AN: Ok, first, let me thank souvikkundu0017 for working to Beta this work of writing to ensure that it both made sense and wasn't filled with plot holes big enough for a Nemesis Dreadknight to jump through.
As for the previous reviews, I'll answer a few of them before we get to the story. First of all, the whole thing with the Astartes being on a sub-division of the ODIN Field is more an organisational thing than anything else. It's meant as a way of efficiently channelling information and power to and from them as quickly as possible. As for the whole 'breeding of Astartes' thing, I'll consider it, but I make no promises. Lastly, yes, it is possible to modify the ODIN Field, at least for those with control of it, or via the collective beliefs of the entire Aesir race.
Anyway, with that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!
XXX
"Goddamnit!"
That was the first sound that Chief Librarian Ahzek Ahriman heard as he stepped through the doors to the lab that had been on loan to the Primarch of the Second Legion. A moment later, he had to duck and step back out of the way as a examination table that had been ripped out of the floor sailed through the air, out the door and into the corridor beyond as he stepped back into the room. Once inside, the first thing that he noticed was, obviously, the lack of the table as the place where it hadbeen showed the signs of ripped bolts and metal welds. Around the room, the Librarian could see dozens of Data-slates, dozens of papers covered in arcane symbols, more than three quarters of which, he noted, he could recognize, and dozens of chalk markings that spelled out complex equations on the walls, floor and, as he glanced upwards briefly, the ceiling.
In short, it was nothing like the last time that he had visited the room some months ago, nor was it the same as when he had visited it months before that, let alone how it was over a decade ago when it was changed from a simple storage room to the needed lab of a Primarch.
"Oh, uh, sorry about that, Librarian Ahriman, I let my emotions get the better of me." The Primarch stated as he noticed the Astartes' presence, Ahriman bowed his head slightly as he came into to the room, still feeling disrespectful towards the Primarch, but reminded himself that the Primarch had ordered it as such.
"It is no trouble, Lord Primarch." Ahriman remarked as he took a look at the Primarch. Gone was the black armor that was so common to see the Primarch of the Second Legion wearing, replaced with a simple pair of Grox-hide trousers and a white tunic, boots were wrapped around his feet while he seemed to run a hand through his short, mess of silver hair.
"Still, I apologize for the mess. I'll see about clearing it up at some point, save you lot the work." The Primarch offered with a shrug as Ahriman remained silent, knowing that the Primarch was both stubborn and determined, seemingly preferring to clean up after himself than allow the Astartes or Serfs to do it for him. Ahriman nodded in understanding.
"If you wish, Lord Primarch. Still, I have come to inform you that the Sigilite shall be here soon to transport you back to Terra." The Primarch nodded before pausing for a moment, turning to look back at the Marine of the Fifteenth Legion.
"You have something else to say...?" He inquired as Ahriman glanced to the ground, resolve steeling before nodding.
"Yes." He said before kneeling before the Primarch, directly against orders given to them almost a decade ago. "On behalf of both myself and my Brothers, we thank you for all that you have done in your search for the affliction that has cursed out Legion." The Primarch was silent for a moment, his face made of stone as he looked at the Astartes before a small smile graced his features.
"While I accept your thanks, Librarian, I would have argued that they are undeserved." The Primarch retorted with a snort of amusement, gesturing for the Legionnaire to rise. "The Flesh-change still afflicts your Legion. Even with the research notes of the Emperor himself and a dozen of his best Gene-Wrights and physicians, and their support, all I was able to do was devise ways of slowing it down and making it slightly less taxing upon you and your Brothers. The Change will still come, but, at least, it will take less of your strength to force it back." Ahriman smiled at that.
"That is still far better than our current alternative of simply waiting for it to come with gritted teeth. With the Emperor searching for our Primarch, and your work, we have much to be grateful for. Still, when we are reunited with our Primarch, we shall remember the debt owed to you and shall tell him of all that you have done for us." Ahriman affirmed as he saw the Primarch nod in turn.
Suddenly, they both heard the door open as another being stepped into the room. Ahriman turned to look at the new being before stopping where he stood.
Malcador the Sigilite was here.
XXX
I had to admit, this was the first time that I had met the Sigilite in person beyond what I had heard about, or read about for that matter.
In appearance, he was exactly as I expected, looking the part of an elderly man hidden by a plain brown cloak that covered much of his body and features. In his hands, he carried a staff topped with a wing-spread eagle, firing flowing from the base of the golden figure. Still, what really caught my attention was his raw, psychic power, it was nowhere near that of the Emperor, but the gap between myself and him was surprisingly close, not only that, but his powers had been honed by years, decades, even centuries of combat, his existence within the warp tinted by his distilled experience and I knew that his skill with his power was as razor sharp as a Transonic blade.
Ahriman stood off to the side as Malcador stepped into the room, bowing slightly as the Sigilite seemed to have his gaze locked firmly on me before coming to a stop opposite myself. The silence lasted for one long instant before it was broken.
"... Hmmm... I can see why the Emperor is so interested in you, Primarch. Looking into the Warp, I can find neither hid nor hair of your existence, similar to those Untouchables that stalk the streets, and yet, I knew you are not one of them as I feel no discomfort being in your presence. Curious. Can you tell me how you created such a technique?" The Sigilite asked, I mentally shrugged, considering what was known to the wider Imperium, to the Legions and to the Sigilite before answering.
"A bad encounter with some Warp Predators that lurked around my home, I managed to banish them back to their homes, with a fair bit of damage, but I developed this technique as to not draw them to me as they had been drawn before. It was only later I learned how effective it was against other Psykers, leading to me keeping it up as, for one thing, it made for a good defense." I remarked as he nodded.
"Indeed. One cannot attack something if they cannot find it." Malcador stated with what seemed like a hint of amusement slipping into his tone before beckoning me to follow him. I did without a word as we started moving. I didn't bother going to my room since I had little doubt that all my stuff had been moved by now, my notes would remain, but that hardly mattered since I had my doubts that anyone could read half the shit I had written since it was written in sixty million year old Eldar, the modern equivalent having drifted massively from it to make the two languages completely inequitable to one another.
"... Tell me, Primarch, what have you been able to discover about the Flesh-change?" Malcador suddenly asked, catching me off-guard after a few minutes of silence. I took a moment to consider that before speaking.
"It is... Some kind of Warp-based mutation that is transmitted through sympathetic linkage from one Soul to another, effectively meaning that everyone with a similar aspect to a select individual is in danger of drawing it to them. However, the characteristics of it seem to only be targeting those of the Fifteenth Legion, making me think that the needed requirement for infection is the Gene-seed of the Fifteenth Legion." I stated simply.
