In the Grimdark Sector with a System

Author Notes:

Yeah, I blame Nicolae the Shoggoth and coffee for this development

There are advanced chapters on P-atreon for both of my fics, with a couple of special bonuses if you read the fine print :D

https://www.patre-on.com/Heartbreak117

https://ko-fi.com/heartbreak117/goal?g=0

Income goal 676/700 USD

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It's a beautiful day outside.

Birds are singing.

Flowers are blooming.

On days like these, let's play jousting with a Mechanized Company.

"Ein! A little help here!?" Weiss screams after popping out to fire a burst of red lasers.

She is quick to duck down and hide her body behind the rocky outcrop when numerous lasers start striking her position. Most of the lasers went wide before dissipating. The few that hit our outcrop with reasonable accuracy created holes of melting and vaporizing material. Though we are unharmed and our cover holds true thus far, the smell of burning rocks is honest to the Emperor weird. That said...

"Eh..." I wave at Weiss while chilling in my little alcove of safety. "You seem to be doing alright thus far."

"Are you helping me or not, girl!?" Weiss shouts back incredulously at my nonchalant.

After the initial contact, I focus on taking out or disabling dangerous targets. I leave most of the heavy lifting to Johnson's unit and the friendly Chimeras. However, I allow Weiss to intervene at her discretion, if only to see how she will react under pressure. She has been doing surprisingly well, scoring good hits even with the distance from us to the enemies. Despite her previous veneer of a Rookie, Weiss swiftly fell into a flurry of professional actions that turned her into one of the most active and effective combatants on our side. She not only displays the leeway to retort at my semi-inactiveness, but also has the peace of mind to duck, weave, and retaliate in the heat of combat. These are actions that are drilled into each and every single Cadian out there to the point it's turned into an instinct. Yet, the weird thing here is how effortlessly Weiss is seen executing those maneuvers. How undaunting she is when aligning her ironsight under heavy return fire... The skills she actively uses are not rare, but it's her proficiency in employing them that makes me view her under a lens of strict scrutiny.

My instinct warned that Weiss wasn't normal back when I met her in the Platoon's Chimera. This battle right now has reinforced that notion by a few pegs. As for what I will do with this updated information about Weiss... Nothing, for now.

"Ein!?"

I sigh nonchalantly. "Fine. Fine. Rookies these days can boss their senior around now. Truly, time has changed."

With a roll of her eyes, Weiss fires and punches a hole through an enemy's torso. She complains. "This is really not how I imagined you would act in battle, Ein!"

I wave lightly in her direction with my left hand before rolling on my back to a prone position. I prop my lasrifle on the rocky surface, seeing the swath of enemy foot mobiles from afar. "Eh, you'll get used to my mood swings soon enough. Seeing that you will stick as my battle buddy for a long, long while."

Slumping against her cover to reload her lasrifle, Weiss sighs in annoyance. "I have the feeling that I shouldn't have passed that can of recaf to you earlier."

I laugh before swiveling my rifle from left to right while pulling the trigger ten times. "Aww, but I love recaf~! It trembles my brain!"

Despite the casualness in my aim, I still score ten fatal hits on the enemy soldiers, something which Weiss is quick to pick up on while poking her head out.

"Holy Terra... How!?" Weiss screams before she is forced to duck down.

Her action is a timely one because a barrage of bullets soar over where her head was. "Oh, come the fuck on! Can you silence that stubber permanently!?"

"Eh, let me reload first." I slid down, shrugging, before loading a new power pack into my rifle.

While manipulating my weapon, I can't help but remember the 'why' and 'how' that led 3rd Platoon to this point.

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"Oy, is that a freaking voidship?" Weiss asks while using her magnoculars to eye the strangely 'alien' vessel, with the word 'alien' being used very loosely.

"Pah!" Sergeant Johnson spats out his cigarette before speaking through the Platoon's vox channel. "Say what!?"

It's understandable why Johnson is surprised for nobody expects to see a voidship in the middle of a supposedly uneventful anomalous site. Even I am caught in a bit of a stupor, though it's for another reason entirely. I think I recognize that crashed ship.

