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Lord Marshall Karak stood waiting down deep in the high security labs, what they where working on demanded nothing less as Drax loaded the sample into the chamber containing the Hybrid sample, Over the intercom several count downs began and the misty gas was released. in seconds what was a large drugged caucus of pale flesh as reduced down to a foul liquid and chunks of chitin plates that where scored and burned but not destroyed. Drax came out from the controls, pale, and rarely seen on other decks he was a odd man, yet his weapons may change the entire balance of the war. "Very good Drax, your description lives up to its results, and i see from your charts a marked increase if 17% in the effectiveness of the chemicals" "yes Marshall, it is increasing, the yield is up, ferocity and the lingering effect now lasts 120% longer than the very first version. its becoming a minor denial weapon. Though i do need certain chemicals and items. i have sent you a list as your weight may help acquire them, my reputation with the ordo's is not perfect" Karak looked down at the man, a human, a Inquisitor who gained infamy for his designs, but now he saw himself a scientist more than inquisitor, a odd but valued member of the crew. "Im sure i can get the materials, long as there not too difficult to acquire, keep me informed of progress. Crusade command will be interested"

Turning and walking away, "Tangir, send the latest report on the weapon the Crusade HQ for senior officers to review, show them we are doing more than farming mushrooms" The vox crackled slightly, the thick hull plates in the section interfered with the signal. "aye sir, report will be sent along with updates on the patrols"

****
Meanwhile in the converted hanger Petra looked over the young female Knight now running swordsmanship drills vs one of the standard training servitors, despite her insistence in public she was no less capable, the medicares advice to try to take things easier was paying off and some of her negative symptoms where beginning to ease, "Knight Sarah, cease the drills, come over to the refreshments, you have been at it for hours" "yes mam, theres no breaks in combat though" Sitting down, Petra began to see younger version of herself, always trying to beat her detractors and stand out, " Call me Petra whilst its empty, no one here to tell bar the servitors and they are brain dead, your right but i want to go over a few things," Taking several of the training guides, " your blow on here, its still slightly fast, your bringing too much momentum and its throwing of the follow up, It seems silly, but the knight lords are staid in there reviews and require exacting precision" Looking over the books, copies of the ancient texts, and one by Chaplain Vargos, " However Knight captain, sorry, Petra, the blow in combat, there fine in the halls but in combat who cares about the precise purity, its about staying alive and wining" Laughing, "now you get it, my training is paying off, however the staid lords in there towers never have quite accepted female knights, they expect perfection, and if you want to progress, we have to play there silly games, once i teach the rules, il teach you how to break them"

The conversation was broken by a serf bearing a message "Knight Captain, your required in the meeting of the Officers at 16.00, i was sent to inform it commences soon" Angry, "oh feth the time, bloody meetings, let me guess another supply briefing, Im coming serf, Knight Sarah, Keep up the training drills if you wish, and read that Book written by the Chaplain, its rater good on explaining certain sections i feel the standard texts tend to lightly cover" "yes mam, take the sword if they bore you, you can speed them up" "That might be the only thing that would make that quartermaster be concise, but a few may not agree. Now i know your definitely going to work out well, your already annoyed at the Gak that keeps us from combat,"

"Im coming Serf, no need to loiter, im on my way" "aye mam, il inform the others"

****

On the planet the final clear up of the rebel plantation was finished and new workers and builders where setting about the task of bringing the site back to operation, Reports said it might be two months but they already had got the to work fixing some of the more intact buildings and making them useful, "Vargos, Message from the fleet, they want you up in orbit soon as you can, something about a ork ship, and getting a rapid deployment force ready, Sorry sir, not much else in the message bar some gak about a pissed scribe wanting to know when the next shipment will be ready" Looking over the blasted site, "They might be waiting two months, the rebellion required more units than planned to crush, and more damage. Tell the crew of the craft nearby to ready for launch, i shall attend the Marshal soon as i can reach the ship. Bit of a storm, should be there within the hour if the weather holds"

At the main space port a Serf tracked its flight up to the ship, as they did every flight leaving orbit, "Tell Fighter wing 7 that its cleared flight o the ship, i don't want a near miss likes last weeks accident over the Northern hives, the ship barely made it into landing." Relcining from the console, the tower was old, converted from a smaller spaceport to now a far larger operation it was rather crampt as extra machines, crews and desks had been fitted. Turning to the security console manned by a subordanent, "Inform the gunners of the overflight" "aye sir, gunners informed, all systems cold on the hawk, cleared for overflight" "good, Chaplains flight, im not going to be the one to shoot his flight down. Crewman, fetch a new mug of caffeine here, still got 5 hours left on shift"

A short chunk, but

"Weeez allz gonna die!" A particular ork said next to Narlug. Narlug smacked him on the back of the head to try and regain order. The simplistic charge Narlug had sent to the PDF outpost seemed to have failed. Narlug was having trouble maintaining order among his boyz as they were being obliterated left and right. The few orks that had made it to the PDF humies were met with a makeshift wall of shields and pikes. All of the rest of da boyz were being diced apart by the accurate and precise shots from the PDF's las-bows and las-ballistae. A particular shot from a las-bow smacked into his kustom force field. The attack continued to falter as more and more greenskins died. Narlug couldn't even get stuck in because the flow of bodies was retreating, not advancing! As the PDF noticed the orks retreating, their firing intensified. Narlug tried a few more times to retain order, but it always failed. He might as well just get his boyz back and head back to da stronghold.

Narlug had wanted to use this victory to impress the tribes and get them under him. All it did, however was get him laughed at and he lost 50% of the force he came with. His band was mocked and jeered all the way back. It would take something big to get their respect back. He probably wouldn't even be allowed in their camps.

[Near the ork stronghold]

"Get it!" A group of greenskins sighted a lone wolf a small ways away. They began to chase after it, but as they approached, the wolf realized it was outnumbered and fled.
"Dat was gonna be my mount!" one of the orks said.
"No, dat would've been mine!" said another.
With this said, a small fight broke out among them on who's mount that would have been. Too bad it was long gone by the time the fight was over. Narlug had sent out a few groups of boyz to try and get some wolf mounts, but most of the wolves were dead nearby. One group was smarter than the rest, and had discovered a den full of wolves. That would be for a large party of boyz to capture. The other way, it seemed to get da mounts, would be to take em from the larger tribes.

Near the border of Charadon System, Malicious Entities Responsive Intelligence Taskforce Lieutenant Commander Rakszan walked alongside with Captain Paul Mason in the corridor of Light Cruiser Remembrance of Khansu.

"How many times did I talk about the marvel of this ship I am still serving, sir Rakszan?"

"Ten times since I declared you the Captain of Remembrance of Khansu, not that I am bothered at all. In fact, I only find myself disturbed when I no longer have the ability to show my pride for the ship's glory through the facial expression."

"It's still hard to imagine the ship was over sixty million years old, and it still work in perfect performance. A shame that the entire Collective couldn't have another baby like that, but I understand how busy you were in those years shutting the jail of those C'Tan up."

"Too true, my good Captain."

They arrived at the bridge, and saw the crews doing their best to avoid unwanted attention from inside and outside of the Warp.

"We would still never believe must of your, um not-our-predecessor did not have the capability to travel through the Warp, if we didn't raid that Tomb World you have mentioned."

"When it not for my Dynasty's so-called former ally of the Old Ones, I would say we would not come to this far of our voyage."

Their musing for the ship was cut short, when one of the tacticians reported that their part of situation analysis was completed. Both Rakszan and Captain Mason wasted no time to attend the upcoming meeting for the mission, and entered the Information And Decision Center. With everyone in position, the stoic Commander Harrison started the presentation on what they found from the Imperial, Ork, Eldar, and Chaos forces.

"Our arrival via Warp travel did not draw too much attention, which is business as usual." He congratulated his fellow crews, "right now, our informants within the Charadon System stated that there are indeed Kaos activities within the sector. This was to be expected in our primary objective. However, there are rumors between several cultists that a mysterious cult leader was asking for small amount of sacrifice frequently for the Great Daemon Harrimoch The Light Devouror. Upon searching the Interex Archive of Malicious entities, we could not found any known Warp creatures matching the description."

"I am sensing a but, Commander." Rakszan said.

"I am about to get there, Lieutenant Commander. One of the radio broadcasts from the Eldar ships said that 'be wary of the Jackal God in the form of mortal.', which we already know referring to the C'Tan known as The Deceiver. And several dialogues between the Orks stated that they found a large derelict Necron ship with its door torn, but those Orks soon left as they saw nothing worth of looting. I could only concluded that Kaos was not the only manipulator in this stage of war, and my suggestion for this scenario is to advice Admiral Chatterton to have one Cruiser with its crews to handle the problem posted by the C'Tan shard."

"What of our idiotic Imperial 'friends'?" Captain Mason asked skeptically.

Commander Harrison shook his head, knowing that his Captain have a clear distaste for the Imperium. In fact, how could the Imperium survive from their chaotic way of belief was also out of Harrison's imagination.

"Clearly, they simply head straight into unknown, fighting things blindly. Save for those Inquisition, but they do not receive rumors of strange entity roaming around the sector. Speaking of that, I caught words from the Imperials that a subspecies of Tyranids called the Hybrids was found, not that we have solid facts on those beasts right now."

The Captain nodded, and before he declared dismissal of the meeting, he addressed Rakszan in rarely seen serious tone.

"Lieutenant Commander Rakszan, you will be the field leader of the upcoming scouting mission, and you will be granted the authorisation for choosing your own teammates and weaponry allocation. Understand?"

"Loud and clear, Captain Mason."

~

I have to think of the composition for the field operation, oh and any idea where I should land?

=====Voor'Han Stasis Chamber=====
Kageros awoke from his stasis chamber, he had been asleep for an entire week. As he stretched his arms, he attempted to yawn before frowning. Having no lungs takes a toll on a man. It was time to get to work, power was essential to their plans, so power they would need to create. Kageros shuffled into the holding a cup, back from the days of the Necrontyr filled with what could be considered beer, and reports of what the other factions had been up to for the last week. He sat on his throne and sipped his mug reviewing the reports, he looked up as Rak'Than walked into the room, "Good morning Kag, enjoy the rest?" "Kind of, it's not like I needed it or anything." "True enough. So what is our next area of business?" "Well, we need power so have our Tau friends bring in some more pulse generators, and have Chagh and Zyfek start enhancing our main power grid. If we can get it right we will have enough power for now." They glanced at each other before laughing. "It's funny because there's Never Enough Power." their chuckles started to die down and Kageros scrolled through his data pad a little more before looking back at Rak'than, "I see that Tyrell III remains untouched by all except the Hybrids, is this correct?" "Yes, why do you as- oh, that's not a bad idea." "Thanks, so send a Scythe Class and a squadron of Dirges to establish a base." "it will be done."
=====Voor'Han Power Crypt [4 Days Later]=====
As the Tau Crisis suits set the last generators in place, Kageros was checking on his Lord Crypteks' work on the grid. "Zyfek, Chagh, how is the main power grid?" "We have increased it's output by 250%, AND it's stable." "You say that like it's not normal." "Well, it's not... but when we connect the generators in it should increse the power output to 500%."Lets start it up." The generators spun to life casting a pale blue aura on the surrounding area, mixing with the swirling amber glow of the main power grid. It was going very well until one of the generators started to spike before exploding. The immense surge created from the overload spread like wildfire through the other generators causing them to also overload. The feedback was too great and the power grid collapsed and shut off. The entire western hemisphere went dark. Pylons shut off, stasis crypts powered off killing warriors. "DAMNIT ALL, WHY?! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?!" Kageros threw up his hands and despair. Zyfek looked at Chagh, "Get to a defense terminal and siphon the extra power from our secondary defense grid, I'll stay here and reroute power from our auxiliary power reserves!" Voor'Han was a mad scramble as people ran about doing mostly nothing, as there was nothing they really could do. By the time power was restored over 200 warriors and 20 immortals were dead. It was a dark day.
=====The Tyrell Flotilla=====
The Overlord in command of the Reclamation Legion en route to Tyrell III glanced at the different monitors in the bridge. "Why have we not been attacked by the Hybrids yet? I dislike this lack of conflict." The lord at the helm of the ship spun around in his swivel chair to look at the Overlord, "Well, we have our Null Matrices active so they probably won't be able to detect us until we get fairly close to Tyrell III, then it'll get interesting." "GOOD, I can't wait to try out our new offensive maneuver." "Yeah, Kageros will probably want to see it." "Okay," He looked at a Cryptek in the bridge, "Contact Kageros, tell him we will be performing his maneuver." "Okay," The Cryptek turned towards a communicator, "Kageros, this is Cryptek Sheek, we will be encountering Hybrid forces soon, and we will be performing your specialty maneuver." Within 30 minutes Kageros strolled onto the bridge, "What did I miss? Did I miss it?" "No, we have 5 minutes before we deactivate the Null Matrices," He looked at the mug Kageros was holding, "Long day?" "You have absolutely no idea, I need a break from Voor'Han, so I've decided to personally see through with this base." The Overlord was delighted,"That's good news, this will be fun." The Lord turned around, "Deactivating Null Matrices now... We have Hybrid ships inbound, looks like their trying to get in close." Everyone in the bridge looked at each other with barely contained glee. Kageros looked at the monitor and watched as the ships approached, when they came withing 1000 kilometers he simply laughed, "Do it." Within a minute 12 Dirges [ ] deactivated their Null Matrices and cloaking fields. The Hybrid ships didn't know whether to target the Necron flagship or smaller craft. It did not matter, the Scythe ship went full throttle into the middle of the hybrid fleet. When ever a ship got to close, a Dirge with a high-yield payload simply crashed into them with a super nova of destruction. Everyone aboard the Scythe Ship simply exploded with laughter and glee, it was beautiful watching the mass Dirge spam that was taking place. The Hybrids with no choice abandoned the fight and fled. Kageros laughed so hard that went to grip a rail that wasn't there and fell over, this only spurred on laughter from the others who fell out of their chairs. Truly a joyous time was had, they all picked themselves up as they approached the planet. "Kageros, I detect a large number of Hybrid's at our landing point," Turning around, "We also happen to have two squads of Lychguard prepped with Night Scythes ready to meet them." Kageros smiled again and looked to the Overlord next to him, "Let's kick some ass yeah?" The Night Scythes screamed over the landscape nearing the drop site. When they got to the area they slowed down just enough to disgorge the 20 Lychguard, the Overlord, and Kageros. They were dropped straight into they fray, and it was glorious. By the time it was done several hours later, they stood upon a pile of several hundred Hormagaunts, some Carnifexes, and a Tyrant. The Scythe Ship dropped in from orbit and disgorged several Canoptek Harvests to secure the area and reclaim energy while the legion itself started working on the base. Kageros stood in the middle of the operation watching everyone work when his communicator beeped, it was Rak'Than. "What is it Rak?" "Kag, we have detected Pariah signatures in the system." Kageros practically spit out his [beer/coffee/whatever Necrons used to drink] in surprise, "Give me like 5 minutes."
=====Arbalest Comms Room [5 minutes later]=====
Kageros quickly paced into the room and to Rak'Than, " What is this about Pariahs?" "We have detected a Shroud Class Cruiser entering the sector. Intercepted communications indicate that they are the remains of the Khansu Dynasty. Their forces, from what we can gather, seem to consist of Pariahs, some Psykers, and some mercenaries as well." Kageros glanced at the report, "Their leader's name is Rakszan?" He glanced at Rak'than, "Are you two related at all?" "No, that's ridiculous." "Okay then, send them this message." He stepped into the side room where he recorded messages and cleared his non-existent throat before speaking, "This is Kageros, Phaeron of the Kageros Dynastic Legions. We have detected your presence and wish to meet with you. We offer you a spot among our Coalition. If you require assistance we will gladly help. We look forward to your reply." The glyph indicating that he was being recorded powered off. Instead of stepping out of the room he looked at Rak', "Aren't there Rogue Traders in the sector?" "Yeah, why?" "Lets send them a message as well." With that the glyph brightened up again, "This is Kageros, Phaeron of the Kageros Dynastic Legions. We wish to inquire about what you are willing to trade, we have some items you may have some use for." "I have another message to send, this one to Archarus." The glyph turned on yet again, "Archarus, this is Kageros, I have a gift for you seeing that I have a hard time acquiring slaves. A virus bomb left over from the Dark Eldar that left the sector, it's yours if you meet me here on Voor'Han."

Strike Force Righteous Spear exited warp in the debris field that was once the world of Kagrenz. Acting Captain Aurelius and his men stood at the bridge of the Red Oktubris, the Imperial Fists strike cruiser, they still not yet had the chance to return to their own vessel. On the Imperial Fist’s bridge Serfs called out to Captain Mercutio “My Lord we are receiving a hail from the Wrath of Faust.” Aurelius grunted “What does that bastard want now.” Mercutio spoke to the human voidsmen “Bring it up.”

Pavus’s image came on the Imperial fists screen. The Lord Governor spoke with a grin stuck upon his face “Ah Lord Aurelius I am glad you are present; the message concerns you as well.” Aurelius spoke “What is it you want Pavus.” Pavus smiled “Straight to business than I see, now that we have what we came for I feel we must discuss what our next step must be.” Mercutio spoke “Aye we have what we came for now we got to decide what to do with it, we will hold a council aboard my ship at 08:00.” Pavus spoke cordially “I was about to suggest the same, My retinue and I will arrive shortly. Until then gentle man.” Pavus killed the feed. Mercutio looked over to Aurelius “His retinue?” Aurelius laughed “A bunch of thugs and scum that he travels with.”

Pavus’s honor guard boarded with the Imperial Fist’s vessel, among them were The Hound Captain Braddock, Knight Lord Tennyson, Ruck the Ogryn body guard, and Captain Kassani again helmeted, they would be the only ones to sit in on the meeting the rest would wait outside the doors.

Aurelius watched as the Governor and his entourage entered the meeting room accompanying them that familiar helmeted figure. Mercutio laughed “Are you expecting trouble Lord Governor, because I can assure you there are no hybrids aboard my ship.” Pavus laughed “Please Lord Mercutio if I realize my men are no match against the Emperor’s finest, they are merely a decorative accessory much like Captain Aurelius’s blade.” Aurelius gritted his teeth begging for Pavus to give him reason to show how non decorative his Paragon blade is. Pavus took a seat at the table and smiled “If you don’t mind my Lords I will start.” Pavus folded his fingers “We have retrieved what we have came for, a sample of the mind of the beast. We have a strong belief that this creature had a direct telepathic link to the Hive mind….” Pavus paused before he brought up the next point “As Astartes you have the capacity to understand the minds of slain foes.” The Helmeted Kassani placed a sealed bio-hazard box on the table, the merc opened the case revealing a blue chunk of brain matter. “It is my request that one of you should consume the beast’s mind so that we may learn where this monster hides.”

Mercutio laughed “Surly you jest Pavus, you think either myself or Captain Aurelius would be mad enough to consume this foul xeno. We know the effects it has had on those poor psykers you fed it to.” Pavus spoke defensively “I do not intend to hide the risk from you my Lords, but we believe this to be our only hope.” Mercutio spoke “Surly there must be a way without such a great risk.” Pavus rose to his feet “My Lords if you would direct your attention to the window behind you.” The two astartes turned to face the window as Pavus spoke “That debris field was once a world. A world that was to be returned to the Emperor’s fold. Soon the Deep will press into our boarders and countless other worlds will fall and become but debris in the void, Trisburg, Acturia, Sandfall. But it won’t end in this sector, the Deep will spread until every hold we have until is swallowed up, Macragge and even blessed Terra. We have the opportunity right now to find where this Hive Mind Hides. Is the chance to end our foe once and for all not worth any supposed risks.”

Aurelius took a deep breath as he spoke “I will do it, the Deep must be stopped.” Mercutio spoke with concern “Brother, you risk everything let us take time to find another solution." Aurelius spoke “As much as I hate to admit it Pavus is right, there is no time. If I do not survive this brother tell Captain Julius he has command of my men.” The Imperial Fist realized there was no convincing him otherwise, “Emperor protect you brother.”

Aurelius looked at the piece of disgusting brain matter in the cryogenic case. Aurelius lifted the brain matter in two of his fingers and placed it in his mouth, it was likely the worst thing he had ever tasted. A moment latter the beast’s mind took effect. Aurelius slammed his fist to the table and roared in pain. Then the Ultramarine rose to his feet and screeched. Mercutio rushed to Aurelius “Easy brother.” But Aurelius grabbed the Captain and pushed him to the wall. Knight Lord Tennyson rushed the marine but was thrown across the room by the powerful ultramarine, his armor clanking as he hit the ground. In a berserk fit of rage Aurelius charged for Lord Pavus but the Hound and Captain Kassani blocked his path. However the two mortals did little to stop the angel of death as they were knocked in opposite directions by the charging marine. Aurelius grabbed Pavus by the throat and was but a squeeze away from ending his miserable life. Ruck the Ogryn charged the astartes shouting wildly “YOU LEAVE MISTER PAVUS ALONE” The ogryn hoisted the marine off his feet forcing Aurelius to drop the lord governor. The brute proceeded to slam the ultramarine into the ground. Ruck delivered a might punch to the downed marine rendering him unconscious. Ruck ran to the Lord Governor and helped him to his feet, “Are you alright boss.” Pavus regained his composure and spoke “Yes, thank you Ruck.” The simpleton grinned “I do good boss.” Pavus smiled “Very good Ruck.” Captain Mercutio rose to his feet and spoke into his vox “Apothecary hector report to conference room four, double time.” The rest of those Aurelius wounded on his war path rose to their feet, they were battered and bruised but mostly fine.

Behind Aurelius’s eyes he saw the madness that was the Deep consciousness. Teeth and claw feral roars and hell screams. A void being consumed by an even greater nothingness. Then something a single world far from where he was, the world blinked and sent waves in all directions to the nearby planets in Hybrid space. A single word enter the Captain’s mind Brackus, a world just north west of Tyrell III. Another feral screech of anger the Deep has seen him and he is banished.

Captain Aurelius awakes white lights over his head, he attempted to sit up but felt he was restrained. Again the voice of Apothcary Hector called to him “This is the second time in two days you’ve been sent to me Captain, starting to think your taking a liking to my services.” Aurelius groaned “My head, what happened.” Hector laughed “Before or after you got knocked out.” Aurelius spoke “before” “Well you ate that piece of the Tyranids mind, you went berserk and tried to kill general Pavus. Fortunately, or unfortunately that ogryn knocked you out.” Aurelius now realized why he was restrained, they had now way of knowing if he would wake up sane. Aurelius looked over to the Apothecary and spoke “I saw it, I saw where the Hive mind is hiding Pavus was right.” It was Pavus’s voice to reply “Aren’t I always.” The general walked into the ultramarine’s field of view. Captain Mercutio also approached “Thank the Emperor, we must return to crusade command and reveal what we learned.” Hector unclamped Aurelius restraints as acting-captain spoke, “We must move quickly and gather everyone we can, the Deep must be stopped.”

"Kill da git!"
"Split his skull!"
"Waaagh!"
All of this was being directed at Skullcrusha the ork. He had been sent in to one of the nearby tribe's camps. He was supposed to learn some information, and attempt and uprising against the warboss. As Skullcrusha soon found out, it wasn't that easy. He had casually approached the camp and had been let in after a few questions. Skullcrusha had quickly gotten to know his way around the place, and had started to figure out what he could learn. The moment he talked to one of the boyz about joining Narlug instead of this puny warboss, all of the nearby greenskins reacted with trying to chop him to pieces.

Skullcrusha quickly dodged a choppa from his left, and smashed his own into the head of a ork on his right. The press of bodies trying to get at him started to make it hard to move. Skullcrusha felt a blade bite deep in his back along with a bullet him in his side. Skullcrusha tried to kill the ork in front of him with a swipe of his choppa, but he had also been smacked in the back of the head, and his vision was hazy. It just happened to be that the "ork" in front of him was actually a nob. His choppa was easily blocked, and Skullcrusha's head was cleanly sliced from his body. The crowd of greenskins then went back to their regular business as if nothing happened. This particular incident happened in all the camps Narlug had sent spies to, but it was usually much worse than a quick death.

[In Narlug's stronghold]

"Hold on, i'm dinking." Narlug said to Galagod. He had been trying to use the psychic powers of his waaagh! to make the other tribes join him all day. It wasn't working and Narlug was losing patience. Narlug opened his eyes as he thinks better while his eyes were shut, and stared at Galagod. "What do you want?" he asked.
"I want you ta see my 'andiwork" Galagod replied.
Narlug grinned from this. Galagod had been working on a kustom force field for the gargant, now proudly named: Da Biggest Boom by Galagod. "Well, letz go see dis ding of yours." Galagod had sent out some boyz to get resources to upgrade the gargant. They had come back empty-handed, so Galagod had to use what he had at hand.

Narlug and Galagod approached Da BIggest Boom. The finishing touches were being put on the kustom force field as they approached. A small crowd of orks had surrounded it as they prepared to see their gargant be able to take weapons fire without even being touched. Galagod gave the signal for his boyz to start it up. A gentle hum (for orks) began to be heard. That was the moment that the chest of the gargant was sent into the warp. The crowd of orks stood there in shock as their precious machine that would give them an edge was damaged severely. Luckily, the hole wasn't big enough to cause it to fall apart, but it still left the big death machine vulnerable. This turn of events soured Narlug's mood even more. This earned Galagod a hit across the side of the head from Narlug. Galagod, however, barely noticed it. He couldn't believe his precious beauty was damaged by HIM. With this turn of events Narlug stormed back to his quarters.

Narlug couldn't handle these failures. Defeat after defeat had racked his small Waaagh! (which it was now). He couldn't think of anything to do. "What would you do Mork?" Narlug said to himself. As he spoke the final word, his world was filled with a brand new scene of somewhere else on the planet. It depicted him talking to some stinkin' humie about some sort of "alliance." Another vision flashed into his view. It showed him standing triumphant in the streets of the wrecked capital of Novus Regulus. As peered at this, a voice spoke from somewhere he couldn't see.
"You gotz to be sneaky like. Betray da ferals, and join da humies. Git your way into da kapital, and kill'em all. Dat will show da tribes dat you are bigga', stronga', and smarta'."
Narlug knew that had to be Mork. He had been blessed with a vision on how to win dis stinkin' planet. As the vision faded away, Narlug knew he had to get moving. He had to follow what the visions had said, and then he would rule Novus Regulus. Narlug grinned in anticipation of destroying the capital, but that would have to wait. Time to go find that one 'umie he saw nearby. Narlug believes he called himself a "Nobelmann."

The man cautiously stepped forwards, his luminator cutting through the darkness of the cave. It took all of his willpower to take another step. He could already smell the stench of death, of those creatures that had left him as the only survivor of the people who has fled from Archarus and his awful tyranny. For three days they had kept moving, using the invasion of those chitinous monsters as a diversion for their escape.

In those three days he had found out that those horrors did not care who they fought, they only cared about filling their gaping maws with flesh and bone. Knowing he had no hope of surviving in the frozen wastelands alone, he only hoped he could bring down one of the creatures with him.

It was the thought of revenge that kept the man moving, and only that thought that prevented him from breaking down and letting the biting snow take him. The stench grew stronger, and the luminator nearly slipped from his frost bitten hand as he shook.

He wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but the renegade thought he could hear the sounds of hissing ahead of him. Slowly he drew a rusty laspistol, still barely able to keep his hands steady. Before the man could even take aim, a flash of red appeared before him, blinding him and overcoming him with a wave of nausea.

The man barely noticed the roar of a battle ahead of him, barely realized something else had made it to his quarry before him, but simply dropped his luminator and laspistol to grab at his face, screaming as the entire cave was filled with combat.

The sounds of blades meeting talons, and of hisses of pain and anger drowned out his screams, and it wasn't long before only the new intruders were left standing. By this time the man was only babbling, and couldn't cope with seeing the monsters in front of him.

Keb'hal didn't hesitate to part the man's head from his body as he walked past, and acted as if he had not even noticed the act. Close behind him was Kyrkk'ryk'ykk, and a band of bloodletters who looked ready to fight each other in their bloodlust, had it not been for Keb'hal's influence over them.

The band of daemons continued this wanton slaughter as they went, killing every hybrid lair they found. However, even in his bloodrage Keb'hal knew there were still plenty of lairs left unfound, and that none could be left standing if they were to retain their undisputed hold over Fahren.

Sylus tore the boarding shield from his one of his brother's arms and unloaded a boltgun into the traitor's gorget. It had been 15 minutes since Sylus declared mutiny against his Chapter Master. The bastard drove them off course from Gondorf's Passage and headed straight to the Iron Warrior controlled planet Fahren. When Sylus attempted to contact his Lord about the sudden change of plan, he was met with untold hostility and the Chapter Master deemed him a traitor without so much as a reason. It had only taken fifteen minutes to muster the full force of the First Company in an attempt to overtake the Warpath Furnace and the Crucible.

Sylus raised his shield and waded through the heavy lasfire that filled the hallways. Only the First Company waged war for Sylus; the Auxilia was under the direct command of the Chapter Master. Two Vanguard Veterans leapt over the shield wall of Sylus' Astartes, wrist-blades streaking long trails of white lightning. They carved into the Auxilia force with the might of a rampaging grox. Seeing the enemy beginning to falter, Sylus ordered his Astartes to charge. The High Court, or the bridge as others would call it, was just down the hall and guarded by hundreds of Auxilia. Fortunately, someone panicked at the right moment and the long hallway they would have fought through was vented of the atmosphere. Their opposition crumbled like brittle twigs and Sylus made it to the blast door leading into the High Court. It should only take them a minute to melt the door to slag.

* * *

Ryus looked out his ocuport into the void. He felt his Flagship, the Warpath Furnace, fire its broadsides into its escort ships. Both ships were nearly destroyed in a single volley. He chuckled to himself and turned his throne. Kneeling before him were 6 of his 9 Judges, his Jury and his mighty Executioner. None of his most trusted betrayed him, well, almost none of them. Sylus, Greijer and Dezmon stood in defiance of his great schemes. Everything was as planned in Ryus' mind. He reveled over his perfect plan until a familiar noise brought him back. The great door of his Observatory ground open and Ryus' three rebellious Judges approached from the darkness. The Jury and the Traitor Judges stood and faced them. Each one ignited their crozius or power glaive. The Executioner flexed his power fists. Three Judges stood against 15 of their Honour guard, 7 of their closest brothers and their liege.

