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Chapter 7

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Part 3

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Victory Bay

Kronus

Five hours after the mess of a battle, Victory Bay was more or less secure. Heavily armed patrols prowled the streets, sharp-eyed marksmen warily watched the city from positions high up on various tall buildings, while thousands of guardsmen were busy dealing with the direct aftermath. There were wounded to tend, dead to bury, equipment to retrieve and repair, Xeno bodies to burn, and Xeno gear to either destroy or contain for evaluation and later disposal by either the Mechanicus or Inquisition.

It was a grim, inglorious affair, but still a vital one. Besides, it was still better than being anywhere near the Blank lass. It was a pity that looking after her couldn't be used as a proper punishment detail – Commissar Weber wasn't about to entrust her to anyone but the most reliable soldiers under his command, especially after her previous minders apparently abandoned her before the fighting broke out. He certainly wouldn't want to explain to the Lord Inquisitor how the Guard managed to misplace the kid, again. The very idea felt dirty and not just because of what the Inquisition could do to you if you displeased one of their members!

"Commissar Weber, Sir! Orders from command, you're summoned to the General's CP for a meeting!" A nearby Vox operator announced, breaking Weber's train of thought.

"I'll be there momentarily, specialist. Do inform the Lieutenant of my location." He confirmed receiving the summons, looked around for anything out of place beyond the obvious, and headed to a group of Chimeras waiting nearby. Right now, General Alexander flew his flag over a freshly dropped pre-fabricated HQ complex on the other side of the city.

"Sergeant, I need transport to the General's HQ," Weber told the steel-eyed vehicle commander who had the top hatch opened and was looking around for any sign of trouble.

"We'll get you there ASAP, Commissar!" The NCO answered with a stiff salute.

"I'm glad to hear it." Weber waited for the assault ramp to open and climbed inside, nodding to the troopers sitting bored out of their minds while waiting for anything to go wrong so they could deal with it. "Don't get up on my account." The Commissar waved them back along with their hasty attempts to salute and get to attention – a hard feat within the cramped interior of the APC.

The ramp closed behind him and the Chimera's engine roared to life before the armored vehicle rumbled on. In the red lights illuminating the troop compartment, Weber could see how young and uncomfortable the soldiers appeared. This was another new batch drawn from the PDF then. Proper Guardsmen had an air about them that was completely missing with this unit. It was a stark contrast, especially when comparing these boys and girls with General Alexander's regiments, who were entirely composed of veterans before arriving at Kronus. Obviously, the green PDF troops simply couldn't compare and while today proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that many of them had their hearts in the right place, their inexperience did contribute to the ease with which the Xeno slaughtered so many of them.

Weber slowly took a deep breath, keeping his face a blank mask. He wasn't being fair to the PDF, especially those who fought under his command today. They did their best and it wasn't like most Guard units could offer a much better showing against something like the never sufficiently damned Eldar.

On the bright side, inside the Chimera, he could barely smell the stench of gore and burning bodies, something that might persist for a few days yet barring a nice rain to wash the city.

Thirty minutes and five checkpoints later, the APC parked just outside a small park surrounded by a tall stone fence with towers at the corners topped by winged statues of saints. The General's CP was deployed inside and surrounded by rings of defenses.

"You can get back to your post now, Sergeant. I'll procure transport back to the regiment when the meeting is over." Weber told the NCO. With the veteran around, the inexperienced soldiers might just live long enough to become proper Guardsmen.

While passing through more security, which the Commissar naturally approved of, he became convinced that General Alexander had chosen this area for a CP after the battle due to the lack of stench and still burning buildings in the general vicinity. Well, that and the fact that this part of the city was away from the main avenues leading to the factories on the outskirts of the city and thus kept the HQ away from the primary worker congestions as people went to and back from work. That last one was important because Commissar or not, with parts of the city closed for traffic due to battle damage, Weber's transport had to wait and detour more than a few times on the way here. Then there were the security concerns caused by a large group of locals passing by on regular intervals so this was likely for the best.

