Date: D046. Y977. M31. MI60
Kelmun Yhath Phoenix Lord of the Temple of Khaine sat next to the high Farseer of the Temple of Khaine Hrain Presh at the High council of the craftworld of Ka-Arren along with the Temple of Morai-Heg as they were currently negotiating with the human known Wilk Adrigin the leader of the Ordo Paxit's Primis.
The Ordo's of Humanity were an interest concept the humans territory was so vast that they needed large but disjointed organizations known as 'Ordos' to keep some semblance of order, all of them were run by the 'inquisitorial Galaxia Warriors' the branch of government that was also shortened to just the inquisition.
The Inquisition's Ordos interacted with Xenos on behalf of the Freeholds, mediated disputes between planets, organized military actions during war and were the first responders when a crisis appeared on the horizon, they in essence acted as the Federative government in its absence.
This is why they were currently stuck at the planet of Paxit Primis because the more Xenophobic culture of the Ordo's meant that the human in front of them was not allowing them to stop and make repairs after a massive warp storm that had come out of thin air, a storm that the humans called a PWS.
"I'm sorry but you must move on, our fleets within the sector have come into contact with a large number of chaos fleets, your presence will only bring us unwanted attention" the human said, Wilk had repeated his point just in other words "HAH, you short lived life forms should be honored! We are actually giving you an amazing opportunity to fall into our good graces" Zonha exclaimed with an impressive amount of arrogance.
Kelmun rolled his eyes Zonha had always disliked humans he saw them as arrogant, unable to see the bigger picture and manipulatable, like many Aeldari did he was also arrogant beyond belief, as far as Kelmun knew Hrain, the Phoenix Lord of the Temple of Morai-Heg, didn't so much as hate humans but more or less saw them as tools and pawns to be moved upon a game board while she was the all knowing and all seeing player.
"Our mission is of great importance, you of all these Barbarians should know that, if you don't, what's the harm in letting us make our repairs?" Hrain finished, Wilk then responded "I know for a fact your kind plots always end badly for whoever is involved besides yourselves of course".
The High Priestess of Morai-Heg would then speak up "why must you cause us so much trouble we cant even leave if we want to! We must negotiate" however it was obvious that she had no plans of doing so fairly.
Wilk contemplated for a moment before stating "there is nothing you can offer me please just move on" the back and forth would then continue, suddenly someone connected to his helmet's frequency and given that no one but he ever used this frequency he knew exactly who this was.
"It is a pain listening to these old hags try and dish out insults and thus make thus a waste of all of our time don't you think?" it was Kith-Syr she was the HighFarseer of the Temple of Morai-Heg, Farseers of Morai-Heg or any temple usually have a respect for those above them or at least put up the facade they do however she did none of that in fact he had pondered once or twice on how she had even gotten so far.
"Yes it is" he was an Aeldari of few words but both their Temples were official allies with the paperwork going back all the way to the War of the Gods forty million years ago and had persisted even when the temples had dissolved under the rule of the Kabals to the establishment of their temples just a few thousand years ago they had to interact on a annual basis that's how he got to know Kith.
"I just wonder a few things like what aspect does our Temples represent of our gods and why do we have to go all the way out here to an exodite world?"
Her question caused him to also wonder, they had not been allowed to go to the meeting with Tuirad on orders of the High Priests so the second question he couldn't answer but he could with the first however it was designed to draw him into conversation.
"Well I personally believe that anyone can chose what aspect they can represent" his Answer was short, sweet and to the point "yes but thats not what the High Priests say do they?" She said and he countered "you should have gone to the Temple of Isha your rebellious temperament suits you" and he genuinely admired that about her always going against the grain and thinking for herself that was difficult in a society dominated by traditions and few lines of thinking, unlike himself.
"Ha ha ha yes but what aspect of Khaine do you represent he is many things after all most notably the god of murder" he saw right through that as she had no respect for authority she would always saying things that were not acceptable within certain social circles just to see how they would react.
"Yes he is the god of murder the god of war and the god of wrath and rage but he is also the god of Honor the god of Strength both those are represented disproportionately in the Temple of Khaine yes but we still acknowledge those aspects of Khaine as well as him crimes and actions" Kelmun then sneaked a glance at the two Priests who looked to be increasingly frustrated.
"Or at least some of us do" he finished "that is interesting" Kith stated she had been listening intently as it was not everyday he said even that many words but when he spoke he seemed a lot more wise than she was, in she would bet a warp entity could dish out more wisdom than her.
