Editing Angels of Light (Imperium Asunder) (section)

===Contact at Kythera, Beginning of the XIIth Crusade===
The wind whipped through Ionnas Komnene's hair. He wore no helmet, and the furry, matted curls of his hair roared about his head like the mane of a lion. His armor was a bright blue, trimmed in white. On his shoulder was an Gryphon sigil, gilded and decorated with precious gems. The other shoulder was bare of ornamentation, but bore the purple hue which only a Captain was permitted to wear. He sat in the command seat of a Storm pattern Land Speeder, a three-man gravship painted the same bright blue as Ionnas' armor. To Ionnas' left and right were his Excubitores, Symean and Zynobius, loyal officers who had served on the same speeder with him for decades. Flanking the ship in a flying v pattern were twelve riders. They rode warbikes with treads capable of crushing stones, and the far bikes on each flank had sidecars with mounted melta turrets. On the control array in front of Ionnas, an auspex showed Alpha squadron twelve kilometres to the west, and Gamma squad twelve kilometres to the east. No other signals appeared, the three dots sitting quietly on the dark plane of the auspex.

The world around Ionnas was flat and barren. White silicate sand covered this planet end to end, with only the occasional wadi or oasis offering haven for Imperial colonists. Ionnas' squadron, Beta squadron, sped through the night at high speed. They were, after all, on the hunt. Six ships had broken through the blockade and entered this system, called Kythera. Six enemy vessels, carrying unknown passengers or cargo, had made their way from xenos space into this system. This system, which had been officially bestowed upon the Gryphon Wing chapter by the White Angel himself. That insult could not be allowed. Ionnas' lord had tracked at least two of the ships to Kythera 2, and had dispatched three squadrons to investigate.

"Sir," said Zynobius, "We are approaching Camp 15. No signs of xenos landing zones. Should we proceed through to Camp 16?" Ionnas pondered for a moment, then replied, "No, Brother sargeant, I think not. Bring us into the camp." The squadron rolled into the low canyon of Camp 15, one of the few successful settlements on the surface of Kythera II. Camp 15's buildings were dug into the canyon walls of a deep gully, living off seasonal flooding to feed their sparse crops. Those same crops were churned under the treads of Ionnas' squadron as they came to a stop in the center of the camp. Symean brought the speeder to full-stop, settling it into the dust. As it touched down, Ionnas and Zynobius dismounted, making their way toward the houses.

An Old Crone of a woman sat on the stoop of her sandstone hovel in front of the squadron. Where all the other colonists had hustled into their homes at the roaring of the bikes' engines, this woman stood resolute. Ionnas approached her, his shadow blocking out the sun. "Where are the ships, Matron?" said Ionnas, his voice silver smooth, "What have your people seen?" The Crone did not look up upon the Astartes' face, only sput out her chew and muttered, "You been ridin' the desert fer hours, yeh?" It took a moment for Ionnas to understand her accent, and he replied, "Nine hours, since we left Camp 14. What of it, crone?" The crone continued, "Seen the ripplins' on the horizon? Reflectin nothin at nothin?" Ionnas eyed the woman keenly, unsure at her point, "You mean Mirages? A world as flat as this with an albedo so high should cause many of them, I presume. What is your point, madame?" The woman finally turned her head upward, making eye contact with the Astartes, "'Taint Mirages, m'lord. Them's shadow-shields, twisting of the light, yes, but twisted by hands, not by nature, no, not by nature at all..." Ionnas' eyes widened as he began to understand. "Mount up!"  he cried, hustling back to his command seat.

