They are My Defenders of Humanity
ME:1/ME2 Bridge
Chapter 6
Looking upon the holographic representation of the Terminus System Horus contemplates how he will conquer them. The Quarians need an additional year to full integrate with the Mechanics. As of right now his only forge system is running at thirty five percent capacity. Tyr however has given him a recent report about an idea to combine the warp drive capability of the Asgardia with the FTL of the local vessels. This will create a hybrid drive that can travel great distances and use existing star charts to navigate. Though slower than traditional warp travel it won't need to use astropaths or psychic beacons to work. More importantly it will allow his fleets to bypass the relays.
His adepts have broken the Terminus System into twenty sectors. Sectors 1-5 border Citadel Space, Sectors 6-10 are the next ring heading toward Tempestus, 11-16 the next ring that also boarders the Perseus Veil, and 17-20 boarders the Hegemony and Tempestus. Each Sector however is massive containing around eighty planets/habitable systems. That leaves him and his soldiers to conquer around two hundred and forty systems plus or minus twenty systems.
He needs more men and ships. Thankfully the Terminus, soon to be renamed Segmentum Obscurus, does not have a unified military or command structure. They are individual planets and powers divided and alone. They rely on large Mercenary bands to protect them. The Inquisition can go far to recruit or destroy these mercenary bands. Horus has the necessary orders sent and has his armies readied to attack Sector 20:Sub-Sector 1A. It is a collection of ten planets closest to his territory.
One Month Later
The handful of warships and armed merchants in orbit of half of the sub-sectors planets are smashed aside with ease as his strike cruiser and escorts race through the system. The pitiful macro-cannons of the orbiting vessels simple bounce off the void shields in a multi-coloured flash of eldritch energy. With stately precision and pose the Imperial vessels return fire. The armed merchants disintegrate under the heavy guns. The warships are turned into massive clouds of twisted shrapnel and ruptured hulls. This scene is replaying itself above the surface of nine more sparsely populated and defended worlds. Fear and intimidation are far more powerful weapons for the Imperium than any bolter, space marine, or battleship. Fear of total annihilation to those who resist.
The planet that has drawn the attention of the Primarch and his sons is what the Inquisition has deemed the lord planet of the sector. Developed, with a decent size population and defenses means this planet is too important to simply atomize from orbit. Instead as the skies above this unnamed world blacken with the dark clouds of war. The beings below anticipate the skies to pour fire and death in a merciless downpour, what happens is far different as the heavens unleash a torrent of steel rain.
As the main invasion forces land some fifty miles outside the primary population centers the capital and primary bases are hit with the cutting edge of the spear-tip. Massive drop-pods charred and glowing from re-entry slam into the ground with earth shaking force. Clouds of dust and debris swirl in the artificial cyclones as the air is torn asunder. The hatches slammed open, propelled by explosive bolts and unleash His Angles of Death onto the battlefield.
Five man strong squads rush into the gathering crowds, bolters cracking through the air as the high pitched thumping of the mass accelerators answer in reply. The sand grain size bullets ping off the storm-blue power of the II Legion as the post-human juggernauts move with unmatched speed and grace. Whole squads of defenders are cut down, leaving behind torn and bloodied bodies, victims of exploding bolts. It takes mere minutes for the Space Marines to secure their drop zones and begin to fan out into the cities and defensive bastions protecting it.
A series of broken plains and ridges guard the capital of the planet and it is up to the armored infantry and tanks of the 6th Battalion, 328th Division of the 501st Regiment of the Imperial Guard to break through the defensive lines. The large landing barges enter the atmosphere under heavy fire. The sky blackens as heavy anti-air guns and missile batteries try to knock out the massive cathedral-like landing craft. Most of the Triple A batteries are wiped with timely high altitude bombing runs from circling Marauders. The ground is pitted and cracked where the heavy bombs struck.
Several new clusters, previously hidden open fire. Renewing the intense barrage of hyper-accelerated metal. The thick armoured landing craft plough straight through the fire. Inside the hardened Cadian, strapped into their crash harnesses, weather the storm in grim silence as dull thumps reverberate throughout the ship like the ringing of church bells. The small number of auto-cannons and heavy bolters try vainly to suppress the hidden and protected guns.
