Chapter 51
The War Drags on
Cato Neimoidia
Colony Regions
The bridge cities of Cato Neimoidia were in ruins. Their great towering spires, connected by wide bridges were pocketed with craters and holes. Battles between Alliance and Chaos troops were taking place on many of the major bridges with starfighters soaring under and over, dog fighting with each other in incredible feats of manoeuvrability and skill. High above the large silhouettes of frigates and corvettes from both sides exchanged fire, turning the sky red with crimson red lasfire and the falling corpses of burning picket vessels.
Commander Breen of the 11th A.C.L (Alliance Clone Legion) peeked over the top of a makeshift barrier of debris and destroyed vehicles. The optical sensors of his white helmet allowing him to see the bridge in its entirety, all around him were a thin line of fifty Clones, dressed in their white armour and hefting their heavy blaster rifles.
"Here they come" Breen said over his helmet com as the next horde of Chaos Cultists and Mutants came running through the twenty meter wide exit at the other side of the bridge "Give them hell!"
As one the fifty surviving Clones aimed their heavy rifles over the barricade and opened up with a barrage of blaster bolts, the first line of Cultists were mowed down by the hail of crimson, then the second, and the third. As the commander continued to fire a crimson bolt of lasfire caught the chest plate of the Clone beside him, throwing him back from the barricade to the ground.
The Cultists continued to charge towards the barricade, ignoring their falling comrades, screaming their war cries and chants, wielding their arcane swords and laspistols.
"This is commander Breen to central HQ" he sent through his helmet comlink as he jumped down from the barricade for cover "The Halsin bridge is threatening to be overrun, request reinforcements-"
He was stopped as the Clone that took his place was thrown back by a crimson lasbolt and spun in time to see a pale skinned Cultist clamber over the barricade. He quickly drew his blaster pistol and put a bolt through the deformed creatures face and jumping back up shot another Cultist in the chest.
He whipped a third in the face with his blaster rifle and shot another with his pistol. He stood there pistol in one hand, rifle in the other, firing upon the climbing cultists as they appeared over the barrier.
"Fall back" he shouted as the Clones backed away from the wall, continuing to fire their rifles as the Cultists clambered over the barricade. The corpses of several dozen Cultists mixed in with the bodies of eight of his brethren "fall back!"
"Hold your positions" a voice shouted from several meters behind him, he turned to see a Jedi rush towards them, over a hundred Clone troopers and Neimoidian Home Legionnaires right behind him, blasters letting lose steady streams of crimson bolts.
The Jedi General rushed past Breen, lightsabre ignited in his hands as he reached the first Cultist and quickly took off his head with a quick swing. He spun, killing another four who were trying to encircle him. Breen watched in fascination, he had never seen a Jedi before, this being his first battle outside of the simulations.
Over a hundred blaster rifles were cocked, aimed and fired, unleashing a devastating array of blaster fire, Cultists fell left and right and the survivors started to flee as their morale broke. As the broken and scattering Chaos foot soldiers fled the Clones and Neimoidians retook their positions on the makeshift barrier, taking pot shots at the retreating backs of the Cultists. As the last soldier vanished behind the exit the Neimoidians let out whooping cheers while the Clones remained silent.
Breen let out a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding before turning to take a look at the Jedi beside him. He was human with shoulder length dark brown hair and sharp features, his lightsabre still held in his hand as his azure eyes scanned the corpse covered bridge before him.
"Commander" he said as he averted his gaze from the bridge to the Breen "Well done, I am Jedi General Jarren, your new commanding officer"
"A pleasure General" Breen said as he shook the mans hand "I am Commander Breen"
Both men suddenly ducked as the near deafening roar of low level starfighters assaulted their ears. An X-wing flew overhead, its top right wing trailing flames and pitch black smoke as it barrelled a few meters over them. A Switdeath followed, firing continuous streams of bolter shells. The two of them shared grimaces, showing their inexperience in a proper non-simulated battle.
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Jabiim
Outer-rim Territories
Private Rigs of the 32nd Vulcan-city militia growled and looked up at the black and grey clouds high above, spewing out torrents of rain so heavy that it pelted the ground and turned the tough dirt to slick mud. Of all the times for these Chaos lunatics to attack the eastern continent they had to invade during the monsoon.
