Retribution's Hammer, hanger bay…
As soon as the Thunderhawk landed, there was a mad scramble to get out. Twilight and the other mares staggered out of the aircraft, unused to how fast it had traveled. A pegasus pony in flak armor gave them a sympathetic look. “Not used to being in something like that, eh? You’ll soon get the hang of it.” He said. “Took me a long time to get used to being flown in one of those contraptions.”
Twilight nodded as she turned at the sound of footsteps behind her. Viktor, Alexia and Sasha soon emerged from the transport, their eyes widening at what they saw. Fighters and transports flew in and out of the hanger bay, delivering supplies, troops and whatever else that the ship needed. Crewmen, both pony and human, milled about the hanger, occasionally glancing at the newcomers before going about their business.
The stallion that had spoken earlier then cleared his throat. “I’ll escort you to the bridge, the commander will meet you there when he returns.” he said. “Until then, I would suggest staying on the command deck.”
The group nodded as one before being led through what seemed to be endless corridors to where the command deck was located near the front of the ship.
As they walked, Twilight looked back at the three armored humans, who were quietly discussing amongst themselves. While she knew Sasha, the two others were a mystery to her. Shaking her head, she put the problem out of her mind, instead concentrating on what was going on now.
Soon, the group entered the command deck, and what they saw caused their jaws to drop. Crewmen walked back and forth from different stations, ranging from comms to radar to even gunnery control. But it was the sight of seeing the planet below that made Twilight's eyes start watering.
“Amazing, isn't it?” Their guide said as he stared out at the planet. “To think Equus is just a speck in a larger universe.”
“How long have y'all been on this ship?” Applejack asked.
“Over 20 years, give or take.” he replied.
Rainbow balked at that. “20 years without being able to fly freely? I don't think I'd be able to go that long…” she gulped.
The stallion chuckled. “It’s better than crashing into every hallway.”
Pinkie snickered. “He’s got you there!” she giggled, earning an annoyed look from the prismatic pegasus.
Rarity glanced over the bridge, and raised an eyebrow. “Seems pretty drab for the inside of a ship…” She commented.
“Ma’am, this is a warship, it's not meant to be pretty.” The stallion said.
Rarity opened her mouth to make a retort when Sebaste's voice sounded from behind her, causing her and the others to jump in surprise. “Don’t even think about trying to make it fit to your standards, Rarity. I don't think the men on here would appreciate their ship getting beautified.”
The stallion quickly saluted. “Sgt. Flare Strike of the Equestrian 264th at your service, sir!” he said.
“At ease, Sergeant.” Sebaste said, returning the salute. “Go let the men know we'll be expecting some visitors soon.”
“Yes sir!” Flare Strike said, before trotting off.
Sebaste then turned and pulled out a strange looking device, planting it on the metal floor. It then began to shift before it was revealed as some sort of comms device.
“Seb? What is that?” Viktor asked, staring at the device.
“This is a void transponder. It'll let me send out a Multiverse wide S.O.S.” the Recon Spartan explained. “Once I send out the call, it'll be up to the displaced to answer it or not.”
Turning back to the device, he then pressed a single button. “This is Sebaste-917, one of several displaced in my Equestria. And I need your help. Another displaced has declared war on my world, and I need allies to help stop him. If you choose to help, say “I’m ready.” and you will be brought to my universe. If you are not interested, then you will stay in your universe. May Faust protect us all…” he then deactivated the device and rubbed the back of his head. “Now comes the waiting…”
“Sir! We're picking up two contacts!” a crewpony shouted.
Sebaste spun to face the earth pony. “Locations?” he asked.
“Can’t exactly tell, some kind of energy is messing with our navigations. But from the looks of it, one contact is near Manehattan , the other is.... next to us?!”
“Confirm that, second contact is next to the ship?” Sebaste ordered. The crewpony nodded.
A crewman working on the comms then spoke up. “Sir, I'm picking up a signal, they're trying to contact us. ”
“Bring it up on the screen.” Sebaste ordered as a holographic screen activated. “This is Sebaste, state your business.”
What appeared in said hologram was some sort of humanoid clad in armor. Its coloration mostly of black with some parts of it glowing blue, its helmet was dark silver and it’s visor orange with no way of telling if it was man or woman. However, despite its appearance, a voice was coming in clear. “This isGeoffrey, I got your message.”
“I’ll send a fighter to guide you to a hanger. I'll meet you there shortly.” Sebaste said before giving an order on the comms. He then turned towards the bridge door. “I’ll be right back, I need to bring our new ally to the bridge.” The Spartan then walked off, the doors sealing shut behind him with a hiss.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Is it me, or is Seb getting a bit too bossy?”
Before any of the others could reply, a single portal suddenly opened up and spat out two armored feminine forms, startling them.
“What the hay?!” Rainbow yelped. The most noticeable feature of both of them were the wings on their backs.
The first girl, a brunette haired girl with gold eyes and golden armor gratefully took his hand. Sheathed at her side was a single sword. Her wings were made of pure electrical energy while her head was adorned by a gold circuit.
This girl had pure white hair and blue eyes, while her armor was white and gold. Her wings looked like they were made of crystal, and in her hands, she held a kite shield and a single sword that had 7 ghostly blades spinning around it. A cloak could also be seen on her back.
After a moment of silence, one of the girls raised an eyebrow before looking at the group. “Anyone know what's going on?” she asked.
Viktor shook his head. “We’re in the dark over this also.” he said.
Rubbing the back of her head, the brunette groaned. “Great…”
Her companion rolled her eyes. “I’m sure we'll find out what's going on soon enough.”
“Indeed you shall.” Sebaste said, walking back in with the newcomer behind him. The person next to him was clad from to head to toe in dark black armor with parts of it glowing, especially the orange vision that prevented others from seeing his face. If anyone were to take a closer look at his armor, they would notice that some parts of the armor appeared flexible as if made of flesh.
“What will you have me do?” The suited man Geoffrey asked. His voice didn’t sound natural and there was a very faint clicking sound behind it.
“What are you specialized in?” Sebaste asked.
“From what I’ve managed to repair since being displaced, it’s mostly in firepower from my canon while my scanners and visors can see infrared, echos, invisible targets, and lastly x-ray.” Geoffrey explained as it went through the options from what he saw in his visor’s sight. “This body is… highly adaptable to technology.“
”Metroid… Now there's a game that I haven't heard of in a while…” Sebaste muttered as he pulled up a holo-map of Equestria's Solar system. “Alright, so… what the hell?” he looked closely at the map. “Those planets weren't there before…” he tapped a section of the map.
A list of information appeared in front of him, green words scrolling down and listing Imperial Guard positions, planetary governors, population statistics, and of course, the name of the planet he had selected. A planet similar to earth, with sprawling oceans, towering cities, and dozens of fortresses. A planet named ‘Cadia’.
“Sir, what about the signature in Manehattan?” one of the crewmen asked.
“Send a team to pick them up.” Sebaste said distractedly. He frowned as he looked at the planet. “Why would Cadia be here?”
Tapping on the map, Sebaste pulled up the planet's statistics. ”Okay, Naval training planet… I'm counting at least 3 to 4 distress beacons.”
“The Captain would… like to know… if that is our… destination.” The Servo Skull droned
Sebaste nodded. “Alert that pick up squad to get their asses back to the ship with whoever appeared in Manehatten, we're rolling out.” he ordered. “All ships, set coordinates for Vigilatum.”
“Message… has been relayed.” The Servo Skull replied, before flying off.
There was a subtle shift from the floor as the massive ship began to turn, causing the others to stumble while alarm klaxons began to blare.
“Sir, retrieval team has returned. They picked up some girl with a cryo weapon.” A single voice said on a communicator.
“Roger that. All ships, prepare to jump in 5….” Sebaste said.
“Wait, Jump?! As in, hyperspace jump!?” Cassie yelped.
“4…”
“It’s not as bad as you think, but you’ll get used to it quickly after the second or third go. “ Geoffrey said. “And maybe some backlash until your body adapts. “
“3….”
“2…”
“And I thought getting summoned was bad enough…” Alex groaned.
“1…”
“Mark!” Sebaste snapped. Outside of the vessel, reality began to bend, crackling with energy until it was torn apart, a massive vortex forming in front of the Battleship. The vortex swirled with destructive and hellish energy, and had anyone born witness to it, they would have thought they could see misty disjointed arms attempting to crawl out through the edges of the tear in reality. Then the Imperial vessels went through, while the UNSC ships blinked out as their slipspace drives activated. Soon, no ships were left where a massive fleet once held position.
Back on the Retribution's Hammer, Sebaste looked on slightly irritated, as the others struggled to recover from entering the Warp.
“Okay, I think I prefer getting summoned than flying on this thing… *hrrk*” Viktor grumbled as he struggled not to throw up.
Geoffrey could be seen tapping the side of his visor. “I've experienced warp before, but this version of it made my visor go crazy trying to progress the data.” he said. A few people could see in his visor a faded alien language flying across it.
“Don’t, it'll drive you mad, and I don't mean figuratively.” Sebaste warned.
“Data suggests Black Legion incursion will commence in… one week.” A servitor answered, momentarily turning from its control panel. The thing had once been human, now instead mindwiped, with dozens of mechanical fingers tapping against buttons at its cogitator. Half of its head and body was mechanical, and it’s only remaining human eye was blank white.
“If we're lucky, we’ll be in position before those bastards arrive. And that's if we don't run into any… problems on the way there.” Sebaste said.
Sebaste nodded. “Crew quarters, I'll have someone guide you there.” he said, nodding to a nearby crew member, before turning to study the planet they were heading to.
59 hours later…
The others had gone to guest quarters assigned to them, but Sebaste still stood on the bridge, his mind distracted by past memories and the current situation.
Geoffrey remained in the guest quarters he was assigned too. He was currently sitting down with head lowered, currently doing a status check-up on his body and sorting through things in his mind. It wasn’t like that of a robot, since his visor was still glowing and his body wasn’t limp. “Everything seems to be in working order. Deleting that wall of information was a bit of a headache though.” Geoffrey mumbled to himself.
Back on the bridge, Sebaste heard the sound of footsteps behind him. “I assume you're the Displaced my team picked up in Manehatten?” he asked, turning his head slightly.
“Hai- I-I mean yes! My name is Mei!” Replied a slightly short Chinese woman with brown hair done up in a bun and held together with a metal pin with a red bulb on one side, and brown eyes. She wore a thick white winter coat that was accented in different shades of blue, and with white fur covering her hood, end of the coat and the top of her ice boots. She also wore massive blue gloves, dark blue or purple leggings, and black rimmed glasses. She spoke timidly and reserved. “Or that’s who I became… technicalities, technicalities… heh.”
The Spartan turned to face Mei. Even though she couldn't see his facial expressions behind his helmet, she had the feeling that Sebaste had a small smile on his face. “Not really used to being on a ship like this?” he asked.
“No, my home’s pretty limited, even with my help.” Mei rubbed the back of her head nervously, before switching to an excited demeanor. “Even if it was more advanced, I’d never be able to begin designing such an amazing ship!”
“They weren't really going for the sleek and smooth look, more like the “I’m gonna ram this straight down your throat” route.” Sebaste snickered. “But it's well armored and has the weaponry to deal with any foe that gets in range of it.”
“I hope so.” Mei smiled weakly. “I’d like to offer you my scientific skills. I’m not great at combat but I can handle most situations I come across if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“What do you specialize in?”
“Engineering, Chemistry, Biology… I’ve got a lot of experience studying things normal people can’t comprehend, and know a lot about magic. If the enemy’s smart, I’m pretty sure I can outsmart them… at least, I hope so.” Mei chuckled nervously, feeling like she tooted her horn a tad much.
“Hmm….” Sebaste eyed Mei carefully. ‘I could use an engineer to help repair vehicles and stuff, but I'm unsure how the techies in the hanger will react…’ He thought. ‘Unless…’
“How good are you with reverse-engineering?” He asked.
“It’s what I excel at!”
“Then I have a task for you, any weapons or tech from the enemy that we capture, I need you and the engineers onboard to reverse-engineer for our use, be it weapons, shields or vehicles. I'll also assign a scientist to help.”
“Understood, will do!” Mei saluted, smiling up at her new ‘boss’. “I also have experimental weapons. I’d need a testing area to work out the bugs and get them out of the prototype phase.”
“Once we convene with the rest of the fleet, you'll be transported to the UNSC Infinity. They should have a firing range onboard.” An alarm then began to blare throughout the ship.
“Sir, we're exiting the Warp.” A nearby crewman reported. “Our UNSC ships are already in position over the planet.” Sebaste nodded in reply.
