Dimension 004a, Segmentum Obscurus, The Pandemonium Spiral, UNE battle group 3, Fleet 1, Flagship/assault coordinator, the Superheavy Juggernaut Vancouver
The bridge was a flurry of activity. The riot in the prison block was still being quelled during transit, as their fleets would only go undetected for so long.
Time was the essence of the current strategy. Information about the Drukhari led CentCom to believe that they were using some kind of divination to outwit their craftworld kin.
But Sarah had the wonderful job of explaining their entire invasion plan to the assembled Aeldari council within her conference room, an amalgamation of representatives from every craftworld that could send envoys in time.
It became awkward as progress reports on the riots would very violently interrupt Sarah's explanation of how they were going to try to coordinate the largest invasion in their history, while they were struggling to quell a prison riot.
Nonetheless, she'd continue with her objective, making sure the council approved their plan to be ethically carried out.
"From the records, Kaelor has given us we've determined the capital world of the Drukhari to be... quite large, and to properly invade the city we'd need over three-quarters of all our current active ground military assets. However we can only go unnoticed, so the current plan is to invade through every webway exit throughout the galaxy" The hologram before them marked the 2 dozen gates throughout the galaxy.
"Our hyperdrive technology is going to be crucial for this first step as once we've entered we're going to jump inside the warp" A Biel-tan representative leaned forward.
"Are you insane?" The other members of the council continued their collective scrutinizing stare at the admiral, taking this as encouragement the Biel-tan rep continued their criticism.
"Aside from the fact you wish to enter the webway through every gate in the galaxy, you also plan to" he paused to look down at a datapad that'd been provided "hurl a significant portion of your navy through the psychic hellscape that is the warp?"
Sarah forced a smile and pushed an explanation through gritted teeth "We plan to combine the jump with more tachyon tethers spread throughout the fleet at a different frequency. It'll allow us to take advantage of the psychic nature of the warp to phase through whatever solid matter is present within the plane"
Unlike the rest of the representatives present the one from Biel-tan was armored, so Sarah had to stare them down through the lenses of their helmet.
Another representative spoke up "And you believe you'll be able to invade and occupy the capital city of the Drukhari with the forces you have available?"
The question was of pointed concern. Sarah knew she didn't have enough manpower to invade the city, and with her recent naval requisitions, the senate was refusing her request for more forces. This forced the invasion to rely on warmachines, but using them carried grave effects
"We believe our current technological superiority in mechanical warfare will lead us to adequate success"
The representatives didn't seem relieved but lacked any further questions Sarah continued with the plan.
"Once we've successfully boxed in the enemy forces we'll destroy all naval elements as a prelude to the ground engagement" the hologram switched to simulated naval combat scenarios spread throughout the gargantuan city.
"However with the density of slaves and civilians in every nook and cranny of this place any kind of stray shell or laser will carry disastrous consequences" the hologram showed a tachyon lance penetrating through a building leaving the top half separated and come crashing down through the bottom half
"In order to prevent this only our corvettes and destroyers will be engaging, with our cruisers and battleships acting as a rear guard" Sarah then paused and mustered the courage to present the unorthodox part of the plan
"Once we've secured naval superiority our inserting ground forces shields cannot last against their flak elements, so we're going to clear the way for our landing parties using this" the hologram switched to a missile causing the Alaitoc representative to interrupt
"Did you fail to remember the civilians already Mon-keigh? Don't tell me you already forgot" Sarah waited a few seconds to respond as she knew they would hate this part of the plan no matter what she said.
"We can't just teleport our entire army down there, as the during transport process you can still be shot and attacked. Besides this modified missile has had all ordinance replaced with batteries and the most powerful sound system we have" the hologram dissected the missile to show its inner parts to the council.
"We plan to blast some disruptive sound waves, loudly. So loud it'll cause disorientation and nausea to anyone within four kilometres of it, and with the amount we've manufactured this is the current spread" the hologram showed the missiles being launched from the fleets, with at least a quarter being shot down by flak elements. Once landed a radius spread and overlapped from the network of sound systems.