"Is it also because we are expected to fill the aspects? Because they are more practically useful or that the other aspects are looked down upon? So society automatically expects us to choose the latter over the former?" she had long thoughts about why many throughout their Temples history are only represented through these few aspects.
"For example Morai-Heg is the goddess of fate, rebirth and ending's but she is also the goddess of Sadness, Hate and disgust you dont see many who fully embrace her as a whole not like I plan to".
"Then there's the acts she endorsed during the War of the Gods, they are truly horrible, the atrocities committed on both sides, why do they ignore them and pretend like they never happened, like the lives lost had no meaning? That is the very reason the Aeldari Temples can not come together".
Beneath his helmet Kelmun smiled having recorded the entire conversation he would have to think deeper about this going to respond he was suddenly interrupted by the alarms of the craftworld and turned as it appeared the line of communication between them and the Human started to cut out.
"If you wish to survive this we must work together, chaos cannot be allowed to roam freely" Wilk said "if we help you will you allow us to stop and repair our fleet then?" High Priest of Khaine questioned with a smug smile Wilk seemed to scoff and finished the negotiations by stating "yes, but it's not like we have a choice now do we?" and with that the holocall cut.
Out in the void that was the solar system of Paxits the chaos fleet that had entered was of course an expeditionary fleet as such it had large numbers of smaller vessels such as destroyers and light cruisers in ratio to dreadnoughts and battleships combined.
In a 5:1 ratio for destroyers and a 2:1 ratio for light cruisers adding up to 46 destroyers (14 lost in the warp), 22 light cruisers (2 lost in the warp) this was to go along with the 12 capital ships in the dreadnought and battleship class with their flagship being 'Khornes skull bringer' lead by Fleet master Ghosk Vice.
Assuming the Aeldari and Freehold fleets would work together closely, the chaos fleet would form a wedge formation out of the capital ships hoping to have them soak up the incoming fire with the Destroyers and Cruisers behind.
Once the got close enough however the smaller vessels would come out of hiding and would use their comparatively faster speeds to form two lines either side of the wedge and once the wedge had split the two opposing fleets the Destroyers and Cruisers would isolate and focus fire on isolated parts of the enemy fleet.
Once the majority of the enemy fleet was wiped out they would then perform boarding actions and unleash drop pods upon the planet of Paxit to seize the dockyard facilities before they could be sabotaged or destroyed.
Comparing this to the Freehold Fleet under Wilk the Freehold defense fleet could boast 23 Destroyers and 11 Cruisers of both the light and heavy variety, they would also have 5 vessels of the Capital ship class, their flagship 'God's Justice' lead by captain Wilk Adrigin.
The strategy Wilk would impose would have his Destroyers and Cruisers in the front in a curved line alternating between the two in order to provide screens for his larger ships which would be slightly farther behind but also slightly high up in order to cleanly fire upon the enemy.
The Freehold Fleet could also call upon 3 Orbital Defense Stations which although to slow to change position mid battle could serve as an anchor for the Fleet and serious source of firepower they would be placed upon the right flank closest to the Aeldari in order to prevent the two fleets from fighting two different battles like it or not the Freehold needed the help of the Aeldari.
The Aeldari on the other hand, had under their command a large collection of smaller vessels as their mission needed them to move as fast as possible and due to the smaller size of the Temples of Khaine and Morai-Heg, In total they commanded 26 Destroyers and 8 light cruisers However they had less Capital ships having only 3 with two of those being the large craftworlds of Khaine and Morai-Heg, their capital ship would be the craftworld of Ka-Arren jointly led by the High Priests of both temples Zonha Mesh and Rhael-Lesh.
They would form up similar to the Freehold Fleet however their capital ships would be stationed much farther back… in order to cover a possible retreat and to reinforce when necessary, as of now Kelmun was situated within his Void Phoenix Fighter craft flying in formation or as of right now just floating in formation Kelmun was carefully observing the chaos fleet.
To do this he used the spirit sonar, an advanced technology from the War in Heaven, unfortunately like many other technologies it had been partially lost during the closing stages of the conflict, with the rest being lost during the War of the Gods and the Fall of the Temples.
The only other option to replace the lost tech was a spirit stone with an Aeldari soul inside of it to work, but with reincarnation having been viable for tens of millions of years and the dreadful prospect of living for eternity in a stone, a functional spirit stones was very, very rare and considered sacred, only to be used by the most skilled and accomplished warriors.
