A.N.: Thank you for the kind reception on the previous chapter! I hope you enjoy this one as well!
Governor Gourmand stared at the assembly before him. Generals, Ministers, high ranking individuals of all types…
All of them here because he got them the position.
All there through political appointments and nepotism.
Not one of the brainless idiots was good at anything but maintaining his power and keeping the peace in the world, which had been exactly what he had needed previously. But in this time of crisis…
And yet he knew not whom else to bring to the table. This lot would have to do.
"Have we contacted the wider Imperium yet?" He eventually spoke out, the din of various conversations quieting down. "Any responses if so?"
"We have, my Lord." One of his ministers said, shuffling in his seat. "We have not yet received an answer."
"Unlikely we'll get one." A general to his right spoke gruffly. "We hardly register on anyone's radar."
"Surely the news of an entire planet appearing will catch some eyes?" A woman asked in disbelief.
The general snorted. "Honestly? Wouldn't count on it. The galaxy is a big place, and we'd hardly be the first to lie about something like that for extra help."
Gormand raised a hand, silencing the conversation. "Enough. We are not here for idle speculation. We are a people of action, and so action we shall take. The Imperium has been informed, little as that might do. I need suggestions, people, and actionable ideas." He leaned over the table, turning to the lone scientist in the room. He felt a twinge of regret at the defunding he had allowed over the years. He couldn't remember the last time a member of the Stellar Institute had stepped foot in his palace… "Sir… Reynauld?" The scientist nodded. "I have been told you are the current head of the Institute. What do you have for us in regards to our mysterious arrival?"
The man was a tall, gaunt figure with sunken eyes and deep marks on his face that spoke of a dangerous lack of sleep. His outfit was clean, surprisingly so, yet the occasional tear spoke of a man who did not restrain himself merely to the hypothetical. One of his eyes had been replaced with a bionic implant, as had one of his arms. "My Lord, the planet that has appeared is… most unusual. We have been running observations around the clock since it arrived, and we have gathered some information which may be pertinent." He cleared his throat, placing down some sort of holographic projector onto the table. "The planet seems to be, for lack of a better way to describe it, missing a core. At the very least, whatever remains in place is not comparable to an ordinary planetary core. As a result, the entire planet is subjected to extremely cold temperatures, to the point I am certain an unprotected human would die in a matter of seconds from exposure." He shook his head. "It is entirely unsuitable to human life without extreme terraforming efforts, and even then its placement at the extremity of our solar system would make such a task monumentally more difficult." He gestured to the holographic display, zooming to the planet itself. "There is an existing ring of debris, possibly from the event that caused the core collapse. Mining wise, it is possibly useful, but I assume that is not what you are interested in." Reynauld paused. "Beyond that, I am unable to provide further information to you without a closer examination."
"An ice world. Wonderful." Gormand groaned. "Very well, thank you sir Reynauld. You may return to your duties." The scientist did not have to be asked twice, leaving the room briskly. "You heard the man. We need details, and we need information. So, what can we do to obtain these?"
"My lord, we can dispatch some vessels over the planet to gain a closer view and examination of the world." A minister of commerce spoke. "I can have our finest merchant ships available for such a service. Perhaps five could be sufficient."
"Good." Gormand nodded. "There, see. Simple, efficient, actionable." He gestured to the rest of the room. "This is what we need people. Now, let us hear it."
The room erupted in conversation, Gormand leaning back with a satisfied smile.
It was good to rule, sometimes.
General Tristain glared through the communication device. Desina found himself nervously wringing his hands out of view.
"Repeat your assignment to me."
"Sir! As the Planetary Defense Force only has enough equipment to outfit a single company with necessary life supporting systems for planet side exploration, I have been dispatched along with the thirty-seventh, thirty-eigth and thirty-ninth platoon to create the temporary Praxis Exploratory Company!" He took a breath. "Our mission is to descend onto the newly arrived ninth planet of the Praxis system, by orders of the governor, and assess the situation! If necessary, we are to engage any hostile entities and report back our findings sir!"
The general stared at him silently, making Desina grow ever more anxious. "Good." The word made him relax significantly, and it was all he could do to stop himself breathing a sigh of relief. "I see you have been properly briefed on the situation. However, I am here to inform you of a caveat."
