Ch. 3: Arrival
"You're full of shit!"
"I'm telling you, 15ft tall, bones of adamantine, and they have to kill like 100 enemies a day or they don't get fed. Jorge said so!"
"Your brother is full of shit too! All that stuff about the space marines is just imperial propaganda. They have better armor, that's all!"
"Shut up! You're the reason we got this scout detail out here in so far away from the hive!"
The two scouts continued to argue as they continued their patrol in the rocky wilderness, the grey cracked plains extending for miles. They wore battered brown fatigues and grey flak armor with the imperial aquila replaced by a red shield and star, the symbol of the free republic of Kemara Prime.
The first scout turned to his shorter comrade "Whatever Ferg, I heard that there aren't any on Kemara. All we have to deal with is what's left of the of Amur regular's regiments after the battle at Turo fields."
The shorter Ferg turned back towards his lankier companion "I heard that the imperial commander was calling on something much bigger than a space marine Torg" he said as his face took on a grim look.
Torg cocked his head as they continued up a large hill "What do you mean?" He questioned.
Ferg shrugged, "I don't know, just the barracks rumor mill back at Yutan." He stopped and looked around and continued "Like whatever the sentries saw land out here, I heard it was failed imperial doomsday device" he laughed as he crested the hilltop.
Torg laughed "Well Jorge said it was an Ork rok the imperials redirected to try and hit Yutan" he laughed
Ferg continued laughing "Yeah well I also heard…" Whatever he intended to say was lost in the fiery explosion that consumed them both leaving nothing but a blackened crater and ashes. On the other side of the valley the battle cannon of the knight crusader was still smoking.
"Scouts eliminated" Came the cold voice of Ser Ophelia.
"High lord" she continued "The landing zone is clear, vindicta nostra aeterna, for the emperor!" She concluded as she moved her knight back towards the newly secured landing zone.
High lord Tardek stepped of his personal lander onto the newly cleared landing zone of house Peregran's forward base for the campaign on Kemara Prime. The commoners had done an excellent job of quickly setting up the necessities such as the landing pad, knight quarters, and repair bays for their knights as usual. After exiting his lander, the high lord was immediately greeted by a young portly lieutenant decked out in an elaborate dress uniform of dark grey and gold.
"Greetings milord!" came a squeaky voice still breaking in pitch "General Rasan has asked that you join him in the command bunker that your men set up…after you refresh yourself of course!" he quickly blurted out.
The Tardek stared at the young man "What is your name lieutenant?" he queried.
"2nd lieutenant Polsan sir!" he quickly responded with a sharp salute.
Tardek chuckled "Well 2nd lieutenant Polsan, as this is likely your first time working with an imperial knight house, I'll excuse your ignorance." His smile turned into a serious frown. "But an imperial knight does not refresh oneself until his work is done, and there is still a war to wage." He finished before walking off to the command bunker followed quickly by the 2nd lieutenant.
He entered the newly constructed command bunker only a few hundred feet away. The commoners were still setting up the cogitators and the sacristans were just beginning to perform their consecrations. Chief Sacristan Philos nodded to the high lord before joining them as they approached the wooden table on the dais in the center of the bunker. Already surrounding the table were three figures: A tall muscular man with an augmetic eye and colonel stripes from the imperial guard, a tall rail thin woman with the robes and staff of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica indicating her status as an astropath, and finally an obese man in military uniform covered with medals. "General Rasan! May I present High lord Tardek Peregran, head of house Peregran. High lord may I present Colonel Quig of the Amur regulars 22nd regiment, lady Amira of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, and General Rasan lord protector of Kemara Prime!" came the enthusiastic introduction.
The obese man patted his sweaty brow with a silk handkerchief and waddled over to Tardek. "A pleasure high lord, with your assistance we should be able to stamp out this rebellion once and for all!" the general exclaimed.
The high lord smiled politely "It always a pleasure to perform our duty general, house Peregran stands with anyone also willing to do the emperor's work" he said. Tardek was well aware that over half of the planetary defense force had rebelled as well in large part due to Rasan's incompetence.