"Pull yourself out of your thoughts Kelmun" he looked to his comms it was the Phoenix lord of Morai-Heg Invar Rain, he quickly spoke back "thank you and may the gods bless you" that was usually how he got rid of people when he didn't want to talk to "I wish the same for you the enemy approaches fast" and with that he then felt a tingle at the back of his head.
"Hey Kel" Kith said almost playfully, however now was not the time for such things "hello Kith i'm afraid we must take this seriously, have you finished linking all of our minds to the infinity matrix yet?" the infinity matrix was a very important part of fleet organization allowing pilots to communicate within milliseconds of each other and maintain a hive-like cohesion.
"Almost… done" she said before pausing for a brief moment "good luck out there Kel and… stay safe" she would then cut the line he wished he could say something back but it would interrupt her delicate work that she needed full concentration for, all in order to maintain the psychic battle of will within the warp.
This battle of psychic will was known as the clairvoyance, in order to prevent a total collapse of the moral and cohesion, and to fight against the enemies will the High Farseer would, with the help of many skilled farseers manipulate the energies of the warp to war against the enemies will in the war who would be doing the same.
So as you could see the victory of chao's will in the warp would be disastrous as not only would they decimate the Aeldari will and cohesion, but they could then manipulate the surrounding reality nearly merging the warp and material together for a moment to achieve the desired destruction of the enemy.
Anything you could and couldn't imagine, the enemy could and would do, if they won the clairvoyance in a battle not only that but is also played one of the most important parts by far, to guide the souls of the dead Aeldari back to the craftworlds in order to have them reincarnate without the clairvoyance their souls would just dissipate in the warp.
'But with Almain Kiac to support her she should be able to handle the stress of the Clairvoyance just fine' Kelmun decided in order keep to his nerves calm, Almain was an older Aeldari, a few thousand years old and the High Farseer of the Temple of Khaine, although he was mysterious and kept his personal life hidden Kelmun knew to put his trust in Almain's experience and wisdom.
Across the system from the Aledari Fleet the massive hulking monstrosities that were the Chaos capital ships slowly lumbered their way forward at full speed, to cover this approach a mass of fighters, interceptors and bombers would make their way across to screen the approach and soften up opposition.
Kelmun would then communicate with the rest of his squad a final message before engaging the enemy knowing that like him all the pilots were relatively young "for all that are listening do not be afraid and may the Gods bless you for this is not your last fight far from it" with that they charged forward.
The battle would begin with tens of thousands of starcraft engaging in vicious dogfights however with the Farseers of the temples guiding the Aeldari through the infinity matrix and the Humans via their advanced A.I they could maintain cohesion, although the Humans A.I proved to be effective Kelmun would not trust it as such he and his squadron kept their distance from the Freehold spacecraft.
On the other hand the Chaos starcraft had no such systems only relying on basic communication and D.A.I due to the influence and distrust of A.I from the followers of the Omnisiha, as such their cohesion slowly fell apart bit by bit, however their only objectives was to screen the advance of the capital ships and to threaten the Aeldari ships in order to separate them from the Freehold, in this they did well.
Meanwhile the sorcerers of the Chaos Fleet would do a battle of will within the warp with the Aeldari farseers and Freehold sanctioned psykers, with all three sides attempting to dominate the clairvoyance however due to a lack of knowledge and having never worked alongside each other a few Freehold psykers and the Aeldari farseers would unintentionally fight each other by mistake, all this in order to give their side the ultimate advantage.
Zooming further out the Freehold capital ships and the three O.D.S had begun to open fire on the Chaos capital ships taking advantage of their opponents choosing not shooting back in favor of speed in spite of this the Chaos ships weathered the storm not having to also deal with the Aeldari capital ships which were much farther back.
—-
With the two fleets coming ever closer together Ghosk would make sure to send his opponents a message "you all fight and for what? To stand by a fraudulent God who couldn't care less about you, your skulls will be used to further expand the ever growing skull throne, BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" The crew of the Chaos fleet, most having been a part of the Bleeding champions before they joined Hourian, would respond accordingly "SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!".
—-
Wilk Adrigin Ordo Master of the ship 'God's Justice' leader of Ordo Paxit Primis and the former acolyte of the Galaxia Warrior Dox Karx, now as the Ordo Master if the Ordo Paxit Wilk would openly grimace as, to put it mildly, this was not going to work out in their favor.
