Hey everyone. Here's a little surprise for all my loyal readers. RL is a mean bitch, but come hell or high water, I am determined to complete this fic, no matter how much my muse decided to be stubborn. So, read and enjoy my friends. Oh, if anyone has ideas for a name for the Sanguinius clone, please give it in a review. Depending on how many you give me, I might make a poll to let you guys decide what the best choice is.
Chapter 38
"Willow, what were you thinking?" Buffy shouted.
"I thought you'd approve." Willow seemed surprised and nervous at her reaction.
"If you had discussed it with me beforehand, I probably would have agreed with it, after careful discussion and deliberation. I don't like being blindsided by a friend who should know better than to mess with stuff like cloning a fucking Primarch of all things." Buffy snapped. "But the damage is done, I suppose. Give me the details on this clone."
"Well, genetically he's identical to Sanguinius, except the few minor changes that were done to correct for the flaws carried in the original Primarch. He is also connected to a hypno-teacher, so by the time he is ready to be released, he will have the full education of a schola progenum graduate. I haven't decided on a name, but I suppose it's something he should pick on his own." Willow replied.
"How soon before he can be released?" Harry asked.
"At least a year. By that time, he'll be at the age development of a teenager." Willow replied.
"Alright. I guess we have about a year to prepare the New Imperium about the fact we have a Primarch now. And Willow, you don't start any new projects without discussing it with me, or Harry. Understood?" Buffy glared at her red-headed friend.
"Alright. I promise. Well, we might as well get back to work. I have to sanctify the new Baneblade factory on Optrisia and anoint two Magi that are going to transcend the limits of the flesh afterwards." Willow sighed.
"Then I guess I'll see you on the next meeting of the Adeptus Terra." Buffy turned and walked out of the room, followed by Harry.
A week later, the High Lords of the New Imperium met once more for one of their regular meetings.
"Thank you all for coming. The first item on the agenda is a project that the Administratum has been working on for several months now. With the growth of the New Imperium, we can no longer act like an alliance of independent worlds as we have so far, but we must move forward to a truly unified polity. And that means we must unite not just militarily, but politically, socially and economically." Buffy began, causing murmurs to spread through the room.
"Already we have recorded a massive increase in traffic across all worlds of the Imperium. Merchants, craftsmen and workers travel all over our domain, and inns, hotels, restaurants and even brothels are opening all over the Imperial territories. We need to control and regulate such things before the New Imperium descends into anarchy."
"The first thing we need to establish is an Imperial currency, establish the value of goods and services, wages for all jobs performed across the Imperium, set taxes and trade tariffs, codify the Lex Imperialis and formally establish the Adeptus Arbites. Police work has largely fallen to the Imperial Guard, but they are soldiers, not law keepers." Buffy explained, and all paused for a moment as the enormity of the task before them was realized.
"What you're proposing will not be easy to accomplish, and we will probably be revising it for years." Willow pointed out.
"Well, I for one agree with Lady Summer's idea. Having wages to spend or send home will certainly improve the men's morale." Lord Commander Orim commented.
"My men will welcome wages as well. The chance to purchase personal items or simply eat something that's not standard rations will certainly raise their spirits." Lord Commander Parcy added. The military rations of the Imperium seemed to follow the trend of all militaries throughout history in being tasteless and almost inedible.
"Not to mention the chance to provide the proper icons to the people of the Imperium. A simple brass icon purchased through honest toil in His name is worth far more than a solid gold one gained with ease." Eclessiarch Blaisdell added his own thoughts.
"Excellent. My adepts have done most of the preliminary work, but I think it will be a good idea for all of you to read through and revise the sections relevant to your branches. I do have one more recommendation for you. I nominate Jaffa Master Bra'tac as Grand Provost Marshall of the Imperium." Buffy grinned at the shocked Jaffa in the audience.
"I second the nomination." Orim knew the old Jaffa well, and knew his reputation as an honest and unbiased man.
"Then rise Bra'tac and take your place among the High Lords of the New Imperium of Man." Buffy gestured to a place across her on the table where two servitors were bringing in a chair.
As the meeting continued and the various High Lords and other members of the Imperium brought up topics to discuss, Buffy couldn't help but smile a bit. She had laid the foundations of a true Imperium that she hoped would stand the test of time.
It took over a month before everything was implemented, and maybe years before it all ran smoothly, but overall the changes were embraced happily by the populace. The currency decided on was the golden throne, the silver eagle and the bronze skull. As the bulk of the Imperial populace was from less advanced worlds, actual coins were deemed more practical than paper money or electronic currency. Of course, more advanced worlds also traded digitally, with the Imperium providing guarantees of the value of such transactions as well as keeping an eye on any manipulations of the system.
