Imperium Ascendant

Chapter Seventeen: Opening Gambits

The rest of the day continued as originally planned. Armies were marshaled and battle plans were made. The first target of the Great Crusades conquest of Sol was the Asteroid belt that split humanities cradle in two. The duty of subjecting this maze of cosmic debris that was both heavily defended by Xeno raiders and mineral-rich fell to the First and Second legions.

At the height of the Age of Strife when all sense of sanity had faded away a species of alien-scum that had once been cast to the farthest reaches of the galaxy for their despicable nature had infested Sol. A race of mutants, slavers and worse the Q'Hrel had conquered the mines and bastions of the Belt and turned into their own private fiefdom.

From their seemingly impregnable system of lashed together asteroids and scavenged void-habitats the Q'Hrel had enjoyed an age of bounty where millions of humans from across the Solar System were stolen away in their raids to be used as slaves or worse for foul Xeno Masters. Striking at these Xenos and reclaiming the Belt from them would not only be a great strategic success in acquiring resources and a defensive line but also show humanity the nightmares of Old Night could bleed.

The I and II Legions would work in concert with each other to blitz the Xenos. Stamping them out of existence before they could even organize a defense. Q'Hrel infestations filled the Belt. It would be a brutal Naval campaign to purge them from the Belt and make it safe for human colonization. The central domain within the belt of the Xeno-Slavers was the dwarf-planet Ceres. Once an ancient communication relay it was now a vile flesh-market where Xeno-Breeds of all kinds bought and sold humans like (or as) livestock.

That planetoid was the prime target of the Ist Legion. They would crush the Q'Hrel with blade and bolter. Freeing the slaves and restoring Ceres to its rightful owners. This strike would appear from the void and smash the slavers leadership. During the attack, the swashbuckling second Primarch Aleixo Garvia would lead the Imperial Fleet in destroying the other infestations.

Once Ceres was safely in Imperial hands and the Belt was open for colonization and exploitation the next phase of the Crusade would begin. The next eighteen legions would spread throughout both inner and outer Sol and reclaim the system. This first step was critical if the initial decisive strike was anything less than that the Imperium would be bogged down in months if not years of brutal tunnel fighting.

The final speeches and proclamations declaring the start of the Crusade had ended days ago. Now the citizens of Terra could only stand by and watch as legions of superhuman soldiers were steadily transported to the waiting fleet. The First Legions Flagship was even now docked in low earth orbit above Gredbrittion. The massive Gloriana-class Battleship known as The Ty-Prydwen could hold a complement of over a hundred thousand battle-brothers of the First Legion along with all the armor, weapons, vehicles, support staff, auxillia and other necessities of War.

That was where Eddard Fendragon was headed. It had been a few hours since his fateful meeting with Malcador. In that time final launch preparations had been made and final words had been shared between him and his Matrari. He was off to war. Of course, he had combat and command experience through training and helping put down numerous threats on both Terra and Mars but this was no skirmish or exercise. This was going to be a war.

The prospect of such a thing sent a shiver up his spine. An instinctual response shared by all great predators when prey was near. Like all Primarchs and humans, in general, Eddard was a complicated being. He was both the noble Knight-King of the Imperial Court and a vicious apex-predator that thirsted for blood and doom. This dichotomy of honorable noble behavior in civilian settings while being brutal, efficient, and pragmatic killing machines on the battlefield was shared by the entire Ist Legion.

One hundred thousand Astartes of the First Legion were now aboard the Ty-Prydwen, the massive vessel was the first and so far only Gloriana-class ship to leave the Martian Ring of Iron. The next nineteen were awaiting finishing touches and data collected from the Ty-Prydwens first engagement to be ready for launch.

An escort of Battle-Barges, Battlecruisers and comparatively minuscule destroyers each containing Astartes contingents formed an honor guard for the massive vessel. Between the dozens upon dozens of ships, 300,000 battle-ready soldiers of the First Legion stood ready to bring hell to the Imperium's foes.

Eddards personal Stormbird landed within his flagship and the Primarch and honor guard made their way through rows of saluting Astartes. Some of these Astartes had never seen their gene-father in person. These young battle-brothers managed to maintain their composure even as the demi-god of war their very genetics were bound to strowed past them. Armored in a flawless obsidian plate and armed with a Sword forged to a perfect killing edge he was the Imperiums Black Knight in all its terrible glory.

Leaving the hanger the Primarch and his guards ventured to the ship's bridge. The Command Throne of the vessel was gigantic, sculpted to fit the Primarchs mass. Command thrones allowed a ship's Captain to quickly and efficiently access the tremendous amount of information required to command a Void-Ship.

The Ty-Prydwen's Throne was a much greater object. It was interlinked with the entirety of the First Legions Fleet and allowed a being of sufficient intellect and willpower to not only observe and understand the entirety of the fleet but command it near instantaneously. Orders could be transmitted to the Command Thrones of the fleets various ships and allow mass synchronization and grand strategy on a nearly unmatchable scale.

