Immaterium, ???
"Just how stupid would you have to be?" Erebos while confined to his realm was able to peek through the peephole of his cage, so he was studying the newcomers invasion of the- them.
Them. Oh how he despised Them above all other disposable beings in that galaxy. Though excited at the incoming destruction of Them the newcomers were acting like ama- oh... I guess they are.
Disorganized and with the wrong approach to conquer was the flaw for him to examine. The newcomers were being too conservative they certainly had caught Them off guard but instead of pushing their advantage they decided to try and salvage their minimal losses.
Their ships hovered above the crashed behemoths that streaked the city. All clustered together there and around the gates they would be easy targets for Them. They should've begun the purging of all assets that could mount a threat to the ground forces now, not after they decided to hide away in the underbelly of the city.
Erebos briefly pondered if making the multiple crashed ship's reactors explode would focus them on the correct course of action, but they chastised themselves, they were being too hasty since they were dealing with that cesspool of a race.
Erebos felt the pleasant thought of the scum's coming destruction come to an end with a visitor ripping themselves through to his realm.
"Erebos" They turned to find a member of the unseen council. Wonderful people of the order who had similar ideas to his own but limited in vision and scope. They were the ones to loosen Erebos's shackles in the first place and in turn they would receive a fixed dimension.
A bow preludes Erebos's words "Council member. What is the news?"
"The unseen council has voted on whether to continue your plan. In the regards of your intervention with the merging, the decision will be made at a later chronological time. We will assess the affects"
"What?! You expect us to assess? To just sit around and just watch, look at them! They should've been able to wipe this place from existence by now! Without my guidance it'll be pointless"
The council member's tone remained unchanged "We are uncertain on why you chose that particular dimension to meddle with one of the originals. There were other better candidates for the merge" Erebos tried to respond but was cut off "The council does see merit in this merge, however, the vote was close. Therefore the council plans to assist your matters discreetly, but outside of your realm"
Erebos scowled within their mind. The order didn't know that Erebos had breached through their barrier and was able to meddle somewhat. Having another pair of eyes on the newcomers would definitely lead to the order finding out about their project. They needed to think, fast.
"Might I suggest an alternative opinion?" The council member whose form was covered by a robe almost revealed their face as they looked upward for him to continue.
"Let the scenario play out by itself. I'll contact you if something were to go catastrophic but if we meddle in their favour on every little issue then how will the benefactor learn on how to do it correctly? There's no need for a member of the order to get involved"
"But you were just trying to get yourself involved. Are you exempt from the prohibition on 'meddling' as you put it?"
A slight pang of annoyance hit them. "A member of the order need not intervene. Your ilk asked me to fix this mess your council allowed to happen and I am able to do so without stepping on your oh so precious rules. Having one of you here would put your council in an... awkward position if they themselves were found to be involved directly".
The council member began to form the door to leave Erebos's realm and as they turned to leave they spoke for the final time "I shall bring your ideas to the council. Keep watching as you are now, but don't intervene under any circumstances"
With a flash the door disappeared and once again Erebos was alone in their realm. The side gig had gone unnoticed and maybe they would get a little more leeway... well at least legal permission to do what he already did. A singular thought sputtered from the... whatever Erebos was.
"Prick"
The webway, Commoragh, above the wreck of the Icarus's Courage, the Vancouver, Bridge
The display board had turned into a cake with the sprinkling of red alerts that showed downed ships. Raiding parties of fighters were being turned into targets for the quicker and more agile Drukhari skimmers.
Only battle groups were spared the onslaught of pestering as the hunting groups returned with their attempted boarders breaking off.
Watching them return was Sarah Briggs who watched her dream of a quick naval victory shatter before her very eyes. It had been... "PAU how long has phase 1 been active?"
"53 hours. Thankfully it seems that most wrecks are being protected by the slave population. I'm surprised at how quickly they were able to build a fighting force, but it seems a few groups have scavenged some old imperial weapons that were destined for the scrapyard"
Reports were flicked over for the admiral to gaze upon. A few were live videos being captured by the repair drones that swarmed over the wrecks. One showed a few professional soldiers wearing imperial guard armour cobbled together from over 9 different regiments training civilians in the use of a lasgun. One of the civvies accidentally shot the drone that was recording them and another drone showed that civvie getting yelled at.
A few saw some of the races described by the Eldar being segregated into ramshackle prisons of the imperials, some were being given sticks and told to go die for the emperor, and a few groups were just being shot on sight. One of the drones caught her eye though.
A completely separated group on the other side of the city was comprised by those sworn to the Tau. It showed 2 Tau children sitting against a wall leaning onto either side of an imperial soldier. The soldier had a crudely scratched Tau emblem on their armour. All three had fallen asleep within their camp and the distant explosions caused the children to cling to the armour of the guardsman.