“Good, keep me up to date.” he ordered. Turning back to Mei, he then removed his helmet and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry if I get distracted with giving out orders, commanding a fleet like this can be a bit taxing.”
Sebaste then pinched the bridge of his nose before letting out an exasperated sigh. “Sir, exiting the Warp in 3…. 2…. 1…” A crewman shouted before the ship jerked, causing everyone on the ship to either stumble or crash to the floor from their bunks. Seeing Mei fall towards the floor, the Spartan quickly caught her before she gave herself a concussion.
Turning to a grey and white unicorn stallion with a cream mane and tail, Sebaste said, “Send a communique down to the Planetary Governor, let him know we'll be sending down troops and resources.”
“Yes sir.” he said.
Turning back to Mei, Sebaste said, “I honestly apologize for all of this. While I was expecting us to arrive without any drama, it seems fate had other plans.” He looked down at his grimy armor in disgust.
“Drama is to be expected with our kind, is it not?” Mei giggled to herself.
“Quite.” Sebaste said dryly. A few moments later, the tranquility and semi peacefulness of the bridge disappeared as the automatic doors opened, and a group of five guardsmen walked in, two dragging a girl in a bright red hood with a black skirt, her arms bound with cuffs as she reached back towards where they had come from. Another soldier carried an odd looking red rifle.
“Noooo… take me baaaack….” the girl whined drunkenly, clearly heavily intoxicated.
“Mind giving me an explanation as why you brought in a drunk Ruby Rose onto the bridge?” Sebaste asked, giving the guardsmen an annoyed look.
“Forgive us, lord. We found her at one of the local bars, completely drunk. She knocked thirteen of us unconscious before we finally managed to restrain her and confiscate her weapon. Then we had to cuff her when she almost diverted the ship back into town…”
“Alright, put her in a guest quarters for now. I'll speak with her shortly.” The Spartan said. Looking back to Mei, he asked, “Will you be okay for now? I need to get my armor cleaned off and then have a discussion with little Miss Drunkard.”
“I’ll be fine. Perhaps I could assist with tracking down the rest of our allies? Or do you have a project I can get started on?” Mei asked, leaning forward eagerly.
“Right now, locating the other displaced on the planet is one of the top priorities. So if you're able to, try and pinpoint any other displaced so that a team can pick them up.” Sebaste said.
Mei nodded at that. “Roger! I know how to locate summoned Displaced! I built it in case some pony or such accidentally summoned someone. I’ll try to see if I can amplify the signal or upgrade your sensors. Your pick.”
“Amplify the signal. I'll be back in a few hours.” With that, Sebaste left the bridge towards his own quarters.
After what seemed like an eternity of scrubbing his armor, the Spartan managed to get it looking like it had come out of the workshop. He then headed to where the newest displaced had been situated. Giving a nod to the two guardsmen standing guard, he entered the room.
Inside, the black haired girl was laid back on a couch, busy downing another bottle of liquor. In front of her boots, which were laying on the table, were two more bottles, completely empty. “Yoooo, Armored… Guy!”
“I understand you gave a few of my men some trouble after they picked you up.” Sebaste said cooly. She shrugged.
“I was drinking… they shoulda known better to drag a drunk girl away from ‘er drinks…” She sighed, putting down the bottle.
“This isn't a game! You nearly cost me a transport and several soldiers I need to defend this world!” Sebaste snapped.
“Look, soldier boy… I know how to fly.” Ruby glowered. “I woulda just landed the damn thing and been on my way back to the bar if they hadn’t cuffed me.”
“Trust me, getting cuffed is preferable to what will be happening in a week from now.”
“Is this how you treat all the nice young ladies who offer to help you, tin can?” Ruby smirked. “Look, I’m here for one reason, and one reason only. I’ll help you if it means I can reach that goal, but other than that, you can shove your soldier talk right up alongside that metal bar you got shoved in your ass.”
Sebaste scoffed. “I’ll allow you to help, but on one condition. Touch another drop of alcohol and you'll be sitting in the brig.”
“Oh, I don’t know any better? And I suppose you do?” Ruby smirked, sitting up. “Lemme ask ya, Spartacus, have you ever seen how unbearable an alcoholic can get without ‘er nectar? Cuz I assure ya, yer gonna find out, luv. Cuz I’d much rather not have to deal with all the memories of mah entire planet bein destroyed, jackass.”
This caused Sebaste to suddenly stiffen, and surprising Jaxson, losing his aggression. Ruby was too distracted by her cape to notice, however. “Do you know who destroyed your planet?” the Spartan asked softly.
“Nah, I ain’t got a clue.” Ruby shrugged. “I’m just ‘ere to see if I can wish it back. I’d rather not be stuck living in the slums of someone else’s world for the rest of my days…” She frowned. “What’s it matter ta yah anyway?”
There was naught but silence for a long moment. Until Jaxson spoke up. “You didn’t have any friends? No one to turn to or something?”
“Couldn’t find any of em.” She shrugged. “Pretty sure they all died there.”
“Nah, I don’t need any of that. I’ll fight… but only if I’m allowed to drink.” Ruby gave Sebaste a look. “If I ‘ave to, I’ll try to not get blackout drunk, but you ain’t keepin’ me sober.”
Sebaste gritted his teeth before begrudgingly saying; “Very well.”
“Aight then. If that’s all ya wanted to yell at meh for, than ya both can piss off. I’m in a sour mood cuz of ya.” Ruby grumbled, taking a swig of her beer. “And tell them bastards out there ta give me back mah Crescent Rose!”
Sebaste didn't answer, but his fist clenched and unclenched. Turning on his heel, the Spartan headed back towards the bridge. His mind was now focused on one thing only: preparing for Ahriman's assault.
Author's Note
And so we have the first few members of the Wardens: Cassie and Mira from my Brave Frontier displaced story, Geoffrey, Drakoel's Metroid displaced, Mei by BP, and Pirate Ruby by Kirito.
There will be more characters to see, but they come in later chapters.
Chapter 2: Unexpected Attack
Several days had gone by since the fleet had arrived at Vigilantus, and preparations were going well. Several more displaced had been found on the planet,one of which nearly made Sebaste regret his message.
“Of all the displaced that were on that planet, why her?” he grumbled as he looked at the officer behind him.
“Sir?” The Officer asked, before shaking his head. “My Lord, the special… soldiers you ordered us to pick up have arrived, and were directed to their quarters to store their personal belongings.”
Sebaste nodded in response. “Let them get acclimated to the ship. I'll be on the bridge, if any problems arise, alert either Viktor or one of the others. If it's severe enough, alert me.” he ordered.
“Of course, my lord.” The Officer bowed. “Where can I find Lord Viktor?”
“I can help with that.” Ruby called from the doorway to the bridge, leaning against the wall as the door shut behind her. “Been walking around enough to probably be able to find him… rather easily.”
“Last I saw him… I believe he was in the quarters he shares with Alexia.” Sebaste said.
“Then I’ll stop by, maybe talk to some of the newbies along the way.” Ruby shrugged, patting the Officer’s shoulder. “You just go back to whatever it was you were doing.” The Officer quickly nodded, and left to return to his duties.
Pinching the bridge of his helmet, Sebaste then gave a tired groan. “I’ve been running on 3-4 hours of sleep since we arrived. So forgive me if I seem out of it sometimes.”
“Right… tell ya what, why don’t me and yer buddy Viktor go meet with the new guys, learn a bit about them, and, well…” Ruby shrugged. “We could make a list of what they can do? Give ya something to read when you can catch a break, learn where best to put em and whatnot.”
“Sounds good.” Sebaste replied. “I’ll leave you to it then.”
“Roger that.” Ruby nodded, turning to head towards the door. “Oh, and try out some of the coffee these guys got here! I bet it’ll help!” She then left the bridge, the automatic doors sliding shut behind her.
The silver-eyed girl wandered through the halls for a bit, twirling her scythe around a bit every so often out of habit before finally coming across Viktor and Alex’s room. “Hey, Viktor! Your buddy wants us to go meet the new peeps!” She yelled, banging on the door.
The door opened to reveal Viktor with his helmet off. “Any reason he's not doing it himself?” he asked.
“Barely any sleep, also the fact that he’s running an entire fleet, and army, and of course the fact that he probably has a ton of crap jammed into that head of his already.” Ruby shrugged. “Unless of course you want to take his place and try all that shit out for yourself?”
“Ah, no.” Viktor said, wincing at the thought. “Let’s check in with Mei and see who we've got.”
“Mei… isn’t she that Eskimo lookin chick?” Ruby asked.
“Yeah, she's pretty chill.” Viktor replied, before realizing what he said. “I don't mean that as a joke, I promise.” Ruby gave him a small glare, seeming to be considering whether to believe him or not, before sighing.
“Alright, soldier boy. Lead the way.” Ruby sighed, pulling out her flask and taking a quick swig.
Nodding, Viktor headed towards the Armory. Normally this would be where Tech-priests and Servitors would be doing maintenance on the weapons of the Guardsmen, but on Sebaste's orders, it had been converted into a makeshift lab for Mei. “You coming, Red?”
“Yeah.” Ruby nodded, resealing her flask before briskly following after him.
As the two walked through the halls, Viktor glanced at Ruby's weapon. “Must be pretty heavy with the addition of a magazine.” he commented.
“Eh, maybe at one point, but now it’s just…” the red hooded girl shrugged. “I don’t really notice the weight anymore. Plus I’ve carried a lot of heavier weapons in the past.” She raised an eyebrow. “What about your armor? I doubt that stuff is light as a feather.”
“Yeah, and if I was a regular human, me moving my arm in this would've shattered it. I'm just lucky I have reinforced bones so that it doesn't happen.”
“Right…” Ruby nodded slowly, processing that. “So, uh… how much farther to wherever it is we’re headed?”
“Should be right around-!” Whatever Viktor was about to say after was cut of by an audible * Clang* when a nearby door flew open and knocked the Spartan onto his ass. “...here.” he grumbled as he stood back up, rubbing his nose.
“O-oh my, I’m so sorry!” Mei gasped, rushing towards Viktor’s side and looking down at his helmet. “You should really watch where you’re going.”
“Yeah, I thought you lot had super reflexes or somethin?” Ruby smirked, containing a few chuckles.
Rolling his eyes, Viktor then said, “Sebaste wanted us to meet the new members.”
“Oh, uh, okay!” Mei stood silently for a moment, an air of awkwardness settling in. That was, until Mei spoke up again. “So, uh… you want me to bring you to them?”
“Ah, yes, that’d be preferred.” Ruby nodded. “If it won’t trouble ya.”
“Oh, n-no, that’s alright!” Another long moment of pause. “R-right now?”
“Yes please.” Viktor said.
Mei ran back into the room she exited, and soon returned carrying a datapad in her hands. “Alright, this way. I set them up in the empty guest quarters… I hope that wasn’t too presumptuous on my part!”
“Not at all. Seb would probably want them to get used to being on a spaceship.” Viktor replied. The trio followed Mei down the halls of the Retribution, taking a few corners before finally arriving at their destination.
“So… Moi, was it? Do you have any idea what these people are like?” Ruby asked, holding her Scythe behind her head.
“Uh, i-it’s Mei… and it’s…” The scientist paused for a moment, “Uh, hard to group them together. They’re very… colorful?”
“Language wise or in general?” Viktor joked.
“General, thankfully. Though one likes to teeter on it.” Mei laughed nervously, before arriving in front of a blank looking sliding door. “First one is in there.”
Viktor shared a glance with Ruby before extending his arm. “Ladies first.”
“Oh, alright, fine. But if they turn out to be psychos, you owe me quite a few credits.” Ruby sighed, before opening the door and stepping in. “Hello?”
Inside was probably one of the most bizarre sights Ruby had seen in a long time. Every wall was covered in posters of boy bands, shonen anime, and a random assortment of plush animal keychains pinned to the metal walls. On the far end of the room was, from what Ruby could tell, a teenage girl wearing a white and blue sailor uniform, with blonde hair done up in long pigtails. She was faced away from them, adjusting a mountain of stuffed animals in a meticulous manner.
“.... If I had known I could take this much stuff with me, I’d have brought me entire bounty huntin’ crew!” Ruby said after a moment of staring at… well, everything.
“Gyaa! Didn’t anyone teach you scoundrels how to knock!?” A high pitch voice screamed as the girl turned around, her blue eyes wide in fear and surprise as she took up a very… animated reaction.
“Whoa, calm down! Sebaste sent us to meet you and the other displaced.” Viktor said, holding his hands up.
