AN: War…War never changes. "MEleeSmasher," Codex entry this chapter. "Trooper0007," good suggestion, but not what I have in mind. "armentho," already have it on the Western front. "Cosmicsafe74," Ezero is redundant for them. And I do rule of cool mainly. Time to get back to the WAAAAAAAAAGH!
Speech
Thoughts
Radio/machine speech/scene change
Savagery Unmatched, Heroism Unparalleled
Asari Space: Terul System: Asari Cruiser: "Light of Reason": One week after the last chapter
Captain Revelia Vasir, older sister to the specter Tela Vasir, looked across the void at her foes as the ship shook from another shell being fired. The Light was one of the most advanced cruisers in Asari space, with a gun comparable to a Pre-Imperial contact dreadnought, and protection equal to one. Indeed, the newest cruisers would have been called pocket dreadnoughts back in the day.
The main gun's shell slammed home into an ork escort vessel roughly equal in size to their ship. The lack of a shield on the target allowed it to slam into the thick armor, and normally this would defeat a Citadel type warship, however, the Light was firing armor piercing shells. Thusly the rounds went straight through the thick armor and dealt catastrophic damage to the interior of the target.
There was no cheering though, that was just one ship the 12th Asari fleet was facing, out of a horde of five hundred ships. Granted, none were over three kilometers, but that was not the case elsewhere. The Asari was half tempted to contact the Imperials about this for help, but the orders still stood to keep them out of the loop on the Ork situation.
Still though, so far the superior maneuverability of the citadel fleet and their longer ranged guns allowed them to keep ahead of the Orks. Though it did little to stem the tide, every minute more and more Ork fleets were reported around the border between the Citadel and the former Terminus Systems. Eventually by sheer force of numbers the Orks would break through, and when they did nothing would be able to stop a complete collapse of the line.
And so the Citadel forces fought on, more fleets being pulled into the fray every few minutes, but it still was up in the air. Even as dozens of ships fell all across the galaxy every second, the green tide showed no signs of slowing. All too soon though, the tide of battle began to turn in the favor of the Orks, as the larger ships now deployed.
Revelia had the misfortune of having a pair of fifty kilometer ships appear in her sector, irrevocably handing momentum to the Orks. The voice of the Admiral piped through to her ship: "All ships break off combat and disengage. The line has been breached in multiple areas. We cannot hold here, withdraw to secondary defensive positions."
The Asari captain bit back a curse: "Helm get us out of here as fast as you can. Gunners, keep the Ork fighters off us. We're not out of this war yet, not by a long shot." And yet, in her heart, she knew this was the beginning of the end. With the initial front taken, the number of places that had to be held would multiply tenfold, stretching the already outnumbered fleets even further.
At this point though, a round from one of the fifty kilometer long behemoths slammed into the much smaller cruiser. The last thought the ill-fated captain had was of her younger sister, and hoping the council would get their heads out of their asses before it was too late.
Salarian Space: Sartak system: Primary World, ground side
Lieutenant Falan was an average Salarian military man. Well trained, well equipped, and highly competent…at least, he was. Salarian military doctrine relied on their allies to provide the heavier lifting while the STG cripples the enemy with preemptive strikes. The main Salarian military forces were built around this doctrine, and were thus lightly armed and armored compared to the Turians.
As such, they were ill prepared for when the Orks landed. Sure, they had bunkers and defenses, and their weaponry was superior to that of the Terminus, but that just meant it took half as many shots to penetrate the thick armor of the attacking infantry, let alone their armor support.
The salarian's mind was working a mile a minute as he fired perfectly aimed headshot at an Ork, and failed to drop him: "The STG and Citadel Intelligence agency screwed the varen here." A follow up shot gave the Ork a massive headache, but did little else. "If we were informed of this possibility earlier, we may have had a shot at slowing them, or even stopping them." A third shot to the same point on the helmet broke through and put the ork down.
There were too many though. Soon the Orks were in the city. Here the inefficiency of the equipment of the Salarian military was fully laid bare. Their equipment was meant for long range combat, due to their fragile bodies, not for medium range to close quarters like the Orks. And now they were paying for it.
Lt Falan looked on in anger as his men were slaughtered in brutal close quarters fighting. Chopas, while crude, were extremely effective as cutting through Salarian light and even HEAVY armors. That wasn't even taking into account the casualties caused by heavy caliber weapons they used.
