A/N: To Northernmegas, what I would recommend you listen to while reading this is the soundtracks to Final Liberation: Epic 40,000 and Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gates, as well as the Ultramarines Chant. You can find them on YouTube. And those really are kickass tunes!
To everyone else, sorry for the long delay and I have an announcement to make at the end of this chapter. And this may come late, but…Happy New Year!
Chapter 15 – Villainy
Who pledged his loyalty?
The Warmaster
Whom did we serve in faith?
The Warmaster
From whom did we take our name?
The Warmaster
Who was denied to us?
The Warmaster
But whom shall we remake?
The Warmaster
And who shall lead us to victory?
The Warmaster
- Black Legion Catechism
The fourth planet and capital world of the Lylat System, Corneria, was more than a mere shadow of it's former, brilliant technological self; and for the third time in history. While Corneria's previous conflicts had merely left it's cities in ruin, awaiting to be rebuilt and revert back to their past glory, this time the planet now appeared to be beyond restoration, or even redemption for that matter. The Chaos warfleet belonging to the various Traitor Marine companies were all in orbit high above the planet's atmosphere, some ships raining down death through torpedo, lance and lascannon on military bases and facilities still intact, finishing off the planet's remaining military forces.
The surface of Corneria fast resembled a blasted nightmare. The sky and atmosphere was slowly turning a blood crimson colour. Vast warp storms appeared all over the sky, with lightning streaking across the purple clouds and acid rain beginning to drench the now daemon-infested landscape, beginning to eat away at the formally lush vegetation of the forests and swamps and poisoning the rivers, lakes and seas. The wildlife not killed by the poisons, which wouldn't normally harm a kemono or human, mutated into hideous apparitions and twisted parodies.
Most of the cities and population centres were now smashed and burning, with their surviving populations that had not escaped from the planet during the massive evacuation, succumbing to the wiles of the Warp. All this time the defence forces still present fought their damned hardest to keep the humans and their daemonic allies from overrunning what few civilians were left. But the civilian's innocent minds and bodies slowly became corrupted and twisted accordingly to the wills of their Chaotic masters; they immediately banded together and formed cults ranging from that of worship and devotion to doomsday. They then set their murderous hands on those who still had pure souls, strong wills and clear minds, butchering and sacrificing them as instructed by their deity of choice.
The cults dedicated to the Blood God Khorne were keen on spilling their blood all over the ground, which was the only way to appease him. The cults of the Plague God Nurgle set about releasing long thought extinct diseases stolen from Cornerian labs and infecting free Cornerians with them, seeing how long it would take them to either become used to the diseases or die slowly and painfully. The cults dedicated to the God of Excess Slaanesh inflicted every one of their perverted, disgraceful fantasies and practices on them, showing absolutely no mercy. The loyalists of Tzeentch sat about attempting to harness the power of the Warp through the tuition of Chaos Sorcerers and Psykers; who found it entertaining to see the cultists with their newly acquired powers test them out on free Cornerian test subjects. Various abilities and spells used ranged from mind control, summoning foul daemons to devour their bodies and the ability to reach into their bodies and steal their souls.
One such city that all this occurred, was the ostensibly named Terrierville, with violence and degradation escalated on a massive scale. Once the canine civilian population was wiped out completely, the Cornerian cult groups all suddenly turned on one another, with the cults to each of the four Gods of Chaos attacking one another with both Cornerian and Chaos armaments – ranging from butchers knifes to chainblades, blaster rifles and plasma guns. The Khorne cultists all revelled in the bloodshed, worshipping their deity through spilling their enemies' bright arterial blood all over the ground, while the Slaanesh cultist all felt pleasure with both killing and being killed, the sensation of pain arousing them to the extreme.
This was all under the watchful eye of their Chaos masters, particularly the black/gold-coloured Chaos Space Marines of the Black Legion, Abaddon the Despoiler's company. They revelled in seeing the tainted kemono's spilling one another blood, some of which was coated on their black and gold decorated armour; and over the shoulder planting badges, which was a gold eight-pointed with the eye in the middle.
Having the best view of the action over Terrierville on a hill was the Despoiler himself, along with his Sorcerer Zaraphiston – and four other Chaos Champions. One of them was Malogurst the Twisted, the Despoiler's chief enforcer, adorned in his demoniacally reconditioned power armour including helm. The remaining three were the Chosen Champions of Abaddon, one of which were named, and which Zaraphiston was one of them.
Devram Korda – The Tyrant of Sarora - the daemon of Slaanesh. Adorned in his vibrant armor and holding a standard bearing the flag of Chaos with his left gauntlet, he smiled insanely as he fantasised being amongst the kemonos and hacking them up himself.
Another chosen was a champion of Khorne, as he was dressed in crimson colored ornate power armor which was adorned in grinning skulls. He wore a snarling wolf mask over his horned bald head and had his deadly rusted yet sharp Khornate glaive sitting in his left hand, the blunt side touching the ground.
The last member of the Chosen was a champion of Nurgle. His rusted, bloated armor had tears in it, allowing pus and sickening fluid to ooze out of him, typical of Nurgle's minions. Anyone not familiar with the forces of Nurlge, to look upon the the Plague God's champion was to immediately vomit not just with sickening sight of him, but also with fear and the knowledge that once he strikes you with his plague sword, you only have seconds before you decompose.
Devram turned to his master, still smiling insanely, "Why do we not join my kemono cult brothers and have some fun, Despoiler?"
Abaddon look over at him and responded, "I thought simple voyeurism was enough for you?"
Devram licked his lips suggestively, "To just watch is never enough for me, Despoiler. I seek pleasure in all forms…and this season it is with my blade through a furry's sternum."
Abaddon smiled, amused by his sick mind, "Then what is stopping you from joining your cult, Devram?"
The Slaanesh champion starred at him with a blank face, before his maniacal smile returned to his face and he let go of the pole standard, where it was grabbed by Zaraphiston with his free left hand. He drew what appeared to be razor-sharp whip and charged down the hill towards the city, all the while chanting maniacally and beating his chest with his free hand.
Zaraphiston shook his head and muttered, "Just too insane, even to my…tolerance."
Abaddon looked over at him now, "Did I hear you say something, Zaraphiston?"
"You can tell me, master."
"I did."
"You answered you own question."
"You should learn to control you tongue, Sorcerer," Abaddon frowned, "Lest you be strangled with it."
"I will be silent now."
The champion of Khorne snickered, hearing Zaraphiston being smart with his master. For the longest he had known the sorcerer for being a very eccentric fellow, only being tolerated and keeping his head as Abaddon still had use for him. It would also appear that some elements of Chaos makes him uncomfortable, and that he has being known to show jealously towards other Sorcerers, most of all being the fallen Thousand Sons Librarian Ahriman.
The Khornate champion turned his head around to see a badly damaged Cornerian troop shuttle heading towards the city. One of it's wings was blown off so it flew at an angle and it's windows were shattered. The rest of the men spun around to face the oncoming ship, the Khornate champion immediately smiling wickedly behind his mask.
"Fresh victims!" he exclaimed excitedly.
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The orange-beret wearing Cornerian officer glared down at the Chaos Marines down below over the shoulder of the wounded main pilot, who was holding onto the controls with his left hand while his right clutched a chest wound, especially at the larger Marine with the big red/black coloured topknot. The Cornerian officer himself was no worse off, having half of his right ear flayed off and a chainaxe wound across his back. He looked behind his back towards the red-light drenched passenger cabin to see the remains of his platoon, all of which was injured or dying in some way, their groans and moans of pain assaulting his ears.
A dog trooper bearing the rank of corporal and missing his middle and ring fingers stepped up to him from the cabin, a pained glaze over his pale face. He breathed in and said, "Sir, I don't think Rogers and McCoy are gonna make it."
The officer sighed, "We're all not gonna make it, corporal. The Imperials have taken the planet."
The corporal shook his head, and exhaled "No…sir."
"What was that?"
"I…I don't the Imperium is attacking us. These Space Marines…don't like right," the corporal expressed his views, which didn't seem relevant now that their deaths were assured.
"ARGHHH!"
All ears perked up and all heads spun around to see the pilot's hand now off the controls and a even larger hole now in his chest, through the pilot's chair and out the other end. The other pilot panicked and took over the controls, prompting the officer to rush back up front and see that one of the Chaos freaks below, the one with the wolf mask, was firing up at them with a boltpistol.
