8th April 3504
Solar Illuminate Empire space
Imperial system, Planet Aiur
Capital city Crystal Dagon, Imperial Palace
The sun was at its highest point in the sky when Julia entered the palace. The followed the servant that was guiding her right through the tall red stone archway leading up to the large dual doors that led inside the palace proper. It had been years since she was in the palace last time. It had been three years ago after Emperor Victus VIII died and the coronation of Empress Sini II. She was five at the time. The poor girl had lost her father at such a young age, and her mom had died in childbirth.
She had been close to the palace many times, in the Blood Raven Citadel next to it. The Citadel was the Headquarters of the Blood Ravens. They were an elite Corps within the Solar Marine Corps. They were the best of the best, they fought hard and never surrendered or disobeyed orders.
Julia was clad in the famous Daedalus Combat Armor utilized by the Blood Ravens. The light armor was dark red. Minor junctions between the armor plates were ebony black. The standard helmet was equally red and black and the large visor covering the face was red. Although Julia wasn’t wearing the helmet at the moment, she was wearing the officer’s cloak. It was long and blood red. The wind was gripping it gently. It was made out of titanium composite plates.
The two Blood Ravens making up her escort was in full gear.
As she walked through the dual doors Julia moved her right gauntleted hand over her tan skin forehead and through her red hair. Her hair was fixed into a bob cut. It was the most comfortable style when wearing a helmet, in her opinion anyway.
As she was guided down a hallway she looked at the purple armored Pyramid Guards protecting the palace.
She was let through several hallways until she came out onto a large balcony overlooking the palace garden. The garden was 200 meter in diameter. A beautiful mesh of flowers, bushes, trees and lavish green grass. There was passageway leading through the flower fields and hundreds of bushes and trees. But it wasn’t the trees and flowers that caught her attention. No, her attention rested on two men overlooking the garden, no doubt waiting for her.
The Blood Raven armor clad woman clasped her gauntleted hands behind her back and walked up to them as the servant made himself scares.
Julia recognized both the men. The large man on the right was a General in the Army. General Augustus Octavius. He was a veteran of many campaigns and a war hero. He was wearing the dark green armor combat suit. Far heavier and larger than the Blood Ravens armor, similar to a mech, but in form of a combat armor.
The other man was dressed in simple noble clothes. Dressed as a typical man from the other class. Lord Felix Hadrian, uncle and Regent to the eight year old Empress.
Her Blood Raven marine escort waited a few meters away. Half a dozen Pyramid Guards was following them short behind.
“Lord Commander,” the Regent said courteously.
He and General Octavius turned to face her. The regent had a smile on his face while Octavius had a neutral expression.
Felix reached out and offered to shake Julia’s hand.
“Lord Commander Chandonnet. What a pleasure to meet you again. I am sorry to pull you from your duties in the Citadel.”
Lord Commander was a rank similar to a General or Admiral, but more of an Imperial rank. It was given to organization leaders in service of the Imperial throne. The Pyramid Guard and the Blood Ravens was two of those. The rank was one of honor, respect and authority in the eyes of the people.
“It wasn’t very far a walk Regent,” Julia answered professionally.
Felix chuckled lightly.
He was a young looking man in his mid-forties. Brown locks and a bit of fluff to it.
“True.”
Octavius nodded firmly to her.
“Lord Commander.”
“General. Always an honor.”
“Hmm.”
Julia looked at Felix with her silver eyes.
“For what reason was a summoned, Regent? I was in the midst of preparing Blood Raven forces on Cyrene.”
Felix arched an eyebrow, glancing at Octavius.
“I haven’t heard of this. What is this on Cyrene?”
“Ork scout ships was sighed at the edge of the system,” Octavius answered. “Four days ago. It may indicate a raid, but also just a scouting mission to see what defenses the planet has. Our defenses are steady and strong, but the Lord Commander had little faith in the brave soldiers will to defend Cyrene.”
“It has nothing to do with faith or even defense, General,” Julia defended plainly. She looked back at Felix. “I spoke with Supreme Commander Zhann and she desired for my local Blood Ravens to be prepared to chase down and punish the Orks once they retreat. To ensure they realize the price from assaulting an Imperial Core world.”
Felix nodded understandingly. He clapped his gloved hands together in a spirit of comradery.
“Sounds like an excellent tactic to me. Why don’t we discuss why you are here?”
Julia figured he felt the tension between her and Octavius. Even while both of them was professional about it, the Regent could still feel it.
“What is this about?” She asked.
“We shall explain this when you meet with my niece.”
Julia nodded subtly.
“Yes Regent.”
She joined the two men on the way to the throne room. Her two escorting Ravens followed with the Pyramid Guards escorting them to ensure they didn’t do anything not allowed inside the palace.
The throne room was a large open space. 50 m2 across. A purple carpet guided the way from the large doorway to the throne. Large white pillars was lined up on the left and right sides with a walkway along each of the walls. The throne itself was made out of gold and silver with purple soft materials to sit on and lean back against, including the arm support. It was ascended from the floor by a few stairs, placing the monarch above mortal men. There was another throne on the left, but it laid lower to the floor then the main throne. It was also smaller and less covered in gold and silver. It was the throne used by the husband or wife of the ruling Emperor or Empress.