As his sniping position was finally found by the orks, he drew his pistol and fired. The heavy caliber rounds of the Imperial made Carnifex tearing into the Orks with ease: "Worth every credit." He thought as he put down another ork. Behind him was a hospital ward full of infants, yes, he had made a poor choice of location, but there really was nowhere else to fire from.
Eventually the Salarian was finally killed, a choppa to the back from an ork in purple camouflage. The last few seconds of his life as he bled out were on two thoughts: "May their families forgive me for failing in my duty." And: "How did a being that large slip around behind him unnoticed?" With that thought in mind, he died.
Palaven: Turian High Command:
The war room in high command was a scene of chaos; officers reporting the situation in dozens of systems, orders being issued to fleets to reroute them to aid the Salarians and the Asari in the defense of their systems. The various generals and admirals of high command were amongst the best planners and organizers in the Citadel alliance, and were able to mobilize rapidly…Though this meant leaving token garrisons near the Imperium.
General Valareius, an elder Turian officer, stared at the map. He had been a flag officer back when the dreadnought's main gun was the deciding factor in every battle. But he was seeing the destruction of most big gun formations the Asari and Salarians had at their disposal.
The only formations that did well were those with mobile suit forces in them. The orks had no real analogue for them, and were not able to match their versatility in space. On the ground they were still potent, but the Ork analogue walkers were equipped with armor and weapons able to beat them one on one. Current doctrine dictates that if anything larger than a Stompa is detected all firepower is to be directed against these monstrous machines.
As much as the Admiral wanted to believe they could win, all evidence pointed to the contrary. The Orks hand more ships than the Citadel, and much larger ones as well. They were outnumbered at least ten to one in the most conservative of estimates…though he knew they were more outnumbered. Before he could do anything more than contemplate this fact, a colonel cried out in alarm from his post.
Thalasia: Black Watch Operative Turenius: Five minutes ago
Turenius was ecstatic, they had beaten back the Orks. All around the planet Ork forces were in full fledged retreat, their transports withdrawing all that remained of their attack. In the field they left the bodies of a hundred thousand of their own, thousands of tanks, and even a dozen stompas. It hadn't gone all the way of the citadel.
The defenses of the Asari Fortress World were shattered. Bunkers broken open, their defenders killed by chopas or burnas; anti-orbital defenses crumpled by stompas with giant hammers…the walls and shields of the world's primary cities destroyed by explosive charges or tanks. The once mighty planet was in ruins.
Everyone knew that if a second wave came, it was all over. But they didn't care. They had inflicted the first defeat on the Orks since their invasion started a week ago. Morale was at an all-time high for the defenders, if they had to they would have fought with rocks and sticks against the Orks without complaint or fear. In fact he swore he did see a band of civilians beating an ork to death in just such a way earlier.
But as they were caught in their elation, they didn't realize something was wrong until it was too late. They never dared to dream the Orks would utilize the tactic they did. And then the skies fell. Thousands of high caliber shells impacted the surface in a rain of metal. The land was rent asunder under the shear amount of fire brought to bear against the planet.
Cities vanished in seas of fire, armies were pounded into oblivion by screaming death. All of this was because the defenders held up the Ork assault. The warlord in charge of this group had his instructions from The Big Boss, and he would keep to that schedule. And thus a world of one billion souls burned in the fires of war.
The final transmission from the dying world was this: "Do not give up. The Orks can be beaten. Long live the civilized peoples of the Galaxy."
The Citadel: Combined War room: Three hours later
The death of Thalasia was both horrifying, and yet a turning point in the war. It showed just what ends the Orks would go to in their pursuit of conquest. This sparked a ground swelling of recruits from the Citadel races. There would be no shortage of fighters, but the problem would be supplies and ships, the Citadel based companies couldn't keep up with demand, and the order to keep Imperials out of the loop still stood in effect, so Aquila and other Imperial manufacturers couldn't receive the massive orders that could turn the tide.
And so they waited for the Council to reverse their decision, all the way doing their best to hold out. Worlds with minor strategic values were abandoned, their people evacuated, leaving them to the Orks. Anywhere of strategic significance was protected with the fury of the damned. And it was working for now. But even the most optimistic of them knew it was only a matter of time before the Citadel fell.
But time was about to shift in their favor. Because the Orks had reached one of the Imperium's outposts in Citadel Space: Thermopylae.
