His name was Meilyr Eriulf Edris, his father was the renowned Admiral Rhys Eriulf Edris and he like his father before him, was an Admiral in the Navis Imperialis just the same. Such had been the duty and honor of their line for the last two thousand years as a reward for his ancestors meritorious service during the 9th Black crusade.
Unfortunately his family's position in the admiralty was low, barely of note in the vast Imperial hierarchy, low enough in fact that he could have his entire fleet commandeered by a General who had no pedigree to speak of. It was a disgrace and it would likely forever darken his service record in the centuries to come, but it was a disgrace he was more than happy to rectify.
Ulther was a lost cause as far as he was concerned, the fool had obviously been ensorcelled by the heretics and Xeno's planetside and completely lost his mind. It was the only explanation that made sense. An entire hive was abandoned overnight, a full regiment left to die, and dozens others redeployed right before a counter attack was to take place.
It was all far too much in far too short a time for it not to be the work of either a traitor or someone enthralled by disgusting sorceries. Either way the General would have to die, the Xenos expunged from existence, and the Heretical cults destroyed utterly. Thankfully he still had his fleet in its entirety under his command along with the planet's port facilities so he had nothing to worry about when it came to maintaining or supplying his fleet.
On the other hand the planetary governor was dead along with a majority of the governors of Ulanirs' hives, and those that weren't dead were firmly under Ulther's thumb. Meaning he had no options to look to for the potential conscription of further regiments even if his ships could supply more than enough to reclaim this world for the Imperium. You didn't need many men when you could destroy your enemies from orbit after all.
So he was stuck, even while he was desperate to bombard Nafith and destroy it along with all the other traitor hives he didn't have the required authority to order such a course of action. He wasn't an inquisitor and he couldn't just make such unilateral decisions on a whim, much to his growing displeasure. Which is how he ended up wasting the last year cobbling together two regiments of conscripted guardsmen to act as his vanguard planetside.
It had been a herculean task to snatch up every single one of the soldiers from various deserters, retired guardsmen, unlucky workers, and thousands of pardoned prisoners. Thankfully the port was a constant source of new conscripts as the various workers inevitably broke some minor law that was enough justification for him to press gang them into service and fast track them through basic training.
With his paltry two regiments at the ready it was finally time for him to begin retaking this planet from the wicked clutches of the Xeno, traitor, and the heretic. Supplies, manpower, and weapons could be taken from reclaimed hives. "Anders." He said, grabbing the attention of his second.
"Yes my Lord?" The man asked. Looking away from his console to turn to him and his command throne. "Deploy the regiments, Relnoth is our target. Precision bombardment is given the greenlight before boots touch ground. Target the Palace spires, and the known barracks."
"Yes my Lord!" The man turned immediately and began relaying his orders to the various commanders and officers under him. He watched dispassionately as his ship began to move through the void and towards Relnoth while transports descended in the thousands to carry his troops to their target groundside.
Relnoth was a perfect staging ground as far as he was concerned. The cult there had already been destroyed by Ulther and his regiments and as such it had been left defended by a single regiment of the Ulaniri PDF. Combine that with a large industrial base, easy access to food for his armies to come, and its close proximity to Nafith Relnoth was the perfect place to establish his own headquarters planetside.
Not that he would ever be stepping foot on said cursed planet. The Xeno and heretic presence was far too widespread and he would not risk his own life and mind just to command the forces on the ground when he was more than capable of doing so from orbit. Yes he was quite comfortable in his command throne overlooking a slowly spinning world as they began to hover over Relnoth.
"My Lord we are now in synch with Relnoth along with the rest of the fleet. Hive defenses have been activated and our transports are being shot down. Current casualty rate stands at around 2.3%." An acceptable death rate as far as he was concerned, the defenses were almost certainly undermanned as the amount of destroyed transports should have been far higher.
"Order the Defiant and the Ever Loyal to begin precision bombardment of the cities defenses. If a void shield is activated, have Jericho destroy it with a lance bombardment. Captain Rhydian has authorization to overload his vessel's generators to begin a rapid strike if he must." He said as the plan that he had crafted for this day was playing out within his mind.
Anders saluted and began relaying his orders to the three vessels while the rest of his fleet waited in standby playing their part as troop carriers.
Soon enough reports began to come in as the assault began below. The Relnothian PDF was as suspected caught nearly completely off guard by their orbital assault and his regiments had already broken through the outer walls of the hive to begin the assault on the city itself. At the same time his ships and their captains were doing their jobs well as they quickly broke the cities void shield and began to destroy Relnothian defensive infrastructure.