Last time Julia was here-at the Empress’s coronation there was hundreds of people here and on the walkways. Now there was only a few dozen Pyramid Guards there, plus the Empress herself.
Empress Sini II Hadrian daughter of late Emperor Victus VIII Hadrian, and sovereign ruler of the Solar Illuminate Empire. It was strange to imagine that the little girl, a child, had so vast powers, holding the loyalty of billions. Because of her age her uncle Felix was acting Regent, but even so, she had the power of an Empress.
She had long brown wavy hair and wore a purple dress with silver details and a long purple cloak. It was the Imperial colors.
A man in clothes befitting a noble started speaking loudly.
“I present Lord Felix Hadrian, acting Regent, General Augustus Octavius of the 2nd Corps and Lord Commander Julia Chandonnet, Commander of the Blood Ravens!”
He introduced them.
The escorting guards and Blood Ravens waited at the entrance.
When they got within fifteen meters the girl jumped off her throne and ran towards them.
Julia heard Octavius sigh. He didn’t think that behavior was fitting for an Empress. Despite the fact she was only eight. She didn’t hear the Regent so he either kept what he thought or himself or didn’t care. Given Lord Felix noble status she imagined he was of a similar mind with Octavius.
“Sini…” Felix started as she approached.
He stopped when the girl did what he hadn’t expected. Instead of hugging him she threw her arms around Julia’s armor clad waist. It took Julia by surprise but she put her hands on her back.
“I missed you!” Sini proclaimed. She looked up with a big smile on her little face,
“Why do you have to be away for so long?”
“Apologize little Excellency. Leading the Blood Ravens takes a lot of time and strength,” Julia explained, giving the girl a smile.
“Oh. Ok.” Sini had a big smile on her face. “That can change thought.”
Julia avoided furrowing her brow in confusion. What did she mean by that?
Felix took his que to explain.
“Lord Commander, you have been chosen to replace the late Lord Commander Borg. You will be the new Commander of the Pyramid Guard.”
Julia’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that. It was a great honor to command the Pyramid Guard. Be responsible for the Empress’s safety. In the public eye it was a glorious promotion befitting a war hero of her stature. On the other hand to offer it to the commander of the Blood Ravens…to her it seemed an attempt to relieve on of command of the brave Ravens and place her on a single minded task, while making people think of it as a great promotion. Anything less would anger the Terran people within their borders.
Seven years ago
3497, September, 27th
Solar Illuminate Empire space, Ork Warlord Gilgamesh Horde invasion
Petra-12T-Erubor system, Petrograd colony
101st Blood Raven Regiment frontlines
Julia wore the standard armor of a Blood Raven with the red cloak of an officer. She used the HUD inside her helmet to get an overlook of the battlefield in front of her.
Her brothers and sisters was holding long trenches dug into the earth. All around them was ruins of the town. Uncountable numbers of Ork and Terran bodies littered the muddy and smashed-to-bits ground. The oldest bodies between their and the Ork lines had started to rot. It left a disgusting stench of rotting flesh in the air which made the Ravens thank Emperor Victus VIII for their helmet and air filtration systems within.
The rotting smell no doubt made the Orks relish and assisted in feeding them into a frenzy before storming the 101st lines like in the days of World War 1 on Earth, the trenches of the West Front in France and Belgium.
Colonel Julia Chandonnet walked among the thousands of men under her command. They were ready and aiming at the onslaught of Orks and Orkuns coming over the dirt and mud hills in the no man’s land.
The green skin menace charged towards their lines in huge numbers. Their open mouths revealing their fangs. Armed with their savage melee weapons and mass of projectile weapons.
She moved her right hand in front of her head to deactivate her Heads-up-display’s holographic map. The map was only visible for her since it was in her HUD. She then activated her helmet commlink to connect to the entire Regiment, every man and woman ready for another hellish moment of combat.
“Be ready for fire when your HUDs confirm them over the 100 meter mark. Remember to show them no mercy, because by the Emperor, you know they will show none!”
She looked out over the field of mud, dirt and corpses. She saw a storm of Orkun in front of the Ork ranks. Or what the Orks called ranks.
The Orkun was a subspecies from the Orks homeworld subservient to the Orks that was even more savage than their Ork counterparts. They were around a meter in height. They had the same freaky green skin, bald with big pointy ears and blood soaked little sharp teeth. Thought small, they were fearless homicidal monsters of rage and violence.
On her HUD she counted five seconds until they reached the 100 meter mark.
She cocked her thick Pulsar Rifle and aimed over the trench’s highest point towards the enemy.
Four seconds.
The rifle was a Gail-13 Pulsar Rifle. It was a standard Pulsar rifle. Most of civilized species had abandoned projectile weaponry or was in the process of sorting them out. It was dependent of energy charges for ammo and the Pulsar Rifle needed a replacement every 200 rounds. It was better than most rifles that had to reload long before that.
Three seconds.
The wait was the worst part.
Two seconds.
“Come on you bastards,” she heard one of the men around her spit through his helmets audio.
