Shadow of a Doubt
Chapter 28
The rebels wore no common uniform, the only common elements being the bolt action rifles as well as the double barrel shotguns that they carried. It was a combination it seems of both rural and city folks, each firing in their large crowds that swarmed past the city gates. The grey uniformed soldiers would form firing lines and they fired as fast as they could, working the bolt action and firing into the large crowds while the red uniformed constables fired their revolvers into the crowd. Neither truly proved to be effective when presented with an enemy that swarmed over them like an ocean, and many soldiers were shot at point blank with double barrel shotguns or beaten down with the butts of the various long guns that were wielded by the insurgents.
The king rushed out from the dining room, Albert following him as the King headed out towards the balcony where he would look out from a small decorated battlement overlooking the city and see the crowds of people surging forward. Some were stopped with desperate bayonet charges or exceptionally well drilled units that were able to fire at much higher speeds than many of the conscripts that were only rudimentarily trained. The palace guards had moved to the various gates and defensive points of the palace, their bolt action rifles of a much larger caliber than the grey uniformed soldiers, but they held their fire awaiting commands from their officers. King Judimen looked pale faced and gulped audibly, while Albert stood impassively behind him. He knew that his own troops were competently led and would defend their barracks effectively. Plus, he had a Space Marine on his side, and two Sisters of Battle. Behind Albert stood the squad of Grenadiers lead by the Warrant Officer, with their hotshot lasguns at much more of a practical grip than the ceremonial one previous to these events.
At the barracks, Lieutenant Klara had already given the order to Gunnery Sergeant Feldman to ready the men. Sniper teams on the roof top had already spotted the commotion but so far, there were no clear victors as in some areas, the skirmishers broke through only to be met with more lead from reinforcing units while in other areas, the rebels and the city troops were just trading ineffective fire across market squares and other areas where neither side was willing to charge the other one down. The heavy weapon teams were sent to the second floor where the heavy bolters and plasma guns were aimed out the windows. Rifle squads were sent to reinforce the first floor as well as flame thrower teams, while sniper teams chose windows up top or the roof. Kyreg decided to forgo charging ahead and simply stood in the ground floor, the Sisters having not yet returned. He made a decision quickly and gestured for the Lieutenants attention.
"Lieutenant, I will take a squad of Grenadiers to the medical facility. Our wounded are there, and need to be secured." The Lieutenant bobbed her head, understanding his logic and quickly gave the necessary orders. A few minutes later, a squad of the carapace armoured veterans appeared with their gear already on, their squad leader nodding respectfully to the Astarte.
Briefing them quickly, hotshot las guns were quickly checked over and Kyreg lead them over to the medical building. He chose a path closest to the palace, avoiding many of the skirmish points, and was able to get to the medical building quickly. When he arrived, there were many grey uniformed soldiers there who had begun to secure the building. They would wave him and the Grenadiers with him through, more concerned about if the rebels would be able to break through. Of course, he saw this for what it was. The hordes of armed militia were only a distraction; no armed militia was capable of surgically blowing up a guard tower undetected, and then being able to use explosives to precisely cut apart a wall to create a hole large enough for an entire crowd of rebels to charge through. He smiled and sent a message to Albert's bodyguards. "Be on the lookout. The real target is the King."
His warning came in time too, for as soon as Warrant Officer Skultz heard the words, he would give the order and they would turn around and check the throne room. Sure enough, an explosion could be heard as a frag grenade was tossed in downstairs. A sharp staccato of gunfire could be heard, something from an automatic auto gun was swept over the guards downstairs. Ignoring the cries of pain, the assailants would sweep through the dining room and would have found the King an easy target if not for the unexpected element. The Grenadiers fired their hotshot lasguns into the assailants, who each bore bandoliers of grenades as well as small compact auto pistols with wire stocks and large capacity magazines. Of course the auto pistols were not the most accurate but made up for it in the pure firepower that they provided. Of course when met with the precision bursts of overcharged las bolts, the assailants were cut down quickly, holes being blown in their bodies by the powerful hotshot bolts that swept through them in tight bursts. A grenade was touched off by a hotshot bolt and exploded, although the King as well as the Rogue Trader were both kept safe by the Warrant Officer as well as another Grenadier grabbing them both and shoving them down to the ground while laying their own bodies over them as cover. The King looked stunned, while the Palace Guards charged into the room where the assailants were nothing more than just smears of blood and body parts at this point.
