Chapter 49, The War Council
Tanya Russ
Damn, this enemy was becoming increasingly annoying. After clearing the mountains of the Rang, we established a solid defensive perimeter along the north western frontier and began advancing into the plains where the water flowed down into the valleys leading to the central sea. Our goal was to catch up to Lion El'Jonson who had already made significant progress towards the nearby town.
With our lines secured and a general direction in mind, we pushed forward, aiming to cut off the rail line. However, we encountered an unexpected and bothersome problem. The Rang hadn't been completely eradicated. Clearly, being natives of this planet, they were familiar with the terrain. As we marched across the open grounds, they found hiding spots and would ambush us from behind, forcing me to allocate troops to secure the rear lines. Even when I thought they were secure, the attacks persisted. Nevertheless, it didn't deter our progress.
We pressed on towards the rail lines, losing some men to guard duty along the way. The enemy's artillery opened fire on our positions, but their attacks were not strong enough to halt our advance. We moved forward, taking cover behind the Predators and larger tanks that I had acquired.
Predators and Rhinos comprised the majority of my armored force, as they met the required standards of quality and tonnage. I didn't expect the Rhinos to venture too far forward and risk collapsing bridges. However, vehicles like the Baneblade and Land Raider Proteus were massive enough to handle such obstacles.
Fortunately, these heavily armored behemoths could ford the rivers without the need for bridges. However, they presented challenges within the military, as I saw it.
I understood the necessity of such tanks. It seemed everyone had super tanks, Titans or other colossal machines that required equally powerful weapons to deal with them. The issue was that when you didn't encounter targets of that magnitude, these tanks became redundant. A massive shot capable of destroying another Titan wouldn't be of much use against infantry, unlike something like the Russ, which possessed a battle cannon that allowed the use of diverse ammunition options, including anti-personnel canister shots.
That was a major problem with the larger tanks. Sure, some of them had secondary weaponry, but there wasn't much practical use for it if they became immobilized.
These bigger tanks were essentially smaller versions of the Squat's land trains. If they got stuck, they became metal bunkers, which could be advantageous under certain circumstances. However, when on the move, they had to be abandoned. Thankfully, the roads out of the mountains were passable, and we didn't have to abandon any of our heavy equipment. I kept them at the rear, only deploying them if I encountered a threat worthy of their capabilities.
Well, as we reached the enemy's fortified defense line, it became clear that we would certainly need the heavier tanks. The amount of artillery, though ineffective in stopping our forward movement, was still able to destroy a tank here and there. The surviving Marines either disembarked or sought cover behind the wrecks. A few tanks even got caught in landmines. While they survived the initial explosion, they became immobilized in the mud and quickly came under fire from enemy positions.
It could have been a dire situation if we didn't have some air support, but it would have been better without my accidental storm as it was interfering with the aircraft. Even as the tanks came to a halt or got stuck, other vehicles arrived to assist with repairs. Despite the enemy's fire and the storm, aircraft came in from low orbit, dropping munitions and launching surprise attacks directly on their positions. The enemy positions were easily lit up under our counter fire. Slowly but steadily, we managed to neutralize their guns and reduce their numbers to a minimum. From there, it was just a matter of maintaining our push, sending troops forward into the firefight.
The Rang didn't seem willing to relinquish their positions. I witnessed a Marine squad successfully making it up and over into their trenches, only to have one of the creatures jump on a Marine's head and attempt to stab him through the ocular panel of his helmet.
Now, the glass on the helmet isn't the toughest material in the world, and with sustained gunfire, it would likely break. However, trying to put a knife through it, especially when wielded by a creature lacking the upper body strength of a Marine, well, you can imagine the outcome. I witnessed the Marine grabbing the creature off his head and smashing it into the wall before pressing further into the trenches.
The enemy was unlikely to win this battle unless they had some sort of surprise in store. At this point, though, could they even have anything left to surprise us with? We had seen everything they had to offer. We were aware of their bioforms, which we had fought and defeated countless times. Even as we suffered losses that would infuriate most generals, they themselves were not formidable. They seemed to rely solely on sheer numbers. Yes, their weapons could penetrate our armor at the right angles, but they lacked the strength to truly defeat us. Perhaps the best strategy the Rang had was to go to ground and pretend to be less intelligent than they actually were. If they went into hiding, appearing as primitive foxes, I doubt anyone would give them a second glance.
Of course, as I surveyed the battlefield, I was reminded of one other thing that the enemy had at their disposal—one thing that I had overlooked, and one thing they hadn't deployed in a while.
"WAAAAGH!" came a bloodcurdling scream, followed by more as a green tide rushed out of the second trench into the first. Orks, apparently under the employ of Rangdan and yet to be converted into bioforms, or at least attempted conversions. There was no guarantee that the enemy had actually figured out how to do that yet.
Either way, Orks versus Space Marines presented a more evenly matched battle. I observed my line, which had been on the verge of overwhelming the Ork lines, pull back due to heavy fire and engage in close-quarters combat with the Ork charge. Although I considered ordering the armored columns to move forward and provide support, my men were well-trained and knew what to do. The armored columns pressed forward, unleashing their firepower and machine guns into the charging Orks, attempting to stabilize the line. My Marines fell back around the armored vehicles, using them as defensive fortifications to rebuild the line. Soon, the line was stabilized, and they pushed back into the first trench, where the Orks had already taken up residence and needed to be dislodged.