One seconds.
A hail of bullets fled from the rifles barrels and towards the green horde charging. The mounted turrets sprayed slugs and in a second flat over a hundred little Orkuns dropped dead. In the few next seconds a hundred Orkuns and Orks was dead. Squeals or dying Orks mixed with battle cries of their still living brothers.
One of the turret gunners cried out, “In the name of the Emperor, for the glory of the Colonel, taste led!”
The Blood Ravens was famous for many things, one of them was their unquestionable loyalty to their superiors.
Only fifty meters separated the Ravens from their green skin enemies. Rounds was flying wildly from the approaching Orks.
For ten seconds Julia left her finger on the trigger and sprayed death onto the Orks. Warrior after warrior dropped death with rounds ripping into their flesh and light armor on impact.
She spotted an Ork rushed forward with a Bolter Heavy Machinegun in his muscular arms. It was a heavy weapon firing small scrap metal pieces that could penetrate flesh as easily as armor. With a magazine of 1,000 bolt the Bolter could cut down anyone in range and sight.
She shifted her aim slightly and squeezed the trigger gently. She fired three slugs. One scraped the Ork Bolter’s arm, one missed and one hit his left knee. With a shriek the Ork toppled forward-still gripping the Bolter-and prepared to fire the machinegun.
“Marksmen Squads, focus fire on the heavy infantry,” she said in her commlink.
She put a final round in the Ork’s face, spraying red blood and cracking his skull. His face fell on the Bolter Heavy Machinegun as blood flowed out through the wound in his forehead.
Julia flinched when artillery striked down around them.
“Hawk Gunship Squadrons, move in!” She ordered over her commlink. “Reaper and Alpha Squadrons clear way to the artillery!”
When the Hawk gunships had cleared out a path a Squadron of bombers would swoop in and demolish the artillery positions.
The Orks and whatever Orkuns was still alive was twenty meters away.
Almost at the mines, let’s see how this goes, she mused.
She heard the cracking of a visor and a thud when the Raven to her left slammed into the ground. There was a hole in his visor. A bullet had managed to pierce the reinforced glass visor. She spared her fallen brother a glance of sorrow before continuing to fire her Pulsar Rifle.
On the side of her HUD she received several green blinking dots of acknowledgement from the Gunship Squadron commanders.
An artillery shell struck into the trench somewhere not too far away. She heard screams just as an explosion occurred.
The mines the Orks approached was a new type of Plasma mines. It was only used by the Blood Ravens yet but would be incorporated into the Imperial military in the coming years.
Julia and her men only waited for two seconds before the Orks set off the mines proximity sensors. The line of mines detonated and explosions of green plasma swallowed up the first three lines of Orks and whatever Orkuns had managed to survive until this point. She could only dream of how many of those filthy bastards just died.
“Prepare for close quarters combat!” Julia shouted through her commlink. She opened it to all her men. “Keep your blades ready!”
Blood Raven standard equipment included a blade for melee action.
The Orks had been caught off guard by the mines but they already regained their momentum.
Julia detached the blade hilt from her waist and extended the slick black blade.
The first Orks leaped into the air, axes in hand and a splint second from landing among the Blood Ravens in the trench. In one hand, Julia leveled her rifle at an Ork and splattered his blood before he landed, and in the other hand her blade decapitated an Ork and allowed his headless corpse to smack into the muddy trench ground.
Overhead she heard the roaring thunder of gunships.
Present day
3504, April, 8th
Solar Illuminate Empire space
Imperial system, Planet Aiur
Capital city Crystal Dagon, Imperial Palace
Sini released Julia from the hug and waited for her answer. She had a big smile of her face.
“You’re Excellency, I am honored that you would entrust me with your protection, and that of your family,” Julia told her with a gentle and honest voice. “But I cannot abandon my Ravens. I swore my life to them the day I ascended to become their Lord Commander.”
For a moment Sini looked sad, then a smile spread upon her face.
“Can’t you do both?” The question was asked with a hopefully tone.
It confused the trio facing her though.
“Excellency?” Julia inquired.
“Can’t you do both? Command both. Please?”
For a child it may have seemed obvious but it was unheard for the rest. For someone to command both the Pyramid Guard and the Blood Ravens, it wasn’t how the government operated. It was possible off course but it had never happened before. Commanding the Pyramid Guard and the Blood Ravens was a ridiculous thought to most of nobility and upper class. One was a bodyguard force and one elite soldiers within the Marine Corps.
“My dear,” Felix started, amused by how ridiculous nature of it. Not to mention that he would make Julia Chandonnet more powerful and eligible for the throne in the eyes of the people. He couldn’t let his niece do that. It would be the opposite of what he and his friends desired when trying to reassign her in the Pyramid Guard,
“I doubt that would be a good-”
“Please,” Sini begged Julia.
Julia glanced at Felix before kneeling.
“I accept Empress. I will not fail, I swear it.”
Sini giggled and clapped her hands excitedly.
Felix had to accept that even as Regent he didn’t have the authority to overrule the Empress when she actually made a decision. It would be a poor political move to try to overrule her too.
General Octavius showed no emotions over the decision.
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