Beta Squadron sped through the waning daylight. Ionnas kept his eyes on the horizon, scanning for any signs of disturbance. His eyes found what they were looking for, a glimmering shadow easily mistaken for a natural mirage. He diverted the squadron to a circular route around the target. Ionnas spoke into the vox transmitter on his armored gorget, "Orbital command code Epsilon Pi, subcode Beta, request drop." The vox crackled for a moment before responding in the robotic voice of a servitor helot, "Drop request confirmed, beta squadron. Report coordinates and await confirmation." Ionnas nodded to Symean, who calculated and transmitted drop vectors to the orbital command vessel in orbit. It was not long before they could hear the whistling cry and golden streaks of fire which foretold a Drop Pod attack. As the drop pods descended from the sky, Ionans sped his squadron into tubrodrive, turning directly toward the target. Facing the objective, and getting closer, Ionnas could see the foe more clearly. Behind the shimmering shield was a rock-crete domed building. Surrounding that building were five towers with some sort of mounted gun platforms. Ionnas' heart beat loudly in his chest, and with each beat his landspeeder accelerated. "FOR THE GOD EMPEROR!" shouted Ionnas in a resonating harp-like voice, "MAY HIS ANGELS KNOW NO FEAR!" replied his men in unison.

The Drop pods crashed to the ground ahead of Beta Squadron. The pods' angular structure was decorated with golden arches, and their surfaces painted with images of the Emperor's many Saints. The Paintings drew back with the doors, and from the pods spewed a cohort of the Gryphon Wing's comitatenses. The soldiers fired upon an enemy Ionnas could not yet see. The towers opened fire upon Ionnas' brothers, spewing icy-hot plasma down at them. Ionnas gave the order, and the multi-meltas of Beta Squadron opened fire. Beams of heat brighter than a star bore holes through the robotic turrets. As the dust of the drop pods' landing cleared, Ionnas could finally see the true foe. Ionnas had just enough time to say "That cannot be!" before his squadron crashed into the enemy.

Their armor was the same pale white of the sandy desert around them. Their design patterns were altered significantly, more angular and with increased mechanosupport, but Ionnas recognized them all the same: Astartes. Four of Ionnas' squadron crashed into the enemy, their bikes knocking down the mecha-paladins just long enough for their riders to recover. Sidearms and Power Swords drawn, the dismounted Gryphons engaged the enemy with their comitatenses brothers. The remainder of Ionnas' squad rode through the town, strafing what enemies they could with their bolters and melta guns. Ionnas' speeder itself unloaded its heavy bolter sponsons, pockmarking the armor of the Paladins with thousands of impact craters. The Paladins opened fire with their own xeno-enhanced fusion cannons, burning any of the encircling marines who got too close. From within the domed structure came reinforcements for the enemy: two squads of blue skinned caste warriors with plasma rifles. Ionnas pulled his squadron around for another strafing run. Turning to his Excubitores, Ionnas spoke, "Brothers, I mean to dismount and face the enemy. Fight well from the skies!" In a hailfire of bullets and plasma, Ionnas leapt from the landspeeder as it zoomed by. He drew his blade, and as he fell he plunged it into one of the paladins. "Traitors!" Ionnas boomed, "You dare turn against the Imperium of Man? You would side with the Xenos against your ancient kin? I will have your head for this!" The largest paladin turned to face Ionnas. Its blocky shoulderpads were painted with grey sigils, visible only up close. Ionnas' eyes widened as he took in the sigils. "The Sigil of Kor, as if I had not already known! You will not be the only ones who die for this treachery, but you have the honor of being the first. May you burn in hell." He pulled his hand-flamer from its maglocked holster, and fired it at the ground before the paladins. The promethium burned the sand, turning it to glass.

The Paladins fired, and the Gryphons closed in from all sides. Bolter shells exploded among the fire warriors even as assault marines crashed in among them. The Paladins killed marines by the score with their fusion guns, but one by one the Multi-Meltas of Beta Squadron tore them apart. Ionnas struck one of the paladins with his sword, dousing him with promethium and kicking the armored form to the ground. As the paladin within cooked in his armor, Ionnas knelt down and calmly examined its helmet. He pulled on a catch, and the armor plating opened to reveal the marine within. His nose was like that of a snake's, and his skin was as pale as his armor. The paladin hissed at Ionnas, "Your people have burned the stars for centuries!" Its voice was shrill and resonated with vibrato, "Not here, not anymore. This world is protected, and you shall spread your madness no further!" The mutated creature spat on Ionnas, uttering curses at him. Ionnas placed the head of his hand flamer into the Paladin's armor, and doused the fiend in the God Emperor's holy promethium.

{{Imperium Asunder}}