The council turned inward to the Kaelor representative talking in Aeldari so the admiral who'd been forbidden to bring a translator couldn't understand
The tone used by the council was undeniably harsh, but to their credit, the Kaelor representative bore the language until they appeared to make their point. The Kaelor rep had a much shorter and calmer response which led to the council turning back to the admiral awaiting continuation
"With the batteries, they have installed the missiles can last for at least an hour, but we'll cut them shortly after 20 minutes to prevent possible side effects to anyone within the radius. During those minutes an orbital drop will incur with our ground forces reaching touchdown after six minutes have passed" the hologram followed her explanation showing F.O.B.s being set up, perimeters being established, and ground forces mobilizing to secure vital areas around them
"From then on its a slow advance onto key sectors to surround and separate the remaining forces, divide and conquer"
A council member spoke up "You haven't told us where you need our assistance yet. You spoke of navigational assistance being necessary but with your current resources, you are adequately equipped for the invasion"
"Our long-term invasion relies on the Drukhari forces to have their attention split between fighting back or fleeing. In order to prevent themselves from getting organized we need to create chaos in the central command structure. The only person who could create such a vacuum of leadership..." she paused as she pulled up her final hologram of their target "Is the Archon of the black heart, Asdrubael Vect"
Askellon sector, Port Aquila, High admiral chambers
"I see you finally decided to kill me" Admiral Machem slammed the orders down on high admiral Laurice Gevyina desk.
"Oh please. An imperial ship trailing the xeno's fleet gets captured by a third party and we lose contact with them shortly afterwards. This kind of mission is right up your alley"
"Not just an imperial ship, high admiral. A high-ranking inquisitor's ship, who was trailing the bloody Eldar" the high admiral lost her amusement with a sigh
"Admiral Machem. We've received a message from the Imperium Sanctus... it was from the Adeptus Custodes. 'As of imperial decree, all anomalies within the Imperium Nihilis territory shall be investigated for interests concerning the state" Admiral Machem wasn't amused
"How were the custodes able to get that message through? It could be false communication sent by the ruinous powers" the high admiral put her feet on top of the desk and began to inspect her fingernails not bothering to show interest in his theory
"One: they were using scrolls and parchment carried by giant golden men carrying the message to my office, as for how they managed to deliver the scrolls to all the stations... they're custodes. Two: we have no grounds to reject the order and this most certainly counts as an anomaly. Three: I have no one else who can properly investigate it without dying... so tough shit admiral you're leaving as soon as you vacate from my room"
Admiral Machem knew that this was a mistake but he'd been screwed over by Gevyina before, and he knew the casual demeanour was a front. Any further resistance would result in nothing. Scowling as he left the office he heard one last thing from the high admiral.
"Try not to die Machem. I can't make fun of a dead guy. It would seem dishonourable"
Dimension 467H, UNE space, Yukalor system, Yukalor 6, Former contingency world
The group of marines escorted a small entourage of mechanical experts: three mechanics, two roboticists, and two constructors from the Ralteki technological institute.
The group had been contracted by the CA for one purpose: to revive the production lines of the contingency and repurpose them for civilian aid.
Since the age of crises, the contingency worlds had been proposed to be destroyed twice, but the mechanical self-run factories were too valuable to be destroyed. Nineteen worlds were kept under lock and key, dormant, sleeping hives of machinery waiting for the next order of killer robots to be placed.
These were the thoughts bouncing around the minds of technical experts as they were led through the dark facility by trigger-jumpy marines.
Eventually, the group found the control room which appeared to be a giant black cube covered in transmitter nodes. The 'brain' was connected to the other nineteen factory worlds.
Uneasily the crew began to set up their equipment and connect them to the inorganic brain. Then it was a delicate process of disconnecting the brain from the contingency network and reprogramming it with the new designs.
