"Normal speech"
"Gothic around non-Imperials."
"Mental Links."
"Ship Names."
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Warp Ligia Obscura: For now at least but you are on the right track. Thanks for the review.
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Two battleships of the Imperium, each capable of leveling a entire continent in a single volley, streaked through the star studded darkness of space towards the unimposing blue world ahead of them. Grim faced soldiers sat behind stations which, with a single keystroke, could obliterate civilizations. In the midst of it all one man, or should that be superman, seemed to be quite pleased.
"Anything?" Angelus barked at the bridge staff.
A man sitting below him twisted his neck around to face the imposing marine captain. "Nothing yet sir. No power readings, large masses or radiation signatures."
"Nestor, status on the fighters?" The space marine demanded from his second, leaving the man he had been talking to a second ago alone.
"Same as it was when we left. All I-301s are armed, prepped and ready for launch." Nestor replied, his fingers dancing across the terminal in front of him at superhuman speeds.
The massive bulk of the Ragnarok ploughed through space, the protective bubble of the void shield shimmering in the cheery yellow light of the systems sun. Behind it the Fenrir followed, its massive sensor arrays diligently sweeping through space in search of opponents.
Ishmael gently rubbed the front of his Rosarius as he watched the planet grow ever closer out of the training halls massive windows. All around him Space Marines moved in perfect synchronization as they swung weighted training swords in patterns that had been perfected by the blood of thousands. The Chaplain let go of the sacred amulet as he approached one of the younger members of the Chapter. Anything to distract him, he had never liked the unknown. Know thy enemy, kill thy enemy; that was what he liked. The young Initiate snapped to attention as the massive skull masked Chaplain approached him. Under his helmet Ishmael grinned.
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Hidden beneath their sophisticated cloaking devices the Zerfàrim watched carefully as the two massive ships approached. Their passive scanners bounced almost mockingly off these ships shields; only the distorted images, shown on the main screens, were a source of information. The crews braced themselves as another sensor sweep washed over them, the Imperial technologies was far beyond most things they had encountered. Stalking these ships was like hunting some insanely dangerous prey. Most of their own ships were small and sleek, designed mainly for reconnaissance and ambushes, most Lantean vessels were mixtures of many facets evenly balance to counter any problem, even a Wraith hive had multiple functions; but these Imperial ships were built for the sole purpose of plunging straight through the fires of battle unabated, something any sane Zerfàrim would avoid at almost any cost. Simple and pure, a truly terrifying statement about the humans that operated them. Actually seeing them simply engraved that fact, the gothic architecture was staggering. Huge windows surrounded by weeping angels and laughing skeletons along with sweeping arches intricately engraved creating an image at the same time haunting and imposing.
The Nirhaal Adraj floated in a stationary orbit around Ortus Veriumas's single moon. Its crew ready to launch into action in a second.
"Anything yet?" Commodore Zkìr'Dan asked patiently.
A small shake of the sensor officer's head was the silent reply.
"Evaluation of the targets." Zkìr'Dan commanded.
"Formidable, but our analysis is incomplete. Their shielding is reflecting almost all of our more detailed scans. Hull is composed of some polymer-metal alloy, signs of weapons being powered but we cannot confirm. A high powered sensor beam will most likely penetrate the shields, but seeing we know too little about their detection systems it could reveal our position. At the moment we cannot get any more accurate data." The officer to Zkìr'Dan's right replied casually.
"Once the ships have passed us by the Frigates will follow them down the planet's gravity well and do a close range sensor sweep on minimum power." Zkìr'Dan said, tracing the projected Imperial flight path on his chair's screen.
"Should we see what they intend to do here?" The officer asked, nodding at the blue world out the window.
"No, a prolonged stay may allow us to be discovered and this task force is not meant for a direct confrontation, also to be true we're no match for those ships. After the Frigates sweep we will retreat to the far side of the moon and exit the system." Zkìr'Dan replied.
The officer nodded and began relaying commands through his terminal. On the main screen the Imperial ships continued to draw ever closer.
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For the fourth time Levi drew his force sword with a lightning quick swing the training post fell to the ground with a loud bang, its metal body neatly severed by the blade's destructive field. Sheathing the long sword he turned to leave the room but before he got two steps out the door he was almost run over by a jogging marine in carapace armor. Levi being the relaxed man he was chose to ignore the whole incident until a loud voice boomed down the corridor.
"That's right run boys, run! Once more round the ship!"
A black armored figure shot passed the door after the first marine, his power armored body making a loud dull thud with every step. Further behind him a group of about twenty humans followed after the two marines.
