V2 Chapter 130: The First Shot of a Civil War
Gaunt stood on the high ground to the west of the canyon.
In the distance, the sound of fighting between friendly forces and the cultists still echoed across the barren rock. Artillery came through from the canyon's far end, varying in closeness, and black smoke could be seen rising from beyond the ridgeline at intervals.
He raised his magnoculars and looked toward the formation advancing in the distance.
They were moving across the dry lowlands and scree slopes in a tight, ordered column. Their identification signals were clear. They were not Chaos cultists.
The confirmation had already come through on the vox from Evan.
"Gantine First Noble Soldiery."
Gaunt lowered his magnoculars slowly.
That designation settled in his expression and darkened it. Old memories pushed to the surface. Another debt in blood between soldiers of the Imperium.
Aldo Dercheus.
The man he had once called uncle. The man who had placed him in the schola militaris. Not his father, but someone who had held something close to a father's place for a long time.
The same man whose cowardice and hesitation had let his real father die on the battlefield.
Gaunt had killed Aldo Dercheus himself. The stroke had carried both personal debt and the Emperor's justice in equal measure.
After that, he had understood what a commissar's duty and obligation actually meant.
Now, Gantine noble soldiery had appeared in front of him again.
Gaunt raised his magnoculars and studied their line of advance. Their formation did not suggest coordinated defensive operations, and they were not converging on the main engagement zone along Delavere's unified insertion route.
They were closing on the outer watch line held by the First Tanith Regiment.
"Contact them." Gaunt said.
His vox operator gave an immediate nod and switched to the Gantine noble troop identification frequency.
"This is the Tanith command link. Please state your unit's objective, route of advance, and coordination orders."
Only static came back.
The vox operator repeated the request three times.
No response.
Gaunt's brow came together. He turned to the officers around him.
"First skirmish line goes to full alert. No one fires first. Guns on them."
The order went out quickly.
Tanith soldiers pressed low into the rocks and shallow positions. They watched the ornate uniforms and heavy armour coming closer with the most careful eyes they had.
Gaunt watched the distance between them shrink and understood that if he let it run much further there would be trouble.
"Send a liaison team out." He said. "Imperial identification banner, open channel. Tell them that if they continue advancing toward our watch line they must submit to coordination confirmation."
A Tanith officer moved immediately.
He took several soldiers down from the high ground, moving forward along the rocky ground. They made no attempt to conceal themselves. The Imperial identification banner was planted at the front of the small group. The vox channel stayed open.
Gaunt kept his magnoculars on them the whole time.
The Gantine column stopped.
After a brief silence, a second transmission came in on the Tanith channel, this one initiated from the other side.
The voice that came through was cold.
"Ibram Gaunt."
Gaunt's eyes sharpened.
The voice continued. "My name is Frentz Dercheus. Colonel, Gantine First Noble Soldiery."
He paused, and when his voice came back it carried something that had been suppressed for a long time.
"Though you may also remember another name. Frentz Dercheus."
Gaunt's pupils contracted slightly.
Dercheus.
Aldo Dercheus's son.
Everything came together. Why the man had deviated from the route, why he had not responded on the coordination channel, why he had driven straight toward the Tanith watch line.
Frentz had not come to coordinate anything.
He had come for revenge.
The sound of measured breathing came through the vox channel.
"You killed my father, Gaunt. You turned the name Dercheus into a mark of shame."
Frentz's voice rose.
"I rebuilt myself from the bottom, step by step, to take back what was mine. Today, I am going to make you feel what that was like."
Gaunt did not answer.
His eyes remained on his magnoculars, fixed on the liaison team.
The Tanith soldiers had stopped in the ground between the two lines. The officer at the front had his hand raised, still attempting to establish formal communication with the Gantine force.
The next instant, gunfire rang out.
A cry came through on the vox channel.
Gaunt's expression changed completely.
The Gantine vanguard had surrounded the liaison team. Several Tanith soldiers were on the ground. The identification banner had toppled sideways into the rubble, its face spattered with blood.
"How dare they."
Gaunt's roar turned every Tanith officer in range.
In the distance, Colonel Frentz stood at the front of the Gantine formation. He had not stayed behind his command vehicle. He walked forward to stand directly in front of the captured Tanith officer.
That officer was still alive, kneeling, two Gantine soldiers pressing his shoulders down.
Frentz looked down at him briefly. Then he drew his combat blade.
In the magnoculars, the blade came down.
The Tanith officer's head was taken from his shoulders.
Frentz lifted it and turned to face the high ground to the west. He seemed to know Gaunt was watching. He raised his head slowly and met Gaunt's gaze across the distance between them.
The eyes were shot through with blood. The hatred and pain in them were barely contained.
But the fury in Gaunt's eyes was close to the same.
He slammed his hand down on the tactical table in front of him.