In orbit of Thermopylae:
Ork Boss Gersnak's fleet arrived in orbit of a system marked as uninhabited that the Big Boss wanted as a mining world, only to discover it was indeed defended. Not only defended, but by unknown forces. While the Orks recovered, the massive orbital fortresses opened fire. Lances of light streaked out and vaporized smaller ships in a single blow or crippled the larger ones.
The Orks rapidly activated their shields, which up till now had been unused. But all it did was double the amount of shots it took to destroy one. Still, that bought the boss time to report that "A good scrap" had been found. Within seconds hundreds of vessels started to pour in, then thousands. The orbital defenses were slowly being overwhelmed.
They had been designed for use against Citadel grade forces, not a threat as virulent as Orks. The shields started to flare, and then fail as more and more Ork ships poured in, swamping the station's defenses. Eventually the armor began to buckle too, and the weapon turrets began to fail. Still though the automated stations fought on; inflicting what would be horrendous losses to any other race.
But these were Orks, and it only encouraged more to arrive in system. When the stations finally fell, over a million Orks descended on the world, eager for a scrap. One they would find in the Spartan V garrison.
Planetside: Spartan Dallas
Dallas was normal for a Spartan V, a professional special forces soldier from a long line of Human Super Soldiers. It was accurate to say that compared to the Legionaries, who were designed for open warfare, the Spartan Vs were closer in genetic augmentation and purpose to the Custodian Guard, warriors able to fight in a group but equally as comfortable as one man armies.
He had participated in multiple raids against pirates and other bodies, including a few strikes against the Terminus before the Orks arrived. He was a blooded killer with two thousand kills to his name. But even so, the arrival of the Greenskins at Thermopylae was a shock to everyone. Their initial arrive knocked out the delicate coms equipment, which was not designed to withstand warp portals opening.
As such while the orbital platforms held back the ever increasing tide, the INI and Naval personnel stripped the base of all information and boarded a stealth transport. They had one job. Bring news of the Ork assault. But they couldn't just leave, the Orks might detect them. So the Spartans volunteered to stay behind and keep the eyes of the Orks on them, so news could reach the Imperium.
It was a textbook suicide mission. The Orks had them outnumbered and outgunned by a margin of a million to one. Not to mention their heavier equipment and orbital superiority. But the Spartans would have it no other way. Their defensive plan involved three tiers of defense. Tier one was a force of one hundred fifty Spartans who would meet the Orks in open battle.
Tier two was made of the defensive guns, manned by one hundred Spartans, they would provide support fire for tier one, as well as scythe down the attackers as they closed. The interior of the base was defended by the last fifty Spartans, as well as a lot of heavy equipment and interior auto turrets.
The hope was that this defense would slow the Orks long enough to keep their attention so the INI and Naval personnel could escape. And Dallas was at the forefront in tier one. He would meet the invaders head on, and he couldn't be more pleased. His parents were both from the Imperium of Man, and had fought Orks before. It felt like he was living up to their legacy by doing this.
His radio clicked: "Alright boys and girls, the Orks are landing now. Give them a warm welcome. Show them why they should fear the Empire, and the Spartan Corps above all!" Commander Dantiles was short and to the point as always.
The first Ork drop units landed, and while it was a surprise to see Orks actually armored and armed better than any era after the Great Crusade and the Rise of the Beast, it did not shake the Spartans. Who moved to engage in fierce close quarters fighting. The Spartans had one major advantage besides their augments over the Orks, they knew the phycology of the species.
Even if they had been trained to fight at range and as specialists, there was still an urge to fight hand to hand in every ork. It was this very quirk that the super soldiers took advantage of with their assault. By getting among the horde, the Orks would start to focus on them, preferring the melee fight immediately available, rather than ranged fighting.
For now it seemed to be working, Dallas observed as he ducked under a 'powered choppa' swing from a nob; the Orks were more focused on slaking their primal thirst for battle then advancing. A quick upper cut popped the head off the nob, followed by a roundhouse kick that sent a group of boyz flying.
But even still, the Orks were endless. Kill one and five more took its place it seemed. Eventually the strategy would start to fail. Several Spartans had already fallen, overwhelmed by sheer numbers and mechanized units. Though even in death they would take more of their attackers with them. When they died their armor's reactor would detonate, destroying everything in a one kilometer radius.
