Chapter 24
Factions of the Imperium
"I see you"
Captain Gabriella Rosso to an Imperium Culexus Assassin
"So admiral" the master Inquisitor began "From the information that my agents have sent me I have gathered who you are, where you come from and whom you represent. This galactic alliance, which is a loosely tied alliance of empires and sectors which cover most of your galaxy is made up of the remnants of an empire known as the New Republic, another known as the Hapes Consortium and your Galactic Empire …correct?"
"Yes master inquisitor" Halos answered evenly, feeling a little frustrated over having to be asked the same questions again and again but inquisitor Vallace had told him that the Imperium high lords didn't trust each others information and so the master inquisitor was asking these questions to squash any doubts that his fellows had.
"And that you are indeed from another galaxy" the master inquisitor continued.
"Yes sir" Halos replied respectfully "My people were in the middle of a space battle with the remnants of an enemy empire, known as the Yuuzhan Vong. We hit an unstable device on their cruiser which opened up a worm hole which threw us to this galaxy, where we met up with your welcoming party"
"And my apologies for that hostile reception admiral" the master inquisitor replied, knowing of the incident surrounding their arrival "But as inquisitor Vallace has already explained we have been in a state of war with enemies that wish our destruction for over ten thousand years, usually anything that we have not seen before we immediately consider hostile"
"However" another high lord interjected sharply "We would like to know why you decided to choose to ask us for help after that incident instead of going to an empire which shares your ideals"
Halos considered his answer very carefully, he had explained to Robyn about their run in with the Eldar fleet that rescued them during the standoff at Magos IV, and who told them that their best chance of returning home lay with the Imperium. The inquisitor had nodded at this but told him not to tell the high lords of their run in with the Ulthwe taskforce.
"During the battle a trio of space marine strike cruisers jumped into the system and ordered the Imperium defence fleet to cease firing immediately" Halos explained, knowing that it was at least a half truth "Their chapter is known as the blood ravens and after stopping the battle they escorted us away to the forge world of Helios Prime where they placed us in the care of the Adeptus Mechanicus, we then preceded to trade technologies, we also fought battles with them against the enemies of humanity in the forms of the Dark Eldar and the Tyranids, we found that we had to help in any way that we can"
"Very noble admiral" another of the lords replied "However you believe that you can just walk into the presence of the god-emperor with an answer to all of humanities problems"
"Not an answer to all of your problems sir" Halos countered firmly, knowing that a show of weakness know would wreck everything "But a melding of your technologies and our own would give you an edge to your enemies, and if a way back to our home galaxy could be found, you would find that there will be powerful forces willing to help you against these enemies"
"And as we speak our tech-priests are already in the Magos systems looking for any remnants of the worm hole" the lord inquisitor replied "However the question remains, why do we need an alliance with your people, we are fully capable of defending ourselves"
"If I may interject master inquisitor" Silvermaine asked, gaining a nod from his superior "I feel that without these new technologies and allies the Imperium could begin falling apart within the next few hundred years"
Suddenly the room echoed with threats and disagreements from all of the high lords, all aimed at the elderly inquisitor, Joseph glanced over to Robyn questionably only to see the same confused look on her face, clearly the elder inquisitor was on dangerously thin ice at the moment, as the insults and threats died down one of the high lords set a murderous gaze upon the inquisitor.
"You cannot be serious" he said vehemently "Our crusade fleets are forever bringing new territories into the Imperium, our armies and fleets are repelling every outside invasion sent against us"
"Yet Lord Administratum we are also losing territories to the Orks, the Tyranids, Necrons and the Great Enemy" Silvermaine replied steadily "The Cadian gates defences have been devastated by the Chaos warmasters 13th black crusade, Armageddon is almost overrun with Orks, we have lost countless colony worlds to Tyranid splinter fleets and the Necrons, and that's just the outside problems for within out territories countless worlds are in a state of civil war, the Dark Eldar are continuously ambushing our supply convoys, our losses to the unsuccessful invasions of the Tau and Eldar territories are horrendously high…to put it simply my lords we need new technologies to fight and allies to reinforce us in our struggle!"
"If we can fight off the enemies of humanity for ten thousand years we can do it for another ten thousand" one of the High Lords spoke defiantly.
"My lords" Halos spoke up again "I have done extensive reading into your history and have found that after the events of the Horus heresy your technological advancements have almost ceased, you have been using the same technologies for the last ten thousand years, our technologies will strengthen your forces and further defend your worlds" he then turned his gaze to face each of the twelve high lords, ready to make his final statement "And most importantly of all you need the emperor back, one of our technologies can do this"
"What!!!" all of the high lords said in unison before breaking down into whispers and doubts, some were calling Halos a heretic immediately while other seemed to be interested "What do you propose admiral" the fabricator general asked, speaking for the first time.