"I can't hold it!" the other pilot cried, "Too much damage to the left wing and the engines. Going down!"
All arms grabbed hold of anything that could keep them still. The officer grabbed out of the dead main pilot's chair and gritted his teeth, hissing, "If we're going to Hell, we're take those freaks down with us!"
The backup pilot silently agreed, where with shaky hands he gunned the downing shuttle towards the Despoiler and his lieutenants. The champion of Khornate lowered his smoking boltgun still smiling, through ridiculously precise aiming had managed to bring the dropship down hurtling towards them. Abaddon looked over at him with a rather bored, uninterested expression.
"Bravo, champion," the Despoiler said, not even attempting to feign enthusiasm, "You have them hurtling towards us now."
At that the Chaos Marines all stepped to the side and allowed the dropship, and it's screaming crew and passengers to crash between them and skid down across the hill. It's hull was wrecked with mini-fires and explosions until it skidded across the brown grass and came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, still burning. The door to the side burst open and out jumped six Cornerian troopers, one of which wore an officer's beret, and another of which was on fire. His comrades immediately set to putting the fire out, rolling him over the grass and leaving him with massive burns all over his body.
Panicked that their attempted Kamikaze attempt was a failure and with both pilots dead, the beret officer's head shot upwards to see the Chaos Marines looking down at them. There was nothing but fear in him when he could see Abaddon looking down at him with narrowed eyes, which promised him a possibly lifetime of torment for him and his men. The beret clinched his eyes shut, and with his left hand he reached for his blaster holstered to his side.
With newly felt determination mixed with fatalism, he opened his glaring eyes and aimed up at the Despoiler. He was about to pull the trigger when he hadn't seen the Khornate champion having charged downwards to meet him in the field and attack from the side. Before he could aim at him, the champion swung his glaive and severed the beret's left hand off.
"MAJOR!" one of the Cornerian troopers cried as he and his comrades all grabbed their blaster rifle, he himself instead arming himself with his combat knife.
The beret instinctively gripped his left stump with his other hand as he fell over backwards. The now-laughing champion of Khorne charged at the other Cornerians, immediately going for the trooper with the knife. The trooper swung at the neck of the champion, who brushed his knife from his hand with a clap of his hand, before swing his glaive and rendering the trooper in half. Blood spewed forward from the severed dog kemono onto the others soldiers, who all fired their blaster rifles at close range.
"PRAISE KHORNE!"
With another stroke he struck again, slicing another Cornerian's head off, before turning on another and driving his glaive through the gut of another and impaling him, lifting him off his feet so that the screaming Cornerian sank deeper into the blade. The champion then swung towards another trooper, the body flying off and knocking him cold. The three remaining Cornerian troopers all choked on their feet and attempted to flee. When they turned away from the champion and the crash they found a massive crowd of half-naked female Slaanesh cultists waiting for them, each one of their twisted, evil pinkish/black eyes embodying lust looking at them eagerly.
The lead cultist, a white-furred, long red-haired vixen whose naked body was covered in blood and armed with a whip which was wrapped over her shoulder and torso which somewhat covered her left breast, shouted at the champion, "Back off, Khorne! We call these toys!"
The trio of male Cornerian soldiers appeared panicked and surprisingly unaroused at the sight of the crowd of barely clothed females seething and smiling seductively at them. The Khornate champion growled viciously through his mask and lowered his glaive. He then turned down towards the fallen beret, who was still bleeding profusely where his left hand would have been.
"I suppose you want him as well, decadent vixen?" the champion inquired.
The lead Slaanesh vixen shook her head and smiled at the champion as she stepped towards the fallen beret, whose tail and left hand brushed sensually across the champion's breastplate. She looked down at the beret with a frown, and whom looked up at the vixen with glaring eyes. Unamused, the vixen sighed and looked away as she stuck her foot out and drove it into the beret's crutch, causing his eyes to nearly bulge out and scream.
"Screams loud enough to tie me over for the evening," the vixen muttered, uninterested, "But by the amount of blood he's lost he won't be much use to us for long."
The champion shrugged, "Your deviancy is none of my concern, but fair enough."
The beret screamed louder as the champion gripped his glaive with both hands and drove it through his chest, finishing him off. The three remaining Cornerian troopers' eyes widened in unabated horror as the Slaanesh vixens advanced on them. Before they could let loose a single laser shot the cultists swarmed on them and subdued them. Snorting in apparent disgust, the Khornate champion looked away but felt the lead vixen hands and tail wrap around his torso seductively.
The vixen smiled amidst the other males and females triumphant screams mixed with the trooper's cries of protest as their weapons as well as much of their uniforms were stripped away from them. She and a few other vixens crowded around the Khornate champion, and begun caressing him everywhere, especially around his chest, each one cooing and moaning sensually around him.
Sensing Khornate champion's disinterest and being unaroused by the attention they giving him, she nonetheless whispered into his ear, "Care to join us, servant of Khorne? Pleasure's not restricted to the servants of Slaanesh, you know?"
The champion rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he felt the vixen's smooth tongue brush against his ear, "You can't tempt me, vixen."
The vixen appeared to pout, "Suit yourself, big boy. C'mon ladies…"
She and the other females with her then joined the crowd as they held the screaming stripped troopers above their heads and headed back to the city. Abaddon smiled at the developments unfolding before him, knowing that what acts of extreme violence and deviancy the damned Cornerians inflicted on what another, it made the pantheon of the Dark Gods happy.
And by now the exile known by the name Ahriman would commence his search for the one prize he so desperately craved to bring the Lylat System to it's once and for all…
'Everything…' he thought, 'Is going exactly to plan.'
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When looked from out the window of a starship one could easily mistake planet Fortuna for Sauria, as both were equal when it came to it's lush green tropical rainforests, rolling green hills and shimmering blue seas. But unlike Sauria, it was also a major population centre with many technologically sound cities, towns and other small population centres, with at least ten of them on every continent, and each one built in the middle of a forest. Luckily the population, mainly consisting of canines, foxes and simians, were very conscious about the environment around them and did everything in their part to make sure they did not damage it in any way. And if they did, they would see to it that the damage is repaired.
And bearing down towards it through the darkness of space was a small fleet of Chaos starships. A Desolate-class battleship flanked by several smaller Iconoclast destroyers, each one stuffed to the brim with enough firepower to rival a larger Imperial battleship. Following close behind were two Executor-class cruisers, each one stuffed with hundreds of Chaos Space Marines drawn from the Thousand Sons legion. More accurately, they were known as Rubric Marines – named after the curse, which destroyed their physical bodies and sealing them within their armour.
And within that armour they were all nothing but dust. Their souls fused in their blue/gold coloured customised armour, elaborate Ancient Egyptian/Gnostic style headpieces adorned on their helmets. They felt nothing the least bit uncomfortable with being crammed into both the ships. It was their curse playing on them, brought upon from the most hated of the Thousand Sons members which he inflicted upon them thousands of years ago. The man, that Librarian, was situated at the far back of the Desolate-class battleship, all those on board not Rubric – which consisted of both full Sorcerers and Sorcerer Marine, feeling their rage at breaking point at having the man they banished among them.
The angriest of the Thousand Sons present was the Sorcerer-Lord, who could be distinguished through his Pharaoh-like headgear, his golden cape on the back of his red scarab-studded power armour. Sitting in his empty personal chambers, the only light coming from a down-light shining on him from above, he twiddled his fingers as he tried to clear his corrupted mind and focus his psychic gifts in preparation for the upcoming descent down to the planet. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep him mind from drifting towards the smug Ahriman, and that he was probably kneeling in his quarters meditating; and he couldn't stop himself fantasising about putting a Deathscreamer blade through his chest, avenging his legion once and for.
He managed to stop thinking when he received a psychic message, embedding itself deep in his brain…
The fallen one is not present in his quarters, Lord Tlaken.…and that it set him off.
"DAMN HIM, THAT TRAITOROUS LIBRARIAN!"
With a roar of frustration, he grabbed both his Bedlam Staff and a melta-gun and blew apart the door into his room with a psychic blast, sending the two Rubric Marines guarding it flying. Their armor sounded hallow when they landed, and felt no discomfort as they stood back up an followed the fuming Sorcerer-Lord as he strode through the flag-standard decorated hallway leading to his quarters.
