Chapter 44: Logic
After dismissing the company commanders to their duties, Omega stood silently gazing at the warp beyond the viewing ports. His thoughts moved with methodical precision.
"Interesting," he murmured to himself. "A mysterious entity has been specifically targeting me with psychic assault."
His first instinct identified the C'tan shard as the culprit, but logic immediately rejected the notion. Countless light-years separated them. Even with its power, reaching across such distances to influence him while the god-fragment remained imprisoned seemed impossible.
From the extensive experimental data he'd reviewed in the captured libraries, the C'tan did not possess traditional psionic abilities. Rather, its mental consciousness was so overwhelmingly powerful that it could directly modify and erase the memories of any creature that approached it in person.
Omega had found no records of it influencing minds from a distance through psychic whispers.
His conclusion solidified with cold certainty.
"A mysterious being inhabiting the warp," Omega reasoned aloud. "Conservative power estimate: above Primarch-level capability. Truly troublesome."
The temptation to study the warp was strong, yet he recognized a fundamental problem. Psionic energy was too mysterious, too irrational to be studied using conventional scientific methodology.
Furthermore, and more critically, the Emperor had issued an explicit prohibition against any research into psychic phenomena.
Omega heard the Navigator's voice filtering through the ship's communication systems and became thoughtful. Both the astropaths and Navigators underwent specialized surgical procedures. The astropaths notably underwent extensive modifications.
The question arose: why did the Emperor subject these individuals to such brutal interventions?
During his extensive studies of government and politics, Omega had also acquired profound knowledge of logic and philosophy. These disciplines now enabled him to engage in powerful chains of deductive reasoning.
The Emperor was an almost ruthlessly rational being. While not omniscient or omnipotent, his wisdom and capabilities far exceeded Omega's own understanding. He had, after all, executed two Primarchs when he deemed it necessary.
The Emperor ruled humanity from a perspective of global strategic necessity. He would not target astropaths and Navigators based on personal preference or arbitrary cruelty.
Therefore, only one logical possibility remained. Psykers such as astropaths must be vulnerable to warp influence and corruption. The Emperor subjected them to soul-binding procedures to compel their loyalty and prevent subversion.
Yet a deeper question followed. "Why did the Emperor not teach astropaths to resist warp corruption? Why resort to such brutal methodology?"
The answer came swiftly through careful reasoning. "Only one possibility exists. The influence of the warp far exceeds even my current understanding. The Emperor himself may be capable of resistance, but he cannot eliminate whatever entities dwell within the warp itself. Astropaths' spirits and willpower are inherently too weak. Even if a resistance technique existed, it would prove ineffective for them."
Omega smiled wryly at this realization. Warp travel was extraordinarily dangerous, yet the entire human empire had been constructed upon this treacherous foundation. Humanity was truly playing with fire.
Yet without guidance and superior knowledge to draw upon, he chose to trust the Emperor's judgment. The human empire had never disclosed information about the warp to its general population.
The Emperor had explicitly forbidden any research into psychic phenomena. Omega remained ignorant of the true dangers involved, but trusting the Emperor's wisdom remained the rational choice.
After considerable reflection, Omega formulated a personal resolution. He would simply develop his own mental and spiritual defenses.
If he could elevate his will and consciousness to the level of the Emperor himself, he might achieve immunity to such attacks.
He acknowledged a hard truth. Thirty years of mental discipline had already pushed him to inhuman levels of refinement.
Yet the demonic entity had surpassed him with ease. He would require far more intensive training and development in the future.
After months of travel through the warp, the battle fleet emerged at its destination in the northeastern reaches of the Milky Way. The psychic whispers had ceased entirely, replaced by profound peace and silence.
Omega's fleet linked up with the forward elements of the Alpha Legion. Strategic planning for the next campaign phase began immediately.
All ten company commanders gathered on the bridge to analyze the Medias star sector. With the destruction of the Rangdan Xenomorph civilization, the alien species enslaved and subjugated by the Rangdan were uniting against human expansion.
Yet these civilizations remained relatively underdeveloped. Sending five hundred warships to conquer single planets would represent a catastrophic waste of military resources.
Company Commander Norton stepped forward and highlighted a section of the tactical star map. He indicated star systems spanning roughly twenty light-years and delivered his briefing.
"Within a twenty-light-year radius, aside from several alien sentinel worlds, we have identified three distinct alien civilizations. Their technological development is relatively primitive. They possess only a few dozen functional space-capable warships in total."
"However, intelligence reports indicate approximately eighty Rangdan Xenomorph warships are stationed on the primary world of the myriapod species."
Norton paused for effect before continuing. "The myriapod aliens possess extraordinary reproductive capacity. Given sufficient time and nutrient resources, their populations can expand to tens of billions. They exhibit interstellar migration patterns and biological adaptability."
"Our analysis suggests that the Rangdan Xenomorphs previously enslaved a myriapod colony queen. We believe the remaining Rangdan fleet stationed there intends to repeat this process, to replicate and enslave the entire myriapod population for use as biological weapons."
When Omega processed the data on billions of insects on a single world, he immediately abandoned any notion of committing his forces to a direct assault on the myriapod homeworld.
