The fourth Aurelian crusade

by ThatRarityIsaSpy

Plans

“Come....to....your......deaths....traitors...” Davian rasped as he sent a hail of bolterfire at the ranks of the traitors. The air was quickly pierced by screams of the dying and the ones in pain. Waving his men forward, Solomon rushed the chaos space marines and heretics who hid behind a hasty fortification. As the last of the wall was blasted to rubble by grenade launchers, assault terminators began to charge at the traitors. They were accompanied by a rainbow colored blur. When the blur reached the heretics and traitors, some of them began to drop down on their knees, others held their heads, while some made gasping and strangling noises. The weakened forces of chaos was no match for the fury of the blood ravens elite as they turned the entire mob of chaos into mincemeat. No deaths, and no injuries for the blood ravens.

“Impressive.............” Davian said as he saw his men wipe up the remnants of chaos. “The power.... you wield.... against chaos.... is a great..... blessing.....”

“Thanks! But... it’s not like I control it.” Dashie replied. “I had to say, you totally kicked their flanks! Anyways, how’d you get in there?”

“Eh... Rainbow?” Tarkus asked. “That’s Davian. Davian Thule.”

“Oh..........” Dashie said awkwardly. “Were you the guy who fought some alien emperor thing and survived?”

“Yes..... the necron lord..... of Kronus.... but it was Nickolas.... that destroyed.... the necron lord.....”

“And he too also survived against a Tyranid warrior. Though.....” Tarkus said nothing afterwards. Only looked down at the ground as guilt began to poke at his soul.

“Wow! And now you’re a giant... fighting robot! Davian Thule?! You need a cooler name! Like 20% cooler! How.. bout... um... um... no.... Davian Cool?!”

If Davian could show it, he may of smiled at this statement. Nevertheless, he just said nothing and stood there as he waited on what was to happen next.

“Let’s get going. No time to rest and take things lightly.” Solomon said. “We still have to find this artifact. Davian, you coming?”

“Yes........”

“Good! Let’s get a move on brothers!”

Angelos graciously accepted a cup of tea from a unicorn as he continued reading the map, using an awkwardly small brush to draw out areas of interest.
“And then I said to him! Hey there big guy! Eat a cupcake! I mean c’mon! Some of these guys make Cranky Doodle Donkey look... like nothing!” Pinkie said bouncing around a bemused Aramus and Thaddeus who were watching outside a window into the courtyard.
“How goes the battle?” Luna asked as she walked up to them.

“Judging from what everyone’s saying on the vox, this fight is going our way.” Thaddeus replied. “We’ll have the entire sub-sector cleaned up on no time.”

“That’s easy enough. But something is bothering me.” Angelos said walking over.

“What is it?” Aramus asked looking outside.

“Well, if I recall correctly, the first three attacks on Aurelia were all orchestrated by Kyras. The black legion is now here. This can mean one of two things. A, there here just to wreak havoc again, or..... Kyras perhaps... was part of an even larger plan.”

“An even larger plan? This can’t end well.” Aramus commented.

“But with these equines aiding us, surely fighting chaos will be much easier than before!” Thaddeus said. “Their very being weakens chaos.”

“Nevertheless, that’s hardly a concession if we get another black crusade.” Aramus said.
“What’s a black crusade?” Celestia asked nervously.

“Every once in a while, Abaddon, warmaster of chaos comes in, rallies all the traitor legions together, and wages war upon the imperium in a string of several ruthless battles. These battles normally end in major losses for the imperium. We normally rally our best and most fearless to battle chaos. Entire chapters may even arrive to aid in the defense. There are now rumors that Abaddon is readying another one. If it does come to that, I only ask, Celestia of Equestria, will you aid us?”

Celestia nodded.

“I will. If the defeat of chaos means securing harmony up on this weary galaxy, then I will do anything I must. Even if it means shedding the blood of others.”

Angelos nodded and smiled. This was the second time in his personal experience that aliens had agreed to help him. Perhaps the things he’d been brought by maybe... weren’t as true as they turned out to be. It was written in many texts of the atrocities committed by xenos during the 27th millennia, but truly, it may not be too hard in finding those who weren’t out there just to senselessly kill, take or manipulate.”

Hope, a word for fools. But as such, blessed was the mind that was too small for doubt. And right now, Angelos did not doubt those who resided in Equestria one bit.

“Anyone that looks like that their in command?” Cyrus asked as the scout gave his report.

“We got about a few dozen dead guys, but no one looks like he is in charge.” The scout replied.

“No? No sorcerer? No champion?”

“Nope. Either this is just another mob that felt like coming here, or their leader is really good at hiding.”

“Very well. Carry on.” Cyrus said as his brothers moped up any stragglers. Going on the vox, he quickly told Angelos the news.

“This bothers me.” Cyrus said. “Most chaos champions have about as much brains as a bolter round, unless we are facing a coward, then this one seems to be smarter than the rest.”

“Tell me more.” Angelos said interested.

“We’ve slain about a hundred of them already. And yet, I find no potential leaders. Perhaps we do this the regular way?”

“Hmm, I’ll get back to you on that. Continue with your mission.”

