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Chapter 12: Battlefield Kronus
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Part 3
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Eres Badlands
Kronus
Eliphas froze when a movement in the distance caught his eye. A group of Corpse Worshipers trudged up a sand dune and calmly looked around. A Necron Drone buzzed overhead, and he felt despair. It couldn't end like this! He couldn't get back to the Basilica of Pain!
The machine carried on, flying out of sight. The Guardsmen kept walking, none the wiser.
The Dark Apostle stared at them, staying frozen until one of the Sorcerers let out a burst of choked laughter and pointed at something behind his back. Eliphas glowered at the witch, though still glanced over his shoulder. A weathered stone pillar rose from the sand. Only its top was visible. However, that was enough. Runes of protection and concealment glowed red with power and anger. An adherent of the Primordial Truth had been here before, sometime after Khorne's Daemon ended up imprisoned. While they were unable to free it, they had hidden the place from the unbelievers.
Eliphas laughed as well. It wasn't over! He could still succeed!
"Get working!" He demanded.
"We need to find the entrance to the prison." One Sorcerer said and pointed at the sand below their feet. "We have to dig."
Was there no end to the indignities he had to suffer?! Eliphas wanted to scream, to rip and tear to pieces the offending Sorcerer. However, he needed the bastard. He needed the worse to wear sacrifices alive as well.
"Don't just stand there!" He snapped at the remaining Astartes. "Get digging!"
And so, he began to dig as well.
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Field Hospital
Victory Bay
Kronus
It was warm and comfortable. It felt like home… Home, I couldn't even remember what or where that was. There was only war and duty. I cracked my eyes open, and they felt like stuffed with cotton. All my senses felt like I was stuck up in a cocoon.
What did I do to myself this time?
I charged a Daemon, didn't I? Didn't I promise to myself not to do something this dumb again?
"Inquisitor, you're awake." A familiar and comforting voice rumbled.
Turning my head to the right was harder than it should have been. Slower too. I blinked owlishly at Anteas. He sat near my bed in an over-sized chair that somehow managed to support his bulk. His right arm was gone. Seeing him that way sent a pang of pain in my shoulder, and I glanced down. There were a lot of snow-white bandages I could see.
"Did I get my arm cut off too?" I croaked.
"You charged the Skulltaker like an Emperor damned fool." Anteas rumbled. He glared briefly at me until something warm stirred at my side, and he relented.
I turned my head to the left, and a few blinks later I could recognize a mop of dark hair sticking out of a cocooned standard-issue blanket. I stared at the kid sleeping at my side and looked questionably at Anteas.
"If the Emperor's merciful, she's taking care of any Warp taint we picked up when that thing dismembered us. Your Commissar friend is recovering in the next room and should be under Selene's effect as well."
"I presume that we won?"
"We did more than that." Anteas cracked a rare smile. "We faced the Skulltaker himself and either banished it or killed it for good. We're unsure which yet." He sat straighter and all but shone with pride as he told me this.
"Skulltaker? Don't ring a bell." I couldn't recall hearing about this particular monster before.
"Herald of Khorne, a nasty piece of work. Murdered several Gray Knights during the First War of Armageddon. Even just banishing it back to the Warp that spawned it won you many favors, Inquisitor. If we managed to kill the beast for good…" Anteas' smile became wistful.
"That was the point of the exercise." I pointed out.
"Indeed. In related news, as we speak, our forces are clearing up the primary defense lines leading to the Warp Portal. They'll need time to replenish supplies, conduct repairs and strengthen anti-Warp wards, however by this time tomorrow, we should begin our final assault." He looked pointedly at me. "Neither of us will participate. At best, we might observe from the safety of the General's command center here in Victory Bay."
I nodded lightly. I could live with that.
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Spas Invadar
Kill Kroozer
A Mekboy screamed in agony, while Kaptin Bloodfang da Bloody, smashed his power-claw into his back. He did so repeatedly and with great vigor.
