Chapter 50, The Ashes of Taxal
M30.883
Tanya Russ
"No surrender, no retreat," was the official order from the enemy. No matter how much we pushed forward, no matter how much force we brought to bear, those little Xenos showed their tenacity and found ways to screw with us. What should have taken a year at the worst, and only six months at the best had stretched on for another five years, the enemy pulling out reserves that we didn't even know they had.
They were still sending an endless horde of their various bioforms to attempt to stop us. But they had plenty of other tactics. The mercenaries that they had remaining would hold positions that we thought we were pushing through. Then when we thought an area behind our lines was secure, they would deploy what could be best described as partisan troops. They used hidden tunnels that we didn't know about, attacking our supply lines.
It was a very determined defense. Over the course of the first year I along with my siblings had attempted to reach out to them, however this did not go well, specifically for my attempts. It seemed that the Rang had a wolf-like religious deity that my armor apparently resembled and they took that as a mocking gesture which seemed to have caused them to turtle up harder and take on a more hard line stance of don't surrender, especially to the troops in the area where my men were working in. By the second year, we had given up on trying diplomacy with them completely. We just started a strategic bombing campaign to attempt to bludgeon them into surrender. Nothing too serious, just planes coming down and dropping ordinance on places of importance, mostly military installations. But they did tend to build their military installations in towns. When that didn't do it, well, orbital strikes did the job.
Unfortunately the ship's artillery was not always available. It seemed that every couple of months, a remnant of the Rangdan's fleet would show up from somewhere or another, launching an all-out assault on our blockade. It seemed Taxal was to be where they would make their final stand. They weren't interested in falling back anymore. Every resource they had, they pushed here through whatever passageway they could get their hands on.
This war would be decided by this upcoming fight, that was for certain. At this point, there might be a few years of cleanup operations afterwards as we push further into Rangdan-controlled territory beyond this current system But I had a feeling that the majority of their naval assets and military assets would be defeated by the end of this conflict, and we would be able to clean up those worlds as we see fit.
Which was why I was supporting Nobunaga's efforts to try and establish some sort of dialogue with the civilian population. If we could just end this conflict and force them to become a vassal of the Imperium, that would be rather quick and easy. It would result in fewer lives lost and make the sacrifices to take this planet mean something. However, they were still refusing to negotiate. Apparently, there would just be no talking with them. Oh, at the start there had been some hope that we would break through and find some sort of civilian government to talk to, but it looked like the civilian government had been dissolved and replaced by a military one. How else would this be continuing even after large swaths of their main cities were left in ruins?
The only good news was that we were still expanding our territory, even with all the trouble they were giving us. It was getting harder and harder to attack us, and that little Warp snowstorm I had summoned on the mountains was helping to some extent. The cold was not something that came down to this region at this time of year, freezing the ground and making it easier for our men to move. But it also made it harder for them to dig behind us or use the terrain to their advantage.
I still had a small concern that I might have caused some sort of ecological disaster that would leave this planet no better than a frozen wasteland. But I could only hope that I was wrong, and that it would eventually go away, or at the very least, the snow would stop falling.
Perhaps one of the reasons they weren't talking to us was because of this unnatural weather. It may have made them assume that we were here to exterminate them. Well, what was the old saying? "Making an assumption makes an ass out of you and me." If they wanted to make an assumption and force us to exterminate them, I guess that was their own problem. Their own assumptions would relegate them to the dustbin of history.
Shaking my head, I stood up from the camp chair I had been sitting on and walked over to the stove that Yrsa had been tending. I picked up a mug of coffee, sipping it slowly before stepping outside.
There, chilled snow was falling. The front lines were a good distance off from what I could see. We were rolling the artillery forward every day. It could take up to two months for this campaign to be completed, and we would take their home world for the Imperium. When we did that, it would probably mark the end of this mess. Then we could play rock-paper-scissors to figure out which Legion got the 'honor' of cleaning up afterwards.
I'm sure we could come up with some other game to do it, maybe a happy game of regicide, but I doubt it. None of us wanted to stay any longer on this front once the war was done. I needed to take my men back home and restock, get them well rested for another campaign, any other campaign than this bleeding conquest.
The same went for the Dark Angels. No, I think even more so, as they had been in this conflict longer than me, and I bled quite a bit. From what I had seen about the 2nd and the 11th Legions, they had taken a bit of a pummeling in their advance into the megacity to the east. Both were down to half strength.
All in all, there was a general sense that we needed to take a moment to recover. Rumor had it that the Ultramarines Legion had somehow surpassed 300,000 Marines, putting them roughly on par with all four Legions currently deployed to this planet.
If that didn't show just how much we had bled for this combat, nothing else would. We could have been building up our forces to that level, instead we had to pay for this land with the blood of our men.
"Hmm, seems like we're having too much fun out here," a familiar voice called from my left, causing me to look up in confusion.
Standing there, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, was Malcador. I blinked several times in confusion before saying, "Malcador, why are you here?"
"I go where the Emperor tells me to go, and the Emperor told me to come check up on this campaign, since he had to deal with other issues across the Imperium," he replied.
"It makes sense," I said. "Well, welcome to Taxal."
"At the current rate of freezing, I'd say it's going to become a second Fenris," Malcador said, looking off at the frozen mountainscapes.
I made a noise of distaste, "That was not intended." I said out of annoyance that the storm was still going after five years, the storm that I had accidentally created the first day I had arrived was still going, and I had no idea why that was, all I knew was that the entire northern part of the planet's air traffic was not great. It had been a strain on logistics and well it may have contributed to some of the reasons we were having problems digging the enemy out the only good news was I think we could say for certain was that all the fortress vaults they were using to store their supplies and house troops beneath the planet were frozen, even then I wasn't too sure of that.
"I'm sure it was not. It seems this planet has reacted interestingly, though. It has been inside a Warp Storm for who knows how long, still accessible to these people for even longer. This planet is probably irrevocably corrupted, and all you did was trigger some sort of change to the local Immaterium when you went and 'lost yourself to your own fury'," he explained.
He said it in a way that was rather like an adult speaking to a small child which was annoying, I was not a fan of being treated in such a way. But then again looking at the issues I created in the north, perhaps I needed it, this campaign had shown a weakness in me, a weakness that I have been letting grow, my lack of complete control over my emotions had led to problems, problems that shouldn't happen. Why had I lost control at that moment, most likely I became too attached to my troops, the loss of my men during the events on the mountain, the botched landing and then the accidents during the mountain's destruction. I didn't like to lose resources but perhaps there was something more to it, could it be some sort of Primarch ingrained affection for your progeny like how a mother and father were going to unconditionally love their children, granted that was a debatable point with how strange the Warp nature of my existence was, who's to say that the emotions I felt in those moments were because my men thought of me like a mother,which made me act more like that because of the influence from the Warp. Making me grow a weakness towards wanting to protect my men and feeling anger when they get hurt instead of using them as was necessary.
He looked at me before saying, "I wouldn't worry about it. If anything, your presence is probably going to be doing more work in cleansing this planet of its corruption than anything."