Cultists struggled to get out of his way as they went about their business, two of which weren't fast enough and were knocked down and crushed by his armored boots, blood spewing all over the floor. The liquid was immediately cleaned up by blue stingray-like daemons known as Screamers, who sucked the blood up through their skin like a sponge.
Another Sorcerer who had guessed his thought stepped through another door and before the Sorcerer-Lord. The two Psykers stared each other down, and appeared rather hostile to one another.
"Will you stand aside, Brother Sorcerer?" Tlaken said rather calmly.
"I dare read your thoughts," the Sorcerer responded, "And that is madness."
"It was madness he would be among us for the first time since the fall of the False Emperor!" Tlaken cried, "The Despoiler was mistaken in allowing him back through the promise of more artifacts."
"Which he will find no doubt for the glory of Tzeentch!" the Sorcerer cried, hands gripping the pauldrons of the Sorcerer-Lord, "Prince Magnus will be pleased. The Changer of Ways will reward us. The Imperium will burn. The False Emperor will be cast down from his throne."
Tlaken frowned, "Spare me our eventual victory! The traitor will taste blade!"
Using his mind he shoved the Sorcerer aside and continued to rush through the blue-lit hallways of the Desolate-class ship, until he stood in front of the door guarded by two Sorcerer-Marines armed with a staff and a boltpistol in each hand. They bowed their heads at the presence of the Chaos Lord.
"What of the traitor and his disciples?"
"They disappeared, my lord," the Sorcerer-Marines spoke as one, "Through what appears to be the Webway."
The Chaos Lord's eyes widened behind his helm. He then snapped his fingers and the door leading into the chamber telepathically opened. He and his escorts stepped into the chamber and found what appeared to be an electrical-charge like Webway portal floating in the centre of the room. A massive window situated on the right of the chamber revealed the planet Fortuna. Upon seeing the Webway and the planet at once, Tlaken immediately hoped that Ahriman and his Chosen decided to go on ahead down to the planet and begin their search without the watchful eye of the Thousand Sons.
"And even then I shall kill him!" Tlaken exclaimed, "I will crush his heart, and his follower's hearts, in the palm of my hand."
He then turned around to find his own followers look at him with incredulous stares. Unfortunately they couldn't see his smile.
"After he has found what we are looking for, of course." The Chaos Lord of Tzeentch added, sounding quite humorous.
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On the night side of Fortuna the stars shined brightly in the sky, with the moon adding to the light and bathing everything below in radiance. Normally the populace of Fortuna would silently bless the moon and stars every night for their nearly mystical shine over themselves, their cities and the quiet sanctity of the jungles. But now everyone was hoping that the night light wouldn't give their positions away as they had abandoned their homes and fled towards the shelters situated in the deep jungles.
After hearing the new reports and intercepted transmissions of what is said to the Imperium invading Corneria, the citizenry of Fortuna; realizing that their world is the closest to Corneria, immediately begun to prepare themselves against the coming invaders. Now, whole convoys and lines of kemono made their exodus out of the various walled cities situated on both sides of the world. Their destination: The pre-built and prepared bunkers and shelters built into the jungle, each one able to hold hundreds to thousands of people. Fortuna Home Guard lightly escorted them, with the majority of the armed forces, knowing that the enemy would attack the cities first, elected to stay in the urban area and prepare to fight off the invaders.
One young gray vulpine man held his wife to his side, who in turn held their infant daughter as she slept cradled in her arms. As they and several other people in a line walked into the jungle alongside a grassy path, with armed soldier escorting them, inadvertently intimidating the civilians. Distress was clearly evident on his face when he dared stop and take a look back at the walled city and seeing hundreds more people behind him walking in a line from the city, the moon shining down on them.
He felt his wife rub his shoulder, concern evident on her face. He turned to face her, sadness in both their eyes. He looked down at his daughter for a few seconds, watching her sleep, before he sighed and put his arm around his wife and they continued walking, the line compelling them to keep moving. It was always distressing to leave one's home, especially when you know that it probably won't be there when you come back.
Within the military installation below one of the walled cities of Fortuna that was accessible only by a secured underground parking garage, red alerts blared everywhere as hell begun to hit home. Green Beret wearing Lylatian soldiers equipped in shield-emitting powered vests over camouflaged battle dress uniforms, armed with blaster rifles machine-guns and rocket launchers ran about frantically towards the surface, steeling themselves for the upcoming fight against the Chaos Space Marines. Officers led them, shouting orders and expletives in driving them towards the fights, while senior officers in the war room stood around a grid table which emitted tactical holograms, each of the kemonos face looking determined at an image of Fortuna…and the approaching Chaos fleet.
Human fleet approaching atmosphere at forty knots at second, the computer buzzed.
The planetary military commander, a determined bulldog in a uniform, looked at the holograms with his fists clinched at his side. He said rather calmly to the computer, "How long till they break through the atmosphere?"
Approximately ten minutes until the enemy forces makes planet fall.
The commander rubbed his chin and turned to his subordinates. He gave out his instructions, "Order all ground forces to entrench within our cities, on top of and just outside the walls. Open up orbital defenses the second they make contact with the atmosphere and send all available air support on the double!"
The officers all responded, "Acknowledged, sir."
"What's our intel on the enemy?"
"From reports garnered from Corneria, the humans have deployed Space Marine forces supported by lightly armed purebred soldiers," an officer holding a digital clipboard responded, "Sir, if I may point out…"
The commander turned to him.
"…none of our systems are identifying the invaders as Imperium."
The commander snorted, "I've seen their ships. I've seen their super soldiers. I've seen their men in flak marching in rank with bayonets attached to their flashlight guns."
His glare made everyone present nervous, especially when he produced a double-barreled blaster pistol with the Cornerian Army insignia on it.
"If we lose this world just like Falconia and Evergreen," the commander continued, waving his gun before his face "This will be the end of me, one way or another."
He lowered his gun and suddenly barked out loud.
"TO YOU POSTS! WE DEFEND THIS PLANET TO THE DEATH! AND IF TO THE DEATH, WE TAKE AS MANY OF THOSE SKINNED APES AS POSSIBLE!!"
The officer all nodded, feeling newfound determination seeping into them. They saluted and cried as one, "YES SIR!"
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It was peaceful in the deep jungles of the dark, night side of Fortuna, with many of the day critters sleeping soundly in the trees and below the ground, with the nocturnal animals out for the night and filling the jungle air with their animal cries and calls. The moonlight appeared to shine exclusively anywhere where one dared to stand, and especially over a small lake surrounded by trees. The animals nearby saw sense in staying away from that particular pond for all the right reasons.
Team Leader, this is Rainbow Delta 1…come in.A nearby radio communicator laid right next to a green-lensed prosthetic vision eye device laid atop a stack of clothes – a blue-colored armoured vest, pants and belt, as well as ligh-blue coloured towel, laid near the edges of the water.
I repeat: Team Leader, this is Rainbow Delta 1…come in.
The way the moonlight appeared on the water, it seemed calm and serene and almost like looking into a mirror. And whomever that it was that was swimming underwater knew that for certain, and cursed whomever was trying to contact him through the radio.
Pick the radio up, O'Donnell.
Immediately a middle-aged gray-haired wolf with an eye patch over his right socket, with white hair running down the center of his face, surfaced quite abruptly and let out a frustrated cry. He reached his hand out of the water and to the ground before the water and rested his head on the ground for a few seconds, before reaching over and grabbing the communicator.
"Yeah, what d'ya want, Leon?" Wolf O'Donnell growled, "I said I'd be back in a quarter of an hour! It takes that long to get a quarter of a year's worth of crap out of my fucking fur!"
No need to go into detail about your metrosexuality, the other side identified as Leon replied coyly, We got trouble…and it's of the human kind.
The word 'human' didn't do anything to dispel Wolf's annoyance. He could only sigh and respond, "Yeah alright. See you in two. Out!"
He switched off the communicator and laid it on the ground, before getting out of the water and reached for the towel. He quickly ran it over his fur and dried himself off. He then pulled his pants up and grabbed his prosthetic eye equipment. He looked at his reflection in the water and used it as a guide as he tore off his eyepatch, then inserted the prosthetic into his socket and the accompanying tech to the side of his head. In doing so he could see out of his right eye socket. He looked at himself in the water and smirked at himself with a wolfy grin.
He put on his vest, before picking up his blaster holster and tying it to his left hip. He then departed away from the lake, rushing through the jungle past the tree and through the bushes, counting this as exercise as to make sure he keeps his years off.