Shaking my head, I lowered the binoculars. Despite using the enemy's own mercenaries against them, it seemed they still had a few tricks up their sleeve. If this planet was indeed a "hold the line" situation, they would be bringing everything they could to the fray and possibly unleashing other unforeseen tactics.
Those thoughts were precisely the kind of thoughts I should avoid. I wondered if Being X was listening in from whatever hell he had been sent to, willing things to go wrong. As a tank moved past the first line, it exploded, a plasma gun burning through its front and out the back. Focusing my binoculars on the situation, I quickly realized the source of the explosion. There was another type of mercenary I hadn't accounted for, and it might just bite me in the ass.
Emerging from warehouses on the other side of the railway were a small detachment of Knights—robotic machines that stood a few meters tall, smaller than Titans but still formidable. A swarm of smaller knight-like craft surrounded them.
I had not encountered Knights often before. While I had done my research on them and was aware of their existence, they were a part of Imperial society that had embraced the concept of mecha. They built the giant Knights to protect their societies, which had devolved into feudal kingdoms with the Knights at the top. Aspirants trained to become pilots and soldiers for the Knight houses.
To my understanding, they willingly aligned themselves with the Imperium when contacted. This left three possibilities. Option one: These were Ork Knights. We knew that the Rangdan had access to large stores of human technology, so it wasn't impossible that somewhere on this planet, there was a manufacturing facility producing Knights designed for the Orks. I was certain the Mechanicum would love to tear that apart, extracting all the secrets and removing any Xenos modifications from the design.
Option two: This was an uncontacted human world supporting the Rangdan. Perhaps they had traded these Knights for protection against the bioforms unleashed by the Rangdan, or maybe they were unaware of the bioforms and simply offered themselves as mercenaries for the Rangdan. Either way, it was not a favorable situation.
There's also option three, but this one might be a little biased on my part. After doing my research, I learned that the Mechanicum had negotiated the incorporation of the first few Knight worlds into the Imperium. Since these Knight worlds were underdeveloped, the Mechanicum established factory worlds nearby to acquire necessary resources. At some point, they orchestrated a situation where any discovered Knight world fell under their jurisdiction.
As you can imagine, this did not sit well with me. The Mechanicum already had significant control over a large military force, and now they had a monopoly over the Imperiums forces of Titans and Knights.
Furthermore, I couldn't fathom that the deals they struck with the Knights were equitable or in favor of the Knights. So, it was possible that these were Imperial Knights fighting against the Mechanicum. It wasn't impossible, although unlikely. Shaking my head, I concluded that I needed to gain control over a Knight world.
Not only were the Knights currently taking a beating from the sheer number of tanks everywhere, but they also provided a significant advantage on the battlefield. Even their smallest vehicles could serve as effective squad support and navigate cities more gracefully than any tank, thanks to their shields and maneuverability.
I would have to investigate this further. Perhaps there was a Knight world near Fenris or one in need of protection. After all, I had already suggested to my siblings that we should all strive to expand the reach of our own individual realms within the Imperium. If we could control Knight worlds or even some Mechanicum worlds that opposed Mars, we would have more influence in decision-making.
As long as nearly 50% of the Imperium's manufacturing capability came from the Mechanicum, we were at a disadvantage if we ever decided to act against their wishes.
I watched as the formation of Knights marched towards us with no regards to the fact that they were being torn apart in piecemeal, I wondered if I would have to intervene, using my warp abilities or swords to sever their limbs. However, it wasn't the wisest idea for a commander to be on the frontlines when not necessary. But this seemed like one of those situations where my presence could turn the tide and help us advance, so I might need to be up there.
Thankfully, my men were well-trained at this point, and allowing them to earn some glory now and then was well worth it. As I watched, several aircraft flew in low and unleashed hell on the Knights, firing everything they had and dropping all the firepower they could muster. Some of the smaller Knights fell dead, but the larger ones continued to march forward, burning from the onslaught. They kept moving until something finally burned through or broke, causing them to topple over. Before long, only one lone Knight remained, pushing hard in my general direction. Considering I was standing on scorched ground in the open, it was highly likely that he had seen me and assumed I was the commander. Unfortunately for him, his assumption didn't bode well for his continued existence. One of my Titan-killer weapons, the Baneblade tank, came to a stop next to me and unleashed its own fiery blast, burning through the Knight's remaining defenses and killing it, causing it to collapse alongside the broken remains of its brethren.
I smiled because I hadn't called them in, which meant my men had done their job. They knew exactly when to call in the special weapons and for what purpose. Nothing demonstrates that you've trained your army well more than not having to do a damn thing but let them do their work, and what fine work they were doing.
By the end of the day, I estimated that we would have complete control of the rail line. However, what we were going to do with the rail line was the question. Frankly, the rails were not compatible with our vehicles, and since we had air superiority, in the unlikely event that we lost this rail station, I would recommend pulling up the rails and using them to secure a few power poles I saw in the area. But I would leave that decision to the higher-ups in the chain of command. After all, they were the leaders of this expedition, and I was just the second-in-command, or perhaps even the third-in-command. Now that I think about it, we never established who had command in case the Lion were to fall ill or be injured. It was an oversight that I should have probably cleared up.
Hmm… on the same line of thought I should probably see about scavenging the fallen Knights here to send them back to Miss Adelheid in the Fenris system, perhaps they could be used to produce Knights to supplement my own forces. It's what Perturabo would do I think, so I should issue orders to gather as many wrecks as possible for our own research.