"And have you been able to determine how to remove it or who cast it?" He asked as I shook my head.
"Neither, Sigilite. I've discovered many things about it, but have discovered neither of the answers to those questions. I'll admit that I managed to find the initial trigger of it being that once a member of their Legion reached a certain threshold of power that even their non-Psyker members can reach, then the changes start coming. They can be suppressed through sheer willpower, but I've yet to find anything to stop the changes altogether." I stated as, once more, the Sigilite hummed in thought.
"Then what have you managed to achieve in the decade you were given to look for answers?" He asked. If I had been anyone else, I would have taken what he had said for mockery, but I had always been thick-skinned to that kind of thing, so I simply ignored it outright.
"I've managed to create a few rituals that I've already instructed the members of the Fifteenth on how to carry out. A number of which can reverse the Flesh-change to a certain point, giving them back their Human bodies, but leaving them on the cusp of a total reversion. Others are meant to ease it, allowing them to be more efficient in using their abilities to restrain the Flesh-change and allow them to focus more of their power elsewhere." I stated as we carried on, quickly reaching the hangars of the Luna-based research base that the future-Thousand Sons had been located on for the duration of my study. I saw that my stuff had already been moved, a second check showed that it was all present and hadn't been tampered with in any way, shape or form along with a few other things. I was actually surprised to see that my notes on the Flesh-change were present, but said nothing of it as I closed the distance, slowly coming to stand by my Sons, who had spent their time working and learning from the psychically more powerful Legion.
"Your notes are in your belongings, copies of them have been made and are being stored in the Imperial Palace, both for the Emperor to use along with Primarch of the Fifteenth Legion once he has been located." I nodded as I stepped into the heavily modified Stormbird, the Sigilite staying behind.
"You have done them a service, now, carry out your duty to the Imperium." The Sigilite offered before turning around and making his exit. I felt a brief flash as he teleported away after turning a corner. My lips twitched at that.
It seems that Malcador had taken tips from Batman.
XXX
... Ok... It was decided...
I was not leaving my Legion unsupervised for over a decade everagain!
That was the first and second thought that ran through my mind as I looked at the barren desert planet I had given them as a place to test out their weapons, train their new members that had been gathered from the Aesir and innovate to their hearts' content.
That same planet was now in the middle of a nuclear winter the formerly stable tectonic plates shaking worse than a Castle made out of Jelly. Not only that, but the unstable tectonic movements were also causing volcanoes to burst into existence across the planet, erupting with lava like clockwork every few minutes. The entire planet was thawing then freezing in a near constant cycle of flash heat waves and ice waves that meant anything not adapted to the extremes would melt and/or freeze to death inside of a single cycle, which lasted anywhere from ten to thirty minutes for it to go from hot, then cold, then back to hot.
Not only that, but with the change in environments, they had decided to release a dozen strains of bacteria on to the planet to see if they could foster some new kind of life that they could thenharvest for genetic research and possible ideas on how to enhance themselves further. Over a decade had seen dozens of strains dying off, but a few had actually managed to survive and evolve to better survive it, modified slightly so that each iteration was getting better and better adapted for the constantly shifting weather. In orbit around the planet, there were a dozen different satellites built and designed to constantly monitor the planet and they did their jobs well, collecting data and also serving to help with the testing of the equipment of the Astartes of the Second Legion, or Jotunns as they had come to be known as by the Aesir.
Still, as I looked down at the once brown, dry, desert of a world from orbit, I honestly couldn't come up with anything as I turned back to look at Marteleus and his Brothers, their armor having been changed and upgraded since I was gone.
"I... Honestly, I have no idea whether to be annoyed or proud at what you've managed in my absence." I remarked as some of them shifted from side to side as I sighed.
"Tell me, though, what did you manage to get out of doing...This?" I asked as I gestured with my armor, turning back to face them. I saw them all smile.
I had the feeling that it was going to be a long day.
XXX
Turns out that I was correct, but in a good way.
The Unbroken had been messing around with Ballistic weapons, Directed energy weapons, Radiation weapons, Nuclear weapons of various kinds, and Sonic-Grav weapons designed to cause maximum damage to any target hit with them, especially within a confined space. Ballistic weapons were mainly things like modified variants of Bolters and things like that, new feeding systems along with modifications to the barrel to add new effects, let alone the sheer amount of different ammunition that they had come up with. The Directed-energy weapons were things like Plasma Beams, Voklites, Proton Thrust weapons and any number of other weapons that they had taken apart and upgraded with their new knowledge, even creating some new weapons from scratch. The Radiation weapons, such as Irradiation Projectors, were meant as a tactical area-denial weapon that would be handled by heavy troopers, a way of flushing out unprotected infantry forces and killing them off before they can be a hassle, even ensuring that they would die even if they managed to escape. With the Nuclear weapons, however, they mainly focused on things like Dirty bombs, nukes encased in a layer of cobalt and wanted to perfect the design as a way of denying an enemy territory that they wouldn't need to defend, not to mention as a way of eliminating enemies within a territory. Astartes and Humanity had plenty of time, so simply irradiating a world and letting it cool off was an option.
Lastly, Sonic-Grav weapons were interesting since they worked on a dual principle, the former working to shatter something via finding the resonance frequency of it while the latter sent out pulsed waves of gravity to reduce anything it encountered to paste. The latter was already used in Aesir Hunter Mines, but this was designed to fit into a Grenade-sized system and be used on a tactical level on the ground, the Jotunns had apparently also been working on various sizes of it.
The largest of which was designed as a way of creating relatively controlled Earthquakes on demand. This, combined with the large scale use of nukes, had resulted in the current state of the planet. However, rather than stopping there, my Sons had decided to continue, using it as a place for testing their new vehicle designs as well as building a 'small' shipyard in orbit to begin refitting, or completely rebuilding, their space forces.
For ground units, it seemed that they had created two units, a tank that was bigger than a house and a walker that seemed to have been designed to be around the same size as a Knight walker. The first was a massive hover tank, almost one and a half times bigger than a Baneblade, in virtually every dimension except length, where it was twice as long as one, the thing used the same tech as a Marauder to float above the ground and had four additional turrets at the front, six on either side and another four at the back for additional weapons. The front turrets were armed with a twin-linked Multi-Melta while the side turrets were usually armored with either a Quad-lined Lascannon, Hurricane Bolter, Twin-linked Volkite Culverin or a Twin-linked Firestorm Cannon. The back turrets were usually armed with a battery of missiles mounted in a quick-reload system that allowed each of the two five by five launchers on each turret to be reloaded in seconds. However, the main turret held the main weapon, an Aesir Pattern Plasma Blastgun with two additional modes of fire over the standard one: Beam, which released two beams of burning Plasma, and Flame, which turned it into a rather long ranged flame thrower.