“Very well. Cyrus out.”

“So.... I heard space marines spend their entire lives in war?”

“Yes.... and I heard..... you spend....your entire lives.... in peace....” Thule said. “How fortunate.... you are.....”

“And hey! There’s my house!” Dashie said as she flew up and entered her cloudhouse. Due to the fact the majority of the space marines there had never been on Equestria for too long, most of them began to scratch their heads in wonder as they saw that Rainbow Dash’s house was made of clouds.

“Is......”

“Wha......”

“Eh....”

“How....?”

“Things on this planet just shouldn’t be questioned.” Martellus said. “I wonder if we can make use of that later on.”

“Well first, grow a pair of wings!” Rainbow Dash said coming down getting a saddlebag. “Um... shouldn’t we get Twilight if we are going to fi...”

“No need. Solomon is already on it.” Martellus said. “Where to brother?”

“There!” Solomon said pointing northward. “It’s going to take a few hours to trek there. So...”

“Full steam ahead?” Rainbow Dash asked eager to get fast.

“The sooner, the better.” Solomon said. “But why waste time?”

“Huh?”

“I am calling in a Thunderhawk.” Solomon said. “Martellus, how many brothers we got?”

“17 and of course, the entity known as Rainbow Dash.”

“Well, no time to waste, let’s get a move on!”

“Good day, human!” Said a familiar voice as Cyrus walked through the ruined streets in thought. “What’s on your mind today?”

“Didn’t your Princess tell you to go and get to the capital?” Cyrus asked.

“Yeah. But of course, I think my shop and my things are more important. Only got like 14 more lives left. Lucky guys, my kind are. We get a lot of lives, and get reborn like a certain creature. I was human-ish the last 13 times, and I think I like being human the most.”

“What’d you like most?” Cyrus asked.

“Hands.” Hooves replied. “You know, there’s a unicorn called Lyra, she’s obsessed with you guys. She used to bother me 24/7 about humans. Now that they are here, she decided to go annoy them.”

“Hmm, sounds interesting. But later. I have work to do. I am trying to find their leaders. If we can’t do that, I suppose we can try things the old-fashioned way.”

“Ah war, something humans tend to love to do. You know, I studied their history and found that their technology progressed cause of war!”

“Great. Let me tell you. The day I finally get to rest one way or the other will be the happiest day of life. But of course, the Emperor comes first, then myself. It’d be a hideous sin if I did anything for my sake.”

“So... you going to rest actually when whatever you do is done?”
“Maybe some day. But when the enemies of the Emperor draw breath, there can be no peace.”

Comments

[Bronzer]

but truly, it may not be too hard in finding those who weren’t out there just to senselessly kill, take or manipulate.

Given the manpower of the Imperium, probably not too hard for them. For anyone else it would be bordering on impossible. Tens of thousands of xenos species would make the devil cringe in disgust. About three dozen have not at least blatantly attacked the Imperium. Though only a handful of those did not try to mind-control/manipulate/subvert the Imperium.

Still, like I said, the Imperium has the sheer numbers that they could cover pretty much everywhere at once, so finding other "good" xenos species wouldn't be all that difficult for them. I suppose the main reason the Imperium doesn't bother doing that is a combination of disillusionment, cynicism, and that even if the xenos weren't out to get them, they would be ignored but even if they became allies the xenos would be little more than dead weight considering the scale and power of the Imperium's enemies.

Then the Imperium would be stuck defending an alien ally (whom they don't like in the first place) when those resources could be spent elsewhere. Given the sheer size of the galaxy, the number of friendly xenos being defended by Imperial forces would quickly start showing their drag on the Imperium and worlds would begin to be rapidly overwhelmed by their myriad of foes.

Basically, the Imperium doesn't have the time or the resources to deal with "friendly" xenos. It is stretched incredibly thin already.

If the defeat of chaos means securing harmony up on this weary galaxy

Oh, it won't. That is just one of the major enemies. There is still the soul-harvesting Necrons, the eat-everything-to-the-microscopic-level Tyranids, the kill-everything-for-fun Orks, the torture-everything-for-fun Dark Eldar, the get-everyone-else-killed-because-we're-dicks Craftworld Eldar, and the tens of thousands of minor xenos species. Have fun, Celestia! Besides, the Equestrian idea of "harmony" would honestly be held in contempt by the Imperium.

Honestly, Equestria's harmony is waaay too "happy-happy love-love giggle-hug". The Imperium would probably call it heresy and I would be sickened. It's great to see on a show, really fits the ponies and the show's message, but not the kind of environment I would ever want to live in. A better way to say it than harmony is peace, tolerance, acceptance, understanding, etc. Harmony just feels far too childishly naive and hippie.

You know, I studied their history and found that their technology progressed cause of war!

"Their" humans or "their" ponies? Either way, I imagine that technology would progress quickly during times of war for most sapient civilizations.

[ThatRarityIsaSpy]

3301734
Might as well as throw it out now, I think having you around is better than the two guys I have around who read this over.

[Bronzer]

3301794

Why thank you! I feel my head inflating already! I haven't had much time to read more until now and I haven't gotten to bed until around one or two the past few nights, sooo...