KAAABOOOOOM! A huge explosion rents the air as one of the Landers is hit by the golden bb, a lucky salvo of rounds punched through its thick hide. The APHEI rounds hit the vessel's power plant turning the ship and all aboard into burnt ash and twisted metal to fall like a like rain unto the still green fields below.
The following shock-wave tosses the others ships in the formation like leaves in a cyclone. Pilots grunt and strain as they wrestle the large ungainly craft back into a semblance of controlled flight. Their desperate actions are matched by the fevered prayers of the soldiers trapped in the belly of these aerial coffins.
As the gunners below celebrate their kill the air becomes heavy, charged with static electricity. With a resounding crack, a flash of white intense light, and the smell of ozone pairs of what looks like heavy mechs appear near the various anti-air emplacements.
The defenders stunned by the teleport attack are helpless as the Terminators go from being statutes to avatars of death. Their wrist mounted storm-bolters unleash a withering salvo of heavy rocket propelled bullets into the defending soldiers. With fluid grace they charge into the trenches and earthworks protecting the sites power-fist and thunder hammer poised and ready. Bodies are smashed and pulped, staining the blue armor a dark red. The smell of burned flesh and blood fill the air. A biotic glows blue as it unleashes a powerful shock-wave at one of the space marines. It dodges the pulse of dark energy and rams its power-fist through the unfortunate soldier body leaving a blood crater in the trench wall, others seeing this loss hope and flee screaming. Only to be cut down by the rapid fire bolter wielded with grisly precision.
A pair of Mako light tanks rush to one of the gun sites only to see the utter carnage unleashed moments before. A rapid high pitched whine cuts through the din of war as a stream of bullets erupts from the smoked choked ground. The barriers of the left IFV flash as the dense round slam mercilessly into the armored vehicle. The turrets on the light tanks swivel tracking their assailant, as one they fire a pair of 155mm rail gun rounds down range. The hypersonic shells cut through the dust and smoke, sending it swirling away as the plasma sheathed metal travel at over five times the speed of sound.
The tank crews catch a glimpse of one of the Terminators as it dodges the bullets. The red eyes of its helm glow dangerously in the fractured light. The stream of bullets does not stop. The bullets do not miss. With a crack the barriers of one of the tanks is shattered and the hull shredded by the assault cannon equipped Terminator. The tank morphed into a twisted burned out hulk, lifeless and empty.
A roar comes from the right as the other Terminator leaps into the air aiming for the other Mako. Its thunder hammer held above its head ready to smash the armored vehicle into scrap with a single blow. The Mako seeing the danger opens fire with both of its guns. The single crack overpowers the burrrrring of the machine gun. The light rounds ping off the tactical dreadnaught armor leaving no trace. The 155mm round slams into the Astartes, knocking him from the air. The tank crew expresses a cry of relief, just before the gunner is reduced to a bloody fountain. The thunder hammer sticking through the top of the IFV. With a blood chilling roar, the hammer is withdrawn and swung down again, again, and with a final blow the IFV is crushed into two pieces. The Terminators wipe out the guns and missile and wait for extraction from the inbound Valkyries.
With the air defenses suppressed, the Landers proceed to the designated landing zones. They continue downward into the lower atmosphere. Interceptors orbiting on the other side of the planet race to attack the vanguard of the invasion. A squadron of Thunderbolt heavy fighters backed up by a pair of Lightning interceptor squadrons dive into the swarm of Mantis gunships and Archer interceptors.
Missiles are launched BVR at the command of Iris, a Marauder bomber outfitted to be a forward air control and warning system. The defending aircraft break formation as chaff and flares twist in the disrupted air. The forty Thunderbolts unleash a pair of missiles each and are joined by the one hundred twenty launched by the two vengeance squadrons. Half the defenders are wiped from the sky, turned into a cloud of oily lingering smoke that marks their passing. As the defenders try to regroup another salvo of missile, smaller only eighty strong hit the enemy aircraft. This unsuspected and undetected second strike kills another fifty Mantis Gunships.
This leaves eighty imperial fighters to deal with a hundred and sixty remaining enemy aircraft. Both sides firewall their throttles as they close to visual range. The Lightings streak above and below the slower and heavier Thunderbolts as Iris flicks a switch and drowns the airspace in brute force jamming. The auspex arrays can easily see through it, it was built with fighting primitives in mind. Heart beats latter both sides open fire. Red laser beams crisscross the sky thick with incandescent blue-white mass accelerator rounds.