The entire thing was fast, well armed and had enough armor on it to stand off most small Titans, not to mention having a dual-layer Flare Shield to protect it against anything that came too close. Lastly, the thing had a transport capacity of fifty Space Marines in full armor. Meaning that I could also use these as a method of transporting my troops around that was a lot less vulnerable than a Rhino, not to mention faster. Though, I did enjoy the name they had given it after searching up the history files I had left around: The Nemesis Pattern Hover Tank.
The walker, on the other hand, looked like they had ripped the MAWLR right out of Killzone 3. It was around ten metres tall and carried all the same details, covered in thick armor and equipped with four individually aligned Ion Shields, Twin-linked Bolter and Heavy Bolter turrets with dozens of self-guided vertical launch Missile silos covering the upper body. Also, the damned thing still had the cannon mounted on the side of the thing, which turned out to be a Volkite Chieorovile, a massive Volkite weapon, the biggest of its kind, attached to the side of this thing where it would roast anything organic that was unlucky enough to be in the way. It had been tested extensively and the end results were rather plain to see.
I mean that literally since some ass decided it would be fun to carve a message into a mountain side with it, I could actually see the writing from orbit if I augmented my eyes enough. Alongside this, they had, amusingly, called this machine the Mauler Pattern Assault Walker.
As for ships...
Well...
XXX
In orbit over Danger Zone, the new name of the planet that my Legion had given it...
Bunch of smartasses...
Anyway, around the planet, I saw the remains of the former ships of my Legion, most were wrecks with any useful parts having been stripped out and were currently being scavenged via repurposed Grendals and Goblins. They were stripping away layers of material to be repurposed in the massive Shipyards around the planet, small in terms of some Forge Worlds, but they were still massive constructs, tens of kilometres long and across with dozens of docks, hangars and compartments for storage.
And from these massive production facilities came the new fleet of my Legion.
They still favored having as little outside elements as possible in their fleet, and, as a result, those roles that could not be filled by an Astartes were filled by a dozen Servo-Thralls, Servitors, Servo-Skulls or any other kind of machine as to allow the Jotunns to focus on other duties. Each ship was also highly advanced, designed to require as few active crewmembers as possible while those that remained were little more than Armsmen for the ships.
Also, for some bizarre reason, every ship they had created looked like a copy of a ship I had seen in the game Star Trek Online, honestly, I didn't mind the looks, but the comparison creped me out, especially since I was pretty damned sure that they had never even heard of the game before, let alone even seen pictures of the ships. Still, a fleet had been assembled and was painted in the colours of my Legion.
The first class of ship was the Tracker-class Escort, which was based on the Faeht Intel Warbird. It was a small craft, about five hundred metres long and over 850 metres wide from wing tip to wing tip, all covered in black armor with Grav-pulse thrusters to allow it to move with no visible engines. The small ship was designed as a multi-purpose craft with extensive point defenses made primarily from rapid fire lasers and canisters that explode into a cone of shrapnel after leaving the ship. The main weapons of the craft were a series of eight turrets, each one equipped with a single Lance battery, with four on either the top or bottom of the vessel while on each of those sides, one was placed at the nose, the wing tips and the stern. All of these could be retracted at will and this would allow for better concealment at longer ranges due to the insulated hull of the ship adding to the passive stealth nature of it. However, for a further kick, the ship had a pair of prow mounted torpedo launchers that used a revolver-style system to rapidly launch a volley of four torpedoes, eight in total from both launchers, at the enemy. Reloading them was a long process, but the Alpha-strike capability was seen as being worth it. As a last note, the ship was equipped with both a Void Shield as well as what I could only call an early attempt at a Reflex Shield, mind you, for an early attempt, I was half tempted to say that it was a shit load better than the original. My Legion had taken to calling these Reflex shields as Mirage Shields, which, from my own observations, had quickly become a growing trait within the shipbuilding of the Second Legion. The Mirage Shields and Void Shields, however, still couldn't both be active at the same time, leaving a ship defenceless whilethe Mirage Shield was active, but the switch over was apparently a lot shorter than what was present on a Reflex Shield in the original timeline.
The next class of ship was the Harrier-class Cruiser, based on the Deihu Command Battlecruiser. The craft was larger, almost three kilometres long from end to end with a wing span of roughly four and a half kilometres, these ships were fast, well armed and equipped to get in, do a lot of damage and get out just as quickly as before. Of course, these ships were still perfectly able to stand and fight, it was just that most would prefer the enemy dead rather than allowing such a thing to happen. For that reason the ship was very well armed, almost on par with an Imperial Battleship. The ventral and dorsal sides of the main body were dotted with Twin-linked Lance turrets along with the pontoons on each wing, both the dorsal and ventral sides carried the same number of turrets, numbering at twenty turrets with five on each pontoon and ten on the main body.
An extensive point defense network covered the entire ship from prow to stern with dozens of Laser-based weapons, interception missiles and shrapnel canister launchers, not only that, but this ship even carried an system called a Grav-wave repulsor, designed to release an Omni-directional wave of gravity away from the ship to pulp attack craft and incoming munitions in short order. Torpedo four torpedo launchers lined the leading edge of each wing with a single pair at the stern of the main body, all equipped with a six-shot revolver system instead of four shots to increase the capability for an alpha-strike even further while also, unfortunately, increasing the reload time for the full system further as well. To finish it off, the ship had a triple layer Void Shield system along with a Mirage Shield system.
Following on from that was the Brawler-class Grand Cruiser, based on the Qib Intel Battlecruiser. This thing was an absolute beast of a ship, nine kilometres long and with a wing span of 4.9 kilometres, it was huge, heavily armored and heavily armed, so much so that I thought they had confused the designation on the damned thing for that of a Battleship, especially given the size. Regardless, this thing was an absolute monster and would utterly decimate entire fleets on its own, especially given its weapons and defenses. For weapons, it had over forty Twin-lined Lance turrets with ten on each of the wing pontoons and the rest being on the central body, five eight-shot revolver torpedo turrets along the leading edge of each wing with another four located at the stern to shoot anyone that thought it would be wise to tailgate. Along with that, the front hammerhead-like design was not just for aesthetics but also worked to conceal the two Nova Cannons built into it, each one with an elaborate feeding mechanism to ensure a quicker reload time than most Imperial ships. Along with that, the Prow of the ship was upgraded with four Plasma Beamers located on each corner, two on the dorsal side and two on the ventral side, ensuring that anything that got too close was killed quickly. The Point defense system was even stronger than the Harrier's, so much so that I doubted that anything could get within six hundred kilometres without being blown apart. Of course, to finish that off, it was equipped with a main, triple-layer Void Shield system with another redundant backup system with a quick charge system connected to both, plus a Mirage Shield, of course.
