26 Pandora Pt.1
The Invictus and the rest of the 1st Fleet were travelling through the Warp, on the way to their first destination to contribute to the Great Crusade.
The first stop on for the 1st Feluc Fleet was not to regroup with the Imperial Military but he was instead going to the first planet that was going to bring under compliance.
"Pandora is its name," Selene began to brief everyone on the bridge. "Just like Feluc and the other worlds that Baldur rules, it is a Knight World. But unlike our worlds, it has two things about it that would make it impossible for the Imperium to ignore and make us intervene and bring it under compliance before another fleet finds it.
Pandora is ruled by blue, feline-like Xenos called Na'vi. A normal Na'vi warrior can fight off 10 normal Imperium Soldiers with ease when it comes to physical strength. They average about 2.75 meters in height, have dense bone structures, are very agile, and they have night vision.
These Pandora used to be slaves of the original rulers of Pandora but an Ork invasion pretty much decimated the world's population, and led to the Na'vi becoming the ruling group. And as you guys probably know, a planet ruled by Xenos isn't the most accepted place in the Galaxy, especially when they rule over humans."
The members on the bridge sighed. They didn't truly care about Pandora but they couldn't just let the Na'vi rule it, especially if they had taken control of Imperial Knights. Those would be too big of a threat for even a Great Battalion of Astartes if they were deployed.
"The other issue is that they are religious," Selene said slowly, causing everyone to groan. Although Xenos were tolerated if they submitted, religions were not, save for the Mechanicum. All religions were to be absolved or the worshipers were to be killed while all that they worshiped would be burned to the ground.
"According to our research, the Na'vi worship spirits and trees in the simplest terms, though it is far more complex than just that. All the ones that they worshiped were burned down as the humans took over Pandora according to the resources we were able to acquire."
"So, what's the plan?" Spencer asked while running his hands through his hair. Spencer had seen the map of the planet and knew about the terrain of the cities that were surrounded by high walls and mountains.
He could already imagine just what type of trouble they would have to go through if it came to a fight. Even if the Na'vi couldn't beat them, they could easily drag out the fight, making the war last up to 3 years as long as Baldur didn't order orbital bombardments. But if he did so, that would end up killing innocent civilians, which was something they were all against doing.
"Simple. We meet up with the leaders and convince them to surrender to us. We extract the Na'vi from the planet and also take the Imperial Knight for ourselves. Then we sign a paper and say that they have come under compliance," Selene informed Spencer of the plan that she and Baldur had come up with
"Oh," Spencer threw up his hands and rolled his eyes. "I forgot it was that easy."
Selene glared at Spencer, who subconsciously wanted to shrink back in his seat but kept straight and looked back at her eyes.
"You're awfully mouthy for a kid a little fresh out the academy," Selene told him with a dark light in her eyes
Spencer gulped. Even though he had planned this out with Selene, he still felt intimidated by the woman.
"I'm the captain of this ship. I believe I have the right to speak freely with another high-rank officer," Spencer told her with as much bravado as he could muster. Selene and Baldur knew that Spencer was still fresh and that many would question him as long as they were not around. They were using this opportunity to earn him some respect from the crew.
Selene smirked when she heard him and threw up her hands in surrender before turning to Baldur. "I like this guy. We should keep him."
"We have set up a meeting with the Na'vi. If it all works out, we can get them to surrender peacefully," Baldur ignored Selene and finished explaining the plan. "And if it doesn't, we can order a bombing run to cut off the heads of each of the clans. We will crush their leadership and then perform a swift attack while they are caught off-guard."
His intelligence agents had informed him of the world and had even arranged for a meeting with the leaders of the various clans of the planet.
Baldur wanted to get the world under compliance peacefully but he knew that he couldn't afford to give them a 'fair' war. He was prepared to use underhanded means if it meant securing a fast victory and losing as few of his men as possible.
It would take them 3 days to arrive at Pandora, so during their time in the Warp, the Witches and Sorcerers were practicing Daemonology under the supervision of Baldur and Selene. Since they were in the Warp, it was very easy to summon to Daemons that inhabited the Emperor-forsaken place.
The Gellar Field around the ship created an area of real-space that prevented the creatures composed of Warp energy from just entering. They could only come on board if the field was damaged or if they were summoned.
Because of those two factors, it made it the perfect place to summon Daemons. The Psykers would have a better connection but it was also just as safe as summoning on Feluc.
The Psykers were split off into different groups. A single Psyker would be in charge of summoning while a group of Grey Knights and Knights would combat the Daemons until they could either slay it or the Psyker could banish it.
Baldur stood to the side, watching as 5 different training battles occurred at once, each group rotating in and out to give others a chance to battle the Daemons belonging to the 4 Ruinous Powers.
With a puff of purple smoke, Selene appeared next to Baldur and clung to his waist.
"You really know how to pick em," she chided Baldur
"What happened?" Selene was sent to watch over Baldur's Paladins who were supposed to fight even more Daemons than the others and were using Baldur's private training space. If she had come back so soon, it meant that they had already completed their battle.
"I summoned our favorite Herald of War along with a Juggernaut for him to ride on. Kharn led the charge and clashed directly with the beast while the others surrounded it. The Warlocks in the group suppressed it with spells and created openings for the others. It didn't take them even 5 minutes to send them both back to the Immaterium," Selene was surprised to see that they had performed so well.
A Herald was one thing. A Herald on their Juggernaut was something that was just below the level of Greater Daemon.
"Good," Baldur complimented the group. "Looks like I didn't choose incorrectly."
