21M.470
Imperia Salamandra Quadrant, Hephaestus Segucorum Sector
Sword of Hephaestus, Citadel War Barge
Vulstianus
Days after it still felt wrong to his mind, a misguided choice. And yet it had been his beloved Archon’s choice. Archons did not make such mistakes so he must be wrong. He had thought it a mistake, or perhaps a bad joke up till the point when Hephaestus declared him Tribune of the Hospitaller Battalion and when the new rank was added to his armor by armorcrafters.
“You shouldn’t be concerned about your first command,” Merebus told him. Vulstianus looked to his brother. Merebus stood to his left, both gathered near the holographic table in raised the command section of the bridge. “You have it in you. You’re the only one that doesn’t know it.”
Vulstianus smiled slightly and his battalion’s captains agreed with the newly promoted Captain of the II Company.
“Thank you, Merebus,” he answered with sincerity. “It means a great deal coming from you.”
Merebus chuckled. “Don’t get used to hails of compliments from me.”
He chucked with his captains and Merebus flashed a grin. Vulstianus placed his gloved hands down on the edge of the table and returned them all to the matter at hand.
“How much do we know about these rebels?”
“A decent amount, Tribune,” Captain Nomenario responded to him. “It’s on a minor planet of little note that used to be part of the Greater Terran Imperium. Remember that brothers? We toppled it a centuries ago.”
“On Easgorum,” Merebus added, nodding.
“Indeed,” Nomenario confirmed. His eyes shifted to Merebus for a moment before they shifted back to Vulstianus. There were hints of tension in his eyes, but it all dissipated as he faced Vulstianus. “Back then it was a minor colony. Six thousand inhabitants. Thanks to the hard work of clerks we know that today it has a population of fifty thousand. Sector governor migrated people there a generation back and expanded the mining efforts a great deal.”
“What are they mining?” Vulstianus inquired.
“Titanium.”
“When we toppled that empire a bunch of human generations ago, we didn’t bring this little shit colony into the fold, right?” Merebus asked assumingly.
“No. Records say that a single army battalion did it. Not a single shot fired. No casualties. In fact, the people apparently just shrugged it off.” Nomenario chuckled and looked at his nine brothers in amusement. “It didn’t matter much to them what government they paid taxes to.”617Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwwtLsOjSf
“So that’s clearly changed,” the captain of X Company remarked plainly.
“So why rise up? Don’t they really we’ll crush them?” Merebus inquired.
“I don’t know. Mystery of the day,” Nomenario supposed.
“It could be they hope the Imperium won’t care. Since we’re expanding forward onward they might think a small mining colony will slip by. Perhaps they hope we won’t care to waste resources and time on them,” Vulstianus theorized. “Even if the Imperium responds, they probably expect a minor army detachment that they can hope to beat.”
“Damn it,” Merebus sighed in disappointment. “They’ll probably surrender they moment they see, and here I was hoping for a fight.”
“Don’t assume anything yet. They might still attempt it. We’re not the XXIII Legion after all.”
“Fighting us? The angels of the god-empress?” Merebus had serious doubt about that and Vulstianus had to agree.
“Tribune Vulstianus,” the Adjutant cut in. “We are about to reenter realspace in the system.”
“Understood.” Afterward, they only had two more hyperspace jumps down the beacon network before they reached their target. He wondered if they had scrambled some void forces or put their hopes on a ground engagement. If they had scrambled a void defense then it would matter little. He journeyed toward them under the command of three Citadel War Barges and nine cruisers, both Shrine and Katana-classes. Citadel War Barges was classified as battlecruisers, which meant that they brought equal firepower to a battleship but carried less armor and was more maneuverable. In the case of the Imperium’s Citadel War Barges these majestic warships carried more firepower than even a battleship.
“Reentering realspace in, five, four, three, two, one,” the Adjutant informed them. She then activated a map of the system on the holo-map. “Tribune, sensors are picking up a large object in system. Twenty thousand kilometers away.”
“What is it?”
“It is four kilometers in length. I am reading no magnetic signature nor detecting any propulsion system,” the AI continued.
“I beg your pardon?”
“It is not a vessel.”
“Then what the hell is it?” Merebus demanded. “Just spit it out.”
The holo-map zoomed in on the creature. “It's a Kraken.”
The large squid-like being appeared at the center of the map for all the Salamandrake officers to see. Human members of the bridge crew had paused and stared at the holo-map. They all stared in stunned and horrified silence before they looked at Vulstianus. When he collected himself he looked around and took in the fear that filled the eyes of every one of them. Mortal sailors and effectively immortal Ultra Marines all. Both they and his brothers-including himself-was united in the fear that had climbed into their eyes. However, he had to admit that his brothers hid it far better whereas the crewmen made no effort in that regard.
“S-squadron requesting orders!” The communications officer practically yelled. He had completely forgotten the protocol to send the message up the central dais that held the command section.
Vulstianus hesitated. It was a situation he wasn’t prepared for. Nobody could possibly prepare for a meeting of such magnitude.
“Tribune!” Merebus snapped him into action.
“Fire! Have all War Barges open fire and order the cruisers to take to hyperspace, back the way we came!” He bellowed out orders.
The plasma and lance cannons of the Sword of Hephaestus, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Serpentine opened up on the space wandering beast. It had begun to make its way towards their ships as the barrage greeted it and the cruisers began to work on returning to hyperspace. They had to connect to the hyperspace beacon and enter the coordinates to the specific nearby beacon that wanted to travel to. Each second felt like an hour as Vulstianus could do nothing but wait with the impatience of a child. He heard Nomenario mumbled a prayer to the god-empress. We’ll need it brother, he thought.
“Open a connection to the beacon and stand by. Give the same other to the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Serpentine.”
“Understood. Sending orders,” the Adjutant affirmed.
The cruisers maneuvered around and hyperspace windows opened and they accelerated through, slingshot through the network toward the coordinates that had been chosen. Thus, on Vulstianus command the trio that remained began to maneuver into position to open their own hyperspace windows and all the meanwhile the dark beast approached them unperturbed by the barrage that would have ravaged a Basilisk battleship. Its hard outer layer of skin might have been singed but it was hard enough to resist the short but usually deadly barrage.
“Adjutant!”
“Ready to initiate jump.”
“Do it!”
The Serpentine jumped into hyperspace first, followed quickly by the Sword of Hephaestus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Despite the seemingly successful escape, no one took the time to breathe for they knew that the mysterious and ancient creature was on their trail and it too jumped across the dimensions and into hyperspace. The how, one of the galaxies great wonders and it followed right behind the Citadel War Barges. It pursued through the black and blue shimmering of that mysterious realm, its maws chopping for metal and flesh. The Rex’s cannons that had a clear line of fire unloaded bolts of plasma and energy beams at it. Unperturbed it closed in with a greater pace and its tentacles began to close around the slightly larger metal casket and Vulstianus and his captains could do nothing but watch the holograms as it squeezed and crashed the hull and phased the Rex and itself out of hyperspace.
“Oh, by the god-empress…” Merebus breathed. “At least there weren’t any Ultra Marines on board.”
Vulstianus found no solace in that. Despite the encounter, the mission had to continue. “Adjutant,” he said with a heavy heart. “Please send a communique to the legionary fleet. Inform Archon Hephaestus about the loss of one of our Citadel War Barges.”617Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOosOtSzAmS
