Siege of Æsce - Prelude

Lu Yueh sighed as he stared out into the warp through the window of his ship. The thoughts of his sons aboard the *Zi zhi Baoqi* calming to his troubled mind. The things he had done to Bartos’ body in pursuit of knowledge, the deaths of his sons at his own hands, the losses inflicted by the Watchers, and the unavoidable deaths yet to come and the homeworld of Galvarian he would soon lay siege to. All this weighed heavily upon his mind.

‘Even if I was prepared for it, even if it is the right thing to do. Even with Bartos’ being moved to Jining. Even with the first legion torn to pieces. The pain of betrayal I saw in their eyes will not leave me.’ Lu thought. ‘At least my sons have the preparations to keep their minds from it all.’

Lu let his mind wander, touching the minds of each of his sons as they ready the ship for battle; the Yishi preparing the batches of toxins for initial bombardment, the apothecaries preparing antidotes and finishing last minute surgeries, techmarines ensuring every transport is ready for deployment, others checking ammunition and equipment over and over. As he let his thoughts wander his mind touched one of the plagued. All at once the thoughts of all those who had chosen to become worshipers of Nurgleth filled his mind. Their prayers, thoughts of joy, comradery and words from that being. Audible yet still too quiet to truly understand. Calling up memories of that day he met with Khnum, how Nurgleth interfered and damned half his legion to death. Lu was loath to touch their minds since that day.

Yet still, their endurance was undeniable and he had let their number grow. With all the setbacks and losses, he could not fault his sons for joining. Anything to ensure the future of the legions. He could bear whispers of that damned creature if that was the only price. Yet now the number of plagued has grown, and their thoughts and emotions have become a larger share of the whole. Lu wondered if a new agreement needed to be made.

When their number included but a few hundred and only Wen had a strong enough link to him for the creature’s voice to reach him it was simple enough to just shut them out. But now, there are thousands. Even two of his own guards have already chosen that path and it has become ever more difficult to not to hear their voices.

‘Even still it is funny in a way.’ Lu thought. ‘To find strength in worshiping a creature. When the Emperor explicitly desired all faith destroyed. Maybe that is why the Emperor wanted it destroyed, to remove a power that could oppose him? If that is true then it might still be a good thing to let more join the plagued. We will need all the strength we can get to slay him.’

“Father, we will enter real space within the hour.” Kuai Hong suddenly said, knocking Lu out of his thoughts.

“Earlier than expected.” Lu smiled. “Thank you my son. If you had not spoken up I might have missed the battle.” He said in jest.

“You say that as though we would allow you to do that. Again.” Kuai said, trying to maintain a straight face.

Lu laughed, his earlier tension nearly forgotten. “You are never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“No. I won’t.”

“Good, for beside that I make too few mistakes worth laughing about.” Lu said giving his son a pat on the back before making his way deeper into the ship. His guards followed close behind.

The way there was hectic. As mortals and Astartes alike rushed to and fro, preparing for both the transit into real space, and the battle that would immediately follow.

Mere moments before the predicted transit into real space they arrived at their destination, Lu Yueh’s astropathic pod. It is a small thing relatively speaking. Only thrice the height of Lu. A seemingly unassuming orb of metal and machinery with a door to enter it.  As Lu Yueh moved closer the pod opened. Allowing all to see a primarch sized chair made of cables and machinery. Lu sat down in his chair and waited for the ship to enter real space.

The moment he felt the ship leave the warp Lu Yueh activated the pod. The delicate machines came to life, the door to the pod closed and the feeling of his body disappeared. He now heard the thoughts of each of his sons across the fleet, clearly and easily distinguishable. Yet the rest of the fleet had yet to arrive. For a moment it was merely the thousands serving aboard his ship.

Within a moment the relative quiet would end. As the minds of 60.000 joined those aboard his ship. A mortal mind would have likely gone mad. Unable to distinguish the thoughts of one Astarte from another. For Lu Yueh who had felt this connection for decades, it was second nature. He quickly found the minds of the captains of each ship and gave his first order.

‘Get into formation and find the Ashen Crow garrison fleet. For once speed is of the essence.’

‘Yes, father.’ Came a chorus of over three hundred voices.

The fleet moved as one further into the system. Auspex scans finding only one and a half dozen ships in loose formation over the world of Æsce. Four Astartes battlecruisers, three Imperial navy cruisers and eight escort class vessels. These ships would not pose a threat. Yet Lu Yueh didn’t expect there to be so few ships. Even so deep in Imperial territory, it was still a legion homeworld. Jining had more than quadruple the forces garrisoned there.

‘Split off sections 6 and 12. I expect more ships elsewhere. They should not have heard of our actions yet. But I do not want this battle to cost us more than necessary.’

‘Yes, father.’ Came the voices of over a dozen.

Eighty ships split off from the fleet and moved to scout the eastern and western parts of the system. Meanwhile the rest of the fleet moved on toward their goal.

‘Father, we are being hailed. Do you want us to answer?’

‘No, we need not make this any harder for ourselves. Giving a voice to the foe would only make pulling the trigger hurt.’

‘Yes, father. I understand.’ There was sadness in the thought. Sadness and regret for what will be done. Yet also determination to see it through.

Though Lu did not feel it, his face bore a sad smile. He sent some thoughts of compassion to his son. It would calm his mind, and soothe his concerns.

Within a few hours the time had come. The fleet was in the range of the Blight Wardens lance batteries. The order was given and the weapons powered up. The fleet was hailed again and again, most likely due to the confusion of the defenders.

‘6 have you found anything?’

‘No father, the garrison seems to be no more than what is in orbit.’

‘12?’

‘Negative, space is empty.’

‘Good then we can begin. All ships open fire when ready.’ Lu then contacted the captain of his own ship immediately after. ‘Send them a simple message back, my son. Tell them, I am sorry.’ A simple thing. The least they deserve before their end.

‘Yes, father.’ The message was sent and followed by more desperate attempts to contact them.

Then the lances fired and the garrison fleet was torn to shreds as dozens of lance batteries fired upon the ships. Hulls melting before superior firepower and engines failing. After the first barrage the escorts were no more. The Blight Warden fleet went to full speed. Moving as fast as they could toward the planet. Firing another volley at what remained of the Ashen Crow fleet. Rendering both the Battlecruisers and standard cruisers no more than drifting husks of molten metal.

The moment the fleet entered orbit of Æsce bombardment began. Hundreds of payloads filled with all manners of toxins fell upon the world. Returning the now lush world back into the dead husk it had once been. Soon thousands of drop pods, fighters, bombers and transports followed the devastation. The siege had begun.

Read Landfall Part 1 ->