The Thunderbolts thick armor fend off this onslaught with some difficulty while the lighter Lightnings are soft kill-able targets for the Archer interceptors. The mass effect ships however rely heavily on their barriers while dog-fighting and the Imperium knowing this have replaced the auto-cannons with multi-lasers and las-cannons. The powerful energy weapons cleave and burn through the thin armor as the planes twist and turn in the skies above the planet. A massive ball of contras, smoke, and screeching metal forms as the pilots enter a close quarters dogfight. The Landers make to their assigned LZs with no further loss.
As the Landers unload their deadly cargoes, high above the planet's atmosphere in geosynchronous orbit sits the Strike-Cruiser Fury of the Night and the leader of the invasion watches the various battles unfold on a massive holographic display. Aides and crew members carry out their task under the unwavering gaze of their leader and son of the Emperor. Horus himself has come to see the planet captured. It is by his vision that the galaxy will be remade, one bloody battle after another until all have been converted or conquered.
The first of three armored columns are approaching the defender's first defensive line. The line, a collection of bunkers, trenches, guns, and dug in armor, is already fighting it out against a battalion of airborne drop-troopers. The light infantry are assaulting the base of the ridge line hoping to suppress the anti-armor weapons of the defenders. The light tanks and IFVs enter the battle space ahead of the medium and heavy tanks of the Guard and rush to the aid of the embattled infantry. The Lancer light tanks open fire with a single mass effect enhanced auto-cannon. The new gun fires a three round burst of heavy high explosive shells that far exceed the power of the Mako's 155mm main gun. Several light bunkers and machine gun nests are eviscerated by imperial rounds. This gap in fire allows for two squads of chimera to rush into the enemy trench works and disgorge a battle-hardened company of 150 Cadians straight down the throats of the enemy.
The shrill whine of the multi-lasers are drowned out by the screams of the dying and the battle cries of the assaulting shock troopers. The mud floors is churned under the steel soled boots as the whine of las and mass accelerator fire whip down the trenches. The lightly armoured hardsuits provide no protection to the superheated beams while the medium and heavy versions merely boil the wearer as they die screaming. The humble lasgun in this universe is a true tool of war instead of a glorified flashlight.
Without the new shields the guardsmen would be in a similar situation to the soldiers they are slaughtering as normal flak armour cannot stand up to the high speed grain of sand sized projectiles. Their training however more than compensates for this weakness. The defenders stand out in the open relying on shields to protect them while the guardsmen hug any available cover to increase their odds of survival.
As the infantry plays their deadly game of tag the armored spearhead rolls into the prairie before the ridge. The heavy guns open fire, the massive multi-kilogram slugs roar down range into the thick armored hides of the Leman Russ MBTs. The rounds bounce off with a clang. The Russ tanks crawl forward, their turret mounted battle cannons swivel as the gunners dial in their targets. In a flash of a sheet of flame obscures the tank line as the massive shells scream downward. Bunkers, dirt, men, and machines go flying. The tank crews open the throttle, pop smoke, and rush to hide behind any solid cover they could find.
The second salvo of AT fire crashes into the ground, rocking the towering Leman Russ tanks. They dart out of cover and return fire, killing more targets. As the two sides heavy hitters duel, a large squadron of Hell Hounds, War Hounds, and bane wolves, are led by a pair of Predator tanks around the main line and up the left face of the ridge. The thick foliage is melted away by a salvo of the bane wolves chemical cannon. Plants, animals, and even people are reduced to a withered paste by the alchemic mixture of the chem shells. The heavy bolters and flamers suppress the trenches with fury, rocket teams are immolated as they are turned into short-lived torches.
A group of four Mako IFVs counter-charge the attacking imperial tanks. The lead War Hound commander shouts into his vox bead, "Target 4 light tanks, 10 O'clock and closing. Load APHE, set for three round burst on lead tank."
"Six rounds APHE loaded!" shouts the loader.
"On target!" yells the gunner
"Send it." Orders the tank commander.