Eventually, after six hours of nerds sweating and marines standing around bored the brain responded. All at once the dormant machines began to spool as the factory came to life.
In near-perfect synchronization nineteen factory worlds resurrected themselves. They began to collect materials and reconfigure themselves into producing the necessary supplies.
The machines began to thump with productivity as the marines and engineers exited the facility, and it was continuing to only grow in noise as more facilities became online.
It would only be minutes before medical supplies, freeze-dried rations, Radiation resistant clothing, and pre-fab shelter modules began to move about the systems. Automated drones spewed from the factory worlds as they carried cargo to the empty systems.
Entire uncolonized planets began to form into empty cityscapes. Tiny skitter constructors swarmed over the metal and patched the seams into these new cities. Waiting for people to fill its streets and homes the machines set up water purifiers and electrical grids.
It took two days to turn the balls of matter that spun around burning spheres of plasma into lit-up homes. Class 3 AI's and below were ferried into the systems on mass as, the people of the various nations throughout the galaxy wondered why twenty-two worlds were colonized, as the previously uninhabited planets became a focus point for news networks who all speculated what they were for.
Concanid system, theVancouver, Medical bay 1
Florence walked away annoyed from the receptionist's desk who'd denied him entry to see his councillor. Something about how he needed rest after a psychic outburst? Why is there so much psychic shit happening with everyone?
Florence felt overwhelmed. Every approach to learning more about the things that were happening failed. Needing some kind of assistance he decided on an old method.
"Finger four this is Finger one please respond over" Florence hadn't really seen any members of his squad in the past few days, while he felt bad reaching out only now he knew he could count on one person to not hold it against him. Franco.
"Finger one this is Finger four, what's your pos, over?"
"I'm currently leaving Med Bay 1 en route to barracks. Current post, over?"
"Waiting for you in the pit, we got new orders Finger one, over"
"On my way. over and out"
Increasing his pace Florence felt someone staring into his back and gave a quick glance to reveal... no one.
Stopping to look around showed the normally busy halls were surprisingly quiet with only a few milling about, but Florence still felt someone's presence boring into him.
Attempting and failing to shake off the uneasy feeling of being watched Florence continued onwards to meet with Franco.
The Vancouver felt relieved as she watched the passenger continue his trek through her halls. Something had drawn her attention to that one in particular like a golden worker ant in a colony, he attracted attention. She'd so desperately wanted to talk with the passenger, but the admiral had given her strict orders to not reveal her presence to the crew.
But that didn't limit Vancouver as the silent machine spirit continued to stalk the passenger to see where he was going.
Immaterium, ?
Watching Florence had proven fruitful. If he'd been able to talk to the Jas'gavas it would've been disastrous, too much information at once could've distracted him from what Erebos had planned for him.
He felt a little remorseful at the little manipulation he was forced to do, but all would be necessary for the project.
Erebos shifted his gaze over to the next players he had set up. It was amusing to see the arrogance of the chaos fleet as they steamed ahead towards the unknowingly dangerous system.
But there was another on course for the Concanid system, an imperial fleet from the little outpost? He'd made sure that the custodes had delivered their messages, but a response like this... this would change things.
As he analyzed this new development it turned from a surprise into a problem. The imperials would show up during the battle with the traitors. This could lead to further contact with the imperial high command.
He couldn't just send the entire fleet spiraling within the warp, no the council was watching them too closely now and with his 'direction' given to the fungus and the chaos fleets they would notice his interference. An issue to be sure but whether it would affect the project as a whole is still undetermined, Erebos sighed at the setback but watched as the UNE's used the captured warp drive from the imperials to begin their invasion.
The Vancouver, Conference room
Lae'hareil stood assembled with her fellow banshees as their war leader briefed them on what was to come. Since her departure from the metal box fortress the humans had dropped on her home, she'd reconnected with her sisters, but when she returned it was only a day before they were being trafficked to the human flagship.