King Judimen looked at the now shot up dining room and gasped lightly as he was pulled up by one of the Palace guards. Albert looked at the bodies, and wondered at how the Astarte Commander had known that someone would be coming for the King.
Kyreg received a reply from Skultz, a thank you and a quick sitrep on what had happened. The Astarte sighed softly underneath his helmet, having been met inside by the two other Sisters who were tending to their injured compatriots. Catriona cocked her head slightly at the Commander who looked at her wordlessly; a conversation in more secure settings perhaps. The other two Sisters had been patched up, although they still needed recovery time. Quite a few of Albert's personal troops also needed the same. It was something which Kyreg had anticipated, after all you do not come off unscathed when you fight Astartes, no matter who you are. The massive scar underneath his breastplate just underneath his two hearts are a testament to that.
"Albert. You need to extract, now." He sent the message quickly, and received an acknowledgement from the Rogue Trader while the Warrant Officer grabbed the Rogue Trader by the scruff of his outfit and began dragging him out as the Grenadiers around them held their weapons at the high ready, and began moving back out through the castle. The Palace Guards were hauling the King right behind them, the Palace Guard commander deciding that perhaps following the lead of the off worlders just might be their ticket to survival. As they stepped through the doors leading from the dining room into the main hallway that lead to the throne room, they came under heavy fire from a group of insurgents dressed in what looked like farmers outfits but were clearly much more than that. With a mixture of bolt action rifles as well as snub nosed auto pistols with wire framed stocks, they seemed to look surprised at the King still alive as well as the stranger escorted by the Grenadiers. Before they were able to react however, the blue uniformed Grenadiers opened fire, their accuracy quite impressive even when on the move in part thanks to the inertial dampeners and gyro-stabilizers installed on their hotshot las rifles, and searing blasts of hot shot las bolts blew chunks out of the insurgents. It was added in with the louder roar of the large calibre bolt action rifles of the palace guards, although their accuracy was far less impressive. However soon the insurgents took cover and began to return fire, although Skultz quickly tossed a smoke grenade into the center of the hallway, and another one further down and the two canisters hissed as they deployed the large clouds of heavy white smoke that flooded the hallways and beyond. Every Grenadier activated their IR goggles, and began to fire. After a few moments, the blinded insurgents were all cut down by pinpoint fired hotshot bolts through the smoke screen, and Albert was dragged once again towards the exit.
The King gasped as he was dragged out of the smoke screen by the palace guards, looking around at the two dozen or so dead insurgents all around the palace and paled. Without any hesitation, Skultz quickly radioed Lieutenant Klara, and the situation was explained to her. With a rather grim face, she quickly gave orders to two platoons of their troops who quickly exited the building with their las carbines and made for the palace. At each intersection to create a screen, a squad was spread out in cover amongst the intersection, to create a link of armed soldiers to the palace itself. Squad leaders gave orders as the radio clattered with their communications.
"2-2 Set. 2-3 Set. 2-4 Set. Cordon set. 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, set position on intersections just west of objective site, touch east of 2-4 over."
"3-1 roger, wilco. 3-5 will set in building beside 3-2, will set overwatch. 3-1 is moving to objective to conduct primary escort. Request 2-5 establish overwatch as well to cover southern approach, as 3-5 will cover northern approach, over."
"2-1 acknowledge. Sending 2-5 over now, give confirmation when objective is eyes on. Callsign 4 is standing by just in case reinforcement is needed, and Callsigns 9-0 and 9-1 have eyes on our screen, feel free to call for long range support if needed, over."
