TALE - The Second Son (Rough Draft)

[simison]

For a moment, Alexandros considered weighing his words before shrugging. "With great difficulty."

 

Icarion raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

 

"Commanding a legion is not the same as commanding an army," Alexandros confessed as he stood and paced the room. "Every year since I assumed my position has been a struggle to find the delicate balance between what the Imperium requires and to mold my sons to my ideals. When the Imperium measures them, all they can see is combat ability. A battering ram to smash aside humanity's worst foes. Any changes that might threaten their battle performance is viewed with suspicion." Alexandros stopped before sweeping a hand down. "I cannot accept such a truncated existence for my sons. Yet, so many have internalised such views that I struggle to root it out from within as much as I attempt to ward it from without."  

[simison]

"What do you want?" 

 

"I want them to thrive in peace as much as war. This war will not last forever. One day, the Pax Imperialis will be instituted from one end of the galaxy to the other. Of course there will be rebellions, resurgences of hostile activity, but nothing will require the full strength of the Imperium ever again. On that day, I do not want my sons to fear what will become of them, but already well-suited to transition." Less animated, Alexandros sat down. "Which is why I request your aid, brother."

 

Icarion nodded. "It'd be my honor."

[simison]

Alexandros smiled. "Thank you, brother. The balance I am seeking I believe lies in your own Madrigal College. I want to institute a series of societies within my own legion to better spread my ideals. I want you to tell me every aspect of the Madrigal College and any recommendations for harnessing it in different forms and for other purposes, other than psyker mastery."

 

"As you wish. Let me begin with the Blue Volta..."

[simison]

Chapter 12: Masters of the Third Dimension

 

Ayatollah Kharkis considered the enemy fleet before the Imperium. The Scara ships were ugly things to look at. A mixture of rock and shell, the vessels looked less like ships and more akin to floating mountains. They reminded Kharkis of space hulks yet smaller. Easily countable as well since the Scaras did not believe in support vessels. Seventy-three of their warships opposed the Imperium at the outer edge of the system. Looking at his foes, Kharkis wished the conflict could have been resolved with a series of cyclonic torpedoes and be done with it.

[simison]

Orders, unfortunately, insisted otherwise. The Scara worlds had been scanned by foolhardy Rogue Traders. Those scans had revealed the planets to be replete with deposits of adamantium, gold, copper, and a dozen other elements vital to the Great Crusade. Thus, the worlds were to be taken intact, and their xenos occupiers exterminated. The Magos Biologis were hard at work attempting to find a biological weapon that would destroy the hostile species without poisoning the worlds, but the Imperium had few samples for them to experiment with. Until that situation had changed, the Legiones Astartes would use the old-fashion way. 

[simison]

Which placed Kharkis in his current dilemma. Victory was beyond a doubt. This was the only system the Scara had populated, and they lacked enough warships to turn back the firepower of the Imperial fleet before them. No, if there was going to be a defeat here, it would most likely strategic. The Imperium was still new, flexing its power within a small fraction of the galaxy. Who knew what enemies lurk out there? Hence the need for the Legiones Astartes to bear the weight of these first critical decades. Therefore, whatever tactic ensured a victory with the fewest casualties would bring the greatest honour in this battle. 

[simison]

Kharkis considered his options as the fleets steadily closed the distance. He had been given orders. Lord Anasem had been established as the overall commander for the campaign and had ordered the 16^th Legion ships to divide and harass the enemy flanks. The Ayatollah chafed at this given role, as did half of the Monarchs. He could not deny the fact that the Fifth and First Legions possessed the heavier ships and numbers necessary to destroy the Scara fleet, but to be reduced to such an inglorious duty...

 

He glanced at the display, showing his ships maintaining their forward position ahead of the rest of the Imperial fleet. He could order his fleet to ignore Lord Anasem's orders. After all, he was not their Primarch, and it would not be the first time an officer had earned renown for taking the initiative. Already, he identified three Scara warships the 16th could focus their firepower upon and disrupt the enemy's formation. Then again, the casualties in return would be... significant. And one did not flout the Emperor's First Son so easily.

 

"Your orders, Ayatollah?"

[simison]

Kharkis' sea-green eyes swiveled to his lieutenant, Captain Gharis. The man's light chocolate skin clashed with his bright blue eyes as he patiently waited for his commanders' vote. For not the first time, the Monarchs were too divided between whether to obey or to chart their own course, which meant Kharkis possessed the final vote which would break the stalemate.  For being a more symbolic role, Kharkis had been operating with a lot more influence than his position suggested. One day, we will have our own Primarch to command and give us glory. "I vote to execute the Tselo flanking manuever."

 

Gharis nodded before he shouted the order again, word quickly spreading threw the 8-13^th. No doubt several Monarchs were frustrated with Kharkis' delay, but he was conflicted as the council was. Regardless, the vote was cast. On the monitors, the scout fleet began to splinter as they sought to attack their foe from all angles. 