Besides, the park was a nice change after the blood-soaked battlefield that was the far side of the city.

Weber went past one last security check and found himself in a familiar, standard-sized briefing room nested to the left side of the HQ. The pair of tall mechanical Xeno glowing with ominous green light was very much not standard for a meeting of loyal sons and daughters of the Empire, no matter who they were, though the Commissar didn't have any particular qualms about the other people cramped inside. His eyes shone with approval when he saw the Lord Inquisitor looking warily at the Xeno, who they had to work with for the time being. There was likely going to be hell to pay when reinforcements arrived, and hopefully, it would be Imperial ones that got to Kronus first, because otherwise, well… It would be a good day to die for the Emperor and humanity…

"Commissar," General Alexander nodded sharply when he saw Weber enter. "We're now all here so let's begin. Magos Scipio-Ro-11, please report the status of our vehicle park."

Huh, as far as he knew, this one particular Magus was on the junior side there was no one more senior present. Weber did hear that the Mechanicus did suffer some significant casualties fighting to protect the industrial districts, which were targeted by Eldar raiding parties. So the senior adepts were either dead or too damaged to be present for this.

"Armored ground element: thirty percent irrecoverable casualties. Twenty-three percent recoverable casualties within the next twenty-four hours, twelve percent recoverable casualties within the next seventy-two hours, eight percent recoverable casualties within the next standard week. Aeronautica assets: Sixty percent irrecoverable casualties, ten percent recoverable casualties within the next twenty-four hours, twenty percent recoverable casualties within the next seventy-two hours, ten percent recoverable casualties within the next standard week. Light ground elements: thirty-two percent irrecoverable casualties…"

Those numbers weren't good. For all intents and purposes their aerospace assets were gutted and the armored units, which offered the Guard the bulk of its firepower, not to mention maneuver formations, had taken significant punishment. While not unexpected, perhaps even better than they might have been otherwise, the casualties were severe, close to crippling as far as offensive operations went. If it wasn't for the unpleasant, borderline heretical alliance with the Xeno, the numbers would have been at least an order of magnitude worse and at that point, the necessary assault upon the Chaos positions would turn into an unmitigated butchery.

Needing the aid of Xenos to protect an Imperial world, it was infuriating and frustrating in the extreme. How the Inquisitor managed to swing that, how the idea even crossed the man's mind, Weber would never know. And unfortunately, the higher authority would not look favorably upon the events on Kronus no matter the outcome. Still, they did the Emperor's work this day and they will be doing it in the days to come. If they had to pay the ultimate price for it, just so the rest of the Imperium could be sure there was no taint, spiritual, mental or literal, well those things happened.

"Thirty-three thousand Guardsmen dead from the fighting within Victory Bay itself, to be added to the death doll from the lost infantry regiments, which fell slowing down the Tau armored advance…" And at least twice more wounded. With the Eldar being extremely deadly, engagements against them tended to produce more dead and less wounded compared to facing a more conventional foe, especially when routs and losing whole units weren't a factor.

That still meant at least thirty thousand or so wounded soldiers who would be out of action for the foreseeable future, who were going to be missed during the assault on the Deimos Peninsula.

"In practice, this means we won't be able to launch an assault against the Chaos forces on Kronus for at least twenty four hours, preferably seventy-two." General Alexander said after the butcher's bill was clear to everyone. "Unfortunately, time is working against us. With every passing moment, the heretics become stronger due to reinforcements coming through a Warp Portal they have active at the far end of the Deimos Peninsula, which is our primary target. If we wait too long, they will either have the sheer numbers to overwhelm us or will corrupt this world beyond salvaging and thus doom us all. Either of those outcomes is unacceptable!" General Alexander thundered and slammed a fist onto the tactical table in the middle of the room.

