Chapter Two – Hemera

LAID UPON A GRASSY HILLSIDE, his future wife resting her head upon his chest, Alfron Schmied gazes up at the night sky and contemplates what his life holds in-store: an arranged marriage to the beautiful, but vacant, Dorisedna Buchhalter to include the mandatory two point four children; the daily endurance of mind-numbing administration for the Caligulan Manufacturing Cartel; the... shooting stars?

"Oh Alfron, aren’t they wonderful!" sighs the delectable Dorisedna breathlessly, "I wish upon them that we’ll be soooo happy together!"

"Dorisedna" whispers Alfron spitefully, "Darling. Telling someone what you wished automatically invalidates the wish."

Tears well in her puppy-dog eyes, "So I’ve ruined our future happiness!" she sobs.

Alfron, closes his eyes and, willing back a mounting rage, manages to utter through clenched teeth, "No my dear, I can’t see how just telling me a wish could possibly do that", whilst thinking how happiness had seemed to elude him ever since he came of age.

"Thank you Alfron." simpers Dorisedna dabbing her eyes, "You always know what to say to make me feel better. I do feel so silly crying like this, in fact my eyes are so blurred that all the shooting stars have merged into one."

Merged into one? The woman was a fool! Damn his father for saddling him with this simpleton for the rest of his life just so the family could gain a little more influence. His mounting fury starts to effect him; his breathing becomes ragged, his face gets warmer and he can literally hear the blood coursing through his veins as a mounting roar. In fact, it was getting so loud as to be painful, unnaturally so.

Realisation hits and Alfron’s eyes snap open moments before the Rok screams past overhead, the trailing wind tearing the wig from his head.

"What in the name of the Emperor, was that?" he yells over the wind.

"A meteor, possibly an Aerolite or a Mesosiderite" replies Dorisedna, all trace of vapidity purged from her demeanour as she views his denuded head. "You may wish to seek cover as the impact will be quite forceful."

"Wha…What?!" splutters Alfron, his mouth agog as he twists his head trying to look at two separately preposterous events.

"G. E. T. Down" slowly enunciates Dorisedna while she scrambles lower down the slope and lies flat, covering her head with her arms.

"…" Alfron’s mouth opens and shuts without making a sound. All around he can see more meteors entering the atmosphere, their blazing trails combining to produce a false dawn. Then he is swept into the air and spun head over heels as the shockwave from the distant impact blasts him from the hillside, before dumping him in foetid marsh waters.

Dorisedna is by his side within moments, dragging his wallowing and unresponsive body out of the mire. "You stupid, arrogant, moron!" she berates the semiconscious young heir, "I thought you were dead! After all the trouble I went to fool your father into thinking I could be easily manipulated, just so I could be with you and you go and do that!"

Alfron gazes up at the mud splattered perfect features of his fiancée and into her sparklingly intelligent eyes and feels happy for the first time in years. He tentatively raises his slime covered mouth to kiss her and she begrudgingly reciprocates, both closing their eyes as she slowly lowers her lips until they brush against his and then…they are gone and Dorisedna’s scream fills the night air.

His eyes snap open to view a terrible scene, Dorisedna held aloft as she vainly struggles to free herself from the single-handed grasp of a monstrous creature. It easily topped seven feet, even though it was so hunched over and its muscular arms were larger than both his legs together and its thighs were the size of his chest and it’s chest… he couldn’t think of anything to compare its chest to and instead promptly fainted.

…

ALFRON STIRS TO FIND HIMSELF tightly bound to the front of a vehicle of dubious construction and looks around. Hundreds of the massive aliens standing alongside strange contraptions fill his vision and in the distance ahead he can see the desperately thrown up defences of the Imperial palace. He lets out a pitiful scream, much to the amusement of the boyz in the back of the trukk.

"Be quiet, damn you!" the distorted voice of his beloved cuts through his melancholy and he manages a smile.

"My darling Dorisedna" he cries, "Where are you?"