Straightening my shoulders, I brought the binoculars back to my eyes and watched the fighting with a smile. Everything was working out now that we were succeeding. We could put the whole unpleasant business of the mountain behind us, even though technically it was behind us already. Turning, I could still see the snow falling in the region. Despite having slaughtered the enemy army, it didn't look like the snow was going to stop anytime soon. It seemed like it might actually roll out of the mountains in our general direction.
Hmm, I hoped I hadn't messed up something very warp-related up there, and now this planet was going to have snowstorms. I considered leaving some of the Fenrisian Guard here to settle the planet so that they could better patrol and prevent it from being reinfested with either the bioforms or the Rang emerging from whatever hidden holes they had.
Shaking my head, I resolved to investigate what I had done at another time. Maybe I would be forced to perform some sort of ritual to undo it. It shouldn't be that hard—just a few Runes here, a few Runes there, and de-power the snowstorm. Voila! I could prevent this planet from becoming another Fenris, hopefully.
Lord Wolfen
The enemy was on the run after we pushed them out of the ritual site. They had fallen back further and further until finally being pushed out of the mountains. Now, we had advanced further east and arrived at the major city that the Primarch Nobunaga of the 2nd Legion had been fighting over for the last 12 to 16 hours.
This City was looking rather sad and desolate. Obviously, the fighting had not done the city any good. Many of its tallest buildings appeared to have either been toppled by artillery shells or intentionally destroyed, conveniently blocking certain areas to slow down the advancing forces of the Imperium.
However, despite the destruction, the western edges of the city were fully under Imperial control. Everything further east was still being fought over, as evidenced by the rounds being fired into the air every other minute and large portions of the city still engulfed in flames. Looking further ahead, I could even see a blast zone near the center of the city. It wasn't massive, but it had clearly destroyed a major structure. I couldn't quite pinpoint what had caused such a blast. I had seen a wide array of Space Marine weaponry and had once been trained to wield them, but nothing I saw matched the destructive power of that blast. Perhaps it was a weapon used by the Rangdan. It was a possibility.
Shaking my head, I focused on walking. My sister, Chris Kragh, was by my side as we made our way down the old roads towards the Nobunaga's camp, accompanied by the commander of the 11th. The air forces were meant to reinforce us now, and that was what we were going to do. We were going to secure this city and then push out into the plains beyond, searching for the next enemy to fight. But until the city was fully secured, the Primarch Nobunaga had apparently retreated to a camp on the western side of the city. He had taken a heavy hit while fighting in the city and wanted the Legion Master of the 11th to examine something. Since I was in the area, I thought I would tag along.
After all, if the Master of the 11th needed to look at something, it was probably something related to the Warp. Given my knowledge of Runes and the teachings of Fenris, I figured I could be of help.
Following behind the Legion Master of the 11th, I looked around and saw that the camp was mostly empty. There were a few Marines here and there, cleaning their armor, repairing damaged pieces, or swapping their damaged armor with salvaged parts that would be replaced by legion servants. These damaged pieces would then be sent for rebuilding. It was a common sight in a legion camp on the move. For the most part, the Marines appeared to be in good spirits, which indicated that the battle was going well.
After all, if they had been forced to retreat and were in low spirits, it would mean that things were not going according to plan and could potentially go awry. But if they were in good spirits, it meant that they had pulled back simply because they had pushed themselves too hard for too long and needed rest.
Navigating the camp, we soon found ourselves at a large tent with an open roof. Although, considering I could see possibly another 10 tents inside, these might be just tent walls to separate a private area for the Primarch of the 2nd.
The Legion Master of the 11th approached a guard and nodded, saying, "Primarch Nobunaga has requested my presence."
The Marine nodded and tilted his helmet, indicating that he was listening to something. After a moment, he stepped aside and said, "You can go in."
The 11th Legion Master stepped through, and I followed, expecting to be allowed in as well. However, a Marine stepped in my way.
Smiling up at him, I said, "Cousin, could you please step out of the way? I'm an accomplished member of the Valkyries of the 6th Legion and have some knowledge of the Warp. I'm sure Lord Nobunaga would not turn me away."
The Marine looked at me for a moment, then tilted his head and stepped aside. "The Primarch says you may come in as well."
I smiled and stepped through, but he blocked the way for my sister, causing her to let out a sigh.
"Go on without me, Wolfie," she said, stepping back and looking for somewhere to sit.
Shaking my head, I followed the Legion Master of the 11th into the tented area, going through a small hallway before emerging into a courtyard-like setting with two or three tents. One was obviously the Primarch's main tent, while the others seemed to be for servants and commanders.
It was nothing too grand, but my heart skipped a beat when I saw the Primarch of the 2nd.
For the sake of my sanity, I assumed that what was happening was simply the unfortunate effect that any Space Marine, even failed ones like myself, had a compulsion to follow the orders and commands of the Primarch in front of them simply because they were their Primarch and deserved respect. Perhaps it was also because they were their psychic DNA progenitor in a way.
While my eyes took in the fact that the Primarch of the 2nd was shirtless, I attempted to suppress any inappropriate feelings and just leaned on my walking staff a bit heavier, following behind the 11th Commander.
"Commander Shakuni," Primarch Nobunaga said with a wave, standing up from where he had been sitting with a drink in his hand as he stepped forward.
"Oh yes, and the little Tanya too," he said, noticing me and giving me a nod, which only intensified those feelings I was trying to suppress.
"Good evening, Lord Nobunaga," I greeted with a nod.
The Primarch smiled and turned to one of his many catgirl servants, saying, "Get us some drinks. We have a long night ahead to discuss, and I would rather we all be relaxed while doing it."
Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "Discuss?"
Smiling as he turned back to me, he said, "I found something of interest while fighting in the city. I hope you two can help me solve this." Stepping back over to the fire and relaxing, he reached into the remnants of what looked to be parts of his armor and pulled out a strange gold medallion, tossing it to the Legion Master of the 11th.
The Legion Master caught it mid-air and looked at it curiously. His eyes seemed to glow with power before he said, "Now ain't this interesting? This is an object that has been tainted by the Warp, but I don't recognize the fingerprints of its creator."
"Fingerprints?" Primarch Nobunaga asked, getting a nod from the 11th Legion Master. "As he said, there are, let's just say, feelings related to the creation of certain objects. Hatred, anger, trickery to name a few. These objects tend to have something like that around them, implying what they were and who they serve."
The Commander of the 11th shook his head before saying, "This doesn't have any of that. I don't sense any fingerprints, except just an overwhelming power, an ancient one but now long gone." Tilting his head, he added, "Strange, there's writing on this, but I don't recognize it. It's neither High or Low Gothic."
"I noticed that as well," Primarch Nobunaga said, "in fact, it reminds me a bit of the runes on Tanya's armor. That's why I let little Tanya come. I thought she might be of use in helping us solve this."
"Well then, take a look at this Lord Wolfen," the 11th's Commander said, holding out the strange gold medallion. Taking it from his hand, I looked at it, observing the runes, mathematical equations, and numbers, plus and minus signs, all standard in the runecraft that Tanya preferred. That was interesting, but the truly intriguing thing was when I felt a bit of energy pulse as I touched it.
And I swore I heard something murmur a word. "Atheist?" Confused, I tilted my head, looking around to see if I could figure out where that word had come from, as there was no one present with that particular voice.
"Is there a problem?" the 11th's Commander asked, looking at me, causing me to look back and shake my head, saying, "No, just... just tired."
Taking a breath, I explained, "This runecraft is similar to what's found on Fenris." I flipped the device over and continued, "A lot of these spells inscribed on this back panel here seem to be ad hoc creations. They remind me of Tanya's writing."
"Hmm, that's interesting. Does she use runecraft to make her own spells often?" Lord Nobunaga inquired.
I nodded my head. "Yes, she does. A lot of our runic spellcraft is based on her redefinition of the spellcraft."
"Hmm, I didn't realize she was such a spell slinger," Lord Nobunaga said with a shake of his head before asking, "Anything interesting on the back here?"
Looking at it again and feeling a strange presence from the device, I replied, "These spells are rather standard explosives, nothing too major." I stopped mid-thought as I thought I heard something and leaned in closer. As I listened, I realized I was hearing ticking, like it was a clock, stirring some sort of memory in me. Not one of my own, though. Visions of sorts, someone standing in mid-air as they looked at a device very similar to this, mouthing words of prayer to some unknown entity.
Shaking my head, "Strange."
"What's strange?" the Commander of the 11th asked.
"I thought I saw something there."
"Like a vision?" the 2nd asked.
"More akin to a memory," I answered with a shrug before continuing, "So, what are we going to do with this? Destroy it? Send it to Terra to be investigated?"
The 11th's Commander tapped his chin before saying, "That's not a bad idea. Destroying it is always a possibility, but destroying items with war potential has unintended consequences, releasing things we'd rather not be released. Sending it to Terra for the Emperor to judge its fate is probably the best solution. He will know what to do with it and be able to handle any issues that may arise from its destruction, if that's what needs to be done."
"Oh, good," I replied before he stopped me to nod and asked, "Lord Wolfen, do your eyes normally glow yellow?"
I blinked in confusion, dropping the item immediately. That was the only thing I figured would be causing my eyes to glow a different color. They did always tend to go a little bit blue when I was using my psychic potential, that was standard.
Yellow, though? That's something I've never heard of before, I mused, and there was that voice again, a slight whisper from the device, "atheist." Confused, I looked down at it as Nobunaga asked, "Did anyone else hear that?"
The 11th's Commander nodded before saying, "Why did it say 'atheist'? Objects of the Warp usually inspire faith, not talk about words that uninspire faith. That's an odd twist in this story."
Reaching down, he picked up the object and put it to his ear, asking, "When did it start ticking?"
"It wasn't ticking before," the 2nd stated, getting up and coming over to grab the device and listen to it, "At least not after the creature that used it to destroy the central political building. It had stopped making any noise altogether."
They both looked at me, and I shrugged before responding, "Perhaps it's enjoying my presence."
"How close are you to Primarch Russ?" the 11th's Commander asked.
"Rather close. After all, I share her face, thanks to the failure of my attempt to become a Space Marine," I replied.
The 11th looked to Lord Nobunaga, who nodded in agreement before saying, "I think this object may want to belong to Tanya."
"But how? She's never left Fenris before her arrival. She was created by the Emperor."
Lord Nobunaga sighed before saying, "This is true, but we were all once another soul before we became Primarchs. That's my theory. Perhaps this held a connection to Tanya's first life."
"Hmm, it's dangerous if it is," the Commander of the 11th stated before adding, "we don't know what that life was like and why this would hold such a deep connection that may still resonate with it. This should definitely be sent to the Emperor for his investigation. He would be best to figure out if it should even be mentioned to Lord Tanya."
"Agreed," Lord Nobunaga declared before turning to me and saying, "You're going to be able to keep a secret, right? Not tell her what was found. You can do that for me, right?" He said with a smile that did something to me.