Eddard was skilled at fleet command and could wield his personal fleet as if it were all his own ship. Even so, he utterly paled in comparison to the other Primarch involved with this mission. Aleixo Garvia had earned his nickname of "Void Master" many times over. In both simulations and actual Void-exercises, he had surpassed his siblings easily. The Second Primarch had arrived into his current flag-vessel hours before and had taken command of the hundreds of massed Imperial ships readying for the battle to come.

Once his armor and mind were fully synced into his throne Eddard let the never-ending onslaught of data both trivial and critical bombard him. Processing at a rate a macro-cogitator would be hard-pressed to match the Primarch grasped and understood the condition, capabilities and best tactical uses of the Fleet. A small smile crossed the Primarchs face as he confirmed the Fleet was combat ready and awaiting his orders.

Within the torrent of data was a Vox burst from his brother's current flagship, the Battlebarge Endeavour. It was a private communique from his brother who had apparently earned the title of Imperial Explorer to match Eddards role as the Emperors Blade. The first and second born Primarchs were close to each other and despite the contrast of Eddards stoicism and Aleixos rambunctious energy. The message read: "To the Emperor's Sword. Good hunting and stay safe my brother."

Smiling at that Eddard allowed himself a few more moments of contemplation and humanity before he slipped into the role of commander. One of the techniques the Primarchs had learned was a way of compartmentalizing themselves into various roles. It helped diminish battle fatigue and centered the superhuman emotions that were a side effect of the Primarchs nature. As a commander, Eddard was no longer the noble and charming Knight of the Imperium but the ruthless and calculating Black King of War his father and species needed to win the war for survival.

Opening up a vox link to the First Legion Fleet Eddard the Commander spoke to the first legion fleet, both Astartes and mortal. "This is Primarch Eddard Fendragon, I am hailing all vessels of the First Legion."

Hundreds of thousands of souls snapped to attention and paused from labor to listen to the Primarchs words. "Today the first of many battles for humanities survival will be fought. The galaxy is a dark place, filled with terrors beyond imagination. For too long these horrors have hidden in the shadows and preyed upon our people like the vermin they are. The galaxy has become a domain darkness and fear, that shall stand no longer. In this dark galaxy, we shall be the Light!"

A Cheer burst forth from countless throats at the demigod of wars words and instantly quieted as he continued. "I met with my Father the Master of Mankind and his right hand the Sigillite earlier today. In our meeting, they honored me and this legion while simultaneously charging us with a great task. The First Legion has been selected to be the Emperor's Sword. We are to be the first among equals and the standard all will be measured against. We shall be a blade within the Emperor's hand, ready to strike down humanities foes no matter the cost."

"This Legion has been given the role of being the Emperor's will incarnate. Our duties shall be great, we must exemplify the Imperium's best in peace and obliterate its foes with utmost fury in war. We will be the first and the exemplar for what Astartes and the human species can do. Failure is not an option, I will drive myself to my very limits in service to mankind and its master. I ask my sons and our mortal comrades in arms to do the same."

As the speech ended a thunderous chant erupted of "FENDRAGON! FENDRAGON! FENDRAGON!"

With his speech concluded the First Primarch took his legion to war. At his command, the first one hundred ships of the I Legion left Terran orbit and prepared to strike against the Xeno menace. Moving with the disturbing synchronization only a Primarch guided fleet could possess the vessels formed into battle formation as they reached the Lunar Lagrangian point.

The fleets formation had similarities to both a solar system and an arrow in construction. The massive bulk of the Ty-Prydwen formed the shaft, battle-barges forming the head and the battleships of the fleet forming the fletching. Orbiting this Arrow were dozens of escorts ranging from Cruisers supplementing the boarding specialized battle-barges firepower to swarms of picket ships symbiotically flirting about the Ty-Prydwen ready to shoot down enemy missiles and attack craft.

Under the Primarchs commands the fleet moved as one. Thunderous plasma drives all working to move the vessels away from Terra and towards the Belt. Weapons teams prepped Plasma cannons, Lances, and launch bays for the coming conflict. The fleet was broadcasting various jamming signals to hide from the Q'Hrel, thankfully the Xeno's were fairly primitive and the basic anti-auger the fleet possessed was more than enough to mask themselves. The Xeno's would only know Doom was upon them when it was before their very light-sensors. By then it would be far too late for the filth.

As the fleet passed by Mars various data-bursts of the most recent Martian scans of Ceres were sent to the Legion. The only new developments it seemed were new slave-barges unloading the unfortunate humans that had been dragged into the void by the Slavers from all across Sol. They would be rescued and this domain of slavery would burn.

Soon the fleets scanners picked up the Belt. Hundreds of inhabited asteroids and proto-planets were detected and marked. Auger Probes were released in great swarms to find every last infestation of Xeno's and document every potential threat. The information was spread throughout the fleet and transmitted to the Imperial Fleet that according to the timetable should be leaving Martian orbit. They would arrive to strike the targets marked by the First Legion just as the climax of the Ceres Invasion started.

Slowly and steadily the Ty-Prydwen moved into firing position along with the rest of the fleet. The scans indicated the military strong points and command centers of Ceres. Thousands of targeting cogitators aimed the fleet's firepower at the targets and readied themselves. Taking a deep breath Eddard issued his command "Fire."

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