"I never would have guessed that Ishmael would replace Stein. You think you know a genetically enhanced warrior after spending a century or so with him." Levi muttered to himself, allowing the jogging soldiers to pass before setting out for the bridge.
Angelus's frown became more and more prominent as the sensor data of the planet became more and more disappointing. The two ships were now inside the orbit of the planet's solitary moon and the telemetric data from the sensor was much clearer. Still there was no sign of any Ancient settlement, not even an industrialized civilization, just a silent, rather empty world.
"Sheppard." Angelus growled menacingly at the man to his left. "If that machine of yours has led us on a meaningless trip then we're going to find out how much it likes being a torpedo."
"I assure you that my function as a projectile weapon would be inferior by far if compared to your current armaments." Vultis stated, floating gently towards Angelus.
"Angelus, at least wait until we have landed recon Units." Nestor said, turning his neck to face his captain.
"I don't know, we're not being blown up or anything, could be the wrong place." Mitchell added thoughtfully.
"Negative, this is Ortus Veriumas." Vultis replied sternly. "All astronomical and planetary data is a positive match to the world below us."
"Very well." Angelus grunted sparing the floating machine a single withering glance. "All hands prepare for landing!" He bellowed into his vox.
The ambient lighting turned from a gentle white to a dark blue as alarms began to sound all over the two ships.
Unseen by the Imperials three small ships gave of a tiny blast of gravitons and let themselves be pulled gently towards the planet.
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The Kaerathaì Baermon slid through space as it accelerated closer and closer towards the Imperial ships. Ghen'Hòar looked down at the sensor readings as they became clearer: the images less distorted, the energy patterns more coherent and the thick hull was being penetrated by their scans.
"Helm, keep us at least fifteen kilometers off the stern (back) of the second ship!" Ghen'Hòar ordered.
At his station Suen played with the C4 detonator in his palm. The small plastic device twirled in his hands as he watched the Riless'Hoar relentlessly waiting for the Imperials to make their fateful move.
Deep in the bowels of the Riless'Hoar a small metallic device imbedded in a block of plastic explosives with the words C4 printed in bold letters on the side continued to spit out a sub-space transmission. Beside it a small LCD set in a slightly larger black box showed four segmented lines running across it.
On the Bridge of the Ragnarok Angelus was beginning to think that all the extra security they had placed on this mission might have been for nothing. That train of though was quickly derailed when the dark blue lighting turned to a blood red, the alarms changed their tone from a baritone warble to a high pitched wailing.
Looking around for the cause of the distress, the space marine captain laid eyes on a confused looking officer whose fingers danced across the keyboard like mad spiders.
"What is going on?" Nestor asked the officer, as he glared at his screen.
"Sir, we have detected an Imperial transponder." He replied quickly before launching into another burst of typing.
"So why did you sound for battle stations?" Nestor continued his level tone as calm as ever.
"Sir, the signal is coming from coordinates (-006, +020,-010)." The officer replied.
"And?" Nestor probed leaning closer to the crewman, his massive body casting a partial shadow over the officer.
"Sir." The man replied, swallowing heavily. "There's nothing there, sir."
"What?" Angelus demanded from the command chair turning to face the crewman.
"Sir, sensor show nothing on any electromagnetic wavelength, spectrometers or particle sensors." The officer replied, quickly magnifying the section in space on his screen. In the center a faint blue dot flashed slowly.
"Identification?" Angelus asked harshly.
"None, sir. The signal is too weak or…" The officer trailed off turning away from the two marines and back to his station.
"Or it doesn't have one and that would make it a fake." Nestor said slowly, his brow creasing in thought.
"It could be the Wraith." Sheppard proposed with a slight shrug.
"Doubtful, I cannot sense any more of my kind near here." Levis said tilting his head as he looked over an image of the signal.
"Nor can I. It must be another party. Possibly the Genii." Teyla added.
"I think not. While you were away a little envoy visited the Genii and alerted them to Atlantis's new position." Angelus said, with a cruel smile playing around his lips and joy in his eyes.
"A team went missing on the new Athosian home world, right? Maybe its one of them." McKay said, gesturing out the window at the blackness of space.
O'Neill scratched the top of his head before answering. "Possibly, we never found out what happened to them. Just one messed up room and a couple drunks rambling something about ghosts."
"That still begs the question, who is it?" Nestor asked rhetorically.
"I have one way to answer that." Angelus muttered pushing a series of keys on his arm rest. "Theta wing, Squadron 2, you're on recon run. Weapons free."