"3-1, roger. Will have eyes on in 02 mikes, out."
The well drilled former droptroopers quickly set up their protective screens, the third platoon lead squad quickly moving to the palace after the last squad was set up at the intersection. The Grenadiers, seeing them quickly waved at them and began moving, while following behind them were the King and a large portion of palace guards who felt their best move was to keep following the Rogue Trader. It seemed however, the attack had ebbed off after the death of the insurgent commando team that struck at the palace itself, and Albert was extracted without any issues, along with King Judimen.
In the barracks, security was tightened up. A twenty four hour watch rotation as fully established, and the city was treated as a combat zone as the Memlock soldiers still fought to re-establish some semblance of order in the city. The city itself was massive, the main hub of the planet as there was not much but small townships and villages around the rest of the planet. All around the city itself, various nobles tried to seize power, their own troops fighting against the insurgents as well as the Memlock army to try and establish their own fiefdoms as they believed the city had fallen to lawlessness. Throughout the night, the sounds of gunshots could be heard, the city itself devoid of any real semblance of order except for the barracks as well as the defensive lines that the constabulary and the army were able to establish.
Kyreg had returned to the barracks, their wounded transported there as well for security reasons. With them came a small team of doctors and medical assistants who wasted no time in turning the medical section of the barracks back to working order, while the Legion Commander would step out onto by himself in the city. He would adjust his helmet vox to a channel that he had not used for a few millennia, and sent a series of coordinates. The coordinates was a small hill top outside of the city gates, and he set up a time. Midnight the day after. It was a guess that he made as to how the attack on the palace came about, and it reminded him of something.
The day after, the city fighting had inexplicably calmed down, with the rebels pulling back to various positions in the city, setting up a defensive line over the breaches in the city walls. At the same time, the army troops began to reinforce around various positions of strength and the strongholds that they still held. Belt felt stubbers were sandbagged and set up while light artillery was also wheeled in, pushed in by soldiers to the various lines, a combination of 37mm to 75mm direct fire artillery with gun shields wheeled in by horses and set up at the front lines. While snipers exchanged sporadic fire, no real skirmish or attacks occurred it seemed. The various nobles began to hold on to their sections tightly, their preciously captured areas around their estates held by their few hundred or so household troops with mostly light weapons.
That night, Kyreg was already waiting, and he would sit on top of the hill but concealed by the various bushes around as well as a rock formation. With his back to the higher mountains, he sat in his armour, fully helmed and waited. His stalker combi-bolter sat in his lap, and midnight soon came. After a few seconds, a single figure stepped onto the plateau, armed with a stalker bolter as well while he scanned around. Kyreg stood up and walked towards the armoured figure, the two of them staring at each other for a moment. The other figure was dressed in a set of Mark III armour, although painted in turquoise with silver trim around the armour. The stalker bolter held in his right hand was painted the same way. On his left pauldron was a single silver hydra head coiled around a large stylized Alpha and Omega symbol. On his breastplate were stylized silver chains erupting from the top left downwards, three chains with seven loops on it. It was similar to the breastplate that Kyreg wore, although Kyreg had a single chain of eight loops that ran across his breastplate. The two looked at each other, before the figure in front of him took off his helmet. Kyreg did the same, and he saw a face similar to his. Bald, clean shaven, with turquoise eyes.
"Well met brother.. of the 21st." Kyreg stated as he clamped his stalker bolter to his side. The figure did the same and bowed his head slightly. "Commander of the 8th. Well met." It was as Kyreg had thought, a XX Legionnaire was behind the chaos and the attack on the planet.
"You called for a meet, a neutral meeting between us?" Kyreg nodded. "Very well. I am Captain Kunitz, leader of the 21st. Or what remains."
