Malevolence

Prologue

Tenebrae walked upon the snowy battlements shrouded in a cold fog, ensuring every soldier was in their assigned positions, that the magic artillery squads were primed to fire on command, and what little remained of the Magitech Machina were activated and ready to serve their purpose, for there could be no weak links in their final defense. As he strode past the soldiers, he noticed how eerily quiet it all seemed even as the loader machina hoisted and stacked the heavy artillery shells against the Blackstone walls ready to be used by the nearby batteries, as Commodores barked orders to their units to fortify the walls with whatever they could find be it tables, chairs, large stones, destroyed vehicles, empty fuel tanks, and metal plates stripped from destroyed machina, even the usually loud hum from the airships stationed overhead seemed to be dampened by the falling snow. He knew this quite well, for he had heard it most of his life serving in the imperial army as its Primarch or supreme commander, for it was his divine duty as crown prince of the Bicorn Imperium. This quiet was a deep breath before the plunge into the hellfires of war, but no, this time, it was different. Rather than a deep breath, this was more akin to a dying gasp, yes... the last gasp of a dying world.
“My lord Tenebrae, all battle preparations are complete, and according to the astrologist, the fog and snow should be clearing soon.” Tenebrae turned to the source of the voice that had broken the quiet that vexed him but a moment ago.

“Excellent work as always, Commodore Bluestar; that’s good news. It’ll give the artillery batteries and airships a clear line of sight to fire upon the enemy.” Commodore Bluestar was an ashen gray bicorn with a forest green shortcut mane and tail; his horns curved back like a goat or ram and were a soft metallic gold; he was also much shorter than the primarch but so was every other bicorn as was expected Royals were always quite a head taller than others often with longer horns and wings respectfully.

“Thank you, my lord, but I am unworthy of such praise.”

“Nonsense, you have stood by my side in battle for many centuries, and not once has your loyalty or conviction wavered. And seeing as this may be our last fight, you are at least worthy of some praise.” Although the Commodore kept his composure, Tenebrae could see the light beaming in Bluestar’s eyes at his praise.

“Then I humbly accept it, my lord.” He gave a deep bow to the Primarch. “So this is it, huh? The end of the world and the Imperium?” Bluestar looked around at the last gathering of the once mighty Imperial Army that had at one time conquered the world with its insurmountable strength and size of tens of millions, now reduced to barely over a hundred thousand troops using patchworked machina and the last remaining airships which numbered barely twenty half of which were retrofitted civilian airships that are to be used as suicide bombers loaded with as much ordinance as they could find.

“I don’t know, Commodore. My father, our holy emperor, ordered all remaining legions of the Imperial Army to muster and gather here to hold the Winterburn Gates no matter the cost.”

“I can understand the reason, my lord, seeing as it’s the only path into the Imperial Capital; this gateway acts as an excellent chokepoint for any invading force.” The Commodore was correct in this, as the Imperial Capital City of WintersHowl was surrounded by a massive mountain range with sheer cliffs, often referred to as the Rim-Of-Heaven. With one natural canyon (now the fortress gate of Winterburn) acting as a path to the valley where the city resides, it was a magnificent natural fortress.

“But what I don’t understand is why now? After all, wasn’t the purpose of the Howling Spire to end the war? Why send us to face the horde and hold this position at all costs? Shouldn’t we activate it? That’s why the worker caste spent centuries building it, didn’t they?” Tenebrae turned and looked back towards the canyon that leads to the capital, where in the distance could be seen the truly colossal Blackstone tower rising from the center of the city even at this distance. It was indeed a sight to behold, for it was the largest project in the long history of the Imperium; it took nearly 600 years to build by the command of the holy emperor. Every available resource and worker was ordered to build it in secret, and several facilities and towns that would have been vital to the war effort against the horde were completely stripped or abandoned to create it. It was so tall it ascended well beyond the Rim-Of-Heaven and even above the clouds themselves, but despite the sheer magnitude of the project, no one knew what its true purpose was other than the emperor. Not even he, the crown prince, knew of it. Some, like the Commodore, believed it to be some super-weapon; others said it was a magical conduit or beacon of some sort, and there were even heretics that claimed it was nothing more than a pretty palace that the emperor wasted valuable resources to build to fuel his ego.

“I don’t know why, but It's not our place to question the emperor's will only to obey it, Commodore. If our holy emperor ordered us to hold this gate at all cost, then that’s what we, as the last legion of the Imperial Army, will do.” Commodore Bluestar bit his lip but said nothing as he bowed to the Primarch.

“Understood, my lord. I'll return to my unit.” He turned and headed back towards one of several artillery emplacements that stretched across the wall. Tenebrae turned to face outwards towards the fog-shrouded frozen plains and smashed his black armored hoof against a large rock situated on the edge of the battlement, ready to be dropped to any unsuspecting foe below. It shattered into small pieces.

“Damn it, I hope you can forgive me for my dishonesty Bluestar. I hope you all can.” Although he didn’t know the specifics of the Howling Spire, he knew why the last remaining forces of the Imperial Army were sent here to hold the line no matter the cost. “All to buy time.” He muttered under his breath for the last week every magister and imperial mage left that wasn’t part of the artillery units were being secretly summoned to the spire for some unknown purpose, once they entered none came out even his father the emperor who had not been seen since its completion was undoubtedly somewhere inside. Something significant was about to happen, and those things could sense it; that’s why they were all heading straight for the capital. Every horde suddenly changed direction, all to converge here, and why we were all sent out here, to hold the line at the gates to die and buy as much time as we could for whatever purpose the spire held.
All he knew was whatever it was, they were afraid, and they were coming for it. The snowfall eased, and the fog began to dissipate. Tenebrae stood atop the wall, looking across the frozen plains as the fog lifted to reveal the horror that hid within it. There they were, all of them like silent ghosts there they were. Tenebrae stood on the wall above, looking down at an endless sea of distorted, twisted flesh. There were millions, not hundreds of millions, if not billions, of the horrid creatures. They had no end past what he could see on the horizon. Quiet... the quiet again as he stood there staring at the endless maw of the great enemy who consumed all in its wake; all was quiet. It was as if time had stood still in that moment before the end... Suddenly all at once, the endless maw opened its great jaws, and what followed could only be described as the wet, tortured chorus of the damned. Tenebrae screamed his royal voice as loud as he could.

“NO MATTER THE COST, WE CAN’T TAKE A SINGLE STEP BACK. IF WE FAIL HERE, IT WILL BE THE END OF EVERYTHING; ALL FORCES OPEN FIRE!!!!!!”

Author's Note

just a quick prologue new to this so im testing the waters