Thus Did The Imperium of Mankind Fight There

Part 12 What?

Arik Taranis was at the base of the hill, with the battle over he was organizing the prisoners and the construction of an Imperial stronghold around the Gate. Aiding him was the Castellan and Muster Chief from the 4th Legion. 

He saw his son return with what he presumed to be the enemy general in his grip and a strange abhuman running behind him. Ghota dropped the still-shaking man at his primogenitor's feet and reported, "Sir, the enemy general," with no fanfare or show of triumph. He nodded and then looked at the panting figure behind his equerry. 

"Who is she?" he inquired, puzzled as to why his son hadn't just killed all of those who were with the enemy commander. He had not given any orders to bring anyone to him, except for the general, and he knew that it was not in the nature of any of his sons, even the most stable one, to spare someone they'd not been specifically instructed to.

Ghota tilted his head towards the woman and spoke. 

"She is a slave this "gesturing to the general" fool brought with him." 

Arik narrowed his eyes at his son and asked, "Why did you bring her with you?" 

Ghota's response was simple.  

"She didn't deserve it."

His equerry's straightforward reply only brought more questions to his mind, but he pushed them aside. He trusted his son more than anyone, in fact, he was the only one he truly trusted.

"Well then, since you decided to bring her along you will be responsible for her wellbeing and the accommodations of all the slaves we have "liberated" from the enemy."

He smirked, his sense of humor had always been the bane of all those on the receiving end, such as Magnus when he'd ordered him to be cudgeled by the Knight-Commander of the Sisters of Silence, Jenetia Krole, until he acquiesced to his point that psychic powers could not be completely relied on, and that arrogance came before the fall.    

With a passive face, Ghota nodded and then left with the now former slave, long used to his liege's crude remarks. Now the Primarch turned his attention to the enemy general who was pissing himself on the dirt, literally. Arik could tell from the smell. Crouching down to look the terrified mortal in the eye, he spoke. 

"Consider yourself fortunate that I'm going to let you go, but first, you are going to give whoever is your master my message."

Godasen gulped before he nodded in agreement. 

"Tell him he has one month to prostrate himself before my liege's aquila standard or I shall replace him with a leader more...compliant with the wishes of my lord. Tell him that we "gesturing to the Imperium's forces" are the Imperium of Mankind, masters of the stars and he will reckon the day he did not submit when he had the chance."

When he finished speaking, he signaled to an Imperial Army aide to bring the sniveling coward to the caravan of captured wagons and horses, manned by POWS he'd assembled to bring his ultimatum to the so-called Emperor of this Sadera. 

With that done he left to gather his staff and plot his next move. 

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Daybreak over Arnus Hill

"What do you mean you can't get an astropathic message of this planet?" 

It was daytime after the battle for control of what the locals called Arnus Hill. Arik had organized his command staff consisting of his equerry, the Colonels from the Imperial Army regiments, the Tribune commanding the Solar Auxilia men, the Castelan leading the Space Marine company and the leader of the army's air assets that were not yet fully operational due to the still under construction airbase. 

There were also abhuman officers from the Felinid, Squat and Ratling units, though the Ogryns and Beastmen were not present due to their lack of critical thinking. Of course, there were the Discipline Masters led by their Discipline Master Captain. 

Then there were the not entirely military members of the army's command staff. A tech-priest who represented the interests of the Mechanicum, an official from the Officio Logisticarum, an Imperial Agent from the Adeptus Umbrex, and an Astropath from the Adeptus Psi. 

Finally, there were the iterators and remembrancers as well as Count Formal who acted as their primary source of local knowledge. They'd come through after the Gate had been declared secure from this side.

Right now, Arik Taranis was speaking to the Astropath with undisguised annoyance. 

"I-I-It is as I have stated my lord, all attempts at sending an astropathic message from the surface of this planet have failed."

The Astropath was clearly fearful of earning the Primarch's ire as he stuttered. 

"Explain," Arik commanded. 

"The planet is covered by some kind of...shroud in the immaterium, it does not block this planet from the warp, which is why we can still draw power from it, but it filters anything from coming in and vice versa. This is also why my colleagues and I have noticed that the warp energy on this world is so calm," the Astropath expressed. 

Arik grunted in frustration, without astropathic communication from this planet to the rest of the Imperium, they couldn't make contact with any Imperial Expeditionary fleets or planets to reinforce them. Even if the wider Imperium assembled reinforcements, they couldn't be guided through the warp to this planet without a psychic signal. 

That meant that unless they could find some way to get past this shroud or an Imperial fleet simply stumbled upon this planet by sheer coincidence, their only means of supplies and reinforcements was through that damned Gate. 

He could request reinforcements from Malcador, but the logistical situation was already at the breaking point. The Gate was simply too small to support a larger army than the one he already possessed. 

He sighed; this campaign was turning out to be more difficult than he ever could have anticipated. 

Then the Adeptus Umbrex Imperial Agent asked the Astropath a question. 

"Can you discern what made this...shroud, Astropath?"

The question surprised the Astropath. 

"N-N-N-No sir," he answered.

"Hmm," the Agent pondered. 

Then Steel Warden Castillen Brocious questioned the Agent. 

"Honored Agent, do you have a theory as to what formed this shroud?" 

The Umbrex Agent nodded, replying, "Yes, I believe this to be the work of a Warp God Construct."

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