He could already see it in his superhuman mind, they were not only outnumbered but with the Aeldari being a hundred thousand miles off of where he would have liked them to be and with them quickly backing off from his and the Chaos Fleet it was obvious that they would be no help.
The Freehold Fleet under his command would have to bare the brunt of the Chaos Fleet leaving them outnumbered outgunned and horrendously vulnerable to be flanked and encircled 'Damn Eldar' he thought bitterly but it was no use cursing them he needed to think not just stand here and watch their doom approach them.
'What would Dox do, god, what would he do?' His master had always been a creative individual, it's why the Ordo he controlled was large enough to protect over a dozen planets, with his master's most known deed being 'Dox's Charge at the battle of Belithal' Chen'.
'Wait' just then he got an idea it may be the dumbest thing but it also made sense in a way only he could make sense of it, after giving it a few more seconds of thought which converted to mortal time would be days worth of thinking he made up his mind "admiral" he said calmly, she turned looking up from her data pad and replied "yes my lord?" her face was grim, she knew exactly what position they were in "prepare to charge the enemy fleet" he said like he just stated what the weather was.
A few uncomfortable seconds later in which many of the crew turned as if to confirm they had not just imagined what he had said, "S-s-sir are you absolutely sure?" she asked, her confusion prominent in her expression "Yes that is my order you will direct our fleet to take a V formation" he finished, the admiral still looked shocked but carried out his order nonetheless.
Receiving their orders the Freehold Destroyers and Cruisers rapidly formed up and with the capital ships already in a V formation they quickly set forth speed was key after and with the O.D.S covering them and their spacecraft screening for them the advance would speed ahead.
Inside the 'Gods Justice' Wilk knew most of the fleet thought this was the most foolish thing they could do and were rightly terrified, in order to resolve these feelings Wilk would make a speech his eyes starting to glow and a strange aura enveloped him the psychic choir would began to sing louder with their leader.
"To the crews of the Paxit Freehold Fleet I know you are all terrified why would you not be your captain has ordered in your eyes a foolish order that will get all of you killed, but this is where I have come to the conclusion that you are all braver than most people for you are willing to sacrifice your lives to save your people. Some of you will die, that is the cruel reality of war but you will be remembered as heroes! As the safe guards of all that is good in the galaxy for everyone of the families down on Paxit the women, men and children will all live due to your actions all you must do is FIGHT!".
With that the entire Freehold Fleet of Paxit was suddenly filled with a determination and focus they would never feel in their lives again normal functions would see a dramatic rise in productivity and communication between vessels would become flawless and seamless the entire fleet seemed to move ahead as one unified machine, in purpose, spirit and mind with Humanity's psychic will extending at a tremendous pace.
—-
As they moved forward at tremendous speeds their approach was not unnoticed by the Chaos Expeditionary Fleet, Ghosk only smiled 'so they decided to act good this was starting to get boring' he would then speak up "have our capital ships slow their pace, the Destroyers and Cruisers will proceed to come out at our flanks the left flank will speed up, encircle them and the right will only support us have them prepare for boarding actions as well" this was going to be a great slaughter worthy of its title he would not be ignored by ANYBODY any longer he will be…
"My lord" the admiral said "WHAT!" he shouted the admiral better have something good to say or his insides would quickly become his outsides "we cannot communicate with the rest of the fleet it seems our psychic will within the warp is being momentarily overpowered with us having to fight both the Eldar and the Freehold's psychic wills" the admiral then paused and finished his sentence "we appear to be losing the Clairvoyance".
This was bad now that he realized what that fucking coward of a Galaxia Warrior was up to "MORE SACRIFICS THEN REGAIN COMMUNICATION" Ghosk yelled as he smashed his chairs counsel, within the 'Khorne's skull Bringer' thousands of people all from different backgrounds, cultures and religions were clustered in a small area fit for no more than a few hundred.
Nearly all had been taken by the Kabals from their homes, their families and loved ones and sold to the forces of Chaos as a part of the ever growing economic ties between Hourians crusade and the Kabals of the Domain, this was for many purposes, to be slaves or servants aboard the Chaos Fleets, for the simple purpose of entertainment or in this case to be lambs to the slaughter.
They were dragged from their cells and thrown into fire pits the walls covered in runes while dozens of Chaos acolytes lead by elite sorcerers stood above muttering prayers to their unholy gods maintaining vile rituals utilizing the agony and pain created by the despair filled souls to project a much stronger psychic will across the system to regain lost ground within the clairvoyance.
