrupted by the sudden disappearance of a large chunk of his torso. The Captain-General returned his guardian spear to its previous position without once looking up.
"The God-Emperor himself wrote of the Empress in the founding edicts of the Adeptus Custodes! Any commands she or her companions give are to be treated as if given by the God-Emperor himself! Any insult against them will be dealt with as an insult against the God-Emperor himself!"
Though the remaining High Lords may have disagreed with the Captain-General's words, they placed sufficient value on their continued existence to not pick a fight with the leader of the Adeptus Custodes. For the first time since the Great Crusade, the High Lords of Terra bowed down.
"My Empress," the Captain-General's tone changed from angry to respectful, "Do you wish anything of the Adeptus Custodes?"
"Rise, all of you," CC deadpanned.
A brief shuffling of feet as the room's occupants rose to their feet.
"Take us to the Sanctum Imperialis," CC ordered.
"It shall be done, my Empress."
Eternity Gate, Sanctum Imperialis
Two Hours, Thirty Minutes Later
Built during a time where any form of urban planning was not only still possible but actually practical, the Inner Imperial Palace benefitted from an extensive and surprisingly-efficient internal transportation network. In just under an hour and a half, the Black Knights and Imperial delegations travelled from the docking bay to the heart of the Imperial Palace. Unfortunately, the network only extended to the path leading up to the Eternity Gate. An hour-long hike awaited them as they stepped off the tram.
As they proceeded at a brisk pace up the titanic staircase, the Black Knights representatives and their bodyguards felt a sense of quiet awe overcome them. The sheer scale of the Imperial Palace—even when viewed from the air—was humbling, but the titanic proportions of the staircase leading to the Eternity Gate were mind-blowing. Countless banners adorned the path to either side of the staircase, each representing an Imperial Guard or Adeptus Astartes unit in the Emperor's service. Some of them even dated back to the Great Crusade, and Nunnally could've sworn she saw one from the Thunder Army.
For many of the Black Knights present, the two Warhounds of the Legio Ignatum flanking the Eternity Gate were the first Titans they had ever seen. More than one Archangel craned its head upwards in an attempt to see just how high into the air the massive machines rose. The rumbling of the massive Eternity Gate swinging open drew all the gawkers back to the situation on hand.
Several of those present had thought the size of the Eternity Gate to be an illusion, that only a small portion of the mural would actually swing open. Their shock was evident when the entire gate, easily large enough for both the Warhound Scout Titans present to walk inside side-by-side and unbowed, moved. The chamber that lay beyond bore a closer resemblance to an Astartes parade ground than a throne room: at least five to seven fully-geared Astartes companies could fit inside. What really drew their attention, however, was the second massive set of doors on the opposite side of the room.
It took them no time at all to figure out what they were looking at: the fabled Golden Throne.
Forming a straight path from the Eternity Gate to the base of the Golden Throne stood the Companions, three hundred elite Custodians that never left the Emperor's presence. At the sight of the Black Knights delegation, they fell to one knee. With a long series of clangs, their guardian spears crashed together to make an archway.
Cautiously, the Black Knights delegation proceeded inside. When the High Lords made to follow, the Custodians that had escorted them to the Eternity Gate blocked their passage.
Golden Throne, Sanctum Imperialis
Thirty Minutes Later
As Nunnally approached the massive pyramid that was the Golden Throne, an increasingly-strong sense of foreboding flooded her mind. Surely Lelouch had received word of their arrival? Had the thirty thousand years since they had met changed him so much that he wouldn't even acknowledge their presence? Had he, and it pained Nunnally to think about it, forgotten about them?
The pressure building up in the back of her head intensified as she approached the massive set of the gates that dominated the Golden Throne's structure. She stopped in front of them and reached out to touch the door. That immediately proved to be a terrible mistake, as a massive surge of malignant psychic energy lashed out at her. She collapsed to the ground, clutching her head. The dozen Archangels immediately surged forward, Suzaku and Kallen dragging her back as the Knightmare formed a defensive wall between her and the gate.
"Nunnally, are you okay?" Suzaku frantically inquired.
"Yeah," Nunnally insisted, "That gate…I've never felt anything so intense before…"
"What happened?" Kallen chimed in.