And so it went for several hours. The outer perimeter Spartans fighting on and on, gradually being forced back by the relentless tide of Orks. Whenever one died they would take more of the enemy with them, but those dead Orks would be replaced by more as subsequent waves of reinforcements arrived.
Eventually the thin grey line, even with the heavy support of defense sector two, was irreparably breached, and the Spartans had to withdraw. By the time they reached the fortified outpost, all but twenty five of them had fallen. As he entered the outpost, spraying laser rounds behind him, Dallas was livid.
These funguses dared to return from beyond the grave to haunt the Imperium. They dared to spill Imperial blood again? It didn't matter that he was doomed to die. He and his fellows would do so much damage they would scar the Orks worse than the Luna Wolves did! This he swore to the Emperor!
At this point the telltale noise of the stealth corvette taking off filled the facility before dying down. The INI and Naval personnel were now on their way to the Imperium at large. Cheers filled the complex as they realized this. Whatever else happened, the Imperium at large would be warned.
Orbit: Flaagbaara: Flagship of Warlord Roksnit
Roksnit had just arrived in this Gork and Mork forsaken system, and already he was displeased. This dalliance was holding up The Big Boss' kunning plan. The line should be two systems past this point by now, but because of this one world they had been delayed by three hours so far. This was unacceptable, as such he had been sent to take command by The Big Boss himself.
He had arrived too late to put an end to the casualties they were taking, the estimates of his kommand squid was in the millions. And he was too late to stop a ship from leaving the system. But by Gork he would win, because that's what Orks do, they fight, and they WIN!
No more would the ground forces be distracted or tied down. They would attack, and continue to attack. If one of the boyz was in the way he would be trampled. If line of sight was obstructed they would shoot anyways. If walls created a choke point, they would blow THROUGH the walls. No longer would they be held up by this pathetically small garrison. If necessary, Roksnit would bombard the world rather than waste any more crucial time and numbers on this planet.
But for now he was content to send more of the boyz in, they had been refocused and would not fail in their assault now. Still, the existence of this group was troubling. It was not in any of the Information the Citadel gave them. And there was no way of knowing if this was all there was of them, or if they were just a small outpost. But that didn't matter. He had a mission, and he would not fail.
The assault under his command became much more focused, and dangerous to the Spartan garrison. Within a half hour they had breached the defenses in multiple areas, forcing the defenders back into their maze like outpost. Then came the part every Ork loved, the chance to use their choppas in close quarters fighting.
It took an additional twenty minutes, but at last the final defenders fell. This victory was extremely pyric though, thirty million Orks dead, mainly due to the detonation of the Spartans' armors' reactors. But that wasn't the part that chilled the warboss. It was the final transmission from the world that caused that effect in him: "Ammunition depleted, enemy forces, overwhelming. Long live the Imperium, and death to the xenos invader."
He had seen desperate defenses before. Had commanded the breaking of those kinds of defenses more times than he could count, but this…This was different. This was not the last cry of some desperate beings doomed to serve the Big Boss. This was the roar of a predator. He rushed to inform his lord of this new development.
Citadel: Council Private Chambers: At the same time
The councilors were nervous as they waited for Ambassador Udina. The human wasn't that intimidating on his own, soft spoken, mild mannered, he was the perfect politician. It was who he represented that was terrifying. The Imperium was still the most powerful force in the civilized galaxy, their war fleets could win against impossible odds, and their soldiers carry out assaults that conventional wisdom would call ill-advised at least.
And it was this power the Council needed to step in. For a week they had kept the existence of the Orks a secret, and it had taken all their governments powers to do so. But now they had no choice. If they did not get Imperial aid now, it was likely the Citadel Alliance would cease to exist within the month.
The Imperial ambassador to the citadel arrived a few minutes later, his posture and attitude relaxed. This was a good sign, in the opinion of Councilor Tevos. It meant that he would be more willing to listen rather than just jump to conclusions.
Oh how wrong she was. The meeting started out fine. He was receptive to requesting the Imperium send aid against this new threat, something he believed would happen…and then he asked what the threat was. When he was told it was the Orks, he got a blank look on his face. He cleared out his ear and then spoke: "I'm sorry; I had some crazy in my ear. Did you say Orks?"
