Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor

Segmentum Pacificus, high orbital path of the planet Tanith.

Sanchez, Chapter Master of the 7th Chapter, stared at a holographic image of Tanith and spoke to the officer beside him.

"The Taelids' warships aren't in-system. We must seize this opportunity to annihilate the xeno on Tanith's surface."

"Before we departed, our gene-father reminded me of a key characteristic of the Taelids."

"The Taelids view war as a performance. They plan their tactics based on spectacle and grandeur rather than sound strategy."

The "Hunter" tapped the hologram of Tanith, zooming in on the surface.

"Their tactics are bizarre. They deploy columns of gleaming war machines, only to follow up with poorly equipped, lightly armored infantry."

"Extremes of 'excessive emphasis' and 'reckless neglect' often alternate unpredictably. They lack coherent strategic thinking."

"It's because of this strangeness that predicting them is nearly impossible."

Captain Szczesny, whose left pauldron bore the High Gothic "I" and ocean wave motif, frowned deeply and replied:

"Then how do we plan for their irrationality?"

"We don't," Sanchez replied. "We simply set bait."

"When they rush toward the glittering bait, we strike precisely and decisively."

Fifty-two decoys were deployed across Tanith by the Reaper Lord. The 333rd Regiment of the Solar Auxilia, veteran support forces, was dispatched again to serve as bait. Unlike at Triken, no one could be sure which bait the Taelids would bite.

Four days after deployment, the Taelids moved.

Officer Jorginho, with the wave motif and High Gothic "II" on his pauldron, reviewed the battle reports.

"Their logic is unfathomable. They've attacked Strategic Points 7, 23, and 49, each completely different."

"Point 7 lies outside a forest, with weak defenses. Point 23 is near the Nal woods, surrounded by minefields. Point 49 is on a hilltop fortified by auxilia guards, with concentrated artillery emplacements."

"In addition to these three, they also attacked 25 other sites, but sent only lightly armed infantry, easily repelled by our auxilias."

While Jorginho spoke, the First Company Captain furrowed his brow, unable to comprehend.

"No logic at all… It doesn't even resemble the thinking of a rational species…"

Szczesny finally found the right words:

"It's like watching a gambler roll dice."

"Could there be a deeper plot?"

The Reaper Lord paused for several seconds, then shook his head firmly.

"No."

"This is what the Father spoke of. Taelids have no logic behind their offensives."

"Szczesny, your unit targets Point 23. Jorginho, you take 49. I'll deal with Point 7, using graviton bombs."

He looked to the rest of the officers.

"For the other strategic points, deploy subsonic rounds as previously planned."

Sanchez gave the order. Szczesny said no more. He didn't doubt the Monarch's judgment, but he knew he was sent by the Primarch to advise the bold and aggressive Reaper Lord when needed.

The Master of Vox transmitted the meeting results to the flagship of the 12th Chapter. The Chapter Masters of both chapters boarded their drop-pods.

Black drop-capsules scorched blacker still as they pierced the atmosphere, slamming into the surface with thunderous crashes, throwing up clouds of dust and debris. As they opened, their massive doors slammed against the earth.

The Shadows of Order surged forth from the capsules, fanning out with mechanical precision. Squads moved in interlinked rings, flanking the Taelids from behind.

Sanchez observed the glittering war machines ahead. The Taelids showed no reaction to the enemy appearing at their rear, continuing to attack Strategic Point 7 with mindless determination, like beasts with no higher reasoning.

The Reaper Lord paused only a second, then issued his command to his personal guards and special attack squads from Companies Three to Five:

"Attack!"

He strode forward, raising his left arm, and fired a graviton bomb at the dazzling armor, brighter even than the pearl-white armor of the Luna Wolves.

The graviton bomb blasted into the xenos' armor, piercing one of the two pairs of vertically aligned front limbs.

The explosion shredded the protein-structured vertical nerve column. The squid-like creature was left with only its head and cephalopodic tentacles.

Sanchez fired several more shots, killing multiple Taelids.

Activating a runic glyph, he charged forward and appeared behind one of the ornate war machines, executing Form 23 of the "Otsberg-Vaya" technique.

His roaring chainsword tore into the shining machine shell, cleaving straight into the back. Protein-laced blood splattered skyward as the glittering squid-helm flew spinning through the air.

The seasoned "Hunter" darted through the Taelids, relying on enhanced senses and Warp Insight to analyze the foes mid-combat.

He opened a command channel and issued new orders:

"They put more effort into appearances than combat. Their physiology isn't suited to warfare, and they lack any fighting instinct."

"The Gene-Father is interested in their eyes. Decapitate them whenever possible."

After hundreds of Taelids were slain, the rest seemed to finally snap out of their performative trance. Their war machines turned with a flourish, almost dancing, before charging the black-armored warriors like actors in a play.

The Shadows of Order, unmoved by spectacle, exploited the Taelids' choreographed movements with brutal efficiency.

Sanchez noticed that the Taelids' main forces still obsessed over their dazzling offensives on weak points, utterly entranced by their own performance.

Words surfaced in his mind: "Clown" and "Dressage."

He suddenly recalled a show he'd seen on Terra at age seven, clowns in heavy makeup and actors in horse costumes dancing across a stage.

Even as he pondered, his movements remained deadly, an efficient killing machine.

Over the vox, Szczesny's voice rang out with wonder:

"These space-squid are far more flamboyant than their oceanic cousins... and more, "

Before he could finish, Jorginho cut in:

"Such is the complexity of life. Take a squid out of the ocean, and it becomes a glittering cosmic species."

Later, as Sanchez led his troops to encircle the auxiliary army's camp, an even stranger sight awaited him.

A captured Taelid commander, clad in radiant armor, showed no sadness or anger, nor did he try to escape.

Instead, he began to dance inside his cell, a strange, light-footed routine, skipping from one end to the other, displaying bursts of vibrant color.

The "Hunter" watched the glittering alien in silence, still unable to grasp the Taelids' bizarre mindset.

He vanished in a blur, his sword slicing through the air, ending the absurd battle.

'My carefully prepared hunt… ended like a farce.'

After Tanith's campaign ended, Sanchez began collecting Taelids' eyes.

A techmarine dissected the space-squid's four ocular organs and found they had a 230-degree field of view.

The eyes contained an outer, membranous layer and a spongy "retina." The front pair had dense cone cells ideal for seeing long-wavelength light, like infrared; the rear pair had more rod cells, making them extremely light-sensitive.

The optical confusion caused by Nal trees rising and falling from the soil had no effect on the keen-sensed Shadows of Order. They collected Nal grubs to offer the Gene-Father.

The 12th Chapter remained on Tanith to establish order and guard against a Taelid fleet return.

As the 7th Chapter departed with their spoils aboard the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignty, Nareth discovered that the Dice of Prophecy had fully recharged.

...

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

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