V3 Chapter 113: The Only Ending for Traitors Is Death
After leaving the Tower of Hegemony with his Custodian detachment and the thirteen Shadow Wolves of Luna, Duvette went straight to the 112th's assembly point in the Outer Palace.
Guilliman's approved surface transit order had already taken effect, and the transport ships from orbit had completed their final landing hours earlier.
Great numbers of Astra Militarum troops were assembling within the hastily designated military zone, and armoured vehicles packed the nearby plazas and transit corridors.
The low rumble of tank engines never let up, and engineers moved around the vehicles, running final checks.
Since the Conqueror still remained outside the Uranus defence zone, Duvette had earlier left part of his own direct-subordinate force behind to garrison that not-yet-fully-purified Gloriana-class battleship.
The force that had followed him onto Terra numbered only two infantry regiments and one armoured regiment.
The first was the Tanith First Light Infantry Regiment, led by Ibram Gaunt; the second was the 112th's own Second Assault Infantry Regiment, commanded by Anderson.
After a long period of replenishment, both infantry regiments had returned to full strength at three thousand men each, six thousand soldiers between them.
The last unit was the Eisenmark Armoured Regiment, commanded by Kleist, fielding a hundred and twenty tanks of various patterns along with a large number of armoured transports.
And Kleist's own mount besides — that absolute behemoth of steel, the Baneblade-pattern superheavy tank, the Fury of Balhaut.
Three officers were already waiting at the command platform in the assembly area, and the moment Duvette stepped out of the Custodians' heavy grav-vehicle, they came forward and saluted at once.
"Marshal."
Duvette raised a hand in return salute, then sent a map of the War Office's controlled zone directly to the data-slates of all three.
"Let's skip the pleasantries. The Imperial Regent's given the order — we're handling Lord Commander Militant Mar af Ashariel's rebellion."
The three of them scanned the map at once. Military bastions, barracks, and administrative towers spread out before them. Red zones covered nearly the entire centre of the War Office's controlled district, and the transit nodes on the perimeter had already been sealed off.
"Gaunt, take the Tanith First and move out ahead of the rest." Duvette pointed toward the flanks of the War Office district. "Come in from the sides. Find their comm-jamming installations and backup power nodes. Once the fighting starts, take out the jammers, but try to keep the core Cogitators intact."
"Understood." Gaunt said with a nod.
"Anderson, the Second Assault Regiment takes the frontal approach. Once the Custodians clear the road, your men hold the entrance and take in surrendering forces. Anything still shooting, deal with it directly."
"Yes, Marshal."
Duvette turned to Kleist last. "Eisenmark advances behind them. Priority target is their long-range firepower. They've got superheavy tanks on their side, so watch yourself."
Kleist glanced at the Fury of Balhaut, parked in the distance, a faint smile crossing his face. This was exactly what he'd been hoping for. "I'll take care of it."
Once the orders went out, the vast force moved at once.
The Tanith First was first to move out aboard their transports, while a portion of their recon squads took small shuttles toward the flanks of the War Office district.
The Second Assault Regiment mounted up in their armoured transports, and the Eisenmark Armoured Regiment rolled out of the assembly area in turn.
The column of a hundred and twenty tanks filled several military roads, the Outer Palace's traffic authority having already opened the route ahead under the Regency's order.
Duvette climbed back into the Custodians' heavy grav-vehicle, Italeo seated across from him. The thirteen Shadow Wolves of Luna rode in several other vehicles, following on behind the Custodian convoy.
He turned his attention to the strategic map, and the layout of the War Office's controlled district soon took shape before him.
It was a sprawling military-administrative bastion. Barracks, warehouses, and vehicle marshalling yards spread across its outer edges, while the central district was guarded by several armoured bastions and command towers.
According to intelligence from Tyrion and the Custodians, Ashariel had already gathered a considerable military force here.
Beyond the Lord Commander Militant's own personal guard regiment, there were the War Office's core security force, internal security troops, two Outer Palace garrison regiments, and the armoured force originally responsible for guarding the district.
Part of the Lucifer Blacks and the Palatine Sentinels were also within the cordon. They took orders through the military chain of command, but had long carried the burden of the Outer Palace's own defence, and their true loyalty still belonged to the Golden Throne.
What concerned Duvette most, though, was the armoured force. War Office records showed the enemy fielded one Baneblade and one Shadowsword superheavy tank.
The Baneblade's commander came from a military noble family in the Solar Domain, an officer Ashariel had personally promoted. His family drew considerable benefit from the Lord Commander Militant's patronage, so even with Guilliman's Regency decree in hand, he'd very likely keep following Ashariel regardless.
The Shadowsword's commander, on the other hand, was a veteran who'd earned his rank through battlefield merit, with over eighty years of service behind him, and had fought in several campaigns against rebel Titans.
Whether this man would accept the Regency decree couldn't be judged yet.
Ordinary Astra Militarum soldiers and most of the junior officers had never once laid eyes on Ashariel. They'd follow orders authenticated through the War Office at first, but once a Custodian Tribune arrived carrying a Regency decree of higher standing still, many of them would shift their position.