I quickly nodded my head and smiled back, saying, "Of course, Lord Nobunaga. I will keep this from her until the Emperor makes his decision."
"Good, good," he said, handing the device to one of the cat girls who scurried off towards one of the tents, probably to hide the device. Another girl came up with the drinks and said, "Well, with that situation solved," he said as the girl passed the drinks around. "We shall drink. We've got more fighting to do in the morning, and we need to be energized. So, drink deeply and enjoy."
I nodded and sipped at my drink, trying to focus on the flavor and not anything else in the world.
Captain Nemmius Tetanus
It wasn't often you got to see space burning. Oh, you would think it would be a common thing for the Imperialis Armada, but usually, once you destroy something, it gets snuffed out by the lack of oxygen in the void.
Unfortunately, there was a bit more to this void than most encounters in space, simply due to the fact that a large amount of the ships that had been destroyed in the fighting over the planet had discharged quite a bit of burnable material that did not need air to continue its burning.
Possibly a homebrew version of promethium or some other ancient recipe meant for causing devastation, or maybe it was simply their fuel. Either way, the space around the ships was burning.
It had been so ever since the fighting had begun. As their ships were destroyed and ours clashed with theirs, it was inevitable that sooner or later, everything would just catch on fire. But thankfully, thankfully, it would appear that the large fleet that had sent several of our vessels into the void of space to never be seen again had simply been a diversion.
The enemy fleet had simply been a delaying action so they could transport large numbers of troops down to the planet as fast as possible. Most likely because they realized that the planet was vulnerable and they needed to get troops there now.
It was a disaster in the making under most circumstances. Most likely, this burning material and wreckage would be raining down on the planet for the next month or longer, and it would probably cause some problems with bringing the planet under compliance or at least help with the extermination of the Rangdan forces. Either way, this planet would not likely be a very habitable world for a while. Especially if that burning material somehow made it through the atmosphere without burning all the way up, it could ignite the forest, set the seas ablaze, and who knows what other horrors could be unleashed. After all, the Rangdan forces were known for releasing bio-weapons. What better way to hide the fact that you were going to release bioforms than having a ship destroyed during combat?
Granted, that was probably just my propensity to view the worst possible outcome. Primarch Tanya's way of thinking had influenced me, of course. I had picked up a few of her perspectives on things after working with her for so long.
After all, why would they destroy parts of their fleet to release more bioforms? If they wanted to, I'm sure they could do it without issue. They had no care for their own population, at least according to the reports I've been reading about, from the commanders on the planet below. So, they would have no qualms about condemning the world and its people to bioforms if they could.
But thankfully, the Imperialis Armada had been here to prevent any of that. Yes, they dropped troops, and yes, there was probably going to be a problem, but they weren't able to fully condemn the planet. Obviously, they didn't want to destroy it for some reason. Perhaps there was something on the planet that was important to them. Perhaps they hoped to recreate the Labyrinth of the Night and start winning again. All those options were on the table, but none of them would come to be as long as the Imperialis Armada and the rest of the fleet elements in orbit were still here.
That being said, we were in a bit of a pickle.
Currently, the Hrafnkel, my vessel, is working in tandem with the Invincible Reason of the 1st Legion to pull the Relentless Honor of the 2nd Legion out of the atmosphere. She had taken a good hit during the fighting and had started limping pretty heavily until she got caught in the gravity well. She had barely managed to maintain orbital stability, thankfully, just by keeping her engines pushed as hard as she could, but she needed help getting out, which is what we were doing.
For a good three to four hours, it had been a close-run thing trying to break her free of the gravity well and prevent her from crashing down on the planet. She was carrying quite a store of weapons and equipment, not to mention munitions designed for Exterminatus. So if she had gone down, it would have been a dangerous situation for the Primarchs and troops on the planet, and the Emperor may have actually demanded that an Exterminatus be carried out on the planet for safety reasons.
But through the cooperation of our two ships, we had managed to finally pull her free and set her in an orbit high enough that she could be repaired without worrying about running her engines too hot.
Not only that, being this high up, it was possible for a Mechanicum vessel to come in and tow her to safety, taking her to one of the nearby Forge Worlds where she could be repaired if need be.
I didn't know if that was what the commander of the 2nd Legion would decide to do with her, but I would hazard a guess that's what he would end up having to do. Nonetheless, it was better to bring your ship home for full repairs when you could, rather than not. At least, that's what Tanya had said once or twice, and that's one of the reasons I respected her.
I've worked with several captains of various Glorianas over the years, as well as talked to former captains who had been stripped of their rank when the Space Marines took over command of their ship.
So, I had a better understanding of what could have gone wrong and what kind of mentality some of these Marines had.
Some of them treated humans as lesser beings, even though without us, they would be nothing. Others didn't care either way but had weird ways of looking at the world, particularly those who would push and push no matter what. Their ship could be falling apart around them, but they would still keep pushing toward the enemy.
Tanya was not one of those. If she saw that her ship was in a bad state, she would call for help and continue the chase, pulling off once that chase was secured and taking her ship to get repaired.
It was this care for her ships and crews that made me respect her as a fellow military commander. Not to mention, I had time to observe how she handled her Legion's situation and knew that she did the same thing with her tanks and other heavy equipment, as well as her men. She wanted her men in peak physical condition, not worn down to the bone.
She was no corpse grinder. Say what you will about her attitude in situations off the battlefield, but on the battlefield, she was a professional. Perhaps a bit of a glory hound when you look a certain way, but definitely one for doing things the right way.