"Send everything that happened here to Duvette and Villent!" He said in a voice that left no room for misunderstanding. "The Gantine noble soldiery have attacked our formal liaison personnel. They fired first."
The vox operator began transmitting the record immediately.
Gaunt turned to face the first defence line.
"Order the outer first skirmish line to hold position. The moment they enter effective range, return fire."
The order spread quickly.
The Tanith soldiers on the western high ground pressed down low, guns trained on the Gantine force deploying below.
In the distance, the first Gantine assault wave began pushing up toward the western ridge. More troops spread out behind them. Heavy weapons teams and armoured carriers came forward. The full eight-thousand-strong strength of the formation was taking shape as an attacking line.
Frentz was no longer making any effort to conceal his intent.
He was going to use the Gantine blade to cut at Tanith, and to cut through the hatred and the weight that had been wrapped around him for too long.
On the Resolute's bridge, Duvette received the surface record almost immediately.
Evan brought the imagery up on the tactical screen. The liaison team being fired on, the identification banner falling, Frentz personally executing the Tanith officer: all of it preserved clearly.
Duvette stared at the screen, and his expression went cold.
He had expected at least several rounds of obstruction and argument from Delavere's side. The two forces might block each other's routes, trade shoves, perhaps come to blows at the soldier level.
He had not expected them to execute a formal liaison officer as their opening move.
This was not a contest over command authority. This was a calculated act of contempt, done in the most humiliating way possible.
"They had the nerve to publicly execute my people." Duvette said in a low voice.
Villent stood alongside him, his expression no better.
Duvette turned to look at him. "The Gantine noble soldiery fired first. The record is complete."
Before Villent could respond, Evan came back with an urgent report.
"Ground engagement has begun!"
On the hololithic map, fire markers erupted across the western high ground. The first Gantine assault wave had entered the Tanith defensive line's effective range, and the Tanith light infantry regiments had returned fire.
Las-beams, solid rounds, and heavy weapon fire crossed each other on the western ridge.
Villent turned sharply to Duvette.
"There is still a chance to stop this." He said. "If we transmit the record to Delavere right now and demand he rein in the Gantine forces immediately, we may still be able to pull the situation back."
Duvette did not speak at once.
He closed his eyes, as though pressing down on something.
Several seconds passed. Then he opened them.
"It cannot be stopped now."
Villent held his gaze.
Duvette turned to the communications section, his voice going flat.
"Order all ground forces to return fire."
Evan looked up immediately.
Duvette continued. "The Gantine noble soldiery has attacked our formal liaison personnel and launched an assault against the Tanith light infantry regiments. All engagement restrictions against that formation are lifted."
He paused.
"For all other Delavere ground elements: suppress, disarm, and capture are the primary objectives. Reduce their combat capacity. Avoid unnecessary killing."
Evan logged and repeated the order back.
"All ground forces return fire. Engagement restrictions on Gantine noble soldiery lifted. All other hostile elements: suppress, disarm, capture as primary objectives."
"Execute."
The order left the bridge.
Villent's expression moved through several changes.
Duvette looked at him.
"It cannot be stopped now, Admiral Villent."
After those words, the bridge was quiet for a moment.
Villent's jaw tightened. He brought his palm down hard against the edge of the hololithic projector.
"All fleet units to combat readiness!"
His order filled the bridge.
"Void shields to full power. All macro-cannon batteries standing by. Lance arrays charging. All vessels maintain recording links and wait for my fire order."
The naval officers moved at once.
Deep within the Resolute's hull, a heavy vibration began as the void shields powered up and the weapon arrays moved into combat posture. Escort vessels and light cruisers adjusted formation under Villent's orders, bringing their broadsides to bear on Delavere's fleet.
Then, barely after Villent had finished speaking, the augury officer looked up sharply.
"Detecting hostile lance high-energy reaction!"
Villent spun.
The next instant, the first lance strikes landed against the Resolute's void shields.
The bridge lurched. Alarm tones sounded immediately. On the hololithic screens, the Resolute's outer void shields flared with violent distortion, energy readings climbing rapidly.
Villent steadied himself and locked his eyes on the screens.
Nobody spoke.
Everyone understood what this meant.
The first shot on the ground had come from the Gantine noble soldiery.
The first strike in orbit had come from Delavere's fleet.
Duvette held the edge of the command lectern and raised his head slowly.
His voice was low, but it carried clearly to everyone on the bridge.
"We have enough on record."
Villent was silent for a moment. Then he gave the order.
"All fleet units. Prepare to return fire."
Duvette looked at the Delavere fleet markers on the tactical star chart, and the last trace of hesitation left his eyes entirely.
"Notify all boarding parties."
He said.
"Take Delavere."
"Take Heldane."
Above Menazoid Epsilon, the guns of Imperial fleets finally began to speak.
The civil war had begun in earnest.