[simison]

~~~

 

"Hm," Irvin rumbled as his blue eyes peered at the tactical displays of the Imperial ships. "I wasn't sure they would follow orders."

 

Alexandros sat on his command throne, eyes closed as visions of the future danced in his mind's eye. "It was close," he murmured, his voice quiet enough to reach the ears of the Lord Commander. 

 

Irvin grimaced as he regarded the 16th Legion ships. "Democracy has no place in a Legion. War requires decisive action."

[simison]

"And calm deliberation," Alexandros added. "Until the day they compromise the Great Crusade, they are welcome to their eccentricities." 

 

Irvin grunted his disapproval but did not press the matter. "The fleet is in position."

 

"My brother has graciously offered us the first blow," Alexandros declared, his voice raising so it reached every ear on the bridge. "Let us show the First Legion our firepower. Fire the nova cannon!"

[simison]

 ~~~

 

Mounted underneath the Elpis' bow, a complex machine boasting sacred Mars as its birthplace came to life. The ordnance, already loaded, waited for the trigger that would fulfill its purpose. Before it a series of gravimetric impellers first hummed and then shrieked as gravity struggled and then bent to its new masters. The gunnery officer watched this new struggle begin and end in a few seconds as nothing more than a readout on his cogitator. With the Primarch's order, the officer gently pressed the button.

 

In the second after as his finger followed the button back up, the nova shell was halfway through the main cannon, well past the sound barrier. By the time the officer's finger separated from the glowing electronic, the nova shell had achieved maximum velocity as it shot out of the cannon with a low roar powerful enough to rumble throughout every kilometer of the warship. The sheer force of the shot reduced the Elpis' speed by a quarter before its massive engines compensated. 

Edited December 5, 2018 by simison

[Nomus Sardauk]

Small typo, there's an unnecessary "the" in the second to last sentence "powerful enough to rumble throughout the every kilometer of the warship"

[simison]

Fixed.

[bluntblade]

I was going to ask if the flagship was built yet

[simison]

It has, and has been featured ever since Alexandros left Terra.

[simison]

Nearing the speed of light, the ordnance armed itself a mere second after its own firing. It took only another five seconds to cross the vast distance between the two fleets. The Scara ship in the path of the shell had no hope of evading the shot and had to trust in its metallic shell to endure. The nova shell, upon contact, made a mockery of that trust as the city-sized explosive detonated. In a brilliant flash of light visible to observers on the Imperial ships, the Scara capital ship was reduced to rubble, the largest of said piece no more than a rock the size of a man. 

 

Upon his command throne, Alexandros smiled. "One down, seventy-two to go."

[simison]

As the fleets neared each other, Darshan reached out to touch the minds of the Scara xenos, searching. The Scaras were divided into three castes: workers, warriors, and leaders. The first mind Darshan reached was undoubtedly a worker. It focused on its current task, strengthening a section of the ship wall with four of its limbs, with a singular devotion. Darshan could manipulate the creature, but it would be a wasteful effort. It's one-track mind would allow only the most brutal methods of mind manipulation to have any impact on its actions. It simply wouldn't be worth the energy invested to gain control of a drone, let alone the million others that could replace a single crippled one.

Edited December 11, 2018 by simison

[simison]

Darshan left it alone and soon found a group of warriors. The Scara possessed no kinds of interception craft, which meant the warriors were there strictly to defend their ship. While the workers possessed almost no will or emotion on their own, the warriors were rife with tightly shackled aggression. The warriors may have had a rudimentary intelligence to allow some independence, but the sheer emotional hostility provided an unintentional defence against Darshan's powers. They might not be as hard to crack as the workers, but it would be tricky work. 

[simison]

Which left the true weakpoint of the Scara exposed. Within the center of the warriors was one of the leader caste, granted the lowest of its caste. To Darshan's amusement, the creature looked more humanoid than the rest of its species as it balanced itself on two legs. The leader caste required more sapience to be able to control and direct their simpler kind's members. Yet, it was that degree of intelligence that could allow Darshan to infiltrate. 

Edited January 31, 2019 by simison

[simison]

Darshan pursued the leader's mind. It was the lowest tier of its caste, barely able to command more than a dozen individuals at a time. Such authority was of little use to the Primarch, but the information of the Scara's 'chain of command' was. He perused the information before his spirit followed it to the master of the warship. He found two beings responsible for the ship's control. The first was a higher tier of the leader caste. The humanoid laid in an artificial cocoon of flesh and slime. It was connected to the other being which commanded the ship. The creature was an odd thing. Its mind was as simple as a worker's, yet far more powerful. As Darshan studied the creature, he realized it was, in a sense, the core of the ship's intelligence system. The creature was connected throughout the ship by a network of biological nerves which transmitted information from the various parts of the ship back to the command node. 

[simison]

Upon closer inspection, Darshan corrected himself. It was subtle, but the nerve network emitted clear use of psychic power in its construction. The 'pilot' too displayed an almost instinctual use of Warpcraft to meld with the nervous system, allowing it to send commands to the different areas of the ship. What an unwelcome development, Darshan thought to himself. The Rogue Traders had not scouted close enough to learn what other powers the Scara may possess that burden now falling upon the Legions to endure. 