When Spartus confirmed it, the diplomat sunk into the chair: "And how long have the Orks been around?" Valern gave the honest answer of a month and a week, causing the human to put his head in his hands and sigh: "Over an Emperor damned month. If we had been informed from the start, the Orks would have been crippled or destroyed by now…But as is the majority of our forces are tied up dealing with the western front. We can deploy forces from our garrisons and mobile forces on your border, but it will take time to relocate the troops from the west."
Tevos quirked an eye ridge, but it was Spartus who asked the question on all of their minds: "What's going on in the west that you can't deploy your main military? Is there something that we should know?"
Udina laughed: "Just like we should have known about the Orks? At the very least as soon as you could see you couldn't defeat them. But no matter; if you must know, since our founding we have been fighting a never ending war on the western frontier. Oh yes, the video games we exported? Those were based on the actual foes we face in the west. Save for one difference, in the game you can undertake diplomacy, in reality we cannot."
Spartus swallowed, he was a fan of the series in question, as were most Turians. As it gave them a chance to see the Imperial military in action and play around with their toys. But every councilor understood why they would not receive immediate aid, even if they didn't have to like it.
The Ambassador left shortly thereafter. He had a call to make.
Galaxy at large:
News of the Orks reemergence caught the Imperium flatfooted. Most of their combat forces were tied up in the west, dealing with another massive Mega Nid wave, and as such only the Eastern forces could be sent out to fight the Orks.
The total force sent numbered: one thousand warships, including four fleet carriers; three hundred thousand marines, including Shepard's ODST regiment; three million troopers; support elements and engineers. But no Legionaries or Spartans, they were all tied up fighting in the west.
Before the Eastern forces set out, the Emperor gave a speech that was broadcast to the entire galaxy: "Sons and daughters of the Imperium. Today you march to war against an ancient foe we thought long dead. This is a result of the foolishness of the Citadel Council, who did not inform us in a timely manner about the return of these monsters.
"And they paid the price for their hubris. Three quarters of Asari and Salarian space has fallen under the iron boot of the Ork." Here he paused for a second before continuing: "Many of you may think this fate richly deserved, and that we should leave them to their fate. But I say to you now those people are SHORT SIGHTED FOOLS!
"If we abandon them to their fate, how long, my people, do you think it would be until the Orks knock on OUR door? An Orkish NATION strengthened by doubling their production capacity, and having the entire rest of the civilized galaxy as their slaves. We stand on the precipice of a cliff. On one side is the yawning chasm of oblivion, on the other the safety and security of our people and the galaxy"
Once again the master of the Imperium paused, drawing in his listeners: "I say we shall do our duty as the wiser and more powerful race, and protect our weaker neighbors. Not only because it will secure our people against the Orks. Not only because it makes strategic sense to do so. But because in this case it is the right thing to do, and to do less than this would stain the legacy of the Empire for ten thousand years.
As such I decree that we shall wage war against the Orks. I declare a SECOND Great Crusade! We shall fight them in the void of space. We shall fight them on orbital stations. We shall fight them in the plains and fields. We shall fight them in the cities and towns. We shall NEVER surrender or falter! The IMPERIUM SHALL NEVER FALL, we shall fight on to our last breath, so that even ten million years from now, they shall say THIS was our FINEST hour!"
As they left, morale was at an all-time high. The military intervention spread out along the line the Citadel system's defensive line. Of all the places in the line Shepard's unit was assigned to hold Thessalia. They were going into the fire, as to break Citadel resistance, the Orks had launched three main assaults. One was sent against the Citadel itself, one against Sur'kesh, and the largest of these invasion forces arranged against Thessalia.
Next time: The Battle of Thesselia Fields
Codex: Heroes of the last war
Much has been made of the heroes of the war versus Chaos. Many of the public wonder, where are they now, these heroes? While we cannot account for them all, we can account for many of them.
NOBLE TEAM: Currently undergoing retrofitting to Spartan V levels of augmentation. They had been in a now temporary retirement, but the vacation was over. In all likelihood they would be deployed to the west once they completed re augmentation.
TALDEER OF ULTWE: She is now married to the assassin LIIVI. They have a daughter together, Lofn, who is sixteen years old. Taldeer now serves as a training instructor to the Imperial psyker training academy.
ISHTA TALDEER: The pureblooded daughter of Taldeer is going through augmentation to become a Spartan V to stay close to her Fiancee Noble Six.