Kaptin Bloodfang wasn't a happy Ork. And when Kaptin Bloodfang wasn't happy, he made sure his Boyz knew it as it was propar!
The Kaptin hasn't been happy for weeks now. He missed the Waaagh on the planet below. He missed slamming his Kroozer into Hummie ships and hearing them break! Most of all, he missed having almost enuff Dakka at his beck and call!
Bloodfang missed having working engines too because without engines you couldn't invade! Every one 'new dat!
That's why, Bloodfang had his crew paint the Kroozer red, and if the remaining Mekboyz couldn't fix da engins, he would have them out pushing!
He wanted Waaagh, damn it!
"Kaptin! It's da Boss!"
The Comms boy hollered from the Comms konzol, where the Mekboyz had him stuck after he got his legs cut.
"Boss!" Bloodfang bit off the ear of the unfortunate Mekboy and hollered with a bloody smile.
"Bloodfang, you spawn of a squig!" Gorgutz roared back. "Get your scrap piles movin! We're attacking the hummies! Ram their city! Invade them! Waaagh!"
"WAAAGH!" Bloodfang roared back. He would let the slight go this time. He wasn't the spawn of a squig, damn it! His spores came from a Squiggoth that got stuck on a Kill Kroozer! It was a really tasty Squiggoth too!
"Driver! Drive us into da Hummiez! Comm Boy! Call da fleet! We're moovin! Ramming Speed! We're Invading! WAAAAGH!"
"WAAAAGH!"
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Bridge
Armageddon
Blood Raven Strike Cruiser
The crew on watch observed the battle on the surface with great trepidation. While occasionally Imperium forces had to ally with Xenos to achieve their objectives and combat greater threats, this alliance of convenience was particularly onerous. First, there was the treacherous Eldar, who not a week earlier fought against the blessed forces of the Imperium. Then, there were the Necrons, damned machines who until now had brought only death to every world they touched.
As if that wasn't bad enough, there was a massive Chaos infestation down there, one the fleet might have to purge with orbital fire when it became feasible.
Captain Steven Ignatius couldn't wait for that blessed moment.
"Captain, thermal blooms! The Orks are on the move!" An Auspex operator reported.
"Verify that! Battle stations!" Ignatius barked and coaxed the Machine Spirit to feed live data into his implants.
Sure enough, the shattered remains of the Ork fleet were on the move. Data feed on the Imperial fleet in orbit, satellites, and ground stations soon gave him a comprehensive picture of what the beasts were doing.
"Captain, the Kill Kroozer's engines remain crippled. The beasts have a rocket strapped to its back…" The Auspex Operator trailed off. "Are they pushing it?"
"It's the Orks. Such insanity works for them. Have the auxiliary vessels maneuver behind us. Thirty-Seventh Destroyer Squadron will remain on station protecting them along with the Cruiser Swift Retribution." Hopefully, that would be enough to keep the Tau squadron honest. "Have Vengeance form up on our starboard side. Launch small craft."
Ignatius had to keep that side covered – it suffered heavy damage during the engagement with the Eldar, then even more while they reduced the Tau fleet.
"Enemy vessels are maneuvering…"
The Captain cursed. Even before the tactical hololith could update itself, his implants told him what the beasts intended.
"Full military power to engines! Weapons, the Kill Kroozer is the primary target! We can't let them get through!"
The Orks weren't moving to engage his command or even flee. They shifted to a lower orbit and if not stopped would crash into Victory Bay, causing untold devastation!
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Part 4
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Kronus
A flight of torpedoes raced to meet the approaching Orks. At this range, their purpose was little more to force the Greenskins' ships to break formation and make their attempt to hit Victory Bay that much harder.
The Orks being Orks, they refused to break what passed for the formation and instead opened fire at the incoming ordnance. Most of it went wide, however, a handful of warheads detonated prematurely due to sheer bloody luck. A few more were missed due to the extreme range. The remaining torpedoes hit, and scattered explosions illuminated the Ork Battle Group.