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Somewhere far off in another clearing in the jungle and near a small, shallow freshwater creek were three Wolfen-model starfighters with green/brown jungle camouflage netting over them, which would perfectly keep them from view if seen from above. Across from them were three separate green-colored tents, a small table and chair with a communication set plugged to a small power source at the back, and a green-colored purple-suited chameleon was sitting at the table and at work on the communicator.
"Hmmm…interesting…very interesting," Leon adjusted his headphones and hummed to himself, "Humanity, eh? Who would have thought?"
The tent at the farthest end zipped open and out stepped a black-furred panther dressed in what appeared to be ornate gold winged chest plating over a white flight suit. A small white line of fur edged near his left eye, which was in a determined glare as he held a machine-gun in his right hand. He slapped the magazine in with his left hand and holstered it on his back.
"Talking to yourself again, lizard?" Panther Caruso asked, "Shouldn't you be doing something else?"
"Such as?" Leon Powalski responded, uninterested.
"Making sure you have a high-powered rifle or at least your sidearm equipped," Panther answered as he opened a nearby crate and counted how many more additional weapon rounds the had, "If the Imperium's decided to take up real estate then we'll be in for a long one."
Leon sighed, "The communiqué didn't mention that these humans were Imperium. And they suggest that they're worse than what the…"
He gestured with his hands.
"…the 'God-Emperor' could throw at us."
Panther smirked, "Any theories?"
"I'll let you know if I think of any."
Panther's smirk faded as he got to work, now with packing up his camp equipment. He stepped back into his tent and went through a folder of files, where he flipped through twenty sheets of himself, Wolf and Leon and how they were the Top 3 of Corneria's Most Wanted, each with about a hundred-thousand credits per head dead or alive. Panther thought that was an insult…
'I'm worth more than that,' he thought annoyed, 'A hundred-million tops is more like it.'
He went through some more files before stopping at one detailing the history and accomplishments of the Star Fox team.
Extracted Classified Files – Star Fox team circa 3198 LD, Lylatian Calendar; 998.M41, Imperial Calendar
He frowned upon feeling it, but it immediately turned into a grin once he came across a photograph of the Star Fox team, and he especially focused on Krystal, the smiling blue vixen in her blue suit with staff in hand. He then noticed that she was standing before a seven-to-eight foot brown-haired human clad in blue power armor with the omega and arrow symbols on his shoulder plating, or pauldrons as the formal term was. The way he towered over her and how she was leaning on him with her arms crossed made him feel uncomfortable. He noticed how Fox was looking over at Krystal and the Space Marine, and had what looked a small, sad smile playing on his face.
'There's something about that girl,' he thought to himself, 'Even a human doesn't mind her using him as a doorstop.'
Realization set in as suddenly became puzzled…
'Hey, how did McCloud recruit a human anyway? Thank God Wolf decided to keep a low profile after the Aparoid catastrophe.'
He heard distant rumbling outside the tent, prompting him to immediately step out and notice Leon looking up at the sky. He did the same, and saw small lights flashing in the sky, and more lights falling down in the form of laser blasts as they hit the earth, and what Panther assumed to be the walled city not far from their part of the jungle. A massive explosion was then seen in the distance coming from the city, which he then looked over straight at Leon, who immediately begun packing up the communication equipment. Leon glanced over his shoulder, looking rather plain.
"Enjoying the view?"
"What? You or the impending human invaders?"
"Quick sightseeing and pack you stuff, Casanova!"
Panther visibly shuddered at Leon's suggestive language and stepped into his tent, carrying about two cases full of his personal effects, which he hobbled over to his Wolfen and stuffed into the cargo compartment. He then suddenly remembered…but before he could open his mouth.
"We'll give him five," Leon answered the question he was going to ask, "Something tells me we should get off this vegetated rock the second humanity lays their overevolved foot on it."
Panther nodded and slammed the compartment door close, clicking the airtight locks into place, "Concurred."
----------
The grey-furred member of the lupine race rushed through the jungle as fast as his feet could manage, knowing that the campsite was at least a six yards away. Wolf had to envy himself, for his age he could still run as fast as any young man and was nearly twice as strong. At 5'8 he was one of the tallest recorded Lylatians in the system, with the common height of the average kemono male from between 4'0 to 5'0. Lupines had the notoriety to being taller and of bigger build, nearly rivalling of the average purebred human; whose height ranged from 5'4 to nearly 6'5. The Space Marine's height was nearly double, the height from 7 feet to 10 freaking feet…as according to the Cornerian data files on humanity.
One time when Wolf had hacked into those files, he found nothing but spite towards the human race.
Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw an blinding white light, followed by the sounds of an electrical explosion. The sheer force knocked him onto his back and distorted his vision for a few seconds as the Webway someway found it's way into the material universe. As quickly as it had appeared it disappeared, leaving Wolf with troubling feelings.
'That's something you don't see every day,' he thought, 'Electrical bursts appearing in the middle of the jungle. And here I thought Corneria was being eco-friendly on this planet.'
Curiosity got the better of him as he made his way towards the area of the explosion. He looked like was going to gasp out loud in rare fright when he saw what he would never see if he ever lived to be an old man.
Standing in their small, burnt-out improvised clearing in the jungle, Ahriman and two other sorcerers plus an escort of ten Rubric Marines stood in their place, with burnt, shattered wood and bush crushed under their feet. Ahriman looked around himself, attempting to clarify why he and his followers should be at all interested in their current endeavour instead of trying to find the one source of all the knowledge in the entire universe.
"In searching for the Imperator," Ahriman begun with contempt, "It best be afflicted with a daemon, a long-forgotten deity of the Warp or contains knowledge equivalent to that of the cursed Black Library."
One of the other Sorcerers turned to him and asked, "But Master, do you not remember why you agreed to render your services to Tzeentch and the Primarch for one last time?"
"Vividly," Ahriman spat out, "But I did not think our search would begin in this life-filled oversized garden."
He then gripped his staff, where crimson energy begun to stem forward from it.
"We shall have to burn half the planet down to better aid our search," Ahriman announced, pointing out towards the bushes, "I am sure we can persuade our brothers to facilitate that little need."
The other Sorcerers nodded in agreement, and each handled their staff with delicate care. Wolf looked at them with a sneer, unbelieving their reckless disregard for life. And those thoughts suddenly made him smile amusingly, as he realised that the Librarian had in fact being pointing towards his position through his rhetoric. He then stood up from his bushes and actually begun to walk towards the clearing, hands risen to his sides and now laughing gently.
This caught the attention of the Rubric Marines, who all turned towards the figure stepping out of the bushes and aimed their bolters at him. The Sorcerers faced him with hatred and contempt evident in their eyes seen through their helms, while Ahriman back was turned towards the lupine. Wolf smiled and decided to get his attention.
"Alright, you got me," Wolf said, hands still up, "Burn the planet down, eh? And I assume it's the parts of the planet that has the jungle on it, right?"
He turned towards the blue-robed Librarian. Ahriman smiled within his helm and turned to face him fully. He waved his hand down and the bolter-wielding Rubric Marines lowered their weapons, each one surprised they followed that order. The other Sorcerer looked at their Master questioningly.
"If you knew I knew you were crouching in the bushes, you could have run for your life, lupine," Ahriman reminded him, "Get at least half-a-mile before I personally come to shatter your physical shell and take your soul."
Wolf shook his head, hearing the Librarian, "What would be the point, then?"
Ahriman stepped up towards Wolf, and found that he didn't exactly toward over him, as the lupine height was at the Librarian's chest. Two Rubric Marines grabbed Wolf by his arms and held pushed him down to his knees before Ahriman. The Librarian looked down at the lupine, who was looking down at the ground and not up at him.
"You kemonos are fascinating creatures," Ahriman made his thoughts known, "The near shape and form of the mutant, but as intelligent and resourceful as a man, but therefore not human and henceforth an alien…but a fascinating creature nonetheless."
Wolf's smirk returned, "Least I know you jerks are as pompous as the Imperium, so that solves the mystery by a quarter."
The smile remained even when he suddenly felt a knee grind itself into his gut, courtesy of one of the Rubric Marines who, in his point of view, did it as gentle as possible as to not kill him. He just clinched his teeth tightly, still appearing humorous. Annoyed, Ahriman waved the Rubric Marines away and they complied, taking their places behind the Librarian/Sorcerer. Wolf once again dropped his smile, and felt that the Marines had sent his food back up his trachea, causing him to throw up before Ahriman.
