16. A change on the field of battle
Hastur Sejanus, captain of the 4th company of the Luna wolves legion and part of his primarch's inner circle, he was a skilled warrior and an equally skilled diplomat and considered to be Horus' greatest son behind the first captain Abaddon.
The 16th legion was currently embroiled in its bloodiest and most drawn out conflict to date, they fought on the planet of Icaria and the people of the world were putting up a defence against the astartes that had never been seen in the many years of the Great crusade. The human population of Icaria had allied with xenos during the age of strife and under the alien's guidance they cultivated their psychic potential, a hierarchy quickly formed where the aliens stood at the top as unquestioned rulers and under them where powerful human psykers and at the bottom were the baseline humans. Horus had attempted to persuade the human population to expel their xenos overlords but, after thousands of years under xenos rule, they would not hear it and so war was the only option.
The soldiers of Icaria were fierce and dedicated, not wavering in the face of the Imperium's transhuman soldiers, and Sejanus found himself admiring their unshakable dedication to their cause but it was not the human soldiers that were giving the Luna wolves difficulties, it was the psykers. The Icarian forces made extensive use of psykers, nearly every unit had a handful, and the powerful storms of lightning and fire they conjured as well as their future sight made progress slow at best.
The legion fought in one of the many cities of the world, forced to slowly clear every block of resistance and to protect them from vicious counter attacks. Sejanus fired his bolter around a corner as he faced off against an entrenched position, he could see the bolts explode against some invisible wall that stood in front of the heavy weapons emplacement, the Icarian line was littered with such positions and there was little to do except overburden the psyker conjuring the wall with concentrated fire and hoping another can't take their place before the emplacement can be destroyed.
Hastur had his bolter on full auto as he unloaded in to the psyker's shield, quickly and skilfully changing magazines, waiting for the exact moment it would fall, the captain was focused on the emplacement when a bloody lump dropped in to the middle of his squad.
"PSY BOMB!" one marine shouted as they all ran from lump
A rising scream could be heard as the lump rolled about, revealing it to be a torso with only a head wearing a strange helmet. Psy bomb, a name given by the astartes, was a terrible weapon utilised by the Icarians, an injured or otherwise doomed psyker would be fitted with a psychic amplifier and tossed in to the enemy ranks where they would die letting off a deadly psychic blast. Hastur dived away from the bomb as it went off, the psychic shockwave throwing him in to a building, several marines were too slow to reach safety and received the full force of the psychic blast, all of them fell to the ground, dead in an instant.
The Icarians used a mass psy bombing to launch a massive counter attack, blunting the 16th's spear tip and forcing the Luna wolves to pull back to stronger positions in the face of the sheer ferocity of their psykers. Sejanus saw many of his brothers cooked in their own armour by lightning or have their very soul burned away by warp fire. The Luna wolves were on the back foot and the Icarians pressed their advantage, it seemed like the legion would be pushed out of the city and may suffer their first defeat.
"All companies" the voice of the primarch came over the command vox, it was clear he was reluctant to give the order but the situation was quickly becoming untenable, "Fall back outside city limits and regroup"
"Yes my primarch" several captain reluctantly confirmed the order
Sejanus sighed as he opened up his vox to confirm and move his men back, "Yes my prima…."
The captain was interrupted by a voice coming over the general vox channel, "I'm sorry my lord but I will need you to countermand that order, the 11th has come to your aid"
Pure white Stormbirds screamed overhead as the sky was filled with thousands of marines raining down on blazing wings, astartes is stark white unadorned armour fell on the ranks of the Icarians, the 11th legion had come to the 16th's aid.
Sejanus watched as jump packs slowed the marines decent and the squads of the 11th quickly formed up to push in to the city centre, he watched as the fire and lightning of the Icarian psykers washed over the marines of the 11th and didn't even scorch their armour, he watched the powers of their enemies greatest weapon flicker and fade in the face of the newly arrived warriors, for the warriors of the 11th were unique amongst the ranks of the astartes, the entire legion was made up of soulless warriors known as blanks.
The gene seed of the 11th had a peculiar flaw in that it had a very low success rate when implanted in to baseline humans and would out right kill even the weakest psyker but unlike the gene seed of other legions the 11th's had a near 100% success rate when implanted in to blanks. Regular humans could join the ranks of the 11th but all of them would have to under go what the legion called the Soul scour a painful months long process where the subjects very soul was erased from existence, there were horror stories of neophytes that couldn't take the pain and would commit suicide to escape or their bodies would simply give out from the pain, but those that survived the trial would become the most hardened warriors of the legion.