The Kill Kroozer tanked three warheads. Its void shields mostly held, yet despite that, it began venting atmosphere and debris. A destroyer broke in two, spilling its screaming crew into the void, while melta warheads incinerated a second one. The Orks kept going, while the Imperial Task Force raced to intercept them.
Meanwhile, on the surface, powerful Necron sensors noticed the drama unfolding in space and relayed the newest development to the Necron Lord. He spent a few moments calculating possible outcomes before issuing orders.
A pair of immense structures within the heart of the Necron Stronghold slowly came to life and powerful targeting sensors bathed everything above the hemisphere. At that point, the Tau Battle Group stirred as well, after detecting the power emanations and ghostly backslash for the Necron Sensors.
The anti-orbital Gauss weapons greedily drank all the energy they could from capacitors and fields of power generators, before firing. Thick bolts of emerald lighting tore the atmosphere asunder and laid waste to anything unprotected by necrodermis in the vicinity of the Necron stronghold. A shock-wave scattered the clouds above the region. Mortals heard and felt the aftershocks of the firing across the continent.
An Ork destroyer vanished, engulfed by a Gauss bolt larger than it was wide. When the shot dissipated, there wasn't even a trace of the escort vessel.
The Kill Kroozer was marginally more fortunate. Due to distance and its erratic descent, not to mention more formidable if primitive defenses, it survived. The Necron weapon scored a glancing hit that stripped off its void shields, blew up their generator from sheer feedback, then roughly disintegrated the rear third of the vessel. The Kill Kroozer entered uncontrolled spin shortly before hitting the atmosphere and igniting.
While not destroyed, its trajectory would lead it far away from Victory Bay, which was more than enough for the Necrons.
The Imperial Task Force led by the Armageddon kept their emergency burn and continued to target the smaller Ork ships.
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Spas Invadar
Kill Kroozer
Kaptin Bloodfang picked himself from the deck and spat a broken fang. This was not good. His trusty ship spun, which was kind of fun. It burned, which was less so. It was falling apart too, which was plain bad. Real bad.
The Ork grabbed a nearby Konzol with his power-claw and gingerly got up spitting teef.
"Ladz, we're abandonin' ship," Bloodfang grumbled. "We're invadin' from up 'ere, now!"
It was certainly better than burning, besides the Comms Boy would be going down with the ship to preserve Orkish 'onor!
"Waagf!"
The cry from the nearby crew was less than enthusiastic. It had something to do with most of them rolling around and hitting all kinds of stuff. It was their fault for not having propar power-claws!
"To da assault pods!" Bloodfang roared in irritation.
He punched, kicked, and dragged his Boyz to the pods so they could invade in propar Orky way.
Soon, the falling to pieces and burning Kill Kroozer began eagerly spilling even more scrap piles. Some of them even had working rockit engins that propelled them towards prospective targets.
Higher up in orbit, the remaining Ork ships followed suit. Some died, under Imperial guns. A few others managed to enter the atmosphere and survive long enough for their crews to aim them at large settlements and jump before precise Lance strikes began breaking them up.
Orks raiding parties and burning debris rained from the Janus Savannah all the way to Victory Bay. The Kill Kroozer spun wildly off course and headed in the rough direction of the Tau Capital of Or'es Tash'n, prompting an immediate response by the Tau warships. While Tau plasma and railgun slugs soon forced the ship to largely disintegrate, most of its mass continued on its fiery path. Even though the Tau managed to break up all larger chunks, their capital still suffered the equivalent of light and dispersed orbital strike, complete with dozens of small Ork parties landing all over the place.
In contrast, the Imperial ships had a longer window of opportunity to break up the Ork's suicidal charge. Debris still struck Victory Bay, however, there was nothing big enough to cause more than cosmetic damage. A number of assault pods were the exception, surviving long enough to crash into the city against all odds.