"You have no idea whom what you kneel before, do you not?"
Wolf wiped his mouth and stared up at Ahriman, getting up on his feet, "Should I?"
"If you want to decide who will do worse to your system, then yes."
"Then what are you?"
"Chaos. My former masters."
Wolf queered his eyebrows. "Chaos? Former masters?"
Ahriman shook his head, almost sad, "What a pity. Much like the other furries in this pitiful part of the opposite galaxy they did not the full power of the Warp it's servants came to destroy them. But unlike the other furries, you are something worth salvaging."
Wolf glared, "What?"
Ahriman tapped his forehead and said, "What if I told you I will give you a ten-second head start before I sent my servants after you?"
Sounding uninterested, Wolf responded, "You serious?"
Ahriman gripped his staff and pointed it at him, "Very. I will enjoy pursuing you through the jungle and tearing you soul from you mortal shackles."
Wolf smirked…
"Yeah, well…LOTS OF LUCK!"
…and spun around, and begun sprinting as fast as he can., until he got some distance away from the clearing in four seconds, leaving six seconds for him to think about what he had just gotten himself into.
'What the fuck was wrong with me?' he cursed at himself, 'Something about that robed motherfucker drew me to him…oh crap, it's been ten seconds…'
Immediately a tree before him was caught in a crimson explosion and it toppled down towards him, he rolled sideways to avoid it, before picking himself up and continued running towards the campsite.
----------
Panther and Leon's head jerked sideways towards the jungle, having heard and somewhat felt that explosion.
"What the heck was that?" Panther inquired.
Leon frowned and sharply ordered, "Get in the Wolfens."
----------
With his heart pounding against his chest and the sweat rolling into his eyes, Wolf ran through the jungle, hearing the sound of tree being knocked over and vegetation being crushed as the Thousand Sons' Marine were in pursuit. He suddenly heard boltguns blaze behind him and a round pass by his ear and shatter the bark off a tree next to him. He closed his remaining eye, not wanting to get splinters in it.
'Goddamnit!' he cursed to himself, 'They wear freakin' power armour, and they move like…!'
Crimson fire sprouted out before him and razor-sharp chains appeared from the ground, intent on snaring him and dragging him down to the other side. Thinking fast, Wolf jumped up and landed his feet on a nearby tree, he then rebounded off it, leaping over the chains as they lunged at him. He felt a sharp edge graze against his foot, which inflicted nearly unbearable on his left foot. He clamped his mouth sharp and limped a few steps forward, before breaking out into a run again.
"Fuckin' sorcerers," he growled softly, before yelling out behind him at the top of his breath, "IT'LL TAKE MORE THAN THAT TO STOP ME, YOU TIN-CANNED SONS OF BITCHES!"
He looked ahead and above and saw through the trees lascannons firing from orbit on the walled city nearby. He prompted picking up the pace and praying that his team mates had the common sense to have taken off and gotten to safety bey now. By the time Wolf got to the campsite, Leon and Panther were already strapped in their Wolfens, with most of the equipment packed up, leaving only the tents. Both his team mates looked his way, and how he was frantically throwing his arms upwards and mouthing words incomprehensible, as he wasn't using his communicator.
Wolf rolled his eyes and growled as he grabbed his communicator, "TAKE OFF, NOW! GET THE FUCK OFF…"
He was cut short when Rubric Marines tore through the forest into the clearing with him, boltguns blazing and swords drawn. Instinctively, Panther and Leon quickly initiated their launch sequences and took off, slowly hovering off from the ground as bolter and plasma round fired up at the both of them and at Wolf. Seeing as how his Wolfen was out of reached, he dove into the creek and kept as low as possible as more Chaotic ordinance flew over and past his head.
As the Rubric Marines went out into the open, the Arwings were fully in the eye, with Leon and Panther prompting themselves to perform a U-turn each and fire on the Marines, providing Wolf with cover. Leon smiled sadistically as his laser tore the automaton Marines apart, releasing their souls from ten thousand years of unfeeling torment.
Going for a swim, Wolf? Panther asked the lupine over the com.
Wolf growled and got up from the creek, immediately making a beeline towards his Arwing, with Leon and Panther still firing from above at any Rubric Marine that stepped out the forest to attack. The canopy of the Wolfen opened just as Wolf leapt up onto the wing and jumped into the cockpit, not waiting for the canopy to close as he fire up his fighter's plasma engines.
"Alright, I'm good!" he exclaimed at his communicator, "Thanks for the cover!"
Just as Wolf hovered off the ground, a bolt immediately grazed the side of the Wolfen, and he swore he felt his own arm get grazed. Immediately he felt anger boil within him as the pupils of his eye diluted, immediately looking straight through the window at the Marine who fired at him with a boltpistol. As more bolter fire grazed the Wolfen he got into the ear, and immediately readied a missile, glaring straight at the Marine below.
"This is for my beautiful Wolfen!" he cried out loud.
The Rubric Marines didn't even notice the massive explosion that followed as Wolfen launched straight at the clearing, immediately melting holes in their armour and releasing their souls to the wind. Leon and Panther somehow felt sorry for those Chaos Space Marines who made him made.
Let's get off this rock! Wolf ordered sharply, Before the humans reduced it to only one!
They silently obeyed as the Star Wolf team accelerated upwards into the atmosphere and away the jungle, all the while silently being watched by a convent of Sorcerers whose feet still touched the ground. Ahriman smiled behind his helmet, watching them disappear into the night sky.
'Perhaps this will be worth the Black Library after all,' he thought snidely, then mentally added, 'Of course it will not, but this is a worthy distraction after traversing the dull, colourless Webway for many millennia!'
When Star Wolf broke through the atmosphere, they were immediately greeted by the vessels of the Thousand Sons fleet, which immediately opened up with their laser batteries, missile launchers and their larger lance cannons, firing off blasts of crimson and red.
"Aw crap!" Wolf exclaimed, "Evasive manoeuvres!"
With gravity blades engaged they sped forward, barrel rolling to avoid the laser fire. They skimmed over the Desolate-class battleship, firing their own bursts of plasma and taking out as many of the smaller lascannons. Leon smiled maliciously and homed in on of the ship's larger lance cannons, pressing a skull-imprinted button on his dashboard and readying one of his custom missiles.
Leon! Wolf's shrill cry came over Leon's com, What the hell are…?
Leon switched off his communicator as his grin threatened to split his entire face as he practically nosedived towards one of the lances. He then pressed the skull-button and fired off a red/black coloured spiked missile which hurtled towards the lance and exploded on impact just as Leon pulled up and rejoined Star Wolf. The massive fiery explosion was complimented by another explosion, which consisted of a massive seismic shockwave, which appeared to throw the Desolate off balance.
As soon as Leon reformed with Star Wolf…
What the hell was that? Wolf blurted over the com.
Leon giggled, "Heh heh, just testing out some of my new ordinance."
Smirkingly, Panther asked, I'll assume you went extralegal when it came to getting it together.
"You know it."
Cut the chatter, Wolf cut in, Leon, remind me to strangle you to death once we get outta here. MOVE!!!
The Wolfen accelerated past the ships of the Thousand Sons fleet, dodging more laser blasts, lance strikes and missile barrages, with Wolf nicking a tip of a gravity blade against a lance blast. Gritting his teeth and wanting to spare more agony to his Wolfen and the Machine Spirit that existed within it. The cultist gunners within the Chaos fleet grew immensely frustrated and angry at missing them and doubled their efforts in shooting them down.
But finally, they pushed through the fleet, each scoring minimal damage to their respective Wolfen.
Wolf sighed with relief and leaned back into his seat. His teeth finally begun to ache after clinching them so much during the escape from the planet, and the Thousand Sons legion. He swore he had never seen Space Marines act like both robots and lightning rods, where not even a rocket launcher to the chest wouldn't even make them grunt with annoyance. He looked out the Wolfen's canopy, glad to find that Leon and Panther made it as well, as were also powering down their Wolfens, their gravity blades loosening up.
"Leon? Panther?"
He looked to his right and saw Panther wave at him from the cockpit of his Wolfen, and heard over the communicator, In one piece, Wolf.
"Leon?"
He looked to his left and saw Leon looking straight ahead, but waved two fingers in a salute towards him, Never thought I'd wind up a target.