With the warriors of the 11th checking the powers of the enemy psykers it was easy to push them back and eventually out of the city, without their most effective weapon the Icarian lines quickly faltered and buckled under the weight of two astartes legions.
Sejanus stood beside his primarch and the rest of the Mournival as the legion took a well-deserved rest in the newly claimed city, although they were still clearing out the last bits of resistance. Horus was clearly displeased with the near defeat his legion suffered at the hands of the Icarian psykers.
"If it were not for the 11th we would have been pushed back" the primarch's tone suggested he was both relived and bothered by that fact
"I don't know, I've never liked them" the first captain, Ezekyle Abaddon, spoke up, his discomfort clear as he watched the marines of the 11th repair their arms and tend to their wounded
"You know why that is Abaddon" Sejanus felt uncomfortable around them as well but he tried to keep in mind that they were loyal warriors of the Emperor and judged them on that instead
"Sejanus is right, we should be grateful to the warriors of the 11th" Horus interjected before any kind of argument could form
"Your thanks is taken gratefully" the primarch and his Mournival almost jumped in surprise as one of the warriors of the 11th seemingly appeared amongst them without their notice, blanks seemed to have an unnatural ability to move silently
Many of the astartes of the legions suffered from unbalanced features, either to a subtle or extreme degree, the gigantism brought on by the transformation caused many astartes to develop disproportionate features but the astartes of the 11th commonly had extremely proportionate features, quite handsome many would say, but that only seemed to increase their strange aura, making them seem more like carefully crafted dolls instead of actual people.
The warrior that stood among the Luna wolves had close cropped black hair with tanned skin and a strong jaw that sported light stubble, the most striking feature of his were his almost alien sliver eyes, they looked as if pure silver had been poured in to his eyes and polished to a perfect mirror. The warrior was the legion master of the 11th legion, Karth Orarth, accounts of his and his legions exploits were slightly biased but he was known as an unshakable commander who executed compliances with extreme speed and prejudice, worlds were given one offer and no chance to surrender until they were utterly defeated.
"Legion master" Horus easily kept his composure, "We weren't expecting the 11th to come to our aid"
"We had finished up a compliance close by and received word the 16th were running in to difficulties with psykers" Orarth's null aura made it difficult to discern his exact emotions as he spoke, Hastur thought about how useful a tool such an aura could be in certain situations
"Well my sons and I appreciate your legion's expertise in battling psykers"
The 11th was mainly used to counter civilisations that rely heavily on the powers of psykers, participating in many joint operations with the Sisters of silence, in fact the only Imperial organisation that the 11th had any kind of close relationship with was the silent sisterhood. The legion was generally shunned by other Imperial organisations, and even some other legions, and as a result they were quite an insular group with few friends outside their ranks. The 11th was also invaluable in battling the xenos species known as Orks, the greenskins had the unique ability to produce what is referred to as a WAAAGH! field, it was a psychic field that allowed the crude technology of the Orks to function when all laws of physics and engineering said they shouldn't. The null field created by a legion of blanks counteracted the Orks' WAAAGH! field and caused most if not all of the green hordes weapons and vehicles to stop working or explode.
"My legion is happy to help" Karth understood there was no more to be discussed with Horus and gave a quick bow before he turned and left
Sejanus watched the legion master walk away, despite the discomfort brought about by their null field the captain felt for the legion and their plight, he knew he could not allow himself to leave their thanks to just that short exchange even if it was with a primarch. Hastur quickly chased down the legion master.
