Every set of eyes across the bridge of the Hammer of Ultio were staring towards its armour glass canopy, joining the representation of Paradise on the hololith was now also a live pict feed of the plateau where the Warmonger Titan Mortem Incarnatum stood silent vigil –the sensor data outlined on the representation showed that the tunnelling mass was closing in on the Titan fast. On the live pict feed in the upper atmosphere was a miniscule star growing with every passing moment, for it was the fiery contrail heralding the Mechanicus frigate entering Paradises atmosphere.

 

There were tremors felt across the floor plate as the flagships Nova Cannon powered up, Ultio had given Magos Zule until the frigate came within weapons range of the tunnelling mass to call it off before the frigate was blasted unto its component atoms. The Magos was frantically trying to raise the errant vessel, through bursts of non-random static known as Techna-Lingua the machine language. It may have just been the nature of the language but the Explorator Magos seemed frantic and for good reason as the actions of the frigate could have far reaching consequences well beyond Paradise.

 

'The frigate is approaching weapons range, sire.' Stated Admiral Leopold, he did not take his eyes from the representation. 'We have a firing solution for the Nova Cannon.'

 

Ultio took a sidelong glance to the Explorator Magos. 'Magos Zule?'

 

'They do not answer.' Replied the Magos. 'Lord Primarch, I have no idea how this has happened but I beseech you to not fire upon my vessel.'

 

'It is threatening this operation.' Replied Ultio, tersely. 'If you cannot call your ship off I have no choice but to fire upon it.'

 

The Explorator Magos realised that the Primarch was correct that the frigate could damage the mission so he instead switched back to trying to raise his wayward ship, this change of tac was not likely out of some loyalty to the mission –no doubt Magos Zule feared losing any spoils from the colonisation vessel if his own ship jeopardised the operation. It became quickly evident that the Magos was not going to be able to call off the frigate, it was now only a matter of time.

 

'Admiral Leopold.' Stated Ultio, while turning to look upon the Magos. 'As soon as that frigate is within weapons range of the mass you are to fire upon it.'

 

At that moment a figure stepped forward but from an unlikely quarter for it was not a representative of the Mechanicus, it was one of his own sons, stepping forward was Master Techmarine Grimwald.

 

'Sire, I believe you are making a mistake.' Stated Grimwald, in his blunt fashion. A ripple of unease wafted over the bridge from those not used to anyone talking to a son of the Emperor with such derision.

 

'Explain yourself.' Stated Ultio, he was not enraged for he fostered his sons to question anything if they thought that a cause of action was folly. 'But make it quick.'

 

'I believe we need to look at the bigger picture.' Replied Grimwald. 'Yes the frigate may potentially damage the operation but think of what might happen if we fire upon a Mechanicus vessel. Think of what potential consequences could come from this. We have a fragile alliance with Mars, firing upon this frigate no matter how much of a valid case we present could not only destroy that frigate but it could also tear asunder the Treaty of Olympus Mons.

 

'We have been given tactical command from Lord Antioch over his Myrmidon forces but we do not have militaristic control over Magos Zule, nor does the Imperium of Man as a whole hold sway over the Mechanicus or Mars for they enjoy political and military autonomy. Therefore firing upon this frigate could quite easily be presented as an act of war, a war your father, our beloved Emperor can ill-afford, a war that the treaty itself sought to avoid.'

 

Ultio smiled, as he did so all tension bled from the atmosphere. 'As ever you council me wisely, but what would you propose to do with the frigate?'

 

'Nothing.' Replied Grimwald. 'I propose we do nothing, it was obviously not Magos Zule whom ordered the frigate into the atmosphere. Perhaps there is some other agency at work here, whose goal is to try and force your hand into firing upon the Mechanicus forces to cause a schism which would either completely destabilise the alliance between Terra and Mars or at the least cause censure against the Emperors Judgement and foster distrust between the two factions.

 

'In addition the frigates actions may well rectify itself, if it fires upon the mass it will either destroy it or the mass may be driven off or even be made to present itself. The worst case scenario I can foresee is that the mass destroys the frigate which under the current circumstances is not of a concern for you are willing it to destroy it right here right now. Whether the frigate survives or not matters not at all. What matters is that we stay impartial when it comes to matters concerning the alliance of the Imperium and the Mechanicus.

 

'If the humans leader has been kidnapped, we already have suspicion that the XX Legion has a hand in it, if they are involved maybe it is also they whom have machinations involving the Magos Explorator's frigate or our alliance with Mars.'