Wolf closed his eyes, shook his head and crossed his arms, "To the human's bolters? We'd all like to think that wouldn't be in this century. Anyway…."
He opened his eyes as he continued, sounding drawl.
"…what in the name of the Almighty did we just go up against?"
Leon shrugged, "Who cares? If they're human it's bad enough. Now, we need to new place to lay low."
Wolf brought up his ship's navigation computer and studied it, "In the direction we're facing, we've got two destinations: Kantina and MacBeth."
Since Katina is Lylat's equivalent to the human Cadia, then MacBeth it is, Panther said, then added solemnly, But shouldn't we do something?
Appearing surprised, Wolf asked, "About Chaos?"
That's what he means, Leon added snidely.
Wolf frowned, "Us three against possibly every traitor Space Marine legions? It'd be no contest. And if you're think we should band with the Cornerian Army, then that's out of the question as well. Besides…"
He growled lightly, which sent shivers through both Leon and Panther over their communication channels.
"Loyalist or not…I've seen what the Space Marines do to entire star system, and I'm not eager to go up against them again anytime soon."
He heard Panther chuckle helplessly over the com, and say, "I'd say it's pathetic that we'd hide in an abandoned train yard on the hollow planet while Lylat goes up in smoke, but I can't stand the sound of your voice when you growl."
"Then don't say it. Now move out!"
The Wolfen's engaged their gravity blades and fired up their plasma drives. Seconds later they accelerated with near-light speed away further into the black.
----------
En-route to the Death World known as Venom were two massive fleets of Imperial starships, with a singular Tau Explorer-class with the Great Fox II in tow wedged between them. Thousands upon thousands of personnel were crammed into each vessel, with most resting up in their respective quarters in preparation for a long-time's worth of war, with only the necessary personnel manning the controls behind each vessel. Even the Grey Knight, the Only Good Human known as Jacques Mortensen had taken to retiring for a while.
His torso armour plating was removed, replaced by a large loose-fitting white shirt over his blackish-grey 'black carapace'. It was interesting to note that the purity wards that were fitted underneath his skin made his arms and legs slightly pale. Pang was evident on Jacques' face as he leaned against the wall near the archway door of his bedroom, which was the Admiral's suite of the Augustus. The suite in itself was considered very elegant on par with the other higher-ups' sleeping quarters of the Imperial Navy, consisting of a bathroom, small lounge, neighbouring dressing room and a very large bed, suited for Jacques' seven foot frame, which he was out of his armour. Candles were lit on a nearby table, which Jacques was staring at the slowly burning wicks as he was again tried to focus his mind.
He knew he should be feeling a small degree of satisfaction. He, the Cadian 412th and the Ultramarines had managed to agree to a temporary truce and alliance against the Forces of Chaos, but unfortunately at the cost of his freedom. Jacques did not mind at all, seeing as how it would preserve the lives of his friends and kinsmen, and especially Krystal. He did not bother to tell her of what it took to sway the Imperials over to their side. Rather he allowed her and the rest of the Star Fox team to immediately collapse on the nearest bed on board the Augustus and each drifting off towards a troubled sleep. He felt immediately guilty over his decision…
He tapped his forehead lightly, 'I must think of something else.'
On another note, he and his forces had managed to successfully bargain for the lives of Slippy, Beltino, Amanda and all the other Lylatian scientists and had them all moved to his fleet, all of which took up quarters on board the Augustus and it's many hundred room and suites. He, Alexander, the main officers of the Kronus 1st and Eden, as well as the members of Star Fox took up the staterooms which made up half of the command deck of the Augustus. Except for Slippy and Amanda at the moment, as the young couple immediately begun to seek out ROB, whom Jacques guessed, was right now in the main engineering level of the ship, giving the techpriests and their servitors a hand. Jacques knew that for the technologically minded amphibians it wouldn't be long before they caught the attention of the Techpriests in their fleet.
But back to what he was originally feeling discontent about, he could feel the taint of Chaos still slowly spreading through the Lylat System. Though the Eden/Imperial/Tau fleet were light years away from Corneria, he could somehow still sense them coming closer, bringing with them the kind of death and mayhem that only comes from the servants of the Chaos Gods. He knew the first thing they had to do once they made contact with the remaining Cornerian forces they have to prepare to defend themselves and stall the Chaos advance long enough to begin launching their own counterattacks.
He stepped out of his room and into the main hallway, where the other bedrooms were located through the doors to the side. He turned towards the large archway at the very end, which led into the lounge suite and the main elevator which would lead to the bridge just above them or the hangar areas deep down below past the other living quarters and various engineering levels, gunnery decks and supply stores. Knowing he will never be able to sleep through all his conflicting thoughts and the events of tonight (not that he wanted to sleep anyway), he decided to go and check up on Slippy. Jacques longed to reaffirm his friendship with his fellow team-mates and of this moment Slippy was the only one who was awake. His instincts suggested he should check the hangar first, so he decided to follow.
He placed his right hand on the wall, and took care in treading down the hallway softly in his steel boots. His hand moving across the wall and past two other doors which led into Fox and Krystal rooms, respectively. His hand lingered on Krystal's door for a second before he moved on, for a brief moment thinking about his best friend and sister he never grew up with.
----------
"Slippy…I think we're lost."
"We're not lost, we're in a lift."
"This ship is almost half the size of a small town. Maybe we should have followed Fox up to the dormitories and called it a night."
"No way! Not until I've checked that Fox's being oiling ROB's joints regularly."
In the elevator car going downwards, Amanda appeared unamused as she stared at Slippy, "But aren't we going down to engineering? That could be a restricted area, and you know…"
She then rubbed her arm nervously.
"…how humans can get anxious if you cross them."
Slippy smiled that all too reassuring smile, "But not these humans. If they think the same as Jacques, then they'd practically let us play with their power tools."
"But shouldn't we at least be cautious around them?"
The elevator came to a screeching halt before the Engineering Levels, the sound of machinery buzzing humming being heard beyond the elevator doors. Slippy turned towards the door, the sounds drawing his attention for a brief second. He then turned back to Amanda, and could see genuine concern and fear in her eyes.
But still he smiled. He said affirmatively, "Not every human is bad as the media keeps telling us."
Amanda slightly shuddered at how the Cornerian media would portray humanity as religiously fanatical hairless apes who live for nothing more than to wage war on hapless, defenceless races and subjugate whole planets in the name of their Emperor God. And all that was 'known' after the only major Lylatian/Human conflict, the Battle of Kew, many thousand years ago, where millions of Lylatians and humans were killed. And that Corneria saw the Imperium as the dominant species of the neighbouring galaxy.
The elevator doors opened and they were immediately greeted to the sight of a incredibly large complex as far as the eye can see. The aft section of the Augustus held many massive plasma engines and warp drives, each with many servitors under the watchful eye of one Techpriest working on them, making sure they stayed maintained and fully operational. Wide-eyed with awe, Slippy and Amanda stepped out of the lift and were immediately greeted by a servitor.
Adjusting unit dialect to Local language, the half-mechanoid hummed in a language that Slippy and Amanda couldn't understand, which sounded almost like latin. It then bellowed mechanically, "You do not have sufficient clearance to enter engineering. Turn back or face immediate consequences."
Amanda was visibly distressed at the sight of the servitor, which was a lobotomised human dressed in nothing but what appeared to be metallic underwear, who had pneumatic lifters in place of his arms. Another servitor joined in, which had a free hand and a double-barrelled autogun for a left arm.
"Gun Servitor unit online!" the other servitor hummed, "Readying weapon."
Slippy gulped and felt beads of sweat run down the side of his face. Before he could step back, however…
Tech units Beta-43 and 54 – stand down immediately!
…someone called out to them in a language so intelligible and grinding it hurt both Slippy and Amanda's ears. Both servitors turned towards a Techpriest stepping down towards them from some metallic stairs. Slippy eyes widened as he laid eyes on the half-human, red-cloaked being, while Amanda appeared to look even more disillusioned. The servitors then stepped away from the amphibians and carried on with their work – the worker with moving about mechanic parts with his lifts and the gun servitor guarding a nearby door.
Slippy sighed with relief and smiled at the Techpriest, "Hey thanks for the save. I thought we were gonna be either grinded by the worker or blasted by the gunny."