"Are you sure that's wise Angelus?" Nestor questioned.
"To defy the Emperor." Angelus stated proudly.
"Is to invite His wrath." Nestor finished with a nod.
"Launching I-301s Theta Wing, Squadron 2." a crewman said as the four jet-black two man fighters surged forth from the underbelly of the Ragnarok.
Every sensor aboard the Kaerathaì Baermon lit up like fireworks as four heavily armed fighters streaked away from the first ship straight towards the Riless'Hoar.
"Break formation! Prepare to raise shields." Ghen'Hòar said, worry flickering across her face.
The three ships peeled off from one another and struck out at totally random vectors in an attempt to shake the Imperial fighters and return to the Nirhaal Adraj. No matter how many intricate twists and turns the Riless'Hoar performed, the fighters still hung sluggishly to its tail.
"Flight Control this is Theta leader. The signal has gone crazy, we're sticking to it, but I can't see a damn thing." The wing commander said into his vox.
"Understood move closer and attempt to establish a visual lock on the target." The Flight Controller's voice droned back.
"Theta two, Theta three. Hang back. Four you're with me." The wing commander said as he pushed his I-301 to go a little faster.
"Roger." Was the unanimous reply from the other pilots.
Suen watched the Imperial I-301 grow agonizingly close, a few more meters and he could detonate the C4. The lead fighter was well within missile range and to the unfocused sensors of the Zerfàrim the explosions on the Riless'Hoar would look exactly like that.
The Riless'Hoar did one last pirouette in space to evade the closing fighter and then Suen pushed down on the small red button. The light speed signal shot out from the transceiver and in the blink of an eye reached its destination. The LCD screens on all three of the C4 blocks suddenly jumped from the four lines they had shown before to a sequence of zeros. A small electrical pulse shot through the machinery and almost an instant later they were consumed in fireballs.
"Still nothing." Theta wing commander said dejectedly.
Suddenly space blossomed into a triad of explosions. Jets of venting atmosphere and pieces of debris jostled the twin fighters as they banked sharply away from the mysterious explosion.
"By the Emperor, look at that!" Theta's wing commander muttered as he stared at the flickering image of the Riless'Hoar.
"They fired on the Riless'Hoar?" Ghen'Hòar questioned the air as she watched parts of the Riless'Hoar's cloak fail while others spontaneously reinitialized.
"Apparently so, I suggest retreating." Suen said looking up at her, worry written intricately on his face.
"What about the Riless'Hoar?" Ghen'Hòar demanded from her first officer.
"There are two possible outcomes. Either the ship escapes or is captured. Still retreat is the best option for us, not to mention our orders." Suen answered calmly, inwardly smiling at his comment.
"I know, continue retreat to the Nirhaal Adraj." Ghen'Hòar ordered quickly.
"We've got a ship! I repeat a cloaked ship! A cloaked shi…" The co-pilot's transmission was interrupted by a hail of small shuriken-shaped projectiles tearing through the cockpit of Theta one.
The damaged I-301 spiraled for a second before exploding. Theta four pulled away sharply as four missiles from the remainder of Theta wing impacted into the semi-cloaked side of the Riless'Hoar.
The Zerfàrim crew clung desperately to white desks and walls as the ship was racked once again by rapid decompressions and explosions. The point defense cannons were keeping the fighters away most of the time but the occasional missile got through. The crew was unable to reinitialize the cloak or any of their ECMs, leaving them at the mercy of the fighters.
Angelus stared at the main screen, his face a twisted visage of shock and fury. A casual observer would have said he looked a bit stupid but they would have been snapped in half faster than you could blink. The sculpted, organic lines, that arrogant beauty, the grace with which it moved, the cloaking technology, even those accursed weapons. There was no doubt in Angelus's angry mind about that ships heritage.
"Eldar." Angelus growled menacingly, his voice carrying pure hatred.
"Someone's pissed." O'Neill muttered.
"Don't understate the issue. We and the Eldar have had a less than neutral past. When we left twelve blood vengeances were still standing and Angelus had a deep interest in one of those." Nestor said solemnly.
"So what happened?" O'Neill asked curiosity overcoming the lesions he had learned a year earlier about questioning the marines when they were in a bad mood.
"That is not my place to say." Nestor replied quietly as more I-301s scrambled.
"Suppose we should get going." Sheppard said patting Mitchell on the back.
"Nestor, destroy them." Angelus hissed as he glared at the damaged ship.
"Shouldn't we board them and take prisoners?" Nestor asked turning to face the disturbingly calm face of Angelus.
