Chapter III : Reorganization and Promotion
Chapter III : Reorganization and Promotion
Thought of the Day : Beginning reform is beginning revolution.
Location : Equestria, Canterlot Castle
Time : 18:02 PM, 14/05/1003 in the Equestrian Calendar.
Both Princess of the Equestria arrived again in Luna's Sanctuary. Moon Princess was about to rise her hoof in gest of triumph when she suddenly spotted the grim face of her sister. She looked calm, but Luna instinctively felt that under this mask there was a fury that couldn't be matched by anything she knew.
They didn't say anything. It took some time before Celestia sighed hard.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
This question seemed silly to her. Didn't she save her kind?
"I saved the whole Equestria, of course!" Luna stated.
"No, you didn't" her sister answered with strange, absent voice. "Why it seems like success what have you done, it's another prolongation of our ponies agony. Answer me, how you want to tell ponies that we were lying to them for a few milleniums?"
Luna was about to answer, when she realised that her sister was right. If Anders would agreed with only a industrial and taxes payment they didn't have to revealing all the truth. Now with regiments... kidnapping nine thousand ponies was a bad idea.
"But let's state that they will not mad at us for lying. How will you tell them, that so many ponies will be obligated to be sacrifised on the anvil of war? You know, that a beings joining the Imperial Guard never come back from the war? That they are forced to fight for their "Emperor" forever, until all of them will be dead? And it will not be a long time, average life length of the Guardsmen on the battlefield is seventeen minutes according to the Adeptus Munitorium data. How will you tell the families that their sons and daughters will never come back?"
The Luna's head lowered, when the realisation of what have she done came down with a force of the hammer.
"But actually... I can believe that this could happen. Maybe three percents chance. But what about the faith?" Celestia continued. "Firstly, we are not capable of rising sun and the moon. Another lie. But this is not the point. We will have Adeptus Munitorium and Adeptus Arbitres visit, how we will tell them, that none of our kind pray to their "Emperor"? These "institutions" are quite zealous in their work. We will be forced to introduce our loyal subjects to this filthy faith. How they will deal with it?"
Princess of the Moon didn't know what was more painful, that her sister was almost centairly right, or rather that Celestia lost all of her faith and confidence. Maybe both.
"You see Tia... It's not something, that I'm proud of." she started. "But let's state it clear, we had to do this, this was the only thing we could do in this situation. And... I think I have an idea how to deal with all those problems."
Her sister rised her eyebrows with astonishment.
"Lying part is actually easy." Luna said "We will make a really beutiful half-truth and half-manipulation speech and we will convince them. You are doubting our kind trustfulness, it will not be that hard at all. Because ponies trust you more, I think it should be you who will tell them."
"What a irony." Celestia said "It's the first time I regret that I'm in charge of being face of the Equestria goverment.
"Next part, regiments. We need : ponies, training ground, some competient instructors, equipment and weapons. I can deal with all these things, however I will be forced to meet Anders once more to collect some more knowledge. Also, I need to write some letters and to make these clear, I need your signature on all of these.
"My signature? What do you need this for?" Celestia wondered
"You know Tia... I think that ponies still remember the events of the past. I think they don't think about it all the time, but if we would place ourselves on the "trust" scale, you would still be higher, even if we are in theory "equel".
"Nonsense" Celestia denied. "You are close to our subjects hearts and don't even dare to say that this..." her sister stopped, searching for a good word "Mishap. We have forgotten it already. And by saying "we" I mean entire Equestria."
"I understand." Luna spoke "But I'm trying to increase the chances of our survability. This little fact maybe will increase it only from fourteen percent to feefteen but this little one percent can save our kind."
"A lot of things changed." Celestia said philosophically. "I never suspected we would became so manipulative and calculative about everything. It looks almost as the time soon after the Three Tribes Union. I never suspected that these small details will come back. And I have no idea how, but you finally learned to speak Equish properly.
The awkward silence holded only a moment and after it, both sister exploded with loud laughter, that filled a few corridors of the Canterlot Castle and make the unicorn guards besides door wondering. However, Luna’s face expression suddenly changed when she recalled something, that was the most important at all.
“Celestia? One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Hide Discord.”
