Chapter 110
Dooku looked at the map of the Galaxy and felt stifled.
The map was divided between 4 colors. Blue for the Republic, red for the CIS, green for the Yautja, and grey for neutral systems but those were very rare.
The green area that was originally very small and only consisted of 7 systems towards the bottom of the map had quickly expanded over the past year while various spots of green appeared all over the Galaxy.
"The Yautja have proven just as dangerous as we had thought they would be, Master," Dooku spoke to a figure in the shadows behind him
He was against the original idea of using Jial's family to drag him into the war. He understood that it was a massive gamble but some of the other members had undermined his decision and gone through with it anyway.
And because of their choice, the war had turned far too chaotic. Planets that were originally divided between staying loyal to the Republic or joining the CIS had suddenly united and pledged their allegiance to the Yautja.
Besides those that surrendered without a fight, the Yautja's army was unstoppable. They moved slowly but each move they made resulted in a Republic or CIS loss.
Both had switched from launching offensives to creating powerful defensive fleets and reinforcing their armies at the 'borders'.
This had luckily slowed down the Yautja's progress but many believed that this was just the beginning. No one knew whether the Yautja had shown their full strength.
"The Yautja shall be dealt with soon enough. Another shall join the fray and disrupt the momentum that they have gained," Sidious assured his apprentice
He had a way of keeping contact with the Unknown Region and tracking what was going on there. He knew about how Jacen/Sleenesh had gathered an army that would soon invade the Republic and Yautja territory.
Since Jial was Jacen's main enemy, he was planning on letting the pair fight it out before encouraging the Republic and CIS to turn their defensive lines into invasion fleets.
It was going to be a complete reversal that Jial would be unable to handle.
——
Jial was listening to his officers report on the current war situation but his eyes were elsewhere.
The blue screen in front of eyes had a timer that was quickly descending.
[Time left until the Black Crusade: 17 Hours, 13 Minutes, and 33 Seconds.]
'Not even a full day until the crusade begins.'
Jial knew that the crusade would change the entire landscape of the war. He had secretly moved most of his forces to the western front, ready to meet Jacen's forces. He just wasn't sure how effective it would be.
— 17 hours and 13 minutes later —
The Yautja fleet stationed outside of the Unknown Region had all received the message from Jial, warning them of an incoming attack.
Each of the planets had all of the civilians evacuated and were populated by nothing but soldiers, droids, Titans, Astartes, and Praetomorphs.
The fleets above them sported their best ships and some of their most experienced commanders. Ships with designs based from the Old Sith Empire and fromt he various groups he had studied thanks to the System, Jial had designed the most powerful fleet he could.
The only ones who were not present were the Yautja's most elite members with the exception of Seviss.
Not knowing what was coming for them, Jial was unwilling to risk the lives of his best men. He needed to know just what his forces were getting into.
The seconds slowly ticked by. The screens of each Yautja ship had a timer that counted down the invasion of the Black Crusade.
The countdown soon reached zero. And that was when all hell began.
Countless ships emerged out of hyperspace without warning. They were all made of either living creatures or giant plants. Each one looked grotesque and eldritch.
As soon as they saw the Yautja, they opened fire, unleashing a full salvo of beams, bolts, missles, acids, spores, thorns. Everything and anything.
The Yautja were no slouches either. They fired back against the enemy ships without a word.
Both sides created an intense light show, showing off the true capabilities of their forces.
"This is Admiral Carolina. We are holding the line in Sector 3 but more and more reinforcements keep coming!"
Carolina had been a former Republic Fleet Admiral but she had betrayed them once an entire fleet of Republic vessels were destroyed by the Yautja without even hearing a word from her men.
Thanks to the information that she provided and putting her family as hostages in the Yautja hand, she had earned enough trust to be given the position of Admiral and lead fleets into battle against the CIS and Republic forces.
She had never expected for there to be a 3rd enemy out there.
Carolina was lucky as she had the best fleet to fight against compared to the other 3.
She was facing Khorne's forces which specialized in boarding actions.
She had noticed that earlier so they had focused her ships to constantly move in all 3 dimensions while also using the fighters and bombers to slow down any capital ship that got to close from the Khorne force.
Thanks to that, she was able to handle the new enemy, even if she was outnumbered 3 to 1.
"Admiral Ross in Sector 2. We are being overrun. The fighting has reached planet side on 3 of our planets. Our ground forces are reporting that they are repelling them but these bastards just don't stop."
Ross was in a terrible situation. He was facing a fleet of pink ships and beings that seemed as if they had no fear. No matter how many he killed, they did not falter.
What Ross and the others would only find out much later was that all of the Slaanesh forces were juiced up on drugs. They used these to compensate for weaknesses in their forces as well as get rid of pain and fear.
Luckily, they were also a mostly boarding force so the fleet was able to remain strong, even if several of their ships had managed to pass by them.
Unfortunately for them, they had picked the worst planet to land on.
As soon as they hit the planet, they were met with the might of the Praetomorph swarm, led by the Swarm Lord himself.