These activities would increase ten fold hundreds thrown into the pits at a time, impossibly almost smothering the psychically powered fire with the numerous acolytes almost imploding from the rush of souls and power only managing with the guidance of the elite sorcerers, even then the huge surge of power was barely contained with there being many casualties for the untrained acolytes, not that Ghosk cared.
—-
Due to all this energy being put into the Chaos Choirs their will would mutate, horrifying manifestations would appear within the warp, and it would appear as if the Chaos fleet was riding a massive wave of crying corpses and restless souls.
This would have a rather large impact upon the Aeldari being as sensitive as they are to the warp, although the runes of the Old Gods, and the relentless efforts of the High Farseers would grant some protection.
However this would not slowdown the Freehold Fleet having many runes of the Father protecting them they would power through, the Chaos Fleet would soon regain communication it was to late the right flank of the Chaos Fleet had already begun deploying as planned and with the larger capital ships having blocked their view of the battle and the lack of communication they would be deploying right in front of a Freehold counter charge.
The 23 Chaos Destroyers and 11 Chaos Cruisers would be totally blindsided as the entire Freehold Fleet smashed into them, many Chaos ships and their crews would quickly be blown into the void, destroyed never to terrorize another system again, the Freehold Fleet cheered as the unholy ships were practically vaporized.
It was not without losses however with 7 Freehold Destroyers and 3 Cruisers being destroyed due to the panicked but still concentrated fire of the Chaos ships but compared to the 16 Chaos Destroyers and 7 Chaos Cruisers being wiped out and the rest being severely damaged virtually taking them out of the fight.
But now was the real challenge, they needed to take on the 12 Chaos capital ships with their 5, a feat that looked difficult as the Eldar were nowhere to be seen and the Chaos Fleet still outnumbered them, but there was still hope they just needed to adjust and fire upon the- 'BOOOOM.
This was not to be as the Chaos capital ships had finally slowed down enough turning about to return fire it took a while due to how large they were but now with the proper speed for battle achieved and communication being restored they would open fire upon the exposed flanks of the Freehold fleet, in short their losses were about to skyrocket.
The first salvo from the Plasma cannons of the Chaos ships would down hard upon the Freehold fleet and with the 'Khornes Skull Bringer' being equipped with particle cannons, a lost tech from a bygone era.
The smaller vessels would be shredded with the Freehold Fleet immediately losing 6 Destroyers and 2 Cruisers however the Freehold capital ships would unintentionally shield most of the other vessels from most harm with their much stronger shields and armor.
But Wilk knew in the end this would not matter, once the second salvo came the Freehold Fleet would be nearly totally destroyed with the third finishing them off, it was a gamble he had made and lost, the reality of the situation quickly set in for him but the crew was still hopeful and the motto of the Galaxia Warriors would not let him give up yet.
'You cannot save everyone but there is always a way to try' he thought, going over his opponent Ghosk Vice was a Khorne heretic, from reports he was the leader of the raider group the 'Bleeding Champions' he had these because Ghosk had raided Paxit before tens of thousands of years ago.
He also knew that as the stereotype suggested he was a rage monster who had previously raided dozens of worlds in the previous year many of those included exodite worlds, but the main affiliation was them housing followers of the Eldar god Khaine.
But it was the duty of the Inquisitorial Galaxia Warriors to study their enemies and he knew Khorne while the god of war and murder was also the god of honor, it is said in the vast archives of the Inquisition that if you challenged that honor the one who was challenged would have to fight you, but that was only if you were considered to be of equal strength.
'He goes nothing, it's the only thing I could try if I can't save anybody am I really deserving of my title?' and with that he opened a channel for all to hear "Ghosk Vice" Wilk said calmly "Wilk Adrigin the fool the coward" Ghosk responded his slimy voice oozing through the comms with barely concealed rage.
"I have come to challenge you to a test of strength a duel if you will for I believe only the gods can decide who is truly stronger" Ghosk took a second to respond but it was favorably "you believe im stupid, you believe im foolish but I have you right where I want you already this is already a great enough slaughter for Khorne to take notice and not to mention you are not my equal for I am Ghosk…".
"If you will not face him alone then maybe your honor could be called into question if two were brought to challenge you" a voice suddenly entered their conversation both Wilk and Ghosk were confused "and just who do you think you are?" Ghosk and Wilk both wanted answers and they got them.
