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Chapter 2: Enter the Lost Son
Buried under miles of rock in the gene vaults of the Emperor of Man, behind layers of warded adamantium lies the twenty capsules of the slumbering infant primarchs. The gods of death, intrigue, contagion, and hedonism conclude that His plan must not come to fruition. The threat to their power must be dealt with. They conjure warp storms of such magnitude that the Emperors wards part before the wave. A howling gust of tainted energy rips the capsules from their mountain nursery and cast them through the warp.
Eighteen beings of immense power were scattered throughout the universe destined to be found by their father as he forges an empire across the stars. Those beings will lead armies uncountable, conquer planets innumerable, and wage a war that nearly wiped out humanity. Two of these beings were never found. The Astrates were absorbed into the existing legions. Their past and traditions were hidden, their true identities largely forgotten, and glories that could have been attained are unknown.
The pod marked with thick black numerals, II, tumbles through the warp. The fury of Khorn washes over its warded metal, the pleasures of Slaanesh briefly haunt his dreams, the corruption of Nurgle does little to its enhanced form, and the shrill cackling sorcery of Tzeentch cast it further into the maelstrom. The warp is bridge across the stars through another reality in which all things are possible. The pod was casted through time, space, and reality as it ripped its way back into real space.
A lighting storm erupted in the atmosphere of a sparsely inhabited planet. The population though small, a few thousand, is fairly advanced. It is located in a vast sector of planets that are filled with those who have no other place to go; outlaws, slavers, exiles, and those who chafe under the yoke of the government. Life is hard on the planet. It is an inhospitable place, animals and storms claim as many lives as the numerous raids. This has bred a strong warrior people whose survival depends on each other and the quest for martial excellence. They are handicapped because while they have skills they lack the hardware, small arms can only do so much when you opponents has ships in orbit.
The falling object's entry was observed and a small scouting team was sent to find the object. As a small shuttle skims over the landscape the four people instead shift nervously wondering what they are going to find. Slowly they find signs of re-entry, furrows in the ground, bent and burned trees, and a long scare that stretches for miles in a straight line. The scouts consists of three new kids and their instructor an old former Alliance N7 operator. Nick shakes his head as the drop ship rattles in the thin mountain air. The Alliance was good to him, it gave him purpose and then it betrayed humanity by giving into aliens after the First Contact War. He was a boot marine fresh out of basic. Over the years he watched countless friends die fighting all kinds of xenos. The fighting Mindoir was the last straw, he ended his enlistment and left. The Council does nothing but limits humanity and the Alliance does nothing to protect their colonies so he somehow ended up on this rock, Matanuska.
Right now he is leading three new troopers. He can't call them troopers, kids is a more fitting description. Natasha, Tom, and Jack are his trainees, they are all fifteen. This planet forces its inhabitants to grow up fast or die. The one good thing Nick thinks before falling back to sleep is that this mission will be a milk run. A quick sneak and peak so they can head back to the Keep for a hot meal, his adoptive daughter, and some quality time with a friend in town.
This milk run will change as a batarian frigate slips in system. Though mainly looking for illegal salvage they are not above taking slaves. On the pirate vessel they start scanning the system and detect that Matanuska is filled with all kinds of resources as well as showing evidence of habitation, curious they move in for a closer look. Though the colony lacks orbital defensives that does not mean they are blind to the ship closing in on their home. Most of the colony's large settlements are located underground in the various mountain ranges safe from the hellish storms that periodically sweep the planet, only certain buildings are above ground; a large market place, parade grounds, extra housing, and a crude space port. The residents of the planet quickly bring the noncombatants into the catacombs in the dark depths of the Keep.
The Lord Castellan of the planet has all combat teams ready to repel invaders, their few makos and homemade nomad heavy tanks muster at key choke points, grenadier teams grab their heavy weapons and board their shuttles, and their few salvaged and homemade fighter-bombers are prep in the underground launch bays. All scout teams and outlying settlers are recalled to their respective fortress cities. All but Nick and his team, they are in a radio dead zone because of the nearby volcanoes and an exposed eezo vain. Unwilling to break stealth and use the powerful repeating satellites the Castellan must risk Nick's life in order to preserve the rest of the colony.
The batarian captain, a young officer in the Hegemony's armed forces, paces the command deck waiting for the next set of scans to be complete. Kor-Vesh is impatient, this is his first command and he wants more; power, influence, and prestige. The tried and true way to gain these in the Batarian military is through assassination, ass-kissing, and slaving. He is too proud to some old admiral's whipping boy and not well connected enough to survive any reprisals so that just leaves slaving. Hopeful the planet below will have a decent number of slaves just waiting to be gathered. His sensor operator calls him over, "Sir the sensors have detected several settlements but very little in the way of life signs. The only heat signature I found is a small shuttle located here at grid coordinates 2A by 36 Zulu."