"I'd rather not think about that," I replied.
"Well, you can think whatever you want, but my inspection of this planet has not exactly improved my mood. Frankly, I know that you like to think we can be friends with some Xenos, but these creatures... these creatures, I believe we cannot."
"You know about our attempts to try and talk to them diplomatically."
"You may have changed yourself to have a guarded mind, but the captain of your warship has not. So I spoke with him first and learned what was going on. You know, in some respects, I do agree that we should try and minimize conflict. After all, saving resources and not conquering every Xenos that we can, and instead bringing them into our sphere of influence is a worthy goal. But in this case, I don't think we'll be doing that, no."
"Why is that? We've already tried to get in contact with them several times, and each time it's failed. But I see no reason why we shouldn't continue to at least attempt to offer them a chance to surrender," I argued.
"Because these creatures have mastered not only regular biology but a branch of Warp-based biomancy of some kind. I've spoken with the leaders of the 11th and the 2nd and learned what they've been up to and what I have heard of this matter concerns me greatly for you and your siblings," Malcador explained.
I raised an eyebrow at that. "What threat would have you so worried, Malcador?"
He looked at me before saying, "The beings in the Warp. They have me greatly worried. So far, the majority of you and your siblings have only had to deal with things of this realm, the Materium, things that we can defeat using simple bolters, fire and manpower. However, Taxal and its people are proven to be interconnected to the world beyond ours, the Immaterium."
He said it with such gravity that I actually had to wonder if there was something he was truly worried about over there. I was aware of the influences coming from the Warp by this point, after all. I had never really given a name to the creatures in general, though I assumed that they posed as gods based on the way they had handled Being X. I hadn't poked too deep into it, as my focus was more on this world than worrying about the next, especially considering my unknown lifespan. I might never have to worry about that world.
But if this world was somehow connected to the Immaterium, I needed to start asking questions now. "How dangerous are we talking?" I asked as he continued to look out over the horizon at the distant battlefield.
"It could be existential if not handled correctly," Malcador said with a nod before finally turning to me and saying, "The danger is so great, I am willing to order Exterminatus of this planet and for us to continue using Exterminatus on every other Rangdan planet we come across."
"That's a big decision," I said, not liking the fact that he was casually suggesting absolute destruction of multiple planets and genociding its people. But I knew my place in this situation, if he ordered it, I would commit. I wouldn't be happy about it, but I would commit.
He nodded before saying, "Follow me into your tent. We need privacy to discuss exactly how terrible this place really is."
Nodding solemnly, I followed. He carefully shut the door before casting a field around the tent that would silence anyone from hearing what we were going to say.
He took a seat and indicated that I should take one across from him.
"Take a calming breath," he said. "As you're aware, there were many things used in the creation of the Primarchs. A portion of the Emperor's power and DNA to bind you to him. Souls of great warriors, explorers, and generals of human history who have managed to maintain their separation from the Warp and have enough power to do the job that is asked of them. But there's one other thing, one other thing that he had to use, that has always worried him about the potential implications."
I raised an eyebrow. "So, what is it?"
"He channeled energy directly from the Warp. Of course, he could give you some of his, of course, but he needed more, and that energy exposed to whatever energy is here worries him."
I nodded in understanding before saying, "Being that we are creatures of the Warp to some extent."
"Exactly. He's worried that long-time exposure to the Warp will have unintended effects on you. This early in your career, according to him, he never visited the Warp until humanity was well and truly in space, back during the Dark Age of Technology. He had plenty of time to solidify his personality, who he was, what he stood for. Now he worries that exposure to the Warp here might have issues on his children, especially when, well, there's some evidence that these creatures worship a wolf entity."
I chuckled before saying, "What, is he worried I'm going to be possessed by some local spirit?"
Malcador didn't chuckle. My eyes widened. "Oh," I said, realizing that was indeed the concern. Nodding, I said, "I can see why he wants us off the planet then."
"Exactly. Hopefully, all we have to do is just get you off the planet, and then we'll never have to worry about this again. But there are some objects of interest that I have been told to collect, to inspect and deliver to him for a longer-term investigation."
"Such as the strange ruins I've received reports about from a member of my Valkyrie," I added.
Malcador nodded before saying, "Been there already, someone's destroyed it. I'm going to assume it was probably one of our own men just cleaning up something that looked a bit screwy, but I have a copy of it thanks to your Valkyrie and will continue my investigation." He shook his head before adding, "The real issue going forward is, if we destroy this civilization, does that put an end to this situation or does it just postpone it? There's going to be some concern that you've already been exposed to something you should not have been."
I shook my head before saying, "If you're concerned that I've been exposed to something, I would say I have not been. I've only fought their forces."
"I hope so," Malcador said with a shake of his head, "but you can understand my concern considering the storm to the north of here."
I nodded before saying, "I let my anger get the best of me, and I will do better to not let that happen in the future."
"Good, good. Now, we've got a lot to figure out to get you off-world. It's going to take a few days to organize the Exterminatus of this planet just to get everyone off."
"Is there no better option than complete extermination of the planet? I was considering dropping a civilian population here," I suggested.
"There is no better option. In fact, I have half a mind to order an Exterminatus on every planet the Rangdan have touched. Those that have already been lost might be an awful thing to do, but the planet's populations are already gone on most of them, and we need to clear out any remaining bio-forms and technology they may have left behind, so planetary cleansing is probably necessary."
I hummed in disagreement but said out loud, "If that's what the Emperor orders, then that's what must be done."
"It's the conclusion of the Administratum," he said matter-of-factly. "The Emperor has delegated this particular conflict's ending to them now that it appears the war is in our favor."
I felt an eye twitch as I realized exactly what had just happened. The Emperor had given them a simple job - deal with the spoils of war - and their answer was, instead of dealing with the long-term consequences of the war, burn it with fire so we don't have to worry about it.
The Administratum was proving to be not as capable of handling this situation as they should be. We'll have to keep an eye on them if they keep making screw-ups like this.
Externally, I simply nodded my approval, and Malcador left through the tent door, leaving me to stew in my annoyance.
Lion El'Jonson
"Malcador," I said in surprise as my tent flap opened. I had been in discussion with several other officers within my Legion, preparing for the next day's round of combat, and had not placed a guard at the tent's door. It would seem that the older man walked in, banging his staff against the floor as he did.
"Hmm, still hiding your face," he said
"I wouldn't say I'm hiding my face, Lord of Terra."
"Ha, keep telling yourself that girl," he walked a few more steps before sitting across from me and Luther. He took a breath before saying, "I bring orders from the Emperor and the Administratum, you are to prepare your men to leave the planet as quickly as possible. We've come to the conclusion that these Xeno's are not worth fighting anymore, and there are no humans here to rescue from their clutches that aren't here willingly. Additionally, Exterminatus will be executed on this planet."
The room went silent as many of the second officers took in that information. I simply nodded and said, "Prepare the men for operations to leave the planet." It was a simple order that was executed immediately, with officers grabbing their gear and walking out.