Duvette wasn't worried about losing. What he actually needed to watch for was the casualties the 112th might take, and how much of Terra's own infrastructure the rebels might destroy before they went down.
The convoy travelled for several hours through the Outer Palace, and as the local night cycle began to close in, the War Office's controlled district finally came into Duvette's view.
The polluted atmosphere dulled the sunlight, and the lengthening shadows had already swallowed great numbers of military buildings.
The main road leading to the War Office was completely sealed off by armoured barricades, tens of thousands of Astra Militarum soldiers holding the line behind it. Tank turrets turned slowly, and the fixed weapon platforms had already gone to combat readiness.
The 112th halted its advance several kilometres out. The Eisenmark Armoured Regiment began deploying into formation, and the Second Assault Regiment set up a temporary line around their armoured transports.
The Tanith First's recon squads had already closed on the War Office district from both flanks.
Gaunt reported over an encrypted channel that they'd located several installations maintaining the comm jamming, but hadn't taken action yet.
Duvette and the Custodian detachment moved up to the very front of the line alone. He stepped out of the grav-vehicle, looked up at the distant defensive line, and said, "Lord Tribune, this part's yours."
Italeo glanced at him, then raised his halberd and walked toward the front of the line. The other nineteen Custodians fell in behind him, stopping several hundred metres from the War Office's defensive line.
The Custodians' identity codes broadcast across every public channel, and the tense defenders soon stirred. Many Astra Militarum soldiers only realised, in that moment, that the gold-armoured warriors outside truly were the Emperor's own Custodian Guard.
Italeo raised a gold seal before him, and Guilliman's issued Regency decree projected into the air at once. The Imperial Regent's crest, the Captain-General's authentication, and the Chancellor's own record were all clearly visible.
"Under order of Imperial Regent Roboute Guilliman." Italeo's voice carried across the War Office district's perimeter through the vox-amplifier. "Lord Commander Militant Mar af Ashariel has been stripped of every power he holds, and is under investigation for rebellion."
At the same time, the 112th's high-power comm array came online.
The emergency broadcast authority Tyrion had granted, together with the Custodians' own authentication, went out over the Outer Palace's public alert channel, and the Regency decree reached every officer's terminal still able to receive it.
"Anyone who lays down their weapons within the time limit keeps their military standing, and will not be held responsible for having followed the old orders." Italeo went on. "Anyone who continues to accept the command of a Lord Commander Militant already stripped of power will be treated as taking part in the rebellion."
Duvette watched the strategic map. The dense red markers around the War Office's perimeter began shifting fast, great numbers of targets turning to the yellow of an unclear allegiance.
The Lucifer Blacks and the Palatine Sentinels were the first to respond.
Once they'd verified the Custodians' identity, they broke off hostilities at once, and several officers stepped out of their positions of their own accord, asking to confirm the order with Italeo directly.
The Regency decree carried multiple layers of authentication, and the officers had their answer fast.
The Lucifer Blacks' commander declared at once that he would no longer follow Ashariel, and ordered his men to open the alloy gates of the defensive bastion.
The Palatine Sentinels began clearing their barricades as well. More and more ordinary Astra Militarum troops lowered their weapons, and some armoured vehicles even shut down their engines.
Just as the alloy gates reached the halfway point of opening, a new order came through the War Office's internal channel.
"All units, attack the rebel personnel immediately. Prevent the enemy from entering the War Office's controlled district."
It was Ashariel's own voice.
The personal guard officers he'd promoted himself didn't hesitate. The heavy weapons positioned behind the second defensive line suddenly opened up, a dense rain of fire pouring directly into the Lucifer Blacks and Palatine Sentinels still in the middle of opening the gates.
Great numbers of soldiers went down without any warning at all, and several of the officers who'd stepped out to verify the order were torn apart by heavy bolt fire. The area around the half-cleared barricades turned red with blood almost at once.
"Return fire!" the Lucifer Blacks' commander roared. "Protect the gate!"
These most elite of mortal forces reacted fast. The survivors turned their weapons on Ashariel's own personal guard regiment, and a squad of Palatine Sentinels charged the gate's control mechanism through the incoming fire, forcing the final opening sequence through by hand.
"They've made their choice, then." Duvette watched the targets on the strategic map deepen back to red, and gave the order over the comm channel at once. "Attack every one still resisting. Route anyone surrendering straight to a safe corridor."
Duvette drew the Blade of Glory, and his power swept over the entire 112th in an instant. The armoured vehicles' machine spirits answered in kind, and the soldiers felt the fatigue drain out of their bodies fast.
"Advance! Crush these traitors!" Charge whistles sounded along with his voice.
Custodian Tribune Italeo was first through the open gate, the other nineteen Custodians close behind him. The thirteen Shadow Wolves of Luna crossed the line at the same moment under Markus's lead, their heavy white shapes moving fast into the War Office district.
Ashariel's personal guard tried to force the gate shut again, and several autocannon turrets swung toward the Custodians. But Italeo destroyed the control mechanism behind the gate with a single swing, and cut down every one of the guardsmen posted nearby in the same motion.