Finally, we came to the big daddy of them all: The Devastation-class Battleship, based on the Durgath Temperal Heavy Dreadnought. This thing was massive, fourteen kilometres long, seven kilometres wide and armored so heavily that I had doubts that anything short of the Planet-Killer Abaddon used during his 12th Black Crusade could even scratch it. Multiple whole tens of metres of armor covered every single angle of this damned thing, enough point defenses for ten Brawler-class Grand Cruisers, and a triple-layer Void Shield with at least three redundant backups, not to mention the Mirage Shield. For weapons, the Devastation had 120 turrets on, spread between the dorsal and ventral sides with ten on either side being split between the pontoons at the end of each wing. Each one of these turrets was armed with a Twin-linked Lancer along with a single Plasma Beamer, making them dangerous at any range while a number of secondary turrets were also present. Thirty turrets, spread across the body of both the dorsal and ventral sides and armed with a single nine-shot Torpedo Launcher along with a series of pair of Disruption Macrocannons along with another pair of Plasma Macrocannons. All of that would have made these ships fucking nightmares on their own, but my Legion couldn't help themselves and decided just to keep on going...
This, as a result, meant that each one of these ships was equipped with three Prow mounted Nova Cannons, a Grav-wave Repulsor with the strength to turn ships into nothing but chunks of scrap metal, and hangars large enough to hold at least six Tracker-class Escorts internally along with tethers that would allow it to carry another two Harriers with it through the Warp on its hull. Now, with larger ships, most people would think that this would slow it down, but the Devastation-class was fast for its size, faster than anything that bit had a right to be, resulting in his serving two purposes: One, to speed up the movements of fleet elements that are required elsewhere; Two, to ensure that the Devastation-class always had an escort fleet with it.
In the decade I had been gone, my Sons had built three Devastations, twelve Brawlers, forty Harriers and two hundred Trackers...
... I just realized that I can't say 'God' since God is dead in this Hell-forsaken crap hole...
Fuck.
XXX
"We have gathered all the materials that you requested of us, Lord Primarch, as stated in our agreement." Kelbor stated as we stood in the hangar of the new Flagship of my Crusade Fleet, the rechristened Necessity. Beyond us, a specially modulated Grav system worked to keep the atmosphere inside the ship rather than explosively being thrown out, it caused a slight shimmer as well, showing where the field was and where the Void of space began. Turning slightly to face the Magos who had quickly started to become one of my greatest allies, I smiled as I nodded.
"Indeed you have, Magos. Now, let me carry out my end of the bargain." I stated as it was easy to understand what I was saying. In return for those resources, I would provide Kelbor and his allies with a World upon which they could build a Forge World within Aesir space. Mind you, I had something a little more... Literal in mind.
Reaching out with my powers, I felt the materials, hundreds of trillions of tons of raw material in various forms, floating through the void within a single, stable orbit around Yggdrasil that was all clumped together, it would have looked like a miniature copy of Junkheap back in the day if it had any Asteroids thrown into the mix. Thankfully, I didn't need to worry about the repeat of old nightmares as I focused and threw my will at the materials, infusing them with my will as I bent the natural reality of the world to my will in a colossal example of might and power.
From the ship, I knew what the Augers would be picking up: The mass of materials moving without any apparent source as they shifted into a liquid-like state before starting to expand. From my side, I heard a gasp from the gathered Tech-Priests who were watching and I could feel the awe that many of them held for what I was doing, I smiled slightly as I realized that I'd probably have gained some of my greatest and most devoted followers to date from just those that watched this event. Then again, that hardly mattered to me as I worked, molding the materials to complex patterns within my mind and making them a reality, incredible complex anti-gravity systems being emplaced to provide a stable gravitational field within the structure. Dozens of complex cogitators were built, raw, frozen cells and biomatter being used to create their organic components while pico-engineered crystal processors were rapidly constructed, connected and energized within the massive structure before more components were added.
Within hours, a moon-sized object made from dark, Black Plate was in orbit around Yggdrasil, it's outer layer being multiple kilometres thick with a gate two kilometres thick, protecting the passageway into what was actually a dyson sphere the size of Luna. The outer surface was further augmented by massive, multi-layer Void Shields that were of impossible thickness and strength, the armor augmented by dozens of self-repair systems and Klein Bottle storage systems to ensure that the armor was never broken. Alongside this, dozens of Laser defense systems, Plasma Obliterators and Neutron Lasers were stationed across the entire object as a defense against anyone that would try to attack it. Of course, I had put another feature into this object's design, as a measure of last resort.
It was mobile.
Arrayed with dozens of Gellar Fields, Psi-Jammers and powered by an artificial star that burned within the core of the structure, the entire moon-sized construct was capable of motion and was, by far, the Post-Old Night Era construct built by Human hands. Before the Old Night, Humanity had built bigger stuff, entire mobile War Worlds of immense power and destructive capability, but those had all been destroyed during the Iron War at one point or another. Silently, as I finished the last pieces of the construct, I laminated the loss of such marvelous machines.
As I finished, the glow of power disappeared from my eyes as I turned to the Magos and the gathered Tech-Priests, who had stood in shocked silence since the beginning. I smiled, externally, I looked fine, internally, however, I was exhausted, still, it helped that I had tapped into the ODIN Field in order to make it work out, still didn't help me after channeling so much power though. Even for me, that kind of display was insane and something I had never done before, but felt that the showmanship alone would do more than I could have hoped for the alliance I planned to built between myself and this faction of the Mechanicus. Holding out a hand, I flared my powers once more, causing a single object to form rapidly before dropping into the palm of my hand, looking like the Janus Key from Halo.
"Consider this my end of the bargain complete, Fabricator-Genera." I stated as I took a step forwards and held the Key out to him. "This is the Key to Autochthonia, consider it your mark of office, Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal."
Kelbor seemed to move jitteringly, his entire head shifting from me to the key then back again more than a dozen times before he took shaking steps towards me and took the key from me with equally shaking Mechadendrites before he backed away rather quickly on unstable feet, his optics half going to the device as he held it with what I could interpret as reverent awe. After a moment, he bowed deeply to me, his form still hidden under his cloak as the Key disappeared into its folds while the rest of the Tech-Priests soon followed as I locked my knees in place to keep from falling over and ruining this event.
"We thank you for your generosity and swear that it shall not go to waste... Lord Primarch." He spoke hesitantly, as though unsure about my title. I simply nodded while smirking victoriously in the back of my mind.
The base had been set.