 

'Admiral Leopold, stand down the Nova Cannon crew.' Stated Ultio without hesitation.

 

Despite the Magos being far removed from humanity he looked relieved. 'Thank you Lord Primarch.'

 

'You are not out of this yet, Magos.' Replied Ultio, gesturing to the hololith. 'Your frigate is in weapons range.'

 

All eyes now returned to the hololith, the frigate was now in the atmosphere of Paradise, it hung in an extreme low orbit barely a few kilometres above the Mortem Incarnatum whom in turn had a dancing white corona surrounding it as its teleporter came online, the tunnelling mass was barely five kilometres away. At four kilometres the sky above the Mortem Incarnatum was bleached white as the frigate scorched the atmosphere with multiple lance strikes.

 

The effects from the lance strikes could not be directly seen on the pict feed as the tunnelling mass was just out of image range, but the effects could be seen on the representation of Paradise, the mass started to ascend to the surface. At three kilometres the mass reached the surface now within range of the pict feed, it was like nothing anyone on the bridge of the Hammer of Ultio had ever seen before, Lord Commander Antioch was reminded of the last words from Princeps Vernum the ground had indeed come to claim him. At two kilometres the tunnelling mass breached the surface of Paradise.

 

It erupted through the surface like some colossal land kraken, only the leading edge of it could be seen at first but it was enough to discern its identity. For it was not a tunnelling machine sent from some unknown underground megalopolis the tunnelling mass was organic, it was a creature. The creature could only be described as snakelike, although it seemed to lack eyes, millions of tonnes of debris fell from the monster as it breached. The land kraken was blue-green in colour it had a gargantuan maw opened wide that was split into four mandibles. By its trajectory alone the tunnelling horror looked set to swallow the frigate whole and crush the Mortem Incarnatum as a mere after effect of its titanic passing.

 

The Captain of the frigate evidently now thought better of his clandestine orders for the frigate had fired its engines and directional thrusters to turn it towards the void in hopes of escape. The Mortem Incarnatum stood there motionless with bright light still dancing around it, through the pict feed all those on the bridge could sense a conflict of choice exude from the Princeps of the Warmonger Titan as it had two choices open too it for it could either fire upon the monster or it could teleport to safety.

 

In the end Princeps Alba Tallos did both the Mortem Incarnatum teleported to safety but not before releasing every weapons at its disposal. The tunnelling horror was saturated by missiles batteries, cannons strikes and plasma blasts. Even though the mighty Mechanicus war machine had looked like nothing more than a child's toy in the land krakens colossal shadow, the Mortem Incarnatum showed that it had teeth of its own as its weapons bit into the beast for the monster spewed a wave of purple ichor from its flanks.

 

The beast however was wounded and not beaten, it rose from the land tearing asunder the ground where the Warmonger Titan had stood upon only moments ago, in what seemed to be the blink of an eye the monster closed with the fleeing frigate and closed its gargantuan maw. The frigate was swallowed whole but not before a final lance strike could be seen, the frigates captain refusing to go down without a fight. Having seized its prize the land kraken hit the surface of Paradise and disappeared from view leaving only geological patterns in the earth as well as the sensor readings the only clue of where it was headed, it was headed north.

 

No one had time to mourn the passing of the frigate for Lord Commander Tiberius stormed forward. 'My Primarch we have found an anomaly with a Kerakian troop carrier and a Stormbird.'

 

'What is the anomaly?' asked Ultio, unable to tear his eyes from the pict feed.

 

'The troop carrier and the Stormbird both match transponder signals.' Replied Tiberius. 'The troop carrier was damaged in the strike against the Eldar and is not with the Greater Order it is heading for refit as we speak, yet the trooper carrier registers as being a part of our armed host. The Stormbird launched from the troop carrier, it also has a doppelganger whose counterpart is on this very ship hung on launch rails carrying a squad of Terminators.'

 

'Where is the other Stormbird now?' asked Ultio.

 

'My Primarch it left the surface of Paradise just after the report from Sergeant Riddick came in about the kidnapping of their leader.'

 

'What could they want with the human's leader?' Instead of flying into a rage Ultio closed his eyes to think, no sooner had he did they snap back open, he pointed to the representation of Paradise. 'Great Terra they are after the colonisation vessel! The ordering of the frigate to bombard that beast was merely a faint to distract the entire fleet!'