Turning to Malcador, I said, "It'll take three to four days to get all our equipment off here before we can leave."
"Understandable. This was dropped on you quickly, and you will have covering fire from the ship Sandfire in orbit, so you should be more than safe to commence this operation without worry of being caught with your pants down."
"Yes," I said, nodding in my head, watching the others leave quickly until I was sure they were all gone. I cleared my throat and said, "Far be it for me to pry, but Tanya happened to mention something interesting rather recently. According to her, some of her failed aspirants have become, well, female."
Malcador nodded his head before saying, "Yes the Emperor and I are aware of that odd situation. We've theorized that it has more to do with the population of Fenris than Tanya herself, so he's not exactly sure about it."
"Is it a sign that they're tainted?" I asked, being as clear as I could be on this.
Malcador laughed before saying, "No, no, they're not tainted, just different. If it was a larger number than what actually came through, we'd be concerned. Tanya has done a good effort in keeping those numbers down and has brought down incidents of failure in her potential Marines quite a bit. So one or two screw-ups are allowed to be passed on, and since she finds inventive ways to still get use out of them, our stance is we leave the situation to her discretion."
I nodded before saying, "But what I'm really concerned about is if this is something me and my Legion should be worried about."
"Because you're also a female Primarch? Well, it could be something to be concerned about, but if it hasn't happened yet, I think you can just toss those thoughts out the window. Though to be fair to your sister, it probably has more to do with her time on Fenris than most people realize."
I raised an eyebrow in a way that indicated I wanted to learn more, and he smiled before saying, "You dropped on Caliban, and you were about 12, right? Maybe 10. That was about the average age of the Primarchs. Tanya dropped on Fenris at around age 16 or 17, somewhere around there, we believe."
"I don't understand how that would have affected her gene seed to create that outcome," Luther asked, which was a genuine question that I was also wondering.
"Understandable. Let me put it this way: you dropped on your world at around the age of 10, fought monsters, and eventually found Luther here, who raised you to your full potential as a warrior."
"Tanya dropped on Fenris at around the age of 17, did not find anyone to help her survive, and found monsters while growing her psychic potential. It is the belief of the Emperor that because she came out of the pod with an older mindset on how to survive and grew her psychic potential rather quickly, this has affected her gene seed to some extent. It has resulted in strange interactions with the local population's DNA, resulting in what they call the 'Tanya'. Individuals who take on more traits of Tanya than normal."
"So you're implying that because she grew her psychic potential, changes in her Gene-Seed are more likely to result in mutations and copies of herself, compared to me, who tends to not use the Warp much or at all," I said, trying to confirm this.
"Exactly."
"And if I were to grow my psychic potential, would my Legion be under threat of the same or similar phenomenon?"
Malcador shrugged before saying, "It's possible. From my research and time with Tanya's Legion, I do believe there is also some sort of connection with psychic ability, but that one's a little bit more of a crapshoot. Some people who gained psychic abilities after becoming a Tanya didn't have them before. Some people who went through the process with psychic abilities came out normal, like any other Marine."
"How does Gene-Seed even work?" Luther asked, shaking his head.
"That's a question only the Emperor knows the answer to," Malcador said. "Though I have some theories, he likes to keep such information a secret. Doesn't want the enemies to have their own version of the Gene-Seed, after all. He's a bit like you in that way."
I shook my head and said, "Well, if that's the situation, then that's the situation. Is there anything else I need to know before you, I assume, go tell my brother and sister of this change in orders?"
"Oh, your sister already knows. Just your brother needs to be informed, and he can take care of the 11th. They're good enough friends, I think."
My eyes narrowed at that. I should have been told first. I was the leader of this campaign, and everyone else responded to me. So why did Malcador go to Tanya first? It was almost insulting in a way. After all, didn't I have the rank of commander in this operation, or was that just a little placation that the Emperor had done for me?
I crushed those thoughts, not wanting to dwell on them. Instead, I simply smiled and nodded. "Well, good luck with that then. Do you need a ride? I can have a few Marines give you a lift to the 2nd's camp."
"Hmm, I will accept that," he said, getting up and brushing himself off before he stopped to say one more thing. "Remember to celebrate this victory with your troops. The campaign is well and truly yours, take time to recover your forces once this operation is over. The Rangdan are defeated, and we just need to do a cleanup operation after to be sure it's over."
"Of course," I said with a nod as he left the tent. Then I turned to Luther, saying, "That's a little too early in my opinion."
Luther looked at me a bit confused before saying, "They do have a tendency to come back after we thought they were dead."
"Exactly. Just because we've destroyed their main nexus, which will slow down their spread, doesn't mean they're completely gone. Even if we destroy every planet we know about, there's a good chance we've missed one or two."
"And what do we do about that? The Rangdan, if left alone, can rebuild their forces to what they had at the start of this war or even greater."
I nodded, shaking my head, "We cannot be sure that they can or can't rebuild. What we can be sure about is building a proper response."
Luther nodded, asking, "So what's the proper response?"
Sitting back in my chair, I looked at the tent flap that Malcador had left through before saying, "We should commission a council, an order within our Legion, to examine all conflicts during this fight and try to determine anything we may have missed. They should also come up with the best tactics for fighting each kind of bioform. This order should be prepared for the next war because there will be one, or at least, we should be prepared."
Luther nodded again, "So an attachment of the Legion meant to keep an eye on this area of space. Should we get any of the other Legions that helped, see if they are willing to contribute forces for it, such as your sister Tanya?"
My eyes narrowed, "No, no. I think we'll keep this firmly under our control. We need to make sure that if the Rangdan somehow escape this war, they won't escape the next. We need to ensure that our honor is preserved as the ones who destroyed the Rangdan."
Luther nodded, agreeing, and got up from his chair, saying, "I will evaluate commanders, find out who had the best operations during this conflict, and send them your way. Is there anything else you need, brother?"
I smiled at Luther, "No, I think that's it." he quietly walked out of the camp tent door, leaving me alone in the room for a moment to think.
Finally, I got up and moved across the room towards a nearby cot. Several of the little folk, barely noticeable, dodged in and out of shadows around me as I undid my cape. They grabbed it and carefully folded it for me.
They were known as the Watchers in the Dark. Supposedly, they were natives of Caliban, small creatures that seemed to follow the leadership of the Dark Angels, even though we weren't really sure how they could get aboard our vessels. All I knew was that their cloaked figures were useful in keeping things tidy and well put together.
Not long after, one of the creatures came to take my cloak. I laid down on the cot and put my arm over my eyes, deciding to get a few moments of sleep. It was the first time in days that I actually lay down on this cot, even though it had been set up twice by these creatures for me. The Watchers would watch over me and protect me from anything too drastic on this planet, or at least alert me so I could protect myself.
For now, I let my mind wander.
Was Tanya's Legion affliction due to psychic potential or being female? Was there something else behind it?
My Legion didn't have some of the genetic issues that some Legions had. The Luna Wolves, of course, had the most common one, where the Space Marines often adopted quite a bit of the adopted father's genetic profile, ending up looking like mini versions of their Primarch. But I had never seen that among my Legion. Everyone seemed to maintain their identity well enough, even if their identity was secretly kept away...