Desina felt his throat go dry. Oh, politics. His favorite. "Sir?"
"There is an… individual of particular importance within the wider Imperium currently in our system. The recent events have… made their initial mission irrelevant, and reduced the need for secrecy. I want you to report all your findings to me personally first, so I may pass this along. Then, and only once I have given you the go ahead, are you to inform the governor of what you have found. Understood?"
Desina hesitated. This… was flying very close to treason. But… "Of course sir. I will not let you down."
"Excellent." The general gave him a feral grin. "There is a position as colonel waiting for you, commander, should you succeed. I have full faith in your abilities." He nodded. "Desina, out."
With that, the communications shut. Desina leaned back, sighing deeply.
Damn it all.
"Sir!" One of his men called out through the close range radio at his hip. "We're approaching orbit with Praxis Novem!"
He took a deep breath. Showtime.
This planet was wrong.
Desina had only been on it for thirty minutes, and he'd already made up his mind.
He and his company of a hundred men and women had been brought down on civilian crafts to the planetary surface, and even through the specialized suit he was wearing he could still feel the biting cold on his skin. A very faint snow was almost constantly descending around them. But that wasn't what had him on edge.
No, it was the clear remains of human civilization. Not xenos, no. Human.
The skeletons were clearly of their own kind. That, combined with the ruined buildings of what appeared to have once been a city which they were now traveling through, must mean that humans once lived here long enough to establish permanent settlements.
And now the world was unlivable.
So what in the Emperor's name happened here?!
"David. Rogeier." He called out, the three platoons traveling in a file behind him. "Anything so far?"
"No sir. It's… creepy as all hell, but nothing that sticks out so far." The named David answered, walking up to him. His grip on his lasgun was tight.
"Sir! We found something!" Desina quickly went to the source of the exclamation, one of the members of their little force crouching down above something half buried in snow.
"What in the…" Desina muttered. It… had the shape of a human. Two legs, two arms, a head. Made entirely of metal, with a strange glass like material where a person's face would be. In good condition, if one were to ignore the deep gouges and torn open chestplate. Most of its innards were gone, but what remained was clearly mechanical in nature. He would have thought it a servitor, but… there was no flesh there. Nothing at all. That wasn't… wasn't normal. Not in the slightest.
"Emperor's teeth…" David, who'd followed behind him, cursed. "Sir, there's more of them further in the city. And… the scouts have spotted something about two miles from here."
Desina turned to him. "Well?"
"It's… a spire, sir. Made entirely of more of those things."
Desina's blood ran colder than the outside air.
"Fuck."
"Sooooo… those are definitely humans, right?" N asked quietly, glancing over at V from their hiding spot.
"Definitely." V growled, nervously glancing. There were a lot of them… and they were clearly all armed. Not weapons she recognized either… nor anything else recognizable beyond the fact they were human. "Which… shouldn't be possible." Not after everything. Not after what Cyn did.
"Huh. Should we go and say hi?" N asked, looking somewhat eager.
"Wha… no! We have no idea who these people are, or what they want!" V snapped at him. "And these… can't be JCJenson. That's not possible." Unless Cyn had missed some. Which she sincerely doubted.
"Well, how else are we supposed to learn more if we don't at least try and ask?" N argued. "If Uzi and I hadn't tried talking…" His smile dimmed some, before returning full force. "Come on V. We're going to have to interact at some point anyways, might as well try the friendly approach!"
V gave him a very doubtful look. "And if that doesn't work?"
N paused. "Then… we figure things out as they go."
She glared at him, clearly unhappy at his proposal. "...I'm keeping my weapons locked on them. If they pull any hostile move on you, I'm shooting."
"Come on V…" N started saying soothingly.
"No N." She harshly interrupted him, glaring into his visor. "We don't know who these people are. We don't know what they're capable of. I am not taking the risk of losing you just because you want to make more friends!" She snarled at him, grabbing him by the shoulders. "If they try anything, I am blasting them to bits!"
N's eyes were hollowed out at the sudden emotional display, before smiling softly. "I'll be fine V. If there's trouble, I'll get out of there in a flash and we can see what to do afterwards." He hesitated. "If we have to flee… I'll try and drag them away. Get back to the bunker and inform the others."
"You get to tell Uzi about this dumbass plan when we go back to her later." She eventually agreed. "She's going to kick your ass for putting yourself in danger like that."