Next Day
Location : Equestria, Wonderbolt Academy
Time : 14:33 PM, 15/05/1003 in the Equestrian Calendar
"This better be importa... oh, hi Soarin." Spitfire greeted vice-captain of the Wonderbolts.
"Hi there Spitfire. We got a letter from the Princess and it looks quite serious." the white pegasus told her, while trotting into captain office.
"Letter from the Princess? Show me." Spitfire got up from her comfortable chair and took envelope from the Soarin hoof.
To the Captain of the Wonderbolts
Due to incoming changes in politicy and due to incoming danger and war we have to give you a special task. From this day ( 15/05/1003 ) you will be in charge of training a new group of ponies. This will be the "Imperial Guard" and this group will be called Equestrian Regiments. In four years ( from 1003 to 1007 ) training of these troops will be complete. Why and how you will prepere this troops is described in two books we will sent to you with this message. First recruits will arrive probably in a few months.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna
"Well... it's kinda strange. Both Princesses signatures? Did they send some books with it?" She asked Soarin.
"Yes, here they are." He answered, putting two books on the desk, one really small and one quite big.
They didn't came up from printing house, it looked rather like a amateur work, instead of the serious writer piece. They had a black, simply cover, but there were no pictures on it, only a titles. Small one was called : "The Imperial Guardspony Uplifting Primer - Re-written Edition". Spitfire spotted that small tuck was slightly extended from the pages. She took it off and read it.
Actually, this one isn't complete yet. I will send to you all materials as fast as possible. This will be your primary book to teach your new comrades. I will probably finish it in a week.
Princess Celestia
Spitfire spotted, that signature was written in completely different way, like it was somebody else who write it and then it was signed by the Sun Princess. Spitfire rifled the book and realised that princess was right with it. All the pages were blank. She was quite concerned, so she took the second, larger book. This one was called : "The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer". Captain of the Wonderbolts realised that this tome had a small tuck as well.
This book is top secret for now. Revealing it existence will end in the serious punishment. For now, use it as a guide, but do not recognize all the information here as valuable or truthful. Do not read any of propaganda, law or religious chapters.
Princess Celestia
So, Spitfire opened a book on the first pages and started reading. She searched for information what exactly Imperial Guard was. However, there wasn't any clearly description and all the pages were written in quite strange and pompous style. Finally, she found a foreword to the book. It was written, that the author of this section was Lord General Militant Huxlow. Spitfire didn't recognize him, strange title and even stranger name only ensure him that something was really odd here. With that thought she started reading.
You are a soldier in the Imperial Guard. You stand with billions of others in the greatest army that has ever existed, bathed by the brilliant light of the Golden Throne with a chance of immortality that is the gift of a glorious death. It is the highest honour to fight in these same illustrious ranks which have produced some of the most exulted heroes the Imperium has ever known. Your responsibility, and that of your comrades, is to help ensure that our magnificent Imperium is defended from its enemies. You will smite our foes whenever you find them, with the fervent passion and fury of these heroes of the past...
"Spitfire?"
She totally forgot that Soarin was still here.
"What is this? It's some type of guide or something?" he asked
Captain of the Wonderbolts closed book with quiet thump. She sighed hard, removing glasses from her eyes.
"Yea. It's guide. Really strange and out-dated one..."
Location : Equestria, Canterlot, Royal Garden.
Time : 14:57 PM, 15/05/1003 in the Equestrian Calendar.
The orb of fire and heat was high, sending incredibly waves of warm, driving poor citizens of Canterlot to the brink of madness. Most ponies were cooling themselves in their houses. "Most" was a key word.
Two unicorns from the Royal Guard were in the garden, trying desperetaly to bring Discord monument on the chariot.
"Why... they... couldn't... make... this sculpture... from... plastic... sweet Celestia... dammit!" - one of the unicorn grumbled, fighting for every inch of the area, desperate in pushing the Spirit of the Chaos forward.
Discord couldn't answer, however it was quite funny to see these two guards fighting the weight of his own presence. It was quite boring here.
"Wait... plastic?"
With that thought, Discord mentally snapped his fingers. In the blink of the eye, the stone of the sculpture immediately changed into a heavy iron, reflecting the beams of the sun.