The general smiled at even the hint of praise. "Thank you milord, Polsan! You are dismissed." The general waived off the lieutenant who gave a quick salute and exited the bunker.
"You'll have to excuse him milord." Said the general after the lieutenant left "my cousin had been begging me for some time to grant him a commission so he is a bit overeager to please."
Tardek frowned "I understand completely general" he said as neutrally as possible. While he understood the need to keep authority in the proper hands, he detested those who did so without the proper trials to test those receiving such positions. It was an invitation to disaster and he suspected the general had done this for a large portion of his officers.
"On to business then?" queried Colonel Quig.
"Yes, lets" replied Tardek as he took his place at the head of the table ignoring the attempts by Rasan to try and do the same. The General awkwardly stood to the high lord's left as the briefing began.
"After we routed the enemy at Hive Norek their command retreated to Hive Yutan, the heart of the rebellion" General Rasan gestured to the paper map on the table with several wooden figure on it.
Colonel Quig grunted "You mean after we barely forced them back and lost a third of my men and nearly half of your defense forces?"
The general flushed red "my men were securing vital supplies from those traitorous dogs" the general shot back indigently.
The colonel glared back "funny..." he said drily "those vital supplies looked a lot like credits, Ataran wine, and gold decorated crystal ware"
"Those items were necessary to the moral of the office corps!" The general angrily shouted.
"Gentleman" Tardek said calmly but firmly "we do not need to focus on the actions of the past, we can instead focus on our inevitable success, now what is the situation with the defenses general?"
Rasan set back, somewhat mollified "Yes milord." He gestured to a black stone figure on the map. "Hive Yutan is surrounded by a series of Eradicator class plasma defense cannons that were gifted to them by the mechanicus a few decades ago" explained the general
He gestured to another spot on the map nearby "The cannons are powered by a generator outside of the hive, if we strike that we should be able to move into the hive with ease"
The colonel scoffed "Even with the knights at our side; striking the generator is a risk. Furthermore, the rebels have placed mortars on the hills around the only route there"
The high lord raised his hand in a mollifying gesture "Colonel, you are right to be concerned" he said before placing several wooden figures painted in dark blue on the map.
"Which is why the mortar sites are the first targets of my House's vanguard"
Torwyn coughed as the foul stench of Daneel's Iho stick filled the air in the prefabricated barracks assigned to them upon landing.
"You know the medicae says that stuff will kill you" Torwyn said as Daneel took another long drag.
Daneel paused a moment and then blew a few smoke rings into the air and smiled "It's the medicae's job to tell us everything fun is bad for us; next they'll tell us that fighting for the emperor is bad for us"
Torwyn chuckled "I mean we ARE going into battle; I suppose that can be hazardous to one's health"
Daneel laughed at the joke and put out his Iho stick "Hah! Bad for our enemies you mean?" he said through his laughter.
Torwyn smiled as he looked out the nearby window at the multiple landing vehicles as they brought supplies down from orbit. The commoners had set up the impromptu base quickly, it was barely a day's journey from hive Yutan where the enemy commanders lay. Ser Roland had ordered the knights in the vanguard to rest while their steeds were brought down and consecrated by the Sacristans, but had informed them all that they would head out the following morning at dawn. His smile dimmed as he turned back to his friend.
"What's it like?" he asked
"Hmm?" came Daneel's questioning grunt as he lit up another stick.
"What's it like to fight other humans?" clarified Torwyn.
Daneel took a long drag before releasing the smoke slowly "That's right, you've only gone up against orks and other xenos haven't you?" He paused and brushed back his short blonde hair before continuing.
"It's no different than killing any xeno, except in one regard" he paused and brought out a flask from his black vest with another. He set it on the small metal table between their beds along with two small glasses. He poured the alcohol within into the two glasses and offered one to Torwyn who took it with one hand.
"There's a…pleasure that I only feel when killing those who have gone against the emperor. A…sense of right that comes with punishing traitors and heretics." He took a sip of his drink.