"Daemons. Lots of them. Never since the Eye of Terror have I seen so many. This gate couldn't possibly have held them back: it's being forced closed by sheer psychic willpower. I need to find Lelouch!"
Before any of them could react, Nunnally had psychically hurled herself forward and up the staircase leading to the top of the Golden Throne.
Nunnally's scream of horror echoed throughout the chamber. CC, who arrived a few seconds behind her, was a little more restrained in her reaction. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth as she took several steps backwards. Kallen and Suzaku touched down moments later and immediately froze, the seasoned soldiers both overcome by mute shock.
A withered corpse sat on the Golden Throne, psychic energy cackling wildly around the body of the God-Emperor of Mankind. Numerous wires and tubes snaked from his ravaged body to the Golden Throne. Many seemed to connect to life support apparatuses, but just as many appeared to be funneling off his psychic energy. In the forest of wires, the four leaders of the Black Knights could just barely see the Geass symbol on the Emperor's throat.
CC, anger evident on her features for the first time in millennia, rounded on the Captain-General as he climbed the last few steps. A sharp crack resonated throughout the chamber as she jumped up and backhanded the much larger Custodian across the face.
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.
"CC…" Nunnally tried to intervene, but the other woman waved her away.
"My Empress," the Captain-General began, his voice submissive as he sank to one knee, "The Emperor was gravely injured in His battle with Horus twenty thousand years ago."
"He can regenerate!" CC interrupted, "That symbol on his throat! Even if this Horus had burned him to ashes, he wouldn't die!"
"My Empress, it was by his request that we connected him to the Golden Throne. We Custodians failed in our duty that day, and we will gladly accept any punishment you deem fitting."
CC drew her saber, the blade already alight with psychic energy. The Captain-General bowed his head, exposing his neck. CC raised the sword to strike, but lowered it seconds later and dispelled the psychic energy. Kallen and Suzaku, who had begun moving forward to restrain her, visibly relaxed.
"Rise, Captain-General. I have no doubt this was all part of his plan, whatever that may be. Help us extract him from the Throne, and I shall consider your failures forgiven."
"Yes, my Empress."
Golden Throne, Sanctum Imperialis
Thirty Minutes Later
"It simply can't be done!" one of the Tech-Priests protested, "The technology that built the Golden Throne has been lost to us for thousands of years!"
"That gate," Nunnally motioned towards the massive doors, "What's behind them?"
"My lady," the oldest-looking of the Tech-Priests answered, "According to our oldest and most sacred records, it was an attempt to connect to the Eldar Webway. In the years before the Heresy, only the Emperor's will kept daemons from infesting the passage. Now, only His will keeps the gates closed."
"Then we'll need to collapse the gate before extracting him?" CC quietly asked.
"This is madness!" the previous Tech-Priest protested, "The Golden Throne powers far more than just this gate! Without the Emperor's guidance, the Astronomican will be extinguished! You'll doom-"
The Tech-Priest was cut off by the blade of a guardian spear stopping millimeters from his throat.
"You are addressing the Emperor's closest confidants," the Captain-General began, his voice low and dangerous, "You will show proper respect! I have already struck down a High Lord today for such an offense. Were you not one of the few in possession of knowledge as to the Golden Throne's workings, you would have joined him!"
The Tech-Priest visibly relaxed as the guardian spear was removed from his throat.
"Any ships that have yet to reach this system are likely already lost to you. The Astronomican is nearly extinguished as it stands," CC turned towards the older Tech-Priest and the Captain-General, "Tell your men to prepare. We're going to remove the Emperor from the Golden Throne."
Golden Throne, Sanctum Imperialis
Forty-Five Minutes Later
CC and Nunnally sat cross-legged in front of the Webway gate, their eyes closed and breathing steady.
"The Tech-Priests report that they are in place. They have begun disconnecting Lelouch from that…thing," Kallen reported.
The two Psykers opened their eyes to reveal pits of psychic flame. The gates began to shake but ultimately held. Their faces began showing visible signs of strain as more and more of Lelouch's power was removed from the gates. Sweat began dripping from CC's brow, and even Nunnally soon began tiring.
"Captain-General, can you get us a link to the Tech-Priests?" CC whispered, even that minimal expenditure of energy proving quite taxing.
The Captain-General set his vox caster to broadcast mode. The voices of the Tech-Priests filtered to the two Psykers.