Could it be more common than I thought? If something like that had happened, would one of my Legion have kept it to themselves? One thing you could say about the people of Caliban: they knew how to keep secrets. So if it was true, it was possible, and I would not know until I came across their corpse on the battlefield, pulled the helmet off to check them over, and accidentally discovered they looked exactly like me.
A shiver ran down my spine at that thought. It must be one of the more odd issues for Tanya when you think about it. Seeing her own face dead on the Marines she sent into combat would really mess with her to some extent. It would explain why she was a bit more willing to use every resource she could get her hands on. It would explain why she was basically turning her home world and system into an arsenal of Fenris.
But trying to understand my sister was beyond what I could do.
I mean, for goodness' sake, that woman wore a damn breastplate that highlighted her breasts. Stupid sexy breastplate, I thought, shaking away the thoughts of that piece of armor, let alone all her Valkyrie minions whose armor was not much better.
Fine, I rolled over in bed and was just glad that my own team of armorers had developed something that was not as showy as hers. It would be inappropriate in my mind.
Granted, I didn't have as large a chest as she did. Perhaps that was the main reason she had to use such ridiculous armor.
I turned again, trying to just go to sleep and not think about my sister's chest.
Instead, I focused on other things. If these 'Tanya's' were related to failed Marines, could there be failed Marines I was not aware of that had undergone the same transformation? I would think my apothecaries would have alerted me to something like this, but we were people who liked to keep our secrets. Could they have been forced to rejoin the population and hide their failures? Or would they have undergone what we tended to do with such failures and been sent to local mechanics to be turned into automatons?
I bolted upright, my eyes going wide as I realized that there had been several female automatons added to my personal staff back on Caliban the last time I'd been there. They helped with getting my armor on and off. They didn't look like me, but could they be failures like the 'Tanya's'? I felt disturbed by this more than anything I had come across, but I put that thought aside. I would conduct a proper investigation when I got home to Caliban and find out more. Till then, I would sleep.
Nobunaga
I looked at Malcador as if he was insane. "You want to commit Xenocide on this planet? Burn it to the ground, leave nothing left after so much blood, sweat, and tears have been put into this conquest," I asked, trying to be as clear as possible with the man, considering I still did not understand the way he thought.
"Yes, is that a problem, Nobunaga?" he responded.
"Is that a problem? Is that a problem!? We have worked tireless decades for this victory, and you want to tarnish it with the use of virus bombs and other accursed weapons? It will leave nothing in this system of use for humanity," I exclaimed.
"There's nothing of use to humanity in this system. This place is already a Xenos hive of scum and villainy. We just need to remove it from the galactic map so that it is safe and won't be used in the future against us," Malcador argued.
I shook my head before saying, "They're not even Xenos."
Malcador, who had been looking at his staff, stopped and looked at me with interest.
"Oh, have your men been doing a bit of experimentation, checking out the biology of these creatures?" he asked in such a way that told me he knew exactly what I was referring to. But I continued just to be sure.
"From the bodies we have excavated, it does appear that there are some DNA markers that indicate they were once human. They are as human as other abhumans. We should give them the same rights we give an Ogryn or Ratling," I explained.
"Or your own people, the Felinid, I believe they're called," Malcador said rather pointedly.
I gave him a look before he continued, "If you're worried that we will judge your friends and family on your homeworld as less than human, you do not need to have such concerns. Your people are protected. They are abhuman. We have confirmed it. The Rangdan are degenerate mutants. Instead of fighting their biological changes, they embrace them. They embraced their change and rushed towards it as if it was something to be lauded."
He shook his head before saying, "These people are no better than the folks who ultimately dragged humanity into the Long Night. They harness technologies to turn their fellow man into monsters, and they've turned themselves into creatures no better than the animals that once roamed ancient Terra. They are not human. They may have some trace DNA connections, but they are not human, and you should realize that not everything that is connected to humanity is worth saving."
"If a part of humanity is not worth saving, then none of humanity is," I said, which earned me a displeased look from Malcador.
"We should have your brain looked at. Your ideas of heroism were praised and approved by the Emperor, but you take them too far," he retorted.
"Perhaps I don't take them far enough," I said, which garnered a ugly sneer from Malcador.
"Why can't you be more like your sisters or at least willing to listen to orders without complaining about heroism?"
"My sisters are good people, but they, unlike you, were willing to negotiate with these fallen humans."
"And now, like the good soldiers they are, they're preparing to leave the planet so we can exterminate it, as you should be doing instead of fighting me over this."
I bit my lip, trying to decide what the best course of action was. Finally, I realized there was nothing I could do. The Emperor had given the authority to the Administratum to decide what needed to be done in the Ministorum, and Malcador had come personally to issue the orders.
This was a chain of command that I had no way of fighting against. The authority went all the way to the top.
A stupid authority that I disagreed with, but one I could not rebel against. Perhaps Father was right in his actions.
I wanted to believe that humanity should be saved. That's what the ancient texts told me, that there was always a chance to break through to an adversary and make them realize they had made a mistake. But I was being told that I should not be allowed to give these people a chance.
Such a disgusting turn of fate. Shaking my head, I finally said, "Fine, fine. I will order my men to leave. How many days do we have?"
Malcador sighed, saying, "Finally. You have a week or two. Your sisters will take time to get their equipment up, and I'm sure your Legion and the 11th will have ample time to get their equipment back as well. The Mechanicum will have a ship in orbit for the next two weeks, trying to gather as much equipment from this planet as possible, from the areas you conquered, just so we can study it and know how terrible these people really were."
I shook my head before asking, "Does the Mechanicum agree with these orders for Xenocide?"
"The Mechanicum ordered this action, actually. They are a part of the Administratum. They found out about the perversion of humanity that is the main species of the Taxal, and that infuriated them quite a bit. Something about messing with the blessed human genome, I don't know. I'm not very into their religion; that's more the Emperor's handling. Either way, under the Mechanicum's orders, we are to clean up this entire sector and leave Xana 2 and the rest of the sector under Mechanicum governance."
I raised an eyebrow. "The conflict started for Xana 2. We started this fight because they attacked that world, and now we hand over all these systems to be processed by the Mechanicum's tender loving hands?"
Humanity would not be spreading here, not like Tanya or Lion had suggested in some of our conferences. No, no, the machine spirits' people will be. We're leaving the fate of any survivors or near-humans to the tender hands of robotic monsters who pretend to be human. Yes, they once were human, but they have no real culture like humanity does. They abandoned it for their strange religion around the machine spirits. Every day, they become less and less human, every day they carve a piece of their humanity away, for what? To become another disposable cog in an inhuman society of steel and iron.
I did not hate the Mechanicum, but I did not trust them as much as everyone else seemed to. They seemed like the perfect thing to bring humanity's end for a second time, abandoning what made us human and becoming nothing but soulless machines.
Sighing, I sat down in the chair that someone had brought up for me and said, "Fine, the orders of the Mechanicum will be followed." Then I added, "Is there anything else I need to know, Malcador?"