The Techpriest appeared to look friendly and spoke, but in what sounded like High Gothic. Slippy and Amanda appeared confused, but before Slippy could suggest through awkward speech if he speaks Lylatian, the Techpriest rolled his eyes and waved his index finger about. He then reached for what appeared to be a dial situated on his chest and turned it.
"Lingua Lylatian, technicus amphibius?" the Techpriest appeared to question.
Slippy shook his head. The Techpriest adjusted the dial some more and spoke again, the only thing that hadn't changed was his grinding tone of voice courtesy of his vox-caster/synthesiser…
"Can you comprehend Lylatian, amphibian technician?"
Slippy smiled and gave a thumbs-up, "Crystal clear."
"You amuse me, amphibian. How you listened to Omnissiah's chosen lingua and not be daunted."
"Nah, you only surprised me," Slippy replied, "Especially how you spoke to your…er…droids."
The techpriest crossed his arms, "That was Lingua Technis, the language of the Adeptus Mechanicus, to whom I serve as the overseer of one of it's fine vessels, which has existed in the material realm for thousands of years."
He stretched his hand forward.
"I am Tyler Mackabee of Mars."
Slippy smiled and accepted it, shaking his hand forward, "Slippy Toad of Corneria."
Amanda couldn't help but inquire, "You seem happy to meet us?"
"Your suspicion as to why I seem hospitable towards non-humans is understandable. A few of the Deus Mechanicas' high servants have an open mind towards Lylatian technicians and engineers, not to mention their machinery, as we have sensed the Machine Spirit to flow freely through them. Clearly that tells us…"
He and Slippy made sincere eye contact.
"…that the Machine God himself flies with you through your Arwings. And he has shown great favor towards you."
Amazed, Slippy beamed, "You think?"
"The Machine God?" Amanda asked.
"The Deus Mechanicus. The originator of humanity's entire technological and scientific knowledge and works of art. Without him, our species would have been plunged into an eternal Dark Age, just like what happened before the Omnissiah's Great Crusade."
"The Omnissiah?"
"You would be familiar to him," Tyler explained, "He is also known as the God-Emperor of Mankind – Jacques Mortensen's master. He is the avatar of the Machine God, and now watches us all from his Golden Throne on the Holy Terra."
Slippy nodded, "Yep, we're familiar with him."
"Where is ROB?" Amanda asked.
"ROB?"
"He's an android…a robot. We've being looking through this mini-city for him."
Tyler nodded and pointed towards the distance toward a familiar looking Space Dynamics produced AI typing away at a console, right beside a tech adept strapped to the machinery and inputting his own instructions towards it. The smile on Slippy's face threatened to split it in half, as he was that happy to see him. He waved his hands about as he called out to him.
"Your 'abominable intelligence' has been useful in assisting my kinsmen in their work."
"Hey!" Slippy cried in his most irritated voice his squeaky tone could manage, waving about and faced Tyler with a frown, "What d'ya mean 'abominable.'"
Tyler wasn't fazed by Slippy's shift in attitude, "Some 'purists' of the Mechanicus sees artificially-created intelligence as an abomination to the Machine God, and the Machine Spirit in general, in belief that they are soulless cretins who border heresy."
He continued, seeing how Slippy was getting steamed.
"But luckily I am not one to question the usefulness of an artificial person."
Slippy was about to crack, which was visible on his face, "Why you…?"
He stopped himself from exploding with rage when ROB approached him. He temporarily dropped his anger and instead beamed with joy and launched himself at the robot, embracing him around the midsection, much to the surprise of both Amanda, Tyler and ROB himself. Realizing what he was doing, he let go and rubbed the back of his head.
"Er…sorry," Slippy chuckled nervously, "Just that glad to see you."
"That is affirmative," ROB computed, "It has been over four months since we last communicate, and this unit also displays relief over your continued existence."
Tyler smirked behind his vox-respirator, amused at the display between Slippy and the automaton.
"I trust you are ready to unleash your frustrations on me again, Toad?"
Slippy turned back to him, looking confused, "About what?"
Amanda sighed, 'He forgot about why he was livid at the machine-man? Typical.'
"Sooooo…." Slippy said as he whistled lightly, "We were talking about our respective technological histories and expertise."
"You may ask me one more question for now," Tyler informed him, "Before I am privileged to query you on your mechanical servants."
Before Slippy could open his mouth, Amanda jumped the gun, "I've got to ask about the engines that power your ships."
Tyler crossed his arms just as he was joined by two other techpriests, "Ask."
"What kind of engines are they?"
"They are a plasma drive used for normal propulsion through the material space. Normally they would take up a third of the of the ship's length. The aft section is comprised of reactors engine compartments and a mass of drive tubes."
He then queered his eyebrows.
"I suppose you want to know what navigates the ships?"
Both the amphibians looked at one another, then nodded eagerly towards the techpriests.
"Normally each ship would have a Astropath on board, a specialized psyker who is tasked to use his psyhic gifts to guide the ship through space. The Astropath's beacon would the Golden Throne of Terra, where the Omnissiah sits, and which his spirit guides all of humanity as they travel across the stars."
"You said 'normally'?" Amanda asked.
"But since we have no Astropaths or even psykers among us, this rather strained task goes to the Archon – Jacques Mortensen. His partial presence within the Warp would allow him to stretch his own psychic beacon across our fleet and connect with the Omnissiah, allowing fluid navigation."
Slippy appeared pained. "Something tells me that much strain would eventually…er…kill him?"
Tyler nodded, "Luckily for us he only does that when the situation calls for it. Most of the time he would sense the presence of other 'anchors' and would advise us to steer clear of the other Imperial ships in the galaxy. Since he has been doing that for the past three months, we have successfully avoided conflict with the Imperium. Until now, of course."
"That blows."
Tyler then stepped forward, the servi-arms on his back whirring to life, "Now that I bestowed upon you a part of my knowledge, it is time for you to repay."
Now Slippy was nervous, especially at the sight of his mechanical appendages, "H…how do we that?"
Tyler's eyes closed, as if he was smiling, "You shall direct me and a few of my colleagues towards your Arwing starfighters and bestow upon us your knowledge of them."
And now Amanda was more worried then ever. She turned to Slippy and whispered, "I don't think that's a good idea. We don't know for sure what they would do if we tell them."
Slippy appeared offended, which no doubt surprised Amanda, "And we don't know for sure what they would do if we don't."
Tyler frowned, "It would benefit both the Adeptus Mechanicus and Lylat greatly if both our nations were to finally be a peace."
Completely ignorant of the last nine words Tyler just spoke, Slippy smirked and invitingly stood aside away from the elevator, "You got it, pal. I'll take you back to Flight Engineering 101."
The three techpriests nodded in approval with one another, and stepped into the elevator. Slippy, Amanda and ROB followed, where the doors closed roughly behind them. For Amanda, was there such thing as developing claustrophobia? Because she definitely felt like it as the Techpriest with their attached servi-packs made her feel completely cramped alongside Slippy and Amanda.
'Focus, Amanda, focus,' she thought, 'If you can't a least understand where human technology comes from, it'll haunt you for life.
----------
Falco sighed as he stared up at the ceiling from his bed, with both the covers over him and with Katt snuggled up against him, her right arm and head resting on his chest, with a strange smile on her face. No matter how hard he tried to relax and to not think, he just couldn't get to sleep. He adjusted his gaze towards Katt and wondered, as well as being glad of, how she managed to fall asleep after nearly getting blown out of space by Chaos warfighters and barely avoided being eviscerated by Cornerian cult groups. After having reached the safety of the Augustus, Falco cursed himself repeatedly for not having stuck by her during the assault, calling himself every dirty name in existence.
He turned himself so that he was now looking directly at her face. He smiled gently and lovingly stroked her right cheek, thinking how cute she looked when she slept. He moved his right hand to her shoulder and gently ran it down the length of her side towards her abdomen, instinctively caressing it gently. He silently thanked whatever god or deity allowed the both of them to have met many years ago, despite being amongst degrading and criminal conditions, and thanked him/her again for helping them claw their way out.
It was right there and then Falco made a resolve…
'Katt, I probably won't tell and you wouldn't want to listen anyway, but I promise you…I won't let you out of my sight again. And if anyone has any say in that, I'll damn well make sure the bastard eats his words.'
He spent the next couple of minutes watching her quietly, before moving onto her back and looking at the ceiling. He felt his eyes become heavy, before he joined his beloved (thought he wouldn't openly admit it) in sleep. Katt yawned and moved close towards him, still smiling gently in slumber.
