March, 841. Shadow's Sovereignty, Primarch's office.
Nareth listened to Arsena's report, confirming that the 11th had captured five outer systems of the Cyclops Cluster.
"My lord, many systems within the Cyclops Cluster contain varying numbers of Mitu xenos."
"These systems are also suitable for human colonization."
Nareth nodded slightly. He remembered that during the Great Triumph, when Horus Lupercal launched his campaign into the Cyclops Cluster, the Imperium had established a hundred worlds in that region.
Each of these worlds was of considerable size, with combined productivity surpassing even that of massive forge worlds like Lucius.
Although large-scale development had not yet taken place, some human colonists survived in the region, enslaved by the Mitu.
"All Chapters are to continue advancing," Nareth ordered, "and cleanse the Mitu xenos from the Cyclops Cluster. Deploy the 2nd and 5th Chapters to reinforce the campaign."
With the 2nd and 5th Chapters rested and refitted, they were ready to join the later stages of the Mitu war.
As the 11th pressed forward steadily, the 14th Legion, following Nareth's command, launched an assault on Zavarich.
The 14th Legion's fleet pierced through the Mitu warships like a spearhead, reaching high orbit above Zavarich Prime.
On the flagship's bridge, First Captain Balacin turned to Captain Tersus of the 7th Company.
"Zavarich is Mitu's granary world. If we launch an orbital drop, the xenos will be forced to commit troops to defend it. Ground warfare will also allow us to exploit our heavy infantry advantage."
What Balacin didn't say was that, though the Dusk Raiders had earned great glory during the Unification, they had struggled to achieve comparable results since the start of the Great Crusade.
He saw this war against the Mitu as the perfect chance for the Dusk Raiders to prove themselves again, a chance he would not waste.
"Begin orbital drop," Balacin ordered. "You will lead the assault."
Drop pods streaked through the atmosphere of Zavarich Prime, blazing like falling stars.
Tersus and his warriors hit the surface as night fell, launching their attack according to their long-held traditions, under cover of darkness.
"Attack."
"For the Throne of Terra! For the Emperor!"
The title Captain of the Battle-Company dated back to the Unification Wars, personally bestowed by the Emperor Himself.
Tersus advanced from the landing zone, raising his bolter and firing controlled bursts at the anemone-shaped aliens.
His guards and Dusk Raiders surged forward around him, forming a living spearhead.
Like other agricultural worlds of the Imperium, most of Zavarich's surface was farmland, with the Mitu clustered around a few key resource hubs, the Dusk Raiders' primary objectives.
Nathaniel Garro, born on Terra, advanced at his captain's side, emptying his bolter magazine into the enemy ranks.
Unlike many Legionaries troubled by the absence of their Primarch, Garro did not waver.
He had the Emperor, his lord, who had led the Dusk Raiders into the Great Crusade.
Looking up, Garro saw bizarre, spherical Mitu drop-pods descending from the sky like spores.
Though he was just a front-line soldier, not privy to the war council, he understood what was happening.
The Mitu were taking the bait.
They would throw themselves into the grinder of the Dusk Raiders' assault and pay dearly for it.
Garro drew his power sword and roared:
"For Terra and the Emperor of Mankind!"
He charged into the enemy lines, his power blade humming crimson as his bolt pistol barked beside it.
Each strike, each shot was a death sentence.
He cleaved through the xeno ranks, the disruption field on his blade shrieking as it tore through their warped bodies.
His memory blurred into the rhythm of battle, day after day, week after week, until, in the seventh month, Garro entered a Mitu structure for the first time.
Inside, he saw yellow gelatinous masses, their food-processing plants, reduced to ash amid the explosions.
At that same moment, on the Forge World Mezoa, the traditional ruling body, the Council of Five Patriarchs, convened in the First Temple.
The Chief Patriarch, his mechanical body shrouded by robes that pooled on the floor, emitted bursts of binharic.
[Have the Mitu fleets shown signs of early withdrawal?]
The Second Patriarch responded.
[The Cyclops Cluster is under attack / the Mitu are in full retreat.]
[Zavarich, their granary world, is under siege.]
[Over one thousand Mitu warships have been deployed / attempting to repel the invaders.]
The Chief Patriarch's query sent ripples of binary through the assembly.
Although the Council had tacitly accepted the Mitu's periodic "purges" of biological assets as a logical compromise, it was never their ideal choice, merely the least costly one.
In a perfect world, no assets would be lost at all.
[According to the data-archives / the Mitu's desecration progress stands at 44.13% / is there a chance they will end early?] asked the Third Patriarch, whose own sector was currently under purge.
[Negative / the Mitu show no signs of abandoning their cleansing protocols,] replied the Second Patriarch.
[My servo-probes confirm that their fleet still numbers over 2,600 ships.]
[The Mitu maintain sufficient force to suppress any rebellion.]
The Fourth Patriarch, who oversaw the Skitarii and planetary defense fleets, sent his reply with reluctant finality:
[If only we had God-Machines…]
The incomplete logic string needed no clarification. The others understood.
Mezoa, with most of its surface buried under volcanic flows, was unfit for Titan Legio construction.
The volcanoes granted the forges near-limitless energy and rare ores, making Mezoa incredibly productive, yet deprived it of the capability to field a Titan Legion.
Before the Mitu invasion, this had merely been considered an unfortunate limitation.
After all, their long-time rival, the Forge World of M'Pandex, also lacked Titans.
But since the Mitu appeared, everything changed.
The Mitu had never targeted M'Pandex; Mezoa, meanwhile, suffered relentless assaults.
The balance of power had reversed; Mezoa's advantages now felt like curses.
A new wave of ideology spread through the forges.
Four cult-sects preached that the volcanoes were Omnissiah's warning, that Mezoa was a doomed world, a cursed land that must be abandoned.
[There is no chance…]
The Chief Patriarch was about to reaffirm their policy of non-resistance when the Fifth Patriarch, tasked with monitoring the Warp, suddenly emitted a burst of urgent code.
[Aetheric seers report / Warp shadows detected / a vast fleet has appeared.]
A storm of data rippled through the council chamber.
[The Mitu fleet?]
[Or a force attacking the Mitu?]
...…
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