The old man shook his head, saying, "That's all you need to know. Just get the operation done and get off this planet. We'll be exterminating the surface soon enough."
I nodded and watched him leave, a sense of disgust filling my gut.
In the old stories I read about my past lives, there was always an issue that arose late in the story. Some religious cult or another caused problems for my predecessors, resulting in parts of humanity being lost as they burned their religion to the ground.
Seeing the direction the Mechanicum were going worried me, for that issue alone. Would that story play out again? Would me and my siblings be called upon to defeat the Mechanicum at their height, burning their worlds to dust? Or... would I need to do it myself, simply to save the Imperium from a possible future where everyone fell in line with the belief of the Machine Spirit?
That was my fate. It was not the worst fate, but I disliked the idea of that fate simply because I knew some of my siblings had good relations with the Mechanicum. And as I had just said, no human was beyond redemption. If I were to become the monster of those ending years, a creature who would burn planets to the ground, that would make me no better than Malcador and the Mechanicum ordering the burning of the Rangdan's homeworld.
Shaking my head, I put those thoughts aside. Turning to my second in command, I said, "Prepare the troops for evacuation. Send a communication to the 11th and let them know that we're going to be pulling out and letting the fleet do the work."
He nodded, and I stared off towards the horizon as Malcador nodded, following his orders. I left, heading towards a shuttle craft.
Sitting there, looking at the sun, knowing it was probably one of the last sunsets on this living world, I wondered if the Imperium was the right choice after all.
If it was going to judge people not on their character, but how closely they aligned with humanity, to determine if an entire section of humanity should just be wiped out. Were we really the heroes in this story? Was the Emperor really the leader safeguarding humanity, or was he just a tool, a warlord in a story of one section of humanity bringing in the rest through compliance or extermination?
These thoughts were beyond me, sickening to a level I was not comfortable with. Turning over to my second in command, I said, "Bring me alcohol, lots of it."
Maybe I'd feel better after getting absolutely drunk, or at least be able to forget what was about to happen for a few hours before I had to worry about getting in a vehicle and getting out.
My second in command noted and went over to open the flap door, stepping out and leaving me alone to think for some time.
Unfortunately, that meant I was alone to think, looking out across the Badlands that had been, at some point, a farm serving the people of this world for who knows how many generations to come.
There was another option, one that I thought of once in a while, one that I tended to think about more ever since Tanya asked me and Dorn what we would do after the Imperium had secured the galaxy. But would that be honoring myself and my ancestors if I decided to do it?
I could set sail and go beyond the known galaxy, but what would the imperium do if I did that. My ships had the capability of building their own equipment and supplies. It's not like they weren't built to last. Yes, I'm sure that if the Mechanicum had their way, they would soon not be built to last. But right now, they were built strong enough that I could set sail and just keep going. Maybe head for the Andromeda Galaxy. It would take who knows how long, but assuming that galaxy was no better than the Milky Way, well, I could build a new world of government there, a fair one. As far as I was aware, there was no evidence that humanity was only confined to the Milky Way. I had heard once or twice that there had been expeditions to other galaxies, but did they ever come back? Well, those records have been lost across the Imperium.
The only thing that really suggested that there might be thriving colonies of humans beyond the known galaxy was his own ancient texts, which did imply that several galaxies had been colonized at one point or another. Though those texts did tend to be a bit more dramatic than he thought likely to be true.
But the thought of leaving the crusade a bit early or letting another sibling handle it crossed his mind. But I quickly tossed that thought away. As much as I was unhappy with the Administratum's choices and the Mechanicum's influence, the core of the matter was: if there wasn't someone here to call the Mechicum out, it would only get worse.
I needed to stay, just to be a voice and fight against them. To reassure the Emperor that they needed to be removed or at least redesigned to actually function as a government.
Legion Master Shakuni
"Hmm, the planet seems to be burning rather brightly," I muttered as I looked out the window at the once capital of the Rangdan Empire, now nothing but a burning mass of rock.
It had been several weeks since the evacuation had been ordered. Some thought we should have continued the siege and fighting on the planet, while others did not. I fell on the side that didn't care. Fighting for this planet was interesting, and our efforts had gained us access to several rare research materials for our own studies into the effects of the Warp on materials. But it had been too long, and some of them had gained strange abilities.
Yes, we could have learned more. This planet was a treasure trove. But if the Emperor demands that the place be destroyed, the Emperor must be right. We would continue with the research on what we had acquired, such as the strange clockwork mechanism that the second Primarch had handed me to give to the Emperor, which I would do when I had the chance.
As for the rest of the materials, well, time would tell. We had gathered the remains of the temple, and they would be examined, as well as several other strange things that the Rangdan had used either for worship or unknown abilities.
We would have a full and complete indexing of this whole situation, and then we would move on to the next planet that had large amounts of Warp-taint and explore it. That is what our job was, after all.
Well, what we would find was always a mystery. But that's why we did it...
Although I must say, there are some mysteries that bug me to this day, ones that I cannot solve.
Such as the location of our Primarch.
That continuously bugs me. Where were they? Yes, many Primarchs had already been found, and there were many that had not. But I always wondered where ours was. Were they somewhere far away from Terra, or closer? Could they have been somewhere in Rangdan space that we were about to annihilate? That was unlikely. If a Primarch had been in this space, they probably would have already made themselves known.
There was always the temptation to try and use the Warp to locate him. It was obvious that's what the Emperor was doing in a few cases, poking at the Warp and trying to locate his sons. But he hadn't done it for our Primarch. Did that mean he was not very strong, or was he too far away? Was his connection not strong enough? Could we connect to the Primarch? These were all questions that bugged me, driving me to wonder if I should push a little further in our research, than we were technically allowed.
We collected this equipment and tried to figure out ways to neutralize their sources of power. Turning an indestructible blade that thirsts for blood into a normal blade that could easily be damaged was the most normal thing we had to deal with. Could we apply these techniques we had learned to pierce the veil of the Warp and try to locate our Primarch?
There were risks in that, though. Whatever existed in the Warp didn't like us. That was more than apparent by the few attacks that had happened over the years when the Gellar fields had been weakened for one reason or another.
If we tried to use the Warp, there was a risk that something would come through.
Was the risk worth it? Was finding our Primarch worth poking at the Warp in a way that wasn't sanctioned yet?
That was a question that would bug me until I finally made up my mind. On one hand, the Emperor had never told us we couldn't do it. On the other hand, Warp powers were closely monitored within the Legions. Well, most Legions. The Thousand Sons tended to just use Warp powers wherever they wanted, from what I had seen.
Or maybe I should speak with them, see if they knew anything about using the Warp to locate someone. I mean, as long as I didn't actually do it, it's still legal, right?
Questioning was never wrong, after all.