The unicorn guards reaction was really speedy, they "tactical retreat" was one of the fastest known in Equestria military history. Discord was a bit dissapointed that his power couldn't reach further than his own sculpture, however the little show he made really changed his humor into a good one.
Location : Equestria, Stalliongrad, Industry District
Time : 15:12 PM, 15/05/1003 in the Equestrian Calendar.
Sounds of hammers, old machinery and fabrics filled the air. Winning Bet, the manager of the "Lost Brother Inc", the biggest beast in the industry enviroment troted into his office. He sat down on his favourite chair and grabbed the cup of tea.
"Splendid" he judged the taste of it after a big sip.
Then, his hoof reached the desk with all the messages his company got this day. One particular catched his eye. This one had the sigil of the Royal Sisters.
"Priority, priority, priority" he thought.
He took this one and opened it. Inside was a letter and a small, paper note. Winning Bet decided to start with a letter.
Because of the State of Emergency, we are giving a special order for you. A new military unit is about to being set up, and this unit will be equipped with special weaponry. From this day ( 15/05/1003 ) your firm need to make ten thousand "lasguns". We will pay a one hundred and ten percent costs for each rifle you will create. You need to make ten thousand "lasguns" in four years and you need to make at least three hundred this month. Project of the "lasgun" is write in the note which should be in same envelope, we sent to you.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna
"Well... goverment order. Not so bad." he thought. However, he was really curious why they needed a new military unit with such a strange weaponry. What lasgun was? He never heard about it before.
Winning Bet now took notice on the small note. Actually, when he made a close look it wasn't that small at all. In miniature print there was written every ingredient and procudure how to make it. He turned it over and saw an image.
Below this was written with the red ink :
Note that this image shows "lasgun" not created for pony, your research staff need to discover how to adapt it into pony way.
"Splendid" he judged again, taking a sip from his tea.
Next Day
Location : Equestria, Canterlot Castle
Time: 16:28 PM 16/05/1003 in the Equestrian Calendar
The announcement that the goverment made brought almost entire population of the Canterlot city. After a few seconds of analyse Celestia realised that there were also ponies from the other cities, she spotted the council of Cloudsdale and head-governor of Stalliongrad along with their entourages. Entire Royal Guard was brought into a full readiness stance with the Shining Armor as their leader. It was against the tradition, but the Night Guard was brought too, however they were hiding in the halls of castle, avoiding the rays of sun like it was a curse for them. Actually, Celestia was wondering why they brought them. What could go wrong? Ponies rebelling? She didn't think they could overthrow them, even if the garrison was so small.
She looked on the crowd below. Hundreds or thousands of ponies? Her analitic mind failed here, from the balcony they seemed to be a one big mass of the colors, shouting horribly loud. It was a truth, that ponies united together were much stronger than divided. In this moment, she felt weaker than their subjects, even if she was a sun goddess with incredibly big power. However, the thing that made her the most weak, was the fact how much she changed during one sleepless night with Luna, trying to cure all the mess they started.
Maybe, finally after a few thousands years she started developing tyrant obsession. She never was so calculative and manipulative, it was something she didn't feel for about thousands years. Many minds were buzzing in her brain and attempts to calm them down didn't bring much result.
Maybe, it was just the reality of the world. Barrier they created could hold against the outcomers, but maybe the reality of the gray and grim universe just slipped though. Their land, how much the sisters tried, couldn't reach the perfect level of the utopia they seeked for the milleniums. Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra...
Specially, she didn't recall Nightmare Moon. It wasn't the thing she wanted to thought about.
"It's the first time, I really wish it would be you, instead of me standing here and making this speech." Celestia said to her sister. "I'm feeling bad about this".
Luna who was hiding in the shadows of the room rose her head.
"What a irony. It's first time I wish it would be you, who will do this." her sister answered.
Before Celestia said something, Luna continued.
"I know it will be hard. I suggest you to think about it in the broader perspective. Just think all you are going to do is for the Equestria existence, it helped to stay awaked during this night" Luna yawned. "For comfort, your guards finally managed to remove Discord from the garden and put him into the Canterlot caves.
"Good to know" she said.