While comforting to watch the main problem lied in the feed of the captured crew of the UNE. The humans were being barraged with questions from various hubs of 'command' personnel that had formed from the slaves. The other species of the CA were being watched from afar with a few receiving the occasional potshots as they tried to reconnect to the command. Synthetic crew members were being held hostage within the crowds with a mixture of worship and suspicion being thrown about by the abductors.
Realizing that PAU had been trying to get her attention for a minute she tried to focus albeit to little success. "I'm sorry PAU could you repeat that last part?"
"Battlegroup Jester is reporting no further contact. We're ready to start phase 2"
"Do a scan for any further large enemy naval elements. We need to be sure during the drop"
"Scanning now... ... it's going to take a bit admiral, you should probably get some rest"
"Feeling pity for the old woman PAU?" Cocking an eyebrow with her response
"You need rest. The scan has to get all the way into the underbelly. Turns out our estimates for how deep it ran were much lower than reality"
The admiral half gestured to the feed of the droids "We need to coordinate on how to handle the slaves first"
"Ma'am with all respect I have that handled, our recovery and diplomatic teams have already been sent out"
"When did that happen?" Her words were slightly slurred. Lethargy was stating to kick in now upon the mention of sleep, and Sarah fought to keep her back straight and eyes open.
"A few minutes ago. They're being deployed from our aid ships" Sarah's mind raced for another compelling reason for why she was still needed on the ship but the ai began to usher the near dead admiral to the door. "I got it. Don't worry"
Trodding to her quarters she passed by bustling crew members and active machinery until Sarah reached her private quarters.
PAU began the next step for the plan. The order for the missile barrage went throughout the fleets.
Commoragh, middle spires, Jokui market
Eight out of the original twenty gladiators from the Moedh Stair had survived the crash. One lacerai four Yraqnae and 3 Hydrae. Out of twenty.
The Wyches didn't have time to mourn the loss of their sisters as the drive to keep moving deeper into the city trumped over their grief.
The city had always been chaos but what was once something to be taken advantage of had turned to anarchy. Fires raged clogging the packed streets and alleys with its chemical smoke. Slaves ran rampant with crude weapons butchering anyone who deviated from themselves.
There had been nine of them originally who survived their skiffs crash, but Corrielia had been struck by a lucky shot from a mon-keigh. The once proud wyches now hurried through the market square picking whatever remained.
A thunderous crash ripped through the market scattering what remained of the stalls and sending shards of pavement through the air. Protruding from the market like a giant spear was clearly a missile. But the wyches reacted within the second and soon everybody dove for cover.
The wyches wondered if the mon-keigh's aim had improved or if they were lucky yet again but they dove for deeper and a little farther-awayer cover.
Thoughts of running away slowly drained as the seconds ticked by. The missile didn't explode. Risking a glance over the cover the wyches stared at the object. Perhaps the explosive had malfunctioned?
Then the noise started. It was definitely a mon-keigh instrument it banged like a primitive drum. It's noise began to get distorted, and a migraine blossomed within their temples.
Once the noise settled in their discomfort... it got a lot louder. The pain had fully bloomed within their minds. Like nails scratching against their minds the pain sent only but the most tolerant amount their number to a state of near paralysis, and those who resisted did not fare much better.
The wyches had not felt this kind of pain in ages due to their mostly pain filled lives caused by the concoctions of drugs they used to enhance themselves. Unlike the pain that some took pleasure in taking, this pain had no pleasure to be reaped not even from each other.
In this paralyzed state they were unable to notice nor resist what emerged from the pod. An Independent Robotic Operator (class 3 AI) strode out of the missile in its compacted form. Its bulky form unpacked itself and strode throughout the route that was decided. Coming across the wyches the robot decided that they were meant to be quick hit and run fighters. To diminish their ability it used its left arm to crush the legs of the enemies.
Dragging them closer to the missile the machine began its scouting procedure by scanning the buildings with its various life detection tools.
Seeing no further life within the vicinity the machine deemed the area clear and sent the signal to the ship that had launched it.
UNE carrier King Robert's Boat, launch bay
Signal green. The bay unsealed its doors like a rib cage peeling back to reveal first the warmachines. Clamps released and the titanic weapons of the invaders descended onto the market below.
Next came the troop pods launching fourty marines at the time. Each one was compiled of mainly Human marines much to the resentment of the UNE as the request for more help from the CA had been denied besides a few couple hundred troops. Though not every person in the UNE was human every human was in the UNE and the sheer amount of population growth that humanity held over the other species did cause this disparity in troop compositions.
Within these troop carriers made up of humans weren't thoughts of the mission nor the fact that they had no real reason to be here besides moral ones. No what was instead on their minds were the thought of throatblades. Soldiers revered and maybe a little feared their presence had confirmed the unknown importance of their mission.