Meanwhile, the Lex Imperialis was officially codified and Bra'tac was working overtime to establish Arbites precincts and the lesser local law enforcement officers. On the other hand, the gear he now used was far better than he ever had as a Jaffa.
Still, as much work as he had now, he was still better off than that old goat Pai Mei who was stuck beating the facts of life into the thick, hard skulls of new Space Marine initiates. Now that the Adeptus Astartes had sufficient numbers in power armor, it was decided to establish Scout squads to give the superhuman soldiers experience in fighting with and without armor.
Thinking on the toils of his old rival with the often stubborn and arrogant youngsters always brought a smile to his face. He had even discreetly acquired a couple of videos of these training sessions where the old Jaffa dealt with particularly difficult students.
Meanwhile, far away in a system outside Imperial borders, a pair of Avenger pilots were stuck on patrol in the buffer zone between them and Bastet's territory. While they didn't expect any trouble, the Avengers were there to ensure that nothing caught the Imperium by surprise.
"Anything on sensors Rak'nor?" The pilot of the second Avenger asked his leader.
"Nothing yet Jevar. We're going to check the fourth planet next as it contains the Stargate in this system then move on to the next step of our patrol." Rak'nor replied.
The two fighters banked and turned towards the planet in question and were soon orbiting above the site where the Stargate was located.
"Rak'nor, the Stargate just activated. My augur array is detecting human and Tau signatures." Jevar exclaimed.
"Deactivate the augur and plot a course for the edge of the system. We need to report this to sector command before the xeno scum realize we found them and escape." Rak'nor ordered and plotted a course away from the planet. Down below, the large group of Tau and their human allies from the SGC worked on establishing a base of operations, unaware that their veil of secrecy was broken.
An hour later, as one of the SG teams accompanying the Tau headed to the Stargate to check in, a flash of light indicating an Asgard transporter deposited a pair of Space Wolf Terminators before the gate but spaced in such a way that an activating gate couldn't harm them.
The leader of the team took one look at the obscenely big six-barreled gun one of them was pointing at them and the ominously sparking hammer with a head the size of his torso the other held at the ready, then at the Tau built lasgun clipped to his BDU's, and then slowly raised his hands in surrender.
"Smart move, traitor. Watch them until a Guard squad comes to secure them brother. I will advance to support our brothers against the xeno scum." The hammer wielding Terminator boomed and rushed forward towards the base, where gunfire, shouts and screams were growing at an alarming rate.
Barely a minute later, a squad of troopers arrived at the gate, and after a quick word to them, the other Terminator rushed off into battle as well.
"I can't believe we're stuck babysitting these traitors while the rest of the troops cleanse the xeno filth off this world. Think anyone will mind if we execute one of them?" One of the troopers complained.
"Stow that talk private. The Lord Astartes handed over four prisoners to us, and he'll find four prisoners when he comes back. Or would you rather explain to him how you disobeyed orders and why?" The squad sergeant snapped, making the loudmouth pale.
Meanwhile inside the camp, the Tau were facing a desperate battle. Finding themselves surrounded on all sides and cut off from the Stargate, they had no choice but to dig in and sell their lives dearly.
While the Space Wolves rushed in, using their superior armor and weaponry to counter the foul xenotech of the Tau, the Imperial Guard entrenched around the base, providing fire support to the superhuman Astartes.
The few Kroot squads present in the base found themselves pressed hard by two Assault Squads, supported by two Assault Terminators hefting massive Thunder Hammers, while the Tau Fireteams and Battle suits found themselves besieged by the rapid attack of the Tactical and Devastator Marines, bolstered by Terminators fielding heavy long-ranged weaponry.
Caught completely unprepared, the bulk of the Tau Fire Caste were scattered across the base, helping the Earth caste setup the complex, and several squads were killed before they even realized they were under attack. To their credit, they rallied quickly, but against fifty Space Wolves supported by a whole regiment of Imperial Guard, they were only prolonging the inevitable.
Still, the Shas'O was determined to at least fight his way to the Stargate to allow the Etheral he was protecting to escape, and his XV22 battlesuit was armed enough to contend even with the Space Marines assaulting his men.
"Follow me, noble Ethereal. We must reach the Stargate." The Shas'O contacted his leader over their coms, as the noise of battle made verbal communication practically impossible. Soon enough the Ethereal, escorted by a Fire team arrived and moved to follow him. His fusion blaster caught the Wolf barring his path in the side, burning a hole right through the armor, and while he wasn't certain even such a wound would kill the gue'la, it would at least keep him out of the battle. The rest of his men, realizing his intent, focused their fire on clearing them a path, taking out a few more of the Space Wolves, but just as the eight Tau reached the edge of the base they came under fire by two Guard heavy weapons teams, cutting down four of the six bodyguards in the surprise attack before the Shas'O forced them into cover with his burst cannon.