"What does this wire do? I've never seen this particular pattern before…"
"Just pull it out! Pray to the Omnissiah for guidance!"
As time went on, the chatter grew steadily more frantic. CC was visibly in pain now, and Nunnally's breathing became heavy and irregular.
"This device's Machine-Spirit is in distress! It does not respond to my requests to shut down!"
"I ask the Onmissiah's forgiveness for what I am about to do…"
The sound of bolt shells meeting machinery echoed through the vox.
CC seemed to swim in and out of consciousness, blood dripping from her ears and nose. Even Nunnally's prodigious psychic powers were being pushed to the very limit, with only her titanic willpower sustaining her efforts. Even with Kallen and Suzaku adding their own not-inconsequential powers to the effort, the daemons beyond continued pounding on the Webway gate. A thin sliver of what lay beyond began occasionally showing from the gap between the doors.
Nunnally was screaming in pain now, fighting to stay conscious. Every breath she took caused her to cough up blood, and the red liquid spilled from her ears and nose and mouth.
"I can't hold it any longer!"
"Companions, form ranks!"
Three hundred Custodians surged forward, imposing themselves between the quartet of Psykers and the Webway gate. They formed a phalanx with their bodies, guardian spears pointed forwards. The Archangel Knightmares stood to the sides, their hadron assault rifles pointed towards the increasingly-wide opening in the gates. A daemon's hand occasionally reached through the gap, only to be discouraged from emerging by hadron bolts and bolter shells fired inside.
Suddenly, the gates swung open, revealing the maddening dimensions of the Warp.
"Companions, close ranks! Push!"
The Custodian phalanx tightened up and began pouring bolter shells into the horde of daemons in front of them as the Knightmares drew back to move their leaders to safety. Psychic Special Warfare operatives occasionally flashed into existence amongst the daemon horde, slicing several of the creatures to ribbons before disappearing again. The battle devolved into a bloody melee, and several daemons began slipping past the Companions only to be scythed down by hadron bolts. The dozen Archangels had deposited their escortees behind a stack of crates—one of many littering the chamber—and had taken up defensive positions in the surrounding area.
"We need to close that gate!" Nunnally croaked.
"We can't even get close to it!" one of the Knightmares reported, "The daemons are breaking through!"
"Bloodthirster! Focus your fire!"
The hadron bolts seemed to only enrage the Khornate daemon. With a roar, it lowered its head and charged, backhanding one of the Psychic Special Warfare operatives that appeared in front of it out of the way. The Archangels' focused fire was taking its toll, but not nearly fast enough. As the daemon raised its sword to smash the Black Knights' position, it was cut to ribbons from behind. As the creature slid apart, the Black Knights were able to catch only the briefest glimpse of their savior: a lithe, fast-moving figure carrying a staff.
The new arrival launched high into the air and slammed down in the space between the Black Knights and the Custodians. A visible shockwave issued forth, reducing any daemons caught within to dust. She—at least, the Black Knights assumed the new arrival was a woman, as no man any of them could think of would have long bubblegum-pink hair and wear a dress—stood up, raising her staff into the air. A blinding flash of light engulfed the throne room, reducing the daemons to dust while leaving everyone else unharmed.
"Go! Now! Collapse the gate!" the new arrival urgently ordered.
The four Psykers, exhausted and battered, mustered the last of their strength. The Webway gate creaked and groaned. Cracks began appearing in the fabric of reality as the Warp rift began folding in on itself. With a deafening roar and a blinding flash, the human-built Webway passage imploded, the resulting blast disintegrating what daemons had crawled through since them. With a boom that echoed throughout much of the Imperial Palace, the gates slammed shut.
"How is Lelouch now?" CC panted as the Captain-General rushed over to the Black Knights.
"We've disabled the Golden Throne, but nothing has changed," one of the Tech-Priests up top reported via vox.
"Dammit…what went wrong?" Nunnally's fist weakly pounded the ground.
"He won't wake," the new arrival stated in a distinctly feminine voice, "At least, not in this state."
As their unexpected savior turned around, the four leaders of the Black Knights would've reeled back in shock had they been able to muster the strength.
"…Euphie…?"
Author's Note: And so, the plot thickens. Who saw this one coming? Teehee. ^-^ This'll probably be the end of my rapid-fire updates for now.