XXX
"Shoot that thing, damnit!" I shouted as I hefted the Heavy Plasma Cannon mounted under my arm and held it steady with my other hand. Pulling the trigger was easy as I watched the beam of energy leap out of the barrel and cross the distance between myself and my target in a moment. The target resisted for all of a moment before finally succumbing to the incredible forces arrayed against it, some kind of hybrid of flesh and bark giving way as it was fried, melted and burnt to dust before finally being allowed to disappear as a burnt hole appeared in my target.
AAAAAARRRRHHHHHAAAA!
Unfortunately, a single shot from a weapon that could have slaughtered a Leman Russ Main Battle Tank in one shot was not enough to kill these abominable things. Follow up shots from other Unbroken nearby targeted the central mass, the top of the body and the joints between the main limbs of the advancing creatures, killing some of them, but others continued further, screaming unholy sounds even though the damned things lacked a mouth to speak of. Some of them managed to reach the front entrenchment of Unbroken, long, thin limbs ripping through the air before they could react as many of the suddenly found themselves either lacking their upper bodies or heads.
I felt anger at that, the Xenos were killing my Sons and I was planning to have noneof that. Above the battlefield, Javelin Attack Speeders streaked over head, heavily modified and armed with Plasma-warheads and a Multi-Melta, they worked well to deal damage to the Xenos as we pushed forwards. Glancing around, I saw the beam of red thermodynamic death soar through the battlefield from a Mauler and smiled happily as it was swept through many Xenos and killed them outright, follow-up missile salvos killed even more as we advanced on our objective.
"Lord Marcus." I turned at the sound of my name, seeing Marteleus standing by me, his spear on his back as each arm held a modified Multi-Melta and each shoulder held a Volkite weapon of some description.
"Report." I ordered simply, already getting up and moving, my powers reacting to my subconscious as the Heavy Plasma Cannon disappeared, replaced with a Volkite weapon that should have been on a tank as it locked on to my forearm, extending towards the ground and almost reaching my ankle as I could aim and fire it with one hand.
"We have identified another Warp Gate used by the Xenos roughly five kilometres north of this position. Assault teams are being gathered and shall soon be ready to destroy the Xenos filth." I nodded at that. Two months on this planet was a hellish experience. The massive jungle favoring the enemy as their half-plant nature made it easy for them to blend into the surroundings, not to mention the fact that they were even harder to find in the small swamps that dotted the area. Honestly, there was only one reason that I hadn't simply ordered the planet burned with a Cyclonic Torpedo and that was because of the Dark Age-era ruins that doted the planet, each one being assaulted, barricaded and secured by my Sons while we swept the planet for Warp Gates.
The Xenos race on this planet was strange, massive, seven metre tall creatures with a main body like a stick insect that stood on three, four-jointed legs that ended with a triangulate base of spread toes, each one being as long as an Astartes was tall. Three metres of the body hung below the 'waist' where the legs joined the body, but still hung over two metres above the ground, over a metre thick at some parts with ridges similar to bamboo. Three metres above the waist, the creatures had a set of three arms positioned around the body in a similar fashion to the legs, each arm having no less than six joints in it with a reach of over eight metres and tipped with three-fingered hands with fingers that made up two of those metres. Above the 'shoulders' was the 'head', a wriggling mass of tendrils that, somehow, was used to make god-awful noises and was used to feed the Xenos, the tendrils could pierce Power Armor, but they had quickly discovered that the taste of a Jotunn could kill them. Instead, they had chosen to simply kill my Sons with swipes of their claws, which were sharp enough to rip Power Armor open and coated in baneful energies that almost disregarded their Shields, only stopping for a second before ripping right through them.
Two decades after meeting my Legion, the Unbroken had grown to number at almost sixty thousand.
Two months on this planet, and that number had been cut down to fifty thousand.
"Don't bother." I remarked. "Have the fleet bombard it from orbit, I have seen enough of my Sons die on this planet to the claws of those Xenos." Marteleus bowed deeply as he nodded.
"As you command, Lord Macrus!" He said before rushing off. I paid him little mind as I sighed to myself, glancing around as the sounds of the emplacements further ahead of me continued to sound with the hiss of Plasma, Laser and Volkite weapons, a sign that more of the Xenos were assaulting the breach head to try and take back the land that had been consumed by the forest of this alien planet. Turning to another Jotunn, I spoke commandingly.
"Are the Sanitizers in place?" I asked, considering the devices once more. They were basically scaled up Rad-Grenades, built to flash-fry any organic matter, including plant matter, within their area of effect that wasn't properly protected. The plant life on this planet took poorly to radiation, Irradiation Projectors and Rad-Grenades having become rather wide spread during the last two months while a dozen other ideas having sprung up, including an interesting version of Bolt Ammunition that looked like a precursor to Radium weapons.
Of course, if the plants disliked it, then the Xenos hated the stuff. Exposure to it turned cancerous to them inside of seconds, their forms growing horribly disfigured from internal and external tumors within moments before they finally died a slow, agonizing death.
Just as it should have been.
"Primed and ready, Lord Primarch. The other breach heads have reported that the devices have been primed in their locations as well, they merely await your command." The Astartes, a Battle-Forger, replied as I nodded.
"Tell them to activate the Sanitizers whenever they feel they are ready. I want the Ruins cleared and the surrounding area of each breach head purged of all plant life for fifty kilometres in every direction. No exceptions. Also, pass out the orders that I want Rad-weapons to become the order of the day. I want this planet purged by the end of the week, we have our prizes, anything else is of little concern; good to have, but not worth fighting to keep." I stated simply as this one bowed once more.
As I was left alone, upon the remains of a hill that now was over looked by a pair of Maulers, I glanced up to the stars and considered many things, but a single thing slipped from my lips.
"... I can't wait to get off this hell hole..."
XXX
"Is that damned thing shutdown?" I asked as I looked around with caution, the area had been blasted down to bedrock, repeatedly, with Sanitizer strikes dropped from modified Stormbirds, each one capable of carrying twelve of the massive Rad-bombs. Looking around, I saw the weapons of those around me, Heavy Bolters armed with either Radium materials in place of depleted Uranium within their standard Bolt shells, or with a variant that was incendiary in nature, releasing gouts of Balefire into a target after penetrating the armored hide of the Xenos. More than a few carried Heavy Volkite weapons while I saw a few more wearing modified Dreadnoughts, having turned them into battlesuits that were worn over their power armor, mostly just modified Contemptors mounting Twin-linked Heavy Bolters armed with the Proto-Radium Bolts that had become so common during this. Around the area, I could also see six Maulers and a dozen Nemesis tanks, all with their weapons constantly searching for threats.
"No, Lord Primarch." I nodded at that as one of my Sharpened Shields responded.