Through a crushed throat she croaks her reply, "Tied to a vehicle like you. But unlike you, I’m putting my faith in the Emperor you bald-headed spineless gutter-skath. The Emperor only knows what I saw in you! My mother was right, like father, like son. Always taking the easy option, how your family has ruled all this time I’ll never know…"

Alfron stops listening as tears stream unbidden down his face, how unfair life could be? At the happiest moment in his entire life, everything had been torn from him. He barely notices as the trukk accelerates towards the human lines, hardly registers the screams of other victims of similar treatment as the defensive force make the difficult decision to sacrifice the few. The snap of lasfire, the crack of shoota rounds and the grisly sound of blade hacking open flesh bypass him entirely until finally it is over. He opens his eyes to find himself looking directly into the gaze of the biggest creature he has ever seen.

"Youz in charge" says Orkeez smirking

"N-No, my f-father is" stammers Alfron "His name is Lord Ranolf Schmied"

"Naw, yer not listenin’ " states Orkeez with a wicked grin as he impales a lopped head onto a spike near Alfron’s face. "Youz in charge"

Alfron screams in terror as he recognises his father’s features and continues to do so until long after his voice has cracked and he can no longer make a sound.

…

FIVE YEARS HAVE PASSED since that day and now all is laid on the balance. Pacing the reception area of his private quarters the Governor rereads the communication received from General Manstein of the Librian 7th Grenadiers. Manstein clearly states his intention to do whatever is necessary to fully return Hemera to the Imperial fold, but what does that mean? Was the General aware of the desperate deal he had struck to save as many of his people as possible and that as a result Hemera was now producing weapons and armaments for the vile greenskins, in addition to funding their piracy of the shipping lanes? He hoped not, but the wording of the command left little doubt that the General was suspicious.

"What troubles you my dear?" asks his wife, still beautiful despite her no longer perfect features being scarred in the battle.

He hands her the data-slate, "I think we may have here a solution to our infestation problem or our own death warrants"

Her eyes widen in fear as she too realises the implications and so pleads "No my husband, we cannot allow this. You must prepare the Planetary Defence Force to repel this tyrant and send word to Warlord Orkeez that Imperial forces have entered orbit. If the General knows of our dealings he will kill us all!"

His shoulders sag in defeat as the Governor replies "You are correct as always. The palace can withstand what little firepower the General can quickly bring to bear but not the might of the Warlord. To cross either is to risk death, but Warlord Orkeez has treated us fairly, all things considered and as the saying goes, better the enemy you know."

Dorisedna places an arm around her husband and softly says "Five years ago when we were tied to those trukks, I called you a coward but then I bore witness your stoicism as everyone else lost faith when your father ordered us to be fired upon. After the battle I saw your bravery as you stared down Warlord Orkeez, despite being still bound to the engine block. Finally, I heard your lament for your father, you never stopped even after your voice had gone and I realised your capacity to care. That is why I love you Alfron. Through your guidance, despite everything, we have prospered. Lead us now and to the Warp with this General Manstein!"

Before Alfron can reply a knock came at the door. After a short pause, an adjutant of the PDF enters through the ornate double doors and snaps off a crisp salute as he says, "Governor, sir! I regret to inform you that we are betrayed. Intelligence reports that General Manstein has secured the Spaceport to the south and now readies an armoured column to approach the palace. In addition we believe he has ordered an attack on our main PDF barracks as we are picking up many small craft rapidly entering the upper atmosphere."

With a wry smile Governor Schmied declares, "It seems our hand is forced. Order the troops to open fire on those craft and prepare to receive the attack. Also send word to Warlord Orkeez and inform him that the traitorous General has landed south of Hemlar Primus and approaches with tanks"

"Very well, sir" responds the adjutant with a crisp salute, before turning on his heel and marching out.

…

A NERVOUS HOUR LATER the doors burst open and the agitated adjutant rushes in, all pretence of decorum gone. "Astartes my lord! The forces attacking the barracks are Astartes! Our forward positions have confirmed it!"

"Pull yourself together man" commands Governor Schmied, leaning on a chair to hide the weakness that suddenly floods his legs. "The men are in a defensible position, they will hold. What of Warlord Orkeez?"

"My lord, he has sent forward units of boyz under the command of Big Mek Wazmek, and races to join them. Battle will be joined shortly"

The intercom blares harshly and Governor Schmied composes himself as he presses the receive sigil. "Governor Schmied speaking"

"Schmied, you traitor! How dare you fire on Imperial troops! I will have you head for this" screams General Manstein.