Snarling Kor-Vesh has his dreams of a hold full of wealth and promotion slip away. Striding to the center of the bridge he begins, "Very Well have the ship slowly de-orbit, we land at the settlement closest to the shuttle contact. While most of you will be looting the settlement I will take a small team to capture those fools so we can get a better picture of what is on this planet." With his orders finished he resumes his pacing as ship enters the atmosphere of Matanuska.
The Castellan watches as the frigate slowly enters the Keep's air defense zone, the ships scanners working hard to overcoming their electronic countermeasures. His mind is racing, if that ship lands then it is as good as ours. Calling out to his operations officer, "I want our best maintained stealth shuttles loaded up with the 8th Regiment's Grenadiers. If that slaver lands they are take the ship by any means necessary regardless of the cost."
An hour later he got his wish, the frigate landed and deploy around sixty heavily armed batarian mercenaries to secure the Courtyard. The Castellan also notices that a shuttle has left the ship heading toward the impact sight that Nick and his team should be arriving at. Shaking his head he continues to his prepare his men for battle and waits for the batarians to walk into their own grave. The mercenaries move through the small town, a handful move to the taller buildings to set up snipers nests and a machine gun post to provide overwatch. The rest eagerly though cautiously move to the collection of houses. Boots slam against doors with a resounding thud as the batarians rush to find the best loot. They are soon disappointed as each house is as empty as the void. As the frustration mounts the Grenadiers move into position along with the 8th Regiment, the Dragoons. The Dragoons are elite mechanized infantry, their job is clear the town and provide cover for the bordering action.
The carefully planned sweep and destroy mission hits a huge snag as the batarians find a small group of teenagers that were unable to reach the Keeps underground network. Though the group is scared when roughly dragged out of their hole, they defiantly stare back at their would-be tormentors. Laughing the leader of the band grabs one of the females of the group, "This one is mine. Anyone who tries to interfere is going to die. Understand." The rest of his men nod in quiet understanding, they have all seen him make good on that promise. As he starts to drag the girl into one of the nearest buildings a young man leaps up trying to stop him. He is rewarded with a rifle butt to the face. As he is sprawled out in the dirt the same batarian looms over his prone form. Snarling he kicks the brave kid a few times and then cocks his pistol, "I warned you what would happen if you interfere." A single round is fired, crack thud, the kid's head explodes. Still laughing the batarian turns to the scared girl with an evil grin. "Now," he begins as he kicks open a door pushing her inside, "We are going to have
some fun."
Major Andrews is watching the scene unfold through the video link from his sniper. "Damn," he mutters under his breath. He hits the driver of his mako on the back of head, "Driver how close can you without being detected?" As he waits for the reply he turns to his squad in the back, "We are going to be the first in and last out men. Primary objective is support the Grenadiers but the mission parameters have shifted. We are going to rescue those kids and kill of their chain of command in one fell swoop. Remember we must always protect our own."
As the men respond with their battle cries, the driver clicks the intercom, "Sir I can go no further without being detected. Right now I am in a prefect overwatch position to assist the Grenadiers. You guys got to go on foot from here, sir." Andrews's nods and heads to the side hatches. The driver opens them and the squad piles out and moves into cover. Sealing the hatches the driver accesses a secure data link to tell the Grenadiers to prepare the assault early.
The batarian frigate is a boxy warship around a two hundred and ten meters in length with sloped frontal armor, two heavy mass accelerators, a heavy guardian laser suite, and six broadside mass accelerators line each flank, and numerous airlocks to allow the rapid transshipment of slaves. The hangar is an underslung curved structure located in the rear third of ship just in front of the engine block. The stealth shuttles are hovering a hundred meters above the ship in the thick cloud cover, the sixteen grenadiers ready their weapons and double check the rappelling gear. One by one they signal that they are ready. Now they are just waiting for the shooting to start.
As the rest of the dragoons move into their bombardment and assault positions, Andrews and his command squad are closing in on the batarian leader and his body guards. As they approach they here the harsh laughter and screams from the upcoming plaza. Andrews turns towards Sgt. Tyler, "Take overwatch where you see fit. Once you're set up click the comm. You open fire and we attack." The man does not respond only disappears in an electric shimmer. Turning to the rest of the squad, "We do this hard and fast. I will take this house, highlighting the occupied building. The rest of you spread out, once Tyler fires rush them and keep up a rolling barrage. Understand." The squad splits and takes up their fighting positions.