"Within thirty-six hours, we will have replenished and repaired units lost during today's battle." The Xeno spoke in its eerie mechanical voice. "Various special units will be available for the assault, including equipment to mitigate trans-dimensional bleed-through. We recommend launching a joint assault thirty-six hours from now and we agree that the primary target is neutralizing the dimensional breach threatening this world."

Ripples of unease washed over the gathered Imperials, while the machines showed no sign that they noticed or cared about it.

"Thirty-six hours is an acceptable time-frame." General Alexander grudgingly agreed after staring at the Inquisitor and waiting for Lord Veil's nod of approval. "We need a plan for the operation. What assets can you bring to the table?" He asked the Xeno.


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Part 4

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General Alexander's HQ

Victory Bay

Kronus

The list of assets the Necrons promised for Operation Nemesis – the cleansing of the Deimos Peninsula, was both eye opening and unsettling. While in raw numbers they were inferior to the Imperial contribution, in practice it was large enough force to give the surviving Guard and Astartes units on Kronus run for their money. Obviously, said force wasn't everything these Xenos had on the planet, just the already active portion minus what they felt comfortable of leaving to protect their facilities. Those reinforcements General Alexander and the Inquisition requested better arrive soon, otherwise the planet might either find itself with new owners of blasted to bits by the navy when it deigned to appear in force, Weber thought.

"Drone swarms offered us a good picture of the enemy's defenses." The Xeno said. It waved a metal hand an a crisp, green hologram materialized above the tactical table.

The projection was rather bland and stylized, however that was certainly better than live feed from a Chaos infested area. Best case scenario about that operation – everyone who lived through it would be looked hard and long by the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy. Worst case, well it was a one way mission no matter who killed you, with any survivors receiving the Emperor's Mercy just in case.

Needless to say, anyone going there would be wearing a fully environmentally sealed armors, for all the good it was going to do. At least there was no shortage of those, in part thanks to the industrial capacity of Victory Bay augmenting what the General's regiments brought with themselves.

"At this point," The Xeno was saying, "the enemy is still in the process of setting up outer perimeter defenses. We're detecting multiple locations with increased trans-dimensional bleed-through beyond the portal. Drone observation points at energy discharges fueled by sacrifices, which we estimate are going to be deadly for you squishies. In this case, the recommendation is that those areas are purged with indirect fire if practical, close assault by heavy infantry if not – both ours and your Astartes."

Two rings of six blinking purple pints appeared on the map, looking like pulsing tumors.

"We'll need more data on those locations." The Astartes often seen with Inquisitor Veil spoke after silently observing the meeting so far.

"We'll provide a filtered recording, live feed if necessary, though viewing it by you humans will be dangerous." The Xeno stated with what might have been droll sarcasm.

Was the thing capable of something like that?

"Continuing, there are four locations of concentrated trans-dimensional energies on the main roads leading to the targets. Those are staging grounds for extra-dimensional entities. Sacrificing altars and pools of blood apparently help them remain stable in our dimension while their numbers increase enough for a decisive action we believe." With those words, four blinking red circles appeared on the map. "Further, there are artillery positions at these points…" The Xeno continued and triangular symbols appeared on multiple locations, generally hills which would offer better range and firing lanes.

"Those need to be silenced before we can launch a proper armored assault in order to kick the door to the portal open." Colonel Roval concluded. "My crews will appreciate if any anti-tank infantry infestations are removed in front our advance. We don't have enough armored units to waste them against such opposition."

"In twelve hours we'll have units disrupting the construction of the enemy's outer defenses." The Xeno said. "We'll be using our teleportation technology to insert in strike units, which will hunt down for artillery and heavy infantry as well."

"Our Assault Marines and light units will be ideal for this part of the operation." Captain Thule added. "We'll have the capacity to deep strike Terminator and Dreadnought units for head-hunter missions, however first we'll have to confirm that our armor and ward can protect us from the suspected warp discharges, if not, they have to be neutralized first. Can't you just insert a unit at the portal and neutralize it, thus buying us time for a better prepared and methodical assault?"