"After the battle on Yartak against the rebels there I felt it so much that I thought I was tainted, that I had become corrupted by merely fighting them, but the high lord and the priests told me that it was the opposite." He stated before looking directly at Torwyn.
"They told me that all who turn against the emperor deserve our wrath, and so long as we feel pleasure at only killing traitors and heretics; then it was fine to feel pleasure at the act of killing other humans."
Torwyn smiled at his friend's words and raised his glass "For the glory of House Peregran, for the emperor!" he toasted.
Daneel raised his glass in response, smiling "for the emperor my friend." He said as they toasted in anticipation of tomorrow's war.
The morning had come quicker than usual it seemed to Torwyn as he donned his haptic suit and helm. He and Daneel had spent several hours the previous night toasting to each other's glory before finally getting some rest. They now stood together in line with the other members of the vanguard and faced their knights and High lord Tardek.
"Noble knights!" began the high lord "today you have the honor of drawing first blood from the enemy, I envy you may friends, all of us should be so lucky to have the chance".
"You honor us milord" replied Ser Roland with a bow.
The high lord smiled "nay, it is you who honor me Ser Roland. With your dedication and zeal, you bring honor to this house and to the emperor!" said the high lord.
The high lord drew the sword at his hip and laid the tip on Ser Roland's head "Do you swear Ser Roland to not rest until all of this world serves the emperor?" he asked.
"I shall not rest nor waver until the emperor's light shines on all" replied Ser Roland saying the words exactly as was expected.
"Do you swear to lead your men through all dangers and against all enemies even at the cost of your life?"
"Their lives are mine to guard and my life is mine to give"
The high lord turned the sword's grip towards Ser Roland "Then take this sword, and with it may you lead your men towards glory and your enemies towards death!" Exclaimed the high lord.
Ser Roland took the sword and raised it high "vindicta nostra aeterna! For the emperor!" He yelled loudly.
"For the emperor!" Ser Torwyn and the other knights said in unison.
The high lord stepped aside as the knights began to make their way to their steeds. Torwyn caught his eye for only a moment and almost thought he saw a nod of approval from his father before the moment was gone and any approving gaze was replaced by a hard gaze.
Torwyn refocused on his duties and headed to the docking elevator. Awaiting him on the elevator was a sacristan holding a simple necklace of wire and a stone pendant.
"Noble knight" Started the sacristan "I offer you this, a piece of the imperium lost to history so that it may remind you of what we fight for and what we have lost" said the sacristan as he raised the necklace to place it on Torwyn.
Torwyn lowered his head "I am honored to accept such a gift; I will remember and fight so that all that was lost was not lost in vain" he replied completing his part in this ritual.
The sacristan placed the necklace over Torwyn's head. He looked to his side and saw that all the other knights were also receiving their necklace. No Knight of House Peregran would enter battle without a pendant of remembrance, a piece of their destroyed home world.
The elevator came to a stop at the entrance to the cockpit of Last Hearth's Vengeance. Torwyn stepped inside and sat himself on the throne mechanicum. The accompanying Sacristan began connecting the various feedback wires and monitoring systems to Torwyns suit as well as conducting any final consecrations and prayers to Vengeance's machine spirit.
"Ser Torwyn, we are ready to begin awakening the Vengeance, are your prepared?" questioned the sacristan.
Torwyn smiled "I am, begin the process. I am eager to smite the foes of the emperor" he replied savagely.
The sacristan bowed and left the cockpit. After a minute Torwyn felt servomotors begin to rumble on as Last Hearth's Vengeance came to life. Suddenly green figures begin to swim before Torwyn's eyes that indicated Vengeance's status. Torwyn felt the unusual feeling of being plunged into an ice bath while surrounded by fire as the throne mechanicum activated and Last Hearth's Vengeance roared to life.
Honorglorydutybattlehonorgloryglorydutybattlehonor…Torwyn shook the effects of the throne from his mind a refocused as his view of the outside came into to view.
Torwyn smiled and said into the vox "Ser Torwyn and Last Hearth's Vengeance ready to serve!"