"Firing." Replies the gunner. The twin mass accelerator assisted auto-cannons open fire with a rapid fire barrage. The six rounds of armour piercing high explosive shells race out of the barrel with a staccato thumping. The shells stich a line across the front of the Mako, knocking out its barriers and penetrating deep into its small hull. A loud boom is swallowed up by the rest of the War Hounds opening fire. Two more Mako's die as the War Hound gunners relay their success to their tank commanders.
The last Mako swerved wildly, the six round burst missing by mere feet. The light tank returns fire. With a crack a plasma coated 155mm round is sent howling into the vulnerable rear of a Hell Hound. The imperial light tank is turned into a localized firestorm as its promethium fuel tanks were hit and ignited. The Mako's success was short lived as the twin-linked las-cannons on one of the marine Predator's speared the light tank with a killing blow; hitting and destroying its mass effect core. The light tank disappears in a white flash. The imperial column moves along the reverse slope, leaving the twisted blackened remains of the defenders behind them as they wiped out the first of three defensive lines.
As the Space Marines wipe out the capitols defenses a scout-marine planted a homing beacon near the main military command center. A few seconds later and several more pods hit the area. Turrets and other defensive guns open fire. The bullets ping off the thick metal doors. The charges blow, and another tactical squad charges the entrance. A pair of plasma armed marines melt the heavy guns as bolter fired kraken rounds deal with the other turrets. A melts-charge is placed on the door, with a flash hiss, the three meter thick ablative armored door is turned into a superheated puddle. The ten Marines race into the breach, with super human grace and reflexes they open fire. The shocked guards are cut down before the light clears from their eyes.
"Milord, we have found the hiding place of the planet's leader and have achieved teleport lock. Your guard awaits you in the teleporturim."
"Very well. Begin bombardment of secondary and tertiary targets in order to prepare the planet for compliance. I will be accepting their surrender momentarily." Replies to Horus. The Demi-god turns and leaves the (). Taking his place on the raised dais, his command squad bows in his presence. Words are not required as the tech adepts power up the teleported and send its users through the warp in a flash.
On the planet's surface, amid the chaos of war, another sun flares briefly as the Warmaster and his command squad arrive before a nondescript building scared with shrapnel and fire. The remains of a dozen heavily armed and armored soldiers litter the ground, obvious victims of a punisher cannon strafing run. The post-humans tense and turn as a scout marine emerges. "Your grace," the young battle-brother greets his sire, "According to signal and vox traffic coming from this area I believe that this is a hidden entrance to a bunker complex."
"You have done well my son. Now return to your mission scout-marine. We will deal with this rodent problem." Horus then orders over the vox's command circuit, "Any Astartes that have completed their primary and secondary objectives are intact search and destroy missions throughout the city in order to find any underground tunnel complexes. Hostiles are to be killed, civilians subdued." With a click the vox falls silent.
Eighty marines immediately move to carry their new orders, others wait for the inbound Valkyries bearing relief and reinforcements to hold the critical parts of the city. The invasion is coming closer to its conclusion.
As the Space Marines are cleansing the capital city the spearhead has reached the last defensive line, an open plain before the city. This verdant grassland is perfect tank country, little to no elevation or cover. Prefect for the heavy tanks of the Guard. As the two forces close to battle-range the guard tanks shift formation, wyren and hydra in the middle covered by a layer of medium tanks and an outer layer of Leman Russ's. The Lancers and Chimeras trail the battle-boxes at a safe distance.
The defenders consist of dug in AT guns, artillery, and groups of heavy and light tanks arrayed around a series of trenches. Just before the Imperial Guard vehicles enter the kill-zone, hellish screaming breaks the silence. In the air above the battlefield dozens of contrails are craved in the once clear sky. A massive salvo of manticore launched storm-eagle missiles rain down into the trenches. A dozen flak guns open fire trying to knock out the missile strike, they get off a dozen rounds before a basilisk artillery unit flatten the gun sites. Half of the missiles release their cargo of heavy vapor. The gas fills the trenches, the soldiers laugh as their hard-suits are vacuum sealed, gas can't harm them. A third of the remaining missiles dive into the mist filled ground, a firestorm erupts. Sheets of flame erupt as the missiles ignite the promethium fuel. The trenches are filled with burning bodies. As the mobile units try to flee the last set of missile dive causing more damage. The trench network is shattered.