His entire company was taking cover in a small cluster of craters, positioned on the top of a ridge, silently passing cigarettes and preparing their weapons for any traitors when they arrived, not if, when. News had travelled fast to them, informing his company's captain that Captain Graham's 30th and Captain Travis's 91st had been completely overrun and slaughtered to the last man. Taking the town they were defending with them. This report was verified when they saw the flickering of flames and clouds of pitch black smoke rising from the west.
He gripped his blaster rifle so tightly that his hands went white, spat out his cigarette and peeped over his trench wall into the darkness beyond. Something was wrong. He sensed that something was wrong. The wind had stopped howling and, besides the pelting of rain the valley around them was eerily silent.
"Don't daydream Rigs" Sergeant Cutlass whispered harshly beside him.
"Something's out there"
"And don't be paranoid" the Sergeant added "I don't hear a thing"
"I'm telling you Sarge something's out there" Rigs persisted, lightly pushing up his metallic blue helmet away from his eyes to try and get a better view. The Sergeant growled but turned to the radio operator beside him, motioning for the long-range comlink.
"I need illumination on the following coordinates-"
As the sergeant harshly whispered the codes Rigs looked down, checking his blasters cartridge and trying to smooth out his long blue trench-coat. Like most members of the Jabiim army he wore a metallic blue helmet, blue and silver light armour, covered by a midnight blue trench-coat with similar coloured army pants and knee high black leather boots. A blaster pistol and several satchels containing bandages, grenades and rations hung from his black belt and his long barrelled blaster held in his hands.
A flare exploded in the dark sky, illuminating the surrounding area with red light. Black forms snuck through the slick mud, staying as quiet as possible as they trudged towards the company's position. Once their cover was blown one of the silhouettes rose and shouted a chant which chilled Rigs to the bone.
"For the Dark Gods!" the thin, pale creature cried before a blaster bolt hit him square in the chest and he fell back. The other Cultists shouted angrily and charged. Red lasfire and crimson blaster bolts lit up the night as the flare flickered and died. Rigs aimed through his scope and fired, the crimson streak hit a Cultist in the forehead, sending him falling back.
As he changed the cartridge of his rifle he heard a pained scream followed by the cleaving of flesh. He turned to see the sergeant get sliced in half by a Cultist wielding a chain-sword, blood spattering everywhere. Rigs forced his suddenly frozen joints to move and pulled the trigger of his blaster, catching the Cultist in the chest at point Blanc range.
An explosion engulfed the foxhole next to his, mincing the five soldiers within and creating a larger crater. He looked up to see a massive black form of a tank approach, tracks shrieked through the mud effortlessly, heavy armour protected its innards and three large gun barrels, one on the left, another on the right and a main gun turret on top fired deadly shells upon the company's position. Two more tanks appeared from the darkness, illuminated by the flashes of their guns.
Explosions rocked the hilltop, killing Cultists and Militia troops alike in a frenzy of fire and shrapnel. Rigs peeked over his foxhole again in time to see the terrifying armoured forms of Chaos Marines, carrying heavy bolters and rocket launchers march alongside the tanks before his world exploded around him and everything went black.
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Bakura
Outer-rim Territories
Salis D'aar, capital city of the outer-rim trading world Bakura was a mere shadow of what it once was. Its once tall skyscrapers, which once shimmered with the rising sun, were now pocketed with holes and craters, with some partially demolished through artillery or orbital fire. Its skies which once streamed with lines of hover-cars were now silent and empty, except for the occasional dog fight.
The streets of the capital were now strewn with the wreckage of vehicles and debris from the surrounding structures. Craters dotted the streets, a testament to the malicious artillery and orbital bombardments that the city had taken over the last few months. The dead and dying littered the ground, in some places like a carpet, in others as mounds. The very streets ran red with their blood.
Skirmishes were taking place across the cities entire perimeter, christened by the echoing of gunfire, explosions and death screams. The city may be no more than a ruin but it was no where near deserted. Hordes of Chaos soldiers from Cultists and Mutants to Traitor Guard and Chaos Space Marines battled against regiments of Imperial Guard, Clone Legions, Alliance Riflemen, Stormtroopers and space marines.
