Chapter 44
The Chaos War:
The Beginning
The Imperial palace was a truly magnificent sight. It was hybrid in design having aspects of both a cathedral and a palace with the main structures reaching up at least two kilometres into the sky. It was at least ten kilometres in diameter and surrounded with spires and towers which, believe it or not ranged from reaching up a simple hundred meters to the very tip of the planets atmosphere. At the tops of these towers were weapon platforms ranging from simple rail-guns and plasma turrets to lance batteries and nova cannons.
The Imperial palace was the centre piece of the Imperium of Man. It was where the High Lords of Terra resided, where the emperors most trusted guardians, the Custodes lived and finally where the emperor himself was situated. In the very heart of the massive palace was a smaller fortress, its main entrance was a set of double doors, made of thick stone and heavily inscribed with ancient runes and hieroglyphs, the doors reached a kilometre up, to the point where a mere mortal would not be able to see its top.
The walls were made out of thick adamantium giving them a silver shine which never seemed to dull, stone gargoyles were situated on precipices and turrets, their cruel, bottomless eyes and mouths seemingly looking down upon the space below. These statues were not just there for show. Automatically controlled stubber machine guns were hidden within their pit like eyes and mouths, ready to spew out death to whoever approached uninvited.
Within this small fortress was the emperors own golden throne, a life support machine created for the soul purpose of keeping the God-Emperor of humanity alive and able to continue his watch over the Imperium that he had created. Surrounding the throne room were massive, impressive chambers, the walls were made out of solid grey stone with thick stone pillars keeping up the kilometre high ceiling. A mass of paintings, tapestries and sculptures decorated the walls, showing people who were considered the greatest of heroes during the time of the great crusade and great battles which had been burned into the minds of those who looked upon them.
The Primarchs, both loyal and traitor stood, decked in their magnificent power armours and holding their weapons in salute which included power-swords, axes, staffs, modified bolters and so on. However while those primarchs who remained loyal stood proud and tall, those primarchs whom turned their back on the emperor were kneeling, as if begging forgiveness from the man who was basically their own father.
The fortress was under heavy guard, not by any mortal man but by the most deadly defences imaginable. The automated defences were controlled by the emperor's psychic powers and a full squad of golden armoured titans stood guard at all of the entrance points, unmoving and unyielding, their deadly heavy bolter cannons and main beam cannons swivelling too and froe, forever scanning the chamber they were assigned to for any threat. As if to add to the defences the main stone doors could only be opened by the super brute strength of the titans.
The emperors powers were growing in strength, sections of this central fortress which had been dark for centuries were beginning to come back to life once again, lights flickered to existence and weapon batteries suddenly whirring to life. Eventually he will be able to control the defences of the entire fortress itself. The bacta was doing its job and doing it well. In the months since the healing liquid had been received he had felt himself slowly recovering from the near fatal wounds that he received from his son Horus.
But the recovery was still slow, his cells regenerating and his organs being revived by the bluish liquid. It would still be possibly years, maybe even decades before he could walk on his own again. Then there were the problems that he would have to address once he was physically able again, there would be religious fanatics and extremists who would not believe that the Immortal emperor would just suddenly walk out of the golden throne after ten thousand years of near death.
He needed people to suddenly shout out that the emperor lives again, the people needed to know that he would return so as not to cause the mass panic and hysteria that he knew would probably occur if he suddenly got up and walked out of the Imperial palace. He needed agents to spread the word, he would call upon the High Lords for such a task but many of them had become so complacent and corrupt in their places of power that they would much rather keep him where he was.
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The Fabricator General sat in his throne room, deep beneath the massive Imperial palace. The walls of his private chamber were the colour of rust with sums and numbers etched into their structure, pillars kept up the high ceiling and a mass of computer consoles and monitors were scattered everywhere. Cables lined the stone floor, leading to consoles and plugs in the walls, sparking and sputtering in some places where they threatened to overload.
The lord of the Adeptus Mechanicus sat on his rust coloured throne, his beard like cables attached to a mass of plugs on consoles surrounding his throne. The mechanical forms of at least ten Tech-Guard were scattered across the chamber, standing watch over their lord. The fabricator was going over an insane amount of information, all of the latest reports concerning his orders strongholds across the galaxy, all of the forge-worlds and mechanicus fortress planets scattered across the Imperium were flashing before his eyes, coming and going at the blink of an eye. For any normal human being it would be nearly impossible to read all of the chunks of information streaming across the generals eyes but to him it was just an average days worth of reading.