"I am Commander Kyreg, of the 8th. Of what remains." The two both smiled bitter smiles, each formerly having been a few hundred in size, of multiple companies and strike teams while now, it was rare to find one that could field a whole company. The Legion had disintegrated into various commands and splinter cells. It was what the Genefathers had wanted, but it was done too well. Individual agendas clouded over collective strategy and now, each Harrow or Shroud was its own singular organization, separate from each other.
"I wish to know why you are attempting to overthrow the King here." The Captain smiled thinly for a moment. "Because brother, do you not tire of living being chased down like hounds? And do you not seek to find a single sanctuary for yourself and what remains of your own? The King here is a fool, the technology level here abysmal. It is through here that the 21st will rebuild, and recreate a home world again. Hidden away underneath the surface of this planet, the 21st can thrive while the mortals above are ruled by our Proxy."
Kyreg nodded, he could understand the Captains reasoning. It was no different than Tyven V, it had become a pseudo home world, except he did not seek to rule it. It was the same objective accomplished through two different means. "I can understand your sentiments Captain. I do see the logic of your task here. However, I would ask you. What do you intend to do if you can find a way to rebuild the 21st?"
Kunitz looked at the Commander for a moment. "That is not an easy question to answer brother, and you and I both know that. There is always much promise of power in the primordial powers. But it is to prevent that is it not, that our genefathers made the choice that they did? The Imperium sickens me. Truly. It is not what the Emperor would have wished, but I have no desire to become a renegade either. I am what I have been for the past millennia. I will simply rebuild and perhaps find a way to retain our rich history. It will have to be enough to rule over this world, and rebuild. Bit by bit. We lack geneseeds, and suits of armour. We have been marooned on this planet for more than three decades. I suppose I must find a way to rebuild."
Kyreg nodded as he looked out over the city. "You might as well call for the rest of the 21st to reveal themselves. I have already sensed them here."
The Captain looked at him, impressed but gave a signal over the vox and from behind various points of concealment, five other Astartes revealed themselves. Each had their weapons drawn, although it was not aimed at him. Kyreg nodded at them, as they looked at him cautiously, his own weapon clamped to the side of his armour. They wore the same colours and armour that the Captain wore, the exception being that one of them had a Sergeants insignia, three chains gilded over the top of his helmet with an emerald green backing. "I would ask you then to reveal your own."
Kyreg smiled at the Captain and shook his head. "I came alone, Captain. I do not begrudge you your caution. I however brought no one."
"I believe you, brother. You are not unknown to me, although when I had heard of your name you were still a Captain that commanded a lethal strike force that was favoured Shroud of one of our Genefathers." Kyreg laughed at the Captains words and bowed politely. "I'm flattered, Captain. The 21st are not unknown to me either, sending individual Astartes onto planets in order to bring it into compliance. A lone Astarte to send a planet into destruction, before an invasion even takes place." The Captain smiled and nodded. "We of the 21st, we do not possess battle tanks nor do we possess legions of Stealth teams and Kill teams as the 8th does. But we possess unique skills honed from millennial of a shadow war, and this is our specialty. In a single day, we have broken down the gates of the city, and we seek to remove the King from power. So what is your stance then brother? Are you against us or are you for us?"
Kyreg thought about it for a moment and then looked at the Captain. "My answer depends on yours Captain. You hold distaste for the Imperium as do I. However, I ask you this question that I expect full honesty from. Is it Emperor before Legion, or is it Legion before Emperor?"
The Captain looked at him for a moment and then smiled. "The 21st has always, always been for the Emperor." Kyreg chuckled lightly, as he remembered the words said by the Genefather once upon a time. "Then you remain true to the Trefoil and the Emperor?" The Captain nodded. "Those of the 21st who did not, they departed. I will not shed the blood of brothers, especially as the XX Legion walked down the path of renegades a long time ago. I myself have done almost the same. I have killed Imperials over the years out of necessity but so far, I have not lost my loyalties to the Emperor. I suppose the only true path we have left is to remember why the Legion walked down this path." Kyreg nodded in agreement. "Then I will not stand in your path. However, I will make something clear to you. I will not stand in your path but I will not assist you either. So make the kill a clean one." The Captain bowed slightly in thanks and smiled, before the two shook hands and each side departed from the hill top.