"Leaving so soon, xeno? And after all the trouble we went through to find you? That's rather rude of you." As the group rallied, they found their path barred by a single Wolf, and despite the numerical superiority the Shas'O knew he was facing no mere Space Marine, and that his chances to flee decreased drastically.
Captain Gunnar grinned as he stood against the Tau commander protecting their vile leader. His armor, power sword and inferno gun were all crafted by the Fabricator General herself, and blessed by the Ecclesiarch and Saint Faith so he knew that the xeno stood no chance of overcoming him. He doubted the vile alien weapons would even get past the blessed protections of his iron halo.
The Shas'O was well trained and skilled, and his suit's targeting system was top of the line, but Gunnar was better and more importantly faster. As the Shas'O raised his guns to attack, a single shot of the inferno gun took out the suit's fusion blaster before it could fire, and Gunnar's charge towards his opponent let only a few shots from the suit's burst cannon to smash against the protective conversion field of his iron halo before his power sword cut the barrel in half, rendering the weapon useless, and the Shas'O unarmed.
"I will give you one chance to surrender or watch me gut your precious Ethereal." Gunnar growled at the Shas'O, holding his sword at his neck and his gun pointed at the Ethereal.
Seeing no choice, the Shas'O was forced to accept and wait helplessly as the last of his fighting men were put down while the survivors were rounded up and transported to the orbiting ship. As he watched his men vanish in the flashes of teleportation, he realized they never stood a chance. The gue'la attack on his base was for sport and practice, not because they had to land troops.
Meanwhile, the Guardsmen were herding the survivors of the other two SG teams back to the gate. Two of their members were dead, one to a stray bolter shot that cut the man in two, and a woman who was killed by an overzealous private. One of them was also missing half his left arm, but a medic had already applied first aid to ensure that the man would be able to return to Earth.
"Addams you bastard. These people were your friends. How could you let this happen?" One of the SGC members recognized one of their former comrades among the Guardsmen, only to receive the butt of a lasgun in his face from the soldier next to him.
"You will address the colonel with the respect he is due, xeno-loving scum." The soldier spat.
"That's enough, corporal. All of you form up and signal the Valkyrie for pickup. We're done here." Colonel Addams snapped and with a salute, the Guardsmen moved off.
"Considering how much weapons fire was flying around, you're lucky more of you aren't dead." Addams commented.
"Why did you join the Imperium, Mark? You never were very religious." Another man spoke up.
"I joined because I agreed that they're the best chance humanity has for a better tomorrow. How many worlds have we saved from the Goa'uld only to just leave them, and if they're ever attacked again, we're usually too late for anything more than to count the dead. The Imperium does far more. We provide supplies, jobs and education to all citizens. And the Imperium rewards loyalty far better than Uncle Sam, that's for sure." Addams replied. "I don't have to worry about mortgages, loans or college funds for my kids, and the health benefits are far better than back on Earth."
"What kind of health benefits?" One of the women spoke up.
"They can fix anything that doesn't kill you immediately. Limb and organ replacement, life extension and so on. Their medical tech is super advanced. How do you think they make those Space Marines?" Addams grinned.
"My daughter is autistic. Can they cure her?" The woman's voice was barely a whisper.
"I can't make any promises, but I'd say there's a very good chance they can." Addams replied.
"If they cure her, I'll do anything they want me to. I'll bloody sing hymns to the Emperor every day if that's what it takes." The woman stood up, face scrunched up and tears welling in her eyes.
"Lucy, think about what you're doing." Her teammate grabbed her hand.
"No Matt. When the offer was made, I let Andrew convince me not to join, that there was a better way. But Andrew is dead now, and Abby is only getting worse. My daughter comes first." The woman stepped forward and stood before Addams. "I'm joining you."
"Welcome to the Imperium, Major. Anyone else? As it happens we're rather short on senior officers, and the benefits are significant." Addams was quick to seize the opportunity, and in the end, two more joined the group that boarded the waiting Valkyrie with Addams.
"I thought we weren't taking prisoners colonel." The captain aboard the Valkyrie asked his superior with a frown.
"They're not prisoners, captain. They are recruits. They have realized the lies of their superiors for what they are and have decided to join the true path of humanity." Addams informed the man.
"I see. Glad to have you aboard then. If you're even halfway competent as the colonel is, you'll be a great asset to the Imperial Guard." The captain gave them a smile and returned to his seat.
"The Imperials found us, general. I don't know how, but they found us and caught us with our pants down. They killed most of the Tau and Kroot and took the rest prisoner, including the Shas'O and Ethereal. And not to mention the SGC members that defected." The leader of SG-7 reported. "I wouldn't want to be in the Tau's shoes right about now."