The batarians oblivious to their impending death continue to enjoy their captives. One of the xenos is a large brute, he is forcing the male captives to fight him. While a group of his buddies laugh at the broken bodies of several teenagers. In between the bouts the batarians drink and taunt the humans with promises of far worse. A few bodies litter the ground, two were killed by gunfire the other was beaten to death by the brute. From the buildings intermittent screams can be heard as the mercenaries take turns with the captive women. With cold precision Tyler sights in on the brute and slows his heart beat in preparation to fire.
Andrews slips into the window of the building of the mercenary's lieutenant and silently moves down the corridor. The building is quiet no yelling or screaming. As he makes it half way to the door out into the plaza Andrews hears a hissing sound. One meter in front of him a side panel opens reveling the lieutenant. They see each other at the same time. The batarian goes for his gun as well as cocking his head to yell to his team mates outside. He never gets the chance. Lunging forward Andrews ignites his omni-blade and plunges into the xenos chest. Shock, fiery pain, and then a creeping coldness as the life drains from his body. With a grunt the Lieutenant slumps and falls creating a small pool of blood. Slowly Andrews moves into the recently vacated room. No stranger to the horrors of combat but the sight that greets him cause Andrews to heave violently. The girl or what's left of her is on the bed. Her neck has been severed as almost an afterthought. Numerous cuts cover her body, her most sensitive areas have been sliced into thin layers. Her face is a mass of blood, bruises, and is staring at the ceiling with empty eye sockets. Despite this she is still recognizable, it is Nick's daughter. Andrews plucks a thermal grenade from his belt and throws in the room. He shuffles out as the flames consume her body.
As he is moving to the plaza, Tyler opens fire. A hypersonic whoosh followed by a crack splash as the brute's head is reduced to pulp and his brains are scattered across the pavement. The Dragoons leapt from cover their Argus assault rifles flashing in synchronized bursts as they close the distance quickly. The batarians taken by surprise try to return fire however half their number are shredded by rifle fire and left to die in red pools as the survivors scatter. As the Dragoons race to catch up with the fleeing aliens, Tyler's black widow cracks twice more, two bodies fall to the ground in four pieces. The heavy round ripped their torso apart in a spray of blood. As the batarians try to save their lives they take a blind turn at the end of the plaza and step right in front of the squad's heavy machine gunner, who opens fire with a Revenant LMG. A harsh buzz is heard along with the screams of the dying batarians. This fire fight has triggered the rest of the dragoons to assault the town and the Grenadiers to take the ship.
The nomad heavy tanks in key overwatch sights open fire, their heavy guns rip right through the thin armored APCs of the batarians. They retreat quickly into the cliffs as the frigate returns fire with her guardian lasers. Rudy red beams slam into the rock face with a thunderous roar. All but one tank escapes, the unfortunate vehicle is reduced to a puddle of molten burning metal. The wounds gouged out of the cliff causes small landslides that crave through sections of the town, crushing anyone in their path. Makos dart through the confusion, dropping their troop's right in front of the shocked mercenaries. Their heavy cannons wipe out enemy heavy weapons as the Argus armed dragoons mop up any infantry that survived the initial attack. The batarians are cut off from each other and are getting picked off one by one as the dragoons slash through their ranks with lethal speed and accuracy.
As the battle for the Courtyard rages the shuttles containing the grenadiers descend and hover thirty meters above the frigate. As one the hatches slide open and the heavily armed and armored grenadiers jump out of their transports. The mass effect fields built into their hybrid Terminus/Cerberus assault armor flares encasing each trooper in a dull grey glow as they slow to a gentle landing. The magnets in their boots clamp them to the outer hull. The shuttles pulse their drives and head back to the Keep for their combat load of griffins, airborne shock troops.
The grenadiers split into two squads, one heads toward the front of the ship while the other group shoots spikes into the hull. Ropes are thrown over the side and they fast rope to the ground. The handful of guards on the ground are greeted with a hail of Falcon grenade fire. The primary weapon of the grenadiers are backpack fed M-37 Falcon grenade assault rifles. The mercs are blown to pieces as the 25mm projectiles explode in a shower of razor sharp metal and flames.
The teams move to their breach points and affix heavy plasma charges to the hull. With a wave of blue flame a dozen holes were burned into the vessel. The grenadiers rush in behind the pillars of fire, their falcons creating a wall of death as they go. The hangar bay was cleared in ten seconds as they move past the unrecognizable corpses in search of engineering.