An alligator-esque fore-end, a large engine complex that is connected to the front half of the ship through a slim spinal structure. Two sets of 'arms' jutting out from the spinal structure which are, in fact, flight pods for the voidship's fighter wings. Dirtied metallic grey hull with little to no embellishment, thus giving the crashed vessel a very utilitarian look when compared to the Imperium's flying cathedrals... Yeah, there's no way in hell I will misidentify that design language. I did grow up watching ship breakdowns about that voidship's particular specifications and that of her brethren in my past life.

I am looking at an Emperor forbids Battlestar!

How!? Why!? There's legit little to no way that a Battlestar would be able to crossover into the grimdark universe of 40K! But, apparently, here we bloody are! And by the look of it, that Battlestar is surprisingly intact despite the seemingly harsh landing that carved a kilometers-long trench behind it. Now, this could all be some Chaos-specific ruse that, as weird as it sounds, targets me due to my strange presence in the verse. However, that begs the question: Why go to such length, nabbing a thing from honestly not in the realm of this reality and lobbing it down on Cadia? I don't think even that Blue Dude in the Warp would have the power, the patience, or the permit to do that. The people that stay in between the verses would no doubt have a chat with the Chaos Gods if they meddle far beyond their statures.

So this... That Battlestar... I think it's a legit coincidence...

Or that Shoggoth and the Bartender are literally throwing me a bone here.

Whatever, I am nowhere near smart or powerful enough to ponder about the workings of higher beings. What I do know is that the Battlestar is a literal Emperor-sent opportunity. It presents a treasure trove, or a Pandora's Box to be more accurate, that can up-end everything we know of about the Warhammer universe, either to collapse it altogether or to build it anew.

On further inspection of the crashed voidship, I surmise that the vessel is Mercury-class Battlestar. Hailed from a different part of the Omniverse that centered around Love, Deaths, and Robots, the Mercury-class Battlestar is, quite frankly, weak. It may be the most powerful human-made vessel where it came from, but it's lacking in shielding, firepower, and size when compared with other voidships in the 40K universe. A frigate from over here can just sneeze the Mercury-class Battlestar out of existence. Yet, the Battlestar does offer one specific tactical and strategic advantage that Warhammer voidships don't have.

FTL drives.

Unlike Warhammer's method of FTL travel which uses the chaotic Warp as a medium, Mercury's FTL travel is perhaps the safest way to get around anywhere fast in this galaxy. The Mercury carries multiple FTL drives which are aptly nicknamed Blink drives. The existence of these Blink drives allows the large Mercury-class Battlestar to instantaneously teleport from one point in space to another using a dimensional transport effect. Better yet, the drives offer instantaneous travel without interacting with the Warp. Requiring only precise calculations, strong enough power sources, and durable hulls, the Blink drives will revolutionize the Imperium if it can be reverse-engineer. Which, when thinking deeper, the Imperium can quite easily do so. The only possible issue is whether or not I can sic the Adeptus Mechanicus at the thing without the Inquisition stepping in.

However...

"Can you describe what you're seeing, Corporal? From my point of view, I can only see the very upper superstructure of that supposed voidship." Johnson comments.

"Well," I reply. "you're nowhere high enough to see everything past the forest. But yeah, I am seeing a crashed voidship that fits none of the factions' design languages. That said, if I am to take a wild guess, it looks distinctively human, minus all the golden and cathedral superstructure. The voidship is also quite small compared to most of our mainstay voidships. It only fits out at nearly 2 kilometers in length, I think? I can't comment about its height as I think there are parts of the ship that are sunken into the ground. Distance from us to there should be around two kilometers, give or take."

"2.3 kilometers and some changes." Weiss helpfully adds.

"What she said." I finish. "From here to there, we will have to pass either directly through the wood or follow a small, unused trail that leads to the crash site."

Johnson smacks his lips. "How the Hell did our sensors miss something this big landing on Cadia?"

"It could be because of the Eye of Terror?" Weiss ponders.

"Or equipment failures." One member of our Platoon chimes in through vox.