“Yeah, and why the sudden… shock and stuff? We’re all women here.” Ruby paused. “Well, except Viktor. Vik, shame on you.” She wagged a finger at the spartan in a disappointing manner.
Viktor gave her an unamused look, before turning back to the girl. “Name’s Viktor, one of the three Spartans on this ship. And miss “Do what you want cause a pirate is free” here is Ruby.”
“Oi! I’m not that bad!” Ruby retorted. “I’m jus’ a tiiiny bit drunk! Like… well, not like always. I’d have to be much more drunk for that…”
“Well… I guess I can forgive you this once!” The girl grinned widely. “Just learn your lesson and don’t repeat your mistakes!”
“I did knock..” Viktor muttered.
“Anyways, I’m Sailor Moon! But you can call me Moon or any other cute nicknames you think of!” She placed her hands behind her back and bounced childishly. “I hope we can be friends!”
Mei looked away from everyone, smiling nervously.
“Sailor… Moon?” Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow. “What, do you, I dunno, sail the high dust tides on the moon or something? Do battle with space skeletons?” She took a quick swig of her flask.
“Well, I haven’t yet! But I’d rather befriend them if it were possible!” Moon replied innocently, causing Mei to choke on her own spit in embarrassment.
“You’d…” Ruby scrunched up her face a little, trying to process what she heard. “Are you gonna try to make friends with our enemies or somethin?”
“I hope I can convince them to stop! And if not, I’ll try to show them the error of their ways and befriend them!” Moon confidently proclaimed, puffing out her chest. Mei meanwhile was shrinking lower and lower to the floor, a pit of shame and embarrassment welling in her stomach.
“Oh god, she's the MLP motto personified…” Viktor groaned.
“I give it a month before she’s drinkin with me…” Ruby joked, shaking her head. “This is gonna be one hell of a ride for ya, Moony.”
Sailor Moon gasped, clasping Ruby’s hands in her own while tears of joy formed at the corners of her eyes. “You gave me a friendly nickname~!”
Ruby, to her credit, simply looked up at what had to be the most innocent girl she had ever met, and nodded. “Uh, yeah, Moony.”
“Um… Mei? You alright?” Viktor asked, turning to look at the scientist.
“I just can’t believe I wasted my time picking her up when she turned out to be a pacifist…” Mei groaned uncomfortably.
“I mean, she could be helpful.” Ruby shrugged. “I bet many of our soldiers would get their spirits raised whenever they see what apparently was pulled out from under the most innocent and pure-hearted rock in the shape of a heart.”
“In any case, if I remember correctly, Sailor Moon is a powerhouse in her own right. But only if she's pushed to it.”
“When she isn’t crying or cowering away from goons…” Mei deadpanned, her face darkening as she faked a smile.
“Hey! I’ll fight, I just refuse to kill! I’m gonna be a heroine and keep everyone safe!” Sailor Moon pouted, “This isn’t my first rodeo, I’ve fought before!”
“.... why does every word she speaks make me almost want to hug and coddle her?” Ruby asked. “How is there still this much innocence left in this bloody multiverse?!”
“That’s something only the Multiverse knows.” Vikor replied, shrugging.
“Um… so, Moony…” Ruby asked. “What will you do if these guys don’t learn their lesson, or accept friendship into their hearts or whatever adorable phrase you could come up with?”
“I’ll never stop trying! No matter what, there’s at least a bit of good in everyone!”
“Okay, I think our sugar levels have taken enough of a hit. We’ll see you later, Sailor Moon.” Mei stated, and began heading to the next door opposite of Moon’s room.
“See ya, Moony!” Ruby waved a little, a small smile on her face. “We can chat more later!”
“Later, Ruby!” Moon waved her off, before her goodbye was interrupted by the door sliding shut.
“Well… that was interesting.” Vikor said.
“See what I mean by ‘colorful’?” Mei rhetorically asked, knocking on the door.
“Please tell us the rest of them aren’t as pure as her.” Ruby pleaded. “It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, but we won’t be winning a war with fuzzy feeling?”
“Uh, well… this one’s the opposite of her, I guess you could say. When I sent a squad to locate her, she… well… killed all but one.” Mei stiffened the further she explained.
“She... WHAT?!” Viktor nearly shouted before calming down.
“Huh. So I’m not the only one who didn’t want to be disturbed by some grunts.” Ruby shrugged. “Though I probably wouldn’t have gone that far…”
“She got here more recently, so she’d been stranded for a week or so… and she didn’t know who her allies were supposed to be. I went there myself and offered her to join us, since she couldn’t remember who summoned her...” Mei cleared her throat, which seemed to ease her nerves. “She hasn’t done much since… except ask for animals.”
The door opened, and on the opposite side stood a tall woman wearing purple armor that only covered her front, a purple mask that hid her lower face, and armored leggings. Her glowing yellow, snake-like eyes glared venomously at the three that roused her through her crow colored bangs that were barely maintained. The room she emerged from smelled more metallic than the rest of the ship.
It smelled of blood.
“Oh Christ…” Viktor gasped.
The woman’s glare subsided, and morphed into a much more passive stare as she leaned against her door frame. “What, metal man?”
“I presume you're Mileena?” He asked.
“What of it? There a problem?” Mileena replied in an uninterested tone.
“Um-! No, Miss!” Ruby intervened. “W-we were just wanting to talk, get to know you a bit… better?”
“What Ruby said.” Viktor said, nodding gratefully to the girl. “The name's Viktor. We were sent by Sebaste to meet the new arrivals.”
“Nice to meet you, I suppose… just give me things to kill and I won’t make a fuss.” Mileena looked over to Mei. “I’d hate to have to tear into the help~”
“Eh heh… let's not be that drastic.” Viktor said, gulping nervously.
“It’s not my fault. I’m genetically inclined to lust for blood. It just tastes so sweet~” Mileena cooed, playfully dragging her finger across Viktor’s chestplate. “And don’t mistake my intent, I fully plan on helping you as long as you aren’t a nuisance. The ‘good guys’ usually pull through, right~?”
“R-right!” Ruby nodded quickly.
“I suppose you’ll be leaving… let me know if you need anything, I’m not just a killer~” With that, Mileena slunk back into the dimly lit room like a snake, and let the door close.
Viktor let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. “Jesus…. Let's get to the next displaced. I'd rather put a long distance between us… and her.”
Mei poked Viktor’s armor gently, “Uh… the doors are pretty thin…” She pointed at Mileena’s door shyly. “She probably heard you…”
Viktor glanced at the door and nodded before leading the others away. “Who’s next on the list?” he then asked.
“Um, over here.” Mei gestured to the next room, which had the symbol of an X-ed out bat carved into it crudely. “His name is Darkclaw…”
“Darkclaw?” Viktor asked, raising an eyebrow. “What can you tell us about him?”
“Uh, he’s… not Batman?” Mei shrugged, unsure what to say.
“Well that's helpful…” the Spartan muttered before rapping on the door.
It finally opened. On the other side was a somewhat short man wearing black and yellow armor topped off with a cape. His mask was mostly yellow, but with black bat-like wings jutting out from his hidden eyes and adding another four-five inches in height. “Yeah, fruitart?”
Vikor blinked. “Oookay…. Wolverine/Batman crossdresser… that's a new one.”
“I’m not Batman…” Darkclaw growled in irritation. He looked to Mei expentantly. “I thought I told you so we didn’t have this problem again. Or are you messing with me?”
“N-no, I just… the amalgam stuff you talked about went over my head…” Mei sighed.
Darkclaw sighed, before turning back to the others. “Name’s Bobbie. If there’s anything you’re too chicken to do, I’m your man.” He smiled heartily.
“Do you drink alcohol?” Ruby asked, holding up her flask in hope.
“Ruby, do not try to drink with every person you meet…” Viktor grumbled, much to Ruby’s dismay and confusion.
“I’d beat her anyways!” Darkclaw laughed, “I do enjoy drinking in my offtime, but I’d rather stay sober for when the fighting starts!”
“I kind of agree, doesn’t leave an impression. Still, nice meeting you.” Darkclaw crossed his arms and waited.
“So, potential drinking buddy number two, what all do you bring to the table?” Ruby smirked, offering him her flask.
“I have all of the strengths of Batman and Wolverine with only some of the weaknesses.” Darkclaw clenched his fist, and three metal blades popped out. “And these are always nice to have.”
“Ooooh, cool!” Ruby’s face was an expression of drunken awe. “How do them things work??”
“What about you all? What do you fight for?” Darkclaw asked. “Everyone has something to live for, or something to strive for.”
“Right now… it's to protect Equestria and our friends.” Viktor replied.
“Fighting to restore my lost home, maybe give the people I love a place to live that isn’t in the slums of Kaas.” Ruby shrugged. “And so I can pay off a bit of a big debt…”
“You mean tab?” Darkclaw teased. Ruby nodded.
“I… think it’s time we moved on. It was nice to talk to you again, Bobbie.” Mei said, which prompted Darkclaw to go back to what he was doing before.
“Before we go to one of the other newbies, I need to make a quick detour to my room.” Ruby said, holding up her empty flask. “Gotta refill this thing real quick.”
“I’ll meet you guys back here. There’s something I have to do here anyways.” Mei bid them farewell.
Ruby led Viktor down to her room, which had a red rose symbol put into the door. She opened the door, revealing walls lined with dozens of different guns, from simple pistols and swords to grenade launchers and even an RPG. In a small corner was at least five crates filled with alcohol bottles. Several picture frames were scattered about, showing Ruby with two identical twins, with orange hair and green eyes, and what appeared to be… clown makeup?
“Come on in. Make yerself at home while I get a refill.” Ruby said, going over to the alcohol.
Viktor eyed the pictures. “Why do those two look familiar…?” he muttered.
“What, my pals in the photo? They’re the Dee Dee twins. Lights of my life right now.” Ruby shrugged, picking up a bottle of Dark Moon Cider and uncapping it.
“You were an assassin?” Viktor asked.
“No, Bounty Hunter. Had my own ship and a crew.” She smiled, filling up her flask. “Most of them drink, too. We do tend to have quite a bit of fun together.”
“Please don’t tell me you intend to drink all of this at once…” Viktor asked, staring in surprise at the sheer number of barrels.
“Hah! Nah, I bought all this specifically to last!” Ruby grinned, wiggling the now empty bottle. “This stuff is also made by the twins, and maaay have doubled my debt. But hey, least I have something to remind me of my current home.”
“Let’s get back to Mei before she starts wondering what's taking us too long.” Viktor said, grabbing her bottle.
“Oi!” Ruby growls, reaching for the bottle, but stopped when they all heard Mei scream.
“We need to move, NOW!” Vikor ordered, moving towards the door
“Rrrgh!” Ruby growled, putting her flask away and grabbing Crescent Rose, as well as a Spartan Assault Rifle off of her wall, along with some ammunition before rushing after them with her super speed.
The two soon skidded to a halt near where Mei was, standing next to a door that was partially closed. There was a narrow opening that would widen slightly, before closing in a malfunctioning way. Trapped in the doorway was a short, blue haired girl, with icicle shaped wings, wearing a light blue and white dress. She laid on her side, grunting in pain every time the door closed on her stomach, as her lower body was behind the door.
“She was the reason for the scream? This little… kid?” Ruby asked, shouldering her rifle.
“She attacked me-” Mei began, but the girl cut her off.
“She insulted me with her presence! You don’t need another ice Displaced, I’m far more than adequate eno-!” She was interrupted when the door nudged her.
“Cirno, I presume…?” Viktor pinched the bridge of his nose in an aggravated manner.
Mei nodded in response, “She’s been causing quite a bit of trouble. She’s harassed me ever since she came aboard.”
“For the love of….” Viktor then knelt down and looked at Cirno. “I’ll let you out, but I want you to promise not to attack Mei and to talk this out if I do.”
“I never submit-!” She was cut off by the door again. “Okay, okay, I promise just unstuck me~!”
“I… you guys desperate or something?” Ruby asked Viktor, raising an eyebrow and gesturing at the kid.
“We need all the help we can get if we're to stop this Ahriman character from taking the planet.” Viktor replied.
“Right… here, I’ll help the little twerp out…” Ruby replied, pulling out her scythe. She jammed it between the door and it’s frame, allowing the Ice Fairy to crawl out before removing Crescent Rose.
Viktor nodded, but kept an eye on Cirno as she dusted herself off. “Let me get one thing straight, we don't allow harassment here.” he said.
“Pfft, it wasn’t harassment, I was just scaring her so she’d know who’s the best!” Cirno placed her hands on her hips and grinned pridefully. “I am the stronger ice user, so she’ll just slow us down!”
“Hate to burst your bubble, but Mei will be the one who'll be making the stuff that'll be helping you out there. So I wouldn't dismiss her that quickly.” Viktor retorted.
“What even are you?” Ruby asked, kneeling down in front of her a bit unsteadily. “Some kinda… Ice… pipsqueak?”
“Ice fairy, you hag!” Cirno stuck her tongue out at Ruby. “The strongest fairy, in fact!”
“Great, now we have a fairy with an Edward Elric complex...” The spartan groaned under his breath. Mei looked at him in confusion, not understanding the comparison.
“Did… you just call me a Hag?” Ruby’s eye twitched, before she gave Viktor a calm and innocent smile. “Can I please shoot this annoying twerp? I think it’ll be a betterment to the entire war effort!”
“I’d rather not explain to Seb that a displaced was killed under his watch by an ally.” Viktor replied.
“I’m not stupid, stupid!” Cirno huffed, puffing out her cheeks.
“Okay… did you actually graduate any of your schools?” Ruby asked, almost teasingly.
“Uh, no, but I think Mistress said I used to do something I can’t pronounce.” Cirno scratched her head. “Something like… arc-an-ooloo-gee? I don’t remember, I got bored.”
“Mistress?” Ruby asked. “Who’s this ‘mistress’ of yours then?”
“Oh! Mistress Yuuka is the greatest friend ever...! Unless she’s angry, then she yells at me…” Cirno pouted.
“Alright, little… fairy, what ya doin being part of a war?” Ruby asked, falling back a little bit.
“Oh, that’s simple! I’m hunting a dangerous criminal for Lady Yuuka! She’s on the other side from what Mistress said, so I’m here to capture her!” Cirno announced proudly, smiling like a kid who was high off of praise.
“What exactly does this criminal look like?” Viktor asked.
“Uh… blonde, rides a broom, kinda top heavy, and is a total meanie!”
“Well, I could help ya look for her… for a couple hundred credits.” Ruby shrugged. “I happen to be good at finding people.”
Ruby glanced around. “Anyone know how old she is? Cuz I’m thinking she might need to drink some stuff away. Or she’s just an idiot.” She pulled out her flask.
“I think that's enough stupidity for today…” Mei moaned, massaging her forehead to prevent the coming migrain. “There are four more in the hanger bay.”
“Then let's beat feet and head on over.” Viktor said.
Back on the bridge, Sebaste had been contacting the commander of one of the UNSC ships after a near miss as the ship had passed. “I don't give a damn that you weren't paying attention, you should know-!”
“My lord! Urgent astropathic communication from Cadia!” An officer shouted as he ran into the bridge, quickly saluting.
“What?!” Sebaste swung around to face the officer. “Relay the message, now!” he ordered.
“O-of course, my Lord. The message was, well, fragmented, but it was clear enough to understand.” The Officer said, cowering slightly. “M-my lord, Cadia has c-come under attack by a small chaos fleet, bearing the heraldry you warned us about!”
Sebaste began to swear. “A week, they estimated a week!” He then slammed a fist against the controls. Turning back the the captain he had been speaking with, he said, “Tell your group to get into position. We’re about to have company.”
“Yes sir.” The captain's image vanished as Sebaste turned back to the officer.
“Sound the alert. Let the governor know that we will be stepping up on readying the defences. If Cadia falls, we’re in for a hell of a fight.”
“O-of course, my lord.” The Officer nodded, before speaking again. “A-also, sir, Captain Aphael of the honourable Blood Angels would like to speak with you in person.”
“Very well, is he already on his way here or does he request my presence on his ship?” Sebaste asked.
“On his way, my lord. His brothers are also waiting in one of the hangars.” The Officer replied.
“I’ll be there shortly. Clear the hangar of any non-personnel.” he ordered as he headed towards the door.
When the group reached the hangar, they saw six humans sitting on a series of cargo crates set up like a campfire gathering.
“Oh, you all must be our other allies!” One of them called, standing up. He was in full black and silver armor, with a glowing red core in his breastplate. On his right shoulder was what looked to be a machine gun, and his helmet split open to reveal a middle-aged ebony skinned man. “The name is Rhodey, and it’s a pleasure to work with you. I’m also known as War Machine… or, my armor is.”
“Viktor, and this is Ruby, and Mei .” The Spartan replied.
“We’ve met….” Mei remarked
“Stahp doin such shitty introductions, Vik!” Ruby grumbled. Rhodey glanced at her worriedly.
“Are… are you drunk, ma’am?” The ironclad soldier asked, before glancing at Viktor. “You’re having a drunken woman fight?”
“Wasn’t my idea.” Viktor said, holding his hands up. “You’re gonna need to talk to Sebaste about that.”
“Well, can one of you get her sobered up? Word is we’ll be going into combat very soon.” Rhodey asked, immediately getting a death glare from Ruby.
“C-combat?” A pink haired, green eyed woman asked, suddenly looking timid. “N-no one’s told me my post y-yet, I’m not ready for combat y-yet.” She seemed almost as young as Moon, and wore red qipao dress with slits along the sides accompanied by a zipper and white circular designs, along with tight dark green bike shorts.
“I’m as confused as you lot are right now.” Viktor replied.
“I simply overheard some small talk from some of the crew around here.” Rhodey said. “For all I know, that alarm could be something small, like an engine malfunction.”
“Whatever the reason, I'm sure Seb has an explanation for it…” Viktor said, trailing off as he noticed some of the ships taking up what seemed to be defensive positions above the planet from his view in the hanger. “The hell?”
“Well, Viktor, I’d suggest we await orders, and relax until we’re actually needed.” Rhodey said. “There are plenty of soldiers on this ship. They can handle whatever it is until we’re called for.” He then gestured toward the cargo crates. “Would you care to join us, and get to know the rest of your new allies?”
“Aye, may as well.” Viktor replied, stepping forward.
“I suppose…” A young, red eyed woman with strange looking thick black hair, a white button up shirt that was just shy of covering her stomach, black skirt ,and black thigh high stockings said. Her hair stretched and morphed until it revealed a large mouth lined with wide, sharp teeth under a pair of glowing yellow eyes. “I’m Filia, and this is Samson.”
“Touch her, you die.” The hair said in a deep, masculine voice.
“Ehh… he’s very protective of me!” Filia giggled nervously.
Ruby blinked. “Why… is the hair talkin’?” She mumbled.
“I’m not hair, I’m a parasyte!” Samson snapped, glaring daggers at Ruby.
“He’s… also very touchy about his current form.” Filia added. “I’m sorry if he offends you in any way, he’s just cranky that I accepted your offer to help you all.”
“It’s… not a problem.” Viktor replied, nervously eyeing Samson.
“Eh, I’m too drunk to be offended.” Ruby replied, waving her arms dismissively. “So why’d you decide to help us if your… friend, disapproved so much?” She asked.
“The wish…” Filia blushed in embarrassment. “I know, I must sound so selfish, but only my brother remembers who we were before… this.” She gestured to herself, while Samson looked away to hide his concern for her.
“And who's she?” Viktor asked, nodding towards the girl who had spoken earlier.
“I-I’m Sakura Haruno, I’m a healer with only a little bit of combat experience!” The pinkette said shyly.
“Then in that case, you'll be our head medic.” Viktor said.
“O-oh…” Sakura looked down, seemingly disappointed.
“With all due respect, we shouldn’t group them up. It’s best to spread our healers out the moment we can.” Mei remarked matter-of-factly. “That’s probably the worst idea possible in a full on war.”
A young man stepped forward, his calculative golden irises examined Viktor and Ruby. “Not what I was expecting, I think I’d trust that ditz over the drunkard.” He combed his hand through his mostly black hair, marred only by three white lines in the left side of his hair. His attire consisted of a mostly simple black suit with white lines that went across the inner part of his suit and seemed to stitch his sleeves to the rest of his top half. Around his neck, instead of a tie, with a metal elongated skull, with a matching skull design on a ring he was wearing.
“Hey, I’m dependable in a fight! Even when I’m drunk!” Ruby complained, shaking her fist at him. The container she was keeping herself up on then toppled to the ground, taking her with it.
“Color me convinced…” The man sarcastically said. “I’m Death the Kid, a Meister and Grim Reaper.” He pointed to a pair of girls sitting on a crate themselves, staring emotionlessly at the floor. They were both blonde, though the taller one had longer and darker hair than the shorter one. They both wore red sleeveless tank tops, grey jeans with the shorter ones hiking up to her thighs, and small white bow ties. “And those are my weapons.”
“From Soul Eater, right?” Viktor said.
“Yup, unmistakable!” Kid replied.
“Huh… those two are kinda…” Ruby grumbled, but the rest of what she said was too mumbly for anyone to hear. “So why the hell is a guy like you here, anyway? The wish?”
“Them.” Kid replied simply, looking at the girls. “Liz and Patty aren’t Displaced, and aren’t really… all there. I hope I can wish them something like souls.”
“Awww… bummer about the no soul thing…” Ruby sighed in disappointment.
“They can talk, but they’re more like computers than people.” Kid shrugged, “They’re still my companions, I just want them to be able to experience nice things.”
Kid shook his head, “They just say things in the most dissociative manner possible. Ask them a question, and they’ll reply. Tell them to do something, they’ll reply with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ without adding anything else.”
Before anyone could ask, a Space Marine descended from one of the upper decks, his winged Jump Pack flaring as he dropped down in front of them. His armor was primarily black and red, his left being mostly black with golden highlights, while the right of his armor was red with black highlights, looking almost like exposed muscle. His left shoulder pad depicted some kind of angel with black wings, while his right had a large, red X symbol. Silver wings folded behind him, retracting into his jump pack as his fanged skull-like helmet glared at the assembled group.
“I am Chaplain Iactus of the Blood Angels.” A gravelly voice resounded from the marine as he approached. “Your lord, Sebaste, has deigned to send me to collect all of you, and to bring you to the bridge.”
“Bloody hell…. And I thought seeing Imperial guardsmen and ponies was strange enough.” Viktor muttered. Aloud, he said, “Did he give any reason as for the alarm earlier?”
“Cadia has fallen under attack.” The Chaplain replied, his voice carrying an undertone of irritation as he turned to leave. “Now follow.”
Vikor nodded. “Looks like you'll be meeting the boss man. C'mon guys.” he said, following the Chaplain.
“Yeeesh, and I thought Sebaste was an uptight prick when I met him…” Ruby mumbled, grabbing her scythe and chasing after them.
The door to the bridge slid open, the black armored marine entering first, and bowing before another Space Marine, this one in massive and bulky blood red armor. His helmet was off, revealing almost angelic features and wavy blond hair.
“My lord Captain, I have brought these ‘Displaced’ as the Commander requested.” Iactus reported.
“Good, Brother. Lord Sebaste.” The marine turned to the spartan.
“Vik, Ruby. Glad to see you guys made it.” Sebaste said as the group entered. Mei cleared her throat, irritated.
“Oops, sorry Mei.” The Spartan said. “As to the Displaced who have responded to my call, welcome. I'm Sebaste, the leader of the Wardens. Several hours ago, we received a distress call from the planet Cadia via Astropath. It was fragmented, but from what could be clearly heard, the New Black Legion had launched an attack with a small fleet.”
“Then with all due respect, sir,” Rhodey spoke up, stepping forward. “Why aren’t we already on our way there? We shouldn’t give the enemy time to get a foothold.”
“I know, but the Captain here needed to speak to me.” Sebaste replied. “I’ve already given orders for at least 7 ships to head for Cadia. The rest will be holding here.”
“Then what about this ship?” Ruby asked, acting a lot more sober than before. “Are we going to Cadia?”
“Aye. I've been discussing tactics and have come up with a plan so cunning you could put whiskers on it and call it a weasel.” Sebaste replied, quoting a certain British actor.
“R-right…” Ruby nodded slowly. “So… can you tell us where we’re going to be deployed?”
“Half will stay on the ship to help repel any boarders that will try to breach and disable it. Mei, Vik, Kid, Ruby, Sakura, Warmachine and I will be the ones to-” he was interrupted by a cyan blue and metallic multicolored blur that swooped in.
“Don’t forget about me!” Rainblade said, hovering in place. “I’m tired of staying on the sidelines, let me help!”
“Who the fuck is she?” Ruby asked, pointing at the cybernetic Pegasus.
“This is Rainblade. She was my world's Rainbow that had been kidnapped after the first Equestrian Black Crusade…” Sebaste replied. “She was returned to me after several years.”
“So, wait… this isn’t even the first time these guys attacked you?” Ruby asked. “What, did you kick their asses, and now they want a rematch?”