The team on the upper hull jumps into their breaches and enter the slave pens. Most of the people in there are dead, caused by the breaching charge sucking all the air from the compartment. All of them show distinct signs of torture, abuse, and malnourishment. Ignoring the pitiful scene all around the soldiers push forward to the bridge ready to kill any in their path. The two teams move like a raging fire all resistance is swiftly burned from their path in a storm of grenades. They quickly reach their objectives and stop the xenos from destroying the ship. The bridge assault team leader in the process of securing their objective entered a duel with a black clad agent of the Hegemonies' secret police. Activating his omni-sword, a longer wider blade, he ducked under the agents decapitating strike and sliced the alien from groin to neck. Leaving the bisected corpse the team moved on without pause or reflection.
As the forces of the Keep fight to retake the Courtyard Nick's shuttle has just reached their drop zone. As they enter the broken foothills they have no idea about the batarian shuttle five minutes behind them. They got a few hundred meters inside the fire blasted forest when they heard heavy weapons fire and saw their shuttle trailing smoke as it tries to climb into the clouds. It never made it, another salvo of cannon fire slams into the twisted hull of the Kodiak it explodes in midair. The surrounding forest is pelted with flaming wreckage.
As the rest of the kids start to panic time slows for Nick, his adrenaline glands slam into overtime as the memories of combat stir. Shouting over the team comm, "Follow me," as he breaks into a run, "We need to get into cover and begin threat assessment." His sharp orders snap the kids out of their stupor. At a full sprint they head deeper into the wilds. In the other shuttle Kor-Vesh is laughing as the pilot puts the craft into a lazy turn. The thrusters flare once as he lands the ship and opens the side hatch. As Kor-Vesh and his body guards secure the LZ, he tries to radio the frigate. Nothing but static is heard. This is a combination of jamming and local disturbance, only powerful satellite relays can burn through the charged atmosphere on this part of Matanuska.
Finding a small knoll in the trees, Nick gathers his team. "Look we are cut off with no support. If these assholes are here that means a ship in orbit. The Keep won't be risking more lives just for us. So we have to stay alive and finish our mission and then wait until whoever they are leave. Keep your heads in the game and we will make it out of this, understand." The kids nod nervously, this is their first actual mission and already it has gone to hell. Nick deep down despite his reassuring words knows that not everyone is making home, he just has to ensure that the mission is completed.
Kor-Vesh leaves his shuttle and advances into the shuttle, he and his men quickly notice the signs of re-entry. "Hmm it looks like a beacon or drone went down here. This can get us some good salvage or mining data." He tells his men, dreams of wealth and promotion quickly resurface in his head. It becomes a race to the mysterious object. Nick pushes his squad hard. The terrain is rough but that means nothing to the N7 operative, he knows that the only chance his squad has against these mercenaries is to set up an ambush. The batarians also are pushing hard through the terrain but with more caution, they know that another shuttle was shot down so the chance of ambush is present.
As the kids are reaching their breaking point the pod comes into view, shouts of joy are quickly silenced as Nick has the team disperse into ambush points. He is going to be close to the pod, Natasha the sniper has found a clump of burned trees and scorched rock to hide in, Tom has an overhang to set up his modified Revenant, and Jack finds a clump of trees to hide nervously sights down his Vindicator. The waiting begins… one minute passes… five minutes… seven… snapping twigs and the subtle whine of power armor. The humans tense on their triggers. Discipline will be key, shoot to early and you only get part of the target. Too late and the enemy could have spotted their position and can return fire effectively. Kor-Vesh though young is not stupid. A survivor of the Skyllian Blitz and dozens of slaver raids he has some of his squad advance straight to the pod while the rest approach at an oblique angle.
The three batarians move into the ambush zone slowly, Nick's combat senses are going haywire, he suspects a trap. Before he can warn the rest of his team Jack opens fire. His first burst was a reflex shot and misses, his second and third slammed right into one of the mercenary's chest. The shield breaks and the hypervelocity grains of sand tear into the exposed armor and rips through the alien's spine. The merc drops hard and fires a long burst as a final reflex the explosive ammo hits the surrounding trees covering the area in a shower of wooden shards. The other mercs return fire and dive into cover, Kor-Vesh hits the ambush site from the flank waiting for Jack to peek out of cover. He gets his opportunity seconds later, as a break in the deliver white flashes gives Jack a firing opportunity. Leaning out of the tree he opens fire, and is hit by a biotic lift. Kor-Vesh growls in delight as his form is covered in dark energy and he releases a powerful warp. It hits a helpless Jack causing a powerful explosion that tore him in half. He died screaming in agony. The rest of the batarians move up closer to the pod, they enter the fields of fire from the rest of Nick's squad.
