Scars...

Back on Earth, the Avengers and SHIELD were brought into a panic when alarms started blaring off in the Helicarrier as the satellite feed of the massive ship in orbit began firing upon the Earth.

“WHAT the hell is going on?!” Barked Fury looking around the bridge of the ship to find his crew scrambling for answers.

“Projectiles from the alien vessel sir, 17 bogeys incoming!” Called out one of the crewmembers at the screen nearby. Watching the screen, the Avengers watched as the satellite feeds showed the group of missiles chasing what looked like a large shuttle before missing the target and heading for Earth. Wasp and Ant Man were beside themselves while Thor watched on in shock. Captain America looked up helplessly and Iron Man was frantically trying to call up any of his personal satellites to see if they were in range. They all felt helpless.

“We gotta..”

A blast of hot air left behind the wake of Captain Marvel firing through the ceiling like a rocket caused everyone to lose their footing, watching the woman fly off at supersonic speed towards the kill zone as fast as her abilities could grant her. Enveloped in cosmic flames, Carol flew as fast as she could, already halfway across the Atlantic when she spotted the streaks of the cyclonic torpedoes entering Earth’s atmosphere. Reaching the first one, she shot straight through it, causing an explosion that sent her tumbling in the air as raw destructive energy went off like a halo for miles all around. Stunned, she quickly snapped herself awake and flew back up into the air, surrounded by a coruscant of blue flames as she reached for another torpedo. Reaching the next one she tried to grab hold of it, changing its trajectory to fly off into space and move onto the next. It wasn’t enough.

Even by the time she had succeeded in pulling the torpedo off its flight path, the other fifteen torpedoes made planet fall and ignited. Caught in the multiple blasts that cracked the continent and flash-fried the landscape, Captain Marvel was caught in another shock wave and crashed into a nearby mountain side. It was two minutes later when she slowly crawled out of the crater her crash had left, staggering on unsteady legs as she regained her footing and instantly fell to her knees. Off on the horizon she could see the fading mushroom clouds of the missiles she tried to stop. Breaking down into tears.

*

“TRAITOR!!!!!” Roared Kolar, bringing the entire bridge crew into a panic when the Ultramarine hoisted the admiral off his command pulpit, the connection ports to the back of his skull sparking as he was ripped from the connection and spun over the marine’s shoulder to land on his back, a bolt pistol shoved into his screaming mouth with enough **** to dislodge his front teeth. Reeling back and trying to keep a safe distance from the armor-clad giant, the crew gasped and whimpered at the sight as their admiral sobbed and coughed with the barrel of the gun in his mouth. Kolar prided himself in being stoic, to not let his passions get the better of him, he was a soldier, a warrior of the emperor, but this? Right now, he was the most terrifying thing the bridge crew had ever seen in their 248 years of service under the admiral.

“HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!” His voice echoed across the command deck for all to hear, the servo-skull scribes floating away as if his voice alone was a shockwave. “YOU WOULD DARE FIRE UPON HOLY TERRA IN ITS INFANCY? TO KILL THE EMPEROR BEFORE HIS GRACE SPANS THE STARS?!” Kolar’s eyes glaring into the weeping eyes of the prone man in his steel grip, ignoring the crunch of bone as his gauntlet around the man’s throat tightened in pure rage.

“You… YOU have allowed blasphemers to invade our ship, to KILL our most loyal, to sully this grand vessel and make off with our most precious of relics, AND perform devestation upon our most holiest of worlds… Admiral Coris, for your reckless disregard for the Emperor’s possessions and for your UNFATHOMABLE act of betrayal, I declare you TRAITOR EXTREMIS!”

“ENOUGH LEUTENANT!”

Snapping his attention to the door, Kolar’s hand twitched on the trigger of his bolt pistol as Inquisitor Yenneifer Soria casually stepped inside, her own pistol aimed at the space marine glaring back at her. “Let him go lieutenant, YOU are not the one to give judgements on this ship.”

Hissing between his clenched teeth, Kolar looked beside himself with barely contained rage as he looked up to the woman and back to the sobbing old man in his grip. His eyes darting between the two and breathing hard. “You KNOW what he has done Inquisitor, you KNOW what must be done, for all we know this traitor has slain our beloved emperor!”