"I said destroy them!!" Angelus roared, smashing his fist into the armrest, totally warping the metal.
"As you command." Nestor replied his fingers flashing across the keyboard.
Seconds later the I-301s fell back from the stricken Riless'Hoar the crews' relief was short lived though, because shortly thereafter twin lances of white light tore through their hull immolating everything in their path. The Riless'Hoar hung blissfully in space for a second before its hyper drive ruptured; whole sections of the ship darkened and shifted towards the red end of the spectrum, the hull began to ripple and warp as the gravitons of the Zerfàrim's engines ran amok. The whole ship seemed to take in a breath before it released in a massive explosion, igniting the void with its death cry.
Ghen'Hòar watched stunned, unsuccessfully searching for words to describe the brutality these Imperials showed, it seemed as if Sado'Kel's report had been an understatement. Turning from the bright pyre of the Riless'Hoar she focused her attention on the Nirhaal Adraj.
"Once we are within range of the Nirhaal Adraj'sECM and point defenses, drop the cloak and activate the shields. I don't want a lucky shot to finish us." Ghen'Hòar said, not noticing the small thermal flash on the front of the Fenrir.
Seconds later space erupted in plasma fueled explosions as six torpedoes detonated in a random patter. Ghen'Hòar clung to the sides of her chair as the Kaerathaì Baermon was buffeted by the expanding blast wave from one of the explosions. A second followed soon after, sending many of the bridge crew sprawling to the floor.
"Report." Ghen'Hòar demanded, as a third, far weaker, tremor ran through the ship.
"The second ship is firing massive missiles in a sweeping pattern in front of it. I think their trying to flush us out." Suen answered, cursing the person who thought that the Orillia class needed torpedoes.
"Have they targeted us?" Ghen'Hòar asked as another battery of torpedo made explosions marred space.
"Not as of yet, but if they penetrated the cloak of the Riless'Hoar then the Nirhaal Adraj is in real danger." Suen continued, bracing himself as another blast wave passed over them.
The Ragnarok followed the Fenrir firing torpedo after torpedo volley into the space between the planet and the moon. Angelus stared almost mesmerized at the sensor read outs as the void in front of them once again was filled with bright all incinerating light.
"Angelus, this seems futile. We're just wasting resources." Nestor said as another volley of black weapons roared away on their mission of death.
"Not yet. I'm sure there are more of them here. I'm sure of it." Angelus replied, intensely staring at the empty space in front of them.
"Of course Brother-captain." Nestor replied quietly launching another wave of deadly plasma weapons.
The Kaerathaì Baermon danced nimbly from side to side as more explosive torpedoes ripped through space. Ghen'Hòar clenched her jaw as another explosion nearly claimed her ship; the Dharùn Agathì was doing little better. The only thing that was keeping them alive at the moment was their agility and their cloaks.
Another barrage of torpedoes raced to meet them, and this time they were hemmed in by the burning infernos of the last wave. Suddenly three pulses of white-yellow light in quick succession tore through the first torpedo. The second and third torpedoes were claimed by two more of the pulsing beams.
"Don't worry Kaerathaì Baermon, Dharùn Agathì we've got you." Commodore Zkìr'Dan said confidently as the remaining dangerous torpedoes were picked off by the pulse-lances of the Nirhaal Adraj.
The Nirhaal Adraj turned its portside (left) to face the approaching Imperial ships. Its less powerful cloak fell and its shields and advanced ECM sprang into life. Three of the pulsing beams reached out from the ship only to be knocked aside by the Fenrir's void shield.
"Are you sure about this?" Ghen'Hòar asked, as the Kaerathaì Baermon made a sprint towards the Nirhaal Adraj.
"Apparently only their energy weapons and missiles are this long ranged; our shield should be able to hold for a while against their lances and their strange missiles, while immensely powerful, are very easy to target with our pulse-lances" Commodore Zkìr'Dan replied as the Nirhaal Adraj picked another group of torpedoes out of space.
"They've destroyed that volley as well." Thor said, moving a rune stone across his station.
"Asgard, will the Nova cannon work?" Angelus demanded with a grave voice.
"We corrected the faults. Unless another problem arises then yes, the Nova cannon should function to its optimum capacity." Thor replied, silently canceling the order for rapid fire torpedoes.
"Good, Nestor inform the Fenrir and fire." Angelus said glaring at the dark green ship.
"Just a few more seconds." Commodore Zkìr'Dan whispered to herself as the two Frigates passed by the Nirhaal Adraj.