"Good. Then begin a full investigation. I want those gateways probed and I want to know just how far we will have to travel to remove these Xenos from existence." I hissed with great venom, my Legion agreed as those around me got to work quickly as they moved towards the object of interest.
It was one of the Xenos Warp Gates.
The structure was massive, one of the biggest ones yet uncovered. It was comprised of three massive pillars, each carved to look like triangular prisms and covered with carved symbols that made one's head hurt from simply looking at them. Each one had a single edge facing inwards, where dozens of colours danced along the edge before being discharged into a rent in the fabric of reality that glowed a soft green, the stabilized Warp tear that made this Warp Gate. My Legion had already encountered dozens of them, having learned how to destroy them through heavy application of firepower while also learning how they were opened.
A Blood sacrifice of some kind of fruit-like creature that shared a similar nature to these plant-Xenos, each of which was basically a massive sphere covered in bark and with no limbs to speak of. A single tree could hold as many as a few hundred of these creatures and they grew rapidly to what was considered the point of maturation. A few dozen samples had been taken, along with what were deemed as nursery trees, for future study, along with seeing if they could be put to use in some way, currently, they were locked in stasis Vaults hidden within the super-structure of the Necessity. Still, what I wanted to know was how vast the network of these Gates were, I had seen them cover the planet, Servo-Skull Probes had been used to discover these many Gates and destroy them along with purging any of the Xenos we had discovered, but we had also discovered, quite by accident, that these things were also interplanetary in nature.
It had not been a fun discovery.
Looking around, I saw a dozen of my Sons gather near the rift, using their combined Psychic might to force the portal open, stretching it out as they looked to see if they could find the other planets as Servo-Skulls and Servo-Thralls were prepared with QEC devices, Irradiation Projectors and Rad-Grenades.
I would love nothing more than seeing these damned things burn."
XXX
Alpha-34-16-Omega, renamed as Plant-Food was now dead.
I smiled as I looked down at the now rapidly expanding field of debris that had, at one point, been the planet itself. The remains of the Dark Age ruins had been literally ripped from the soil of the planet before transported back to the ship, where they were being painstakingly studied before a Sonic-Grav weapon called a Tectonic Cracker had been deployed. The weapon literally shook the planet to pieces, much to the vindictive joy of my Legion.
I sighed as I watched the field of rubble expand, any piece that came too close was destroyed by Lance strikes. Five years into the Crusade, 1387 planets that were either empty or only held Feudal Human civilisations before I had left the Gothic Sector and ran into Thamal Sector. Of course, before I had left, I had ensured that the six Blackstone Fortresses were pocketed away within hidden Vaults within the Midgard system after checking through a dozen systems that were either dead or held Xenos civilisations that were too weak to even bother with. I also removed Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness from their resting Places.
However, three systems into the Thamal Sector and I ran into thisbullshit...
Unless the next planet had anything of worth on it, and if it was infested with more of these fuckers, I fully planned to just launch a Two-stage Cyclonic Torpedo at the fuckers and let them burn. Even then, I was hesitant to even consider not firing the damned things for that. Admittedly, that was mostly due to the fact that I had lost nearly fifteen thousand of my Sons to that Death World, still, at the very least, my Legion had gained much from this fight.
The new innovations in Rad and Radium weapons were bound to be useful in the future, as were the new shielding systems that were starting to be incorporated into the armors of the surviving members of the Legion. Not only that, but modifications were also being made to other weapons, new heatsinks and capacitors had been developed for our energy weapons, reducing the cooldown time between blasts and allowing for a slight increase in the potency of each shot. A new line of Bolt shells had also been introduced, various incendiary payloads mixed with area-denial and Radium warheads that would be just as effective, if not more so, on normal creatures as they were on these Xenos, nicknamed as Tree Fuckers. Also, a number of Automata were also starting to be upgraded as well and were starting to be introduced in larger numbers to act as forward guards and shock troopers. Currently, the favorites for these duties were Thanatars, Castellaxes, Kastelans and Voraxes due to their designs and abilities.
Suddenly, however, I was brought out of my musings as I heard a phantom sound ringing through my head, a notification that something had happened. I felt my eyes widen as I read it.
Horus had arrived, and he had brought a guest.
XXX
Horus smiled as he walked out of the landed Thunderhawk as he looked around the hangar of the new ships built by his Brother's Legion. The smooth shapes and sharp angles contrasted heavily with the standard of Imperial ship building, lacking the ornamentation of most Imperial ships and being rather... Plain by comparison, but it seemed to suit the utilitarian style of the Second Legion, favoring pragmatism above everything else, even decoration. Looking around the Hangar, Horus saw a dozen members of the Unbroken wondering around, wearing new suits of power armor created by their Legion and seemingly working at a dozen things, Storm Eagles, Thunderhawks and Fire Raptors scattered around and being maintained by the skilled hands of the Legion.
"I must admit, for a Legion with such an unusual reputation, I had imagined that they would have decorated their ships with graceless junk. However, I find that these designs have a certain... Beauty to them in their simplicity." Came the cultured voice from beside him as he turned to see his newest Brother standing beside him, Fulgrim. However, before Horus could answer, he was cut off by the sound of a rather familiar voice as a pair of door slide open.
"That's because we are, at our core, pragmatic and utilitarian about our stuff, but just because we like to make things as simple as possible does not mean that it has to look dull while it does its work." Came the voice of none other than Marcus Grimm himself, Lord of the Second Legion and the being that many were coming to call the Lord of Escalation. He walked into the room with his ever present half smirk plastered across his face, his eyes dancing with hidden truths that Horus could not even begin to guess while his body was clad in his preferred Power Armor. To his Transhuman eyes, it looked the same as it had over 25 years ago, however, the Primarch of the Luna Wolves had little doubt that improvements had been made since the last time he had seen it, Marcus rarely left his belongings the same for too long, usually upgrading them every few months. Marcus looked around once before raising an eyebrow.
"I take it this is one of our Brothers, Horus? Otherwise, I have to admit that this is, quite possibly, the most pleasant looking Ogryn I have ever seen in my life." That remark got a snort from Horus that turned into a rumbling chuckle while Fulgrim smirked slightly at that, seemingly just happy to have his perfection of form complimented, even if it was in a slightly backhanded manner as to be compared with a crude Ogryn.
"I am indeed." Fulgrim bowed slightly in greetings. "Fulgrim, Primarch of the Third Legion, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Marcus Grimm, Primarch of the Second Legion. Welcome to the family, though, with introductions out of the way, you two want to follow me to my private dining hall? I've got some good quality Aesir Ale in stock and I'm sure you two wouldn't mind a good meal before you go." Marcus remarked as Horus smiled and nodded, Fulgrim simply nodded, following Horus's lead since he was still getting to know his new Brother. Without another word, Marcus turned with a smile, gesturing for them to follow as they walked onwards, following the constantly twisting corridors of the ship as they walked around corners and saw the dozens of other Astartes walking through the corridors before stepping into the private dining hall of Marcus himself.