The Revenant opens fire with a swishing staccato a pair of batarians are caught in the hailstorm and are shredded. His bipod and modified heat sinks provide more accurate fire for longer periods. Tom is alternating between cursing and praying as he relies on his limited training on the LMG to keep a wall of fire going down range. Natasha is watching for the opportune moment to open fire, the youngest one of the groups she is a born natural with the sniper rifle. She sees one the batarians readying a grenade, she opens fire with her Mantis. The heavy slug hits the merc in his shoulder breaking the bone and causing him to drop the grenade. Kor-Vesh seeing this bioticly pushes the injured merc onto the grenade, he killed as the inferno grenade exploded covering him in burning pieces of metal. Shouting at his two body guards they fire a pair of concussion rounds at the hidden sniper. The heavy impacts broke her ribs and fractured her spine as the rocks she was hiding under collapsed. In the midst of the fire fight no one could reach her, she dies slowly as her lungs fill with blood.
Breaking cover Jake charges the firing position of the enemies that killed Natasha, in a wave of fury he cuts them down with a fusillade from his piranha shotgun. Once his he flushed the battle rage from his he collapses in a semi-conscious state. Kor-Vesh laughs as he walks up to the prone kid, drawing his pistol he takes careful aim and prepares to fire. An electric buzz is heard behind him and an orange blade erupts from his gut. Gasping he feels his body burn. As the blade is twisted he screams in wordless agony. Nick withdraws the blade and watches as Kor-Vesh falls face first into the ground. He grimly goes about collecting Jacks and Natasha's remains, calls for evacuation as the Castellan radios for status update, with that done he inspects the pod. Its surface is fire blackened by Nick can barely make out the II makings above the lid. He push's on what looks like an external display, the pod hisses open in response revealing a baby boy of utter perfection. He can't leave the kid so he wraps it in a field blanket and waits in stony silence for the shuttle. Tom wakes just as the shuttle lands, in silence they grab their squad mate's bodies, their gear, and board the ship for the ride back.
Nick and Tom are filled in on the attack as they are flown back to the Keep. Despite the widespread damage to the Courtyard the Castellan is the proud owner of a new frigate. He greets Nick personally on their arrival. Nick begins to debrief the Lord Castellan on his mission. Before he can start the Castellan informs him about his daughter. Nick's mask shatters and he breaks down sobbing. It takes a few minutes to compose himself, "Sir I would like to adopt this child them. I know that Rachel would not want me to turn into a robot and this little guy gives me a second chance to be a father. To give something good to this hellhole."
The Castellan agrees, "Sure Knight-Commander. The kid is yours. You also have a month's leave to sort your head out. Also Kara is still alive and has been asking for you." That news brought a weak smile to Nick's cold features. Continuing the Castellan asks, "What are you going to name the kid so I can enter him in the rolls?"
The weather during this whole event are one of the many winds storms that sweep across the planet. The slate grey skies, punishing rain, and howling wind mirrors Nick internal turmoil. Staring out into the storm he does not reply right away, "I don't know yet. Give me a few hours then I will tell you." He takes the child to his quarters in the Keep. Once ensuring his safety he steps out onto the balcony and into the storm. He is an old soldier who has seen so much pointless death over the years. He has lost so much of his humanity his very soul until arriving on Matanuska meeting Rachel and Kara. Now Rachel is gone his trainees are dead. Kids whose lives were entrusted to him and he failed them. How easy it would be to simply walk off the edge and end it. Mentally scowling at his weakness and cowardice. Nick is many things but a coward is not one of them and besides Rachel would not want this for him.
Feeling better he steps inside to the sight of a smiling wriggling child looking around with bright eyes filled with curiosity. Looking at the kid Nick smiles, "Before I left earth and enlisted I enjoyed reading about mythology and there was God who was associated with the power of the sky, war, and protection. You embody this qualities to me. I found you amidst a battle on a planet were the sky rages with fury and you, little one, have given me a reason to want to live. I am going to name after this deity. Horus, your name is now Horus."
Authors Note: It took me about half a day to figure out the name for my missing Primarch of the Second Legion. I settled on Horus for three reasons; A twisted Joke, the actual god's domain of kingship, war, the sky, and protection and I could not find a better Norse or Greek deity.