Chapter 3
Awakening the Collegia Titanica
"Warhound zero, one, nine, seven, six, five to all Titan units…to war!"
Magi Durin, leading an assault squad of Titans
--
A taskforce of loyalist Mechanicus ships dragged along the orbit of the red planet, far enough away so as not to attract the attention of the Necron vessels scattered across the system. The fleet of three Mars-class battlecruisers and a single Retribution-class battleship took up positions in low orbit. Dozens of launch tubes on the vessels portside silently opened to the void and with a mass of flashes the contents were released, over a hundred drop pods containing shock squads of Mechanicus troopers and Collegia Titanica crews for the dozens of Titans on the surface. The mission of these squads was to infiltrate the Titanica factories and recover the derelict Titan units.
The drop pods landed on the surface with no incident, no anti-air fire or surface-to-air missile systems streamed up to meet them. There were no signs of fighting on the ground, even though a full regiment of Imperial Guardsmen had been dispatched to secure the facilities. The shock squads exited their pods and entered the factories with no enemy force to meet them. The entire experience was not lost on the loyal warriors of the Mechanicus. Their augmented auspex and visual sensors detected no signs of any enemy contingents. Vox-channels were silent except for the odd blur of static or the monotone voices of Tech-Guard reporting whole sectors as clear throughout the mass factories.
Magi Durin was among the raiding party, protected by a squad of four advanced Tech-Guardsmen. Their faces a mask of bionic implants, large beam and bolter weapons as well as drills and blades replaced arms, every limp augmented by implants to make them stronger and faster. These were known as Sagitarii, heavy weapon specialists armed with the most powerful technological weapons while still keeping their human visages, if only just.
Durin was a large and foreboding individual. A two meter tall man dressed in maroon and black armour. Augmented implants covered his eyes like a pair of amber coloured goggles. A quartet of long cable arms three meters long each fixed with triple claws on their ends were attached to his back, their long snake like forms moving and bending as if they had lives of their own. His left arm, amputated by a Tyranid warrior an age ago, had been replaced by a long pneumatic drill. His left arm had been heavily upgraded for warfare with a retractable power-sword implanted in his forearm and adamantium claws replacing his nails. On his waist were the holstered forms of a pair of bolt pistol with dark red grips and liquid silver barrels, and the sheath of a power-sword. The weapon itself held in his clawed left hand, a dark red hilt and guard attached to a liquid silver blade, pitch black Mechanicus runes running along the flat sides of the weapon.
They entered the main hanger, stalking across walkways held up by steel cables a good kilometre above the main hanger deck. Dozens of Titans lay crouched down within arches below them, clamped and attached to hundreds of power and fuel cables. Not a single one was missing from the lines, not a single one. So the traitors hadn't commandeered the legions of the Collegia Titanica yet.
The vox-officer sent a message through machine noise to the other parties, response noise echoed through the vox, letting them know that the crews were on their way. The Magi waited and before long a companies worth of Sagitarii and Hypaspist light infantry arrived to help him secure the hanger with more troopers arriving all the time.
"Commander" Durin said in a voice lased with mechanical noise "Give the Collegia Titanitica crews the all clear. They may start up the Titan units!"
"Yes Magi" the commander replied with a bow and a whirl of mechanical noise before turning and giving the order to the crews and their guards through the vox ear pieces. Within twenty minutes the crews arrived on the floor, rushing towards the derelict forms of the Titans, enough personnel to pilot and maintain twenty of the sixty machines in the facility. All of the machines were sixteen meter tall Warhound Scout Titans, stooped creatures whose form reminded the Magi of much larger versions of Sentinels except for the arms which were attached to gatling guns and beam cannons.
The peace of the facility was interrupted by the clanging and whirling of mechanics as Tech-Priests and Enginseers began working on the machines, performing tune ups, last minute repairs, anointing the gears with holy water and prayers as the crews entered the cockpits and began activating the engines and weapon systems.