Quite a few Imperial captains had noticed this over the years, and some were jealous, not because I maintained control of the Gloriana, but because I got to work with her.
I wondered if she was aware that her legend and feats had spread quite far through the Imperium. Some had even believed she would eventually be the Theater Commander to replace the 1st.
Not to say Primarch Lion El'Jonson was terrible at their job. They had confidently held the front. But, well, several captains were dissatisfied with the performance of the 1st Legion. It had, yes, held the line, but it had done so at a heavy cost. Now, I could understand, having overheard several meetings and from Primarch Tanya's point of view, that those costs were going to happen either way. But it was the appearance of the thing that was doing the 1st Legion in. People simply thought that the 1st was not ready for a large command and had mismanaged the situation. Some had even said that if they had not basically taken up control of the defenses in the north before the war, perhaps the Rangdan would never have risen to be a problem. Perhaps it would have been defeated beyond the borders of the Imperium before the war started, or some sort of peaceful solution could have been reached. I doubted that, since Xenos tended to be at best indifferent to humanity and at worst hellbent on our destruction, and these Rangdan seemed to be extremely hostile to humanity, using their bio weapons and biotechnologies to cause such harm and misery across multiple systems. It was sickening.
From my point of view on the matter, though, it really didn't matter who the Commander was. Sure, perhaps Tanya would have served better as a more logistically inclined leader, but the 1st had been the first on the scene and had done a good enough job. If they were not up for the task, well, that was a really important issue for the higher ups to resolve.
Man, now that I think about it they probably were not deciding who would be Commander well enough. I've been paying attention to the news over the last 10 years, and though we have been bogged down with this conflict, there have been other situations going on out there that are more interesting to pay attention to—more conquests and unifying of humanity.
Horus, in particular, was doing a good job of beating back the enemies of man and uniting humanity across the galaxy. Over the last 20 years, he had brought nearly 250 humanworlds into compliance, five of which were rather advanced. Advanced enough to have the ability to produce actual equipment that could be used for the continuation of the campaigns. But that paled in comparison to the Ultramarines, the boys in blue as some reports referred to them. Now, it seemed unfair to be too harsh on Horus. Even scavenging worlds on the border of Terra, which was already a controlled zone, brought them into compliance. But it was worth noting that the Ultramarines had brought something like 200 worlds into compliance within their 500-world empire. Now, to be fair, probably the majority of those worlds were already trading partners of the 500 worlds, so they were already in compliance. They were just being brought into the empire. But it was a significant rise in their prestige and made them more likely to be at the top of the chart if there ever was to be a Warmaster.
Personally, I doubted the Emperor would let his children off the leash like this again. There wasn't another threat to humanity that needed to be brought down, and so far, they were the only threat that had required such effort.
But if he were to decide to do such a thing again, there were plenty of candidates other than the 1st.
Shaking my head, I looked at one of the view screens and saw that a portion of the fire had finally gone out over the southern atmosphere. Most likely, either the material had burned up in the atmosphere or it had run out of material to burn. It was a good sign. Perhaps this would not turn into a devastating cataclysmic attack by accident, and the forces down below would be able to continue their mission without issue.
That was a hope, at least.
Lion El'Jonson
Four days of continuous and never-ending combat. Four days, and we had not managed to progress further outside our original landing areas. Without their orbital assets to protect them, we did have the ability to apply lightning fast hit and run attacks to important areas across the planet, keeping them pinned in some regions so that they couldn't continuously send more troops to our defensive line. But the fact of the matter was, they were doing a good job of stalling us, even as we kept bringing more resources down.
This campaign was not in danger, but it definitely needed a council, a discussion to determine how we were going to win. So, I did the smartest thing I could think of. I called a meeting with the other Primarchs and the commander of the 11th Legion. Perhaps it would be of no help, but perhaps they would come up with something that I had missed, something that we'd all missed. Perhaps simply working together was the best way to do this. Either way, here I sat in the ruins of what once was a governmental house in the port city of an unknown name.
The fox Rangda had not surrendered. Instead, when they had recognized that they could not win and victory had escaped them, in a petty fit of rage they used their bioforms to turn themselves into monsters, not wanting us to have a chance of taking the place at all if they couldn't have it.
As a result, my men were busy taking the city apart, burning everything down and reducing it to rubble.
I'd rather avoid doing such horrendous things, but the fact of the matter was we didn't know what bioforms they had in the city, where they were, or how much time we had until they were unleashed. So the best option was to destroy the city.
Yes, we'd lose these valuable ports. Yes, we'd lose the valuable rail line. And yes, trying to rebuild humanity on this planet by bringing in colonists would be slowed down. After all, they would need to live in the wilderness and not out here in the fine city that we'd captured. But what needed to be done, needed to be done, and there were plenty of planets in the Imperium where people could live without issue. If these planets ended up as barren wastes in humanity's empire, I don't think anyone would mind.
Finally, I was about to wonder where the others were when the doors opened, and instead of just Tanya arriving, she was followed by a gaggle of Wolf Lords, the highest rank in her command structure underneath her. I wasn't sure when she had instituted that specific rank, or if the people underneath her had created it. It's hard to say, each Legion having developed its own little culture and society. Coming to a stop before me, she gave a nod with a smile and said, "Sister, I see you're doing well."
I smiled back and said, "Of course, sister. How goes the campaign?"