"General, what are you accusing me of? We were made aware of your landing and made appropriate accommodation. None of my troops have fired upon you."

"Don’t give me that! The Blood Ravens 4th company are suffering casualties as we speak!"

"I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage sir, I was not made aware that the hallowed Astartes were accompanying you." Alfron pauses and feigns shocked realisation "Oh, by the Emperor! Surely they are not the signals approaching our barracks? Oh no, no, this is most unfortunate. After so many pirating raids, it is now standard practice to fire upon craft that failed to identify themselves!"

"Standard practice to do WHAT? Tell your men to stand-down immediately!"

Trying desperately to sound concerned Alfron responds "Unfortunately, that is impossible General, we lost communications with the barracks over an hour ago. I really do hope my men are still alive, but every minute makes it more unlikely. I will meet you south of the city within the hour and we can travel there together. Hopefully this may be resolved without too much more loss of life."

"Hmmph! Don’t keep me waiting Schmied" snarls the General as the communication terminated.

Governor Alfron Schmied collapses into an overlarge chair and places his hands over his face. "Well" he sighs resignedly "The die is well and truly cast!"

…

"WHERE IZ DA GUV’NOR?" echoes the voice of the battle scarred Warlord through the deserted corridors "Git out ‘ere Schmied!"

Drawing in a deep breath to steady his nerves, Alfron sweeps open the doors and walks out to meet the Warlord. He manages three paces before he is grabbed by the throat and hoisted several feet into the air. Looking down he gazes at the smouldering figure of Warlord Orkeez.

"Go ta da sowf yer sed, da general’s dere wiv yer fanks! Three squads o’ boyz I lost ta da big gunz!"

"T-Tanks" gasps Alfron "The…message…said…the…general…is…to…the…south…with…tanks!" His vision darkens as he starts to lose consciousness. Orkeez continues to constrict the Alfron’s windpipe as he cocks his head to one side and considers the Governor’s words before he releases him to fall into a gasping quivering heap on the floor.

"Dat meks sense" nods Warlord Orkeez before warning "Da next message betta not be az garbled!"

"It…won’t…be" replies Alfron with difficulty "Rest…assured, it won’t be!"

The Warlord stares down at the pitiful human then turns and stalks away, wisps of smoke rising from his armour, skin and bionic implants. The governor watches as the Ork leaves and curses bitterly as he tries to rise.

"My lord, may I assist you?" the adjutant asks timorously.

"No, damn your eyes! I’m fine!" he snarls as he manages to regain his balance, "Now, report. What has happened?"

"As you predicted our forces at the barracks managed to repel the Astartes, though casualties were high. The Warlord managed to force General Manstein into retreat, but sustained too many casualties to press the offensive…"

"I believe I am well aware of that fact!" interrupts Alfron forcefully. "What of casualties to the General’s forces?"

"Three Armageddon pattern sentinels exploded and two fire support squads fled under surprisingly accurate ork fire. Killa Kans practically decimated a squad of storm troopers and Manstein’s command squad was butchered and the General critically wounded. Unfortunately, he was rescued by the crew of a Leman Russ that wiped out the remainder of his attackers."

"Damn, so close! What of Orkeez? He seems injured."

"I need to verify these reports sir, they seem a little far-fetched."

"Tell me!"

"Very well sir. The Warlord entered the field once battle was joined, alongside him were his Nobz in their trukk but this was quickly disabled forcing them to continue on foot and they played no further part. Here is where the reports become fanciful. Apparently he charged unsupported toward the enemy line shrugging of a direct hit from a battle cannon and emerged unscathed from being engulfed in promethium to slam into the front of a Leman Russ battle tank. Far from being slowed by the encounter, the Warlord tore through the armour plating and crippled the entire machine before turning his attention on a pair of Hellhounds. They sought to immolate him and managed to sear his flesh but could not penetrate his, as they put it, cybork modifications. In retribution he destroyed one outright and tore the flamer from its mounting on the second. At that point the general’s forces quit the field and the surviving orks started looting the wreckage"

The Governor’s face is ashen as the adjutant finishes his report and he is glad he had only contemplated siding with the General against Orkeez. With a wave, Alfron dismisses the adjutant and re-enters his quarters where he hugs his wife tightly without saying a word.