Their was a crack and a green beam of incandescent green light streaked across the hanger and struck the chest cavity of one of the pilots, the beam burned through the grey jumpsuit and set his chest alight in green fire, flesh. Mechanics, veins, organs, bone all melted in the inferno. The pilot fell off the ladder with a mechanical shriek, hitting the ground, ending his pain by breaking his neck as he hit the concrete ground.
A half dozen lasguns opened up upon the Necron warrior who fired the shot, riddling him with las bolts, one took off its head and it flew backwards to the ground. As it died another dozen Necron warriors appeared around it, their eyes and weapons alight with green light as they aimed and fired, burning three Tech-Guards alive before the loyalists found cover and returned fire. By then another twenty Necron warriors had appeared in the hanger, half of them turned their weapons to the Mechanicus troops in the walkways.
Durin and his Tech-Guards took cover as best they could, the magi drawing his bolt pistols from their holsters and firing several shots. When that didn't work he used his augmented mind to activate his three meter long metal limbs. Barrels extended from the ends of the arms as plasma guns came on line. They fired, spraying beams of metal melting plasma down upon the Necrons. Two of the metal creatures were caught in the jets of superheated beams, disintegrating the top halves of their bodies in mere milliseconds of contact.
"Activate the Titans now!" Durin yelled into his vox-piece as another wave of gauss fire flew over their heads.
"Surrender your bodies to the glory of the Necron" a voice bellowed through the hanger, echoing off the walls. Durin used his augmented vision to scan the hanger and found the source. A Tech-Priest draped in liquid silver robes "The Necron promise what we of the Adeptus Mechanicus have strived for since our creation, they promise perfection. Lay down your arms and let our Machine God recreate you in his image!"
The numbers of Necron warriors whittled down to fifteen, and then suddenly shot up to fifty as another wave of warriors appeared out of nothingness. Three Necron Destroyers appeared on their hover platforms, their large gauss cannons firing upon the entrenched Mechanicus troops, incinerating several who were hiding behind empty metal crates.
The Magi growled angrily and using his augmented eyes to target the Tech-Priest fired his plasma cannons, the beams combined and struck the upper body of the traitorous Tech-Priest, he was incinerated within a second, leaving only the waist and legs which crumbled a moment later. With his death the Necron warriors vanished to where they came from, their conduit to this area no longer functioning.
Slowly the Magi got to his feet, deactivating his plasma cannons and allowing his metal limps to wrap around his armoured form. Satisfied that no Necron remained he ordered the pilots to activate their machines. He then jumped off the walkway, reactivating his metal limps as he fell and gave them their orders, immediately the adamantium claws retracted from the ends of the arms and dug into the metal wall of the hanger, leaving tears in the armoured metal as it slowed his descent. His claws remained dug into the metal until he was within ten feet of the ground, retracting the claws he landed in a crouch and, stretching his bionic limps jumped up onto the hull of the Titan who lost its pilot.
As he entered the cockpit he recognised the unforgettable scent a hundred different mechanisms, the scent of holy incense that the Tech-Priests and Enginseers doused the weapons and main gears with, the scent of oils and fuels which covered the machinery, the metallic scent of metal and exhaust smoke as the engines flared. As he came to the cockpit he was greeted by the vessles gunner who was already hooked up to the Titans navigational and auspex systems.
"My lord Magi" the gunner stated, his metallic voice laced with surprise.
"Your pilot is dead, I will be taking command of this Warhound" the Magi stated as he jumped into the pilots chair and allowed the machine spirit to inaugurate him, cables snaked out of a dozen ports and connected themselves to his form. He saw everything. He was looking through the sensors of the beast. He felt his arms move the arms of the Titan. As of this moment he was the Titan, and it was an incredible feeling.