Kyreg returned to the barracks in the morning, and he smiled as he saw that the Rogue Traders troops around the barracks had kept alert. Once inside, he would gesture for Catriona as well as Albert to follow him into a separate room. The two looked at him rather curiously as he looked at them. "Where is the King now?"
"Back at his own castle, Lord. Why do you ask?" Kyreg nodded. "Captain, I wish for every single one of your troops to remain here. We will not be providing any assistance to the King, even if he asks for it." Catriona looked at him curiously. "I cannot have this spread beyond this room. I want this to be understood." Both of them looked at him with more curiously but they nodded in assent.
"The attack last night, was the work of my brothers." Catriona simply nodded at the news, while Albert looked shocked. "Why would they wish to attack the King here?"
"Conquest, my friend. They wish to claim this planet for their own. I met with their leader last night, and I have decided that this is agreeable." Albert chewed on his bottom lips for a moment while Catriona simply smiled and nodded. "I am not surprised, Commander. If you had not given the warning, the King would not have survived. I had assumed that perhaps you recognized the attack." Kyreg nodded. "I did. It is a common enough tactic, I have used it in the past as well to defeat a dug in enemy. Whatever happens, tell your soldiers not to fire Captain unless they are fired upon. The King will not survive another night." Albert simply nodded although he sighed softly. "I knew that we could not allow the King to rule for the rest of his life, but I did not think this moment would come so soon. Kyreg nodded curtly.
"Your brothers. Do you mean of the XX?" Catriona asked, tilting her head slightly. "Yes. They are of another Harrow. I spoke to their leader last night, and I found his argument agreeable. The King must be removed, regardless. Who does it, matters not. They will seek to rule by proxy, and so we will allow them to do so. Regardless, it matters little who rules this planet. If we allow a friendly government to us installed, then we can use this planet in the future for resupply if we need to."
That night in the pitch black of night, six Astartes wrapped in cameoline cloaks were escorted in by a large crowd of militia, and the fighting started all over again. The King's soldiers were kept busy on all sides, even as they fired their light guns and sent shells into the crowds lines, accurate marksmanship kept the soldiers heads down as well while the six Astartes followed by over two hundred human troops easily overran an undefended flank that had oddly been marked falsely by a unit that did not exist on the officers maps and infiltrated through. The palace guards put up a fight but they were cut down rather quickly by the auto pistols wielded by the insurgents or by bolter fire. The odd howl of a plasma gun could be heard as well as the loud roar of an Umbra Ferrox bolter being fired on fully automatic. By dawn, the King's colours had been torn down from the flag pole, and a different person sat on the throne. The Astartes were nowhere to be found but the remaining soldiers that still fought for the King surrendered and were taken in to prisoner camps.
Almost overnight, it seemed that a new group of soldiers had taken over. Dressed in more sensible fatigues and armed somehow with las rifles, the soldiers had the entire city under lock down. Waiting outside of the gates already were artisans and builders who had materials and tools ready, as well as massive work crews sent to repair the damages caused by the intense fighting that had occurred previously. In many ways, it almost seemed to be planned down to the smallest details. Food shipments had appeared from the cellars and larders of the various nobles who had tried to carve out their own fiefdom, the noble families wiped out to a man. Those that had not were sent letters of congratulations to their new titles, replacing those that had been wiped out by the green and grey fatigued soldiers. The new ruler made his speech that night from the palace balcony, a tall grey haired man of a strong military bearing in a plain suit. He spoke of how everything has regressed on the planet, of how the King's weak rule had given the nobles more power over the individual citizens, and how it was a shame that the planet had only one major city when it could have many major cities across the globe. He spoke of how he intended to rule Memlock and bring the standards of living higher, and how he sought to rehabilitate the city back to what it could be.