However as much as the Princess of the Sun wanted to talk more, Celestia knew that she couldn't wait any longer. She approached the rail of the balcony and smiled down to the ponies beneath her. Loudly mess lasted only a few seconds.
"Ponies of the Canterlot, Flankfurt, Cloudsdale, Manehattan, Stalliongrad and other cities and villages of Equestria, I'm welcoming you!"
Actually, she highly doubted if there was anypony from the Flankfurt. However, no one could protest, right? Crowd cheered vigorously, calming it down took another a few seconds. She was really grateful that the ponies gave her this moment, every second the crowd was trying to calm down she was analysing what to say next.
"In this particular day, I have a special declaration to do. I wish to reveal some old and deep secrets from the Equestria past..."
6 Months Later
Location : Segmentum Pacificus, surface of the Balhaut planet, Ogliarchy High Palace.
Time : 765.M41
Some words brings memories. Sometimes, one word can say more things than entire definition in the chronicles. Commissar Ibran Gaunt was centairly sure that these days will take a big part of the "A History of the Later Imperial Crusades" chronicle. He regarded the work of the historians, however they usually tended to avoid some facts, which were worthless in their minds.
Balhaut.
Two days of cruel orbital bombardment. Then, nine armies deploying simultanious on nine seperates sides of the planet. Imperial Guard, the Hammer of the Emperor. Billions of soldiers, equiped with lasguns, sometimes named "flashlights" due to their effectiveness, flak armours that couldn't hold a one shot from the bolt pistol and as his friend, Commissar Dagon liked to say, standart issue balls of steel. As the Lord Solar Macharius, the hero of the Imperium said, courage stood above all of the virtues.
Indeed, Slaydo had this courage.
When nine manifestations of the God-Emperor holy will arrived the hell started. The fiercest fighting took place in the cities of the planet. Balopolis was a particularly bloody struggle, during which Imperial officers took extremely high casualties. The initial commander, General Currell, was wounded and taken from the field after about two days of fighting. In the next ten hours, two successive Imperial commanders were both killed, and command fell to the senior surviving officer, Commander Macaroth. Upon receiving this news, Slaydo field-promoted Macaroth to Marshal. Macaroth proved immediately capable at such a command and eventually turned the battlefront completely around, making an impending Imperial loss into a remarkable victory.
Macaroth... Ibram Gaunt still didn't know what to think about him.
However, day was saved thanks to the Adeptus Astartes. The Space Marines, the Imperium super soldiers... whatever he would told about them, he still couldn't catch it. The God-Emperor of Mankind a long time ago, during the creation of the Adeptus Astartes Legions said these words :
They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear.
Commissar Gaunt never suspected that he would discover a true meaning of these words in such way. Never, ever he saw the Space Marines fighting with such a fury, immune to enemy fire, blind in the determination and faith in their Protector.
White Scars was one of the oldest Space Marines chapters. They were well known for their incredibly furious assault, usually by using motorbikes and devastating offensive deep strikes with the Drop Pods behind enemy positions. The initial breakthrough was made by the them, they broke through the defences and killed Magister Khul Koresh, one of the fearsome Chaos warlords, scattering his forces. Following up on this, Astartes of the Silver Guard, led by their Chapter Master, broke into heretics lines. In result, tainted machines and tanks of the Chaos were then systematically engaged and destroyed by several Imperial Guard armour and artillery regiments. Swift attack made by Space Marines allowed tanks battalions to go into full offense, cutting, circling and then destroying enemy army.
However... it was Slaydo in the end who won this.
Panic between the lines of the Chaos forces allowed Warmaster Slaydo to lead a force of eight regiments directly into the Ogliarchy High Palace. The Warmaster eventually met his fate at the 18th hour of the tenth day of the assault, clashing with Archon Nadzybar personally in a close-quarter battle that lasted somewhere between six and eleven minutes. Mortally wounded twice over, Slaydo was able to stay fighting, eventually delivering a death-strike to the Chaos warlord. The death of Nadzybar destroyed the morale of the remaining Chaos forces, rendering them easy prey for the Imperials. The entire planet was soon reclaimed.
But it didn't change the fact, that Warmaster Slaydo reached the brink between life and death.