"I am Kelmun Yhath Phoenix Lord of the Temple of Khaine and I would advise you our gods have a well known rivalry declining this would bring a great dishonor on your vile god" they were both still confused the Eldar seemed content to stay out of this fight so why was one of the Phoenix Lords joining Wilk in his challenge to Ghosk?.
—-
Thirty minutes ago TST
For the past 25 minutes Kelmun had been engaged in a constant battle for survival despite their superior skill and coordination, his squadron had been getting picked off one by one by the enemy's superior numbers until they were down to only four star craft.
But then something strange happened the enemy starcraft backed off and disengaged it was a good thing too although they could reincarnate their pilots back into fully grown body's their number of starcraft was limited and from what he could pick up from the infinity matrix they were at their limit.
It was then that he fully took in everything around him he had been so focused that he had not taken notice of other events across the battle that was why he was shocked to see the human fleet arranged in an V formation charging the Chaos Fleet 'what in the god's name are they doing!?'.
It was then something happened he felt a… Pulse of psychic energy emanating from the Freehold Fleet, this wave of energy gave off the emotions of determination and self sacrifice, very admirable traits in Kelmun's opinion.
However soon a pulse would also emanate from the Chaos Fleet, this one felt… horrifying, it held emotions of fear, terror, and sheer unrelenting hate for the Freehold, while the Freehold's will evolved to feel determined and focused, the Chaos will mutated to feel animalistic, hateful, in agony and completely out of control.
The pulse from the Chaos Fleet also sent him spiraling momentarily, losing all control of himself like he was a newborn thrown into a hurricane, he quickly summarized that every other Aeldari within the fighter wing of the Temple of Khaine and /morai-Heg felt the same way from how their emotions were transmitted across the Infinity Matrix, thankfully at the same time he noticed that the larger craft worlds and vessels were affected to a lesser degree.
He would manage to regain his bearings but his sense of time as well as many other senses were shot for the moment as such it came as a shock when he would observe the two fleets previously mentioned fighting in close quarters it even appeared the outnumbered Freehold Fleet was winning but he knew that would not last long it was time to intervene to if they didn't now…
Just then a message would then come through interrupting his thoughts "kel? KEL! Are you alright!" it was kith, he quickly shook his head trying to get the fog out of his head "I'm fine you?" he asked, he could practically feel her relief "i'm alright the whiplash was harsh the rest of the farseers are still recovering some were sent to intensive care its chaos here".
"Heh" Kelmun chuckled "let's hope that statement is less literal than not" "har har but this is serious, so serious that the High priests are actually doing something and upon deciding on a course of action" now that was concerning decisions were always made with the presence of the Phoenix Lord and the High Farseer, as such whatever decision they were making he would most likely dislike it.
—-
"You want to do what!" Kelmun said half yelling he was normally quite reserved however what the Priests were saying was ridiculous they were saying it was still to early to intervene that they should continue to sit and watch even though the Freehold and Chaos Fleets were at each other's throats "if we continue to wait their won't be a chance for us to defeat the Chaos Fleet!" Kelmun exclaimed, however he would hear High Priest Zonhas reasons before he raged at their foolishness.
The High Priest would simply sit and look to the side, not looking at Kelmun before then speaking "patience Kelmun we must wait for our opportune moment let this playground querall play out between the barbarians we will clean up the mess" Zonhas said "THIS IS THE OPPORTUNE MOMENT" Kelmun shouted he did not get loud often but this… idiocy warranted it.
"This was not the plan, you have made decisions without the approval of myself and the High Farseers your foolishness will, KILL, US, ALL!" Kelmun's anger coming forth in spades, the silence that came after his outburst was deafening with the High priests being shocked into silence and the only other Aeldari in attendance, Invar Rain, being rather surprised that Kelmun finally grew a back bone.
Finally thinking of something to say Zonha then replied "Kelmun Yhath you should respect your superiors after all we have thousands of years within our professions, meanwhile you have lived a fraction of that, what do you know?" Kelmun knew it was the opportune moment to leave and with that he turned to leave, however before he left he said "I know one thing and its that you are cowards" he sneered before continuing on his way out.
The High priest had not been expecting that and sputtered in an attempt to make a verbal comeback, but he just ended shouting into a void "KELMUN YHATH YOU WILL STOP AND LISTEN FOR WE ARE THE HIGH PREISTS OF THE TEMPLES OF KHAINE AND MORAI-He–" "be quiet you fool for you have nothing that can convince me otherwise" Kelmun interrupted.