"Oh come on! That's…" N's smile suddenly grew. "You called her Uzi!"
A light blush appeared on V's visor. "No I didn't! I…"
"HEY!" A voice called out from the group of humans, who suddenly paused in their movements as one of them faced in the direction of the Disassembly Drones. "You there! Heat signatures! If you're friendly, step out in the open where I can see you!"
N and V exchanged a look, V growing more agitated as N gave a shrug. "Well… guess it's my time." He started getting up from behind cover.
V hissed, grabbing him and dragging him down. "That wasn't part of the plan! I can't protect you as well if they know I'm here!" She shook her head.
"C'mon V, I can handle myself." N gave her a smile. "I'll be fine!" With that, he broke out of her hold, ignoring her frantic complaints as he stepped out into the open. "Hello there! Friendly here, so no shooting please!"
Desina was stunned by the sight of what emerged from behind the pile of debris on the roof of a nearby building.
It was similar to the carcasses of the metallic creatures they'd been seeing on their way here, but taller. A little above average height perhaps for your average imperial citizen, but only just barely. It wore some kind of black coat with fur around the rim, along with a black cap on its head, adorned with five yellow glowing circles.
Its face had a moving mouth, though how such a thing could be on a seemingly metallic base was beyond his comprehension. The entity was made of some white material, save for the visor on its head which was the same black glass like material as he had seen on the inactive ones. The biggest difference was the pair of yellow lights that seemed to imitate eyes, albeit particularly large, pupiless ones. Hazard stripes were painted on the bottom of its… feet? And wrists. Finally, there was a tail sticking out from it, ending in a some kind of glass canister containing a yellow glowing liquid with a sharp tip at the end.
The sight of it was uncanny… let alone the fact that it was wearing such a friendly expression.
And that it just spoke in low gothic.
"Abomination…" One of the men behind him whispered in horror and shock, as many of them began raising their weapons at the thing.
"Wow wow!" The thing raised both of its hands up, a disarming smile on its face… and a yellow sweatdrop appearing on its visor? "Now let's all calm down, yes? My name is serial designation N! It's nice to meet ya!" It's tail was flicking around. "You guys are humans right?"
"Orders sir?" Came the urgent whisper at his side.
Desina hesitated. The Ecclesiarchy was very clear on what was to be done with any form of life that was not human… And whatever this thing was, human it was not. He also had a hundred pdf's behind him, ready to lay down fire on the creature and take it down.
And yet… he had no idea what it was capable of. Their suits were made for environmental protection, not combat capacity. Even a small nick could condemn the wearer to a frozen death. And there was that second heat signature, still hiding behind there…
Damn it all. "Hold fire." He spoke, trying to put more confidence in his voice than he felt. Subtly, he gestured behind his back to the place the creature had emerged, signaling a two with his fingers. One of the lieutenants behind him gave a quick nod. "You, creature."
The thing chuckled nervously. "Um, it's N actually."
"Creature." Desina insisted through gritted teeth. He paused, considering. He had so many questions he wanted to ask… "What is this place? And what are you?"
"Oh…" It tilted its head, smiling as it gestured around. "Um, would you believe me if I told you I have no clue what the name of this city was?" It quickly added. "Oh, it was like that when we arrived! We didn't do this, just to be clear!"
"The planet, creature." Desina corrected impatiently.
"Oh!" The thing laughed sheepishly. "Right. Um, this is Copper 9. Did you… did you guys not already know that?" It asked cautiously. "You're not with Jcjenson in spaaaace?"
Desina shook his head. "Never heard of'em." It certainly sounded human enough… but the creature could simply be saying nonsense to throw him off. He glanced behind him, noticing the rest of the pdf slowly but surely deploying behind him, a few of them angling themselves towards the second heat signature. Good, they'd gotten his message. "You have not answered as to what you are."
"Oh right!" The creature seemed startled at the realization. "I am a disassembly drone! Created by JcJenson to…" It paused, seemingly hesitating as its eyes hollowed out. "Well, to get rid of… the worker drones of the planet. B…but that's changed now!" It added, its eyes returning to normal.
Desina had never heard of a disassembly drone before, but he had heard enough. Whatever was happening here was at the very least sacrilegious, at worst heretical. "I see. In that case…" He did another hand gesture behind his back, signaling for his troops to fire.
