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Chapter 9: Brewing storm
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Part 3
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Babylos
Moloc's Throne World
Milky Way galaxy
Jek'il was particularly glad he was a combat transport gunner today. His place in the enclosed turret of the vehicle meant no one could see his shame. When rumors spread about the explosion that shook everything near the Chappa'ai, the young Jaffa experienced something he thought impossible.
He doubted his faith. He believed the rumors could be true! He briefly thought that his Lord Perun could fall to treachery!
Thanks to the magical communicator strapped to the side of his face, Jek'il was among the first to hear Lord Perun speak. The revelation that he was a fool to fear his god's death brought both relief and intense shame. Doubt in himself ate at Jek'il's courage, even as his god's words heartened him.
The fires of righteous anger were almost enough to extinguish the Jaffa's toxic thoughts. Sitting idle, and trying to remain focused on looking for threats, didn't help his mental state. The pilot drove their vehicle like a man possessed, hurrying to bring as many Jaffa as possible to the blocking position.
Thanks to the magical hologram created by his gunnery station, Jek'il could see columns of Jaffa. They were both his brothers serving Perun, and Heru'ur's falcons, marching at a fast pace to meet the heretics. The prospect of combat warmed Jek'il's, treacherous heart. Only then he might be able to erase his shame. He was grateful for Lord Perun's plan, which promised to place the combat transports in the thick of it. It didn't matter if Jek'il acted as the anvil that would break the heretics. Perhaps he would be part of the hammer that would crush their path of retreat and shatter them against the rest of the loyalist army!
Only in the fire of combat he could restore his honor! And that was what mattered right now!
"Prepare for combat!" The Jaffa in charge of the mechanized infantry announced. "We're no longer delivering our brothers to the front. We're moving to cut off the enemy. I want you all wide awake and ready for glory! We will crush the bastards who dared strike at Lord Perun and purge any heretical honorless cur supporting them!"
The driver brought them above the forest's treetops surrounding the main path towards Moloc's capital. The magical engine allowing their vehicle to fly whined in distress yet kept serving.
Jek'il pointed his weapons at the road. The hologram zoomed in, showing him thousands of heretical Jaffa rapidly marching towards the Chappa'ai. The driver kept driving, yet the column of Moloc's madmen refused to end. There had to be tens of thousands of the bastards on that road alone, Jek'il decided.
Perhaps he should have felt afraid. They would soon deploy behind an army larger than all the Jaffa serving Lord Perun.
Instead, all Jek'il felt was hunger and anticipation. His mind and heart betrayed him, sullying his honor. He had to wash that stain with fire and blood. He was Jaffa serving Lord Perun and observing the Six Sacred Actions! Fear and doubt were the mind-killers!
"Courage and honor, brothers! Today we fight a glorious battle!"
The vehicle sharply drove right, and finally, Jek'il saw the end of the enemy army. The other combat transports followed suit, and soon twenty of them converged on the road.
"Out! We dig in and hold, no matter what!"
Jaffa ran out of the troop compartments as soon as the transports came to a whining halt. A pair of them in each vehicle carried out either a staff cannon or a contraption similar to the two twin-linked staff weapons Jek'il had at his disposal.
The last two Jaffa out paused to detach metal shovels from the sides of the troop compartment, a new addition to their equipment. Digging into the dirt to provide some cover was a novel concept. This kind of defense wouldn't last long against the accurate fire of staff rifles.
As far as anyone knew, Moloc's Jaffa didn't have those. They still relied exclusively on the traditional staff weapons and Zat'nik'tels. Even as young as he was, Jek'il knew such a choice of weapons would hurt the heretics, and he was glad for it. It served them right!
"We've got incoming!" Jek'il exclaimed. His magical hologram zoomed in, clearly showing him a block of Jaffa in an old-fashioned chain and plate armor jogging back the way they came.
"Gunners, hold fire. The rest of you keep digging! I want the heavy weapons set up before those motherless bastards hit us in strength!" A new voice demanded.
That was the Prime Vallentian, the Jaffa in charge of the whole mechanized unit Jek'il was part of – the First Jaffa Mechanized Legion. He was famous for distinguishing himself by being a key figure in defeating Ba'al forces alongside Lady Kali's Jaffa.
Jek'il waited with bated breath for the enemy to come closer. Moloc's Jaffa advanced in a wide block, in what the young warrior knew to be a suicidal close order. When using only staff weapons, such a formation would have been practical to lay down a sufficient wall of fire to obliterate an enemy in short order. Doing so would mean suffering higher casualties. However, a swift victory could sometimes save more lives in the long run.
Such a formation was suicidal when used against the weapons Lord Perun granted his loyal servants. Moloc's heretics were about to learn that lesson.
It would be the last thing they would ever learn, Jek'il swore to himself.