"Thaèn, sensors show a massive energy spike from the first ship!" Her second-in-command shouted.
Zkìr'Dan just had time to look up at the muzzle flash of the Nova cannon before the space fifty kilometers to her bow (front) suddenly became the center of a sun. The near light speed projectile's explosion engulfed the three Zerfàrim ships in its fiery wrath.
Angelus smiled grimly as the enemy ship was washed away by the Emperors wrath. I-301s screamed through space towards the explosion to mop up any survivors.
As the blinding light cleared it revealed the Nirhaal Adraj bent and buckled, leaking fire and air all across its hull. The Kaerathaì Baermon was listing towards the planet, its main power systems damaged in the blast. On the other hand the Dharùn Agathì was almost unharmed besides a small amount of hull damage.
"Dharùn Agathì, Kaerathaì Baermon get to the Strike Fleet. Get help." Commodore Zkìr'Dan's voice hissed over the sub-space communicators.
"Thaèn, our hyper drive will require time to repair." Suen said with faked distress.
"Transmit our landing coordinates to the Nirhaal Adraj then take us down to the planet." Ghen'Hòar ordered, while power slowly returned to the bridge.
The Nirhaal Adraj's hangar bays slowly opened and a small torrent of fighters and landing ships poured out. Sleek, dagger-shaped forms, black as the night that shimmered out of sight followed by larger, almost hawk like attack fighters sporting large arrays of weapons and in the rear the large, dark green landing ships. The Dharùn Agathì discreetlyslipped into hyperspace almost immediately after receiving its orders, even as the I-301s swarmed towards it.
The Kaerathaì Baermon had almost made it halfway to the planet before several lance strikes flashed around it, incinerating several Zerfàrim fighters. The bridge crew hung on desperately, pale faced and sweaty, as the ship rocked under the massive force of the Imperial lances. Only their specially adapted shields allowed them to survive, the moment the Imperials got within range of their solid round weapons it would all be over.
The I-301s, after several failed attempts to engage the much faster and nimbler Zerfàrim fighters, had settled to try and harass the Kaerathaì Baermon. The point defense batteries of the stricken Frigate swatted down another group of missiles its new fighter escort failed to catch.
Mitchell swore loudly as Sheppard barely dodged another sweeping hailstorm of those crazy little blade things, unfortunately their wingmen weren't so lucky. "Get me in close." Mitchell commanded, as he quickly programmed the last of their missiles.
The lone fighter ducked and wove its way through the maelstrom of fighters and monomolecular projectiles until they were well within the close range of the enemies point defense.
"Close enough!" Mitchell shouted as he released the last of their missiles and jettisoned their plasma core after them.
"What the hell have you done?" Sheppard demanded to know, when he saw the fighter switch over to its severely limited battery supply.
"You'll see." Mitchell muttered as their fighter used the last of it power to spin away from another storm of shuriken weapon fire, escaping more due to luck than anything else.
Most of their missiles were shot down but they provided an excellent distraction to allow the now unstable plasma core to pass through the Zerfàrim shields and smash into the engine block. The resulting explosion was dampened by the shields but not enough to stop most of the Kaerathaì Baermon's propulsion being stripped from it in one fell swoop.
"Okay I'll give you that." Sheppard conceded as the Kaerathaì Baermon started its uncontrollable fall towards the planet.
On the Ragnarok's bridge Angelus rose from his chair and pointed out the window at the falling ship.
"I want a least one prisoner of command level. Kill the rest." He commanded with absolute authority.
"The Emperor protects." Was the reply from the bridge's crew.
"Well, guess it's into the fire again." O'Neill said, following the marine out of the bridge.
"More like into the frying pan, sir." Carter added quickly.
"Don't forget why we came here." McKay moaned as he followed Carter out.
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As the Kaerathaì Baermon came smashing down to the ground it passed over a ruined castle, maybe not abandoned for more than a year or two, but as it ground to a halt against the mountainside it shook the old building to its foundations.
Under those foundations, a long, long way down, a massive chamber opened up, in this pitch dark room a single, tiny, blue light flickered into life. Its radiance stabbing out into to the darkness to reveal a large stone slab hung on the wall in a glass case. The writing was in Ancient but an extremely old dialect. It read 'Pandora's Key'.
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Sorry for this taking a while but I had work and stuff. I'm doing some pretty cool experiments running at work right now and have to give a lot of time to that. Anyway enjoy, I've decided to go back to the smaller chapter faster update that held true for most of the Emperor Works in Weird Ways. So yeah, read and review or whatever.