"There is too much trans-dimensional interference and the area of effect is slowly increasing. At projected rates, it will cover the whole peninsula within two weeks. While we can protect our units which will take part into the assault from it's corrupting effect, a long range teleportation is out of the question. The same goes for air or orbital strikes." The Xeno explained.

"That damn Warp dome above the portal." The Lord Inquisitor grumbled. "We'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Inquisitor Veil is right." General Alexander nodded grimly. "Make no mistake, this is going to be a tough, bloody fight against some of the nastiest things this galaxy has had the misfortune to ever see." He glared at the assembled people. "That said, we will cleanse this infestation from the face of Kronus in the Emperor's name, before it can kill us all or worse." As he said that, the General made the sign of the Aquila and every single Imperial, even the Mechanicus Adepts, followed suit.

The Xeno? They simply looked around with what might have been curiosity.

"Regarding morale, dealing with possible corruption and contamination, while everyone committed to the operation should be on the lookout, dealing with said dangers will be the primary responsibility of the Commissars, junior officers and the Ecclesiarchy cadre we either brought with us or can draw on locally. After the battle, everyone who takes part will be quarantined until a determination on their status could be done by proper authorities."

Which meant the reinforcements, the Inquisition in particular. Well, that couldn't be helped.

"We'll do our part, sir!" Weber spoke aloud in a voice leaving no doubt about his conviction, a sentiment echoed by his fellow Commissars among the gathered officers.

"I expect nothing less." General Alexander said before changing the topic. "We can't count on the enemy sitting behind their defenses and waiting for us to come for them. We need to be on the lookout for either infiltration and sabotage attempts or perhaps even an all out assault on our own positions. Further, we'll need to establish forward operation bases and supply dumps closer to the target zone in order to make our logistics easier during Operation Nemesis. In particular, that is one of the constrains delaying the launch of the assault. Some of the areas between us and the Deimos Peninsula are currently no-mans land, which needs to bee secured…"

"Air and orbital support is and will be available in those areas…" The Xeno motioned at the map and it shifted, zooming out changing into a crisp orbital image, which had the Deimos Peninsula hazed out, likely as a precaution. Multiple amber bands superimposed themselves between the target area and Victory Bay, showing zones complete with flight time for air assets – Aeronautica, Astartes and Necron alike.

That was going to be useful information, yet it was disturbing, because as far as Weber could determine, the flight times for the Imperial fighters and bombers were about right. Any Xeno having this much data about the Imperial war machine was always an unpleasant proposition, then again, some of the most dangerous of Humanity's foes knew the Guard and Astartes capabilities almost as well as the Guard Regiments and Astartes Chapters themselves.

However, Weber didn't have to like that fact, damn it!

"Let us not forger that while all those details and smaller components of Operation Nemesis are vital, they are only supporting elements which will allow us to achieve our primary objective." The Lord Inquisitor got the meeting back on track.

"The Warp Portal." General Alexander's mouth twisted in distaste.

"Precisely. To put it bluntly, if we fail to seal it, we're all fucked, both literally and figuratively." Inquisitor Veil stated. He looked at the Astartes looming beside him. "Options, Anteas?"

"Depending on the portal, direct application of firepower upon whatever supports it might be enough." The Astartes grimaced. "Or it might do nothing at all. I can't say for certain before seeing the damned thing myself."

"We'll provide relevant long range images."

"If we can secure the immediate area and keep enemy reinforcements coming through contained, we should be able to build the necessary infrastructure to strengthen real space in the area, weaken the breach and eventually seal it. However, doing so will take time and resources, which we might not necessary have." The Xeno explained.

The implications of the Necrons having such capabilities were staggering and needless to say, Weber was sure that the Mechanicus Adepts would be drooling at the idea of having such tech if it could be properly developed by humans. If he was even more cynical, and if he was suicidal, the Commissar might have wondered, perhaps even aloud, if some of the Machine God disciples might not care about the origin of such technology if they could get their mechadendrites on them….


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