Once again they were stunned, and unable to formulate a response, with his trust in the High Priests broken Kelmun would leave, he would protect the craft worlds himself, without turning around he continued to walk as the guards at the entrance attempted to stop him by drawing their weapons.
'Idiots challenging a Phoenix Lord' the only other major figure in the room Invar Rain, Phoenix Lord of Morai-Heg thought, these thoughts were confirmed as the guards weapons fell apart, it appeared as if Kelmun simply walked through the weapons his form appearing to be a illusion, but he was very real confirmed by the sound of the weapons falling to the ground the hilts still in the hands of their wielders.
"Kith" Kelmun said as he opened a channel with her "Kel what's going on" thinking for a millisecond he settled on "the old crones are going to doom us all i'm going to do something about it, meet me at hangar seven" grabbing a skith for transport he quickly made his way to the hanger with no opposition all knew that although he was young and maybe even a little foolish he was not to be messed with.
Along the way he would pick up over two dozen pilots and exarchs who had recently disembarked from their starcraft using his authority to supersede the commands of the High Priests he ordered them to follow him, the oaths of the Temple of Khaine ordered that they follow the strongest.
Approaching the hanger he quickly spotted a group gathered outside made up of farseers he quickly spotted their leader "Kith you've arrived" he started but was cut off "what is this about Kelmun, I want answers we have already hurt ourselves with the lack of our psychic will in this battle" she said.
Pausing for a second he would begin "as you know the High Priests have made the decision to not intervene as of yet this will surely lead to our destruction you have all felt it Chaos within the system is growing stronger while the light from the Freehold Fleet is growing weaker if we do not intervene Chaos will dominate the Clairvoyance' he finished but then someone else spoke up "so you wish for us to follow you into battle?" "you wish you disobey the High Priests?" "why should we follow you?".
Kelmun listened to their questions he was doing all of that but he didn't truly have the authority to just order them to go with him, not without it being considered treason, and they clearly doubted him so he would give then a choice "yes I do wish for all of you to follow me, but you ask me why? It's quiet simple really, High Priests are fools, they grow weak with inaction and a lack of service, they command all of you but they do not fight on the battlefield, no they sit in their ivory tower and shout down orders to follow, to put it simply they are weak and I am the strongest".
"I will not lie to you going into this battle is not something anyone can just do, we will not dominate the clairvoyance in the area surrounding the battlefield which will be inside the Chaos Fleet meaning anyone who dies will not be reincarnated".
He then paused, they had all gone silent in anticipation of his next words as such he then finished with "anyone who doesn't wish to follow me into battle can leave with no repercussions" he said "they will only bear the weight of guilt upon their conscience as we are destroyed by our High Priests indecisiveness" Kelmun finished.
Soon multiple Exarchs, their squads and Aspect Warriors would then leave quickly vanishing from sight in a blur thankfully however some still stayed, while kith did not move, most of the farseers staying right where they were alongside their High Farseer.
Kith would then approach him standing only a few feet away for a few seconds kith would then nod and turn towards the hanger via their shared frequency she would say "I hope you explain what's gotten into you this may get you killed" she stated plainly a hint of fear in her voice.
In the hanger preparations were almost complete "so" kith began "why is the reserved Kelmun taking a stand against the well known arrogance of the High priests?" Kelmun paused for a second "I cannot stand by and allow our only chance at surviving this slip by, all because the High Priests think we are invincible because of our past" Kelmun stated.
"Because we are not invincible and I love my people too much to allow the High Priests to lead then to their deaths" he finished but to be honest he was not sure about himself in the moment however Kith would help with her response "well I trust you made the right call Kel" and with that he hoped into the back seat of his Viod Phoenix Fighter.
'She trusts in me' he thought the last time someone had trusted him this much had ended in disaster with 'him' dying a horrifying death… 'no this is not the time to think about that it was not your fault' he told himself that all the time but all he could do now was to not fail again he would not could not fail and with that he hoped in his fighter and took off into space followed by over two dozen other starcraft.
"So what is the plan Kel?" Kith asked it was very important after all "I will speak with the Human known as Wilk Adrigin I plan for our exarchs will infiltrate the Chaos ships but we will see where it goes however we need to get there faster as such we will need to use a warphole" Kith was surprised a warphole was in essence creating a fold in warp space and the material reality.