She shrugged her shoulders, her wolf cloak fluttering as she did so. "We've taken the rail line. We're pushing down the way. The enemy is pretty much giving up on trying to stop us from taking anything we want and is more just interested in slowing us down at this point. They've basically been filling up trains full of explosives and sending them down the rail line, obviously trying to cause as much destruction as possible. This has resulted in us having to keep some tanks near the rail line to blow them up before they reach anything important. I was able to get in contact with the Mechanicum, and they are going to start bringing down their own rail line stock and rails, allowing us to get the conquest of this world underway. But it's going to take time. The enemy seems to have realized that they're not going to knock us off, and they're trying to play defensively."
"That's what I've been thinking," I said with a nod, before adding, "Do you have any way to speed up the process?"
Tanya shrugged again before saying, "More troops. Faster. It'll happen. This is probably going to be a long campaign, but not as long as the Xana II siege. Maybe three weeks, maybe four if they really push us. But that'll require more troops to slip through the cracks of our defenses, and as far as I can tell, that's not going to happen."
I nodded in agreement. Already, more ships were in orbit than had been there during the start of this fighting, and the forces that remained in the front line under Dorn had been left to commit some attacks on the remaining Rangdan world beyond this one, trying to prevent them from sending any more troops to try and stop our campaign here.
"Any intel on what other forces they might have past this world, Sister?" she asked. It was a reasonable question after all, knowing what was beyond this world would tell us how much trouble we were in.
Clearing my throat, I said, "From what I've been able to piece together, it would appear that the remaining Rangdan worlds are not industrial heartlands, so they are likely unable to stop our advance at this point. Forward, everything relies on this planet holding out. Dorn will most likely be able to finish much of the campaign when we finish up here, and then we can finish off whatever is left. However, I believe that the reason they are fighting us so hard here is that they are withdrawing their forces beyond known space."
Tanya nodded before saying, "Makes sense. They can't win, they need to save what they can and get lost. That could be a problem further on, though, if they still have their biotechnologies."
"Yes," I said with a nod. "At the very least, we will need to build some sort of organization to keep an eye on this region of space and plan for any more offensives."
Tanya nodded as well, saying, "Same here. Considering that any advance from the Rangdan out of unknown space would be a threat to both of our home worlds, I would not mind throwing my support behind such an organization."
I smiled at that. It was not something I had considered, but working with another Primarch on such an operation was not a bad idea. Having support was not the worst thing, though I did prefer to work alone on such objectives. I wanted to give it some thought. For now, I simply said, "Once I have this organization in place, I will see about inviting your men to take part."
Tanya accepted that with a nod before we were interrupted as the doors opened again and three more individuals entered. One was the Legion Master of the 11th. The man looked tired but in good spirits, carrying a staff at his side. The other was the Primarch of the Second Legion, Nobunaga, who looked worse for wear. Apparently, he had lost the top part of his armor, though his leg armor seemed to have been repaired at some point, and he was simply wearing a cloth linen shirt.
Of course, with them came the retainers and individuals who served them. Although the third individual of importance that drew my eye was another smaller Tanya…?
A black-haired Tanya with a wolf pelt over her head and carrying a staff that looked rather elderly. She moved over to Tanya and gave a bow, not as a follower, but as an equal. The black-haired Tanya took a position next to her.
I was left confused for a moment, blinking before I asked, "Who is that?"
Nobunaga spoke up first. "Oh, that's Little Tanya, a failed attempt at a Space Marine who still shows some worth and is allowed to fight by Tanya's side. It's probably some sort of side effect of Tanya being a female Primarch, I believe."
I blinked several times before saying, "That can't be right."
"Huh? Why can't it be right?" Nobunaga asked, drawing a sigh of annoyance from me.
Before he could continue, I answered, "Perhaps I should be as open as Tanya." Reaching up towards my hood I pulled it back, revealing my face completely, which caused Nobunaga's jaw to drop.
"Terra, I've been had," he exclaimed, drawing an annoyed noise from one of his men. "How many other Primarchs are actually secretly women?" he said, matter-of-factly, before asking, "Has anyone ever seen Khan without his helmet on?"
Tanya laughed out loud before turning to him and saying, "Trust me, you have no concerns there."
"There," I said, getting a smile from her. "As you can see, I'm a female Primarch myself, but I've never had any issues like that among my Space Marines. None of them who have failed have survived the process and become something else. They either died or became part of our support staff for maintaining our equipment back home on Caliban."
Tanya nodded her head before saying, "I have my own theories on why this might happen, particularly with me. I thought that it might be a female Primarch thing, but if you've not had this issue, I'm going to assume it's not." She shook her head before saying, "Though there is another I may need to ask one of these days to see if they've had any issues like this for confirmation."
"Hmmm, you're particularly good at playing Father's game," I remarked.
She smiled at me, "Play the game, or it's not fun."
Hmm, I gave her a stare before shaking my head, deciding to let it go. Though I would probably have to contact Caliban and inquire to make sure that there had not been any instances like this that had been covered up. It would not be hard; I wasn't paying particular attention to the recruitment of my Legion, and a Legion serf is a Legion serf. They tend to be so bundled in robes that I might have missed something like that.
Sighing, I focused on the present and said, "Well, we've secured a landing zone, brother and sister. How do we go about securing the planet? Is there any way to speed up this process, or are we destined to slowly slug our way across the surface?"
Nobunaga spoke up first, "Have we tried asking for their surrender?" getting looks from pretty much everyone in the room.