His forge-worlds were progressing as expected. Their manufacturing lines were working at full potential, creating thousands of weapons and hundreds of warships from gunships to corvettes, frigates, destroyers, cruisers and battlecruisers as well as mass producing arms and ammunition. At the chief forge-world of Mars three new Emperor-class battleships were under construction and his finest Tech-Priests were looking over the new Alliance technologies, finding new and innovative ways for them to be used. A basic galactic holo-communications system was being created from the Alliances holo-net technology, specially designed by his Tech-priests and Magi to be able to allow communications across the entire Imperium. The new faster-than-light travel was being installed as a primary within several new battlecruisers, being used as a primary with the old warp drive kept as a backup. Eventually it would only be matter of time before the Imperium regained the advantage against her enemies.
Finally the last of the reports was read and the Fabricator General detached his beard like tentacles from the plugs and his goggle-like, augmented eyes flickered to life, scanning every inch of the central chamber of the Fabricator General's throne room. With a rustle of his robes he stood up and stalked down the chamber towards the great rusty red coloured double doors.
There was a flash of white light and the Fabricator General found himself no longer standing within the rust coloured chambers of his own private sanctum, he looked behind himself to see his Tech-Guard were no longer behind him. Instead of rust coloured walls there was walls made of pure grey stone, detailed tapestries hung from the walls and statues stood either tall and proud or kneeling and seeking forgiveness. To his surprise he found that these statues were the sculptures of the Primarchs. Both loyal and traitor and a score of others from the era of the great crusade, the ones who remained loyal during that time stood tall and proud, their weapons held high while the traitors kneeled as if in penance, begging for forgiveness.
The sudden sound of whirring mechanics made the Fabricator spin around, what he saw both terrified and awed him. Towering at least thirty meters above him was the incredible, humanoid form of a Titan, its armour a pristine gold with a mass of silver hieroglyphs and runes etched into the shinning armour. The behemoth looked down at him and the pitch black eyes suddenly lit up with blue light, scanning the massive corridor in front of it for any threat. The Fabricator felt fear as he watched the incredible product of Imperium engineering scan the chamber with its powerful motion and infrared sensors, the massive beam cannons built into its arms whirring, chambering a shell that could tear the gun turret off of a Runeblade super-tank with a single shot, which had proven at Lorn V that it could completely destroy a Necron Monolith with a single round. Even the impressive Alliance AT-AT walkers would be humbled by this monster of human mechanics.
Finally its incredible sensors fell upon him, blinding even his highly modified augmented vision with blue light, at that moment he felt that he was going to join the side of the machine god and the holy emperor and began muttering prayers of purity to both, tracing the sign of an aquila across his armoured chest. The Titan kept its optical sensors upon him for a moment before raising its incredible hand, but not to aim at the High Lord. Instead it turned towards the door and placing its monolithic hands against the double doors pushed, forcing the great, kilometre tall stone entrance open. Dust seemed to explode from the tops of the ancient doors as the Titan pushed, fluttering down to the stone floor below as if it were grey snow.
As the Titan finished it turned around and continued its eternal vigil, completed ignoring the armour robed figure standing in front of him. The Fabricator simply stood there, frozen in place, fascinated by the massive, golden armoured Titan. His augmented eyes recording the impressive, perfect specimen of what his ancestors of the Martian forge-world used to be able to mass produce.
Enter Fabricator a voice whispered softly into his mind. You will get the opportunity to study this guardian soon enough.
"Who's there" the General said, his hands drifting to the pistol attached to his belt as he passed the monolithic Titan and entered the chamber he was just granted access to. His eyes settled on a massive machine made out of gold armour plating, a mass of cables and tubes were attached to the machines armoured shell, pumping blue fluid into its centre. A massive view-screen was at its centre showing that the tank was full of bluish liquid and within this machine with a mass of tubes attached to his arms and legs and a breath mask over his face was what looked like a man. He opened his eyes which shone with incredible power, power which would humble even a plus Apex level psyker.
I have many names Fabricator but you know me best as the Emperor
"My Lord" the Fabricator said as he fell to his knees, augmented eyes downcast and his right hand immediately tracing the sign of an aquila across his chest, he muttered ancient passages from the emperors holy books, his internal hard drives bringing them up in his mind.