Shaking my head, my mind moved on to other subjects, such as what the hell the Rangdan had been worshiping. It was apparent they really worshiped some sort of goddess, but why did that give them such strength to stand up against the Imperium? It was obvious that this creature had not actually helped them in the long term, and yet they had such certainty that it would come to their aid that they had stuck out the conflict until we had burned their planet to the ground. Oh, the conflict was still going, no doubt. For the next year or so, we would be cleaning up Rangdan colonies that were further to the galactic north.
The fighting would go on and on for as long as they were willing to fight. What strength did this belief in an entity give them? Was it just a foolish belief, or was there some sort of psychic resonance going on here that we were not familiar with?
More questions than I knew I needed the answer for, and looking out at the burning planet, all I could determine was that these questions could wait for another day. A day where we were not so close to such a cursed world, one that may have effects on our minds without us knowing. Stupid, just how Warp-tainted the place was.
Hmm, I did wonder what that last attack was before we had taken the ritual site. What was the point of unleashing a small Warp blast like that with seemingly no effect? It simply caused a psychic backlash among my Legion and the members of the Wolves of Fenris, the Valkyries, who had psychic abilities.
It really didn't stop our advance, didn't even slow it down, so what was the point? What had been their overarching goal?
Were they trying to bait us into using more of the Warp? That seemed to have failed if that was the overarching plan. Unless... unless of course the effects would manifest later. But what effect would that have on us?
Shaking my head, I set aside those theories and thoughts for another day. Turning, I was about to ask one of my seconds in command to take the bridge and let me know once the planet was completely burnt out so we could get on with our day. But for a brief moment, I thought I saw something.
Something in the shadows at the edges of my vision. A wolf-like entity in the darkness, red eyes staring out, watching us with hatred.
I blinked several times, and the apparition all but disappeared by the second blink, making me believe perhaps I'd just been seeing things for a moment. Shaking my head, I rubbed my forehead. Perhaps I had been on the planet for too long. I was seeing things. Most likely, I was tired. I needed to rest.
"Captain, you have control of the bridge," I said, shaking my head, starting to walk towards the dorm.
"Alright, sir," he called as I arrived at the hatch, unlatching it and stepping through, heading towards the quarters set aside for the Legion Master, which was next to the Primarch's quarters, which had not been occupied yet.
It was a shame, not just the fact that we haven't found our Primarch, but I had to admit the room was nice and big. I wouldn't mind having it for myself.
But I tossed those thoughts away. They were improper for my position. I was just the Legion Master until we found our Primarch. I was not the Primarch. I was just temporary. Hmm, I hadn't really thought about that before.
But then again, most Legion Masters were temporary until the Primarch was found. Most of them would then go on to have good careers serving them.
When I think about it, I didn't actually know any Primarch who still had their original Legion Master around. They all seemed to have met some terrible end in the end... Ah, I banished those thoughts as I made my way to my room. I needed rest.
Tanya Russ
'What a goddamn waste,' I thought, looking out the windows down onto the burning planet below.
Orders are orders. That didn't mean I had to be happy watching a potential resource go up in smoke. Yes, the planet was inhabited by bioforms and those creatures, but the people of Fenris were more than willing to fight off those monsters. In my mind, if settled and turned into a potential fortress against another invasion.
It would seem that somewhere along the chain of command, it had been decided to just cut their losses and give up on conquering the Rangdan, and instead, start burning everything to the ground.
Believe it or not, besides being ordered to land on planets we knew would probably result in the population being transformed into monsters, I had not committed many what could be considered war crimes of the 20th century. But this... this one, I think probably could. Yes, it was meant to be a planet, but that's the thing: planet, civilians, military personnel, it didn't matter. It was all getting burnt away.
Theoretically, you could argue that the civilians were providing care and comfort to the enemy forces after they had been defeated, and you could make a good argument for that. But I was not one to delude myself with such illusions.
We were committing total annihilation, a scorched-earth policy because we were tired of fighting them and we wanted to claim this war's victory and be done with it. It was unfortunate, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. When the enemy is this determined, they are going to keep fighting and fighting until it's over. We would have been committing genocide either through a long toil of fighting for ground or through this method. Granted, there were some similarities you could call upon between what happened to Japan in the 1940s. They apparently had, as memory served, created enough Purple Hearts that the United States had no need to produce more until the 90s. That's how expectedly bad the casualties were, and it had been ended by dropping a few city-destroying bombs.
But that was somewhat different. Japan had been alone at that point, her allies destroyed, her assets overseas cut off, and already being invaded by the Soviets.
At that point, it was either surrender to the United States or surrender to the Soviets, and one side was probably going to be nicer to the Empire at that point, as well as the people, considering all the stories about the Soviets.
Here, we didn't have another enemy eating at our borders. We had plenty of extra worlds that were still sending us supplies that were being protected by the Imperium. This war was going to go on until it was over. In essence, destroying this planet was no different than destroying Nagasaki and Hiroshima and then being told, by Japan "We'll fight to the last because we still have our honor to think about."
And unlike the United States, which had limited capabilities to create nuclear weapons at the time, the Imperium had no problem dropping all the world-destroying weapons they had been stockpiling and collecting from various conflicts.
With a sigh, I felt the armor around my shoulders finally let go as Helga lifted it away. The other two girls took off the front plate. It felt good to be out of that thing. Reaching over, I grabbed a heavy alcoholic drink and took a swig before sitting down on the bed, still looking out at the burning world.
"Do you need anything else, My King?" Maria asked as she stood, ready to receive orders.
I shook my head, saying, "Not tonight, girls… not tonight." Turid nodded and quickly departed, leaving me alone with my view.
I know some people would probably be reviewing what they did wrong to cause this outcome, but I didn't do anything wrong. The enemy took too much to break, it became apparent that the enemy just was not going to give up.
So really, all I could do was put it aside. I had other things that would need my attention now—cleaning up the last of the Rangdan's space, destroying any bioforms they left behind, and returning to Fenris to rebuild my forces. Worrying about what could have been was foolish.
With a sigh, taking one last gulp of alcohol, I laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, and tried to make my mind go silent.
I laid back, closed my eyes, and tried to think of happier times back on Fenris, back when things were simpler, when they made more sense. Politically, just kill the monsters and progress civilization.
I could almost feel the cold air—wait, no, I could feel cold. Confused, I opened my eyes and realized I was not in my bedroom. Instead, the starry sky of Fenris was above me. I could tell because the familiar moon of Valdrmani was in orbit, as were a few other constellations I used to guide my steps through the early days.
Confused, I sat up and looked around. Something wasn't right here. I mean, I'd gone from my ship above the orbit of a world that was burning to ashes, so obviously this wasn't right. Was this a dream, a vision? Could I get visions? I never had before, except for that vision quest that reminded me of exactly how I died.
Struggling, I got up, realizing that I was wearing the clothing I'd worn while I ruled Fenris, not my power armor.
This was strange, that was for sure. Looking around, I tried to figure out what was going on before my eyes caught something.
Moving slowly through the woods was a familiar, menacing figure I'd seen only once before in the labyrinth I'd been trapped in for who knows how long. A golden-haired wolf in armor designed for someone smaller than the wolf's size.
The creature moved through the woods before spotting me, tilting its head, and running off in a direction that would take it generally westward.