To further explain the technique folded their plane of existence and the warp like a piece of paper fusing the two dimensions together for a short time and molding it, all of this using the energies of the warp to power it hence a warp hole, it was a very complex technique that could transport large objects across a relatively short distance but it needed skill a lot of it that meant it was not used often there were reasons they used a warp drive.
She however was one of the most skilled farseers out there, so she just smiled and nodded slipping into a meditative trance a full minute later reality seemed to buckle and change the material realm mixing with the warp the seemingly solid constant that was the material plane of reality that had numerous laws that dictated the universe into a realm where the only constant and rule was the constant change and as suddenly as it began it was over.
Kelmun knew that even for an Aeldari the technique Kith had just executed flawlessly took a lot out of the caster he turned and asked "Kith are you alright?" she seemed slightly out of it but still responded "yes i'm fine just slightly foggy seeing stars is all" still worried but content that she was okay Kelmun would then turn back to his pilot console.
He would then turn on the comms to speak with the rest of his patchwork of a squad, however his vox would then pick up something that would give him the answer to his problem of not having a proper plan, smiling he would then continue speaking with his squad "prepare to land at the 'God's Justice' we will speak with this Wilk Adrigin.
—-
Present time
Wilk Adrigin stood in the massive hanger of the 'God's justice' as the Eldar touched down and the Eldar exited their starcraft, to the left and right of Wilk stood four Galaxia Warriors their green power armor shining with their Orca Rifles in hand Wilk in comparison also stood tall and proud but his power armor was blue to signify leadership, on his armor he had a parchment that read out the tale in Hebrews 11 showing his willingness for sacrifice and faith in god.
Out of the most decorated and advanced looking starcraft two Eldar would emerge, their armor looked just as stunning as it practically shouted out their position of leadership within the Eldar command structure they approached him while their entourage stood just a few dozen feet away each at their own starcraft.
Compared to his towering height of nine feet the two seven foot tall Eldar looked small but he knew from the runes on their armor and they way they carried themselves they were very skilled and experienced not to mention the taller of the two looked to be this Kelmun Ytath the Phoenix Lord who had interrupted and joined his earlier challenge to Ghosk.
The two Eldar stood in front of him for a second appearing to look for a weakness, well that's what he felt like they were doing, "Wilk Adrigin" the tallest of the two said "and I assume you are this Kelmun that spoke earlier?" Wilk responded "yes that would be me, I am Phoenix Lord Kelmun Ytath and this" he slightly turned his head to the other Eldar next to him.
"This High Farseer Kith-Syr of Morai-Heg we have come to work with your ordo to prevent Chaos's victory across the system" Wilk scowled beneath his helmet "it is about time we are almost of time in fact so i'm afraid we must hurry introductions I am Wilk Adrigin leader of the Ordo Paxit Primis and if I must ask do you have a plan because if not I do".
Wilk did not want to follow a plan created by Eldar for the eldar's best interests but he would hear their plan out of respect and also because he did not have much of an idea for a plan himself "we do however we were willing to hear your plan first" the hanger suddenly became very quiet had they both just admitted they had no plan?.
Wilk the faked a cough and continued "it seems we will be sharing these plans aboard our vessel of transport" wilk said they then turned to see the large Thunder eel on the other side of the hanger the long sleek ship was known for its fast top and take off speed.
Along with its carrying capacity, it made the Thunder Eel ideal for lighting assaults on enemy positions Kelmun then turned back to Wilk "yes… we shall" Kelmun would nod to his escort and Wilk did the same, Ghosk had agreed but only allowed for them to each bring four of there best warriors.
Entering the gunship itself was a tense affair usually for the past few million years give or take a few million Humanity understood the Eldar had fallen to depravity and once prosperous trade having dried up thanks to the great war with the Eldar only leaving their hedonistic domain to raid pillage and enslave all they came across.
That's how the public understood it anyway with only the top echelons of the Galaxia Federative Government knowing the of the existence of the Sanctuary, but with how things looked Wilks Galaxia Warriors even with his explanation of the situation they may just attack the Eldar when they turned their backs and to put it mildly, that would be disastrous.
"so " Kelmun began, "may we hear the plan for the duel between us and the murder that calls himself Ghosk?" Wilk thought for a moment what was he going to say? "Yes we shall" he settled on and with that they began to hesitantly plan out and interact with those they thought were the enemy.