Nineteen streaks of gold tore into the enemy position, and any target still showing hostility died within moments. Markus and the Shadow Wolves stayed close behind the Custodians, destroying the heavy-weapons crews trying to flank them from the sides.
The Second Assault Regiment moved in through the now-open road aboard their transports, quickly securing both sides of the gate, guiding the Astra Militarum troops who'd already surrendered toward the safe zone, while pressing an attack against the central guard forces still resisting.
A few minutes later, Gaunt's voice came through the comm channel. "Comm-jamming installations confirmed. Standing by."
Explosions sounded from both flanks of the War Office district at once. The Tanith recon troopers destroyed three jamming nodes, and cut the backup power to one of the installations besides.
The jammed internal channels of the War Office fell into brief confusion, and more copies of the Regency decree flooded into the defenders' terminals.
The Outer Palace garrison troops who'd still been following Ashariel began to hold their fire, and some officers even turned their weapons around, attacking the central guard forces assigned to watch over them.
The Eisenmark Armoured Regiment began advancing through the main passage, its Leman Russ tanks spreading to either side of the road, delivering precise fire against the armoured vehicles under Ashariel's control.
The battlefield fell into chaos fast. Ashariel's own personal guard couldn't tell which garrison units had already surrendered, and had no way of confirming which direction the enemy would strike from next.
Duvette, though, could see every hostile position clearly through the strategic map. He kept feeding new target zones to each of his units, steering them clear of the Astra Militarum troops in the middle of surrendering, and concentrating fire on the positions still resisting.
The central guard regiment's armoured support was destroyed fast; several of their Leman Russ tanks had barely cleared cover before Eisenmark's concentrated fire punched through them.
The automated defence turrets fell silent one after another too, under the combined efforts of the Tanith and the Second Assault Regiment.
Facing mass defections and the enhanced Custodians both at once, Ashariel's line was collapsing fast.
Duvette watched the red markers vanishing one after another on the strategic map, and knew the enemy was a candle guttering in the wind.
Just then, a sharp warning flared through [Eye of Judgement].
"Eisenmark Third Squadron, scatter!"
The order had barely reached the comm channel when a searing beam of light lanced out from the flank of the War Office district. Three Leman Russ tanks caught in the same line were pierced clean through in an instant, their heavy armour melting under the heat, their internal ammunition detonating right after.
The Volcano Cannon's beam carried on past them, punching through the lower level of a military building beyond. A wide section of wall collapsed, and a molten trench, still glowing red, was left carved into the ground.
"The Shadowsword." Duvette's expression turned cold as he stared at the massive red marker on the strategic map. "All armoured units, scatter. No one holds position in its firing line."
The Shadowsword rolled slowly out from a bastion on the flank, heat still radiating visibly off the Volcano Cannon. Several Custodians changed direction at once, moving to destroy it before it could complete its next charge cycle.
At almost the same moment, a heavier grind of treads sounded from deeper within the War Office district. The Baneblade on Ashariel's side smashed through the barricade ahead of it, its massive turret beginning to swing toward the Eisenmark Armoured Regiment.
Kleist spotted the target immediately, of course. The Fury of Balhaut rolled out from the armoured column, and the two Baneblade-class superheavy tanks locked onto one another across a main road already littered with wreckage.
Both main guns began adjusting their angle, secondary weapons on each hull cycling up to charge, and a duel between superheavy tanks was about to break out.
The Shadowsword on the flank, however, was slow to fire a second time.
Duvette glanced at the strategic map. The red marker representing the Shadowsword suddenly turned yellow. Several brief shifts between friend and foe flickered inside the superheavy tank, and then the last red dot vanished entirely.
"Custodians, hold fire." Duvette gave the order at once. "Confirm the situation first."
The Custodians who'd closed on the Shadowsword came to a stop, their halberds still trained on the hull. The Shadowsword's fire-control systems shut down one by one, and the Volcano Cannon's charge was released deliberately.
A heavy hatch swung open from within, and a grey-haired veteran leaned out from the waist up. In his hand he gripped a severed head, its face still twisted in fury, blood still dripping from the torn stump of the neck.
Duvette recognised the head. It matched the record of the senior commissar Ashariel had assigned to ride with the Shadowsword's crew — and had to be the one who'd forced control of the fire-control system and ordered the gunner to fire.
The veteran commander held the head up high, waving his other hand steadily, signalling that his crew had already stood down. A moment later, a blood-stained Imperial banner emerged from inside the hull.
Watching the scene unfold, Duvette let out a sudden laugh.
The Shadowsword's crew had made their choice in the end. They'd paid with the lives of several of their own, killed the political officer who'd tried to seize control of the tank, and taken the superheavy vehicle back for themselves.
"Accept their surrender. Re-verify the crew's identities." Duvette said. "Check the fire-control system, and once it's confirmed, have them hold position."
Several Custodians lowered their halberds and approached the Shadowsword. The old veteran tossed the senior commissar's head aside, letting it roll away down the tank's sloped armour.
This was the loyalists' victory. And for traitors, the only ending was death.
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