* * *

Sylus placed his finger on the trigger of his boltgun. To his left, High Judge Greijer ignited his power scythe and on his right, Judge Dezmon charged his plasma gun. In a hair of a second, this room would become a blood bath, but only the God-Emperor would determine if his servants would be victorious. Sylus noticed each Juror shift his weight subtly so they could be ready to charge should their Chapter Master will it. Each one was pleased when the order was given. Between the time it took each Juror to register the order, Sylus had already put a bolt into the forehead of three of them and by the time they charged, three more fell. Sylus discarded his empty bolter and slammed his arm into the power fist mag-locked to his leg. When the first Juror reached him, Sylus put one of his power fists through the Traitor's knee and the second followed and turned the Juror's chest into red mist. He spun and ducked to dodge a power glaive meant for his head. He dodged another glaive and smashed the wielder's head into paste. A head butt sent another reeling and Sylus followed up by uppercutting the poor bastard and reducing his upper body to nothing. Sylus butchered three more Jurors before he heard Ryus challenge him from his throne. Sylus turned to face his Brother-Traitor. Ryus' eyes burned with the light of a dying sun as he descended his throne. Sylus was sure that the Chapter Master did not even lay a foot on the ground.

"Even as your forces crumble around you, Sylus, you still persist. Why?" Ryus' voiced boomed throughout the room. Sylus never saw his Chapter Master's mouth move.

"The First Company shall never fall, Ryus. Justice will prevail here and now. Come to me and I will end your tyranny," Sylus taunted in return, his words like daggers.

Ryus lifted his maul, the Bane of Rukt, high over his head and leapt at Sylus. Sylus threw up his power fists to ward off the attack, but an inhuman force possessed the Chapter Master and the maul smashed clean through his bionic arm. Sylus recoiled and fell to one knee. Ryus floated over to Sylus and grabbed him with telekinesis. He held the Judge to his eye level. The emotionless stare of the Chapter Master brought great despair to Sylus and he mouthed the Litanies of Hate. The Chapter Master cast Sylus down and smashed his maul down again, this time taking Sylus other arm. He threw Sylus with his psychic might across the room and into one of the pillars holding the high ceiling. Sylus ground his teeth and muttered a lofty prayer of deliverance. Ryus slowly approached him through the carnage.

Suddenly, a bright light filled the observatory. Five Astartes stood between the broken Judge and Ryus. Each of the defiant Astartes was wreathed in ethereal flames and their demeanor was permeated with death. They raised their bolters and fired upon the Traitor Chapter Master. Ryus threw up a hand to guard his face from the wall of bolter fire and strode closer to the the group. When he reached the Astartes, he was met with a force so unmoving an Iron Warrior would have died of envy. The Astartes held him at bay for what seemed like hours, but the Chapter Master's power was too great for even them. He threw them aside and they turned to clouds of ember and ash. Ryus raised his maul to finish off Sylus once and for all, but he never had a chance to bring it down. Ryus fixed his eyes on the long claw-like blades protruding from his chest. Blood trickled from beneath them and began pooling on the floor. Then the realization came. He coughed up blood and dropped the Bane of Rukt. Ryus fell face first to the side of Sylus and died. Sylus could only make out the silhouette of an angelic being before his body went into a coma.

* * *

Greijer sat in the Command throne aboard the Warpath Furnace. The Veterans of the First Company over took the bride and plotted a course for Kattifrakk. With a great amount of luck, the Hassassins were able to wipe the location of their homeworld from the logs on the ships that sided with Ryus. It could only prevent a counter offensive that would spell inevitable doom for the Chapter of the New Order. With their path secure and the trail behind them empty, the Warpath Furnace and the Warpath Crucible shot off into the void.

Using the holocaster for the first time in what felt like months, Fairfax saluted his Astropath, Angela aboard the Sovereign's sister ship, and then felt stupid, "I'm sorry, I forget you can't see-"
"It's fine, Lord Captain, I can sense your intention. I hope your mission goes well. Farewell for now, sir. May the Emperor protect."
"And may he guide your course," Fairfax smiled, "come back safely. Don't take any lip from those Astartes. They're bigger than us, but they should still mind their manners."
The last sound before the cast cut off, was faint, pleasant laughing from the psyker.

+++ Vox Transmission: Secure Channel: Origin: Rogue Trader Vessel Reforged Sovereign *** Destination: Sergeant Tangir: Emperors Vengeance +++

Sergeant, we have sent the Lucky Farthing to you. Expect her and my representatives in four to five days. I am including their encoded vox channel so that you may cancel if necessary.
Angela Eldredge is my envoy for the duration. I trust her to act in my stead.

Emperor be with you,
Lord Captain Fairfax

+++ End Transmission +++

Fairfax checked his chrono, "And now for the least pleasant part of the day. Dealing with that oddball governor." he looked around, wondering where Edward was. It was unusual for the Seneschal to be anything less than early, and the shuttles were due to take them down to Trisburg very shortly.
Sighing, he voxed through to Edward's cabin.
"Hello?" the sleepy rough voice didn't sound much like his brother.
"Ed?" Fairfax was fairly certain it was not.
"Err... Feth."
He rolled his eyes, "Garth?"
"...maybe," came the unusually meek reply, "can I take a message?"
The Lord captain decided not to query further, "Is he okay?"
"Yes sir, he's just fast on. Hasn't stirred since crawling to bed last night." Selka sounded uncertain as to how much of this he should admit to having insight into.
"Your shuttle to Trisburg leaves in ten, Commissar," Fairfax hid his amusement at his friend's discomfort, "and Garth?"
"Sir?"
"I apologise for my manner last night. I think this matter needs putting to rest, but not at present. Deal?" he waited, the guilt of last night's conversation heavy on his chest.
"Deal. I understand, sir. You were protecting your family." Garth sounded tired, but sincere.
"Thank you. See you both up here in ten, then."
"Yes sir."

Aradryan zoomed along the empty streets of Gondorf's Passage. The Warhost had waited with baited breath for several days after the evacuation from the planet, waiting for their human allies to render the planet to molten slag. The moment never came, and their new "allies" had now mysteriously disappeared. Aradryan snorted to himself. How like the humans to do something like this. The Eldar had placed their trust in humanity, and yet again, man had proved themselves to be unworthy of that trust. He shook his head, he didn't have time to worry about that. He and his squadron had been assigned to scour the planet for the gateway to Fahren. Farseer Lilliana had been able to divine that the gateway was on this planet, but it's specific location had eluded her witch sight. That fact disturbed Aradryan, if Farseer Lilliana could not find it, then how could they? But he kept his misgivings to himself. Lilliana had proven her power during the course of the Crusade, and the Eldar of her Warhost would march willingly into the Eye if she ordered it. She had proven herself to be deserving of their loyalty time and time again, and Aradryan would not doubt her. Not at this tumultuous time. He was jolted out of his reverie by a hand signal from one of his squadron mates. Hostile life forms had been detected. Aradryan ran the final systems checks on his weapons then flicked a switch on his handelbars, and with a soft whine his scatter laser whined to life. He was ready. As the jetbikers rounded the corner they saw the source of the life signs. Several Hybrids were crouched over the corpse of one of the local cultists, and Aradryan cursed to himself. What were the Hybrids doing here? They had not been projected to arrive on this planet for several more cycles. He shook his head again, now was not the time for questioning. He could already hear the call of Khaine rising in his soul, and he gladly gave in to it as the Jetbikes zoomed towards the foul beasts. It was time for them to feel the wrath of the Eldar!

Aradrayn cursed as he rode away with the rest of his squadron. The Hybrids had posed little challenge to the Windriders, their speed and agility making a mockery of the Hybrid's attacks, and the Hybrids tough skin had posed little hindrance to the shuriken of the Windriders. But the Windriders had suffered a hefty time delay as they engaged the beasts. Aradryan wasn't sure that it was time that the Eldar had to spare, but he again shoved his misgivings down as his squadron continued their search. There was work to be done still

Lord Captain Fairfax, Seneschal Edwards, Captain Dekkal and Commissar Selka walked slowly across the entry hall of the governor's mansion. Nobody had come to greet them. Nobody had barred their entry, which was the only indication that they'd been expected.
"What is this?" murmured Dekkal, "Is he deliberately disrespecting you?" he turned his head to Fairfax.
Reynard remained calm, "I don't know," he answered in a low voice, "I think he may just be very busy."
"Too busy to even send a car?" sighed Selka, "we walked here. This is ridiculous."
Edward nudged his friend, "Hush. The bigger the burden, the more easily small things are forgotten."

He approached the reception desk, and bowed his head to the secretary, "We are here to speak with the governor. He would be expecting us. This is Lord Captain Fairfax," he gestured to his brother, "and we are his staff."
The woman looked uneasy, but not entirely surprised, "There's no record of your meeting today, sirs."
"Which way is his office?" Selka leaned past Edward and gave what was not a reassuring smile by anyone's account.
She pointed left, past a staircase, "You can't miss it."
As the group headed toward Marcus' room, she watched them with an unusually focused expression, before returning to her desk work.

*

"I'm sure they will serve you well, you understand what a generous allowance this is, of course." Marcus beamed at Selka.
"Again, Governor, I am not the Lord Captain, I am one of his officers." Garth gritted his teeth and gestured to his leader.
Marcus tilted his head and looked at Dekkal over his glasses, "No, no I don't think so. He doesn't hold himself like a Lord Captain at all. Your stature is far more commanding."
"That's Captain Dekkal. Lord Captain Fairfax is the one in the House Fairfax robes." a prominent eye twitch was developing on the commissar's face.
"I see." Marcus' face was the picture of innocence.

Fairfax was stood with Dekkal, greeting the donated troopers, and shaking their hands. Initial meetings had gone relatively well, though the governor had offered no apologies for failing to meet the group, nor had they expected one, the moment he began speaking.

"About the imperial guard stationed here-" Selka locked eyes with Marcus. He hated it in this room, it smelled strongly of obscura and meaningless double talk.
"Ah the brave men of the Imperium! Our finest souls, they do us proud." the governor smiled with his teeth.
"Quite. It would be very helpful if you could recall but a couple of squads to aid us with our inspection-"
"I'm afraid it cannot be done," Marcus pulled a face of abject sorrow, "deprive these fine men and women of their desperately needed respite? On this of all weeks, a celebration of the Emperor's greatness? No, I regret I cannot, you ask too much." he wiped a small tear from his eye.
Garth persisted, "It would only be for an afternoon, Governor, they needn't miss any leave, and we could recompense them for their time."

Marcus' face clouded at the insistence of this officer, this hired thug, "You cannot possibly understand the importance of rest to these dutiful soldiers. Nor the sanctity of such a Holy Week of rest," he looked Garth up and down, "I doubt that any of you are of true loyalty to the Imperium to press such a request, such a petty demand. And your Lord Captain, if indeed that is his title, sends his dog over to bark at me whilst he st-"
"Watch. Your. Words." the commissar bristled, stepping closer to the desk.

"You think to intimidate me?" Marcus sneered, "You have the smell of the woodland about you, Commissar. Wherever you sprang from, nothing but trees stand straight. Their men certainly don't."
Selka snarled, and extended his arm, seizing Marcus by the front of his shirt collar, and hauling him easily over the desk, "You obsequious little-"
Marcus' grin didn't fade, though his eyes watered slightly and his pallor darkened as the stiff collar choked him.
Unseen, Edward put his hand over his eyes, and silently swore to the ceiling. Fairfax quickly shoved the file he was holding into Dekkal's hands and made toward the desk, but was cut off.
Three of the governor's guard had leapt into action, fearing that the commissar's bark was in this case far inferior to his bite. In seconds they had both of his arms expertly pinned, and the third man was behind him, exercising a rough headlock.
In response, Selka was understandably even less demure than usual, and fighting back for all he was worth. The guard to their credit, were just about keeping him still, as he very nearly pulled the man behind him off his feet entirely.
Marcus had returned to stand behind his desk, and was watching with a faint smile. He opened a drawer in the desk, and pulled out what appeared to be a large silver pen.
Fairfax relaxed, and said nothing, content to let Garth embarrass himself slightly for losing his temper so badly.

"Do you like my magic wand?" Marcus whispered, holding the item like a young boy showing off a new toy, "A special friend gave it to me. It makes my troubles... disappear." He fingered a button on the side of the pen, and too late, all around him realised that the madman had a weapon.
Selka stopped struggling against the guards, and watched Marcus. His eyes widened mere seconds before the governor fired the taser. He shook his head about to protest, but both the barbs, and the reality of the situation impacted hard.
The guards released him and he stumbled forward, convulsing violently, the strong charge rendering him unable to even curse. He sank to one knee, trying to use the edge of the desk for support, but shaking too hard to control his descent.
"Look, he's dancing for us! Very good! " the governor beamed.
Had he not already adopted a strange posture peering at Garth, Marcus would have been bent double with his laughter, tears streaming from his eyes. Garth fell to his side, still convulsing and gasping, as the shock continued. By now his eyes were rolling back in his head, and there was the sudden crack of a tooth shattering as his jaw clenched involuntarily.
Edward made a small arm movement toward his pistol, his gut twisting at the sight, but beside him Dekkal caught his wrist, the captain otherwise frozen in horror.

"Enough now, Marcus," Fairfax had stepped slowly and unnoticed to the governor's side, and gently prised the baton from his hand, releasing the charge, "trust me to discipline my own staff, please. You could seriously hurt him."
Marcus turned to him, a boylike sparkle in his unfocused eyes, "Could I? Really?"
Fairfax suppressed the shiver, and felt the hairs on his neck raise.
Selka lay motionless on the floor, and out of the corner of his eye, the lord captain saw his brother take a half-pace forward. Fairfax gave a minute hand signal to stay back, and Edward remained where he was.
Reynard knelt beside the unconscious commissar, and checked his breathing. Satisfied Garth was alive, he stood up and handed the baton to the nearest guard who quickly stowed it. The unspoken understanding that Marcus should not get his hands back on it again.

The governor was leaning over the desk looking thoughtful, "He's far less funny when he's asleep. Should I ask Marcus to wake him up?"
Fairfax stepped to block the view, and shook his head, "That would be unkind, Marcus. My staff will take him away now," he gestured with one hand over his shoulder, indicating to Edward that he may now move, "I would speak with you about this cultural holiday."

As Edward and Dekkal carefully dragged Garth out, they were joined in the corridor by the newly recruited guard that Marcus had volunteered. A fine start to working with us, Edward winced.

*

Garth woke in a warm bed, but the sterile white light and buzzing medical equipment immediately told him that it wasn't his own. His muscles ached extraordinarily, and his jaw twinged where his tooth had cracked, but he felt otherwise unscathed.
Opening his eyes, he found himself looking at Edward slouched in a cheap metal chair, half asleep himself.
"I must be riveting company."
"Garth!" Edward smiled and sat immediately to attention, gently taking his friend's hand, "Thank Terra."
The commissar blinked slowly, "Why does everything hurt?"
"You tried to throttle the governor," Edward said softly, "he electrocuted you until Reynard took the taser from him."
"Feels like I've been steamrollered." Selka groaned.
"Rey was not exactly quick in his reaction." the seneschal replied meaningfully.
"I'm in gak, aren't I?" Garth closed his eyes.