Looking around, it was a large room, richly decorated with walls of silver decorated with gold trim and lines of Aesir Runes spelling out complex chains that could have meant any number of things while the room was bathed in light from no obvious source. Around the room, there were a dozen paintings of various descriptions dotting the area, Horus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that as he saw his Brother pour a drink for each of them.
"Aesir Ale, Alpha Grade stuff, a single drop of this will kill a normal Human and even Astartes have to be careful of it, otherwise they'll end up knocked out on the floor faster than you could saw 'Emperor'." Marcus said as he offered each of them a drink, Fulgrim only absently accepted one such drink as his eyes remained looked on one painting in particular, a portrait of a woman in her twenties with a country background of a primitive world behind her. Horus sniffed the drink briefly, testing it to see if he could smell anything off about it, glancing over to see his Brother smirking at him, he took a sip.
Horus immediately felt his eyes shoot wide at the taste and potency of the drink, he almost gasped out in surprise before forcing the feeling down and swallowing the liquid as he looked over at his smug Brother, who happily drank his own Ale with no unease to be seen. Horus glared at him for that, only getting a smug smirk in return for his troubles before Fulgrim spoke for the first time since entering the room, his attention focused entirely on a single painting on one wall.
"This painting? What is it, Brother?" He asked as he turned to his fellow Silverette. Marcus turned to him with a slightly interested look as he glanced at the painting in question before a look of comprehension crossed his features.
"Ah, that is a reproduction of an ancient painting called the Mona Lisa, the original was painted sometime in the... 16th century, if I remember correctly, by an artist called Leonardo Da Vinci." Marcus casually stated, drawing the attention of both of his Brothers.
"You have such detailed records as to know of specific art works before the Golden Age of Mankind?" Horus asked, shocked and surprised as he wondered if his Brother would ever run out of surprises while Fulgrim looked flabbergasted, but for completely different reasons.
"A reproduction!? But the subtle colours! The gentle lines! It is magnificent!" He turned towards Marcus with a determined gaze. "Tell me, Brother, who made this painting? And would it be possible to have them make another one, possibly as good as the original if this reproduction is so brilliant?" Marcus smirked at that.
"I'll have the next one sent to you when I have some free time." The Primarch of the Second Legion remarked, announcing himself as the artist, much to the shock of Horus, and the surprise of Fulgrim. Horus, once he got over his shock, simply chuckled at that.
"Why am I even surprised anymore? Honestly, Brother, I keep wondering if you will ever run out of surprises and yet you keep showing off more and more talents." Marcus merely shrugged at that.
"It's more a case of just having had a lot of time to practice in my free time. I've had two centuries to get better at these kinds of things, so it is rather understandable that my works have improved as I've gotten more experienced." He remarked as he gestured around the room. "All the paintings in this room were done by me at some point or another, most of them were just something I did to capture a specific moment or because it drew a certain emotion, most were either done at the moment or from memory."
Horus took that time to glance around, taking in the beauty that he saw. Most of the other pictures were landscapes, either depicting battles or of great skylines, at least two of which he recognized: One showed a beautiful skyline that one would have seen from the summit of the Imperial Palace, the clouds breaching to allow a ray of light down with birds flying in from one side, creating a view that many would call angelic. The other was an image from Kilomiz, a record of the disastrous battle where three Great Companies of Space Wolves had been slaughtered, called the Blunder of the Wolves. Looking at the paintings, he could admit that his Brother had an attention to detail that few could match, even going to extreme lengths to ensure the realism of his paintings down to the very last brush stroke.
"Perhaps, Marcus, you should make a few and give them to Father. I'm sure that he could find somewhere in the Galleries to place them."
Marcus grinned at that as he quietly sipped his drink. Horus, wisely, said no more, recognising the look on his face as one of his 'I know something you don't know' faces and said "I already sent him a reproduction, one of Isandula Verona's best works." Fulgrim said nothing after that reply, gently nursing his drink as his gaze was lost in the beauty of each painting.
XXX
The visit from Horus and Fulgrim lasted a week, where upon I was commissioned by Fulgrim to paint him a dozen reproductions of ancient Terra artworks along with a few dozen other things once he discovered that I was also gifted with other forms of art. Horus found it amusing to see, I honestly just saw it as another way of improving my skills since the steady hands needed to sculpt or paint would also help improve my aim with a weapon. Still, that minor distraction helped me pull myself away from the fact that I had lost so many of my Sons to that one world, something I made a note to be careful of in the future, especially since I had a gut feeling that that was not the full extent of what the Tree Fuckers were capable of.
"What is the status of the Fleet?" I asked as I walked into the CIC of the Necessity.
"Currently, all vessels are reporting all systems are working as required. The Mother of Invention has reported that the Ruins have been secured in their tertiary hold and they will be leaving the system within five hours to return to Autochthonia to drop it off with the Mechanicus present on that world. We've also received reports that the first Spheres have been completed and are ready for deployment along our Crusade path, they merely await the Mother of Invention to guide them into place." I nodded at that. The Spheres were an idea I had for a mobile system of fleet bases, each one being roughly two hundred kilometres in diametre and being based on the Spheres from Star Trek Enterprise. Each Sphere was built to resupply a dozen ships at once, along with a fleet of their own ships that would act as a last line of defense that would be aided by the impressive defenses of the stations themselves. Then again, I had my doubts that such things would be needed since they were all equipped with the largest Mirage Shields that had ever been built, able to hide them from anything that might seek them out.
"Good. Now, bring up the star charts of the mapped systems, I want to see what worlds the Tree Fuckers are inhabiting. Cross reference them with the Map of Solomon." I ordered as I saw a table rise from the middle of the CIC, from it came a massive array of holographic projections of the surrounding space, detailing dozens of systems, planets and stars. Slowly, secondary images appeared beside the original images as green links formed between some of the planets as those same planets were highlighted in green as well, showing which worlds might be homes to the Tree Fuckers. Looking around, I saw a dozen worlds that were covered in green before the glow turned red, marking it for destruction.
"One moment, Lord Primarch, we are making the adjustments to account for stellar drift as we speak." I merely nodded as I saw the second image line up with the first, slowly overlapping until they were on top of one another. Slowly, dozens of the worlds they controlled turned red, denoting their need for destruction while two other worlds were marked with flashing orange: A mark showing that the planet was host to something from the Dark Ages.