Grand Admiral Alexi Daala watched the entire scene through a massive, floating holo-screen ten meters across. Her inner chamber was dark and dull with the only illumination coming from the holo-screens floating around her showing the main defence positions of the Coalition and skirmishes being fought across the entire perimeter.
Other screens showed the battles taking place in the solar system which thankfully had begun to slow. After two months of constant skirmishes their combined fleets had finally halted and pushed back the Chaos armada sent to eliminate them. The cost had been heavy for both members of the Coalition but they had prevailed and with the main Chaos armadas several dozen light years away fighting their own battles they had been granted a lull to regroup and rest.
The main battle may have ended but that turned out to only be the beginning. Chaos raiding fleets numbering several dozen ships each had started to ambush ships in the outer rim of the system, destroying transport and supply vessels that were trying to move between the space stations and the habitable planets. Worse still was that when they had finally ousted the Chaos armada they had found that Bakura was cut off from the rest of the galaxy by a monstrous blockade, so supplies and reinforcements from the still free sections of the outer-rim and colony territories could not get through.
A beeping from the arm of her command chair brought her out of her reverie. Silently she inputted commands into the arm of her chair, calling up a holographic image of her second in command.
"Yes captain" she enquired "What is wrong?"
"The Supreme Commander wishes to speak with you ma'am"
"Put him through" she replied, a moment later and the image flickered to the white uniformed form of Gilad Pallaeon.
"Grand Admiral" he greeted sternly "What is the status of Bakura?"
"The status is looking better than a few months ago sir" she replied "We've retaken control of the system proper with only a few splinter fleets to deal with. But my scouts tell me that Chaos is amassing another armada against us"
"You are the only real thorn in their side at the moment Alexi" Pallaeon replied "You're the only system in the entire invasion path that has been able to not just hold your own against them but throw them out. They'll be throwing all of their reserves at you to try and correct their mistake. How are things on the surface?"
"Not as well as I would have hoped" she answered truthfully "They have a foothold in several major cities including Salis D'aar and have slaughtered the inhabitants of several towns. Can we be expecting any reinforcement's sir?"
"For the moment Grand Admiral you're on your own" Pallaeon replied apologetically "Grand Admiral Halos is amassing a battle-group at Utupau to try and spear through to you but it will take months before he can amass enough ships. The Imperium is sending the last of their Crusade through the wormhole, once they are amassed they will be able to reinforce Halos position and push through to Bakura"
"We'll hold until then" Daala replied "What news from the Empire?"
The Supreme Commander seemed to grimace at those simple words "Complete anarchy" he replied "I've never seen anything like it since Thrawn's death. The Moff's have chosen to leave it to the Admiralty and flee to they're own worlds instead of doing what they're supposed to do"
Daala gritted her teeth, cursing the cowardice of their supposed leaders. If only the Remnant had a strong Emperor then they could end this senseless carnage. The question was who would be strong enough to rule the Empire and cast out the traitors?
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Deep Space
Outer-rim Territories
The chamber was large and extravagant; its floor was made of black marble which was polished to a shine. Its walls were decorated with banners and portraits depicting the heroes and the symbols of the Warmaster's crusade fleet. Four men sat on high backed chairs around a table made of ancient Terran oak.
Lord Admiral Halcyon sat on one of the high backed chairs surveying his fellows. As well as himself there were two other Lord Admirals sent from the Imperium to this galaxy. First was Lord Admiral Hunt, a tall lanky man who ascended to his rank by repelling Ork waaghs in the southern territories, he was a hard man and fiercely loyal to the Imperium and the Emperor. Second was Lord Admiral Frostman, a man who led forces at Armageddon and Cadia, he was by far the oldest here and showed it with his weathered features and thinning white hair. He was also highly xenophobic. While Halcyon admired the man's accomplishments in the field he questioned the High Lords choice at sending him here.
Finally, sitting at the head of the table, with a glass of blood red wine held in his hand was Warmaster Visnik. He was a cruel, harsh and unpredictable individual who had risen to power during the last Tyrannic War. He was also a shamed man, an outcast who had kept his position only because of his family's wealth. In short he was corrupt to the core. Halcyon toyed with the idea that he and his fleet were sent here only because the High Lords wanted rid of him as they couldn't just court marshal him, he had too much support for that.