Now Lae'hareil and her sisters hid their shock as their orders were relayed to them. Thanks to their performance during the collaborative effort between them and the augmented humans, their new mission would be attached to the humans on an assassination mission of the leader of their fallen kin.
Lae'hareil ls's war leader tried to raise an objection about how little their numbers were, but was cut off by the rebuttal that two more squads of the augmented humans were to assist them.
When asked about why Lae'hareil's squad was needed the response came after a pause.
"We need Absdrurbeal captured alive so he may stand trial for his actions, and therefore we need him subdued carefully. Use your battle cries and you shall have done what others have failed many times"
The Vancouver, the warp, Bridge
Sarah stood at the helm watching the countdown tick to zero. What should've been a silent foreboding moment was instead a flurry of activity as battlegroups reported green and prepared for combat.
Possible fallback routes and contingency plans lay dormant on her command console waiting activation, and the armies of CA prepared themselves in their transports.
The countdown ticked to ten, and the spooling of the hyperlane drives started to reach their peaks of energy buildup.
When the countdown reached five, the tachyon tether engaged and the fleets and transports became partially phased through reality making them invulnerable to the uncountable hazards.
When the countdown reached three, all noise on the bridge stopped as the command staff gazed at the timers
When the countdown reached one, the hyperlane orbs were injected with their reactants to make them pulse.
And when the countdown ticked to zero, the fleets rocketed to war
Through the warp they flew and caught the attention of every major power in the galaxy. Their transponders reaching even holy Terra itself into the ears of the awakened son.
The Vancouver like a fish of prey appeared in front of the biggest gate of the Drukhari city blanketing all those who were near in its shadow.
And as the ships of fallen kin began to respond they received a singular transmission: Surrender
The Drukhari ships gave no response whether out of shock or out of refusal no one would know, because after three minutes the newcomers opened fire
Retrieving UNE file... ...
File found, file name: Warmachines/PANDORA doctrine
Warmachines are the pinnacle of sheer destruction that can be waged on ground warfare. The original deployment came from the Prauquer intelligence a minor hostile AI nation that exploited its mineral-rich empire to create the weapons. After it had been conquered and obliterated by the Commonwealth of Man they reverse-engineered the technology to create the Lancer series of machines.
After the war of humanity, the UNE reverse-engineered the Lancer-class warmachines with assistance from the Raltek kingdom. This led to the Larviah series being named as such by the Raltek engineers due to their insect-like appearance.
Unlike the naval ships of the CA, the warmachines have gone unaltered besides direct upgrades to weapons and shields, as they saw little use during the age of crisis due to the crises complete disregard for ground warfare.
Pilots and AI, Training and operation:
Warmachines must have a physical pilot within the chassis for operation, to prevent hacking and easy enemy capture. of the devices. The pilots are chosen from those in the CAAC (Cosmic Alliance Armoured Corps) who show exceptional ability. They're then trained in special orbital facilities where they learn how to pilot the mechs and endure physical training with jump-packs to make the pilots able to disembark from the machines if they're wrecked.
Pilots are often referred to as 'Jumpers' due to both the orbital deployments of warmachines as well as their use of jump-packs, this term has been endorsed by many divisions with the phrase "From the stars to the tombs" becoming a battle cry, a slogan, and the name of a famous media program about pilots.
In addition to the pilot's manual operation a class 4 AI is placed to regulate the sub-systems of the mechs, but due to reasons still unknown the AIs evolve to the next class of AI over time, leading to a multitude of mental disorders and scarring. This has become a hot topic for debate for AI activists who believe the AIs are being exploited in this role and unconstitutionally used even though the CA knows of the evolution.
The CA has tried to implement programs for the AIs such as psychological examinations of their class standing and voluntary release programs from the CAAC, but often the AIs ignore these programs and shun those that use them seeing them as 'weak-coded'. This led to the forceful discharging of AIs after three tours of duty, with many retired AIs going to work as constructor mech pilots in simulacrums.