But not knowing why they were here was part of the job and as the troop carriers descended the shakes came. Though very reduced the near orbital drop into the city caused the carrier to rattle violently with the air pushing against their shields. Though perfectly safe the nature of shields meant that while they couldn't be harmed from the drop the carrier could still feel the force of the descent to the ground.
Seconds passed before the doors opened and the troops streamed out of the carrier either diving for cover or for those who actually read what was being reported by the warmachine pilots casually walking out served equally well.
Once the area had been checked three then four times came the giant firebase. A massive metal box simply shot into the ground instead of being gently placed like normal meant that the metal welding arms pieced the machine together. Within a minute the market had been turned into a fortress with a small army to boot.
Recovering the prisoners the soldiers were surprised at their current condition. With broken legs and in the worst case of withdrawal they had seen seemingly paralyzed in pain more veteran soldiers recognized the logic and shot side glances at the metal IRO.
This scene repeated itself throughout the city with slight deviation. The soldiers that were on the ground felt a little outnumbered as the hulking forms of the seven feet tall IROs dominated over the landscape. Unthinking killing machines created by people who knew how to incur fear, the machines looked like a blocky metal demon trying to resemble the human form.
But with troops safely on the ground the task to begin sweeping through the undercity loomed over the troops. First came the establishment of the fire bases though.
Small skitterbots streamed out of the main hulk of metal. Ferrying parts and modifications the cat sized bots created fortifications, monowire and mine blockades, automated defences, and the firebase itself. The hulk now more of a building was now operational with more defences being added to the roof.
The soldiers were given orders to advance on emplacements that would've still been paralyzed by the time they arrived.
Walking through the streets the soldiers felt saw the labyrinth of spires and the skyscape seemingly dominated by a city that defied logic and physics. Descending into the rabbit hole the soldiers felt the silence, and what should've been an easy mission turned into a foreboding omen as the pure silence that greeted them was more unnerving than gunfire or the fires.
Just pure silence.
Dimension 467-H, Sol system, Backyard central space station, command centre
The Backyard station was one of the most important man-made celestial bodies. It is a hub of trade for those who wish to tap into the human markets and a traffic control centre for the millions of ships that go around the gleaming pupil and namesake of the UNE. To say that this station made the void culture a respected thing in the galaxy is an understatement.
But before it was a symbol for humanity it was a shipyard. And though the station had the image of a beaming culture, its original purpose was defence. Hidden behind a mask of trade lied an array of weaponry that had been maintained since the reclamation of Sol.
The splinter of the chaos fleet that slipped through the new wormhole took the bridge crew by surprise. Being stationed in the heart of a federation tended to make one complacent with danger. The commander stared at the display showing the red lines chugging out of the wake of the wormhole.
But the station wasn't surprised. It had been ready for combat since its restoration. Defence platforms were quick to react but the munitions that could actually damage their enemy from this distance would also obliterate the freighter traffic that the chaos fleet charged through.
Following behind them was the Admiral Machem's fleet hot on their trails. The seasoned admiral had lances of energy fire into the engines stopping the acceleration of the ships but even then they still floated forward.
Traffic had already been halted as the automated in-system freighters left a widening gap for the fleet to be enunciated by.
A few beams from the station and the chaos marine ships which had been the most dangerous threat in the sector stopped dead in their tracks. Ten thousand years to be trapped in a place with no warp.
A few more beams from the ship began to cut away the frankly embarrassing resistance the chaos fleet put up, an awkward silence fell between the station the chaos fleet and Admiral Machem's scrounged ships.
But we'll get to that 'minor' diplomatic incident later, back to BDSM city!
Commoragh, orbit?, The Vancouver, Medical bay 1
Tossing and turning in his bed H'aras felt more than he should have. Normally his connections to those around him stopped. They didn't now.
Every ounce of rage, every agony, and occasionally a speck of pleasure shot their way into the councillors mind. He could feel the city's pain and yet the councillor was able to keep calm... somewhat.
This state of sensitivity had been plaguing him since his unintended outburst. He'd been trying to find the cause of this new affliction that had entered his mind.
Swimming through the mess of thoughts and emotions H'aras concentrated himself to not get caught in the web. Slowing down could make him be trapped in their pain for a long time.
The old psychic eventually glimpsed the prey he'd been searching for. That faint golden spark darted throughout the web bouncing of the emotions and memories. It seemed happy and unknowing of the hunter that stalked it.
Jumping off H'aras managed to clasp the spark in his grip before it could dart away. He'd been chasing the spark since it had entrapped H'aras within his own mind, but finally his patience had been rewarded.
H'aras could feel the spark bounce between his clasped hands trying to escape. But the psychic slammed his palms together and for a brief moment saw what he was feeling.