The tanks move forward, battle-cannons bellowing as the enemy Makos and Goliaths break cover. The mass effect rounds are completely over-matched by the Russ's heavy shells. The boxes break into a wide screen as the Imperium over runs the enemy lines. Wyrens and Basilisks suppress any survivors of the inferno as the second wave approaches.
Twenty Goliath tanks try to counter attack, hitting the flanks of the Imperial formation. The side mounted las-cannons stab outward as the War Hounds and Devil Dogs move to intercept. The enhanced auto-cannons of the War Hounds find the heavy armor and shields of the Goliaths much harder to break. It takes sustained fire to kill the heavy tanks.
Seeing this the War Hounds rush forward hoping to hit the weaker rear armor of the Goliaths. As the two sides clash several tanks explode as their fire punches through their armored hides. Five Hounds are lost to three Goliaths. Those losses are quickly made up as the Melta armed Devil Dogs unleash their beam cannon. Superheated microwaves ignore shielding and reduces the enemy tanks to slagged hulks as the enemies combust from the extreme heat. Another salvo of las-cannon fire forces the counter attack to stall. The Goliaths try to retreat, unleashing heavy suppressive fire that claims another four tanks. A brace of hunter-killer missiles fired from the second line of Lancers and Chimeras gut the surviving tanks.
With the flanks secured the Leman Russ's continue their charge across the plains. They drive everyone before them, right into the waiting gunsights of the circling strike fighters. A hail of rockets and bullets wipe out the fleeing defenders. The city is open for occupation.
Horus and his sons break the next set of doors and step warily into the garage sized room. Their armored forms testify to the ferocious fighting in the bunker complex. The storm blue color is stained red and black from the close-quarters fighting. Patches are dented from AT rockets and small amounts of blood drip between the plate segments. The elite guards have sold their lives dearly to keep their rulers safe.
Out of the red tinged darkness comes a dozen burning Cain rounds. Septrino vaporizes four of them with warp lighting. Horus stepping forward swats one of the offending projectiles away. It careens into the wall, throwing up a cloud of dust and concrete. The debris bounces off the terminator clad marines. The other projectiles were dodged and try slam into the far wall. A heavy turret opens fire, dozens of projectile roar down range. As one the warrior's doge and in reply send a single plasma blast back. The incandescent ball lights up the room. Bolts fly toward the disoriented targets. The defenders are cut down as the turret is destroyed. Horus and his guard move onward.
Pushing through several more ambushes the command squad comes up to a thick armored door guarded by three Heavy Mechs and an Atlas assault walker. The Space Marines make ready to slay their foes when Horus stops them. "These are mine." He says calmly. With a mental command the various weapons on his armor are readied for battle. His left hand contains a lighting claw with integrated Hell-Pistol. His right arm has a plasma storm-bolter combi-weapon. The gauntlet is free to wield a master-crafted power sword the size of an ancient claymore with ease.
As the mechs go through their shooting cycle Horus lunges at the Atlas. The Lightning Claw flashes as the power field carves through the armored glass and pilot, boiling his insides as his body is pulverized. With a kick the Atlas is launched fifty feet down a corridor and explodes. Twisting, the sword lashes out bisecting a Mech as it aims its HMG at the Primach. Two down.
Horus lines up his combi-weapon and fires. The Kraken bolts punch through the torso of the farthest mech. A small ball of plasma chews through the shredded armor plate, melting the chassis effectively killing the mech.
Ducking underneath a rocket Horus slides into the last mech. His Lightning Claw shears off a leg, the mech stumbles ab begins to fall. A sword slash darts out, removing the right arm, shoulder, and a chunk of torso. A fist follows up, knocking the head clean off. The mech self-destructs, dealing no damage other than scorch marks to the Demi-Gods armor. Elapsed time since fight began: 3.99 seconds.
The portal is melted with a charge and the five strong Terminator squad advances inward, killing all of the defenders in the Command Bunker. Horus steps into the darkened amphitheater styled Control Center. His armor bloodied and burnt terrifies the surviving beings. His voice deep and booming cuts through the chatter of various telecommunications and alarms, "This Planet is now a part of the Imperium, Surrender honorably or be annihilated mercilessly.