“Yes, we won, but at a massive cost.” Sebaste said. “It’s a long story.”
“Let’s get a move on and go fight those NBL creeps!” Ruby grinned, looking over to Sailor Moon. “Right, Moony?”
“We’ll put a stop to their tyranny and hopefully help them with whatever’s causing them to act out!” Sailor Moon threw her fist into the air with an optimistic posture. There was a snicker from Cassie that was cut short by Mira's elbow being shoved into her chest.
“Captain, I'll be relying on you to make sure the defenses are completed by the time we return.” Sebaste said, turning to the Astartes leader.
“Of course. I shall leave Chaplain Iactus, Priest Sucari, and my Sanguinary Guard with you. They shall aid down on the planet.” Captain Aphael said, nodding to the spartan.
“Alright, for who will be going where, Vik, Mei, Sakura, Kid, Ruby, Ellis, Rainblade, and I will be staying onboard the Retribution and repelling any invaders that try and cripple the ship.”
“Sasha, Alexandra, Mileena, Cirno, Moon, Cassie, Mira, Gefforey, Dark Claw, And War Machine, you guys and the Astartes assigned to us will be assisting the ground forces. If I am missing or forgetting anyone, let me know and I'll assign you to one of the two groups.” Sebaste said.
“Let’s get a move on!” Ruby growled. “Moon, I’m gonna hang with you until we get there. That alright?”
“Of course!” Moon replied radiantly, “There’s so much I wanna ask!”
“Captain, I'll see you when I return from Cadia.” the Spartan gave a salute to the Astartes. “Alright everyone, get to your quarters, we'll be jumping in 20 minutes!” he ordered. The group then dispersed back to their rooms.
The Retribution burst into realspace and into a hellhole. From the viewport, Sebaste could see the burning hulks of both allied and enemy ships as his own ship maneuvered through the wreckage.
Scattered communications were immediately picked up by the Retribution about destroyed ships, invading chaos forces in the Western Hemisphere, and many other things that seemed to almost make no sense.
“Damn it, try and get a fix on any surviving ships and contact them.” Sebaste ordered.
“My Lord! New Black Legion ships have surrounded the Western Hemisphere! They seem to be in a blockade formation and are bombarding the planet!” One of the auspex officer’s called up from his post.
“Any sign of our ships?” Sebaste asked.
“.... Negative, Lord Commander.” He responded after a moment. “The fleet stationed over Cadia has been completely destroyed.” He glanced at his screen again. “Most of our fleet has arrived, my lord. Shall we engage the enemy?”
“Alert all crewmen to get to their stations. And have the ground team assemble in the hanger. Today, we show the NBL that we mean business!” Tapping a button, he activated a fleet wide comms connection. “All ships, battlestations! All Imperial ships, move into attack formation. All UNSC ships, use your MAC cannons to pick off targets and provide support to the main fleet!”
“Lord Commander! The enemy flagship, identified as the Melodic Harvester, is sending a broadcast on all open channels!” The Vox Officer spoke up.
“Patch me through.” Sebaste said.
The blue visage of a female human appeared in the center of the bridge, before the command throne. She seemed to be garbed in a semi-revealing dress, short cape, high heels, and with seemingly only her left arm armored. She had long hair that reached behind her back and a flower growing out of her right eye. She sat in a chair not all too different from Sebaste’s, and seemed to be smirking.
Upon seeing Sebaste, the woman crossed her legs, “So, you’re this ‘Sebaste’ I’ve heard so much about!” She said in a playful, brash voice.
“And you are...?” Sebaste questioned.
“You may refer to me as Zero.” The woman looked Sebaste over with her one good eye.
“So you're nothing?”
Zero ignored his comment, choosing instead to state her will. “I’ll give you one chance to surrender, or flee. I’ll accept the former and tolerate the latter.”
“See, that's where you don't get it. You expect me to give up like that? You're on my home turf, and I won't give in that easily.” Sebaste growled.
“I tried to be civil. Might have even been able to stop the conflict before it started… but I didn’t expect anything from you.” Zero played with the petals of her flower.
“Lady, your faction is the reason this war even started.” Sebaste said.
“Well, then I suppose everyone my forces kill from this moment onward is on your hands.” Zero’s smirk widened as the communication cut off.
“Tell me the ground team's in the hanger… ” Sebaste muttered.
“Yes, sir. It would appear that a squad of Blood Angels and their Sanguinary Priest has joined them as well.” Another Officer reported.
“My Lord, the enemy fleet is turning to their broadsides. I believe they are about to-“ The Auspex Officer suddenly looked down at his monitor. “M-My Lord! All enemy signals have vanished!”
“What?! Impossible!” Sebaste scanned for signs of the enemy fleet. All traces of them appeared to have vanished among the debris fields they had left behind.
“No Warp tunnels were formed, My Lord! The enemy has… just vanished!” The Auspex Officer reported.
“Keep an eye out for them..” On a sudden whim Sebaste turned to one of the officers. “Notify Sailor Moon that she'll be joining the strike team.”
“Understood, My Lord.” The Vox Officer nodded, before sending the message.
“Where could they have gone? There's no way they could've jumped, unless….” Sebaste's eyes widened at a late realization. “They’re using some kind of cloaking spell..”
“Sir! Enemy contact readings to our-“ The Auspex Officer was cut off as a Cruiser next to the Retribution was suddenly barraged with dozens of blindingly bright red lasers, it’s shields immediately falling before it was violently torn apart, its engine detonating.
“My Lord! Shields holding, 80%!”
“All ships, return fire on where those lances came from!”
“My lord, they’re out of range of our Macro Cannons! The only things in range are the Lance Turrets and UNSC ships, but they still need to turn about!” A second Auspex Officer reported. “We need to get closer!”
“Full throttle! Any fighters we have, I want launched!”
“Enemy bomber squadrons inbound! I’ve also detected torpedoes inbound towards the Retribution-“ Another ship was hit by Lances, though this time it managed to stave off annihilation. However, many of its weapons had been destroyed.
“UNSC ships, launch a salvo of Archers!” Sebaste ordered. A few seconds later, a cloud of missiles streaked towards where the bombers had been launched.
“My lord, Archers appear to have hit something! The shields on it held, but now we have confirmation on a Styx-Class Battlecruiser!”
“Fire all MACs!” In seconds, building sized slugs were launched at hypersonic speed at the target, easily overwhelming the shields and causing massive damage upon impact.
“Direct hits! Multiple hangar bays confirmed destroyed. The bridge appears to be-“ The Retribution suddenly shook from explosions. “My Lord, seven torpedoes impacted our port side! Fires on decks 7, 13, and 24! Lance batteries are hitting our shields hard, but we still don’t have a confirmation on enemy location!”
“Get those fires out, and tell the ground team to launch! I don't want to risk them getting killed if something hits the hanger!” Sebaste ordered.
“Understood-“ There was another explosion from behind the Battleship, as one of the UNSC ships was completely destroyed. “Dammit! My Lord, we need to get confirmed readings on them before they pick us apart!”
“Launch Sensor probes.” Sebaste replied.
“Understood, Sir. The Ground team has been deployed as well-“ suddenly several alarms began to flare. “My Lord! Enemy cruiser detected in full thrust from behind! It’s a… Khornate Carnage Class! It’s heading straight for one of the UNSC ships!”
“Can we turn in time to fire a broadside?”
“No, sir! The enemy is almost right next to them!” A sudden pause. “M-My Lord, they’ve launched boarding parties into the ship… I’m getting reports of Daemonic invaders on multiple decks in there!”
Sebaste smashed a fist into the arm of the command throne. “Shit…”
An explosion shook the Thunderhawk, causing a few of the displaced to yelp in shock.
“Steady yourselves.” Sucari told them, his pearly white armor glinting as he walked around the Thunderhawk, holding up a golden cup. One of the other Blood Angels took it when he held it up to them, removing their gauntlets to momentarily cut at their wrists, and allowing their blood to pool inside the cup, before passing it on to the next. Soon, each had done this odd ritual, and the Priest began passing it around again.
This time, they drank from the grail, and once the rest had done so the Priest did the same.
“By the Blood are we bonded, and by the Blood we serve.” Sucari stated, growing louder with each word. “We drink deep of victory, and remember the fallen. For the Emperor and Sanguinius!”
“For the Emperor and Sanguinius!” The Blood Angels chanted, before affixing their helmets.
“Easy for you to say…” Cassie muttered, holding onto her restraints for dear life.
“Hail, brother Dark Angel.” One of the Blood Angels, a Sergeant by his gear, called over to him as he approached. “I am Sergeant Koris. My Company has served with your chapter in the past, and I even trained alongside a few of your less… secretive brothers for a time.” He gestured towards one of his shoulder pads, which had been painted dark green. Identical to Sasha’s armor, in fact.
“Really? Must've made for some interesting stories.” Sasha replied, looking at Koris.
“Indeed. Perhaps after this battle, we can share a few, eh?” Koris suggested, pulling out his Chainsword and plasma pistol before returning to his squad.
“It’s getting pretty bad out here!” The pilot yelled. “We’re gonna set you down about seven miles from the enemy base! Too much flak any closer!”
“Alright ladies, you heard the man, get ready to move!” Sasha said, holstering his weapon as a pair of lightning claws formed over his hands.
“Alright! Go!” The Thunderhawk came to a screeching hover, and the front of it slid open for the people inside to jump out. “I don’t know how the hell you're all gonna kill that thing, but good luck!”
“The heck did he mean by that?” Alex asked, unsheathing her weapon.
“By the Emperor… what unholy abomination is that?!” Sucari asked, gesturing towards the enemy base as he moved to disembark. There, in the distance, was a massive bipedal creature layered with fur and slabs of stone, and it’s arms were covered in yellow energy, it’s midsection down resembled a kilt, but was made up of the outside of a tower separated into multiple parts to allow the creature to move from side to side. It’s inhuman eyes glowed an icy blue as it looked around.
Mileena was the first to hop off the craft. She looked at the colossus monster, then to her sais, then back to the beast. “I don’t think I can kill that…”
Darkclaw hopped off next, marveling at the towering being. “I don’t think any of us can…”
“I can!” Cirno said, as if it was the most trivial thing in the world. Everyone stared at her in disbelief… that she would even suggest she could.
“Cirno, don't be a fool!” Sasha said as he, Alex, Mira and Cassie kept off. “If you think you can beat that thing, you're delusional.”
“Sergeant Claudio, Sergeant Koris, take formation around the vicinity. I don’t want any heretic ambushes to deter us.” Sucari ordered. The Space Marines obeyed as soon as they were off the Thunderhawk. “Sasha, I shall defer to you in this mission. The Sons of Sanguinius are at your command.”
“Okay, so from the look of it, this thing is gonna be hard to take out..
I'm not sure I can even scratch it with a Lascannon…” Sasha said, looking up at the beast.
“Indeed.” Sucari nodded. “Perhaps we should contact one of the nearby fortresses for support? Assuming the enemy hasn’t already captured them…”
“Um…. guys? I think we have a bigger problem than that thing…” Cassie said, pointing up at the sky.
Hovering above the fortress, eclipsing the sky itself, was a massive battleship, stark white heavy armored plating donning its hull while its massive anti ship cannons leered out towards the horizon, as if expecting an attack.
“...We need to get to a base fast and try and get in contact with Sebaste.” Sasha said after a few minutes.
“Understood. Pilot, can you get us any closer to a-“ Sucari was cut off as a blast from the ship struck the Thunderhawk, tearing straight through it’s armor and ripping it asunder in a violent explosion.
“Move!” Sasha yelled. The bright red Astartes scattered immediately, some grabbing the Displaced to help them move out of the way of the explosive debris, while others, such as Suraci, simply ducked out of the way.
“Brother Sasha! There should be a fortress to our northwest!” Sucari yelled, transferring Vox codes to the Dark Angel.
“Alright, stand back!” As Sasha said this, the air around him began to shimmer before the form of a large tank like vehicle began to materialize where he stood. Seconds later, a Land Raider Crusader stood in the spot where Sasha had occupied. The side access hatch then slid open with a hiss of hydraulics before revealing the slightly tired Astartes. “I hate doing these big tanks sometimes, tires me out quite a bit.” he muttered.
“By the Emperor…” Sucari breathed. “What form of psychic.. witchery is this?”
“The kind you get after getting turned from a normal human into an Astartes after buying a replica of a Tigris pattern bolter. But story time can wait, we need to move.” Sasha responded.
“Of course, my lord.” Sucari replied slowly. “Brothers, help the mortal ‘displaced’ into the Crusader.” The Sanguinary Priest said to the tactical squad.