Edward leaned over and tweaked the commissar's ear, causing him to swat at Edward's hand and grumble. He shook his head, "No, Rey feels you've more than had your payback. He's furious," Edward met Garth's eyes, "but not at you. Marcus could just as easily had a gun, a knife, and he'd have felt no more remorse in using them. How a man like that ended up governing a planet is beyond us both."
"Sounds like he regrets my failure to choke the bastard." the commissar smiled darkly.
Edward examined a ceiling lamp, "I doubt he'd have been sad about it had you succeeded."

At the sound of their discussion, a medic appeared, dressed in scrubs that matched the deep purple and chalk white colours of House Fairfax. He smiled warmly at Garth, "Glad you are finally awake, sir."
"When can I get out of here, lad?" Selka was direct as usual.
"Not today sir, I'm afraid that you need rest a minimum twenty four hours. The device did a real number on you. Had you not been insulated, it quite likely would have stopped your heart."
The medic reached over and carefully lifted the sheet and the front of Garth's robe, revealing a lurid purple bruise, zigzagging down his side, "We usually only see such marks on victims of lightning strikes, sir."
The commissar looked unaffected, the bruise sitting neatly amidst a collection of long scars, lines and a few well healed burns, "I can't stay here! We're needed down below."

"Garth, calm down," Edward raised a hand, "I'm sure we can come to an arrangement." He looked up at the medic, "Need the bed rest be here?"
"No, Seneschal." the medic bowed his head.
"Then we'll get him dressed and up to my quarters, where there is full comm and vox integration," Edward smiled at Selka, "you won't miss a thing, yet you'll be resting like your body needs."
"You can keep an eye on me, you mean." Garth rolled his eyes, but was secretly pleased by the idea of truly being kept in the loop, and the prospect of a good quality dinner menu. Seneschal's digs meant seneschal's perks.
Spending some spare time with Ed would also be a definite plus, he thought, as sleep started pulling at his senses, though at this point, he was somewhat uncertain what that meant.
"Rest now, I'll come for you when the room is ready." Edward stood up, nodded his thanks to the medic, and left, his cat-like step almost silent on the linoleum.

*

The door to Edward's room slid open, and Selka looked up from the report he was skimming, sat in a supportive but quite plush chair. He was surprised to see two people arrive.
"Garth," Fairfax nodded, "glad to see you back on your feet. So to speak."
The commissar smiled ruefully, "Somehow I am uncertain."
The Lord captain returned the smile, "I think we all learned something today. Least of all that Marcus is dangerous as he is difficult," he sighed, "and how."
Selka tilted his head, "Oh?"
Fairfax dropped into a seat nearby, and Edward did similarly.
"The governor has agreed to cooperate and recall the troops from their holiday," Edward did not look pleased, "in exchange for finding him a tapestry."

"Don't give me that look," Fairfax sighed, "it wasn't my idea."
Selka tapped the report in his lap, "Funny thing is, I've looked at local calendars and events, and this week doesn't feature."
"Well there's a surprise." Edward rolled his eyes.
"What of this tapestry?" Garth raised an eyebrow.
"He wants a Kattifrakkian tapestry," Fairfax rolled his eyes, "except last anyone in this sector heard, Kattifrakk was inaccessible and their forces had already started heading back there. Our only option is to send our troops down to the ground and attempt to round up who we can, and in the meantime, see if someone aboard knows of Kattifrakkian heraldry. We could machine loom something if we can get a design on paper."
The commissar sighed, "So he's got you up here doing a mothers' knitting circle while his troops can squirrel themselves away down below. What of the men he sent?"
Edward shook his head, "Nothing has shown up in their bloods, bio scans or psych reports. They're incredibly loyal to Trisburg, fanatically so. Each of them is wired up with a vox and optical implant, quite likely short range feed."
"So they're from different stock to the Imperial forces," Garth rubbed his chin, "it would do us no harm to allow them to see us operating as normal. The less remarkable we are, the less agitated the governor will be."
"Absolutely," Edward smiled, "after all, we are not the ones with anything to hide."

"We're sending down the first sweep of troops shortly. Dekkal will be with them, he's drilled them again on the communication set up." Fairfax looked tired.
"I should be down there."Selka sighed.
"You shall be tomorrow. For today keep running comms with them, and advising. I'll join you at dinner," Edward made to stand up, "I have to track down anyone who thinks they know what a Kattifrakkian icon is."
The Lord captain smiled and stood similarly, "Good luck with that, brother."

Watching them leave, Garth leaned back in the chair, and felt a mixture of mild frustration and relief. That he was out of action, but kept in closer communication with those who needed him. He returned to flipping through the scrappy folders that Marcus had provided, attempting to note down any inconsistencies and omissions.
Tedious work, but for a commissar, old hat. Soon he had a small pile of individuals that had something ever so slightly off about the way their sheets were filled in.
That's the simple part done, finding them is another matter.

=====Tyrell III Base Site=====
Murakhar, Overlord of the Warrior Legions surveyed the area. The construction scarabs and spyders seemed to be working well. All seemed in order. He looked upon the horizon, the fog was barely visible that morning, now it was close, within throwing distance. He walked to the tunnels that would be the main part of the base. He trudged towards the command room when something was amiss. He turned only to see the fog had entered the chamber and tunnels networks. His first thought was one of confusion, it wasn't until the fog touched his foot and it started to slightly corrode did he realize the horror that was about to befall him. There were weapon reports coming from the surface and many, many roars. Murakhar went into full sprint to get to the surface, his necrodermis slowly corroding and repairing at the same time giving it almost a liquid appearance. He reached for his communicator, "Everyone rally to my position!" He exited the under-construction tomb complex only to find anarchy. The Hybrid creatures were consuming the base, swarms of them were pouring through the undefended areas while those that were defended were being systematically destroyed. By the time Murakhar got to the rallying position, only 26 Immortals remained. "Sheek, are you aboard the vessel yet?" "Yes, we are waiting for you to get on board." "No, take off and head back to Voor'Han, send some scythes to pick us up." "As you command... Scythes dispatched, they'll be there soon." Murakhar looked upon those that remained, "Hold your ground! Show these creatures what it means to be Immortal!" A roar was heard from the Immortals that rivaled that of the Hybrids. They were circled in, hundreds of lesser creatures trampling over one another trying to reach the target that was the Immortals. The Immortals unleashed their carbines at the Hybrids, amber lightning surged through the creatures killing scores of them. Soon the bodies started to pile and larger creatures entered the fray. They were down to Murakhar and 18 immortals by the time the Scythes arrived and picked them up.
=====Arbalest Throne Room=====
Murakhar made his way to the throne room, he would have to tell Kageros of Tyrell III. He walked in only to see Chagh sitting on his throne reading some ancient tome. "Chagh? What are doing sitting on Kageros' throne?" Chagh looked up from his book, "Oh, well Kag', Rak', and Grulahk are on their way to a delegation. What can I help you with?" "Our base on Tyrell III has been consumed by the Hybrid fog creatures, i and a handful of immortals are the only survivors." Chagh went back to his book and turned a page, "That's unfortunate, here," He tossed a data glyph towards Murakhar,"Kageros wanted someone to do this. You know, I might have to make myself a throne later." Murakhar eyed the Lord Cryptek with confusion, "Why?" "It's better than a chair." "True, I'll go take care of this now." He held up the data glyph on his way out. He looked over the commands on his way to the hangar bay. He was commanded to take a fleet of Scythes and land on Nemesa, hopefully they'll slip past the Hybrids.
=====Arbalest Hangar Bay=====
Murakhar met Grulahk in the Hanger bay talking to his squad of Praetorians. Grulahk finished talking and dimissed his unit, he turned to find Murakhar standing, "I see Chagh has delegated the honor of commanding this invasion to you. Allow me to run you through the force, we will be taking 3 Nightshrouds, 8 Doom Scythes, and 9 Night Scythes. My Praetorians will be accompanied by a squad of Deathmarks, a pack of Flayed Ones, 3 squads of Immortals and 3 squads of Warriors. We've also been given a Dirge to transport the vehicles. Imperial forces are still in far orbit so the only trick will be getting pass the Hybrids." Murakhar frowned at the word, but none the less he would continue. "Good, lets send the fleet now."
=====Orbit Around Nemesa=====
The fleet approached Nemesa making sure to avoid the Imperial fleet, there was a small Hybrid flotilla in low orbit around where they would drop. They decided to go with their next plan and land on the other side of the planet. It was clear, too clear. They approached closer to the surface entering low orbit, still all was clear. "This can't be ri-" The Dirge shook ferociously throwing everyone too the ground. He pulled himself up, "What the hell was that?" "Readings report... the starboard wing is gone..." "How is that possible, there is nothing around!" He was wrong, the Hybrids have adapted to be immune to radar and scanners. I Kraken class vessel crashed through the left wing and latched on to the ship. Hybrid creatures swarmed the ship. "Launch the Scythes! Make sure that they get to the surface, I will not fail again! Overload this ships reactors and detonate on my command!" He looked out the window and watched as the smaller ships launched into the void and towards the surface. It took only only a couple minutes for the flotilla to reach the surface."This is the flotilla, we've arrived at the surface." Murakhar heard these words as the door to the bridge started to give way under pressure from what abominations the hybrids had sent his way. He looked back at the pilot who had his hand over the detonator, the door fell down as something resembling a tyrant walked through the door. Murakhar looked the Tyrant in the eyes, it was hard to tell who held more hatred in that gaze, they would never know, "Detonate." The pilot of the lead Scythe turned around to see a massive ball of amber, he turned around only to see a squadron of Crones heading straight for them. The Doom Scythes took the lead and started firing into the mob of flying monsters. Another Squadron of Crones flew out of a group of trees and started attacking the Nightshrouds. Grulahk and his Praetorians dropped onto the battlefield only to hear the shrieks and cacophony of the dogfight over head. He glanced around to see that the Deathmarks, a squad of Immortals, and about 30 Warriors were the only survivors. Several explosions drew his attention back to the skies as the rest of the scythes were destroyed by even more Crones. He turned to the rest of his men, "To the Trees! Deathmarks, phase out but stay close. We will have to hide until reinforcements arrive."

Inside the garage, Anderson, the veteran psyker of Remembrance of Khansu, noticed Aelius still watching the five Kroot mercenaries in distaste.

Anderson still remembered Aelius was recruited from Varyan Sector during one of the operation against both C'Tan in disguise and Kaos forces, and the young fellow still believed the Imperium propaganda in certain degree. While not much was known about his past, Aelius and some of his former Guardsmen friends had a hard time adjusting their new jobs and home. Well, at least Aelius seemed to accept the truth that any conflict with aliens could wait until Kaos, C'Tan, and their servants were exterminated forever.

Anderson's musing was abruptly stopped as Aelius turned his head and greeted him.

"I still find it odd that xenos, ah I mean, those Kroots could be at peace with mankind."

"It will certainly take time to anyone who are from the Imperium to get comfortable with other races. Bear in mind that betrayal does not always associated with racial differences, the desire of prevent others living in prosperity is what make things bad in this time of war. Tell me, did any of those Kroots done anything that would taint the crew?"

Aelius hesitated, and decided to change the topic avoiding any heated debate.

"Um, what about making humanity the greatest race in the galaxy? As your historians mentioned, the Emperor did try his best to achieve this goal."

"Have you ever ask Rakszan about the history of his Dynasty's downfall? No I supposed you didn't during your time shooting the foul monsters for him. Tell Rakszan you want to learn from him about how someone with good intentions for his people turned into nightmare because of ignorance. Ignorance of handling the god-like entities that also happened to the Emperor of the Imperium, which made them both suffering the consequences."

Aelius nodded at the calm psyker in respect. Then, both psykers heard the metallic footsteps of Rakszan entering the garage. They also noticed the Before the former Phaeron could greet them properly, Captain Mason made an public announcement that caught the trio's attention.

"Rakszan, I know you are going to check your potential teammates for the upcoming mission, but there's a matter of importance that need your advice. Any idea of what the hell's Kageros Dynasty doing? I thought that our agent caught wind of they are being the ally of several Kaos forces."

Rakszan turned his attention back to the psykers, and motioned them to follow suit.

"Come with me then, you must know the details of the plan if there's any changes."

~

Afterwards, the decision was made after the revelation of Kageros' alliance with Kaos forces. While they could try to sabotage the unholy alliance's operation, the Intelligence Taskforce would inevitably suffer the unbearable losses in the long run. Therefore, they would avoid the domain of Kageros' and await the proper chance to strike.

The next destination though was a bit risky one, the entire Fleet would head to Morgrok in stealth. According to those radio broadcasts, the path was blockaded by those Tyranid Hybrids. Not only that, the planet they were heading seemed to lost contact with the nearest Imperium forces. And by that, the likelihood of Imperium forces going to investigate the planet was pretty high. While the Imperium might not take it well that a Fleet with aliens and so-called "heretics" arrived near their Command, the Taskforce still hoped that they could make peace with the Imperium and resumed their mission on hunting the C'Tan shard and the Daemons.

Fortunately for all, the stealth travel didn't attract attention from the Hybrids or the Imperium after they had arrived on the orbit of Morgrok. Before the peace could be made with the Imperium, no actions would be taken.

~

Before heading to Rakszan's quarter, Aelius headed back to his own quarter first. Inside the room, his blinded roommate, Albus, nodded at the direction of the sound. Aelius approached Ablus, and whisphered.

"Ablus, send a message to home, would you?"

Nox stood at Da Blade of Mork’s navigation console, Gondorf’s pass had nothing left to offer the mek, nothing but boring purple chaos ladz, the occasional two-bit war boss, and those sneaky Eldar that managed to escape the big Mek’s wrath. Nox looked to the map. A single world on his crude holographic display seemed to call to him Novus Regulus, sounds like another world ripe for plunder. Nox smiled as he looked over to BloodTalon “Set a course kaptin, we got a new world to conquer.” The Freebooter grinned ear to ear as he replied “Aye aye boss.”

Pavus sat at his desk aboard the wrath of Faust smoking a pungent cigar. His back was turned away from his door so he may gaze out into the stars, the beauty that was unending void. Pavus extinguished his cigar as his most trusted officer entered the room. The Hound spoke “You summoned me Lord Governor.” Pavus took a second to turn and face Captain Braddock, “Aurelius knows.” The Hound retorted “Aye but he has no proof.” Pavus sighed “You are aware the the Astartes can consume the mind of a foe and then learn everything about it, that was how Aurelius found the hive mind.” The Hound remained silent as the governor spoke, this news clearly burdened him “He preserved the body of that damn xeno, that means any Astarte can search the creature’s memory and find us hiring him.” The hound was about to speak but Pavus held out his hand signaling him to hold his thought, “Aurelius must know we tried to kill him back on Nemessa. I will not wait for him to strike first.” Pavus turned away from his trusted hound and spoke “You know what must be done, find the remains of that assassin and destroy it then…” Pavus drew his family’s dagger and tossed it to the hound over his shoulder “Then kill Captain Aurelius.” The Hound unsheathed the black blade and spoke facing the grim reality of his task “Thy will be done my lord.” The Hound turned to leave and was only a few steps from the door when Pavus spoke “Take Kassani and whoever else you need with you, his previous failure to deal with the captain is why we are in this situation in the first place.” Captain Braddock exited the governor’s quarters without another word.