Current Larviah warmachines in use:
Mantis, scout class: The most commonly used warmachine as it's the only combat class allowed for restricted warmachine warfare. Standing at 22 meters tall the mantis can reach speeds of 70kmph and is able to jump long distances using jump jets attached to its feet. It sports a contained dark matter beam emitter as AT and a Devastator ripper gun on its arms with a Streaker missile launcher attached to its back.
Bombardier Beetle, Leveler class: Mainly used in sieges of fortresses or mobile defenses of key positions. The warmachine stands at 8 meters with its guns unextended and 20 meters with guns showing, with six legs and a long body making a top speed of 35kmph. It's the slowest warmachine of the lot by far. It sports three Waveti artillery pieces along its back that can launch accurate shells to 110km.
Wetapunga, Armageddon class: While it's mainly used as a walking AT mount such a name doesn't describe the weapon's destructive power. Absolutely forbidden to be used in civilian environments and only to be deployed against armored columns or fortresses. Standing 40 meters tall the wetapunga is the largest mass-produced warmachine with a maximum speed of 55kmph on its four legs it is more of a walking gun with the most amount of armor they could attach to it. It's fitted with three massive Wavebreaker cannons on the undercarriage of its torso, and a scaled-down version of a particle lance protruding from the top of its head.
Termite, Mulcher class: Made to eviscerate enemy personnel as fast as possible like a wood chipper. Standing 30 meters tall with a max speed of 65kmph on two legs it's lightly armoured to make room for extra ammunition. Four accelerated ripper guns are mounted on each corner of the box like a torso making the rpm totaling out at 0.6 mil, but rarely reach that potential due to the ammunition consumption outweighing the built-in bullet factory.
Many have questioned the seemingly unnecessary specialization that lies within the classes and their concerns were not unfounded, but efforts to try and reconfigure the existing mechs have proven unfeasible with current resource demand over new naval fleets taking priority. Currently, research is being held on REDACTED on a new series of warmachines, but the current classes aren't slated for reconfiguration until other issues within the corps and the CA at large are resolved such as LINK NOT FOUND.
PANDORA doctrine: Since warmachines are so terribly destructive they have heavy restrictions placed on their use. While authorization can come from a battle group commander or above, any unjustified use of the machines leads to an immediate court marshal. The PANDORA doctrine came after reflection on the Commonwealth of Man's switch to unrestricted warmachine warfare during the latter part of the war with the UNE.
The destruction caused by the conflict between captured mechs and Commonwealth ones resulted in over 19 billion casualties alone from stray shots, Shrapnel, concussive force, etc. So far there have been 6 admirals and generals (listed below): REDACTED, REDACTED, REDACTED, REDACTED, CLEARANCE DENIED, REDACTED have been found guilty of misuse of warmachines and have been dishonorably discharged.
"Gentlemen do not confuse yourselves, this is not a weapon of war. If we wanted one we'd build faster, deadlier, more affordable tanks, when we use these we don't plan to win the battle we want to destroy the enemy... entirely. A weapon of war is meant to get the objective done as quickly as possible, but these are meant to terrify all those who witness it. This is not a weapon of war... it is just a metal monster we built to destroy and burn cities, the greatest spear we could ever throw" - REDACTED speaking to the honorable military judge Klepni Mortiba and jury during the REDACTED trials held on Pirvus.
So I know there were a lot of perspective changes in this chapter, but I felt it necessary to show a small fraction of the preparation that goes into an invasion. My ability probably doesn't match up with an actual invasion of this size though for that would take three more chapters. This chapter felt like a massive bloody steak though as I had so much prep work to show, but thankfully the next 2 chapters or so should just be combat. I'm about to get a lot more free time, but I'm unsure on how quickly the next chapter will come out. Best case scenario 2 weeks... but no promises.