"What? I'm all for burning down the Rangdan's empire as quickly as possible, as everyone else, but they want to make this a cauldron for us to burn ourselves in as well. So why not see if we can cause a little bit of discontent within their side? Is every Rangdan committed to death to prevent us from taking control of this planet, or are there some who would be willing to put down their arms for certain protections? Perhaps they would even be willing to turn on their fellow Rangdan, which they've been using as throwaway bioforms."
I blinked before nodding. Actually, considering that, it was not something that was likely to be possible, but it was worth considering at the very least. So many people had died getting to this point. If we could end this war quickly by taking this planet, and we could end taking this planet quickly by letting a small community of Rangdan survive, it was worth considering.
Tanya spoke up, saying, "The Administratum wouldn't like that. After all, they've invested quite a lot of resources in the extermination of the Rangdan. Not to exterminate them completely would cause a bit of a stir. Especially considering so much of humanity in this region has been reduced to nothing but mindless bioforms that will need to be cleared out before this sector is completely safe again. The idea that we can make peace with the Rangdan openly is frankly impossible."
I tilted my head as I caught on to what Tanya was implying and said, "Openly?"
Tanya smiled, baring her teeth as she said, "What the Administratum doesn't know won't hurt them. If we were to get a portion of their population to surrender, get them to agree to never step foot off this planet again, take away all their advanced technology, and call them a different name, something other than Rangdan, would there be any way for them to not think that this is just some primitive race that we came across? After all, most reports of the Rangdan are about their bioforms, not their people."
"Hmm, we would need to keep this absolutely secret, then. Make sure that all reports don't exactly give detail on what happened here or what exactly the Rangdan were," I said, thinking about this for a moment.
"Already going to happen," Tanya replied with a shrug before adding, "This whole campaign is going to be a black mark on the Legions simply because they got into Imperial space for a bit. It's going to be cleaned up by the Administratum. We just don't give them some details, make it clear that the enemy is killed, and perhaps leave some room for reinterpretation, effects, let them do what they want with the information they have."
"Hmm, as much as I would like to have this victory broadcasted across the galaxy, there was a point to that. If the Mechanicum's projections are correct, it would be a victory after 20 years, and not exactly the greatest victory out there. It's likely to cause a bit of consternation amongst the upper nobility."
The idea that maybe covering it up simply to try and make the campaign look better would not even have crossed my mind, but now that Tanya had said it, I could see it. I'm sure that there had been some creative reinterpreting of many of the campaigns that have already happened across the Imperium and the galaxy at large. Who knows what was real and what wasn't, only the Primarchs who had experienced it and their Legions underneath them.
Finally deciding that ending the war faster would probably be for the best, after all, once it was over, we could restock our supplies and start preparing for whatever was to come from the remnants of the Rangdan beyond the borders, I declared, "We will attempt to make contact with them, at least in areas where they are using actual Rangdan, and see if they are willing to surrender, under the prospect, of course, that they will be disarmed in both their technology and military and allowed to roam parts of this planet that are not as well populated."
"Most of the planet's not going to be a little populated," Nobunaga pointed out, which was true but not necessary. As Tanya spoke up, filling in the possible reason that it may be a bit more populated.
"The Mechanicum will probably be ripping this place apart for any technology and be trying to understand where they got their equipment and how all this worked. It'll take them at least a decade or two to do the job. The Rangdan of this world can live in the wilderness for two decades, and they can take on some other name and come on as a Xeno protectorate."
Nobunaga nodded, understanding, which seemed to bring this conversation to its natural end. But there was the small matter of how we're going to make contact with them.
Leaning back, I asked, "Does anyone have any idea on how we're going to make contact with the Rangdan?"
Oddly enough, it was none of the three Primarchs or the Legion Master to raise their hand, but the little Tanya.
I turned to her and said, "Got an idea, Little Tanya?"
"Yes, but I don't think you're going to like it," the little Tanya hesitated before continuing, "I found evidence that they worship some sort of moon wolf deity. Perhaps we can use that to manipulate them."
"Mm, you're right," Tanya said with a shake of her head before sighing. "But if this will get the war over faster, I'll suffer the indignity of being compared to some weird local god." And I just heard under her breath as she muttered, "Done it before."
Which was an intriguing bit of information I didn't know before. I wondered when and where she'd done it before. When would she have had the opportunity to act as some sort of god-like being's pawn? Perhaps I would ask her another time. For now, I simply nodded and said, "Then with the meeting being adjourned, I believe Tanya probably has brought us enough drinks to have a little bit of relaxation tonight."
Tanya immediately smiled and said, "Sister, you know me so well." Several men in Cataphractii armor came in, carrying large barrels of alcohol and placing them down at the edges of the governmental building.
Writers note: and with that were coming closer to end of ragadon campaign, thing it warn out it welcome, but hey we learned some thing saw soem thing found something, all very interesting things.
Please comment, review, and generally enjoy yourselves…
Edited by: L, mandrage, golden, mechanic, Ghost
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Reviews
evilstatistic19: high on somthing yep
Gwynx: yar har pirates life for me
SovietBen: i have to look in to this hahaha
Just a Crazy-Man: thank you and here more!
end5:thank you
sawtooth44: i donlt know
Wolfman217: correct
Austin:not all a small portion of them were men, as for cross over got bunch random corss over coming out on one shot soon from helling tanya to kill la kill tanya (with art) so that should be fun
obertoronier: Sanguinius will be fun that for sure
albertocervantes598:the HH is good short hand and who know what furtuer will bring, all i know is there four cancer growths that want it to happen out there