"Don't shoot!" Blitza shouted. As he shouted this, the nobleman's honor guard turned around and brought their weapons to bear. They only had old lasguns, but they looked like they knew how to use them. Blitza had been told by Narlug to not bring any weapons, and Blitza felt weak without his trusty choppa. He was supposed to go ahead of Narlug just in case the nobleman and his guards decided to fire. Blitza shouted another call for not killing him.

The honor guard held their fire. They had never heard an ork ask to not fight. In fact they had never even heard an ork say anything other than their war cry. Although they felt the need to blast the greenskin to pieces, they had been given the order to stand down. They continued to point their weapons straight at the head of the ork, even when it was withing an arms length of them. When it started to talk to them, they knew it would be a weird day.

"Mah name is Blitza. I come from da new boss's Waaagh! ta meet ya. I am supposed to ask ya to not shoot 'im when 'e approaches." Blitza explained to the nobleman.
"Then he better come before I lose my patience and have you all killed for being the filthy xenos you are." The nobleman replied.

Narlug approached the nobleman with a feeling. The feeling was to just kill'em all just because he could. He restrained this feeling because Mork's plan would fail if he did so, but it was always there.

"So you must be the filthy brute your disgusting xenos underling talked about." the nobleman responded to Narlug approaching. Narlug could tell this wouldn't be fun.
"I'M NARLUG DA BIGGEST WARBOSS IN DIS SECTAH! DON'T YOU LITTLE 'UMIE TALK TO ME DAT WAY!" Narlug retorted. With that repsonse the nobleman took a step back, and his guards aimed more tightly on Narlug's head. After a few moments, the nobleman chuckled a little.
"You d-definitely know how to act strong." the nobleman responded while gaining back his attitude and snottiness. "I doubt that severely though. Now, if you have enough of a brain in there, why don't you tell me what you want? I am a very busy man."
Narlug was practically fuming, but he calmed himself down with a lot of effort. "I would like to work fo' you. I wanna take mah revenge on da oder orks for laughing at me. I dink you'd call me a 'murcunarie'." The nobleman chuckled a little more. He seemed to contemplate the offer.
"Well, I could always use more meatshields, and you definitely are quite fat." He continued to think. "You did however, yell at me. That is not alright, and you shall be punished for thinking you can boss me around." The guards around him shifted in place, fearing that Narlug would strike them down with that. "I will hire you to kill a small ork tribe. If you can kill them, and bring me their boss' head, I won't kill you. YOU are definitely not getting paid though."
"Deal." Narlug replied through a lot of restraint.
"I will have a messenger stationed out near the city if you return." the nobleman snottily said.
Narlug proceeded to get out of there as fast as he could before he ripped that fat, annoying worm's head off. Now he had to go kill a weakling tribe as fast as possible to start the path to destruction of the humies.

"Histans of the 98th. It is time." Simple words, but lost on none.

Colonel Detta fired a bolt round into the ork's skull, and watched as it took several more steps forwards before collapsing onto the ground. "Death to the greenskins!" He roared. His next shot took one in the gut, and the ork looked genuinely confused as to why its entrails were now dragging along the ground. The Colonel fired another shot into its throat, knowing that the ork may very well have kept fighting despite its grevious injury.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Tories was leading his squad into the fray, with Derek and Falkon on his heels. Firing lasround after lasround, the sergeant nearly brought down a nob in his fury. Unfortunately, almost is not the same as killing it. The nob belched out a spew of laughter mixed with obscenities, and fired as slug into Tories' arm at nearly point blank range. The sergeant gave a shout, but stumbled onwards, seeking to end his foe with persistence, or perhaps stubbornness, not unlike those of the Imperial Fists themselves. Tories gave a roar, and swung his power fist into the nob's chest, but left himself open for a counterattack. Falkon shouted in protest as his sergeant's head hit the ground, and fired his lasgun into the nob's head. At the same time, Derek opened fire on the ork, cremating both it and their late sergeant at the same time. Falkon noted the power fist still in the burning ork's chest, and smiled grimly.

Vayden laughed as his melta fired once more, heralding the end of some Emperor forsaken beast an ork was riding, and also the rider himself. Several bullets clipped his bird's leg, and the sentinel pilot's wrath was focused on the new target. Vayden only wished he had aimed a little lower, so the greenies hadn't spent their last moments blinded by the flash of his melta. They should've seen the look on their comrades faces after all, while those toothy smiles still were there.

Isos swung downwards with his chainsword, finishing off a rather stubborn ork who was crawling towards the Histans without its lower half. "They really don't die, do they?" Isos joked on the vox network.

"Is that a challenge, Isos? I've already got eighteen for my count." Vayden laughed back.

"That is hardly fair, not with you up in that bird. Now, if you two would please get off my vox network so I can listen to something that's actually worth a frak, then I would be most grateful." Lars cut in. "Sergeant." He added belatedly.

Isos grinned as he threw a grenade at a group of oncoming gretchen. He was half tempted to reprimand Lars for his snappy tone, but his sense of duty won out, and he kept his mouth shut. It would not do to distract a vox officer on duty for idle chitchat. As the grenade went off, Isos snapped a fresh power cell into his laspistol, preparing for the charge that would be ordered at any moment.

Colonel Detta was at the lead of the infantry, only behind the sentinels as they covered their assault. The orks, already whittled down to a fraction of their number, fell into the trap perfectly, just as Detta expected. The charge antagonized the orks into their own last ditch effort to get into melee with the Histans, and left them exposed for the valkyries to tear apart, piece by piece.

The first firebombs caught the leading orks, turned them to charred bits while their main guns chewed through the main force of the orks, spreading chaos in the mob. Any sense of order was lost, and some orks tried butchering their way through their own kin, to close the gap with the Histans, or flee. Unfortunately, the valkyries were determined to see no survivors. Their next payload of bombs reduced the rear of the orkish horde to ash, and set anything near them ablaze.

At the time the Histans were in a fighting retreat, letting the orks fight their way through the fires to reach their gunline. Few orks had made it so far. In mere moments, the last of the ork force was slaughtered as it splintered in on itself, determined to see survival but only ensured its own demise. The Histans wasted no time when the last ork sank to the ground.

"Burn it all" Detta ordered.

Corporal Falkon, now Sergeant Falkon, looked at the power fist attached to his hand. Rather than assist in the burning of the battlefield, Falkon had insisted on digging a small grave for Tories. It was nothing special, but he felt the sergeant had deserved at least that much. The power fist was the only recognizable item from Tories after Derek's flamer had finished the nob, and Falkon was determined to use it in his stead. Much like Vayden had done to his own knife, Falkon realized.

"He was a good man. He died doing his duty." Colonel Detta said, taking off his hat and setting it next to the stone marker Falkon had made to commemorate the man. With no remains left, it was the best he could do. Falkon didn't say anything, and just nodded, while not taking his eyes off of the marker. It was simple; just a large rock he had carved a crude Histan eagle into, but it still made Falkon feel relieved that there was something to mark the man's life.

"I wish we could do more for him, believe me. But Falkon, we have to go now, back to base. The Ultramarines will want to hear of this victory." Detta urged, his voice soft.

Falkon only nodded, but tore his eyes from the stone to slowly shambled away, his power fist clenched. Detta followed close behind, while leaving his hat next to the grave of Torries Vossten. One last gift to a man that had given everything. Colonel Detta gritted his teeth as he thought about it; One particular set of people were to blame for all of this, and Detta swore to the Emperor. He made a vow that the nobles wouldn't see the end of this crusade. Not as long as he was colonel of this regiment, and could hold a pistol in his hands.

-------- Surface of Julla, in a suprisingly cool cavern that serves as 9th section cache --------

'' Sir I am positive about, I've spent the last three hours reviewing every picts we got of the commander and comparing them to what we recorded during the attack, that guy IS Voidspider '' said Flavia '' The tendency to go for melee, the suit, the tactics, everything points to him''

'' Fine, vox HQ and tell them we got his identity - ''

'' Hold on sir, got a comm incoming from the observers '' interrupted Flavia, radio silence was the go-to order for such mission and something critical had to have happened for the spotters to break it. '' Nine-six, got it, over ''

'' So? What happened '' asked Flavion

'' Commander Voidspider was seen boarding an extremely large ship, identified as Manta-class and flew off the base we're observing ''

'' Ugh, typical, still, vox HQ with the confirmation, and tell them about the small cavern we saw when we smashed the AI bank ''

'' Yes sir ''

-------- Surface of Julla, Gallus command post a few hours later --------

Gallus reviewed the reports from his infiltrated squads. So far so good, much better than the last operation, at the very least. Three slates were of particular interest. The first one came from above, in space, where scanners picked up three locations that could be the source of the shield used by the Tau. The second slate was about structural weaknesses that his Scion could exploit to further weaken the Tau hold on this world. And lastly, was the report that really interested him, the confirmation of the identity of the Tau commander. He'd have to relay orders soon, such data should be exploited as soon as possible, he called Ashraf.

'' Yes sir? ''

'' Inform whoever's replacing that Tallarn commander that we'd be able to help them greatly if they want to strike the compound again, but they gotta wait till the team's in position, oh and that the Tau have at least a Manta-class spaceship in the area, if they have something to ground it that we don't have, it could change the outcome of this war ''

'' I will, Tempestor ''

And with these words, Ashraf exited the command Valkyrie and made his way to the Tallarn camp. Gallus looked down at the other slates and turned towards his pronto.

'' Vox 9th section, I need 6 of them to secure their extraction site, we will be dropping reinforcements for them, four sections, three sniper teams and enough ordnance to outshoot the Death Korps, once that's gone through re-direct 2nd section, 7th section and 10th section to bases Echo, Psi and Delphii, respectively, I doubt the bases they're infilitrated near could accomodate a Manta and none of these seems to have the kind of infrastructure to sustain the shields ''

'' Who do you want to be sent to support 9th section, sir? '' asked the vox-specialist

'' Send the first four sections of 7th platoons, issue plasma guns for 1st and 2nd section and melta guns for 3rd and 4th sections, 9th will provide longer range support with their volley rifle, along with the sniper teams ''

'' Anything else, sir? ''

'' Yes, tell 9th section we will send in the four squads right after the ordnance collapses the caves, we will storm the Tau positions and hopefully prevent them from mounting any sort of decent defences, the snipers will be there to eliminate any commander they see, tell them to keep a few men back to look for signs of the Manta coming down, and tell the snipers to focus on bringing down Voidspider, if he shows up, once that's all done, I'll have another request to vox to the orbital support ''

The specialist nodded and transmitted the orders to everyone who was concerned.

'' All done sir, what's this you wanted to say to the Captain of the Swift? ''

'' Congratulate him on a job well done, we've got enough intelligence on the shield energy source to take it from there, tell him to locate Tau bases that could fit a Manta, we need to track down the enemy commander movement and there's no point in sending section to spy on bases where we know Voidspider will not fly to ''

Once again, a brief nod and a sqift repeat of what was said followed Gallus orders, who sat back and allowed himself to smiled, things finally past the stage of preparations and blind guessing, the Impeirum grip tightened around Voidspider neck and the foul Xeno wasn't even aware of what was coming.


-------- Surface of Julla, in a suprisingly cool cavern that serves as 9th section cache --------

'' We got orders, Tempestor! We need to send six men to our exfil point ASAP, we're getting reinforcements '' said Flavia

'' How many? '' answered Flavion

'' Four sections and three sniper teams, along with the ordnance the detonate the cavern we scouted ''

'' That'll be a little many for our hole, very well, we'll bring e'm a section at a time, and find them suitable hiding place, let the snipers do their things, we'll be moving soon, leave the men that are going to relieve our observers, leave most of our gear, too ''

The small Scion squad swiftly and silently made its way to the extraction point and waited on their comrades. These showed up some time after the site was second, five valkyries flying low and rather close to another. As soon as they landed, the small patch of desert became busy with activity, with Scions unloading crates of explosives and other equipement. Flavion walked to another Tempestor and established the way things were going to run, the valkyries would fly back in less than two minutes, the remaining Scions we then split in sections, who would spread around and cover the entire area, while their commanders would get briefed.

Everything was over in a minute and half, and Flavion found himself talking with fellow section commanders, as well as the snipers.

'' Our cache can fit at best another section and the ordnance, unless one of you finds me something closer and safer, this is where we'll store the bombs, as well as 4th section. As for you '' Flavion waved at the snipers '' You're pretty much going to lay there for as long as needed, we won't need you to shoot anything until the show starts, don't use the helmet stims and nutriments unless you really need them, take some rest before everything goes south, I'll leave the details of the way you'll set up to you ''

One of the Scions nodded and waved the other five snipers to follow, they quickly disapeared in the night.

'' Now that this is out of the way, you'll each be walked to our cache a section at a time, at this point, you'll move out and find your own hole, once everyone is in position, we'll have to play the waiting game, loading the cavern with explosives till the Tallarns attack the base, furthermore, we'll have to figure a way to hide ourselves near that cavern, so that we can be on the Tau as quick as possible. ''

One of the newer Tallarn Scion spoke up

'' Sir we can simply seal our helmets and then cover ourselves with sands, our suits have enough air to take over a ship, we should be able to breath for the short time between when we're told my kin will attack and the time of the actual attack ''

Flavion nodded '' Sounds simple enough, that'll be be all, 1st section, move out ''

Brother Sargent Decius revved his chain sword through leathery flesh and bone of the foul green skin that dared to test the might of the Ultramarines. It seemed to him that war for Novus Regulus was beginning to shift in the imperial’s favor. These damned jungles made excellent holes for the green skins to hide in, but they were losing ground thanks in large part to their inability to unify. Sargent Decius looked to the rhino that awaited to take him and his squad back to the capital city of Vacita. The Jungle that surrounded the capital framed the towering city and its noon sky light quite nicely, Decius decided he would commemorate the beautiful landscape in a painting, so he made sure to take a good mental picture for later. But while the Sargent took in the beauty a horror began falling from the sky.

Decius dawned his helmet and with his enhanced vision saw the ramshackle drop pods swarm the skies. Before he could notify the rest of his squad Captain Julius’s voice came over the Vox “All battle brothers report back to Vacita out post at once.” Decius ran back to the rhino and mounted its Storm Bolter turret. Then the squad was off to defend their city bastion.