The enemy opened fire at a long range for staff weapons. Plasma bolts rained all around the digging in Jaffa.
"Fire at will!" Prime Vallentian ordered, and Jek'il was more than eager to obey.
Moloc's heretic came in screaming like the madmen, serving a mad god they were. And they died screaming. Twin-linked staff weapons and staff cannons cut through the charging Jaffa like a scythe cutting down a field of wheat.
The heretics melted, in some cases literally, when a staff cannon struck them directly. Loyalist Jaffa, who weren't busy digging in, added their accurate fire to the fray.
Even with the magic helping him see, it took Jek'il some time to become aware that no more enemies were running at them. Smoke obscured the road ahead, even though a light wind slowly tried to blow it to the left.
"Cease fire!" Prime Vallentian ordered. "Jaffa, keep digging in. Gunners, keep your eyes open. Don't forget to keep an eye on the flanks as well. Rear guard, watch the road behind us! I don't feel like getting shot in the ass today!"
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"The field battles during the intervention against Moloc proved Perun's ideas superior to what came before. In one notable engagement of the battle for Byblos, a thousand of Moloc's Jaffa engaged a blocking force cutting off the bulk of the capital's garrison from the city. The allied force consisted of 3300 Jaffa serving Perun and Heru'ur, augmented by 30 Goa'uld IFV equivalents. By all accounts, the defenders annihilated Moloc's force within minutes of engaging them, suffering virtually no casualties.
A short time later, the bulk of Moloc's regional forces would strike at a blocking position cutting off their access to the Chappa'ai. Despite being significantly outnumbered, the allied Jaffa effectively outgunned Moloc's forces and had far superior accuracy. What became known as the Battle of the Road saw a whole field army belonging to Moloc destroyed in detail. Moloc's forces failed to take the fortified position, suffering crippling casualties in the attempt. A counterattack shattered their coherence and sent the survivors retreating towards the capital, where the blocking force met them in combat.
The advancing allied forces caught up to the survivors of Moloc's army. They ground down Moloc's army against the anvil of the First Jaffa Mechanized Legion - the unit blocking the road to the capital."
Colonel Harry Mayborne of Earth, summarizing the Battle of the Road, based on intelligence recovered by the NID
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Part 4
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Babylos
Moloc's Throne World
Milky Way galaxy
Having the chance to avenge your god was a dubious honor. It was something a Jaffa should never have to do, much less a member of the Horus' guard. Those bitter thoughts plagued Re'ol on the way down to Byblos. He paid little attention to his two distressed brothers or the group of large, heavy armored Jaffa serving Perun.
That all changed after they hit the ground. Perun's Jaffa were the first to jump out of the assault transport. They landed loudly on the rampart above the main city gate leading towards the Chappa'ai. The advanced optics in Re'ol's helmet allowed him to see the back end of a Jaffa army quickly marching away from the city, if barely. He could also make a column of vehicles skimming on top of the forest trees surrounding the road.
Agonized screams and shooting shook the Jaffa, and he also jumped down, cursing himself for the distraction. That was an excellent way to get killed without serving your god! Doing so wouldn't do! Re'ol was here to avenge Lord Heru'ur, and he couldn't die before achieving his goal!
Explosions shook the city as Al'kesh executed bombing runs. They struck at heretical Jaffa and weapon emplacements. Sentries blew horns in a warning for all the good that would do.
Re'ol and his brothers were too late to begin avenging their god. The Jaffa's distraction cost him drawing first blood. To his shock, Re'ol discovered that Perun's giant warriors had already butchered their way through the rampart and were busy assaulting the two towers flanking the gate.
"To me, brothers! Let's avenge Heru'ur! Death to the heretics!" Re'ol found his voice and led the Horus' guard into the fray.
Again, they were too slow and didn't get to fire their weapons in anger. It was becoming clear that the gods were displeased with their failure to keep Lord Heru'ur safe.
The barracks outside, holding a detachment of Jaffa who guarded the gate, were little more than smoking craters, destroyed by an Al'kesh bombing run. If Re'ol looked closely, he could see the charred bodies of a few Jaffa in the cratered ruins. Most gate guards and there were precious few of them, were on the wall or in the towers. Before the Horus' guard could get to them, Perun's Jaffa tore the heretics into bloody chunks using their cruel spinning swords.
"The gate is secure!" The leader of Perun's Jaffa announced. He sounded a bit miffed to Re'ol's ears. "How long until we get reinforced? I'm unsure if those pathetic heretics could muster the force to retake the gate. However, it would make storming the city a bit harder if they manage to destroy its mechanism."
Re'ol thought about opening the door and then destroying the mechanism themselves. He looked over the rampart and down the road. Evidently, the encircling force Lord Perun required managed to deploy in time. Moloc's heretics were busy trying to break through it and secure themselves a road for retreat and reinforcements. Re'ol didn't know if they would be able to hold long enough. It was possible that those Jaffa would have to fall back and hold the gate against the heretics. That meant his idea wasn't a viable option for now.