 

Ultio was unable to verify his theory or think of a counter ploy as Lord Grenwell bounded forward.

 

'Sire!' cut in Lord Grenwell. 'I bring dire news Sergeant Riddick requests immediate reinforcement.'

 

'They are under attack from the humans?' asked Ultio.

 

'They were but the humans have fled.' Replied Lord Grenwell. 'They emerged from the mountainside and were headed to the valley floor pursued by thousands of armed humans. Sergeant Riddick hoped to reach the Warmonger to request reinforcement but the terrible beast breached first.' Lord Grenwell's face darkened. 'The Sergeant is now under attack from a previously unknown strain of xenos that detached themselves from the monster.'

 

Ultio did not have to order it to happen, Admiral Leopold replayed the footage of the monster breaching the earth and he zoomed in on the debris sloughing from it. True enough some of it was soil and rocks but a great many were insectoid like creatures falling with the rubble, Admiral Leopold panned and zoomed out revealing thousands of the things falling to the surface of Paradise.

 

'Lord Destrian you are to take a company of Terminators, a Tactical company and an Assault company and head over to the colonisation vessel Also Vendatha I would like you and your Legio Custodes to accompany Lord Destrian, you are the eyes and ears of the Emperor if fellow Astartes blood is to be spilt I want it known that we did not conduct fratricide willingly or easily.' Stated Ultio, he held off a warding hand to the Magi from various factions. 'This was their plan to have us fight the xenos while they took the colonisation vessel and this is why they took the leader of the humans leader for the means to open it must been gene coded to the first colonists.

 

'The rest of Lord Gromwell and Lord Griswold's forces already on the surface will converge on the Sergeants position. The Jetbikes and Land Speeders are to conduct flanking operations, also their remaining companies and armoured assets will make planet fall. Lord Grenwell's forces will advance to a full war footing and await orders to strike for the surface.

 

The Kerakian Feudal Guard will make planet fall in the wake of the advance to secure ground. I want every Imperial Knight Walker we have at our disposal with us in the first wave.' Ultio turned to the remaining Princeps on the bridge from the Legio Astorum then to the Magos of Cybernetica. 'I request that every Legio Astorum Titan be prepared to teleport to the surface I also request that as many maniples of your battle robots as you can spare join the first wave. The Hammer of Ultio and the fleet are to commence surface bombarded, try and lead it away from the engagement zone, if it turns back we have hurt it once we can do so again.'

 

'Who will lead the assault?' asked Lord Commander Tiberius, with evident eagerness in his voice.

 

'We both will.' Replied Ultio, a wry grin splitting his lips. 'It has been too long since we thought against a xenos species. I also want the entirety of the Shield Guard as well as every dreadnought and dreadknight with us at the centre.'

 

'My Lord?' asked Lord Antioch.

 

'Yes Lord Commander?' asked Ultio.

 

'The humans on Paradise' stated Lord Antioch. 'I appreciate my forces may not be able to handle the xenos menace but I believe we can tackle the humans.'

 

'You wish to make war upon them?' asked Ultio, his features now stern.

 

'No, my lord.' Replied the Lord Commander. 'I wish to contact them, what with the kidnapping of their leader I believe all-out war may well be a full gone conclusion but we must at least try once more to make peaceable contact. I would like you to grant me permission to make landfall in the mountains and attempt contact.'

 

Ultio thought to himself for a while. 'We will not be able to reinforce you easily if you are met with aggression.'

 

'I appreciate that, my lord.' Replied Lord Antioch. 'It is a risk worth taking if we can bring the humans into the fold of the Imperium, I accept any censure should I fail to complete this task.'

 

'Very well.' Replied Ultio. 'Make your landings and I wish you luck.'

 

Ultio then strode to the very edge of the floor plate, he could see thousands of craft launching for the surface of the planet, he knew they were Stormbird's, Thunderhawk's, bulk landers and troop ships, he had not ordered an assault like this since they made war upon the greenskins. It was truly a glorious site, once more Ultio Ultionis would go to war in the name of the Emperor.

 

Ultio turned and made to stride from the bridge, following in his wake were his seven Astartes officers and Lord Antioch following in their wake, he would strike for the Achilles then for the surface of Paradise.

 

Just as Ultio drew level with Admiral Leopold, the Admiral had one last warning be the Primarch made for the surface. 'My lord, the Stormbird has docked with the colonisation vessel.'

 

Ultio's reply was terse. 'I hope for all our sakes they don't make us destroy it.'