"Report!" I ordered as the two planets were zoomed in on.
"Positive response from the Map of Solomon, my Lord. Planets Sigma-94-65-Beta and Zeta-03-81-Gamma show positive for Human habitation in the Dark Age era. Sigma-94-65-Beta was a research base of some kind, abandoned during the Iron War and what little within the Map of Solomon indicates that it was looking into some form of Terraforming technologies, the facility on Plant Food was apparently a sub-facility belonging to this main base. Zeta-03-81-Beta, however... It appears to have been some kind of small-scale manufactorum designed to produce weapons and armor for elite soldiers and warriors during the time of the Iron War." I smiled at that, already seeing the possibilities, but knew it was probably going to be a tough fight.
"Send out Trackers to each of the other worlds around with Exterminatius-Grade weapons, Two-stage Cyclonic Torpedoes preferably. I want each of those worlds decimated before we launch our strikes on those two worlds." I commanded as a grin of anticipation crossed my face.
"As you command, Lord Primarch." On the holo-table, I saw a dozen ships peel off from the formation, Warp rifts forming as they disappeared towards their targets, their goals simple and their intent clear. Still, even with what I knew, what my Legion knew, I also had a gut feeling that these were not going to be easy battles.
XXX
Turns out, I was correct, on more than one count.
With only two worlds remaining, the Tree Fuckers fought with even greater hatred, screaming unholy sounds at us as they moved to war. Their warriors, no longer bare, wore armor covered in blasphemous symbols and made from the corpses of their fallen, empowered through Blood sacrifice and strengthened through Fel Warp sorcery. Their claws were augmented with gauntlets that focused the baneful energies of the Warp, enhancing their reach and forming into swords of a dozen colours, whips and blasts of Warp fire that ignored most forms of defense. Rad and Radium weapons were less effective against these corpse-clad warriors, they stocked forwards, taking triple the amount of firepower to kill them, the heavy weapons of vehicles like the main gun of the Nemesis or Mauler were still able to hurt them, but it took multiple blasts to ensure that they remained dead and didn't heal, as the baneful powers of the armor drained themselves to heal the wearers.
New weapons needed to be built to take these suits of Warp-armor into consideration, new bullets capable of piercing these suits of armor were created, their warheads containing Radium-laced explosives with irradiated Adamantium micro-shrapnel further laced into them. There rocket motors were more potent, capable of breaching their armored hides and exploding with terrible fury, cancerous growths appearing moments later and causing many of them to die, unable to live even with the life-giving properties of the armor they wore. Later, as we pushed deeper, Warriors wore thicker still armor, engraved with runes of Fel magics and increasing their bulk until they stood at nearly twice their original height, these ones were the real issue on both of the worlds, marching out at the head of armies of their lesser kin from hollowed out trees that they had turned into towering cities that almost broke through the magnetosphere. In their hands, each one of these warriors carried war-beasts, specially breed and grown from their planet and designed for war.
Each one of these creatures launched massive barrages of Warp-infused creatures, exploding upon contact and detonating in a similar fashion to a Vortex Warhead. These weapons reaped a deadly harvest upon my Legion, accounting for over two thousand dead even with all the weapons and upgrades that had been made.
As we were starting to be pushed back, more new weapons came from my Legion. A new Bolter design that removed the kicker charge, instead using a combination of a miniature Accelerator Cannon and a Helical Railgun system to launch these Bolts. The new system worked wonders as the upgrade was made to every vehicle in the Unbroken even as we bombarded them with Legion Basilisks firing Rad Warheads and air-bursting Radium warheads, their payloads of Radium needles tipped with Adamantium to ensure penetration and maximum damage was dealt. Fellblades worked to take down spearheads and rip through the lesser warriors who only relied upon their bark-skin for protection, being burned from within by Armor Piercing Incendiary weapons that exploded in gouts of Balefire. Glaives acted in support, usually to cut down the weaker ones with sweeping acts of Volkite fire that burned through them, taking advantage of the fact that wood and plant matter were pure insulators of heat to burn them alive.
As we advanced, we took more and more advantage of our ability to adapt. Psychic Wards started to become common, not aimed at the Daemonic, but aimed at the Fel Magics of the Tree Fuckers, capable of dissipating their attacks, if only partially. The power armor of my Legion was also upgraded, self-repair systems changed to a more organic design, replacing the original raw materials inserts with a circulatory system of oil and powdered feed stock that the nanites would use to increase the speed of repairs. The results were little more than patch jobs, but they would hold during combat as any weapon capable of penetrating the patches was probably capable of simply shooting through the armor anyway. Not only that, but those of the more Psychically talented among my Legion had started to make use of their talents, using their powers to erect barriers, cause the roots of nearby trees to impale the Tree Fuckers and shift the Earth under the feet of their enemies. With their introduction, the two worlds that we fought on literally turned against their inhabitants, who seemed to lack any form of Psyker talent beyond their Blood Arts, as my Legion had taken to calling it.
Within days, we had a breach head on each world, within a week, we had conquered a quarter of both, within three weeks, Sigma-94-65-Beta, renamed as Fertilizer, had fallen to us, the last of the Tree Fuckers retreating to their, what we believed to be, homeworld while the rest of them died in droves. Within six weeks, we had them pushed back to their last city as we claimed the prizes we had come for, teams having been dispatched to secure those bounties and bring them, quietly, to me for further investigation.
Within two months, the worlds were both bare, lifeless rocks, repeated Sanitizer strikes and orbital Lance fire having turned the lush, jungle planets into irradiated hell holes that not even bacteria that hadn't evolved to withstand it could have survived. We left the worlds easily enough, leaving a few Spheres behind after dropping such gene-engineered bacteria behind, for the purpose of continued advancement and investigation, of course.
Still, many of my Legion celebrated their victory, I let them. It was a big thing for them, their first, proper, campaign with me at their helm, they reveled in the feeling of their victory as they celebrated with Aesir Ale and food that had been prepared for them, shipped especially from Aesir for this victory. I had ordered a moment of silence, however, at the beginning of the feast, to honor the fallen and make an Oath to do them proud, shared by all those within the hall, all 37,000 of them that had survived the campaign as shipments of fresh Jotunns were coming to bolster the ranks.
Regardless, morale was high and the men were in good spirit, they called this one of their greatest victories to date.
I called it a start.
XXX
AN: Well, there you have it! The Great Crusade begins and things have already turned interesting. I'll admit that I mucked up with the timing and dates before I decided to alter the dates that the Primarchs were rediscovered at, hence why we have Fulgrim before Ferrus. Also, for those interested, the Nemesis Hover Tank looks like the 'P55M8 Plasmyr Tank' by Duskie-06 on Deviantart.