Millenniums of agony and suffering, desperation leading to debauchery. Victims with no one to scream their fate to now had an unwilling outlet. A calm shore of voices had grown to a raging tsunami. Millions told him their fate and H'aras; a councillor and therapist, would probably need therapy after this. H'aras saw the city's history, its present, and a small glimpse of the future.
A hero defeats a villain through the power of evil. A betrayer from our first friends and our hero's escape. And a long journey to rescue the betrayer's protector.
Thrown out of the vision, his mind, and his medical bed the ancient reptile crumpled onto the floor, as the much fuller medical ward witnessed a man will himself out of a coma.
The Vancouver, Bridge
PAU's optimism had slowly been eaten away by the reports that followed their landing. Urban warfare wasn't fun, nor was having to deal with the slave bands that shot at anything was different than them. But the architecture itself seemed to cause pain to their plans, the spires and spikes caused any of the soldiers heads to hurt if they looked at it for too long.
With every step the soldiers took into the underbelly a trap or ambush that was impossible to anticipate sprung. Every building had some kind of mini fortress built into it and no matter the situation the defenders always acted beyond prediction. The mental toll of having to witness the untethered insanity of their fighting forces wasn't pleasurable for anyone involved. But the worst were the displays of 'artwork' new or old that the Drukhari had to offer for their invaders.
His frustration was furthered by the reports of what he had to deal with. An entire battalion lost while trying to capture a coliseum that unknowingly contained... "drugged up psycho bitches?" Great. Or the warmachine that had been taken down by a melee warrior jumping off a skiff to accidentally skewer a plasma ammunition container that had blown up the entire plaza.
PAU recognized that this guerrilla war was going to grind their advance to dust, and the strategy to avoid this was to further deploy warmachines that would cause unneeded damage to... well, everything.
The one kernel of good news that was absorbed into the literal giga-brain of the AI was the success of the coordinated strike team sent to capture the Drukhari leader. But the AI quickly went back into frustration as the event's details that were reported.
Retrieving UNE File... ...
File found, File name: History of Earth: Pre second space age
Tensions had been building on Earth with increasing proxy wars and consumption problems only adding to the troubling inferno.
The nuclear exchange of 2099 was lessened by the early detonation in orbit of the missiles heading for: New York, Austin, Vancouver, Minsk, Gomel, Łódź, Katowice, and Taipei city. With such key targets being missed by the nuclear fire the Chinese Soviet Union was effectively capitulated, and NATO was deemed the victor. Then nuclear winter began so no one cared who won the war.
With no nations fully unscathed by the nuclear exchange and the world's food sources about to drastically reduce martial law was introduced by the UN. Once a more passive force the UN put a forced federalization unto all active powers due to the seeming catastrophic actions of both sides.
Taking the world under martial law the UN reformed and federalized into one nation and lead the shattered remnants of Earth into its next age, but the subsequent forced peace came at a cost.
Many freedoms and liberties held by the populace of Earth were stripped away. Freedom of movement, expression, and freedom to a fair trial were abandoned as they were deemed too logistically infeasible. These horrific violations of the basic principles of the UN were protested. Those protestors were never seen again, and a revolution was only averted by some of the worst police state crackdowns ever enforced.
The nuclear winter devastated Earth's food production and the teetering environment was sent into oblivion. Such conditions made severe rationing, forceful relocation and public punishment or executions commonplace.
The revolution timer which was at a boiling point waned as the conditions improved gradually, as the climate crisis slowly allowed a greater surplus of food and the temperature let man reclaim lost territory.
The actual death toll of this dark origin for the UNE still remains unknown but even the most conservative estimates points to a figure of 3 billion people being killed or 'not profitable for rations' by the regime.
It was only in 2144 did Earth officially come off of martial law. In total 449 different government officials were charged with abuse of authority and were put into the penitentiary for life. Whether such horrible cutbacks on civil liberties were necessary for Earth's survival still remains at the head of contention.
"Never did I believe the things we did were right. No one at the meetings or at the board tables would even bring up such a debate for we knew the answer. When faced with extinction we knew what we had to do, what horrible acts we would have to commit for our survival. If I were sitting in that chair your honour, I would condemn me to the worst pit in all of hell as well, but we knew that we wouldn't be treated as the saviours of our species once we were done. We were monsters... and I don't regret it nor do I expect forgiveness"
-DATA EXPUNGED giving testimony to court in during the Birmingham trials
Ok so that was fun eh? I sure do love making my faction have problems it's really fun to write. So we got a whole lotta prefacing for the next chapter where imma take the story after. I think we'll do a snapshot of a mech pilot before Christmas, and the third final chapter of this ark before the new year. I also want people to thank ExcaliburShooter as they've been a great help in giving obscure bits of lore I would never have known about. As always give me feedback about numbers and I'll incorporate it in the future. Have good November fellas, and stay strong as the month is almost over.