The Legion was not at peak strength. Committing Imperial Military forces directly against billions of creatures would result in catastrophic casualties.
Omega studied the tactical display and formulated his strategy immediately.
"We will employ our standard operational doctrine," he announced. "The fleet will divide into five groups of one hundred warships each. Each group will advance from different vector approaches, systematically eliminating the sentinel worlds and minor alien positions. Once these are neutralized, our groups will converge for coordinated assault on the primary strategic objective."
"We will engage the myriapod homeworld last. Before that assault, we must substantially replenish our logistics support, repair damaged warships, and reinforce our ground forces."
With a clear strategic plan in place, the five hundred warships were divided into five distinct task groups, each numbering one hundred vessels. They executed coordinated warp jumps to their assigned operational zones.
Each group followed the pre-established attack plan methodically. Any complications would be reported through the astropathic relay network immediately.
Omega led his one hundred warships to a star system highlighted in intelligence reports. Upon arrival near the designated planet, his sensors detected something unexpected; no enemy warships were present in the system.
Thunderhawk gunships descended into the planetary atmosphere in waves. Reconnaissance revealed an alien military installation with approximately one million inhabitants.
The aerial assault began immediately. Space Marines deployed via rapid-descent drop pods, descending like meteors toward the surface. Upon exiting their pods, they established combat positions.
On a scarlet rocky ridge, Omega stood clad in full power armor. He gripped a bolter and opened fire, systematically eliminating alien forces emerging from fortified positions below.
The aliens deployed bio-luminescent defensive barriers, futile against human weaponry.
Thousands of Space Marines formed overlapping firing positions, advancing methodically while maintaining continuous volleys against the alien installation.
Gunships and atmospheric fighters wheeled overhead in constant bombardment patterns, pounding the alien base without respite.
As the Space Marines advanced closer to the fortifications, heavy armor elements entered the battle. Imperial Military tanks were airdropped into position and launched assault charges. Towed artillery and mobile missile platforms established firing lines behind the Space Marine advance, their weapons delivering continuous bombardment.
Under this cascading tide of firepower, the Space Marines breached the enemy fortifications. What followed was complete operational annihilation.
Space Marines and Imperial Military soldiers moved through the installation in overwhelming force, eliminating any remaining resistance with methodical efficiency.
The sounds of war dominated the entire zone.
Explosive shells and missiles detonated in chains, atmospheric fighters released ordnance payloads, the whistling shriek of incoming fire, and flames consumed everything in their path. The symphony of destruction was total.
The warriors who had been subdued and fearful on Terra found liberation on the battlefield. Their composure returned. Their purpose crystallized. War, it seemed, was the only environment where they truly felt alive.
Within seven days, the sentinel outpost was eliminated entirely. After orbital fighter sweeps destroyed the remaining minor alien installations scattered across the resource-poor world,
Omega granted his forces a brief rest before they then embarked on a return journey to the main fleet.
The conquered world was formally registered as Imperial territory and recorded with the military command authority. Omega then led his task group to execute another warp jump, targeting the next designated system.
The twenty-light-year subsector fell swiftly to the Alpha Legion's coordinated assault. Five separate task groups methodically eliminated alien forces across multiple star systems.
However, the aliens proved so weak and disorganized that the company commanders collectively decided to abandon the original consolidation plan.
There was no tactical need to gather all forces before striking at their primary objective.
When Omega learned of this accelerated timeline, he concurred with the assessment. In less than six months, the entire twenty-light-year region had been secured. The five task groups converged at the edge of the myriapod star system.
Logistical support proved substantial. One hundred additional warships joined the combat fleet specifically to provide supply and repair services.
Omega now commanded six hundred warships arrayed against a star system containing six planets, all dominated by myriapod swarms numbering in the billions.
The myriapod civilization lacked the technological sophistication to construct energy shield arrays, yet they thrived in the star system's extreme environmental conditions.
Defending their worlds were nearly one hundred massive, cylindrical biological warships, each extending approximately one kilometer in length. These vessels bristled with plasma and ion cannon emplacements, positioning themselves to deliver long-range fire against the approaching human fleet.
However, humanity's technological advantage provided crucial early detection capabilities. The alien biological warships were identified at extended range. The battle began with exchanges of laser and ion cannon fire between the human fleet and their organic counterparts. The myriapods, having committed entirely to biological engineering solutions, lacked the long-range firepower sophistication of human vessels.
Without functional energy shields, the myriapod biological warships suffered devastating damage as human firepower tore through their hulls. They fragmented explosively, their remains scattered across the void in expanding debris clouds.
Six hundred human warships pressed forward with disciplined ferocity, their formation maintained despite the enormous biological swarms of smaller space-borne creatures trailing behind them.
When the human fleet reached the third planetary orbit, they encountered the true opposition, a combined formation of remaining Rangdan Xenomorph warships and scores of additional myriapod biological vessels charging to intercept.
The human fleet's formation adjusted with practiced precision. Coordinated firepower began eliminating the incoming biological craft in waves.
The battle was joined in earnest.
[End of Chapter]