Chapter 16: The enemy is an animal, a xenos, an alien!
Throne Room | Terra | Days Later
- What report, Augustus? - Again, the meeting, how they have bored me lately. But war is important, so it cannot be helped.
- My Emperor, the Ordo Stellar Force, knocked the enemy out of the world-intelligence system almost without casualties; none of the Keno ships could escape. - The Admiral's face brightened. Of course, he'd shown everyone what his men could do. There was no work for the Legions, so now the transports are hovering in the transhipment system, waiting for orders. - The fleet is waiting for orders to go over the catapult and begin the offensive.
- Yes, I read your report on the battle. Congratulate Admiral Shepard on her victory; her daughter should be proud of her. - Admiral's actions are really good; of course, the power of the ancient ship and the "kick in the ass" spirit that didn't want to wake up also played a role. That's how long you watch all the time - the older the car, the more capricious the Spirit. Just sleep and all, lazy!
- I think my son will be too, My Emperor...
What is it?
- A son?
- Yes, My Lord, Admiral Shepard has two children. Her daughter's at the Long Range Intelligence Academy, and her son will soon graduate from Legio Pretoria, Special Support Forces. - It's fun for the girls to dance.
- All right, let's skip it. I've called you together today to discuss plans for the future. We don't want a war of extermination, but Keno has to pay. Any suggestions?
- Supreme, we have discovered several places of great interest to the Hordo Mechanicus. - After several manipulations, a huge hologram appeared in front of everyone. "There are several systems with asteroid fields of Alpha-101 class behind catapult 314, which according to calculations of the Collegium, is an ideal place for a forge, and another one," the hologram transformed and now showed a deserted planet. According to calculations, there are enough of it on this planet for a thousand and a half years.
- And what's stopping you?
- Here. - The picture has been coloured by many red marks, both above and on the planet. - This planet is at the catapult leading to the home systems of the Keno. They have brought a huge group of troops there, but Master Cornelius will tell you better about that. - The Arch-Fabricator sat down, and the Commander-in-Chief stepped into his place.
- My Emperor, Karos, reported correctly this planet is strategically important to us, both as a resource base for Mechanicus and as a transit station controlling the catapult. But enemy forces on the planet will keep us from moving forward. According to the Long Range Intelligence Corps, about four million soldiers with heavy armour are now on the planet. This grouping is capable of causing trouble if left behind offensively.
- So be it. I authorize an assault on this planet and further advance into their territory. The mechanics can test their inventions on the Xenos; I authorize it. Soon the Xenos will request peace.
- Will we agree?
- Yes, they play quite an important role in my plans, but they must pay for their attack. All are dismissed. - All present rose and bowed and left.
I, on the other hand, tapped into the palace's network and exited the platform. Well, there's my home. A huge network throughout the Empire and soon the entire galaxy. Here I can move into any device, bot, or weapon. To just about anyone. That's how I spend a lot of time--watching how people live. My life is just a service to the Empire; it's my cross to bear. But I need to be happier! I don't have the needs of the common man, and I am doing what I love. Isn't that happiness? But let's finish this subject, or we could continue like this forever.
I can have some fun as long as I have some free time. I was soon in the network of the Quarian fleet of battleships that accompanied me. After flying around and watching scenes of their lives, even indecent ones, no, well, on the console, that's too much, I went through their network into Space. That's it. I'm in charge now! I will go bust a casino; I've always wanted to.
A couple of hours later
Well, now I have an impressive amount of money in my account and a hell of a lot of enemies; yay! They even tried to hack me a couple of times, but they didn't succeed. They calmed down after getting punched in the nose a couple of times. After running through their network a couple of times, I got bored. Eh, the fun certainly, but my game is more interesting. There are more risks. So it's time to go home because I've stayed too long with them.
The system behind the transponder - 314 | flagship of the Turian fleet "Dasar"
- Admiral, the Primarch was on the link. - We've already lost two squadrons behind that transponder, and we need to find out who our enemy is. Both times we received only a signal for help. I'm sending five more to your three fleets. They'll arrive within a week or two. In the meantime, wait for the aggressor to attack and prepare your defences. Kirk out.
- Over and out, Ensign. - The admiral returned to his chair and began working with the omni. They've been waiting three days for an attack. In that time, many troops and equipment have arrived on the planet, as well as new fleets. It's not the full power of the Hierarchy. Still, it could already be enough to make some nations disappear from the maps of the galaxy. And as soon as the rest of the fleets approach, the savages will know their place, but in the meantime...
- Admiral, there is a signal to activate the repeater! - A junior officer's voice interrupted him. - They'll be here in thirty minutes!
- Fleet to battle! Tell the ground units to stand by. All ships take aim at the repeater and get the guns ready! Fire on command.
The siren went off on the ships of the fleets, and the specialists began to take their positions. The ships were ready for battle five minutes later, and the waiting minutes flowed.
After the allotted time, the repeater spits out objects. The first salvo, fired on automatic, took out about a quarter of the objects.
- Admiral, those aren't enemy ships. They're, uh, containers? Steel boxes, sir. Any orders?
- Anything unusual about them? Explosives, sensible ones?
- No, sir. Just space junk. Just metal inside.
- Have a patrol ship check the debris.
A small ship separated from the fleet and raced toward the objects.
- Sir," the captain of the watchtower reported, "they're really just boxes, but they're very big! My ship could fit three times in them!