He cared little for the fact that he would not be able to use said infrastructure later. His ships were more than enough as far as he was concerned, no planetside army would be able to assault the hive as long as he held orbital dominance.
Minutes, hours, and soon enough days passed by quickly as his assault on the hive progressed. Layer by layer, spire by spire the hive was taken from the Relnothian defenders and soon enough the only source of resistance remaining came from the military governor that had been installed by Ulther himself.
Not that it particularly mattered to him. He had already ordered an assault on the governor's palace that was going well from what his reports told him. Relnoth was his in all but name; it was just a matter of a few hours.
"My Lord the Governor of Relnoth wishes to speak with you." Anders spoke, ever diligent in his duties.
"What does he want?"
"He says he wishes to discuss terms of surrender My lord, apparently he has information that he believes will be critical for your reconquest of the planet. He wishes to have a personal conversation with you face to face, he says that is the only way to ensure what he says cannot be leaked."
He pondered that for a moment, the thought of allowing the Governor to get close enough to him to have a face to face conversation. He pondered it in his head, went through every possible scenario, and came to one ultimate conclusion. Fuck that, he wasn't putting himself on the line for the Governors own assurance of secrecy.
"Tell the Governor he can speak with me over comms and through comms alone, if he wishes to see me he can speak through a holotable and I will do the same but that is the most I will do to accommodate him." He said and Anders nodded in acknowledgment and transmitted his response.
Minutes passed as Anders spoke with their intermediary on the ground, occasionally looking to him to confirm what Anders was saying with his Authorization codes until finally a call came over his personal comms. He knew who it was as soon as he answered the call.
"Admiral Meilyr Eriulf Edris, it seems you have caught me off guard. I didn't expect someone of your great personage to deny a request for parlay I must admit. Can you confirm that you are he? I would not wish to speak to an imposter.
"I am he yes, and you thought wrong, Governor; or should I say Colonel Aberthol. I will not be acknowledging your promotion at this time after all. I know of the heretical magic at play that has captured the mind of Ulther and I know not where it came from. I do know however that it only happened when he touched down on that wretched planet and I will not be risking the same as a loyal servant of the God-Emperor."
"An understandable precaution my lord, and one I applaud you for truly. It is a shame though, I would have loved to gift your fleet to the creator but unfortunately it seems I will no longer be able to do that. Thankfully you've given me all I needed, good day Admiral"
-
"Wha-" He crushed the communicator in his left hand while his right crushed the throat of the guardsmen who had been operating it. Fighting could be heard outside of his door as the few defenders that remained tried to hold out against the Imperial assault. Around him his brothers and sisters were gathered, their forms dim from the overuse of their magic.
It had been a gamble on their part but one that had been worth it. The Admiral had confirmed his name personally and with his siblings help he had been able to latch onto it to dig into the Admirals memories while he spoke. It wasn't some grand heist and many of the memories that now rested within his mind were disjointed and non-relevant; many others had incredibly important information. Such as access codes, authorization keys, and even his plans to invade this world.
All things the creator would be pleased to learn about. Smiling he turned to his siblings and as one they gathered what power they could and stepped between time and space into the wilds, their home. To the human mind the wilds would seem impossibly vast and labyrinthine, forever circling in on itself. Forest, mountain, swamp, and glen went on forever in all directions.
Impossible for the human mind to navigate the wilds were completely different to the Fey. It was home, it was their natural environment and they navigated it with ease. For a week they trekked through the wilds, taking paths and dodging Fey beasts that no other being could have even begun to navigate around and at the end of their path they stepped into reality once more.
Time meant little to the wilds and while a week had passed within only an hour had passed in reality. Unfortunately they couldn't simply appear in the court of the creator to deliver their information, instead they had to first meet with their lord to discuss what they had found and determine what would be brought to the attention of the creator.
He left his siblings behind to rest while he navigated through the depths of the capital of the Fey. Much had changed in his time away after all. He had been given his mission a year ago by lord Vannem, it was a simple infiltration that would give them control of the hive and make future conquests far easier. All it took was a glamor and the disposal of the real Governor Aberthol and he was ruling an Imperial hive within a month.
Nafith was different when he left. The Imperial Gothic architecture had been almost completely replaced. Gold and Green now shone under the rays of the sun which could finally pierce through a smogless sky. Filth was non-existent, the streets were wider and flowed with Fae and human foot traffic and the buildings themselves were completely transformed. Once squat, ugly buildings of gray and black had been replaced with spires of green and gold. Glass glittered under the radiance of it all, while Jaegers patrolled the streets on the lookout for any crime or Malcontents.