 

Darshan sent a separate shard to warn Icarion as the main shard fulfilled its original mission. He reached into the leader's mind. With its minimal Warp talent, it had the smallest forewarning that something was happening. Untrained in any form of mental defense, the humanoid had no choice as Darshan slid inside and locked the Scara's consciousness away before Darshan sent new orders throughout the warship. 

Edited February 8, 2019 by simison

[simison]

~~~~

 

Without any redundices, the ship could not resist its master's commands. Engines mirroring volcanoes fired and shoved the warship away from its compatriots. As it moved, it spun on its internal axis, until the fewest cannons aimed toward the nearby ships. 

 

Kharkis watched the other enemy ships to see if this was an enemy tactic. None of the other ships moved from their current trajectory and commenced firing on the main fleets. He could not understand why it was happening, but he would not allow this advantage to slip away. "Have the Neptune's Fury and us concentrate fire on the ventral cannon, while the Dhow and the Tufan flank and strike their engines.

[simison]

Captain Gharis slid up to him and whispered, "Is this VonSalim's doing?"

 

Kharkis grunted. Since the XVI^th had yet to fight with the Lord of the Fifth until this day, none of them had a true measure of VonSalim's power. That had not stopped a tide of rumors that declared everything from Alexandros being nothing more than a talented deceiver to telepathically controlling every action and thought of the Halcyon Wardens. Kharkis despised such wasted talk and suspected VonSalim stoked these rumors as part of some on-going ploy. 

 

"A distraction," Kharkis stated. "The battle is our sole concern."

[simison]

~~~

Crassus felt a small shudder run through his ship. His armored hands clenched as he visualized the alien torpedo striking against the void shields. With a visible jerk, Crassus focused on the holographic projection before him. Tanks of light raced across a battlefield, leading a flock of rhinos toward a line of emplacements. A modicum of Crassus' anger relented as a ghost of a smile crossed his face. He had always considered the Battle of Three Flags as the birthplace of the Prefects, the elite tank masters of the Fifth Legion. Finally, their legion had something it could boast over the First.

His blue eyes locked onto one tank as it broke through the defensive line. A faded swell of pride and exhilaration flowed through the Prefectus Alae. He had been a driver during the battle, but he had been the first to break through. His fist slammed on the table's edge. And now, he thought bitterly. By the Primarch's own command, Crassus had been forced to wait while not one, not two, but three entire campaigns had been completed without his service, cheated of the glory that was rightfully his, and denied his true nature. He had been embarrassed to accompany his Primarch onto the Thunderchild, given his absence from the field.

It did not matter how kindly his Primarch had spoken to him, nor how often he had promised Crassus he would see battle again. Always, the meeting ended with the Primarch exhorting Crassus to seek the Sanctum and to choose an Arete. He threw a contemptuous glare at the Sanctum around him.

Edited February 24, 2019 by simison

[simison]

One of the Primarch's edicts after Balov required every Fifth Legion warship to maintain a room or space for a Legionary to pursue his Arete. Crassus had obeyed the order to the barest minimum. The Glory of Jermani may have been a proper battleship, but its Sanctum was no larger than his own personal quarters, large enough to room a dozen individuals. It featured a holographic table and a shelving unit filled with dataslates about every campaign from the last archived Great Crusade battle to the first Unification Wars skirmish. 

 

The Glory rumbled again and Crassus seethed at the Sanctum. He saw nothing more than a prison. He desperately wished the aliens would board and finally give him a chance to draw his blade.

 

~~~

 

Muniza watched with satisfaction as the battle swung in Humanity's favor. The Scaran warships, for all of their size, were ponderous beasts. Their xeno weapons were marginally faster than their ships. Muniza did not understand the mechanics, but the Scarans fired chunks of molten rock as their sole weapon. The torpedoes were all too easily avoided and threatened only the largest of Imperial warships. He watched as destroyers danced through barrages with ease. While the ships of the line engaged the Scaran fleet, the lighter warships plunged through the center.

 

There was little reason for Muniza to remain on the bridge. Yet, as the First Legion's newest Sentinel, he was eager to establish his presence and validate his Lord's recommendation and his captains' in him. Therefore, he stood in the bridge's center, poised and hands clasped behind his back. With void victory assured, Muniza's mind move to the next battle. The Scarans possessed colonies throughout the system; however, Lord Anasem had predicted that it was imperative to strike at the Scaran homeworld to prevent the campaign from lasting a toil-filled decade. 

 

Muniza looked past the waning battle and pictured the planet. The next battlefield would be the asteroid belt around it. Long-range auspex scans had detected artificial heat signatures and Scaran xenoforms. These asteroids would have to be secured before planetary operations could begin.

 

"Thunderchild advancing out of formation."

 

Muniza broke from his thoughts and turned towards the screens. 

Edited March 10, 2019 by simison