Before he died, Warmaster did a lot things. Laying in bed he talked to almost every commander in the Imperial Guard on the Balhaut. A lot of decision was made.
Macaroth became a Warmaster. Almost every commander was against it, counting Gaunt himself. Lord-General Anders, leader of the Mordian troops in this sector and Lord High Militant General Dravere were the most against it. And they were right. Macaroth was incredibly young, the youngest from entire officer crew in fact. He didn't have enough experience to lead the Sabbat World Crusade to the victorious end. However, Macaroth wasn't the only one who achieved a new title. Slaydo promoted a few officers to higher ranks. He gave a medals to the brave soldiers who followed him into the heart of battle.
He was the last one who met Warmaster Slaydo.
Commissar Gaunt entered to the room. It was a shock. Of course, he was aghast due to the Warmaster condition. What was frighting him however, was that it looked totally same as one event from the past. Hero of the Imperium, Warmaster Slaydo was locked in a life-prolonging suspension field, surrounded by glowing fire-lamps and burning bowls of incense. Why... why it looked so similar?
"Ibram…" Slaydo whispered with a great pain.
"Warmaster?"
“It is past time for this. Well past time. I should never have left it to a finality like this. I’ve kept you waiting too long.”
"Waiting?" - Gaunt asked. "Why it looked so similar!?" he thought.
"You are too good soldier... I can't allow you to get into a political games between commanders and other commissars... it will be loss for the Imperium..."
Gaunt didn't say anything. He knew that Warmaster didn't called him to make last friendly talk with a friend.
Slaydo waited a moment before he spoke again. He was meditating... or he was just the seconds from the grip of death.
"I just can't make it happen. I promoted Macaroth, because Dravere is a cruel and ill-natured commander... and Anders..." - he finally spoke. Gaunt was terrified that Warmaster was speaking such openly to him. "Anders did something I will not forgive him. But it was done, and it can't be changed. That's why, from now you are a Colonel-Commissar, appointed in the extremis of the field. You will be leading three newly created regiments. They come from the new founded planet and they deserve a leader such like you... do not dissapoint me, son. There is only Emperor..."
"...and he is our Shield and Protector" - newly promoted Colonel-Commissar ended. He felt something wet gathering in his eyes, when the Warmaster dismissed him.
Ibram Gaunt exited the chamber. To his suprise, there was somebody waiting for him in the corridor of the Ogliarchy High Palace. At first, he didn't recognize him, but the long brown beard immediately racalled it. Lord-General Anders was looking with suspicious smile on him, raking his beard with his hand in the same time. Ibram saluted him, but he didn't even spot it.
"I never saw something like this." the Mordian commander said "My entire regiment... crying. At first I thought that my soldiers became such a wimps. But then, I met other regiments. Hyrkans, Cadians, Mordians, Ketzoks, soldiers of Phantine, Pardus, Tanith and Urdesh... all of them in pain, crying. They fought deamons, heretics, rot, plague, waves of mad zealots, formation of accursed tanks and they didn't made a step back." He rose his head. "And you are crying too."
Ibram realised that tears were slowly runnind down on his face. He swiftly wiped them from his skin.
"In this times... I regret that I just can't feel that emotions. I feel sorry for the Slaydo, sorry that I couldn't help him in his last battle. However, soldiers of our army forgot, that his death isn't a barrier that will not allow us to reclaim the Sabbat Worlds for the Mankind. To admit defeat is to blaspheme against the Emperor."
He didn't say anything. During his stay at Schola Progenium he learned that in presence of the old and wise people he should stay silent, in this particular situation he totally agreed. He also started wondering why it wasn't Anders who received a Warmaster title. Slaydo words seemed odd in this matter.
"I talked with Warmaster earlier" Lord-General suddenly changed topic. "Imperium need you Ibram. I and Slaydo have a special task for you. I suppose, that Slaydo promoted you to the Colonel-Commissar?"
He nodded. Anders smile grew even bigger.
"Regiments we chose for you are quite... unique. Diplomatically saying." he smirked "They are for the planet, that accepted Imperial Law a few days ago. However, Slaydo think that you are the best person for this task and after your wonderful lead of the Hyrkan regiment I have to agree too."