He flexed his muscles and the Warhound Scout Titan rose from its crouch, its Vulcan mega-bolter whirling as heavy bolter shells were loaded, its plasma blastgun hissing as streams of superheated plasma pumped into its barrel. Another twelve Warhounds rose from their places, the cables and wiring which connected them to their arches snapping and breaking away, trailing fluid and fuel as they were severed.
"Warhound zero one nine seven six five to all Titan units" Magi Durin growled into the vox-system "To war!"
--
El'Jonson gripped the sides of his command throne tightly as his command ship was assaulted by another wave of tremors from arc lightning strikes, the void shields had failed in several sections, leaving nothing but the heavy armoured hulls for protection. Another strike of jagged arc lightning struck the prow of a Cobra-class destroyer, slicing it into several pieces. A Lunar-class cruiser was attempting to limp away from the battle, fire and smoke billowing from several puncture wounds which dotted its heavily armoured hull.
Another wave of arc lightning struck the battlebarge and the lighting on the bridge dimmed considerably before returning to their normal brightness. Outnumbering the enemy a hundred to one they were still getting hammered by the Necron attack ships. Even though the Necron ships had a life expectancy of a dozen seconds before the monolithic defences of the Sol system turned them into burning hulks. They always took a dozen warships and defence platforms with them before they succumbed. Now several gapping holes had opened in the outer defence grids and Necron vessels were trickling through to batter against the second line of even deadlier platforms, space stations and denser packs of warships and fighters.
On the Lions order another wave of geo-nuclear warheads launched from their places on missile and torpedo launchers, appearing as explosions of fire and white smoke. The small squadron of Necron Jackal Raiders were caught head on and vanished in the mass explosions.
"Sir were being overrun" one of the sergeants called from the crew section of the bridge "Shields are down, we wont be able to take another shot without taking heavy damage!"
"Captain, were those Alliance tractor beam projectors installed to our ship?" the Lion asked as he surveyed the battlefield, a Tombship was approaching their position, its hull badly damaged by several barrages of weapons fire from the remnants of the first line of defences, but it still looked powerful enough to seriously damage his battlebarge.
"Yes sir, but they weren't properly tested by our Tech-Marines"
"Now is as good a time as any to test them" El'Jonson replied before searching the space ways for something, his eyes lit up when he saw what he were looking for, the dead hulk of a Harvest ship "Lock on, grab that dead harvest ship. Pull it between us and the Tomb!"
"Sir?"
"Do it now Captain!"
"Yes Primarch"
The Tombships weapon emplacements were already lighting up their fearsome green as they prepared to fire a full bombardment upon the Angel of Retribution. At the same time the battlebarges newly installed tractor beams latched onto the dead harvester and pulled it, it came between the two just as the Tombship launched its full attack. Masses of deadly green arc lightning struck the harvest ship and turned it from a dead hulk to a mass of debris. It was then that the Retribution released her next wave of geo-nuclear and krak torpedoes.
The damaged Tombship took the brunt of the assault, followed up by a barrage of lance and turbolance batteries, pounding the living metal and creating several large burning crevices. Internal explosions dotted the Tombships hull alongside the burning red gashes and mushroom shaped clouds. As it broke away it began to break apart from the assault.
"Keep hitting it until your sure its dead" the Lion roared.
--
The Emperor cut a diagonal line down the body of another Necron and watched as the metal creature fell into two pieces at his feet. He spun, his blade swinging and cutting another Necron in two by his thin waist. Again he spun, gathering a small mass of power into his sword and swung it, a powerful blast of warp energy struck out, a beam of golden light which incinerated another twenty Necron in a single swing. He swung again, releasing another blast of light which destroyed another twelve.
All who remained standing was the Necron lord, its staff lying on the ground at its feet and its arms crossed over his metal face, its forearms, abdomen and legs glowing red and bubbling from the heat and radiation of the warp blast. The Emperor vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing behind the lord and plunging his power-sword through its back and exiting through the chest cavity, he then jumped, dragging the embedded blade up through the lords back, neck and finally head, cleaving the upper half of its body in two.