"I am truly grateful to your legion" He looked the blank in his eyes, pushing past the grating feeling of his soullessness, "You saved many of my brothers, I am forever in your debt"
"No need captain" Karth's expression didn't seem to change as he walked away
"Maybe they don't feel emotions" Sejanus mumbled to himself
"We do and he likes you" Sejanus almost drew his bolter in surprise as he saw another 11th legionary, the markings on his pauldron identifying him as a captain
He had the same perfect features and silver eyes as his legion master but he had shoulder length platinum hair and near translucent skin, in fact he looked a lot like an astartes of the 3rd legion, "Zaruthel Garth, captain of the 3rd" he introduced himself, "I've found people like you have a hard time reading us, even if we are brother astartes no other legion will know our pain or burden"
"Being nulls saved many lives today, it is a gift, you can fight where others would fail even other astartes"
"I am not talking about our lack of a soul, it's a stronger tie than any other legion has" Sejanus noticed Zaruthel's eyes quickly flicker to something behind him, he looked over his shoulder to see Horus standing a few feet away talking to Abaddon
"Your primarch" Sejanus didn't really understand the pain of a legion without their gene father but he knew how he would feel if Horus left their side, "You'll find him soon, many other legions have found their primarch, your time will come soon"
Zaruthel looked at Sejanus and for the first time the captain could read his emotions, there was a deep sadness, "All the primarchs have luminous souls, they burn bright in the warp that is how they can be found so easily but that is not so for our primarch, many have resigned themselves to end this crusade without ever finding him"
Sejanus had never thought of it like that, the 11th were a unique legion so they would have a unique primarch, he would not be like his brothers and where he ended up might be equally unique, "All the worlds of the galaxy will fall under the Emperor's domain, your primarch is on one of those worlds, he will be found"
"Possibly" Zaruthel looked up at the sky, the stars were starting to come out and he seemed to be looking for the star his primarch called home, "I have looked up in to the sky or out in to space many times and wondered, where is he? Is he embraced or shunned? Is he living the life of a king or of a peasant? What is he doing on a star so far away?"
Sejanus looked up with Zaruthel and found himself wondering about the 11th primarch as well, what was he doing at this moment?
Ovis sat in a small sail boat, gently rocking on the water as he held a rod over the side, silently waiting for a bite.
"Should we really be doing this?" Urst asked from his seat next to the giant
"What else are we going to do?"
"I don't know, maybe what we came here to do"
"Everything is in place and going according to plan, we can sit and relax for a few hours" Ovis' line became taught as a fish bit his hook
"Is anything ever not going to plan for you?" Urst sighed as he watched Ovis reel his catch in
"If it isn't I make it part of the plan" Ovis reeled in a fat 3 foot long silver Cras fish, "Looks tasty"
He threw the flopping fish in to the boat as he cast his line out again, the two sat in silence until Urst changed the topic of conversation, "Do you know why your father hates fishing so much?"
"No clue, he simply refuses to take part in the activity" Ovis deftly bobbed his bait about as he waited for another bite
"You should ask him" Urst felt something bite his line and he started to reel it in, he almost had it when the roar of engines over head startled him and caused him to lose his catch, "Fucking planes, I almost believe that was part of your plan as well"
"No I'm just lucky as well" Ovis smiled as he watch 5 planes fly overhead in a flying V formation, "The plan is underway, we should probably get ready, he'll be here soon"
"Will they work?"
"They'll work, I'm just happy to finally get to show them off"
It took 3 years to get to this point, to get the production of parts and assembly of the planes up to standard and to train the pilots as well as building the runways and hangars but finally Ovis could test his invention in combat. He had closely guarded the secrets of his invention, no one else knew exactly how it worked and he was the only one who knew the entire process to construct one, he made sure separate people machined the parts and assembled them so that those who made the parts wouldn't know how they were put together and those that put them together wouldn't know how they were made, several layers of this meant people would know how to build parts of a plane but not the entire thing.
They still had limited range and could only fly when there was an island close by but Ovis already had plans forming to get rid of these flaws. Today was the first real life test and he had set up the perfect bait to reel in the perfect subject for the test, a nuisance pirate lord who had been raiding too far in to his parent's territory, Ovis knew someone like him would not be able to resist the bait he put out. The primarch smiled as he visualised the exact scene his test would create.
Sirtris Almo was a minor pirate lord but he still had quite a powerful fleet under his control; 2 battleships, 9 cruisers and many escorts, he was quickly building a reputation for himself and he was sure to become a major threat in a few years time. Sirtris was quite a young man with the signature dark skin and golden eyes of Krakens but his most striking feature was a large sword scar running from his right temple to his left cheek, he was an opportunist who would never let plunder slip through his fingers if he could help it and he had intel on good plunder this time, the island of Corswain and a good part of one of his rivals' fleets.
Corswain was an island, newly annexed by Atris and Asla and at the furthest south extremes of their domain, Sirtris had received reliable intel suggesting the detachment patrolling the waters around the island had been forced to return to port and were currently at anchor, if he could attack while they were off guard then he could sink many of their ships and open up Corswain for him to raid, and possibly even push Atris and Asla out of the region all together.
Sirtris sat above the bridge of his flag ship, the battleship Water of gold, he sat there appreciating the view of the unending ocean and the cool sea breeze on his skin. He had his eyes closed when he heard someone climb up the ladder and join him on the observation deck.