“U.S.S Hercules, watch your rear, you've got an enemy cruiser trying to flank.” Sebaste ordered as the Retribution fired a broadside into another cruiser.
There was an acknowledgement from the Hercules before the Halcyon class cruiser turned to intercept, point defense guns spitting out lead at the fighters flying around it.
It had been a grueling several hours, and by that point 3 ships had been lost. But in turn, they had managed to bring down 4 enemy ships.
“My lord, we suspect that seventy five percent of enemy forces have been identified.” The Auspex Officer reported. “Sir, the Carnage Class Impure Desecration’s engines have been damaged!”
“Good, tell the gunners to fire another salvo. Status on our remaining ships?” Sebaste asked.
“Lord, the Constantine is being focused on by enemy Lances. They request either support, or clearance to disengage the battlefield.” The Auspex Officer reported. “Our own ship has a few fires, but moral is high and damage has been minimal. All other ships have suffered minimal damage.”
“Tell the Constantine to pull back, I'd rather not lose another ship.” Sebaste ordered.
“Yes, My Lord.” The Vox Officer nodded to Sebaste’s left.
“My lord, several unidentified Warp signatures detected 10,000 km from us.” A servitor drone reported, its monotone voice piercing the roar of voices.
“If the enemy is flanking us, we're so screwed…” Sebaste muttered.
“No, my lord!” The Auspex Officer yelled in joy. “I’m detecting the Battle Barge Blade Of Vengeance at the head of this fleet… it's the Blood Angels, my lord!”
The Spartan sighed in relief. “Open up a channel.” he said.
A hologram of a Space Marine in artistically detailed artificer armor appeared before him, a Power Sword sheathed by his side.
“Lord Sebaste, it is I, Captain Donatos Aphael, of The Blooded. We have come to grant you the aid you require.” He reintroduced himself, his perfect features marred by the holographic image. “I also bring my entire Company to support this war effort.”
“Your timing couldn't have been more perfect. We lost 3 ships, but managed to give them a bloody nose.” Sebaste said.
“I understand, Lord Commander.” Aphael nodded, motioning to someone out of view. “We shall force these traitorous dogs back, and begin dropping my brothers to Cadia immediately after.”
“Good, I already have a ground team that'll need the help on the planet.” Sebaste said, before frowning. “The Thunderhawk that flew them down hasn't reported back yet, and that has me worried.”
“Then the Thunderhawk is likely lost.” The Captain said solemnly. “The Enemy shall flee or be destroyed!” With that, he cut communication.
“All ships, fall back and connect with the Blood Angels fleet. Today, Cadia will survive!” Sebaste roared. As the crew cheered, Sebaste's mind went back to Sasha and the others. “May Celestia protect you all…” he whispered.
“I am sorry my lord, but it will take time to muster up a stronger force!” The Colonel of the Cadian 42nd Regiment apologized to Sasha and the Astartes, as well as the Displaced. “Much of my army was destroyed during those bastards initial attack, and we will need at least a few days to muster a larger army than what I have here!”
Sasha groaned, before asking, “Do you at least have a vox unit that I can use to contact my commander?”
“Y-yes, My Lord, I can direct you to it myself.” The colonel nodded quickly, unable to look up at Sasha’s helmet, before leading him away.
Mileena groaned, itching the side of her neck with one of her blades. “This is irritating… why’s it taking so long for us to get started killing?”
“Would you prefer being vaporized by that ship?” Mira asked.
“We still might be, we’re just sitting ducks here.” Darkclaw added. “Not that I’m agreeing with the… whatever she is, but she has some semblance of a point.”
“Quit skirting around your words, reject.” Mileena snarled in reply.
Before the two could come to blows, an arcane shield sprung up between them. “Listen, while I do agree that we still need to clear that base, we don't have the firepower to combat both that creature and the ship.” Alex said, her gauntlet glowing. “All we can do is try and figure out a plan.”
“Maybe our ‘fearless leader’ should’ve thought that through before sending us into a war zone!” Mileena exploded, sending a glare towards Alex, before sheathing her blade. Her tone then became shifted, “But by all means, you all must have so much trust! It’s not like we’ve known him that long, so it’s my fault, right~?” There was a sickly sweet sarcasm to her voice, almost singing her words like a lullaby.
“Please, everyone stop this fighting! We’re all on the same side!” Sailor Moon cried, stepping in between Alex and Mileena. They ignored her, Alex even gently pushing her aside.
“I don't think Sebaste even knew about whatever that thing was. He was expecting mostly foot soldiers and the enemy fleet.” Alex replied, holding Mileena's glare.
“It’s still his fault…” Mileena stated plainly, as if there were no room for argument.
“You can't always plan for everything. This was one of those times.” Alex said. “While it was an oversight on his part, he meant for us to try and help these men.”
“Compassion isn’t how you win wars.” Mileena rolled her eyes.
“Maybe not-” Before Alex could continue to bicker with the murderous woman, the nearest door to the Spartan was kicked open to reveal Cirno; with a spoon sticking out of her mouth, and a bowl filled with shaved ice in her hand.
“‘Our guyshes fooed schlucks!” She shouted around the metal object, before pulling it out and shoveling a healthy amount of her treat… or at least, ‘healthy’ for her.
“Welcome to the life of a Guardsmen, or Guardsmare, in the ponies’ case.”
“Well your guards lives suck! They must be miserable without ice cream, or pudding, or cake-!”
“Because they're expendable. They're used as literal cannon fodder.”
“Or watermelon, or brownies, or twinkies- or especially my specialty!” Cirno hovered her hand over her bowl as ice particles appeared mere inches from her palm, recreating her snack from moments ago. “Tastes like water~!”
Everyone stared at her blankly, before Darkclaw raised his hand. “Can we agree that she’s probably retarded?”
There was a murmur of agreement from the others, all but Sakura agreeing with the short man.
Sasha soon returned, but with grim news. “I managed to get in contact with Sebaste, and unfortunately, he can't spare any ships to help deal with the enemy ship. He and a Blood Angels fleet are currently engaged with the Chaos fleet.”
“Our brothers have arrived?” Sucari asked, finally breaking the silence him and his men had had going on for a while. “Ahead of schedule, it would seem…”
“What’s a Chaos fleet?” Cirno asked. “Is it something you can freeze?”
“And what’s a Blood Angel fleet?” Moon asked meekly.
“The Blood Angels are my brothers, Miss.” Sucari replied. “I am a Blood Angel, one of the greatest chapters of Space Marines in the Imperium.”
“As for Chaos, they use to be Astartes loyal to the Emperor, until they were swayed by the four gods of Chaos and turned on their brothers.” Sasha responded.
Cirno stared blankly at Sasha. “So… can they be freezed?”
Darkclaw sighed, “Don’t give her the time of day, she wouldn’t know the difference between O and zero.”
“Wait, what?” Cirno looked at the dark knight with the most baffled look he’d ever seen.
“Sasha, if I may.” Sucari said to the Dark Angel. “With my brothers now in system, if we were to attack the heretical fortress, even with what little this place has to offer… my brothers would arrive as reinforcements, and we would take the place in but hours.”
Sasha sighed but nodded. “Tell the commander I need whatever men and vehicles he has left to ready up. It's time we took that damn fortress.”
“Of course. I’ll have my battle brothers ready as well.” Sucari nodded. “Please have your Commander transit a message to Captain Aphael regarding our plan.” With that, the bone white-armored Priest left, followed by his battle brothers.
“Alright, so here's the plan…”
The Retribution shuddered as a Lance shot struck the underside of the ship. “Status report!” Sebaste ordered.
“My lord, our defenses held for the most part! We’ve suffered 20% hull failure so far, but the enemy reformed quicker than we expected!” One of the officers reported.
“Any word from the other ships?” The Spartan asked.
“The Battle Barge Blade Of Vengeance reported minor damage to its gun batteries.” The Officer reported quickly. “Some of the UNSC vessels were badly damaged, but are still fight capable!”
“Have them fall back and regroup. Make sure they stay behind the Blood Angels fleet and provide back up only if necessary.” he ordered. “In the meantime, we need to-”
“My lord, communications from the Blade Of Vengeance!” The Vox Officer interrupted. The image of Captain Aphael flickered onto the deck, though it was a bit shaky as explosions raked the side of the Retribution.
“Captain, report.” Sebaste said, flinching as a blast shook the ship.
“Commander, it would seem that the enemy will be beaten back soon enough.” Aphael reported. “So I shall be pulling back the Blade Of Vengeance to send my brothers down to Cadia. It would seem that your ‘Displaced’ plan to attack the traitor’s fortress, and are depending on our assistance.”
“Copy that. We'll try and keep these chuckleheads off your back for as long as we can.” Sebaste replied.
“Understood. I shall leave my Strike Cruisers under your command, as I shall be heading to the surface myself.” The Captain said. “However, if things turn for the worst, then the Blade Of Vengeance is to immediately return to Vigilantus. Is that understood?”
“Aye. Good luck, and may Celestia and the Emperor guide you.” Sebaste said before cutting off the feed. “All Imperial ships, ready torpedoes. Let's give them something to remember us by…”
“We have confirmation that my brothers will arrive on schedule.” Sucari said, looking towards Sasha. “We shall be dining quite well on the spoils of victory tonight, it seems.”
Sasha nodded, peering out at the fortress with a pair of thermal binoculars he had requisitioned from a trooper. “I’m counting 2-3 sentries, at least that I can see. Could be more hidden.” he said.
“Most likely.” Sucari nodded, resting a hand on his ornate and finely crafted Chainsword. “Brother Dark Angel… what purpose is there to fielding these ‘Displaced’ and their unnatural… abilities?” He asked, though his face remained neutral.
“It’s… hard to explain. But some of these Displaced I would sacrifice my life to protect them. They're like a brother and sister to me.” Sasha replied.
“I see…” Sucari remained unimpressed. “We should return to the group soon. We should have sent scouts instead of ourselves…”
“Wait. Over there. I think I see a part of the wall that wasn't fully finished. If we can bypass the main gates and breach that section, we'll be able to catch them by surprise.” Sasha said, pointing to a small portion of the wall to the east of them.
“Very well.” Sucari nodded. “Let’s go, it won’t be long now before we must strike.”
Sasha nodded before sliding down the ridge the two had climbed. “Let’s hope the battle up there is going well, because if things get crazy, we're pretty much screwed.” he muttered to himself.
“Then let us pray to the Emperor that all goes according to plan, Dark Angel.” Sucari said, and Sasha’s superhuman sight could make out a very… irritated look on the Priest’s face, and four fangs clearly jutting out from his teeth.
As the two headed back towards the Outpost, Sasha quickly voxed Alexia and let her know of what they had found. “Get the others ready to go. We'll be attacking in 15 minutes.”
“Alright… Sasha, be careful. I don't want to explain to Viktor that his only friend got killed trying to breach a fortress.” he heard her say before he cut the link.
“I shall go notify your Displaced of their roles in this attack.” Sucari said. “Send their information to my dataslate immediately, and go prepare the others.”
Sasha nodded in response before heading to the tent he was stationed in during their stay. Picking up a nearby dataslate, he began compiling the necessary data Sucari needed.
Meanwhile, the Priest entered the tent where the Displaced were waiting. “Greetings… Displaced. I am to notify you of your assignments…” he told the group, holding up his dataslate.
“Does it involve anything else besides ‘storm the heavily fortified base’?” Mileena grunted unenthusiastically.
“Quiet, freak.” Darkclaw hissed, glaring at the purple clad woman who merely shrugged.
“As a matter of fact, it does.” Sucari growled, showing his fangs. “My brothers are to deploy soon after the battle starts, deep striking into the enemy base itself and disrupt their forces. We are to direct their attention onto us until then, before breaking through the main wall through a weakspot in the construction and will then meet up with my brothers.”
“Great, do we have any intel on what might be waiting for us? Or are we just assuming they’re idiots and throw everything at the first sign of trouble?” Mileena remarked dryly.
“We suspect, from our initial surveillance, mostly non-Astartes military forces. More likely to be light resistance, though you are to be assigned as our eyes on.” Sucari grumbled. “You will be eliminating squad sergeants, disrupt enemy response teams, and are to report any changes in the enemy defenses as soon as you spot them.”
“Wh-what about the… um… rest of us?” Sakura piped up, raising a hand so she was noticed from behind the amalgam hero, who even short blocked her view of the Blood Angel.
“Your role is to be that of an Apothecary.” Sucari stated flatly. “Save who you can, and grant the Emperor’s Mercy to those you cannot.” Sakura gulped at that last bit.