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Field Hospital
Victory Bay
Kronus
Finally, having a brief period of rest and relaxation felt nice, even if I had to spend it under close observation in the hospital. Apparently, I still had a bit of luck to burn, because no one could find Chaos corruption in what was left of my shoulder – just a really nasty wound and even nastier burns.
Those didn't bother me thanks to a lot of good drugs.
I was either catching up on sleep or trying to coax Selene into talking, which was kind of relaxing.
I waved a steaming cup of sweet goodness with my bionic hand in front of the kid.
"Se-le-ne," I repeated slowly. "I know you can say it, sweetie."
A pair of huge eyes kept tracking the local variety of cocoa with the precision of an Emperor's blessed Hydra. It turned out that the beverage was a local specialty usually reserved for the high and mighty. With said traitorous bastards either very dead, waiting to be killed in the Deimos Peninsula or cowering behind the robes of their Tau masters, a lot of their assets came into the possession of the proper authorities, which meant the Imperial Guard, Mechanicus, and yours truly.
While most of us were busy fighting the Emperor's enemies, a contingent of Arbiters with proper supervision had been going over everything confiscated with all available equipment and commendable zeal. In turn, everything considered safe or in need of a further review changed official ownership.
I was pretty sure that all the cocoa and other bits and ends that ended up on my name were a not too subtle attempt to keep me distracted and on the locals' good side. The logical conclusion was the bastards had a lot to hide. They had to be investigated when the time permitted. Thankfully, that wouldn't be my problem, or it would be which might be better.
In the meantime, I had a few hundred kilos of the best honey-flavored cocoa available. Needless to say, Selene approved, and so did my diminished retinue.
"Say it, and you'll get another cup." I tried to entice her with a warm beverage.
Selene made grabby hands at it but still refused to utter a single word. I raised the cup higher and looked pointedly at her. The kid pouted and kept looking up at the cocoa. Her expression turned heartbroken, and I sighed, wondering what in the Emperor's name was I doing.
She lit up like the Astronomicon when I gave her the cup and proceeded to drain it in one go as if afraid someone would take it away. That was something that had happened to her a lot in the past, I guessed.
After finishing the drink, Selene curled around the cup as if it was precious and went to sleep. It was a stark reminder that her childhood had been a horror story. I grimaced at that thought and went back to rest.
The respite didn't last. Invasion and air-raid sirens brought me out of a pleasant nap. I got up on instinct, nearly spilling Selene off the bed to her silent indignation. The room's door slammed open, and a wide-eyed Santos stumbled inside.
"Sir, we need to get you to safety!" My chief bodyguard exclaimed.
"Help me up and give me a weapon," I grumbled and tried to untangle myself from the sheets, and medical equipment stuck all over me. "What's the situation?"
"The Ork fleet's on the move. They're heading straight for us. The Navy is moving in to intercept."
Emperor damned Greenskin bastards!
Despite the danger, it took significant time to get cleared to leave the hospital. Despite my rank, the danger of Chaos corruption was no joke. It took getting Selene outside under Santos' supervision so one of General Alexander's mind-fuckers could examine us.
I don't know if it was the munchkin, the Necron tech, or both. However, the three of us – yours truly, Anteas and Charles, got the all-clear for the time being. I knew there would be a regular examination in the future, and we would be lucky to get away with just that.
The only silver lining was that Sergeant Bron was alive, somehow intact, and turned up loaded with weapons and gear. The Ogryn beamed when he saw us up an about and began babbling something about smashing Orks.
Weber wasted no time and grabbed a belt with a chainsword, then faltered, wondering how to quickly put it on with one arm.
"Help us get a damn armor on." I admonished my security detail. "Santos, the status of the Orks?"
"The Necrons took out their cruiser! It's breaking up and heading for the Tau capital. Several destroyers are still on the way here, and the Navy is shooting at them. They're unlikely to stop them all from making planet-fall."
"We're getting to a bunker. Once the immediate threat of bombardment is over, we'll figure out what to do." I decided.
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