"We'll block the tower entrances. We can hold those things for a long time unless the heretics bring in the firepower to collapse them on top of us. You have rifles, get on top and shoot any heretic you see approach." The large Jaffa suggested and went back into the right tower.
Re'ol didn't have a better idea. At least not one that didn't include running into the city and killing all heretics he could find. While doing so might bring him immense satisfaction, it wasn't going to achieve much. Re'ol doubted such a thing would help him properly avenge Heru'ur.
On the other hand, ensuring a swifter victory by holding a key position? There was honor and glory in doing that.
"Take up the left tower, brothers. I'll set up on top of this one." Re'ol decided and hurried up.
From the top of the stone tower, he could get an even better view of Moloc's capital. Many fires were burning all over the place thanks to bombing runs or crashed Death Gliders. Loyalists hunted heretics in the skies. Al'kesh bombed anything that even vaguely looked like one of Moloc's Jaffa.
The fighting on the road ceased. Re'ol's helmet's optics could barely make a line of vehicles in the distance, holding their ground. There were no Jaffa approaching, so the blocking force still held.
Two assault transports came from the city's center, escorted by a Death Glider squadron. One kept going towards the Chappa'ai while the other skimmed over the low buildings near the gate and stopped before it. Its ramp opened, and Perun himself jumped out, followed by eight of his giant, heavily armored warriors.
As soon as everyone disembarked, the transport lifted, flying low above the wall, and headed for the forests outside.
"We'll soon get reinforcements flown in from the Chappa'ai," Perun shouted. "The good news is we purged Moloc's great temple from heretics and killed his sorry excuse for a High Priest. The bad news is the mad god wasn't there. We'll have to dig him out of his palace after we secure key parts of the city."
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Ra's flagship
Corinth – fortress border world
Moloc's domain
Milky Way galaxy
It had been a long time since Ra had to deploy this many warships and troops into combat. That was why he decided to oversee how his armies fared in action. His personal squadron stayed away from the battle in space, acting as a reserve in case Moloc's forces proved more formidable than expected. Either that or as a contingency if Ra's fleet detachment assaulting the system performed worse than anticipated.
Over a hundred Ha'tak engaged in battle. Ra outnumbered Moloc seventy to fifty, not counting the warships guarding his flagship.
The battle was vicious and bloody. Moloc's Jaffa proved fanatics until death, fighting to the last. Their tenacity cost Ra a heavier toll than expected. Despite having better ships and hopefully more capable warriors, Moloc's heretics managed to ram or pound to pieces ten Ha'tak while damaging twice that many. Hundreds of Death Gliders and scores of Al'kesh fought for their lives until the last heretic in space finally died.
The death toll among the small expendable craft was high as well. Ra was beginning to suspect the long peace had dulled the edge of his armies. If that was the truth, then Perun's innovations came at the right moment to avoid a potential disaster.
Ra kept his thoughts to himself, allowing his Primes to lead the attack. He silently watched the progress of the ground invasion, taking note of what worked, what didn't, and what looked like an excellent way to have his warriors die for little gain.
For an entire day, Ra didn't rest. Instead, he looked over reports from battles across the border as soon as they reached his ship. In the grand scheme of things, the intervention was a wild success. Moloc's known fleet met the invasion force in open combat and died fighting. It still managed to inflict higher than anticipated losses all across the front. Despite that, as of this moment, less than a hundred of the madman's Ha'taks were unaccounted for. Ra knew that at least a third of them were in deep space, racing from the far borders of Moloc's realm to join the fighting. Another third would be at Byblos; by now, Heru'ur should have dealt with them. Heru'ur's presumed victory left just a few dozen Ha'tak, which should hold critical worlds deeper within Moloc's domain.
The same was true for Moloc's armies. Many of his Jaffa had deployed to the border and were busy dying. On most of those contested worlds, many Humans and Jaffa alike met the invading forces as liberators. They often turned on Moloc's loyalists, making the conquests easier.
Ra was about to write off the whole scheme as a success and get some rest before deciding how to improve his military. At that point, Heru'ur finally deigned to contact him and report what was happening at Byblos.
It wasn't his son whose face appeared on the communication device. Instead, it was Le'ir, a trusted member of the Horus' guard protecting Heru'ur.
"Supreme Lord, I have dark news to report." The Jaffa bowed. "A Tok'ra assassin detonated a bomb right next to Lord Heru'ur. He is currently in his flagship's sarcophagus. Lord, I've seen Lord Heru'ur's injuries myself. His host was dead, charred beyond recognition. When the sarcophagus opens, Lord Heru'ur might not awake."
Ra's eyes flashed with shock and building fury.
"Tell me everything!" He demanded.
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