A dozen lasbolts suddenly slammed into the thing, leaving pocket marks where they hit. To his horror, they failed to actually destroy the thing, merely damaging it as it let out a cry of surprise. At the same time, the troops that had been aiming at where the second heat signature was hiding started firing, intent on pining whatever it was behind cover.
"N!" Came a fearful, angry, oh so angry scream.
Seemingly ignoring the damage done to it the creature took to the air, metallic wings opening behind its back as it dodged the lasbolts fired at it, descending towards him with terrifying speed.
A sharp pain erupted at his neck, and he found himself suddenly looking down at a decapitated body…
Wait.
That was his own.
Emperor damn it.
The last thing he saw was the yellow, blazing X on the creature's visor, and a second one emerging from cover with an identical X on its visor and a snarl on its face.
He died before he could start hearing the screams.
N would admit, this could have gone better.
The lasers that had been fired at him had been impossible to dodge once fired, and so the first volley had hit him head on. But now that he was in the air and actively trying to avoid being targeted, he didn't need to avoid the shots. He just needed to observe the humans and their aim to calculate the trajectories the searing rays would take before they could press the trigger and make sure he wasn't in any of them. The weapons were fast.
The humans however were painfully slow.
He winced as V descended onto the humans with a growl of utter rage, tearing through them claws effortlessly. One of her arms turned into a rocket launcher, firing explosives into the more compact groups of their suited opponents and tearing them to shreds. So lost in her rage was she that she failed to notice one of the humans behind her take aim, the weapon about to fire as the human's finger squeezed on the trigger…
N was there instantly, severing the arm and head of the human in a single swing of his deadly sharp wing. Blood, not oil, poured on him, and he found himself frozen for a moment. There was something… familiar about this. About tearing through flesh and bone rather than hard metal and circuitry.
But that was impossible.
He'd never fought a human before, let alone killed them. And Uzi had restored his memories to him.
…Right?
The distraction cost him, as another lasbolt hit him straight in the head, sending an alarm through him. A single hit of this strength wasn't likely to do any serious damage, but a few dozen… well, his regeneration already had to kick in after that first volley.
Before he could do anything to the one that had attacked him V was already on them, her usually happy sadistic demeanor when fighting replaced by a near berserk rage as she tore into the poor human. She ripped off his limbs and slashed open his stomach as he screamed, before taking out her chainsaw hands and viciously rending the poor thing apart. It made N feel… strange.
He had never been a big fan of seeing V lose herself to her more sadistic impulses. Killing came to them naturally; They were quite literally built for death. But this… was far past overkill.
"V." He called out, glancing around. His scanners did not pick any more traces of life. Only the single human, still somehow alive, that V was torturing. "V!" He cried out, louder this time, as he reached out for her. She ignored him.
Taking pity on the human, N turned his arm into a gun and fired it straight into their skull. The screams, blessedly, went silent.
For a second he was worried she would continue to tear into the still warm corpse, but to his relief she finally stopped.
She stood there for a second, eerily still. Then, she turned to him, the X flickering back into her normal eyes. "...You good?" She asked, surprisingly gentle.
N faltered. "I'm fine. I… didn't expect to suddenly attack like that." He glanced at his wing, blood dripping from it. For a moment, he was somewhere else, on another world, another time, spilling human blood as others of his kind plunged into buildings in search of survivors… He shook his head. "Well, I think it's safe to say these guys weren't with the company at least!"
V stared at him silently. "We aren't doing that again." She eventually told him.
N smiled. "Aw don't be like that V! Sure it didn't go well this time, but maybe next time…"
She reached out to him, her hands clamping down on his shoulders, silencing him as she stared straight into his visor with deadly seriousness. "No N." She quietly said. "I… I sat there as they shot you. I had no idea what these weapons were. What they could do. And I… I had to watch as you got hit." She hesitated. "You're all I have N. I can't…I can't lose you too."
N was speechless. He'd… never seen V this vulnerable. In this moment, she looked more like the maid he'd known back in the manor than ever before. "V…"
She broke out of his grip, turning her back to him. "We should tell the others. See you at the bunker." With that she took off, quickly followed by the sound of a sonic boom.