"Warmaster didn't tell me exactly what regiments I will be leading. Could you tell me, lord-general?" - Ibram asked.
"Oh... I guess that it will be a big suprise for you..."
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Okay guys, some info, devided into a few points :
1. Why did it take so long?
You waited quite a long time to receive this chapter. I had really big problem with this one, because it had a lot of world-building, and as Kolwynia suggested, I "tried" to make this stuff clear for guys not knowing Warhammer 40.000 and Gaunt's Ghosts novel series to ensure everyone is capable of understanding what is going on. Also, some guys from the "I'm gonna give you a bullshit amount of work to do" Department.
2. How often I will publish next chapters?
Well... I'm not that fast writer, but I can promise that I will make this stuff faster. Not because I'm writing faster, but because I will not wait for my dear pre-readers to help me with this stuff, it just takes too much time and well... it's not that bad at all ( I think ).
3. So... this chapter and next won't have any outside correction made?
Yes. It will probably look more shitty than usual, but hey! Don't be a grama Nazi, just enjoy the plot.
4. Special Announcement.
If I get another Random Dislike without explanation what I did bad I'm gonna call the Ordo Bronicus to declare Exterminatus upon your houses. You have been warned.
5. About Next Chapters
Well, well, well... actually, when I was creating the story, I didn't suspect that Celestia and Luna will play big role in the plot. At first they were supposed to fit the gap in the prologue, but now as you see I'm gonna pull them quite often. However, I'll promise you that in the next Chapter we will finally meet our beloved Mane Six.
6. My Reaction to The Twilight You Know What and about Alternate Universe
I'm gonna write quite big Blog Post about it, but in TL;DR it looks like this :
1:37
Hurr Durr, Mondo Media knew everything all along!
I started writing after the Wonderbolt Academy Episode, so I can say already that Keep Calm and Flutter On and Princess Coronation never happened.
And that would be all.
Stay Awesome
Verlax
I am a huge fan of 40k/MLP crossovers, and while I do see a lot of promise in this story, the grammar errors can be rather obvious at points. That said, I will follow this merely because it's not bad, just needs a little bit of work.
I'm a big warhammer 40k fan and I like your story so far, but with that said I'd like to ask you so questions regarding the plot.
First off, why was the Lord Admiral so willing to even talk to the sisters on deck? I know you haft to bend lore to allow for this to happen, but could you have at least made him more surprised, outraged, or harder to budge to the two xenos' desperate inquiries? It's HERESY!
Why did the Princess basically give the rank of Major General over the newly formed Division to Spitfire, a person from the Wonderbolts that at most is an equivalent to the Blue Angels. You don't see the air force putting this people in charge of training troops. Is this a joke?
Why did you make 4th wall jokes about the lasgun?
It's actually not that bad of a weapon. And of course flak armor can't take a bolt round as it's mad to take what its name seems to indicate: Flak. It can take, however, a pointblank rifle round to the chest piece.
And lastly, Celestia gave the factory to reverse engineer something that they don't even understand the full concept of and expected them to product at the very less three hundred units all within a month’s time? [img]facehoof[1].png[/img] What the hell?
I'll probably comment after the later chapters when I read them. Well, that's my two cents. Good luck with the story and I hope you continue! Have a good day.
"You know, that a beings joining the Imperial Guard never come back from the war? That they are forced to fight for their "Emperor" forever, until all of them will be dead? And it will not be a long time, average life length of the Guardsmen on the battlefield is seventeen minutes according to the Adeptus Munitorium data." Sounds like somes harably mis informed.
According to the "Fifteen Hours," the Guard had the average expected lifespan of a mere fifteen hours do in part of the world was under an war with the Orks for years and held extreme resistance.
People do live to come home as described by the short story "Missing in Action" in the Eisenhorn series. Happy ending are possible after all.
Yes, because it isn't like you won't be quizzed on it to detect laxity and heresy. Certainly not knowing military law wouldn't be grounds for execution in the Imperial Guard. Everyone knows Commissars are your friend. Note the emphasized part of friend. Besides, nearly the entire book is devoted to knowing military law so you don't get executed. Those laws are universal, regardless of regiment.