Tilting my head, I wondered if I should follow. But then I realized that, according to my calculations, from where I was on Fenris, to the west would be the capital city I built all these years.
"Oh hell, I should be able to take care of that," I muttered to myself. "But if this was some sort of vision quest, I might as well run after it and see what the hell is going on."
Wishing I had a weapon, I jogged after the creature, hoping to catch a glimpse of it again. But nothing appeared before I immediately came out of the dense woods and got a view of what should have been my capital city.
Except the capital was gone. Well, there were a small village or two, like they used to be. Then there was the old castle, refurbished quite more than I remember it even before the Emperor showed up.
Something was definitely off. So, I grabbed my cloak, pulling it over my head, and started moving towards the castle, trying to piece together what the hell was going on as I moved ever closer to what sounded like a party.
Quietly, I moved through the castle front yard, finding the guards lacking in their observation skills or just unable to see me.
The halls, at least, were familiar and somewhat comforting as I walked through the place. Well, the battle trophies were somewhat different. Different creatures, larger creatures, more of them, things like that.
It was odd, but I figured I'd find the answer in the main palace room.
Quickly moving through the remainder of the hallways, I found where the party was happening. Opening the door, I came upon a sight that felt familiar yet different. Members of the court, more barbarian than I remember them, enjoying a victorious feast. They all looked like they were having fun. It brought a bit of nostalgia to my mind until I noticed something was off.
At the head of the table sat a man, a big man as big as I am now, with a pair of wolves on either side of him. He was singing some sort of local song, which I barely remembered. His hair was gold, and no, he was not clean-shaven, but he attempted to keep it under control.
"To Leman, the greatest king of Russ!" someone shouted, raising his drink up into the air, and others joined him in the chant.
This Leman character simply smiled and raised his drink, enjoying the atmosphere before his eyes locked on me.
There was a glance of annoyance across his eyes, and then the world went black.
I came to in a burst of motion, crawling out of bed, confused and wondering what the hell all that was about. Getting up, I looked at the window and saw that the once-burning planet was now no longer in my view. In fact, the curtains were shut, indicating that I must have been asleep for hours, and we were off to the next campaign.
Confused and wondering what the hell I just saw, I crawled out of bed and over to a desk, quickly writing down what I remembered. In case, well, in case this was something else I needed to know about. Something else that the Emperor needed to know about in the future.
Marcus
The earth groaned as whatever hell had been unleashed boiled the surface, most likely killing all life up there, a fate that by this point was well deserved. Shaking my head I looked out across my flock of 5000 survivors, not much but enough to rebuild. 5000 faithful who had come to see what we had been blind to in the last few decades.
How did I end up here… five years ago I've been scavenging and running for my life as the mountain fortresses that had once been the pinnacle of pride for the Rangdan Nation were destroyed and taken by the enemy. I had traveled from those mountain fortresses to friendly lines where I told the story of what I had seen, of our Goddess Luna walking amongst the enemy and guiding them. I had been called a charlatan, a madman and a pervert.
Perhaps I was the first two, not sure about the third. I was quite certain those breasts had been larger than my head but no one apparently wanted to believe me.
Well, no one wanted to believe me then but as the war dragged on and both sides suffered, the enemy attempted to offer chances of surrender to our government. It had become apparent that I was not crazy, at least not fully as the great wolfhound Luna herself appeared during those negotiations to try and make our government see reason. But our 'government' spat on her holy message and sent out orders for our troops to never surrender and to never retreat; condemning them and our civilians to an ignominious end. As a true Rangda I did not surrender and I did not retreat. Instead I gathered up a large group of survivors and did the only thing I thought could save us from the inevitable destruction that our leadership was driving us towards. I led a charge directly into the enemy's lines in the dead of night, underneath the full moon's divine light. In the beginning, there had been something like 15,000 of us, but our goal was not to take those enemy held lines. Our goal was to enter the sanctuaries created by our Goddess Luna, hidden deep within the mountain fortresses. In the end only half of us made it through that trial of fire and lead. Those who made it were clearly favored by our Goddess and those who did not, well they were not truly faithful were that time, I could no longer claim things like luck or chance or poor planning. The Faithful and I were surviving and moving, purely on faith. In the Mood Goddess, in Luna the Wolf. Those who lived were faithful, those who died, faithless.
That battle was the first trial. The next trial took longer as we moved through enemy territory, ever deeper towards the mountains. We lost so many… not to bullets, but to the cold. The Blizzard. It was both our protector and our executioner. We were hidden from our enemies, they lost track of us once we got in underneath the cover of the storm. No, that Blizzard had raged ever since the day the enemy came to our planet, was another trial from our Goddess, first came her burning wrath in the form of her warriors, now came her cold fury weeding out those who could not put their full faith and love in her. Sacrifices were made, some abandoning their posessions or food to those stronger, more likely to finish this journey. Finally the remaining faithful reached the broken ruins of the 'great' Rangdan Mountain fortresses. Deep in their depth, where not even I, a soldier who served there, had been permitted, we found the hidden vault deep below. As a soldier assigned to these fortresses I knew where these vaults were. I knew that they were supposedly ancient and honored places of our ancestors, the Rangdan who had defended the planet from the horrors of the Old Night. They were also hermetically sealed layers upon layers of rock, cement and iron woven through the mountain until you came to an area that's near the bottom, sections where there was almost no lights just the faint glow of luminescent algae and phosphorescence scattered here and our own lights running off the little generators and power stations we've been able to scavenge from the upper levels. Here we were protected from the worst of the bombardment, the deafening cracking of the distant earth above us. What sort of weapon was used, I don't know. But the ground rumbled and even in the depths below the mountains we could hear fire roaring. The Rangdan empire died today… and was freeing to know it was gone.
"Mister Chosen, what's happening?" Turning my gaze I saw one of the child soldiers, a girl no older than seven thrown into the lines to protect the empire and now a survivor who had come with me through the enemy's stout defenses, through the storm, and into this place beneith the earth.
"The end of the empire" I said matter of factly "Our Goddess Luna has passed her final judgment, she gave the Rangdan all the chances in the world to surrender, to be brought in to Her Empire. But the government monsters used weapons we did not understand, creatures that should never have been unleashed, and ignored her pleas and now Taxal herself pays for their sins."
The girl nodded her head understanding that Ragnarök had come to the people above. An old doomsday term that seems to work rather specifically for this event in my mind, why, I wasn't sure but this was what it meant as far as I was , and Fire, and the Judgment of the Gods.
"What are we doing now?" I looked to my left as one of the other survivors came forward. Former military officer Verran was higher rank than me but someone who would come to believe in the Faith. If not for him and the other soldiers who joined us, we would never would have made it through the lines of the enemy. It took a lot of faith to get them to believe me, that the only chance of our survival, and the survival of our species was to push into their lines and find the hidden vaults under the mountains. Deep inside the center of the Storm. Hopefully the other fortresses were in as good condition as the one we now sheltered in. There were hundreds of vaults scattered throughout the mountain range deep under the earth protected from Luna's Ragnarök. All vaults had the capability to provide their own clean air, water and food. The only problem was that many of them were not connected to each other, as that project had never been finished. Instead the military builders focused on the projects to connect the mountain fortresses above. The construction had been completed for the most part, though most had just been roads on the surface and something told me the mountain fortresses that were exposed to the surface would not be safe or usable in any future time.