FIELD MARSHAL ROMEL: Is in command of the North Western sector, where his penchant for counter attacks is brutally punishing to any invader. To that end, the North Western Sector is often the hardest hit by the nids to tie up the forces up there.
GRAND ADMIRAL ROMEL: Serving as the commander for the navies in the North Western sector. His abilities to co-ordinate the vast fleet assigned to him has proven invaluable to his father's counter attacks.
THE TWO PATTONS: The two Pattons, father and son, are assigned to command the Western and South Western fronts respectively. Their aggressive use of armor to punish any breeches past the Trooper manned defenses has managed to break the nids time and time again.
CREED: In overall command of the Imperial Marine Corps. He rarely has a chance to command in the field. But when he does, he's still able to pull out the same tricks that made the followers of Chaos scream CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDD.
GENERAL PULLER: Training commandant of the Marine Corps. It is his task to ensure that any who join the Marines meet and surpass the standards of the Marines of old. It is a task he performs with gusto, and great alacrity. It is through his efforts that the Marines are consistently turning out fighting men able to outfight any force in the galaxy save for other Imperial forces, though don't tell him that, or he'll chew you out for counting out the Corps.
SIERRA 117: Now the overall commander of the Spartan Initiative. John still managed to get himself into combat situations despite his high rank. Due to advances in technology allowing AI organic bodies, he has married former UNSC AI Cortana. Rumor has it they have a child on the way.
GABRIEL ANGELOS: Legion Commander of the Thousand Sons. Angelos has his work cut out separating the reformed Legio from its predecessor's legacy. But he has done an admirable job so far, and the Sons are becoming some of the most trusted battle psykers in the Imperial Legions.
Codex: The failure of Imperial Intelligence
When the Orks were revealed, Imperial Intelligence scrambled to find out how the Citadel managed to hide such an important fact from them. They had thoroughly compromised all current Citadel technology databanks. The Daltrasses couldn't even take a shit without them knowing it.
So how had this evaded their notice? The answer was quite simple, everything was communicated face to face about the Orks. Or through old channels that had not seen use for centuries. It was almost amusing how well the old ways were able to flummox the most technologically advanced nation in the galaxy.
But Imperial Intelligence was going to have to step up their game if they weren't going to get blindsided again.
Codex: The Ork Blitz
The Ork assault on the Citadel was a textbook example of a well-executed surprise attack and proper use of the overwhelming numbers available to the attacker.
The campaign's opening week was virtually flawless in execution. Billions upon billions of greenskins poured out of the galactic North, what used to be the Terminus. Within seconds the border defenses had crumbled and the Orks were pushing into Citadel territory.
System after system fell to the advancing Orkish tide, no matter what defense was mounted the Orks would just throw more at it until the defenders were all dead. Or in some cases they would simply bombard the world into submission.
It was a strategy that played well with the key strengths of the Orkish horde; vast numbers and overwhelming firepower. Trying to wield this force in any other way than it was utilized would not get the most out of their innate advantages, or the ones The Big Boss arranged.
Deep in Ork occupied territory were worlds dedicated to producing new equipment on mass, everything from Shootas to Gorknoughts and Great Gargants. These worlds were mostly populated by Gretchen and Meks, though a growing slave populace also contributed to the production of new equipment.
There were worlds were Drill Nobs forged the boys from a blunt instrument into a sharp and dangerous weapon. Casualty rates on these training worlds were high, with only one in ten Orks graduating, but it produced a superior ork. This ensured a constant supply of Orks for conquest.
Also among those worlds were ones that produced food for the Orkoid Empire, granted it was mainly funguses and other primitive forms of Ork life, but it still kept the war machine moving. Not since the Beasts who invaded the Imperium in the days of old have the Orks been this organized, and it will be hard to dislodge them from the seat of their power.
Codex: Generation Two Primarchs?
Off and on over the years there have been rumors that Empress Isha has been pregnant. But it has never been substantiated or proven. Even so, the rumors persist.
Though if they are true, why not reveal it to the Imperium? It would be met with celebration and joy after all.
There is a potential reason for this that makes logical sense. The Primarchs of old were meant as the warlords of the Imperium, and were the Emperor's flesh and blood. There is a strong possibility that the Emperor is recreating the Primarchs the old fashioned way.
At any rate until the Emperor reveals if he is there is no way to truly know...
Review please and thank you