Spreading her arms out, Inquisitor Soria looked all around the bridge of the vessel. “Look Kolar, look all around you. We’re still here.”

Not following her reasoning, Kolar continued to listen.

“Time is fickle but constant Lieutenant Kolar of the Ultramarines, an action precedes a reaction, regardless of what point one stands in time… We’re still here.” Looking around she could see the entire bridge crew cower before the giant form of Kolar knelt with their admiral on the ground, his whimpers muffled under the muzzle of the bolt pistol. “If his actions had done the damage you claim, we would not be here, we would be erased from existence, not dead… But never had existed.” Slowly kneeling down to join the Space Marine on the floor, Yennifer gently placed her hand on his arm and pulled him away from the admiral, the elderly man rolling to his side once the bolt pistol was pulled away from the wreck of his mouth to spit up blood and teeth.

“We still live, which means the Emperor still lives…”

Slowly nodding, Kolar returned to his feet and holstered his pistol, his breathing calming down as he stepped away from the whimpering Admiral thanks to the Chronos Inquisitor guiding him back with a delicate hand. The crew releasing a breath they didn’t realise they were holding as the trepidation had finally died away.

“T’ank hou… ‘Ord In-cisitor…” Admiral Coris slurred, all while his vice admiral finally found the nerve to join the man and help him to his feet, gathering a handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

“You are welcome Admiral Coris, please do not let this be a moment where you would lose faith in the Adeptus Astartes, above ALL else, they are loyal to the Emperor’s will.” Seeing the man nod, the admiral still gave the Space marine a venomous look. Turning to Kolar, Inquisitor Yennifer gave the tall warrior a sour look herself, one that that did sit comfortably on her beautiful features as she gently traced a finger to clear her long hair aside. “Lieutenant Kolar, must I remind you that I am in command and that you are in NO position to make decisions on the fate of this ship or its crew while I am in charge.”

“My apologies Inquisitor.”

“Aye wan himhh esssetuted for dis!” Slurred the admiral, pushing aside Venessa while he checked his teeth.

“And you would be in your power to do so, Admiral Coris, however…” Turning her full attention to the man wiping blood out of his mouth and wagging her finger in thought, Yennifer looked to the display showing Earth, the continent they were orbiting over showing clear scars of the terrible bombardment left behind by the broadside cannons used in the attempt of stopping the AIM forces escaping. “I have to wonder, where the broadsides aiming for the Thunderhawk… Or Terra?”

“Wha..?”

“Did you order the gunners to fire upon the Thunderhawk? Or Terra?” Yennifer asked again, giving the man a look of curiosity. “Seventeen shots from the broadsides is quite the impressive display of firepower to destroy a Thunderhawk, I do believe only ONE shot would be enough to do so… So why seventeen?”

The admiral remained silent as he quickly began to realise where the line of questioning was leading to, until Vice-Admiral Venessa spoke up. “Imperial Navy doctrine states that if an enemy were to go to ground to escape… Leave no ground to go to.” She spoke quietly, suddenly nervous as she was quickly the center of attention by the inquisitor before her.

“Is this the ONLY tactic presented to the Imperial Navy when in these circumstances?”

“No…”

The instant she got her answer, Yennefer unholstered her gold etched bolt pistol and aimed it point blank at Admiral Coris, blowing his skull apart with the first shot and emptying her clip into the rest of his body. Causing the crew to panic and step away as the Inquisitor emptied a clip into the corpse and reloaded to keep firing until she stopped. “Seventeen shots! Seventeen **** sentences for the seventeen attempts on the Emperor’s life!!!” Holstering her pistol to her hip, Inquisitor Soria spat on the perforated corpse and nodded to the remaining crew nearby to drag him out of her sight. “Toss him out an airlock so he can BURN upon re-entry!” Quickly following the order in fear of being next, three helmsmen dragged the bloody corpse by his feet out of the command deck.

“Vice-Admiral Venessa, YOU are in command of the helm hence forth, do NOT make the same mistake your predecessor made!” She hissed, venomously to the woman who stood shaking on the spot after seeing her Admiral executed.

“Y-yes Inquisitor, by your command, the Emperor protects.”

“Yes, he does!” Yennifer replied, sharply turning to leave the bridge. “Be sure that you do not KILL him to keep that from being so… Admiral!”