"We have a liquid known as Bacta" Halos began "It is a healing contagion that my people have been using for thousands of years, it is well known for curing horrendous injuries like the ones that the god-emperor sustained when he fought Horus. All that you need to do is drain the healing liquids you have now in the golden throne and replace it with ours, after a few treatments the emperors injuries will have healed to the point where he can continue the process on his own"
"As interesting as that appears I will not do this without proof it will work" the fabricator general replied evenly.
"It will sire" Vallace spoke up "I and my fellows have done countless tests and found that it will work. We have the results with us know" the young inquisitor reached into a pocket in her cloak and pulled out a datachip, she inserted it into one of the many arcane slots on the table, a holographic image appeared in the centre of the table showing countless streams of information, the fabricator generals beard like tentacles extended forward and slotted into several sockets on his side of the table, for a few moments everything was silent as he processed the information then his bearded cables disconnected and he opened his eyes.
"There are two possible outcomes" he said evenly "Either the emperor will destroy the healing contagion and remain the way he is, or he will use his divine powers to keep it fresh and full of the needed nutrients, in that case he should be well enough healed to continue the rest of the process on his own within a year"
"So as you can see my lords" Joseph said to everyone in the chamber "You have everything to gain and nothing to lose"
"As interesting as this is admiral one new piece of technology is not enough for us to create an alliance with you"
"My scientists foresaw this and put this together for you" Halos replied as he reached into his pocket and pulled out yet another datachip, without a word he inserted it into the table and pushed a few runes, everyone, even the inquisitors accompanying him looked on with interest, an image of a weapon similar to a lance battery appeared "This is a ship weapon system that my scientists and the Mechanicus tech-priests created a few months ago, it is a melding of your lance batteries and our turbolasers, it has twice the firepower of a lance battery along with twice the range and accuracy, you can fire upon your enemies with plenty of space between you, it has been tried and tested, it works"
"This is just a small example my lords" Robyn spoke up again, hiding a smile at the admirals plan, she had just gained a lot of respect for him today "They are also willing to share their superior starfighter and faster than light travel technologies"
The high lords exchanged looks amongst themselves, some looked genuinely excited while others appeared to be uncertain, one thing was certain however, the admiral had just given the twelve leaders of the Imperium something serious to think about "We thank you for your offer admiral" the master inquisitor replied "And we have been given a lot to think about, I feel we must adjourn and consider the findings, you will have an answer within a week"
At that the inquisitors stood, bowed respectfully and filed out of the chamber, Halos too rose, bowed and followed them before following the others out of the chamber. Once out the ARC troopers and space marines flanked them again, guiding them towards the shuttle pads.
"The bureaucracy here is as bad as the Old Republic" Halos whispered to Vallace "A whole week to consider what should only take a few seconds to consider"
"I think that a week is fast for the high lords" Robyn replied, hiding a smile "It usually takes them months, even years to come to a decision"
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Captain Rosso walked down the spacious white corridors of her star destroyer towards her quarters, her shift was over and she had left the bridge to her first officer, as she continued on she considered everything that had happened through the last six months, wondering if they would ever get home.
Sighing tiredly she hit the button to her quarters and walked through the opened doors, waving off the sharp salutes of the two blue robed Alliance Guardsmen who stood at her door. As the door closed behind her she froze, feeling a stench of death all around her, gaining control of her feet she walked casually to her weapons case and opening it took out several small vibrodaggers, an assassins blaster pistol and a lightsabre hilt from her earlier days as an Imperial hand, before turning back to look at the dark confines of her room, usually the lights would come on as she entered.
She wasn't an average ships captain, her history as an Imperial officer began when she was found by Darth Vader as a child, she was found to be force-sensitive and made a hand of the emperor, one of his personal assassins and bodyguards, training in the ways of the force to become an adept as well as learning the basics of assassination, stealth and hand to hand combat.
A scream in the force was her warning and she dived forward just as several daggers hit the floor where she once was, she rolled and grabbing two vibrodaggers from her belt threw them where she guessed the assassin was, the daggers dug into the ceiling. Taking a deep, calming breath Rosso got to her feet and for the first time in decades activated her lightsabre, letting the familiar humming and heat from the red blade sweep over her before surrendering herself to the force, just in time to deflect several more assassin knives.
"I am impressed" a voice, mechanical and rasping whispered "You are indeed highly skilled for a ships captain"
"I can say the same to you" Rosso said as her eyes darted around the dark room, trying to find the origin of the voice but it seemed to echo making its source difficult to find, she opened herself up to the force, hoping that it would show her the location.
"It is useless" the voice said, as if knowing what she was doing "I have been conditioned by my temple to be invisible to the powers of the warp, in fact any psykers like you will find that their powers will be useless"
Rosso suddenly felt a breath against the back of her neck, and a warning through the force made her spin, her lightsabre blade colliding with the light blue hued blade of a power-sword, the assassin wore a skull like mask with bone white armour, covered with belts and satchels with a variety of blades, even with the mask covering his features the captain could feel the surprise through the force, she also saw that his entire form was like a burning fire.
