Warzone: Borhelia - a mini-campaign on the planet Boreliah in the Esenie system!
- A lot of agents died to get me this information! And you just blow me off! In the name of the Emperor! Haven't you been listening?
Inquisitor Ripley was furious and she couldn't help her anger to slip out. She had been trying for an hour to get Lord Bronchiitus to realize the grave danger that lurked upon them. What started as a important message to the leader of Metz had turned into a plea to a mad fool. And nothing helped. Ripley had presented facts and observations that had cost 14 Ordo agents their lives. Most of them had died horribly, ripped apart by bare hands.14 agents! The signs were clear and the signs told her that the already troubled Esenie sector was about to be in even more dire straits. She counted to ten and then decided to try again:
- Lord Bronchiitus, listen to me... there have been 32 riots on Metz since you started the campaign for governor. 32! 65673 people have been killed in these riots! 65673! And that includes my 14 agents!! Police stations and military facilities have been attacked. Police officers and military personell have been dragged outside and brutally murdered! Haven't you seen the pictures?
- Now, calm down Inquisitor Ripley... it's just a turned up heat before the elections... people are committed, you see. They want their favourite to win and that involves.. eh.. discussions...
- Discussions?! Over 65000 people killed in discussions? Listen to yourself! Obviously you are unable to handle this, Lord Bronchiitus. I say this once again; there are signs of an incursion, one you certainly don't want in your neighbourhood! The signs point to the ruinous powers and the blood god, the signs are fraggin' clear!!
Inquisitor Ripley fell silent for a moment, while she checked new information from her computer.
- I see now that there is another riot in the city of Lud. Are you going to respond to that, Lord Bronchiitus, or must I...
- That wont be necessary, Inquisitor Ripley! I will deal with this. I'm sending units from the 101st to quell this riot. Is that good enough for you, Inquisitor?
- Very well, Lord Bronchiitus... In the meantime I will appoint one of my fellow Inquisitors to Metz. He will arrive in a few days.
Oh, you don't have to do that, Inquisitor Ripley, I will...
- No more jibber-jabber, Lord Bronchiitus! Inquisitor Hoffman will report to you in a few days. I expect your co-op, Lord Bronchiitus. Over and out!
Lord Bronchiitus turned from the vid-vox with a snarl. How dared that... woman... tell him what to do? He grabbed a vase and thew it at the wall. It hit a painting, which fell to the floor, shattering its glass frame to pieces. That made him even more angry. The picture had been a gift from his late wife, who had unfortunately died in a traffic accident two years ago... Lord Bronchiitus felt a tear running down his cheek. He had loved Bettina. That little sweetheart with her worried look. Now she was dead and all because this idiotic desert rock of a world, which was a damned dung-pit with idiotic people living on it! He drew his rapier and thrusted it through his favourite couch. He then thrusted it through the satin pillows that were lying on top of it. When he saw them being ripped apart, his anger rose to a new level and he screamed, kicked and ripped apart just about everything in this office... and during his rage, just before he passed out of anger, he could hear a laugh in his head...
***
3rd Maintenance officer Pierre checked the power stats on the welding drones as they worked with the west ”leg” of Landing Pad 7. The ”leg” had been hit by a truck yesterday and it had to be mended as soon as possible as the strange men from Mars arrived in an increasing number. People like Pierre was never told anything that happened on the bigger scale, and he was happy with that, but he couldn't help realizing that something major was going on here. First, the half-machine men came and started to build and fix things, then the drones and then the big robots with the weapons. Mais oui, something big was happening. Not just here in Agde, but he had heard from friends in Mourseille and Ghann, that the same thing was happening there. The men from Mars, as they were called, were doing something to Metz.
A red lamp suddenly started to blink. Pierre looked at the screen above the lamp. At first he couldn't see what was going on, as the screen flickered, but then the picture cleared. One drone lay still, smoke rising from it and then another drone, right next to the first one, exploded in a ball of fire. Another red lamp started to blink. Pierre reacted instantly and slammed his fist on the scramble button. Someone was attacking the landing pad!
***
Marechal Phedre half-ran behind a lumbering Leman Russ, bellowing orders to his soldiers. He wasn't sure why he was attacking Agde starport, but he didn't care. The voice, the soothing and yet eager and angry voice in his head had told him to go in with all guns blazing against Agde and secure the starport. And so he did. Phedre hated the Imperium and the big hoax their supposed leader; the Emperor on the golden throne, was. How could he once have believed in that? It was the Imperium that assaulted his troops and his Garde Imperial! Without asking! No, it was all a big bluff. The Imperium couldn't care less for its servants and even killed its own troops regularly. The voice in his head had told him all this and Phedre knew that it was true. Now he and his Garde were free and were promised eternal life. The voice had told him that too. Marechal Phedre looked at the landing pad as he and his force got closer. There was something odd there, something he had never seen before, something not human... almost robotic. Frag that, he thought, whatever is at Agde landing pad, it had to be killed.
Marechal Phedre's force fanned out in front of the starport, with the Leman Russes as the centre. To the right the Grenadiers de la Garde Imperial 22eme Regiment took positions. In front of them, a mere kilometer away, some strange robots were approaching. They looked like a mix between a tankette and a servitor. The grenadiers opened fire and one of the tankette-robot exploded.
To the left the Garde Imperial Guardsmen started their shooting against some odd-looking men whose arms and hands flickered with lightning-bolts. Phedre yelled to the crew of the Wyvern to blast the electronic shit out of them and the Wyvern obeyed and delivered. Half of the electric men were torned apart by the devastating Storm Shard grenades. The rest of the guardsmen poured lasgun fire into the remains and left no electric man standing. Marechal Phedre nodded approvingly and turned his attention to the large robots on and in front of the landing pad. If they could press these things back, the landing pad would be captured in mere minutes. The Leman Russes opened fire on the robots, but just scratched their armor. This was the beginning of the end for the 22eme Garde Imperial.
The advancing tankette-robots returned fire on the grenadiers and a lot of them died, torned apart by bullets and rays. And the dead grenadiers started to glow, as they lay broken in the sand, as if some large sparkler had been lit inside them. This attracted even more fire from the strange half-machines and the grenadiers were killed by the dozen! Marechal Phedre couldn't believe his eyes and things went from bad to worse when the large robots moved forward and fired their heavy flamethrowers and strange guns. The Leman Russes were hit and one got its tracks blown off and were immobilized. The Wyvern was targeted by another group of robots on tracks and blew up like nothing, killing even more of the grenadiers that were next to it. Marechal Phedre realized that the starport couldn't be taken, as his guardsmen on the left were gunned down as well, but he wasn't to give up... Marechal Phedre ordered his remaining force to join him in a last charge... and they ran into their glorious death!
***
Lord Bronchiitus read the report slowly. Four starports had been attacked by the 22eme Regiment Garde Imperial du Metz. Three had fallen... only the one in Agde had repelled its attackers. Mourseille, Lud and Ghann were now occupied by the Garde du Metz. He again heard that laughing voice in his head... like an echo far away... but... now forming words...
-Lord Bronchiitus... you have done well... I am coming... soon... Together we... will make Metz our true... home! I am coming...
Lord Bronchiitus smiled and went to his office. Things were going according to the plan. Soon, he would be the true master of this planet, this idiotic desert world be turned into a playground... for him and his new friend...
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Written by: Tony Melander (June, 2015)