Nox gripped the bikes throttle as his rokk came plummeting out of the sky. Then that familiar thud of the ramshackle pod sounded and the hatch blew open, the maniacal biker lord laughed “ERE WE GO!” as he accelerated out of his orbit to land vehicle rushing to the mayhem of war

Earlier aboard the Blade of Mork

The crude war room was filled with the orks that made up Nox’s WAAAGH Council. The orks all sat at a single table, at the table’s center was a paper map with the crude but effective illustrations of the ork battle plan. Around the round table sat the Kommando Gadnuk, The Doof, Ronin the blood axe storm boy who became the official Kommanda of WAAAGH Warprida’s air-force, Kaptin BloodTalon Freebooter mercenary and the orks equivalent to an admiral, lastly the largest of them all the feared Nox WarpRida. BloodTalon spat “Why are we wasting time ere statergizin, we should be sharpening our choppas right now.” Gadnuk spoke “Unlike you some of us actual care if we win down there.” Ronin added “He’s right we got the element of surprise with us right now, we can swoop in right sneaky like.” BloodTalon scoffed “Zoggin Blood axes, don’t fink I’ll ever understand yer lot.” Nox looked over to Gadnuk and spoke “What did you have in mind.”

Gadnuk drew his combat knife, a blade stolen from the corpse of a slain Dethwatch marine, then modified to better serve the ork’s need. He stuck the knife in the center of the map and spoke “Dis right ere iz da humie city of Vakceda, it is the most critical element for them to hold this world.” The Doof laughed “Oh I see we rush in kill da gitz in da city and boom da planets ours.” Gadnuk shook his head, “Not exactly if we focus all our resources on just da city we’ll lose a zog load of boyz, and derez a good chance that too many humiez will escape and be even harder to find. What we ought to do is strike dez points right ere.” Gadnuk pointed to the red dots that encircled his blade pinned to the map. “You see if we can launch a massive wide scale attack on these towns, farms, and factories that encircle da city then not only can we surround da gitz, but we can cut off all their outside resources, zog we might even be able to turn some of dem against da humiez.” The Doof spoke again “And den da second we scrap deez places we go and swarm da humiez from all sides.”Gadnuk spoke “Not exactly.” The doof snarled “Bagh how many more parts iz dere to dis plan?” Gadnuk spoke “Only one more, we will hold off from attacking the city for the first few dayz.” Nox raised his brow, “Oh why should we do dat.” Gadnuk grinned “Me and my boyz are going to sneak into da city and begin sabotaging what we can. When we’ve done enough damage, da rest of da WAAAGH will then come rolling in, and will kill every last one of dem humiez. “ Nox grinned as he spoke “Lets go show deez zoggin pink skin welps what da fury of mork looks like.”

Back on the planets surface Gadnuk stood over the corpses of dozens of Adeptus Arbites, the local law enforcers of the farming Parish that rested outside the city limits. His gutrippas toying with one of the surviving Marshalls, Bleeda laughed as he delievered a steel toe kick to the arbites sides “Who’s da law now ya git.” The orks chuckled as Gadnuk watched a squadron of Ronin’s Dakka Jets Zoom over head. Gadnuk looked over to the city a single spire rose above all other buildings, Gadnuk lit a celebratory cigar put it in his mouth a spoke with a grin as Grimsnik fired his sluga into the skull of the surviving law-man “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Captain Julius had in the first few hours of the assault felt completely confident in his ability to defend against this new xeno threat. But the Ultramarine was shocked when he saw with his own eye orks waiting, holding position instead of pushing the assault. The nothingness made Julius far more tense then the flow of battle, he feared this anticipation would reek havoc on the nerves of the human soldiers. Julius looked at the walls that guarded the city, thick enough to make the sons of Dorn proud, he could hold here but not indefinitely. Or he could lead an assault against the green skins, but that would be a far riskier gambit than just simply repelling the xenos. Reinforcements perhaps, there would be no way of telling if they would arrive in time. Then the unthinkable crossed Julius’s mind. Retreat, let the green skins take this world, in order to save others. Julius removed the silver penant that hung around his neck, it was the sigil of the Nobel house he was born to long before he was an astartes. Something about the icon always soothed him when times were darkest, something that reminded him of why he fights. The Ultramarine took a deep breath and tucked the medallion beneath his armor once more.

"For feth's sake!"

Zonand roared at the ceiling, his uniform unkempt and wrinkled. He'd been frantically trying to get a hold on the recent robberies of froststeel when the call came through.

The New Order Chapter had severed their oaths of loyalty to the crusade, and returned back to Kattifrakk, taking their entire fleet with them. The Northern Front was at dangerous risk of collapsing, leaving Crusade Command vulnerable. Zonand would need to pull another force to support the dwindling front: forces he simply didn't have.

He grabbed the force roster for the Crusade, and pulled out his red stamp. With barely restrained anger, he pressed the device over the New Order's entry. The wax seal now masked the entry, marked by the words "PERDITAS NULLIFI". Similar marks adorned the scroll, from Imperial units who simply fell off the radar or refused to contact Crusade Command. Zonand balled his fists: it would be useless trying to regather or punish them.

His attention was grabbed by a buzz on his intercom unit. A visitor.
"Send them in." he sighed, smoothing out his receding hair and uniform. The reinforced door opened up, and Zonand waited for the entrant to make themselves known. Blue power armour awaited, cold and stark against the warm red and yellow of the braziers. At first, Zonand thought it was one of his Ultramarine strikeforce commanders, either of Strikeforce Fury or Praetoria. It took him a moment to realise that Aurelius was supporting Pavus in his prosecution of the Hybrids, and Julius was dealing with the massing Ork Waaagh!s in the North. The figure stepped closer, revealing cream and dark red robes, and a wicked glaive-guisarme slung over it's back.

"Lord General Zonand."
The statement had deep bass undertones. It seemed the stranger spoke with two voices at one, but if Zonand could pinpoint it, he was damned.

"Yes. That's me. Forgive me, I don't believe-"

"Saren. Codicier Saren. Third Librarian of the Ultramarines Chapter, Master of Aquirance."

"I see, Codicier. Your arrival was not preceded by any Astropathic message, if it had been so, I would have sent for-"

"Unnecessary. My arrival is according to my plans."

There was an awkward silence: the faint hum of the Codicier's psychic hood resonated into the wooden decking.

"Is there... any reason you're here, Codicier?"

Saren didn't seem to notice the the awkwardness, and carried on, as if nothing had happened.
"You seem to be short on forces."

Zonand sighed. There was no hiding from the Warp-touched.
"Yes. The Crusade is losing impact, so to speak. Too many fronts, too many planets, too little men. And reinforcement is welcome."

"I wasn't offering reinforcement. However, I can deploy my First Company bodyguard as appropriate as compensation for my intention. It would be improper to not inform you of my directive."

"Your directive?"

"I am here for one thing, Lord General."
The Ultramarine stared Zonand in the eyes for the first time. The Lord General saw nothing but cold darkness, and thoughtless intent.

"I am here for the arrest of Acting-Captain Hadris Aurelius."

Blitza couldn't wait. He had been told by one of da nobz that he was gonna charge the weakest spot of this tribe. He was ready to get stuck in. He wondered why Narlug wasn't leading this charge. Narlug had sent out scouts to check the place out, and they had found the easiest places to attack. Narlug was prepared with a large force to surprise the small tribe from behind while a small distraction force came in first. The order to charge was given and Blitza pumped his legs to get in there as fast as he could. He had some 'eads to smash.

As the front line stormed in to the camp, the tribe sprung into action. They took out their choppas and prepared to face the assault. Blitza charged in and knocked the nearest greenskin off his feet. A quick blow from his blade silenced him. Two more orks came into his place. Blitza knew this force he came in with could not hold off a camp of this side on its own. As he brought up his blade to deflect a swipe at his head, he began to wonder if Narlug had sent him into die. If it was, he would make a great show for himself. He reflexively blocked the choppa swinging at his head, and attempted to retaliate. His blade carved a massive wound across his opponent's chest. He swung again. His blade bit deep and got lodged in the head of the ork. Without a blade Blitza was done for! He saw da other boyz getting sawed apart around him and knew this would be the end.

"Charge! Kill da gitz!" Narlug shouted. As the order was given, his massive force advanced. Narlug's force charged straight into the camp from the other side. The tribal orks began to turn around with astonished faces. As Narlug's force met the tribe's, the enemy's will to fight began to leave them. Narlug had used sneaky taktikz to pincer attack them. The tribal orks began to stand down in surrender to the superior might of Narlug's Waaagh! Narlug strode up to the enemy warboss and swiped his head from his body. As the body slumped to the ground, Narlug reached out and grabbed the head. He then proceeded to tell the new boyz whose boss. "You's all under me now! I'm da new boss!"

With that, the orks grudgingly submitted to Narlug's will. Narlug had not gained many boyz from this fight, but he had gotten the warboss' head.

Blitza couldn't believe his eyes. He was alive to fight again. As Narlug's forces had pushed into the camp, the tribal orks had faltered, and surrendered. Blitza had been able to grab up his choppa and keep fighting. He didn't understand the reasoning behind attacking from two sides (He proffered charging straight in), but he wouldn't question Narlug. He knew better than that.

The innards of the once great Battle cruiser, Warpath Crucible, were spread over the great sands of the Kattifrakkan desert. Onyx armoured Astartes pulled themselves from the corpse of their great ship. They betrayed their brothers for a promise that could never been fulfilled; they themselves fell for the very lies they had once hated. Now, their blood was spilt over the great sands they were born from: the price for their ultimate treachery. Some dared to resisted their fate and hope to fade into the desert or stood in defiance. Neither lasted long for a deep hatred a thousand chasms deep was on their heels. This hatred bore a name. Its name would be etched into the history of the New Order as the Traitor's bane. A name so terrifying that its mention would rebuke daemons from the mortal realm and send those fallen from the Emperor's light scurrying into hiding. Its presence would not rest until each Traitor was brought before the Emperor and tried as guilty. This name, was Ajax Sylus.

* * *

Sylus looked out to the rolling sea of sand. Its face was forever changing, forever different. Its motion was quite apparent as the red sun pulled itself over the horizon causing shadows to dance and weave as far as the eye could see. This early morning phenomenon named the region they were in: Sea of Shades. And as the land was named, so was the obelisk that rose hundreds of feet into the aid. It was called the Beacon of Shadows and the Monument to all Sins. It was forged from the blackened Adamantium of the Warpath Crucible not five years prior. Its facings were lined with the names of all those who strayed from the tenets of the New Order and renounced the God-Emperor. One facing however, housed a single name. The name of the Astartes who began this heresy. The Astartes whom this monument was erected for: Taihkromn Ryus. A quote was inscribed beneath the name. The Chapter Master spoke of it much and it only seemed fitting to place it on the monument, where it would sit ironically. It read, "For even though we walk through the valley of the shadows of Death, we shall know no fear." Sylus saw Ryus die, impaled upon the claws of an angel and he saw fear sink into his former Lord. It was not the fear of Death, contrary to what the historians recorded. Ryus feared that he had become the one thing he attempted to kill. He became the anathema of all his plans and plots. He gave himself over to Chaos with the presumption it was something he could master and turn on itself. So much had happened beyond Kattifrakk, yet all remained the same. His world was symbolically similar to the desert it bore. Always different and always the same, suspended in a perpetual state of paradox.

Sylus cocked his head slightly. His name had been called or he was hearing things. The Kattifrakkan desert was not kind to the unaware. He noticed a small figure climb over one of the ever moving sand dunes and slide down. The figure jogged over to the Monument and drew back its hood. Surely enough, it was his guardian angel, Annala. He had come to find out that she had actually slain Ryus when Sylus was on the brink of death. He became forever in her debt and her only request was the ability to advise the new Lord of Kattifrakk, Chapter Master of the New Order. Sylus turned her down immediately, yet she followed him like a hound follows its master: til death. Her now-bronzen skin glistened in the dawn sun. Across her face and body, were golden tattoos of scriptures from the teaching of the God-Emperor. She deemed it necessary to never let her people forget the laws which protect them from evil.

"My Lord, the sun rises..."

"It rises upon our new Chapter... The light of the Emperor is upon us," Sylus replies from his revery. The intense religious fervor was the only reason Annala felt at home with this Astartes. She had never known a being with an unwavering faith like Sylus had. She quite envied it, in truth.

"Indeed my Lord, but the sun of Kattifrakk rises as well. We should be off before we burn."

"Burn with a passion to bring his truth to the galaxy. We shall light the darkness..." he trailed off, pulling up his hood and starting up the dune in the direction of the Fortress Monastery. Annala quickly followed him. "Arbiter of Truth... That is what they shall be called..."

"Whom my Lord?" Annala asked, cresting over the dune. She waited for him to finish before sliding down and possible missing what he would say.

"Our Chapter. We shall no longer dwell in the dark and shadowed past of the New Order. We shall dwell in the Light of his word and we shall be the Arbiters of Truth."

Julius stood silently on the city walls and stared out into the darkness. They had repulsed yet another Ork assault, but Julius could not help but feel that this new Ork Warboss wasn't even really trying. It was if he was just throwing bodies at the Ultramarines to keep them busy, but Julius had no real way of tracking him down as of yet. This "Nox" had yet to make an appearance on the front line, which was unusual for their warlike kind. He had to be drawn out somehow, if Julius could eliminate him his WAAAAAAGH! would destroy itself with the infighting, leaving them easy prey for the PDF. But how could he draw him out? Then it hit him like a sack of bricks. If this Nox was anything like any other Ork warlord, he would be unable to resist a challenge, so Julius would reveal his location,, and if the Emperor was with him, Nox would come after him, It would be his best chance to eliminate Nox and spare this planet the full ravages of an Ork WAAAAAAGH! Decided, he quietly voxed some orders to Marshall Ivan onboard the Black Templar destroyer in orbit above the planet. The location to fight Nox would need to chosen carefully, and the advanced sensors of the Templar vessel would be crucial in finding an appropriate location. As he turned to walk back to his quarters he bgan to think of Sheppard and Petra. If his memory hadn't failed him, she would be expecting a young one in a few months, and it would b expected for a gift to be presented. But what would be appropriate? As Julius walked into his quarters he saw it, and he grinned. The object in question was a Talissarian Short-sword. For a Marine it was a bit too small to function as a weapon, but it would be perfect for Sheppard's little one to use when she came of age. He gently removed it from it's wall bracket and placed it gently in one of the boxes that was being sent off world to the Templar fleet. With it he included a letter for Sheppard and Petra detailing why he sent the blade, and it's significance. He went to rest that night with a heart that felt surprisingly lighter.



--------Later---------

On the Bridge the messages finaly came in and several of note had arrived, Down on the planet several tribes of techno barbarians, clans similar to the pre unification clans of old earth dwelled in its harsh mountains and for centuries had fought orks and beasts to survive now had replied to there envoys, in exchange for Plasma and Melta weaponry there loyalty could be swayed. Back at the hives and cities in the settled zones of the planet they had tracked down a lead, a tip off from a local who saw something. Several high ranking suspects where seen moving into tunnels and could lead to the location of the cults power base.