“Darkclaw will be assigned to… infiltration?” The Astarte blinked, rereading it. “You are to scale the walls in the confusion… and disrupt enemy defenders…”
“I… guess I can do that?” Darkclaw responded awkwardly.
“... forget that, Darkclaw. I will find you a different assignment.” Sucari grumbled.
“I would suggest pairing him with Sakura. That way if she gets in a tight spot, we have someone with her that can easily defend her.” Alexia said.
“That would work…” Sucari nodded. “Very well. Darkclaw, protect her with your life.”
“I got multiple, so I guess that works.”
“Oh! Oh! Pick me!” Cirno jumped up and down excitedly.
“Cirno…” Sucari grumbled bitterly. “You are assigned…” He glanced at the dataslate. She was to be put in reserves, as reinforcements. “... Front lines. You’ll be protecting the breachers, and you will be working as crowd control. Keep the defenders away from the breach. Understood?”
“Woohoo! Understood, sir!” Cirno saluted with her left hand, grinning from ear to ear. The other Displaced looked at her for a moment, but otherwise kept to themselves.
“And Sailor Moon… you are to be defending the artillery in the back.” Sucari stated. “They will be important in breaking the wall, so we need them to survive as long as possible. Is that understood?”
“Of course! I won’t let you down!” Moon’s face was overly serious, giving off the vibe of a clear lack of experience.
“What about us?” Mira asked.
“According to Sasha…. front lines.” Sucari replied.
Both girls nodded, Cassie's wings shifting behind her back. Sucari stared at the wings for a moment, his face expressionless, before he turned back to the rest of the group.
“Our main focus will of course be the weak point in their defensive walls.” He stated. “My battle brothers will be descending from our Battle Barge, but we must strike first, and direct the fire away from the sky as much as possible. Anyone who can take down anti-air cannons must do so, while the rest focus on the enemy manning the walls. Am I understood?”
“Yes sir!” was the unanimous reply.
“Good. Are there any questions?” He asked, expecting as much from non-Astartes.
Alexia shook her head. “None whatsoever.”
“Hmph, surprising.” The Blood Angel replied. “Then I shall leave you all to prepare. However…” He gave them all a sharp look. “Do not interfere with any of my brothers and their part of the mission. Is that understood?” He said with a small growl.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” the Spartan muttered. The Astartes nodded, and exited the tent.
Inside NBL Fortress, ‘Bloodroot’
A group of scout marines marched into the command room, it’s dim lighting barely giving the group any details. From what they could see, it was a grey room with pink flower petals covering the floor. Their leader, Zero, stood opposite of them, with her pale white features and cold pink eye carrying no interest in their arrival besides acknowledging them.
“Admiral Zero, we’ve returned from our patrol along the outer walls.” The sergeant bowed once he and his squad stood before her, his camo cloak falling around him. “And… we noticed something during our patrol.”
“Spit it out, trashbags.” Zero spat, “I have no tolerance for keeping me waiting. Foreplay doesn’t suit you, either.”
The sergeant bit back an angry retort, before sighing. “My lord,” he said with a small bit of venom in his voice. “We identified two Astartes scoping out the fortress. One in bright white armor, and one in dark green.”
“So they’re here… what about activity?” Zero looked far more serious, resting her chin on her metallic arm quizzically. “They’re not alone.”
“I sent out a small part of the scouts in the fortress to follow them. They have yet to report back.” The Sergeant replied. “But we have seen a few vehicles moving at the furthest our binoculars could reach.”
“Whatever they’re planning, I don’t want any more patrols going out. No use letting them pick us off one by one…” She looked down at her feet for a brief moment, pondering for a moment. “What would you suggest, Sergeant?”
The sergeant blinked in surprise. “W-well, my lord, I’d suggest luring the enemy in by pretending our numbers are low. Then hit them hard with our full force once they get close.”
“Yes, that’s good. You’re not a moron, and that’s what I like to see. You’ll be in charge of the main defences. When they arrive, don’t activate the sirens.” Zero smirked as slyly as a fox, “Contact me directly.”
“Understood, My Lord. I thank you for this honor!” The Sergeant nodded, quickly rushing off with his squad in tow, already shouting orders into several vox channels.
Half an hour later, Zero’s communicator sparked with life just as the fortress rocked from an explosion. “Lord Zero! The enemy’s here, but we still have some patrols stuck outside the wall!”
“Tell them to wait, Mikhail’s already en route to lead them.” Zero turned to the nearest officer, “Activate the barracks silent alarm immediately! It’s time for us to finally begin this game of cat and mouse.”
“Yes, My Lord.” The Officer nodded, turning to his post and pressing several buttons.
“Target that heavy stubber nest!” Sasha shouted over the roar of his Bolter, pointing to a dugout where two NBL guardsponies had set up a weapon that looked like the ‘Ma Deuce’ from the 21st century and now had Sasha and several others pinned down.
“Understood, My Lord!” One of the nearby guard commanders said, but before he could give the order, a sniper shot pierced his skull right between the eyes, causing his entire head to turn into fine mist as he fell backwards.
The report of Alexia's high caliber sniper rifle soon echoed through the air as she used the Promethean vision built into her helmet to track down the enemy sniper. “Sniper down.” she commed.
“Damn these traitors!” Sucari growled over the vox. Sasha turned to see his unit pinned down in a similar fashion to Sasha’s, though instead by a trio of Heavy Bolter emplacements lining the wall before them. They could only see them when their muzzles flashed, and bolts ripped through the cover around them. “One of you ‘Displaced’! Bring down those accursed Heavy Bolters!” One Marine fell backwards as he pulled up to shoot, only for his breastplate to be riddled with holes.
A trio of ‘thuds’ heralded the arrival of 3 green orbs that soon smashed into the emplacements, the explosions quickly vaporizing the Gunners.
“Get our tanks up and firing at that wall!” Sucari growled. “I want it broken before our reinforcements arrive!” Lasfire and bolts flew threw the air, cutting through Imperial Guardsmen in organized and surprisingly well placed shots, though the guard were dealing just as heavy a fire rate into the defenders.
Alexia soon joined the fray, raising her right hand, she aimed it at the direction of the wall before magical energy began forming into her palm. With a shout, she launched a beam of pure heat into the fortress, rock and steel running like liquids as it struck the wall. While it didn't punch all the way through, it managed to create a massive hole, molten rock and steel dripping from it.
The giant that was centered in the base finally noticed them, it’s blue eyes shining in the dark and looking down at the invaders. It raised it’s arm slowly, taking aim, before firing a yellow energy bolt from his arm. A small squad of marines were hit by the attack directly, and an ear splitting explosion resounded. The ground shook, and what was left of the squad was buried in a three foot crater.
“No!” Sucari shouted in his helmet, rage filling him. “Do we not have anything that can take that monster down?!” He roared at Sasha, lasshots bouncing off his armor as he approached the Dark Angel.
“Unless you have a titan or an MAC hidden under your armor, we're a bit limited.” Sasha retorted.
“Rrrgh!” Sucari growled, before opening a vox channel to the artillery crews. Two basilisks waited far off in the back of the fighting. “Mark these coordinates and open fire on that damn wall!”
Another shot from the Colossus, this one mostly missing but sending the nearby soldiers flying. Sakura tripped at the following earthquake, looking up at the monster in terror.
“We can’t fight that!” She screamed over the gunfire.
“We need to get into the fortress!” Sucari shouted at her, tearing his helmet free. “It won’t fire upon its own army!” He roared, spittle flinging from his fanged mouth.
“Got an update on the AA guns, they've been silenced.” Sasha spoke up. “If your brothers are coming, now's the time.”
The Blood Angel nodded angrily. “Tell your sister to bring down that accursed wall! I must tend to my fallen brothers.” He marched off, activating his vox.
“Alex, bring it down.” Sasha ordered, before another heat beam smashed into the wall. This time, the beam hit what must’ve been a promethium pipe that fed energy to the Fortress's generators, as a massive explosion ripped through the wall section, sending massive chunks of stone crashing into the battlefield.
A large group of Imperial Guardsmen rushed into the hole, along with a few bloodthirsty space Marines. They disappeared into the smoke, but soon there was a cacophony of screams, as twin jets of liquid promethium blazed through the smoke, devouring the overeager Guardsmen and Astartes.
Then, out of the smoke marched an absolutely massive Dreadnought, clad in pitch black armor. It was almost ludicrously armored, plasma barely even scratching it as it marched out. One of its arms, which ended in a quad-barrel Cannon, immediately opened fire, tearing through Imperial Guardsmen like paper. While two Heavy Flamers roared their rage into the closer soldiers.
“Shit, Leviathan!” Sasha shouted, a Lascannon forming in his hands. “All tanks, open fire!”
One of the Leman Russ tanks turned towards it, it’s turret firing as soon as it had a lock. A protective barrier formed around the Leviathan Dreadnought just as the blast hit, protecting it from harm. The bulky Dreadnought, in return, pointed its other arm at it. Energy crackled around the odd looking cannon, before seven bright green beams of energy screamed into the tank, lighting up the darkness right before the Tank detonated, sending shrapnel and debris flying into nearby Guardsmen.
“Get our artillery on that bastard!” Sucari yelled, collecting the geneseed from a fallen marine while another shot from the giant shook the ground.
“Try this on for size!” Sasha muttered as he switched from a Lascannon to a Grav-cannon. Pulling the trigger, a beam of gravatic energy smashed into the Dreadnought. The armor buckled, though it did little else.
Suddenly, from behind the Dreadnought, rushed out a large Astartes vehicle, twin lascannons firing out and barely missing another Leman Russ tank. This tank hovered over the corpses left by the Leviathan, gravitic waves crushing them into mulch as almost a dozen separate guns began spraying death into the rapidly dwindling field of Guardsmen.
“What the hell is…?!” Sasha stared at the vehicle in shock.
“Sir! New Marines are joining the enemy in the walls!” A commissar reported, gesturing towards the unusually tall marines in black armor with green trims mounting the wall, plasma weapons Sasha had never seen before in their hands.
The unusual tank opened its side ramps, and out came five heavily armored Space Marines, with Bolters built into twin gauntlets barking as they marched into the field. Their armor was of a pattern the Dark Angel had never seen before, and seemed to be easily shrugging off lasguns and even stray Bolter Fire.
“Dammit… Sasha, the artillery has been destroyed! The rearguard reported a Dragon destroyed them!“
The Astartes began to swear. “Where are those reinforcements?!”
A loud, primal roar filled the air as a white dragon with a black underbelly flew and golden horn and claws over the wall, a torrent of flame spewing from his mouth and torching the rearmost soldiers. Darkclaw had to jump on top of Sakura to prevent her from suffering the beast’s fire.
“Brothers, tear that thing from the sky!” A Blood Angel roared, firing at the dragon with his plasma gun. The surviving few Blood Angels all opened fire with their boltguns as well.
“Throne…” Sucari muttered into the vox, gulping. “B-brother Sasha… Th-the Blade Of Vengeance reports that a massive Chaos Fleet has translated into the system… they have been forced to pull out to another part of the planet to deploy their forces…” He reported shakily.
“What about Sebaste's fleet? Any word on them?” he asked.
“They have engaged the fleet to allow their wounded ships time to escape.” Sucari said grimly, ducking into cover as the dragon passed overhead.
Sasha gritted his teeth before activating his comms and saying, “All units, fall back! I repeat, fall back!”
The dragon heard this order, and began setting the escape route on fire to create a wall. Afterwards, he landed on the other side as more NBL marines flooded around him.
“All tanks, form a spearhead. Everyone else, get-!” The Astartes glanced up as the roar of what sounded like a jet engine caught his attention.
The Colossus sent yet another yellow bolt, this one destroying the leading tank and lighting up the battlefield.
“Remaining Astartes, fall back in a defensive formation!” Sucari growled, before pausing as he heard a… familiar sound. “That noise… what in the Emperor’s name are Tau doing on Cadia?!”
A thin blue beam flew over the marines, slicing through the top of the Repulsor, taking several of it’s guns clean off. The Repulsor shifted through the air slightly before several blue orbs impacted it from above, shredding the inside that had been revealed by the beam. The Repulsor detonated from the berrage, leaving nothing but a flaming pile of scrap metal behind.
Twelve large red Tau Battlesuits landed in front of the routed soldiers, many immediately began to open fire on the NBL forces with a variety of different weapons, most firing blue projectiles of many shapes while some fired rockets. Three of the Tau moved to engage the enemy in melee with blue glowing Fusion Swords, including what seemed to be the commander of the small squadron.