The Necron warriors didn't vanish this time, they were too far into the enemy stronghold for that to happen. More Necron were appearing down the tunnel and through the walls, and the Custodian Guards were firing continuously. They were already down to half ammunition. Their power-swords were chipped and dulled from continuous melee combat.
Raising his sword the Emperor continued his advance, cutting into the Necron warriors as they came at him one at a time. He raised his storm bolter and released a five second salvo into the mass of flailing metal corpses, blasting craters and holes into at least five bodies. He let the expended clip fall, telekinetically lifted another from one of his ammunition satchels, guided it into position and slammed it into the loader. He chambered a new round and pulled the trigger.
Kilometres away in his layer the Void-Dragon watched with fascination as the Emperor approached his position. His warriors were slowly dwindling in number thanks to the continuous, unending army of his servants advanced on his domain. He needed to separate the Emperor from his subordinates. He wanted to face him without interruption. With a wave of his hand he activated the oldest and most deadly of his metallic servants. Warriors the size of the humans dreaded Space Marines, their metal skeletons so old that they no longer had their shine, large, powerful Gauss blasters held in their arms. He awakened his Necron Immortals, led by his own Pariah elites. They would deal with the Emperors Custodes while he led their leader to him.
The Emperor didn't notice the activated trap until the doors opened beneath him and he fell into the abyss. To his guards it was like he had simply vanished from sight. He could have stopped his descent, could have allowed himself to levitate back up to the surface. But he didn't, he let gravity take him down, he knew that this would take him straight to the demons layer.
"Emperor" Captain Lathorise shouted and charged forward, his blade slicing through the gauss cannon of a Necron warrior and then, changing the direction of the blade cut off its head. It was then that he came to the trap door "My lord, are you alright!!"
I am fine Captain
"Hang on my lord" Lathorise called "We'll come and get you!!"
No, gather the Custodes and fight your way to the surface, regroup
"But-"
Regroup!
With that the Emperor severed his psychic connection with the Custodian and, levelling his body out freefell into the abyss towards a Star-god who wanted to kill him and who he wanted to kill in turn. He landed on the ground as if he just jumped a meter and walked through a chamber devoid of all light. Dozens of sets of lifeless, green orbs glared at him, Necron Lords, Pariahs and Immortals all starring at him silently, under strict orders from their master not to touch the being walking through their domain.
The only noise was the echoes of the Emperors footsteps as he traversed the underground cavern, ignoring the bodies of Necron who were embedded into the walls and ceiling, all starring at him with those green lights for eyes. He came to a set of double doors, seemingly made of the same shining metal the Necron and their war machines were made of. With no effort he held out his hands and pushed the doors open, revealing the chamber beyond. In the centre of the chamber, raised from the floor by a platform was the liquid black throne of the Void-Dragon, and the monster itself sitting upon it.
He was a creature of formidable appearance. Standing a good three meters tall his entire form was encased in glimmering armour of liquid silver, long black claws retracted from its hands and feet, with a long whip like tail, a set of dragon shaped wings which uncoiled from around his body and stretched out, five meters long each and encased in a thin liquid metal armour similar to that which covered his body. An armoured helm with a crown of half meter long, thin blades at the top and a mask of pitch black, crafted to look like an ancient and deadly demon starred at the Emperor.
At that moment the Emperor felt frailer than he ever did when he was encased in the golden throne. It was as if someone had cut off his arms and legs. As if a door had been closed and locked, denying him access. The warp had been taken away from him, it was gone.
Silently, slowly the Dragon raised a hand, covered in a liquid metal skin with long claws. He pointed to the Emperor, like a reaper who came for the souls of the dying. It spoke, only instead of using words it spoke psychically into the God-Emperors mind, a rasping whisper full of malice and hatred.
Die!