Karak looked down on the planning holo as the officers and leaders gathered round in the large main briefing room "Shepard, i want you to take charge of the PDF and form a perimeter when we begin. clear a zone marked up to hab line 45Theta, stop anyone entering or exiting the zone. Chaplain Vargos you will take the first skirmishers and secure a foothold in the entrance, Death korps will reinforce the Perimeter and join the tunnel assault force. I shall lead the main assault backed by Templers and elite humans and drive them out with flamers and close combat equipment. any questions?" shepard stepped forward, "Yes Marshall, we have a system of drains in the north eastern corner, i suggest we send a task force to watch for runners" "vargos responded in his deep voice "very good, asign the Korps to watch the sewers.
Marshall Karak looked back at the assembled force of leaders who had gathered with him. "You are the finest leaders in this fleet, every one Fausteen, Catchan, Templer and Kreig shall do there part well and we shall gain victory, the assault begins at first light or 6.22 AM local time. GO to your units and prepare for battle, Dismissed, Commissar Shepard would you linger a second"

"Shepard, i know what your thinking, Follow the orders, Trust yourself and you will come out of this alive, i have the hardest job, you just need to hold the line long enough the strike to impact, Hold the line and we end this. " Shepard looked at the Marshall, super human, a Lord of a entire fleet, and ancient beyond normal men, "aye Marshall, Hold the line, you can count on me and my men" "i knew i could, thats why i chose you. good luck, see to your men and your wife. "

****
Down on the Planet Shepard looked out over the city from his barricade command post, Fausteen, Korps and PDF manned the lines, everything was ready as he looked at the light rising, finaly as the sun crested he put aside thoughts of his wife and gave the order "Vox man, to all stations, codeword Hammer, i repeat drop the Hammer" Looking down the line he saw hundreds of guns, positions, and weapons ready for firing, Grey, Urban and local cammoflagre, 3 different forces united as one this day. "put me through to everyone, .... I know what your thinking, Monsters lurk in those fetid tunnels, the enemy is here, all we have to do is hold the line, Hold the line and victory shall be ours" " a chear rose across the line as they braced for the first wave to come.

Chaplain Vargos lead the first wave to take the entrance as hundreds rushed the portal under heavy enemy fire, Demolisher cannon shells leveled the imprmptu bunkers nearby and supporting fire from the heavy weapons teams and marines forced the defenders to pull back as great sword swinging he lead the force to carry the breach and open the gates from the main wave under Karak to break the back of the beast. Marshall Karak began the push. clad in the Ultramarine's ancient suit and escorted by the terminator armour clad elite body guard and sword Breatheren. "Vargos, good job, now go to the east and destroy anything you find, " Armour pitted with various las burns and impacts, "Aye Marshall, Strike force Crusader, on me, eastern tunnel, move out" The fight in the tunnels was brutal as heavily armoured Terminators drove a path down the dark and fetid places they hid, Death korp squads stormed gaps to big for the Marines bulky armour backed by Tactical squads and reduced the shanty dwellings to burnt timber and ash.

On the outer Perimeter the fight was picking up pace, waves of the cult where trying to breach a exit and SHepard was shouting orders as waves where brought low by walls of las bolts and Heavy weapon teams further back lending support fire. "Sir, Breach in the line, section 23Foxtrot" "Time for the knights to do there part, Order the Knights to charge the gap and plug that breach, Send reserve force 5 to strengthen that section of the line," Shouting over the din of the battle "Ready blades and bayonets, there gatting close, Hold the Line" as he drew his sword and prepared to clash with the mutated and deformed swarm in close combat.

In the Tunnels they finally reached the disgusting inner chamber, it had got more corrupted and here dwelled the worst of the beasts, Leading the charge the Terminators clashed with foul clawed forms, Hammers, swords and lighting claws met the razor sharp claws of the genestealers, flamers and greades burned and pulped the hoards as they forced forward, Each strep crushing the dead below, Shields locked and each protecting the marine next to him in a phalanx as unstoppable as there zelous drive to crush the monsters life from there mutated bodies. As the line broke, they fanned out purging side chambers in brutal smaller running battles, None found the patriarch but they had slain many of the senior and higher forms of the cult. Later reports would show they took down thousands, the patriarch had fled this place and escaped narrowly into the maze like lower levels of the hive, deeper again and now forcing them into conflict with hive gangers and other monsters that lived below the lower hab zones.

Shepard looked up at the piles of dead cultists, hundreds upon hundreds, they had taken loss's but none that had been severe, maybe 20% at the most, across the strike force loss's where not bad compared to those they had slain and the second wave began to clean up the bodies, and burn the courupted mass's in great piles with flamers and hell hounds.

****

*Up on the ship the forces began to return after standard checks, purity tests and inspections, of the many who went only a few had been infected and they had been intercepted before they left the planet, all was well. Groups where engaged in various celebrations, others mourned the lost and some recovered in the various medicare bays, Shepard went by his qauters to find them empty, a open letter written in neat high gothic from Captain Julius, Wishing him well, and offering his best to his family, a short description of the sword was also there, a fine perfectly balanced blade, though might be a few years before he could give his daughter it.

Heading to the medicare bay he found petra, Shock hit him harder than a Battle barge ramming a Gargant, "Your, it was not for months?" Petra was holding a small baby, much like her but with Shepard eyes and facial features, "Fausteen genes, Ancients considered it a mark of greatness before we joined the Emperors realm, and look, "passing his daughter to him, as she lay back tiredly. Scared what to do, Lithuana nearly cried as he finally balanced her, "She has your eyes, but the golden tinge, she is blessed" Shepard looked down, small, helpless, yet here, and in his arms, "im going to have to practice" he laughed as she fell asleep again, "Asleep, trust you Shepard, ive been swaying, swaddling and sining for hours yet she drops asleep the moment you hold her... it seems your better at this than you thought" In the coming days they received many well wishers, gifts, and Shepard smiled as the ships speakers scross every deck announced the news to chears, drinks and minor celebrations. Small events, though everyone kept morale up and gave the many who followed the Templers hope.

****

Back on the Bridge Karak saw the approaching traders ship on the sensors, early but the warp seemed to have fared then well this day as they only just had the staterooms ready for the delegation hours before. "message the ship, tell them welcome and announce we have the new batch ready, long lasting, superior to all others in taste and ability to be shipped via the void, they have our terms of trade, Spannerous has been after the metals and alloys for weeks. secondly message Petoria, tell the actng captain it may be best to send some of his proof away as insurgence against a theft"

Narlug waited for a long time. He had spoken with the messenger to talk with the foolish little 'umie that had ordered him around. He had come back to the city with the head of the warboss. His task was done and he was anxious to move on to the next fight. He had been given word of a massive invasion by another Waaagh! much bigger than his, and he wanted to show that he wasn't just some other Waagh! to take over. As the nobleman approached, Narlug stared at him. He wanted the fat humie to die just like the others.

"Well, that took you long enough, didn't it? I have been awaiting word of your demise for quite some time. The fact that you returned after all this time means that you aren't good at staying on schedule. You are going to need to do a lot of work to actually get payed, if ever. Now, I want you to defend Vactia, our capital city. Another primitive Waaagh! has come to this planet and you must kill them." the nobleman said.
Narlug thought about this for a few seconds. He could use this to get into the city and kill them all! With that thought, Narlug asked the deciding question: "So, are mah boyz gonna be in your city? We kan't make much of a defense outside of it."
The nobleman pondered this for quite a long time. If he let them in, they could betray him. However, they could easily be mopped up if they do betray them. They are just filthy brutes. "I suppose so. Just don't do anything stupid."
Narlug grinned. "Alright boss, I am gonna help out over there at Vaktia." He said truthfully.

[In Vactia some time later]

As Narlug's Waagh! marched into the city, he was impatient. They had been let in with the PDF staring the whole time. They didn't trust him one bit. They were the smart 'umies, unlike the nobelmann. As he continued on, he looked out for all the PDF locations. He would take them out first. He had brought almost his entire Waaagh! into the city. They filled up quite a lot of streets. It took a lot of restraint from him and his boyz to not start lootin'. There was time for that later, he thought to himself.

[A few hours later]

Blitza and his boyz walked up to one of the PDF locations Narlug had spoke to his boyz about. Blitza had been promoted in a way by being able to lead a small force to take out one of the places. They casually walked up to the PDF who looked as if they didn't trust him one bit. He even tried to look good by greeting 'em with a "Ello!" They didn't seem to care. That didn't matter. The moment Blitza got into melee range with their sergeant, he unleashed his choppa on his skull. The blade sliced through the man without stopping. He was dead before he hit the ground. His boyz went on the attack as well. The PDF 'umies were getting chopped up left and right. One tried to fire his lasgun point blank at him. He deflected it and he instead shot one of his friends. The look of terror on his face was quickly taken away as Blitza's fist connected with his skull. The remaining PDF forces were trying to flee, but it was too late. Blitza's boyz overran them, and they were silenced. "Time to take da fight to da next one!" He shouted to his boyz. This was a fun day.

Narlug charged up the steps of the palace again. This was the third assault they had thrown against the combined forces of the Histans and Ultramarines. As they tried to approach, they were shot at by the withering fire of countless lasguns and bolters. The front lines of his boyz were slaughtered. Even as they neared their forces, the Ultramarines met them with chainswords. As Narlug got up there, he grabbed a space marine between his claws. The casualties on the histans had been a couple lucky shots to injure them and no space marines were killed as of yet. This was actually the first time Narlug had gotten to the space marine line. He was about to kill the Ultramarine in his hands, but his brethren stepped in to help. The combined assaults of 3-4 space marines knocked Narlug around, and he dropped the space marine. His boyz were dying left and right, so Narlug decided it was time to leave. He swept his claws out at the space marines, and he ran for it. As Narlug left, he knew it would only be a matter of time. The PDF garrisons were all silenced and the gates had been opened. Nox and his crew were now allowed in the city, and Narlug wanted to go see him.

"FETHING IDIOTS!" Julius roared as he saw the Orks massing for another charge. His blood felt like it was boiling. The Nobles had let the Orks into the city! No doubt this Warboss had promised the Noble that he would defend the city against Nox and his WAAAAAAGH! What he didn't know was that Orks were Orks. They couldn't be trusted as far as they could be thrown. Julius took grim pleasure in the fact that the PDF members who had stupidly let the Orks in were already dead, and those who had remained loyal, including Centurion Gaius, had joined the defense effort at the palace Twice the Orks had charged the Ultramarines and Histan lines, and twice they had been hurled back in disarray. They couldn't keep it up for much longer, ammunition levels were starting to diminish, and already Devastator Sergeant Konor was reporting that his squad was nearing the end of their ammunition reserves. They had enough to hold off one last assault,, then they would have to resort to stones and harsh language to fight the Orks. Then the Orks began their third charge, and Julius nodded to Centurion Sergeant Castion, who barked an order to his squad. The Centurions stomped to the front of the Ultramarine line and leveled their grav cannons at the oncoming horde. With a rising whine their weapons powered up, and then let loose. The resulting devastation was impressive. Orks were scythed down by the dozen as the weight of their own armor and weapons was used as a weapon against them, crushing them to a paste. Then the rest of the Ultramarines and Histans opened up on the Orks with bolt and lasfire, and battle was truly joined. When the Ultramarines ran out of bolts they drew their chainswords and charged into hand-to-hand combat with the Orks, each brother invoking the Primarch's name as they charged. Julius drew his own relic blade and charged into battle beside them. Every Ork that approached him died, either cut in half by his venerable sword, or gutted by his combat knife, which he wielded alongside the sword to conserve ammunition.Julius' heart briefly stopped as he saw Sergeant Tarpei get grabbed by Narlug, but then he grinned as he saw the Sergeant's brothers drive Narlug back with the fury of their charge, and Narlug was forced to drop Tarpei in order to defend himself. Seeing their Boss under attack was the last straw for the Orks, and they ran for it, with catcalls and insults from the Histans dogging their steps. Even as the saw the Ork legging it, Julius knew they would soon return, and he was forced to see the grim reality that they could not hold them back. They didn't have the numbers or the supplies to do so, and he reluctantly passed the order up and down the line to prepare to evacuate the planet, but before he did so he had one last thing to do. He waved at Techmarine Tomasin, and the two jogged into the palace.

-------Later--------

As the last of the loyal PDF stepped onto the transports that had been sent down from the Black Templar Destroyer and the Ultramarine fleet, Julius saw the bomb he had planted detonate. The palace and several city blocks around it went up in flames, alongside the Orks who had begun to loot the city, and Julius allowed himself a smile. They may have lost the planet, but the architects of their betrayal had just gone up in smoke, alongside their city. The Orks had already gotten to a few of the Nobles, which irked Detta to no end, as he had wanted to end those who had betrayed him so many times, but he had taken grim pleasure in watching the remaining nobles cower in their opulent rooms at the palace, praying that they wouldn't be found. It was no replacement for the men who had been lost because of their treachery, but Julius knew that it went a long way towards calming Detta's anger. Even as the drop-ships ascended into orbit, Julius knew that his work was not yet done, already new orders had come down from Crusade Command, who had been made aware of the situation on Novus Regulus. Imperial forces were massing for one last push against the Hybrids, and they would need every single blade that they could muster for the oncoming fight. In the grim darkness of the far future, there was only war.

Contacting all Imperial Forces, Channel Alpha-Rho
Signal Priority: Vermillion
Contacting...
Contacting...
Contact made.

This is your Lord General Zonand.

The reign of the Hybrids is to come to an end. The Emperor wills it, and I will carry out His duty on Terra. One of our esteemed commanders, General Pavus, has identified a nexus of Hybrid influence on Brackus, a world just off of Tyrell III. We will end this threat, once and for all, before it can hurt our Crusade any more than it already has. Therefore, I decree a general muster of all Imperial troops who do not wish to be branded a traitorous coward to cease or resolve their combat operations and muster on Nemesa within four Terran days.

Disobedience will not be tolerated, and any force which cannot perform this duty will be hunted down and killed by the Imperial forces when we return victorious.
My personal vessels will be supporting the battlefleet: as such, I shall oversee and command Pavus' admirable efforts.

I am aware of the risks of pulling all Imperial forces from our captured domains. However, the Hybrid menace must be stopped, if not for this sector, but for the wider Imperium. You will support the Crusade, or you will be Excommunicated from it.

Ave Imperator, warriors of the Imperium.

Zonand out.
Transmission ceased.

Nox and his ladz of Anorky stood atop a hill that gave them a perfect view of the city of Vacita. They had been waiting for almost three days, patience was not an orky trait. Nox had sent some of his more anxious and worthless boyz on random assaults just to keep up morale, and prevent infighting but none the less the boyz wanted a proper scrap. Nox looked at the city with his telescope waiting for Gadnuk’s signal to assault. Then Nox saw something weird a horde of new orks marching to the Walls Gate. Nox’s eyes widned as he shouted to the Doof “Who’s boyz are those?!” The Doof took the telescope “I haven’t got a zoggin clue boss aint none of our ladz dats for right sure.” Nox turned his telescope to the ork leading them a large Goff Warboss, standing tall without fear of being fired upon. Nox spoke confused “Why in da name of Gork aren’t they getting shot at.” Ronnin drew his pair of rusty ole binoculars and spoke “It don’t make any sense.” Then Nox’s jaw dropped as the gates opened for the orks and the horde of green skins marched into the city “Did, did they just let them boyz in?” then the gate sealed behind them.