"I see you" Rosso chided, a smile spreading across her face.
"How is this possible" he managed.
"Your not dealing with a Psyker of the warp anymore assassin" Rosso stated confidently, her face glowing an eerie red from the blade of her lightsabre "You are dealing with an adept in the force" she batted his power-sword away and starred into the black holes in his mask "I am Gabriella Rosso, captain of the Imperial Starfleet, former Emperors Hand" her eyes turned from the sparkling green to a sickly yellow as she spoke, making the assassin take an involuntary step backwards "And I am your opponent, feel the power of the darkside" she raised her free hand and discharged a bolt of force lightning from her fingertips.
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Captain Florn sat on his captains chair, taking a sip of a cup of steaming hot Caf when he noticed a group of warships appear from the mass shadow of the red planet, their forms sizes telling the Twi'lek captain that they were cruiser sized Imperium vessels, their hulls were coloured a matt black and as the captain ordered their images zoomed he saw the symbols of the Inquisition imprinted on their sides.
"Get me Magi Durin" Florn ordered "And bring us to yellow alert"
When Durin's holographic image appeared his face was a mask of annoyance, but not directed at Florn "We know captain, we have been trying to contact them but haven't been getting an answer, I would recommend that you bring your fleet to yellow alert while we continue to try and hail them"
Before the Magi disconnected the transmission Florn saw several flashes of light from outside, he stood up and saw to his horror the star destroyer Guardian racked with several internal explosions, in some places the superstructure burst open with red fire and wreckage before finally the bridge tower vanished in an explosion of red fire, throwing wreckage in every direction. The captain fell into his chair, his face a mask of horror as the Guardian started to break up, he shook it off and turned to the bridge crew.
"Battle stations" Florn shouted "Power up the turbolaser batteries, raise shields, prepare starfighter squadrons for emergency launch" At that moment a series of explosions rocked his vessel, nearly knocking the captain off his feet.
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Joseph and Robyn could only watch in horror as the Guardian started to fall apart in a storm of red fire and wreckage, then a series of explosions struck the star destroyers Spirit of Ithor, Dominator and the Vigilance, the superstructures bulging and exploding in several places, spilling out equipment, wreckage and dying people.
At a glance the stormtroopers rushed into action, using the buts of their blasters to knock out the stone faced Kasrkins with well timed hits to the backs of their heads, two of the ARC troopers then rushed into the cockpit, levelling their E-11 blasters at the surprised pilots ordered them to continue onward to the Vigilance.
Robyn could only look on in shock before the admiral grabbed her, his face red with anger and his eyes murderous "What did you people do!!?"
"We did nothing admiral" Robyn managed "This is the work of assassins, someone high up doesn't want the Emperor of mankind back and they don't want us to ally ourselves with you"
Before Halos could respond he saw several black hulled vessels approach his shattered fleet, out of all of the ships in his fleet he saw that only the Vengeance seemed undamaged, it along with the Emperors Fire moved between the inquisition vessels and the disabled star destroyers, their weapon systems powering up and their shields flickering to life. Halos released the inquisitor and moved into the cockpit, he set a murderous stare at the pilots before pointing towards the Vengeance "Take us to that star destroyer, and don't try anything stupid, my boys are very good shots"
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"You will move out of the way Magi" the Inquisitor said, his form hidden within black robes and his face contorted in a sick smile "We are simply preserving the purity of the Imperium, the emperor must remain on the golden throne, it is the only way he can keep a constant vigil on the galaxy"
"We will not move" Magi Durin replied, his mechanical voice bellowed to the point that the bridge around him seemed to vibrate "This taskforce is under the protection of the Adeptus Mechanicus!"
"You will move" the inquisitor replied "You are hopelessly outnumbered with one of the infidel's star destroyers as your backup!"
"My lord" one of the serfs on the inquisitors side shouted "We have several Mechanicus vessels appearing from orbit, six Mars-class battlecruisers and an Emperor-class battleship!!!"
"You see inquisitor we have foreseen that your kind would try this for some time" Durin said "By the emperor these people bring with them the promise of a new age within the Imperium, a age where the Emperor leads humanity once again, where new technologies emerge and new alliances made to give us the edge, we will not lose this chance simply because of a couple of inquisition purists!!!"
"You traitorous heretic, you are making a huge mistake Magi" the inquisitor shouted angrily but the transmission was cut before he could continue.
"That's enough of that" the Magi said to himself with an exasperated sigh before shouting "My brethren, let us prepare for war!!!"
Sorry it took so long but I've been bogged down, what do you think, I wanted to add a little surprise with the fleet and I felt that Rosso wasn't living up to her full potential in the story, anyway the stage is set, the Mechanicus and the Inquisition are at a standoff with the damaged forms of the Allaince fleet between them, who will win, who will lose…keep watching to find out! Oh and if I made a mistake with anything let me know.