Rise Fabricator the emperor's psychic voice whispered into his ear, soft yet carrying with it the power that was beyond even the Generals imagination. It appears that this Alliance bacta is doing what they promised it would do, already I can feel my wounds begin to heal and my power begin to return.
"My lord this is excellent news" the General proclaimed.
Yes it is Fabricator the Emperor replied. However I have awakened to find that the Imperium that I had built on my own and humanities blood and tears has become the very thing that I did not want it to become. In the ten thousand years since I have been imprisoned in this throne the Imperium has become a dictatorship the likes of which this galaxy has never seen before, xenophobia, dictatorship, mass genocide, arrogance, greed, lust for power and unprecedented destruction.
"My apologies my lord Omnissiah" the fabricator replied, bringing his head further down into an even deeper bow.
Rise Fabricator, you are not to be blamed for your predecessors acts the emperor repeated and this time the High Lord rose to his feet. There is much work that needs to be done before I show myself to the rest of the Imperium. People will need to be informed of my return so as not to cause mass panic.
"Yes my lord" the high lord replied "What is thy bidding"
I will inform the Master Inquisitor of my return and have him begin preparations as such the emperor began. While the Inquisition has become a complete opposite of what I had originally planned for it, it may still be of some use before I return and begin reforms. Until then fabricator I wish you to spread the word of my return wherever you can, the news will spread and people will begin to believe that I will return.
"Of course my lord Omnissiah" the general replied humbly.
"Now go" the Emperor said. The first solid words he had uttered since their meeting. Before the high lord of the Adeptus Mechanicus knew it he was standing within the vast chambers of his own domain once again.
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Deep beneath the surfaces of the red desserts of Mars were ancient storage chambers, these chambers held within their old, rusted and cobwebbed walls a mass of secrets and treasures, these halls held ancient and powerful weapons and technologies. It was this reason, along with the fact that Mars was the capital of the Adeptus Mechanicus which made it such a holy world to them.
One such chamber however was different from the others, its walls were as black as night with a mass of runes and hieroglyphs, glowing with a soft green light covering them. In the very centre of this chamber whose floor was made of black stone stood a coffin, made of a strange metal which gleamed in the darkness, black runes and hieroglyphs covered it, their meaning lost to any humans who gazed upon them.
The large double doors, made from the same shinning metal as the coffin itself opened with a loud creak and a group of twelve Tech-Priests. Dressed in their armour and wearing cloaks of silver stalked into the chamber, holding their staffs in their hands, their augmented eyes shinning red in the low light. They were here for a simple reason, the emperor was awakening from his ten thousand year slumber and they could not allow his reign to begin again. If it did it would be the end of the Imperium as they know it, the end of the Adeptus Mechanicus as they know it.
The emperor was reviving, he was awakening, and with it his strength was growing. He was getting stronger each and every day. The psykers from those under the Inquisition and the Imperial Guard to the chaplains and librarians of the space marine chapters felt him get stronger and stronger through the warp and were already preaching and prophesising of their lord's return.
They needed to act. They didn't have any other choice. With each day they wait the emperor grows in strength and power, soon he would be able to leave the golden throne altogether and a new age would dawn on the Imperium as a whole. An age where they would be found and weeded out, where the faction of the machine cult would be uncovered and destroyed, in order for them to survive their lord had to be awakened.
They stood in a circle around the rune encrusted coffin, their staffs tapping against the stone floor, the bangs echoing across the chamber. Their augmented eyes shinning red and their augmented mouths muttering ancient incantations and spells in the machine language, they continued to chant, their voices slowly rising in volume until it was a steady noise, rising above the constant bangs of their staffs hitting against the ground.
The runes of the coffin began to slowly glow brighter and brighter, in a final act the Tech-priests took a unified step forward and lowering their staffs forced their tips into plugs located on the coffins sides before turning them in their places. Slowly the top of the casket began to creak open and a pair of eerie green eyes shinned out of the darkness. The machine god has awakened.
A present for the Warhammer fans out there. Hope you guys enjoyed that little part with the Titan and I hope I got his design right. Never really read much on Titans, the only Titan I have ever seen was the half destroyed one in the Warhammer game winter assault, so I pretty much based the description on that.