"Or utter incompetency." I add. "Regardless, we have to call it in. If it's a true human voidship, then we're to render aid, I guess."

Sergeant Johnson sighs. "And if it's hostile or whatever else that's not dead or diplomatic, we will need a purge team. This is seriously above the pay grade of this small QRF... Corporal, make sure the Sensor-skull records and transmits everything back to HQ. We will vox Command-"

"That won't be necessary, Sergeant." Another voice, an authoritative one, interjects into our conversation. "This is Colonel Mustahim speaking. We have been tracking your progress and will continue to monitor the situation through your pict feeds and Servo-skull. Your current order is to dig in, survey, and wait for reinforcements to arrive by air."

Both Weiss and I share a look at the word 'reinforcements'. Johnson understandably says. "Understood, Colonel, but reinforcements? I thought everyone had their hands full."

"Rejoice, 3rd Platoon, for the Lords and Ladies of Space Marines and Sisters of Battle are heading your way." Colonel Mustahim replies, earning murmurs from members of our unit. While I am surprised by the mention of Space Marines, I am hopeful about the incoming Battle Sisters that I may see some friendly faces.

"Well, I'll be damn. To what do we own the honor..." Johnson mutters before shaking his head. This time, he addresses the Platoon. "Alright people, let's make sure we're presentable before any more surprises crop up. Let's get the Chimeras up here as our objective has changed."

While Johnson is juggling communicating with the Colonel and supervising his detachment at the same time, I quickly notice strange movements ahead. Tapping Weiss's shoulder, I point her to the 2 o'clock position. Understanding my meaning, Weiss silently brings her magnoculars up and scans the terrain. What she is looking at is a mixture of hilly terrains and beaten paths. The scenery there is sparsely covered by foliage and low-hanging trees, unlike the dense forest in front of us. There aren't supposed to be any additional forces in this formerly anomalous site, so why are there four additional Chimeras ascending the hill more than a kilometer away from us?

"That is... Odd?" Weiss comments.

I directly interject into the vox communication between Johnson and Colonel Mustahim. "Are you all seeing this?"

I make a signal for the Sensor-skull to scan the approaching unknowns. "The reinforcements are supposed to arrive by air, right?"

Colonel Mustahim directly replies. "Thunderhawks and Valkyries. This whole sector is the 8th Regiment's responsibility, so I can say for sure there's no way in Hell we have more than two Chimeras over by the crash site! Whoever the additional Chimeras belong to, we have no idea so act cautiously! I will see if we can analyze which unit those four IFVs belong to over here."

Johnson comments. "From a cursory glance, they seem to be draped in Cadian livery, though the grainy pict feed makes it hard for me to know their full affiliation."

Weiss asks. "Could they be from another Kasr that came to check out the situation?"

I shake my head. "This is deep in the 8th's purview. Our border units would have noted the Chimeras down if they passed by legally. More than that, the Chimeras came from a direction with no Kasr that is close to this site. If they are really a Cadian unit, they wouldn't and couldn't have come here unannounced."

"And if they are not?" Weiss tilts her head while tracking the lead Chimera with a heavy stubber on a pintle mount.

Colonel Mustahim answers in a grim tone. "Traitors."

Johnson sighs. "Better be safe than sorry. Everyone prepared for combat! Donovan, prepare the launcher! Zanna, back him up! Chimeras, I want you two to be ready for anti-armor combat! And somebody gets on that stubber!"

I nod at Weiss. "Weiss, be ready for engagement. Due to the presence of possible hostile armor, we will need to spread out for a bit. Also, if things really go hot, the task of suppressing the enemy position will fall onto you while I will handle high-value targets. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Weiss nods before pulling out her liquid container. She then proceeds to drink from it, possibly as a pre-combat rite, before passing it to me. "It's recaf. You want some, Ein?"

I shrug before accepting the offer, taking a good gulp from the energetic goodness before passing it back to her. "Good stuff, thanks. Oh, and I do apologize if I act a bit different in the thick of things after this."

Raising an eyebrow after accepting back the canteen, Weiss asks. "What do you mean?"

I smile, my lips quirking up a bit more than usual. "Eh, you'll see."