"Corswain will be visible on the horizon in a few hours, their radars will pick us up soon so we should get ready" a feminine voice informed him of his fleet's situation
"I hear the son of Atris and Asla is in command of this detachment, the legendary unbreakable giant" he looked back at his right hand, Cassa, "I'll be famous for giving him his first defeat, might even end up killing him in this attack"
"Don't get too ahead of yourself Sirtris, he's well known for a reason" Cassa had always acted as Sirtris' reason and stopped him from going too far
"I know I know" he stood up and looked down at the petit beauty, "But I can feel this is….. What is that noise?"
He heard a droning sound, like insects, but they were still quite far from Corswain. Sirtris and Cassa looked out across the sea to try and find the source of the sound.
"What's that?" Cassa pointed out many black points on the horizon heading for them
Sirtris squinted as he tried to see better, "By the fucking gods" he saw the points weren't sailing on the ocean but flying in the air and heading straight for them, "TELL EVERYONE TO PREPARE FOR COMBAT!", he screamed down in to the bridge.
It was too late. The aircraft flew low to the ocean surface as they approached the unprepared ships, waiting until they were close and then dropping a torpedo strapped to their underside, in minutes half of Sirtris' fleet was heavily damaged or even outright sinking, all his large ships had been extensively damaged. The aircraft buzzed around his dying ships as they strafed the decks with powerful repeating cannons, Sirtris was stunned at the power of such machines, only about 20 of these aircraft had crippled a fleet that could level entire islands. He watched as his men desperately fired up at them with their firearms or broke the mounts of the anti-personnel machine guns to have some heavier fire power but the aircraft flew too high and fast for either weapon to be effective.
"Ovis planned this" Sirtris realised that the intel he had been given had been planted and he had been baited in to a trap, "We need to tell everyone to abandon any ship that cannot sail, get the men on to the escorts and get us out of here"
His battleships and cruisers were completely lost but he still had a formidable escort fleet that he could use to retreat and lick his wounds. Sirtris growled as he moved to the ladder down to the bridge.
"I think it's too late" Cassa looked off in to the horizon where she saw silhouettes heading for them
Sirtris almost broke his teeth as he tightened his jaw in anger, Ovis had planned this trap perfectly and Sirtris had fallen in to it perfectly, "GET ME MY SWORD! I'LL CUT HIS GIANT HEAD OFF MYSELF!"
Ovis sat atop the head of the Krake figurehead that was bolted to his ship, a massive battleship with four three gun turrets running its length and multiple smaller calibre guns, it was one of the finest examples of a ship on Krake and the primarch had personally overseen the training of its crew and made special modifications himself. The ship was almost a fleet killer by itself, with skilled enough crew and powerful enough weapons to take on two ships of similar tonnage, the Krake's tooth was truly a ship fit for a primarch.
Ovis smiled as he saw the ever growing scene before him, half sunk ships burning as aircraft buzzed around them and strafed their decks, escorts without lead sailing about in complete disarray as they pick between fleeing and trying to save their ally ships and crews. It was going to be a slaughter. His ships moved in without contest and swiftly formed up their line while many of the opposing ships still hadn't noticed them. The aircraft pulled back and headed back to Corswain, flying over Ovis' fleet as they did, and with no obstructions destruction was unleashed. His ships all fired in beautiful harmony as the surviving ships were decimated under the sheer weight of the disciplined fire, small escorts were split in half as the heavy shells of battleships smashed through their decks and blew out their innards.
Sirtris stood on the deck of the Water of gold as he watched his fleet get whittled down, he stood at the bow of the ship as it limped slowly towards the enemy line, the mechanics had barely managed to get the ships engine running and two of its propellers were non-operational but the ship still moved so it could still ram. The Water of gold sailed through the rain of fire as splinters were thrown up and men were blasted off of the deck, the ship was hit a total of 20 times as it closed in on Ovis' flag but just as Sirtris could see the shine of the primarch's eyes a lucky shell fell on his ship. A single shell managed to finally penetrate the deck armour and detonated deep in the ship's ammunition storage, the Water of gold was ripped completely in half as its entire crew was consumed by fire.
Ovis smirked as he watched the battleship sink beneath the waves along with the rest of its fleet, the battle had barely been a challenge for the primarch, he had set up all the pieces and they all fell in to place perfectly, Sirtris had been far too predictable to have been a threat.
"Your parents will be happy with the first test" Urst stood next to his captain as the fleet turned around and headed back to port
"Yes they will, make sure word is sent to increase production" Ovis turned around and headed inside
Next time: Mutiny