Kyreg watched all this and chuckled slightly. The campaign was quite well planned, he had to admit that. The new ruler was a good operative, and on his tactical map, he would mark down Memlock as a potential future supply site. He looked out the window and chuckled slightly, as statues of the Emperor were brought in, and placed in places which formerly held statues of past rulers and the like. Back into the Imperial Fold, that was at least something that the Captain had done.
That night, the soldiers on duty saw a lone armoured figure that walked up to the barracks and handed them a note, meant for Kyreg. It was promptly delivered to the Legion Commander, and it had a simple message on it. He chuckled after reading the message and asked the guards to let him in and show him to one of the sequestered rooms. He would meet the armoured Astarte there, and saw that it was Kunitz himself.
"You were as good as your word, Commander." Kyreg nodded. "Of course. And you were as good as yours. I see the statues of the Emperor are finally gracing this town again." Kunitz nodded after a moment. "I have to admit, that was not a planned action. After speaking to you, it made me think of quite a few things. It reminded me of the fervour that the 21st used to have as we made war on the stars themselves in His name. This world will be restored to the Emperor. With time, I believe that this will be knit back into the Imperial fold. I thought about what you said as well. As to how we will rebuild. Quite frankly, I have no idea. It seems however, that you might."
Kyreg shrugged lightly as he undid his helmet and placed it on the desk. "There are others like me, Captain. Others whose parent Legions no longer follow the Imperial Truth. You know of the Legions I speak of, those that have forgotten and discarded their dues to the Emperor. There are many from these Legions, including ours that have united together under me."
Kunitz stayed quiet so Kyreg continued on. "Do you ask to join me, Captain? Or do you ask me for assistance? I am currently without a ship, and waiting on my faction. What about you? Do you seek to build your own ship then perhaps?"
Kunitz shook his head. "I have no means of building a ship. As for joining you, that I do not know. I have no desire to let the 21st disappear into the pages of history. But your assistance is required."
The Legion Commander nodded. "When my ship comes for me, I will not forget to take you on board then. We will drop you off to a planet of your choice, or you can make a decision to journey with us temporarily. Until you can find a way to claim your own ship and crew again." The Captain nodded. "There are also large quantities of recruits from here that we wish to claim. Those that have served with us, I am sure there are many that can be trained as crew. And those that can be trained as potential recruits." Kyreg nodded in agreement. He had received earlier confirmation that the retrieval squadron was already close.
A siren sounded in the barracks, and Kyreg looked at the Captain. "No, that is not my doing." He nodded and the two Astartes ran out of the sequestered room, towards where many of the troops were gathered. Up above the sky, it was lit by the presence of a single ship.
The Corsair Prince looked down at the mon'keigh planet and made a face. "Truly, Farseer. You sensed the elder stones here? This planet is nothing."
Lilithfeon nodded as she focused her mind on the planet. She had followed it, and tracked it to this planet. The soul stones cried out to her mind and had travelled through various points in the void. Behind her stood the Exarchs of her strike force as well as Corsair warriors, large squads of Rangers as well as Voidstorm and Lasblaster Aeldari troops that had weapons waiting. It had taken them a long time but they had finally found them, the elder soul stones that had been on Tyven V that they had strove so hard to prevent from losing to the Ruinous powers but it seems that the Chaos worshippers had lost on the planet, and been driven out. Yet the skeins of fate could not tell her more of how the soul stones had arrived here. The vast majority of it, they had recovered from Tyven V, they were left unguarded and simply left in an armoured mon'keigh vehicle but what was missing were the ten elder stones, stones of inconceivable power that housed the souls of millennia old Aeldari. She would complete her objectives, even if it would seal her to travel with Galamon for the next century.
Kyreg smiled a little, as he knew why the Eldar were here. He had wanted answers from the Eldar, and this was how he was going to bait them in. The trap had been laid, and the Eldar had flown right into it.