----------
The engineering troupe consisting of two frogs, three Techpriests and one robot, stepped out of the elevator and into the lightly populated hangar area. The pilots had taken advantage of Jacques' orders for them and all support personnel to rest up in time for arrival on Venom in a few hours. A few of the support teams, however, volunteered to recondition and repair their Furies.
The troupe looked over towards the Arwings, each still suffering from battle-damage and was yet to be repaired, with Slippy knowing all to well this will cut into more of his free time. However, his spirits were brightened up when he saw the Bullfrog heavy starfighter situated to the left of the Arwings. It had being a pain in moving the Bullfrog from the Beltino Station to the Augustus, with Slippy reluctant in returning to the station and flying it back to the Eden fled amidst Imperial escort.
Led by the green, yellow-suited amphibian, the troupe stepped towards the Lylatian fighters past busy maintenance crew. Slippy smiled and fanned his hand over the Arwings as if introducing them, "And here before you by popular demand, the Arwing starfighters…courtesy of Cornerian Research and Development."
Amanda smiled with amusement, "How gentlemanly of you, Slippy."
Tyler tapped his vox synthesiser in a thinking manner, "Interesting. I would assume because of it's smaller size in comparison to the Imperium Fury starfighters it could accelerate faster in space, as it also appears to have half the ordinance?"
Slippy smirked with glee, "I wouldn't say half. In fact…"
He turned to ROB.
"…would you mind telling them the specs?"
ROB nodded, and communicated the following…
Arwing ver. 03. The definitive Space Superior Fighter. Developed by Aerospace Dynamic.Length: 18.5 sm (space meters). Width: 16 sm (space meters)
Height: 6.5 sm (space meters). Width (wings expanded): 21 sm (space meters)
Engine: NTD-FX1 Plasma w/ G-Diffuser. Maximum Speed: Mach 4.2 (in atmosphere)
Laser Cannon: Upgradable T&D-H1 Laser Cannons (x1). Smart Bomb Launcher
Tyler turned to his two fellow Techpriests. They nodded in agreement, "Very…informative, machine-man."
He then stepped over the Arwing and ran a hand across it's hull, starting from the nosetipe, across the fuselage and towards the thrusters. His eyes were closed as if he was in deep thought, as he circled around the Arwing and then toward the Bullfrog. Slippy and Amanda watched him with much curiosity as he placed both his hands on the canopy of the heavy fighter.
"Specifications?"
Slippy scratched the back of his head, "Well…it features the same engine, but it's maximum speed it's Mach 2.2. It's weapons are a Cornerian Heavy Laser and a double Smart Bomb launcher."
He then appeared embarrassed as he removed his hand from the back of his head.
"Due to costs, we had to remove the laser-charge lock-on systems."
Tyler could be heard to exhale. He then took his hands off the canopy and turned towards the two amphibians and their robot.
"I never thought it would be possible," the Techpriest explained, "But I can hear the Machine Spirit encased within those two winged space gliders. Not a heretical one as in other alien machines, mind you…but the sprits that inhibit our machines as well."
Attempting to comprehend the religious aspects behind the thoughts and philosophies of the Adeptus Mechanicus and quickly decrypting Tyler's almost riddled dialogue, Slippy asked, "So…are you saying that Cornerian and Imperial technology are the same? At least when it come to space travel?"
Tyler lowered his head, hiding his eyes, "I am unsure. It is something that we should mull upon during our quieter moments."
Amanda nearly shrieked when she turned around and found Jacques Mortensen stepping towards the troupe from the elevator. Slippy spun around and smiled widely, immediately happy at seeing his only human friend. He noticed he was wearing only his silvery greaves, his torso replaced with a large shirt, which his Black Carapace can somewhat be seen around his neck.
"Good morning, Slippy Toad."
"Jacques," Slippy acknowledged.
"Techpriests."
"Mortensen."
Jacques then turned to Amanda, confusion clear on his face. Amanda was hesitant for a few seconds, looking over to Slippy for support. He smiled reassuringly.
"Er…Amanda," she answered, stretching her hand forward and exhaled softly when he shook it with his gloved left hand, "The future Mrs. Toad."
Now Jacques appeared curious, "You are his fiancee?"
Slippy smiled and stepped up to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "Yep, we're to be hitched in about half-a-year. Assuming nothing goes wrong."
For once in his life he felt like playing on Slippy's awkwardness. He smiled, "So the both of you are taking the necessary precautions against the illicit lures of Slaanesh? How very wise of you."
Slippy and Toad turned bright red. Immediately Slippy held her closer to him protectively, "She's the…God of Sexual pleasure, right?"
"You mean 'he'," Jacques corrected, causing Slippy to shudder.
"Commander," Tyler asked, "Is there a specific reason you are?"
Jacques nodded, then look at Slippy with a frown. Slippy looked back for a few second, before realisation dawned on him.
"Ah crap!" he exclaimed panicked, "I forgot!"
He thrust his hand into the collar of his jumpsuit and pulled out the cognicator. He turned and handed it to Slippy, "Here. Would you mind analysing this?"
ROB handled the PDA-like device, "An Imperial storage device. I am compatible with such pieces of hardware. I will be able to decrypt the data just as we approach Venom."
"That'd be great," Slippy smiled again.
"It would be even more great if you do so quickly," Jacques added, "We are on approah to Venom as we speak."
ROB acknowledged, "Affirmative, Mortensen."
----------
Alexander stood stoically in the control room as he faced the holo-projector situated at the very front of the room, the fleet personnel and servitors working tirelessly in monitoring the Augustus and the other vessels in the Eden fleet. Many of the personnel wondered how the former Governor-Monitor of Kronus could keep up his seemingly tireless vigil while Jacques was allowed to retire to the sleeping quarters, but none how the spirit to inquire, out of fear of stepping out of line. Though they were no longer under Imperial jurisdiction and no Inquisitorial or Imperial Guard Commissariat authority, they still had the code of Imperial command and to not question their commanders. This applied mostly to the Kronus 1st Personnel, but the Eden folk also took this code to heart as well, especially towards Jacques.
One middle-aged Eden technician looked away from his console to quietly observe a visualgraph of what appeared to be a himself when he was seventeen hand in hand with a red-haired girl his age. Two other people in the graph who were his friends from long ago was a young-haired blond Eldar youth dressed in white wraithbone armour and a male lynx kemono dressed in a green jumper and jeans. He rubbed his thumb over the image, before turning it over and silently reading the one word handwritten on it with some drops of long-dried blood over it.
Remember Us…Remember Eden…Remember Life…
He smiled gently and traced a thumb over the girl, before his console blurred red and he answered the call.
"General!"
Alexander looked away from the projector, "Report."
"We are approaching the Venomian Air Defence Zone."
Alarms sounded off all around and the entire control room was bathed in red as people rushed about, attending to multiple stations. The holo-projector broadcasted a large image of the Death World Venom and smaller images of the Eden fleet approaching the south western area of the planet designated Area Six – the Venomian Air Defence Zone.
Colonel Vash stepped into the control room and saluted, "My lord. Reports are coming in of Cornerian and Venomian capital cruisers escorted by strike cruisers and several fighter squadrons mobilising towards us."
Alexander grumbled, "They would not leave the safety of their defence grid."
He then ordered out loud…
"Decelerate all ships. Keep outside their killzone."
All ships in the Eden fleet did just that, and all moved slowly through space so that all vessel were now floating side by side in the cold vacuum of space. The Imperial fleet decelerated as well, keeping behind the Eden fleet. Those on board Tau Explorer was now between the Eden and the Imperial fleet) were surprised at Eden's sudden, not to mention efficient, fleet formation. Aun'shi stood alongside the Tau Kor'el as they watched this unfold on the video screen on the bridge.
"What do you make of this, Honourable Ethereal?" the Kor'el queried.
Aun'shi folded his arms, "That we are in for more troubled times, indeed."
So what do you think of at least two months of additional writer's block?
I'm thinking of giving this fic a small break, not only to concentrate on finding a part-time job for the first time, but also to start another story. Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon this fic, and I plan to make this next fic as short as possible. Deep and full of plot, but short nonetheless.
Thanks to all those who have reviewed, and who will review, this fic; and I hope when my interest comes back I'll recommence work on this as soon as humanely possible.