"So now Lord Admiral Halcyon" Warmaster Visnik began as he twirled the glass of wine in his hand, his eyes gazing upon the swirling blood red liquid "When do we meet the leaders of this Alliance and your xeno friends"
"I thought that it would be best that they not attend this first meeting" Halcyon began, sizing up his fellow officers and superior with a trained eye.
"Good" Visnik spat vehemently "I don't know if I could stand in the presence of one of their xeno representatives and not shoot them where they stand. All xenos are enemies of the Imperium and humanity as a whole"
"Perhaps in our galaxy my lord but here is a different story" he then opened a satchel in his belt and pulled out a data-pad "If I may?"
The Warmaster nodded absently and waited as Halcyon slotted the pad into the table's holo-projector and pushed a few runes. A large screen appeared above the table showing a major battle which occurred during the Yuuzhan Vong war. It showed Mon Calamari, Chiss, Hapan and Bothan fleets fighting side by side with human Star Destroyers against the ugly living vessels of the Yuuzhan Vong. It showed ground battles where human soldiers fought side by side and sometimes back to back with aliens of many different races.
"Heresy" Frostman growled as the screen vanished from view "Blasphemy and heresy. Living and fighting alongside such xeno scum should be more than enough evidence for the High Lords to wipe this empire from the face of the universe and bring the emperors shining grace upon these heretics!"
"Calm yourself Frostman" Halcyon replied "I have personally met the Hapan queen mother. She is honourable and trustworthy. Her forces have fought valiantly against the forces of Chaos, as has the Bothans, the Calamari and other races associated with the Alliance" he then set his gaze upon Hunt "Lord Admiral you fought alongside the Eldar on occasion during your campaigns"
"That is true" Hunt conceded "But such fleeting truces only lasted until the battles end and they would retreat beyond our guns before we had a chance to fire"
"Halcyon" Frostman said in a low and mocking tone "Perhaps your time among the Alliance has clouded your senses and better judgement"
"My senses are as clear as ever Frostman" he returned, his tone ripe with venom.
"Perhaps being among these gullible individual's has clouded your judgement" Visnik said callously, still swirling his wine glass with his good hand "These alien races may be on friendly terms with the humans now but there was a time when they were enemies"
Halcyon fell back into his chair, knowing that it wasn't wise to disagree with a Warmaster, especially one like Visnik. But he also considered the man's words. There were times when alien races suddenly rebelled against humans, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, even though they were led by a human was one such example, the Diversity Alliance was another and finally the extra-galactic threat that was once the Yuuzhan Vong Empire. Even the races that were a part of the Alliance had rebelled against human control; the Galactic Civil War was another good example.
"This Alliance does practice freedom of religion does it not?" Visnik asked simply, almost uncaringly as he brought his eyes up from his wine glass and looked into Halcyon's eyes.
"Yes" Halcyon answered.
"Then once this war is over and the Alliance takes us into their confidence then we shall send members of the Inquisition and the Priesthood to the Alliances human worlds. We will create cults to the immortal emperor and once enough support is gathered we will take them for the Imperium, we will slowly weaken the Alliance from within until she cannot muster the strength to repel one of our crusade fleets" the Warmaster surveyed the men present, gauging their reactions before continuing "Until then we must look to a more pressing enemy, and one that I would like to eradicate. Chaos"
The Lord Admirals nodded in agreement as Visnik inputted another data-pad into the holo-projector. A map of the known galaxy appeared before them showing all of the major powers in a myriad of different colours. The majority of the map was coloured green to show the Alliance with borders drawn out to represent the Imperial Remnant and the Hapes Consortium. A section to the northwest of the map was coloured black, indicating worlds that the forces of Chaos had taken and destroyed.
"First off gentlemen, we are all agreed that this tide has to be stopped before it breaches the mid-rim" he pushed a few runes while saying this, bringing up images of a star system to the east of the invasion path "Here an Alliance Grand Admiral known as Halos is mustering a sizeable force of ships to try and blast a way to Bakura and free up the Imperial and Alliance forces there, including the companies of the Blood Ravens and the Ultramarines. Lord Admiral Halcyon, how far away are you from Utupau?"
"About two days, one and a half if we push our hyperdrives" he replied, clasping his hands together as his hologram flickered.