"How the hell did they find that place? We scouted that place twice before we picked it. It was a ball of dirt in the middle of nowhere." Hammond exclaimed.
"We don't know. But sir, this attack practically wiped out the Fire caste that survived the crash of their ship. Luckily for us, the bulk of the Water and Earth caste are on Hebridan along with the few Air caste survivors. The loss of the Ethereal however will be devastating to them." Carter commented as SG-1 was called in the briefing as well. Seeing the savagery of the Imperials after all of their cooperation was a sobering experience. The battle site was more like the scene of a horror movie than a battlefield.
"What are we doing about the three defectors?" O'Neill asked with a frown. They thought they had removed all Imperial sympathizers from the staff, but it seemed not everyone was as dedicated to their new path as they thought. It wasn't a surprise considering the complaints about the Tau gear they were issued. Having been used to the reliable and robust Imperial equipment, the SG teams were not very excited to use the overengineered, fragile and often finicky weapons of the Tau. In fact, the most used weapon was the Tau replicated Imperial lasgun, despite the fact that Tau guns often had greater range and stopping power. Still, as one marine sergeant stated, 'you can't bash a Jaffa over the head with a pulse rifle and expect to fire it afterwards. Give me a lasgun over that fancy crap anyday.'
"Not much we can do. I've had people check on their homes, but their families have already been taken away. Say what you want about the Imperials, but they're not incompetent." Hammond sighed. "This is a huge tragedy not to mention a major setback in our plans. Teal'c, how are things with the Jaffa rebellion?"
"Not good I'm afraid. Ever since Bra'tac was appointed as Grand Provost Marshall, the Jaffa support towards the New Imperium has increased drastically. They see the appointment of one of our greatest and most respected masters as a sign of the trust the New Imperium has in the Jaffa, and they have dedicated themselves to proving worthy of this honor. Many have joined the ranks of the Adeptus Arbites while others have entered the service of the various military branches. I fear the rebellion has been all but absorbed in the Imperium." Teal'c replied. While he still believed that joining the Imperium was the right choice for the Jaffa, he personally could not just abandon the SGC as his personal honor and duty tied him to them with bonds that were not so easily broken.
While that meeting was taking place, Archmagos Novak was busy writing letters of thanks to the various people responsible for delivering her a good number of fresh subjects to examine. She was eager to learn all she could about the Tau, she was just sad she only had one Ethereal to play with, but she believed she could greatly stretch the time before the autopsy. Maybe a few clones of the xeno would allow her to fully explore all possible avenues of research. Humming a cheerful tune to herself, she turned around and began to cut open the first of her many new test subjects. One of the Earth-born techpriests passing by heard the familiar tune of 'Whistle while you work' coming from the biology lab, causing the man to shiver and rush away, giving thanks to the Omnissiah that he chose to pursue a more reasonable career like an Electro-priest now that he had the proper rank. The biologis were just crazy.
A few weeks later, on one of the Jaffa held worlds, the sentries watching the Stargate got a very surprising and unwelcome visitor. A single being, wearing black armor with shining blue eyes stepped out of the gate and immediately opened fire from the two guns mounted on his gauntlets. Similar to the Jaffa staff, only firing smaller plasma balls but at much greater rate, the Jaffa were quickly suppressed, and only the barricades and Guard tactics prevented more than the few exposed casualties as the strange warrior began his attack.
The Jaffa returned fire, but their weapons struck the familiar outline of a Goa'uld shield, causing many of them to curse as the armored warrior stepped forward to get behind their barricades.
"Curse this orak. We need heavy weapons over here or we'll be slaughtered." The commander of the barricades shouted.
"We were supposed to get heavy gear next week sir. All we have is an autocannon back at the barracks from the attack." One man shouted back.
"Damn it. Signal back, tell them to get it ready. We'll fall back and draw this damn orak to it. Hopefully before he kills us all." The last part was whispered, but it seemed like everyone heard it.
True to his grim prediction, of the thirty men guarding the gate, sixteen fell while their return fire hadn't even brought down the warrior's shields.
"Sir, the autocannon has been set just around that cliff. We just need to draw…" The vox operator was silenced mid word by several small plasma bolts that impacted his head.
Two more men fell before the armored warrior reached the ambush site, and whatever he was, he still paused as he stood before the twin-barreled autocannon that was just five meters before him, hidden by the cliff he just ran around. The gun crew didn't give him time to react, but opened fire as soon as they had a clear shot, bombarding the warrior with dozens of large caliber rounds in seconds. The shield managed to block the first few, but against such force it couldn't last, and the rounds impacted the armor, the first shots shattering the armor plate and punching through the mesh armor underneath and through the person within. Eventually, the gun was silenced, and the Jaffa stood with grim satisfaction at the fallen armored form, the gaping wound in its chest rapidly forming a pool of blood underneath it.