N let out a sigh, glancing back at the numerous corpses spread around in the snow, now stained red from rapidly cooling blood. For a second, the image was overlaid with another street, one devoid of snow, as great flesh tendrils tore apart a world… before blinking it away.
"Well… that's extremely concerning." He muttered. "Aaaand repressed!" He added with a grin, no longer as bothered by the bodies around him. "Aw man, I should bring some of this stuff, Uzi is going to love tinkering with this stuff." Carefully he collected some of the weapons the humans had brought with them, stopping before the body of the man he'd been talking to. Cautiously, he removed the helmet off of the severed head.
They looked… normal. A bit paler than what should be normal for that specific pigmentation for a human, but otherwise normal. Human.
N turned away, a strange feeling within them as he flew back to the bunker.
They hadn't know what Copper 9 was. They hadn't known what a disassembly drone was. They wore unfamiliar clothing, wielded unfamiliar weapons… and all of that after the sky had shifted for a moment and the sun had turned dark.
He didn't like this.
He didn't like this one bit.
He glanced at his bloody wings.
What if it had been Uzi out there? He had been only partially damaged by the attacks, but disassembly drones were more robots than worker drones. And even with Uzi's strange new abilities… She was more fragile than he was.
What if more came?
What if they also decided to attack, no matter how willing to talk they seemed at first?
What if it was Uzi that was out there this time?
He didn't like it.
He didn't like it one bit.
Somehow, his bloody wings didn't feel like such a bad thing after all.
His sensors caught track of something. Seems they missed one.
He tilted, the world zooming passed him as he picked up speed…
Edium had never been the most devout worshiper of the Emperor. It had gotten him in some trouble until he learned to pretend, learned to say the right things and show the appropriately awed expressions at the right times.
And yet, he could not stop muttering frantic prayers as he ran through the abandoned, ruined streets of the strange city they'd found themselves in, heading towards the extraction point.
He'd been one of the scouts sent ahead. The furthest one of the group.
The only one who hadn't made it back to the group before the fight had started.
If it could be called much of a fight.
He had heard through the communications as his platoon was torn apart in seconds. The whole company, dead.
He was the only one left alone by those strange metal xenos, because he had ran like a coward the moment things had gone wrong.
Emperor forgive him, but he wanted to live.
However, it seems the Emperor's mercy had run out as something came crashing down a dozen or so meters ahead of him, the impact nearly sending him to his knees. A faint whimper escaped him at the sight of the creature's large metal wings opened wide as it rose to its full height, a dreadful yellow X blazing on its visor as it looked towards him.
"W… wait!" He cried out, nearly voiding his bowels at the sudden sharp feeling against his neck. The thing had its wing up to his throat. He hadn't even seen it move.
It did not move for a moment. Then, its visor blinked, turning back to regular eyes. "Okay! What is it?" It asked in a surprisingly chipper tone.
"I…surrender?" Edium said in a squeak. "Please?"
The thing narrowed its eyes at him. "Hm… I dunno, I tried talking to your buddy earlier, and then you guys shot me."
"W…well, what if I give you my weapons?" Edium said, a hint of hysteria slipping his tone. "I… I can give you information! Tell you all about governor Gormand's plans! Just… please…" He sniffled. "I don't… I don't want to die…"
The thing blinked at him, before letting out a resigned sigh. "Aw man… c'mon, you're going to make me feel bad…" It hesitated. "...Well, I mean, information would be nice…" It nodded to itself. "Alright! You are now officially my first prisoner!" It said, retracting its wing back behind it.
Edium collapsed on the ground, letting out a wheezing, strangled gasp. "Oh thank the Emperor… you won't regret this, I promise, I…"
"But!" And then it was behind him, holding his head, looming behind him like some blood soaked angel. "If you try anything funny…"
"I won't!" He cried out, tears spilling from his eyes. The hold on his head felt like a vice. Inescapable. Fully able to crush his head like a grape if it wanted to. "I won't, I promise, oh God Emperor I won't!"
"Awesome sauce!" The thing then reached for him, picking him up like a sack of potatoes. "Whoops, gotta be careful carrying you back, you humans are really fragile with the cold…"
The moment they took to the sky, Edium passed out, held in the vicious hands of a horrific metallic xenos.
A.N.: And there we have it! Next time... Cyntessa!