"We all agree that the Bakura blockade needs to be broken" Hunt said as he surveyed the numbers of ships the Alliance were assembling for the attack "The Alliance are commandeering fleets from across the outer-rim for this operation. With their thousand warships plus Halcyon's six hundred it may be successful"
"At the moment we have three Crusade Fleets, each numbering an even six hundred plus in this galaxy. Admiral Hunt, you will take yours to the Remnant and link up with Supreme Commander Pallaeon to try and push their civil war to the loyalist's side. Without the remnants superiority fleets victory in the western fringe will prove most difficult"
Not just that but he would find himself having to rely more on the Hapans if the Imperials were unable to supply aide Halcyon realised.
"Frostman you will take your forces to Sluis Van and link up with Grand Admiral Antilles" he continued "I will accompany you there. Sluis Van is the last great fortress between Chaos and the mid-rim at large and is also the last place to launch a successful counteroffensive. It must be protected at all costs" his eyes then settled upon Halcyon "And you Lord Admiral will gather with this Halos and crash through the Bakuran blockade. The High Lords are not happy that the Adeptus Astartes contingents are trapped there, the blockade must be broken"
"Understood my lord" Halcyon replied with a slight bow before the holograms of the Warmaster and the two other Lord Admirals flickered and faded into the background, leaving Halcyon alone in the vast chamber of his battleship.
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Denon
Inner-rim territories
Warmaster Visnik knelt by the statue of the immortal emperor, chanting the litanies and prayers that he had been taught to know since childhood. Tracing the sign of an aquila across his chest after each verse. Once he finished he bowed deeply and rose to his feet, his eyes surveying his private chambers.
"Well done Warmaster" a silky voice murmured from the shadows of his main chamber. He spun around, drawing his bolt pistol and levelling it upon the black robed figure sitting on his arm chair, her head leaning on her clasped hands "Such a stirring speech to your subordinates"
"Who are you?" he uttered warningly, his hand pressing the trigger of his bolt pistol until the slightest movement of his trigger finger would set it off.
"My name is Darth Immolious and I represent an organisation who has the same goals as you do" she replied, her voice delicate and soft "The complete eradication of Chaos from this galaxy"
"Darth…I know that name" he muttered "Ah, I remember. Darth is a title given to a Sith Lord. Am I Right?"
The enshrouded figure heaved a soft sigh before rising from the Warmaster's armchair and stepped into the dim lights. She was tall and graceful, her black robes pulled against her frame tightly enough to show her slender figure, her face was a pale white with long blonde hair flowing past slender shoulders. Most interesting were her eyes which shone with an unnatural shade of yellow, a smug, feral and dangerous yellow.
"You would be correct Warmaster" she replied, a sly grin tugging at her lips as they spoke and in a flash of movement she crossed the distance between them, took the Warmaster's pistol from his grasp and crushed it in her slender hands. Leaving the Warmaster surprised and confused as the now useless sidearm fell to the floor with a thud "If my intension were to harm you then you would already be dead"
"I see" the Warmaster replied, composing himself quickly.
"My master has a proposition for you" she began "We have in our possession an army of dark force users who hate Chaos as much as the Imperium. We cannot deploy them in open combat you understand for fear of the Alliances response but we can still be in a position to help"
"How?" Visnik asked, suddenly intrigued.
"Espionage, assassination" the Sith lady listed as she circled around the Warmaster, tracing her right hand along his face so smoothly that it sent tremors of lust throughout his form, her voice so soft that it made him want to grab and ravish her on the spot, she was beautiful and she knew it "Weakening enemy strongholds, destroying their hierarchal structure, cause infighting, intercept supply convoys. That sort of thing"
"And what does your master wish for in return for his services" Visnik asked, keeping himself in control of his suddenly lustful emotions.
"Only that once you turn on the Alliance that we may side with you" she whispered seductively into his ear "And we are given the right to annihilate the Jedi once and for all"
Phew, sorry about the wait everyone, coursework and class exams were beginning to pick up. I thought about trying a number of different scenes during this chapter like showing battles taking place on several fronts, an introduction to the Clone Legions, the Imperium's presence in the galaxy (Sorry it took so long to get this part going but the Imperium will be fighting in the next chapter...promise) and an update to the plannings of the Sith.