What stood out most of all to him however was the way the humans now looked. Sure they still held visible hatred and disgust for him and his kin but they were also no longer the filthy wretches that they had once been. They were clean, healthy, and rosy cheeked with a look of wonderment in their eyes as they walked their new streets.
The sights only grew more wondrous as he left what had once been the slums of the hive and got closer to its interior. Where the outer sections had still held a slightly cramped feeling to them, with the spires being thin and touching to better accommodate the sheer size of the human population that called the hive home the interior was far different.
The spires and towers were gargantuan constructions of Fey artifice that touched the clouds themselves. The spires in which he had fought for the survival of his race had been completely remade, turned from centers of conflict, destruction, and despair into beacons of hope and a new tomorrow. It was into one of those great spires that he traveled in search of his Lord's office.
He was met with yet another surprise inside, Humans sitting at a large desk along with a few Fey he recognized processing great lines of humans and his kin. Looking around he saw one of his kin that he had fought with during the conquest and quickly sped over to her. He tried to hide his smile when she looked over at him and lit up. She was sat next to another fey that was busy processing another great line of people but her area was profoundly empty.
She yelled his name as soon as he was within hugging range. "Nirsun you're back!" Her voice echoed as she practically dove over the counter and pulled him into a hug. He laughed, "It's good to see you too, Lufe." He said returning the hug. "What are you doing here? And what is all this? I don't remember any of this before I left on my mission, I didn't expect change to happen so quickly I will admit." He said as they broke off the hug.
She smiled at him happily and brought out a chair for him, along with some pamphlets and other assorted reading material. The majority had queer names such as 'So you've just come back from a mission huh?' and 'Humans, you, and the creator an introduction'. "Lufe what am I looking at here?" He asked, opening the one whose title read 'New Fey law code.' He was a Fey sue him, see who wins.
"A lot has changed since you left Nirsun, the Creator has decided on a new way of doing things now that we are no longer constantly on the brink of total loss and defeat. Ever since the rebirth he has taken us all in a new direction, beginning with a new set of laws all Fey must obey. Including the Lords!" She said excitedly, showing him through mental magic examples of what she was talking about.
He learned of the creators suicide and rebirth, the near Schism between the Creator and First Lord, and the creators thoughts on what they had nearly become in those months after the conquest. He had been on mission for a month already when it had all happened and Lord Vannem had obviously neglected to inform him of what had happened in his time away.
It was a lot. "So what? Do we now have to treat humans with respect or something similar? No more harvests?" He said, drawing an evil eye from a few passing humans. Not that he cared, the harvests had been necessary. They had brought the human population down to a reasonable level and obtained the amount of souls needed to achieve victory in the conquest.
Lufe's smile became a bit more strained at his words. "Yep no more harvests, humans are entitled to certain rights within those realms which swear fealty to the creator. Including but not limited to the rights of life, limb, and comfort. As long as a human has committed no crime they are free to enjoy their lives to the fullest extent. Of course as one of the Fey kin our rights include the same and then some."
He nodded, it was only right that as the children of the creator that they be entitled to more rights than the Humans. Lufe wasn't finished though. "Now since you're coming back from a mission and as such you're unfamiliar with the current laws of the realm let me give you an in depth class on its various laws and customs." He sat up immediately, eyes alight with excitement.
In the corner of his vision he watched one of his kin give the same class to a human who looked like they were dying. He snorted under his breath, or course a human wouldn't understand the importance of learning the law and its various intricacies.
-
He was hurt. Everything in his body hurt, and his mind was like a scattered patchwork of pain and plans. Plans within plans that he could pick out like a spider, twisting and turning it within his mind to watch how it would affect all the others in ways both good and bad. It was his punishment and his gift from the creator, a way to plan and scheme without end, to see into the future to see how his plans would ultimately end.
He was scared. Pain was in his future, he knew it, he had seen it, and he had planned for it when he had first enacted his scheme a year ago. The creator would punish him again, twist him further into a wretch unfit to carry the title of Lord, but his plan would succeed. War would come again, souls would flow, their race would expand outwards, and in the end if his sight was true he would be restored to his former self.
Handsome and charismatic, Lordly and brimming with potential. He would be a Fae lord in body and name once more, no longer a spider spinning its webs in the dark. As the door to his office was opened and his Agent, Nirsun entered the room Vannem the Spider smiled with all twelve eyes. It was time, war was on the horizon, and he would be beautiful again.