“So now we have filthy Xenos on our side?” Sucari growled as he dragged one of his wounded brothers out of the fight.
“Don’t pin this on me, I'm just as surprised as you.” Sasha replied. “But we should probably use this to our advantage and get moving.”
The three Tau that charged ahead of their comrades easily sliced their way through a few NBL marines on their path to intercept the hostile infantry, the jet boosters attached to their suits beginning to emit a blue glow as they prepared to fire off.
The Colossus roared in rage, firing off a bolt of lightning at the rapidly approaching Tau. Just before the bolt could strike them, the three Tau fired off their boosters, sending them flying into the air and right over the bolt.
At the peak of the technologically assisted jump, the three Tau raised their blades high above their heads before activating their boosters again, sending them rocketing towards the on coming infantry.
The giant tried to swat the Tau battlesuits, but was stopped by Cirno shooting a series of icicles into its eye, which made it cover its eyes in pain as it roared.
“Haha! You were, of course, no match for me!” The bluette smiled pridefully, flying only a few meters away from it’s one flailing arm.
“She’s crazier than I thought…” Sasha muttered as he quickly organized the remaining survivors.
The Tau each maneuvered themselves as they fell upon the marines, the left-most Tau cut straight through two NBL marines as it landed just in front of the majority of the marines, procredding to tear into their ranks. The right-most Tau speared into one of the larger marines, both of it’s blades going through one of the marine’s hearts, the Tau using the marine as a impromptu board to slow its momentum. The commander sliced a marine’s head off as they landed in the midst of the marines, firing the weapon on their left arm into the sky, causing three blue orbs to fly high up before falling back to earth, striking several marines as the orbs split into six smaller orbs.
Marines all around them ducked into cover, boltguns roaring their wrath into the battlesuits as the Leviathan turned towards the Tau, it’s guns ready to fire once more as several more of the Space Marines around the Tau were gunned down.
Sucari switched to a secondary vox channel, before yelling. “Brother Androtheus, ready the Rhinos!” His brothers had found a few of these transports within the fortress they had been at earlier, and the Sanguinary Priest had them readied in case of defeat, though he hadn’t expected to use them. Thus, they were rather far away, and it would still be a rather long run to get to them. “Meet us at evacuation point Delta, and be prepared to take mortals!”
Cirno flew over to hover next to Sucari, looking down at the armored man. “I don’t think you’re doing well...” The survivors were a ways away now, though they could all still clearly hear the sound of battle behind them.
“Of course not! We are retreating!” The Priest growled, his anger so fierce he barely kept himself from drawing his Chainsword upon her. “How in Sanguinius’ name did you survive so far?!”
“Let’s not question it right now. Cirno, did you see of the others coming back towards where we are?” Sasha asked.
“Mostly, but I didn’t see the creepy lady anywhere.” Cirno replied calmly, and looked to the Colossus who was beginning to recover.
“Damn that abomination!” Sucari cursed. “We do not know how far that thing can reach, so we must keep moving! By the blood of Sanguinius, I shall not let any more of these mortals die in this accursed defeat!”
A rather large arcane bolt suddenly lanced out and struck the Colossus, the accompanying blast and flash of light both stunning and temporarily blinding it. Several more smashed into it as Alexia kept the beast occupied while the survivors fell back to the rendezvous point.
“Keep moving! The Transports should be here any minute now!” True to his word, the survivors, who numbered less than a hundred, heard the sound of motors running in the desert ahead of them, before 5 black, box-like vehicles rolled up to them. “Mortals on board first!” Sucari growled. He turned to Alex. “Though I loathe your powers, witch, I must make use of them here. Continue keeping that thing from annihilating us, until we can get our allies away.”
“Call me that again, and you're next…” she muttered irritably as she powered up another arcane blast. When it had reached its apex, she launched it at the Colossus.
The Tau had begun to dwindle down, five of the ranged Battlesuits already lying dead on the ground, with one of the three locked in melee following them to their grave. A voice was heard coming through on a Vox channel, “All Battlesuits fall back, our part in this dance of death is over.” a smooth male voice ordered, “Barracuda squadrons prepare for extraction.” was the last thing heard before the Tau began to back away towards the direction of the Rhinos, keeping their guns firing on the NBL.
“Sasha, you’re next on board.” Sucari growled, looking at the aliens retreating towards them with contempt. “My brothers and I shall board the last Rhino…”
The Tau suddenly stopped retreating and simply continued to fire, although two of them turned to face the Blood Angels as the boosters on their backs began to glow.
Sasha quickly began to back towards the Rhino, his bolter ready to swing up if they began to attack.
The two Battlesuits shot into the sky without warning, flying much higher than the first three suits had when they had engaged the NBL. Their trajectory seemed to be one of the last Rhinos.
Sasha raised an eyebrow in confusion before he then entered the Rhino, Cassie, Alexia and Mira following soon after.
Just after the two Tau reached the peak of their jump, a red triangle shaped ship flew just under them, allowing the Battlesuits to land on it, the ship soaring out of sight with the Tau shortly after appearing.
The ramp of Sasha’s Rhino began to close, but as it did, the Astartes’s superhuman eyesight picked out a banner raised on the wall of the NBL Fortress. The banner was primarily black, with six green lines trailing to the top and bottom of the flag, with an oddly familiar gold symbol bright in the center. He could not make out the words beneath it, but above was the Roman numerals XVII. 17. Then the ramp sealed the cowering Guardsmen and other displaced inside.
The rest of the Tau slowly followed in their comrades footsteps until only the commander remained, firing off one last barrage before they too followed suit.
Cadian Outpost 251, several hours later
Sasha looked over the casualty list and silently swore to himself before looking up at the battlesuit looming over him. “Your assistance was much appreciated, if unexpected,” he said. “I do have to ask, how and why are you here?”
“My Commander, Shas'o Vior'los Shi'ur, several Shas’el, and myself were sent here under order of Shas'o Farsight to help our allies in the Wardens defend your world from these Chaotic invaders.” the Tau answered, the Battlesuit's head turning to look upon Sasha.
The Astartes raised an eyebrow at that. He knew of the Tau commander that had gone rouge, but he didn't remember hearing of having the Farsight Enclaves as allies. “Seb, just what are you hiding…?” He muttered to himself. Aloud, he said, “ How many are in your strike force?”
“Ten squadrons of XV8 Crisis Battlesuits, five squadrons of XV88 Broadside Battlesuits, five XV108 Riptide Battlesuits, three KV128 Stormsurge, and a multitude of ground and air vehicles, however they have not arrived yet and I am unaware how many there are,” the Tau listed off. “However, only my squad and I could sneak past the fleets and seeing as most have fallen in battle, I only have three Crisis Battlesuits with me.”
Sasha frowned, but before he could respond, a commotion outside caused him to turn quickly.
“Away from him, you accursed Witch!” Sucari roared at the pink-haired Displaced, brandishing his Chainsword before her as he moved her away from a heavily wounded Blood Angel.
“H-hey, I’m t-trying to help h-him!” Sakura stumbled away, cowering away from Sucari. “I-I can heal h-him!”
“I shall not let you pollute the purity of my brother with your foul sorcery!” Sucari yelled again, his fangs extended from his gums. Once she was a short distance away, he quickly looked over the injuries of his wounded brother. With a heavy hearted sigh, he pulled out a bolt pistol, and before anyone could so much as react, fired one shot into the marine, ending his suffering. “May the Emperor grant you peace, brother Androvius.” He then knelt to extract his geneseed.
Sakura froze stiff at the action, eyes wide in a mixture of shock and horror. The closest to her was Darkclaw, who ignored the needless bloodshed. But furthest away, Moon squeaked out a sob before sprinting away in an attempt to escape the sight of her comrades executing their own. Mira looked like she was about to faint while Cassie fared no better.
Sucari stomped past Sakura once he was done collecting the geneseed, heading straight for Sebastian. Before anyone could stop him, he gunned his ornately crafted chainsword and roared, cutting a shallow gash into the Dark Angel’s Armor that was already starting to be blocked up by the power armor’s ancient devices.
“Bloody hell…” Alexis muttered, before running towards the ensuing brawl. Her gauntlet began to glow before a light purple aura surrounded the Astartes and yanked him back, causing the Sanguinary Priest to stumble backwards and strain against the arcane hold against him. “Calm down before we end up doing something we both will regret!” she grunted.
“Why?! Why did you order us to wait?!” Sucari roared at the Dark Angel in fury, his once pale skin now a bright red from his rage.
“Because I thought your brothers would've been in position by the time we launched the assault!” Sasha retorted, having summoned a pair of lightning claws in response to the attack. “No one could've predicted the outcome. You don't think I regret every single life that was lost on our side during the battle? I was hoping we would take the base by surprise, but it seems they were ready for us that time and what happened was the result.”
“If we had not waited until night to attack, my brothers would have been capable of deploying before the damned bastards of Chaos deployed their main fleet!” Sucari growled. “Had we not waited, the enemy’s accursed defense would not have been completed! This is the result of your foolishness! And now, you consort with Xenos filth?!” He threw a hand at the Tau Commander. The Commander for his part, seemed to merely stare at the outraged Marine.
“They’re allied with Sebaste and the Wardens.” Sasha replied. “As much as I'd like to grill Seb over what exactly he’s been hiding, we don't have the luxury of picking our allies at the moment. If I call correctly, even your chapter had to Ally with the Necrons to fight off a Tyranid army once.”
Sucari flinched, before growling again. “Know this, Dark Angel. Though my Company fights alongside you, and that we owe the Wardens a Blood Debt, I swear that I shall never answer to your commands again. The blood of eight of my brothers is on your hands, and I shall fight only for Cadia, and the Emperor’s will.”
“ While I admit, I made a mistake in waiting too long..” Sasha suddenly stepped forward and thrusted his helmet into Sucari's face. “Know this, I would fight like the Primarch himself to make sure none of your brothers or my allies and friends fall.” he snarled. “So I would suggest you put aside your grievances and help me strategize a new plan that will help us take down that damn fortress or I swear I will report you to your Captain for direct insubordination. Am. I. Clear.?”
The white armored Blood Angel glared angrily at the eye lenses of Sebastian’s helmet, before turning to Alex. “Release me, witch.” He ordered, his fangs shrinking back into his gums.
Sasha gave a nod to the Spartan. Alexis began to relax her aura before suddenly lifting the Astartes and slamming him into the ground. “Next time, don't call me a witch.” she said to the now winded Sanguinary Priest before walking away.
Sucari dusted off his robes, before turning back towards the dead Blood Angel. “I am returning to my Captain.” He stated flatly. “But I shall give you one last piece of advice, before you have to discuss strategy with Captain Aphael.” The spins of a Stormraven suddenly roared overhead, sounding as if it was coming down for a landing. “Give up on attacking the fortress. The traitor forces will be beginning their actual invasion now that the space war is lost. Focus now on defending the fortresses of Cadia, until reinforcements can arrive.”
Sasha nodded. “Emperor protects.” he said.
He nodded, gathering up the fallen marine’s body and leaving the building.
Sebaste stumbled onto the bridge, causing the crewmen to look on in shock. “Prepare to retreat back to Vigilantus.” he ordered, before falling to one knee. Outside, the void of space burned with the ruined hulks of the Warden fleet, the massive NBL warfleet slipping past the heavily damaged Retribution without firing upon it as they made their way towards the planet.
“A-As you wish, My Lord.” The Captain of the Retribution nodded, before the crew began their work. “H-however, m-my Lord, I-I believe it would be b-best to make for the Warden Capital, t-to request reinforcements.”
After thinking it over, the Spartan nodded. “Set a course for it. Captain, you have the helm.” He shakily stood up, before falling back down on one knee. “Damn it…” he muttered.
“Oh, uh, my lord, sh-should we send a message to your soldiers on Cadia?” The Captain asked, motioning towards one of the few surviving Vox Officers.
Sebaste nodded. “Tell them that I'll be back with reinforcements as soon as I can. Until then, they need to hold out as long as they can.”
There was a pause, before the Vox officer held up his thumb. “The message has been sent, My Lord.”
“Good.” The Spartan soon began to slump backwards as the extent of his injuries began to catch up with him. As he began to lose consciousness, he could hear someone calling for a medic before blackness overtook his vision.
Planet Cadia
As the first hundred dropships began to fall upon the surface of Cadia, upon a continent down to the south of the New Black Legion fortress, a massive man clad in ornate golden armor began to stir.
Author's Note
And so the battle for Cadia begins!
Plus we meet more of the Wardens and their allies.
A huge thanks to Kirito and BP for helping with this chapter.