Each warrior of chaos was nothing more than food for them, especially since their ships were edible.
"Rear Admiral Gomez of Sector 4! All the higher ranked officers have been killed, half our fleet has been wiped out, and half of my men that are still alive are incapable of battle from some sort of biological attack. Requesting permission to retreat!"
The Nurgle fleet was the most fearsome. These were members who used to be part of the Yuuzhan Vong but had betrayed their species and culture to join the Forces of Chaos.
They were the ones most used to the ships as they had been piloting these for their entire lives. They knew just how to use them to their maximum ability. And thanks to several poisons, diseases, and viruses that Jacen had given them, their had only become more deadly.
"Lord Jial, this is Seviss. I am using my magic to support the army but I'm not sure how long I can keep this even. These guys seen endless," Seviss reported the gravity of the situation calmly. He was able to keep the balance, using Sith Battle Meditation to allow his forces to fight as one but he could only keep the spell active for so long.
He was facing the blue Tzeentch fleet. They had the superior numbers just as all of the other Chaos fleets did but these were the least combat oriented, at least in naval warfare. Their 'spells' couldn't be used on large enough scales that could actually damage capital ships so they actually fare worse than Khorne.
The only reason that Seviss was struggling somewhat was due to their incredible numbers
Jial listened to all the reports and frowned. He knew that they would come in strong but he hadn't expected that they would hit so hard.
"Lord Jial," Sev'rance stood up from her seat in the room. "I suggest we slowly pull back our lines while the ground forces are evacuated. Once they are, we can issue the Exterminatus command."
Jial frowned when he heard her advice but knew that it was best to take it. She was the best strategist that they had wouldn't suggest this option lightly.
"Do it," Jial spat out reluctantly
Sev'rance nodded before she proceeded to coordinate the retreat. The fleets used their fighters to run decoy and take the fire off the heavier capital ships.
The cruisers descended into the atmosphere and retrieved all of the ground forces that were not locked in combat. Luckily, each unit that was deployed with non Praetomorph or Necron Forces had a battalion of Krieg present.
The Krieg were each willing to stay behind and battle the forces of Chaos while their allies retreated. The men and women under Maul thought of no greater way to die than to ensure the survival of the survival of their fellow soldiers.
Once all of the soldiers and shrunken titans had boarded and the ships were back in the air, everyone retreated into Hyperspace to go deeper into Yautja Space, leaving only the Necrons, Praetomorphs, Krieg, and Seviss behind.
"Seviss. We have evacuated everyone else. You are clear for Exterminatus," Jial informed him. "Make sure you kill as many as you can!"
"Understood, Lord Jial," Seviss replied while standing over the Sith Magic Crystals aboard the bridge of his ship.
The Sith began to chant a spell that the Galaxy had forgotten about for a long time.
All of the stars in the 4 sectors where the Yautja had staged their defense began to become unstable. This was a powerful spell created by the Grandfather of Sith Alchemy that would cause stars to go supernova.
Once Seviss completed the spell, he turned his ship around and darted into hyperspace, right before the first star exploded.
The massive waves of energy spread out in all directions, destroying every ship that the Black Crusade had brought within its initial wave.
The violent energy would cause the region to become unstable and prevent travel through it for hundreds of years. Because of this, the Force of Chaos would not be able to assault the Yautja without having to first travel around the void and through Republic Space.
Some would consider this a victory for the Yautja but Jial felt anything but that way. He knew better than anyone that was only the first wave.
The first wave had cost them nearly 20% of their entire naval force and over 18 planets. They lost many officers that they had spent years training.
It could be called many things.
A warning, wake up call, delay of the unstoppable. But it was not a victory. Not by a long shot.
Even as he had tried his best to avoid, Jial had brought Chaos into the Galaxy. And for the first time in a long time, he was not sure that he would come out on top.
[Final Mission Alert
Mission: Defeat the Forces of Chaos, Republic, and CIS within 10 years
Reward: 1 Wish with no limitations as long as it is less than 20 words. System will disappear from the universe and no longer create paths or mission for the Host]
'Glad to see you, bastard. Was wondering when you were gonna show up,' Jial saw the familiar screen.
He looked at the map on the big scream and saw the void that they had created. He began to do some mental calculations to try and see how he could beat them all.
His eyes turned away from the Unknown Region and the Core Worlds. Instead, he focused on the Outer Rim.
'I'm gonna take those shit droids and throw it at em,' Jial knew just how many droids the CIS had built. Well not knew the exact number but had a better estimate that the Republic.
He knew that with the CIS planets and all the forces under them under his control, he would be able to defeat the other two groups.
'This isn't the end. Only the beginning,' Jial thought while staring at the screen. 'Bring it, Jacen. I showed you mercy once. But after what you have just done, I will personally cut your head off and feed your soul to Malan'Tai.'
——————-
(And that is the end of Book I. Thanks so much for reading. You guys have been awesome and hopefully, you'll read Book II when it is released as well as my new Warhammer story about the 2nd Primarch so I don't include as much in Book II lol.)