"We are the faithful!" I said standing up using my rifle as a walking stick as I moved over towards an ancient monument, one depicting Luna holding a battle ax.
"Ragnarök was unleashed on us, for we have broken the laws of man. Unleashing creatures and monsters to try and maintain an ancient Republic that had all long since died. By her guidance we have been protected in these mountains, which were abandoned by the warriors that serve Luna. The storm above, a gift from our Goddess will protect us from the fires of Ragnarök. The flames may burn the surface of Taxal along with the traitors and heretics. But here? Here in the mountains underground we the faithful will be safe, nourished and nurtured by the waters summoned by Luna herself."
There was a collective nod of agreement from many around me seeming to believe my point. I'm not sure if I believed my points but we needed something to keep ourselves going down here and I truly believed something was looking out for us the best it could. I don't know if that warrior goddess that I had seen was really Luna herself, but I did know though if she ever saw me I'd probably be dead, I had killed her warriors and return she unleashed her wrath, freezing the mountains solid with her some miracle or mercy I had been able to make it deep enough into the mountain that I had survived. At least that was what I thought sometimes, but then perhaps I've been chosen, my encounter on the mountain a sign, something to bring me back, something to put the fear of Her into me, to guide me back onto the true path. And to lead those who would follow; looking around at the faces around me I smiled. The best I could do to maintain my own sanity and I would take it and run with it as far as I could.
Walking up to the ancient statue I put my hand on the square pedestals. "The time of the Rangdan empire is over. We will find a new identity, a new name for what we are. We will live down here and rediscover what it means to be a servant of Luna. It's my belief that the Blizzard above us will protect us, perhaps even restart the biosphere of the planet after the destruction is done."
"Luna will protect us then" Verren said matter of factly "You were right about breaking through the enemy lines, you were right about these old fortress mines, you were right that we would survive, and I'm willing to believe that you are right about Luna. Whatever she sent after you in those mountains perhaps it has given you some sort of sight of her will. I don't know but you've been right so far and I will continue to follow you and whatever this uncertain future brings."
I chuckled before putting my hand out onto his shoulder, "Thank you my friend" I turned to the others, hundreds, thousands waiting to hear my words. Faces lean with hunger, bodies broken and injured by cold, by war, and by sickness. But in their eyes, pure Faith, burning certainty in the rightness of our cause. "We must search the caves for resources, find clean water, clean food, and medical supplies. Supposedly there were factories built down here for weapon it's normal weapons, they could be useful. If they are the foul bioweapons of the Govornment we must destroy it. Those accursed things are what caused the end of us; we must not let it cause the end of our next iteration."
There were a dozen yes sirs and lots of agreement and Verran turned to his men saying "you heard the Priest get to work." Soldiers broke up into their units and got to work. Calling them soldiers was a bit of a misnomer since many of them were women and children who had been drafted into what was once the Proud Taxal Home Guards.
"Priest" I said amused by the new title.
"Got to call you something. I ain't going to call you the Senate, the last guy who was called that led us into this war to begin with."
I chuckled before nodding "Then the only other thing I can think of is; there were always rumors of ancient artifacts down here. Dating back to before the Old Night." I turned to the statue depicting a rather barbarian outfit on the goddess Luna compared to the heavy armored warrior I had seen. "This is proof that something is down here, perhaps there is some sort of relic hidden deep underground by our ancestors that can help us rebuild the planet, maybe some form of terraforming technology that we can reactivate."
Verran nodded before saying "It's worth a try Priest." He turned to his men "You heard the Priest search for any ancient tech while you're at it, perhaps there's something that we can use to rebuild the world above, now get to work."
Smiling, I started to turn from the statue though as I did I swore I saw a light in the eyes, a blue glow causing me to turn to it quickly but it was gone as quickly as it came. I gazed at the statue's head as I wondered what that light was. Perhaps Luna herself was using the structure to look upon us. Did that mean we had her blessing? Considering the statue did not come alive and cut me in half with its battle ax, well then that was a good sign I determined. This is where we belonged and this is where we would rebuild. Luna has judged us the remaining worthy of her love and in time we will rise from the ashes of Taxal and rejoin the galaxy.
Writers note: oh boy look like admistromtom made a move… tnaya not going to like that… and we got to learn some interesting things… both about are enemy anre allies… and are hero… what thoses things mean… well only time will decipher it. But i will say… things are going to get interesting.
Please comment, review, and generally enjoy yourselves…
Edited by: l,Golden, Mecharic, Ghost-339
Community edited by: tigers-telling-tails
Community editable doc (Chapter) No story suggestions in the community editing document, Keep all story suggestions and comments in the thread
Supporters: Afforess, Gremlin Jack, Xodarap4, Duncan Sproule, James Moorhouse, Dankermaler, Hats88, DrkShdow, Devilstar101, Michael, Mana Rope, Falk Hüser, Silver Wolf, Mackenzie Buckle, Neso, Lmc9389, Staradder, KrasieK, Zollus, Jog256, Ethan Dowie, Maxim Blashkevych, The GrandMage, loyalChaos, Daryl, FreelancerD0, Zul The Lich, Retexks, John Norman, Ian R Major, Dale, Darth Vendar, BigKumaDM, Taylor Tilbury, Treant Balewood, Aske Helsted, Sam, Brandon Goodman, BarrettSlayer, Guillermo Echeverria, D3ad0s, Pulse Rager, Lago, CB-Otaku, Adam Daw, Michał Kotuła, Louis Kasser, Arkhad, H2os, Pontus, Zahael, Nathan Cardoso, Lightstorm, Endymion2314, harry Nevel, William, Legion_13, Beautiful Winter, Mrsmall0170, MysteryCPU, Seadrake, MinnieMin, Lictor Magnus, Michael Hill, King Henry V, Bill Romero Diaz, Matthew D, Adrian Black, Reagin Haley, Bishop Rikor, Jake Serna, Contrary, Santeri Oripelto, MeowATron9000, milky, Fischer Davis-Hagen, Aaron, Kenny Nguyen, Robolo42, Chernobog, Michael Forsyth, Jan Mantsch, Creampuff, Ignacio Martínez, Desphyx, Libois kurt, kalistira, arnumart
Reviews
evilstatistic19: it would appear they did not... but not for lack of trying
BallsCheesy: will do
end5: thank you
hunterelliskeith: your welcome
Spartastic 4: Operation Orb or Computation Jewel
Guest: anything possible the next ark may give her 2...
Just a Crazy-Man: nukes? small fryes
candrariski155: no idea
sawtooth44: who knows
Trng Hai Dang: 2?
Gold1992: correct
Blaze1992: maybe?
Blaze1992: my brain naturally thinks of the most wild shit