Gadnuk had set fire to one of the imperial food stores. In only a few days’ time the humiez will be weak from starvation. Bleeda came running to Gadnuk’s side shouting jumping over the corpses of guardsmen who were defending the food stores“Boss, Boss!” Gadnuk turned and asked “What is it.” “Some orks just walked into the city the humiez let them in!” “What why, snd who’s boyz are they?” “I don’t know, but dem ladz are causing all kinds of havoc now choppin up gitz left and right.” Gadnuk was caught off guard by this great news “Round up da Gutrippas, looks like we won’t have to wait so long after all.”

Gadnuk and his unit of Kommandos raced to the city gates, only to find that a large mob of the new orks already fighting the local PDF forces. Gadnuk spoke with a grin “Lets go introduce ourselves to our new friends Gutrippa style.” The squad of Kommandos WAAAGHED as they charged the PDF troopers from behind. The PDF were already doomed to be killed by the horde of orks they were already engaged with, but the flanking attack of the elite Kommando unit only speed up their eminent demise, and ensured none would escape. As Gadnuk plunged his choppa into the back of the final human, he looked to the mob of orks and asked “Who’s in charge of you ladz.” A nob stepped forward “I am names Blitza.” Gadnuk smiled “You can call me Gadnuk. I’m second in command to da great Nox Warprida.” Gadnuk drew two cigars from his ammo pouch and offered it to the nob. Blitza happily took the smoke and allowed Gadnuk to light him up, he puffed his cigar and spoke “You ladz with Nox, my Boss wants to meet your boss.” Gadnuk lit his own cigar and asked “And whats da name of your Boss.” “Narlug da great and mighty.” “How did he manage to get the humiez to just let him in anyhow.” Blitza laughed “We told the gitz we’d defend it from you ladz.” Gadnuk had a good laugh “Oh zog me, stupid humiez, can’t believe they fell for dat.” Blitza shared in the laugh “I know right.” Gadnuk looked to the massive city gate and grinned as he shouted “Blakrog! Get da charges were gonna kick da doorz down.”

Nox watched from his hill, as he saw the explosion bring down the gate the Mek grinned and shouted “Dats Gadnuk’s signal, alright boyz ERE WE GO.” Only one thing could be heard on the battle field the old ork yell almost as ancient as war itself WAAAGH!

Nox rode through the city mowing down any human resistance he found. Guardsmen attempted to flee from the biker, but none could hope to out run the speed of the Doomblitza. The orks swarmed every city block, they raided every house and killed every non orkoid they saw. The unlucky ones were those who were taken alive, those poor citizens who would be enslaved and sold to the cruel Iron Warrior Arachus. Nox watched as the spire palace detonated taking with it a dozen city blocks, Nox laughed as this was the final and ultimate sigh of his victory.

In the ruins of the demolished Palace Narlug stood over the stood proud. Nox and his honork guard approached Nox had a huge grin on his face he called out “You must be da great Narlug. Da great fiend of Novus.” Narlug spoke “And you must be da one dey call Nox the Warp Rida.” “Indeed I am. You and yer ladz did some good zoggin work.” Narlug grinned at the compliment “Tanks, but it would never ave append if your ladz didn’t surround da city.” Nox grinned “You and me we’z mates now, you ever want to crack some skullz togeather you let me know, and we’ll go a krumping together.” Narlug smiled “I’d like dat, I hear you know where all da best fighting is.” Nox smiled “Indeed I do, we’ll talk more about dat, but right now its time to get squig faced and ave a right good time.” Nox turned to all the gathered orks “Da city iz ours ladz, its time to zoggin celebrate. Break open da cask of da best fungus grog we got and get to partying.” On that note the Doof began playing his Eavy metal tunes and every street corner in vacita was filled with celebrating orks.

Nasira stood in front of the remaining officers in the ranks of the Tallarn 97th rough riders. It was clear to see that the regiment’s losses had taken a toll on morale; these men looked bitter, ragged, defeated. In a way this was a blessing for Nasira, as it would be easy to turn their resentment towards Amir, but that would come later. First she needed to earn their loyalty. She cleared her throat, and waited until all eyes were on her before she addressed them.
“As a result of recent losses I intend to adapt the regiment’s organisation in order to minimise further decline in numbers. From now onwards each squad will deploy independently as opposed to operating in full platoons. Our strategy shall consist of simultaneous coordinated assaults from multiple directions. This will serve to divide enemy firepower and reduce damage sustained from their gun line. We will also be avoiding prolonged skirmishes, instead enacting hit-and-run attacks on vulnerable targets instead of committing the bulk of our forces to a full-on charge. This also means that we will need to select our targets carefully. Information gathered by the Tempestus will dictate where and when we dedicate troops. Any questions?”
One of the younger officers raised his hand. “Colonel Amir says cavalry are better when charging together, why are we changing from his tactics?” Nasira winced at the mention of Amir’s name, and a few of the other assembled officers sneered, grimaced, or rolled their eyes at the youth’s question. Despite the regiment’s repeated failure since arriving on Julla there was still some faith in their leader. Amir may be a fool, thought Nasira, but he’s an inspiring fool. The kind of fool that is far too plentiful in the Imperium. “Our usual tactics have been fine up until now, but we need to adjust to the enemy.” She waited for any further comments, then dismissed the group. Hopefully she had proven her competence to them. They needed to get used to the idea of her being in charge.
A Tempestus scion approached her. “Acting-Colonel Nasira, I presume?” From his accent and complexion it was obvious that he was of Tallarn descent. No doubt this was supposed to make cooperating with the scions easier. In truth Nasira felt no more kinship with her fellow Tallarn than a horse did with a grox, but she appreciated the attempt at diplomacy nonetheless. “I am indeed Colonel Amir’s stand-in. How may I be of service to the Tempestus?”
“We have confirmed the identity of the commander encountered in the previous raid as Voidspider. He was last seen boarding a manta-class ship. We’re currently looking into tau stations that could accommodate an aircraft that big. Gallus is willing to collaborate in offensive action taken directly against Voidspider.”
“Tell Gallus he has the support of the 97th. Once Voidspider’s location is confirmed we’ll do all that we can to help you end this war.” The scion saluted, and left to relay the message to his commander. Nasira smiled as she thought of the opportunity that had presented itself. If she were to be responsible for the death of the xenos’ leader the glory rained upon her would be immense. She just needed to make sure that the scions didn’t get a shot at Voidspider before she did, but Nasira would solve that issue when the time came. For now, she needed to get rid of Amir, and make it look like an accident. She looked at the plasma pistol holstered at her waist. If all else failed, she could kill Amir herself and pass it off as the work of a tau assassin, but underhand tactics weren’t typical of the tau. Not that she expected any of the other Tallarn soldiers to realise that; they were almost as incompetent as Amir. How many of them, she wondered, had even killed anyone before joining the guard? Nasira was the only one amongst their ranks fit for any kind of authority, and honour be damned, she would reach the position she deserved.

Aboard the Valins Revenge

Serf Bruterius had a great deal of anxiety about what he was about to do. His Family had served the Ultramarines for centuries, but the reward was too great. The Lord Governor promised him a lordship back on Faust, the temptation of easy living was just too much. The Serf approached the power coupling and implanted the EMP device. He set and briskly fled from the device. A minute later the EMP detonated and the ship experienced critical power outages, relying on emergency back up systems to keep only the most critical functions such as life support and basic defenses.

The boarding ship sprang to action while the scanners began rebooting, the stealth vessel attached to the hull of the Strike Cruiser and its drill began breaking through the small portion ship, just large enough for the assassins to board.

The ten Faustian commandos entered the ship, thanks to their mole’s intelligence they found a a place aboard the ship where none of the crew visit, a room not used since the ship’s creation. Each of the squad wore heavy grenadier’s armor and rebreather masks. The Hound removed his mask and spoke “Kassani you take Bravo and find X-Ray. Omega and I are on Alpha.” Kassani spoke sarcastically “You know its rare when I get to visit the graves of my old friends, I suppose this counts.” The Hound made no note of the comment and instead signaled his squad into a nearby vent.

Kassani grinned behind his rebreather as the hound and his men vanished into the dark vents. Captain kassani spoke to his commando among them were Norra and Solomon two of the mercenaries that had been with Kassani on the Kruger job “Nihilus is deck bellow us so…” Kassani aimed his melta gun at the ground bellow him, the mercenary fired and laughed “lets go get him.”

Kassani’s kill squad lacked much in the way of subtlety, but they had still by thanks to the speed at which they operated they had remained undetected, some serfs stood in their path, but hot shot las guns ensured they didn’t stand for very long. Then they came to the cryogenic storage facility there a single ultramarine and a retinue of humans in lab coats awaited them. The ultramarine didn’t hesitate to draw his bolter, he fired it and Solomon was struck, his carpace armor doing virtually nothing to stop force of the impact. Norra in a rage growled and fired her hotshot las gun stunning the Ultramarine, but the son of Guilliman fired one last stray shot killing another of pavus’s henchmen before captain kassani fired his melta gun at the blue clad behemoth killing him in a hot molten shot of death. The serf scientists were helpless against the three remaining veterans.

Kassani looked to the cryo pod and almost felt some sentimentality. Norra spoke “Never thought I’d get to see him again.” Kassani spoke “When the Cadians let me go I thought I’d writher and die without ever tasting the thrill of battle again, Nihilus gave me that chance. And he gave me yet another chance when he sacrificed himself so I could escape. He’s the only thing I think I can call a friend.” Kassani tapped at the console and the pod began to open. Nihilus was a pale green, his nub of a wrist still bandaged from his final battle with aurelius Kassani spoke “I’m sure there is some weird kroot ritual for burning a body to honor it, but we don’t got time for any of that Gak.” Kassani drew his hand flamer and engulfed the mercenary corpse in flame. Soon enough the corpse was but ash. Kassani spoke “Now we double time it back to the ship.”

Meanwhile

Captain Aurelius Stood in his humble quarters dawned in full battle plate. Standing behind his desk Tech Marine Tonkken spoke out over his vox “Brother, I’ve found the source of the black out.” Aurelius spoke “Go ahead.” The tech marine spoke simply “Sabotage.” Aurelius’s eyes widened he heard footsteps of carapace armored humans approach his door, the door opend and two veterans began fiiring their Hot-Shot las guns, the acting Captain dodged the bolts of las fire and flipped his massive heavy desk onto them. Two were crushed under the weight of the massive iron oak desk. Two more soldiers took their place they fired at him but Aurelius rolled out of the gun’s path. He drew his paragon blade and impaled the guardmen leaving his short sword stuck into the would be assassin. The other guard he hoisted up his throat and slammed him into wall breaking his back, he then threw th man to the ground and stomped his head in a mess of bloody paste. Aurelius drew his blade from the corpse as a voice rang out “You couldn’t have just stayed dead back on Gallor Prime.” Aurelius looked up from the slain guardsmen and saw Captain Braddock, the man known to most as the Hound. Aurelius spoke “Captain, I know you are only following orders, lay down your arms right now and I will spare you.” Braddock shook his head “I’ve broken too many oaths Captain; I will not break this one.” The hound raised his plasma pistol and aimed it at the ultramarine. Aurelius dodged the plasma round and swung at Braddock with his paragon blade, but the hound blocked the blow with his claymore. Aurelius found the hound’s strength uncanny for a human, but still the Ultramarine retained the advantage. The hound side stepped Aurelius and swung his massive blade into Aurelius’s side, blade left a nasty jagged wound in the blue power armor, but did not make it to the ultramarine’s flesh. This maneuver left the Hound vulnerable so Aurelius swung his free forearm at the hound knocking the man to the wall. The hound looked up to the ultramarine towering over him and laughed “Only in death does duty end.”

The hound opened his eyes a few seconds later and saw Aurelius holding the blade to his throat the hound spoke “What are you waiting for I won’t beg, kill me.” Aurelius said nothing as the hound Shouted “Fething Kill me Emperor damn it!” Aurelius spoke into his vox “Prepair the brig for a prisoner.” Braddock growled “I won’t tell you or anyone gak.” Aurelius nodded “I know.”

Captain Kassani ejected the stealth vessel from the ultramarine strike cruiser the mission was only half successful.

Pavus sat at his desk, as he read Zonand letter. Hannibal read aloud “I shall oversee and command Pavus' admirable efforts.” Pavus snarled “That pile of fething warp gak dares to steal my glory! HOW DARE HE!” Pavus threw a glass of brandy at the wall and snarled “That bastard will pay, he got lucky the first time. No its time to remind these yokels who they trifle with.” Pavus took a calming breath. His head ached with rage, “Zonand will pay."

Edward looked at the tapestry.
Fairfax looked at the tapestry.
"This is utter garbage."
"It is."
Selka ignored both of them and scribbled into his dataslate, mapping out regions to transmit to Captain Dekkal.
Fairfax sighed, "The governor is never going to take this."
"He might," Edward smiled, the low lamps of his room causing soft shadows across his features, "we are traders, and if nothing else, good at selling to those convinced they don't need things."
Beside them, the commissar chewed the end of his stylus, and stared at the pad. He'd mapped out five sites to check, three of which were more likely than others to contain the errant guardsmen.

"It's time to pull our thumbs out, lads." Garth leaned past Reynard and lifted over his vox headset. Leaning back in his seat, he started a low volume conversation with Dekkal and the sergeants, listing the five points to examine.

"Mhm." Edward picked up the machine loomed tapestry, and carried it to the centre of the cabin, to his holocaster. Dialling in the governor's frequency, he closed his eyes, and prayed to the throne on Terra that this would work.
After ten minutes, the central image flickered to life.
"Yes? What is it?" Marcus was stood proudly, his hands on his hips.
"Have we caught you at a poor time, Governor?" Edward tried to avert his eyes and stay focused.
"Not at all, why?" Marcus was also mostly naked, save for a not very well positioned towel. It was not a flattering look.
"Never mind," Edward changed the subject, "it's about your tapestry, Governor."
Marcus' body language immediately changed, he craned his neck to look at the hologram of Edward, "You have it? Where is it?"
"Well, I'm not sure you want this one," Edward held up the rolled tapestry briefly, "we do have others, this is unfashionable. On Terra, I hear they've taken to displaying of several Cadian banners. We could get one of those-"
"Show me this one!" Marcus looked agitated.
Edward stifled his grin, and unrolled the terrible tapestry. It was well made, but the design was vague, and patterns indistinct, "I suppose it will suffice."
"You must send it down at once!" Marcus had put on his spectacles and begun rocking with frantic anticipation.
"Your half of the bargain, Governor." the Seneschal began rolling the cloth, slowly.
"Yes! Yes! Whatever you wanted. I will grant you access. Now deliver this to me, and leave me be." the governor watched Edward's hands like a hawk.
"As you wish, sir." Edward bowed his head.
Humming with delight, Marcus reached out of range of the holo-recorder, then brandished a jug of oil.
As the trio watched with horrified fascination, he closed his eyes began pouring it over his entire body, with a face of complete concentration, before spreading it with his other hand in swirling patterns over his skin.

"Are we supposed to be seeing this?" Selka asked through Edward's vox piece.
Edward snaked out a hand and ended the broadcast, as the governor's motions became more erratic, and he began spinning.
Fairfax stepped over quietly and rested on the back of Edward's chair, "Dont fancy yours much. I think you stick with Selka, here."
Edward swatted at him with the rolled up tapestry, "Feth off. Go and make yourself useful and get this down to Trisburg before he changes his mind."