- Notice anything else?
- No, just metal. Shall we open them up?
- Yes, find out what's inside and come back.
- Acknowledged.
Several figures in spacesuits separated from the small ship and flew toward the objects. As they approached, they were about to start sawing metal when a shudder went through the hull, and soon the opposite sides of the box flew out in different directions at tremendous speed. The workers who didn't have time to bounce back were swept away forever into the void. And dozens of drones began to burst out of the objects.
- Fixing the launch of the MLA! Enemy numbers are in the neighbourhood of a thousand! Shall we open fire? - The aide reported in a moment.
- Fire! Concentrate fire in front of the fleet, a single wall. Launch our MLAs!
And Space lit up with a hundred flashes, and steel arrows rushed to meet the swarm, which rushed to the ships despite the losses. Soon it broke through the thin wave of Turians' MLAs and began knocking out the ships' gun emplacements, taking heavy casualties. But it didn't matter. Behind the battle with the drones, everyone missed as the main enemy fleet entered the system and began knocking out the Hierarchy's cruisers from long range. But this time, she was ready. Having dealt with the drones, the fleets opened fire on the newly arrived fleet. The calibres of the dreadnoughts came into play, and after they fired, a couple of enemy ships were scattered with debris. In response, the cannon of the unknowns flashed, breaking the dreadnought in half in the process.
The battle continued for a long time; the unknown forces, suffering casualties, pushed the Turians toward the orbital repeater. At that moment, enemy landing ships entered orbit, and soon the sky was ablaze with thousands of landing capsule lights.
Imperial forces.
- Grand," the astropath addressed the woman, "the landing ships report a successful landing. The forces are landing in an area where resistance is minimal. The 14th Legion has already landed and is waiting to unload armoured vehicles and Legio Ferro with Legio Colossus.
- Fine," Shepard smiled, "Pass the order on to Commander Marsal, have him push the Chenos to the catapult, and have Commander Shars squadron go into orbit and assist the ground troops. The siege monitors Pretorius and Carphone come into his command. "Dominus Terra" goes with Marsal. We'll outflank their fleet from the rear with the rest of the battleships. - The hooded figure nodded and began relaying messages. And the admiral returned to the hologram showing the location of the fleets.
Planet 45-Z.65 | Legionnaire Marcos Trebius | Landing Zone 14th Legion Legio Venus
Finally, I'm tired of sitting on this ship! Soon the capsule will throw me and my brothers over the heads of the Keno, and we will bring them the will of the Emperor. I've always disliked these cans. If something hits us, more or less seriously, the capsule will be crushed, but for now, the Emperor keeps us safe. Brother Kars is fiddling with his heavy pulse pack, as usual. He's our mainstay, a support squad fighter covered in heavy armour and shields. Charos is our sniper. Always silent, but that's normal. All snipers are trained on Alpia, a planet with huge mountains across its surface. There they are hardened in the harshest conditions. After training, they are sent to the Legion, like our Haros, or to the special forces. The brothers Kirs and Mark are also flying, but they are legionaries like me. But I need to be more focused; battle requires focus and clarity of mind.
The last seconds count down in the silence, and soon the capsule is shaken. Immediately outside, the drumbeats of projectiles rattled against the armour. Released from the mounts, I hooked up the surveillance system. The walls on the inside changed and began to show an image of the outside, illuminating the enemies. Just a small squad of Xenos and a couple of vehicles, nothing special. Starting the disclosure process, my squad and I began to prepare weapons. Finishing the countdown, the turret from the roof of the capsule struck the Xenos. Then the door opened, and we stepped outside. We regrouped after hearing from the rest of the squad, and after finishing off the wounded Xenos, we set off for the assembly point. And the Keno ambulance column, coming from the side of the bombed-out positions, would never reach its destination again.
A few days later.
The legions arrived one by one. The superiority of personnel was already fivefold, but the fighting was getting positional; too strong were the Xeno fortifications, and there was nothing to break through them yet. The PCO forces were still driving away the Imperial fleet, which was working on the enemy's rear, but could not destroy the forces on the front lines.
This day was the same, the Legionnaires in the trench minding their own business. It didn't look like a World War I or World War II trench. It was a high-tech structure that only some could break through on the spot. But back to the war.
Today the Legatus, obeying orders, raised his Legion early in the morning to attack. All past attempts had been repelled by Keno. After several attempts, the attacks stopped, but something special must happen today. This was felt by everyone in the Legion. And as soon as the squads reached their positions, several huge fireballs streaked across the sky as they fell from orbit. They hit the ground and raised a cloud of dust. And out of this cloud began to emerge huge machines - Colossi. At the sight of the Great Machines, the spirits of the Legionnaires rose to the heavens and, together with the robots, which had already attracted tracer chains from the enemy, attacked the fortifications.
It was a nightmare for Keno. The invincible giant robots trampled and scattered the equipment, their monster-like flamethrowers mounted on their arms scorched the living force, and the cries and screams of the Xenos burning alive filled the fortifications. As the infantry approached, they finished the rest of the enemy and stabbed the wounded with knives and short, light metal swords. Soon, with Mechanicus Machines' help, the planet's last PCO point fell, and the fleet scorched the remaining Keno on the planet, glazing the ground. The first planet fell before the might of the Empire, and soon the galaxy would shudder as there were no more obstacles in the path of His Warriors.
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