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The 41st millenium is rapidly coming to a close. In some forsaken corner of the galaxy, dangerously near to the titanic warp rift 'The Maelstrom' lies the heavily defended planet of Tannibus Alpha. In one, enormous force, the armies of chaos have amassed to assault the world, while the loyal followers of the Emperor fight despirately to repel the invaders. This follows the forces of xenos, loyalists and chaos, who all fight for a cause, survival and victory.

With wave after wave of dropships and dreadclaws bombarding the planet and crashing against the well trained bulwark of the Imperial forces, the battle looks to balanced on a knife edge...

Morgoth sat on his Ceramite throne, watching the battle unfold from a large console before him, numerous nodes and screens flashing and glowing a deep red as various things down on the planet went on. The assault was going perfectly, countless dreadclaws and dropships were deploying his forces as he spoke, the Imperials were puttng up a fight, but eventuly they would fall, it was only a matter of time now. After all the buisiness on his flagship was complete, he would himself land on the planet. And the imperials would know true fear.

Lynessa was walking towards the commanders deck she hated walking on a slaaneshi ship they reminded her of gareva her only true love, but that would need to wait for another day. She entered the ship seeing the commander sit on a chair she stood before him and began speaking. ''Captain i think it would be best to order the forces to set up an forward HQ best stay away from the highly populated areas as the largest formations of imperials would be there, what do you say?''

Ethil walked through the great halls of the chaos ship. Strange sickening idols were held along the walls, parchments of human skin coated with arcane runes alongside them. He detested Chaos, but times call for his attention. He came finally to the bridge. A pair of mighty astartes blocked the doorway, only to be cut down with a single sweep of Ethil's obsidian cleaver. He walked in.
"I am here to offer my aid. For a price, of course..."

"I wouldn't put it past scum to hide in such a place" said Alphonsine her fist clenched as she looked at the planet below. The ship was a standard Imperial Navy carrier; as was the way Orders usually travelled. Lily looked up from her book. "Sister, calm yourself lest your rage best you" she stated calmly before returning to her book. "Fine... But you know why we're here" she replied. "Of course, but getting mad won't make it easier" said Lily as she turned a page. The two were currently on the bridge of the transport, surrounded by its usual crew. As with any Imperial ship it was more visually akin to a mausoleum than a state of the art space ship.

Alphonsine turned to the captain to begin asking about their descent to the planet's surface.

"Agreed."

Says Morgoth as he reaches over to a comms unit embedded in the console before pressing down the button and barking into it.

"Dropships 43, 32 and 12 set up a foward base in coordinates 21,54 in sector 19. Plague marine squads Festus, mortis and Nihilus, secure the foward base."

Turning back to the Tzeentchen advisor he says,

"Good call Lynessa."

Then the doors burst open. An eldar, interesting. Two of his elite lay dead at the xenos' feet, their power armour cut like a hot knife through butter by his strange weapon.

"Ah, an Eldar, here on a Slaanesh ship? How strange. So, Eldar, what is this price you ask of?"

Kaless was first out of the dreadclaw, sonic blaster cutting down two of the imperial guard before they could react, then jumping down into the trench to take out another two with her neural whip. Around her, the Slaaneshi Astartes of the Emperor's Children were doing likewise, firing sonic blasters, throwing grenades, and charging in with chainswords and combat knives flashing. What had formerly been a strong position of 30 guardsmen and 3 lascannons was reduced to almost nothing in less than half a minute. The senior sergeant that had been put in charge of the squad did the "honorable" thing, taking the pin out of a frag grenade and throwing himself at one of the marines, but he was knocked about a meter off course by a sonic blast before he ever reached his target, the shrapnel that made it to the marines simply bouncing off the power armour.
The squad had accepted her as one of them when she had turned renegade and shown them her mark of Slaanesh, instantly recognising that she was their equal to have been accepted by the mistress. Now she was leading the way to their objective, the commanders' tent for this section of the battle.

"Sir" said one of the vessel's crew stepping towards the captain. "Yeah son?" was the reply, not even turning away from the view screen to answer. "Chaos forces are landing, they've taken point delta 19-". "What type of chaos forces?" interrupted Alphonsine. "Mixed reports so far, a warband of traitor Astartes but numbers are unclear".

Lily snapped shut her book and stood up. "I know very well what you're thinking sister, just as you should know my answer will be a stern no" she said bluntly. Alphonsine gritted her teeth. "We brought only a small number with us, the Ecclesiarchy would prefer us to bring her in alive after all. But, you know as well as I do we cannot rush in blindly and hope to crush them, we must deploy back in safety and push forward with the forces already on the ground" she continued.

"Fine, we'll go about this your way as usual then. Time to bring everyone up to speed and get ready to go"

In the mountains, under a sea of ice sleeps a creature of death, the ultimate hunter of this world 'The Reaper of men' was beginning to wake to the sounds of war. It's eyes opened to see it trapped along side the human that died with it,it felt the pump through its veins. 'The Reaper of men' crashed its way through the ice, it began to climb the mountain, when it reached the top it looked to the skies and saw mighty ships. 'The Reaper of men' let out a mighty roar.

Lynessa was awaiting the all clear order from the captain now, her chosen where already deployed the daemonic pacts needed plenty of sacrifice thats where her troops were perfect for. She was standing besides the captain seeing as he was talking with that eldar. Just then he heard the scanners going off saying imperial ships where orbiting the planet. ''You idiot! Have you literally forgotten to block the fething planet from imperial naval forces?''

Tuning to face Lynessa, Morgoth grunts slightly, his face cracking out of shape, teeth lengthening into razor-sharp fangs, as a snake like tongue worms its way through his now unnaturaly wide jaw.

"Do not question my judgement Lynessa. You may be highest amongst my favour, but war is my field of mastery."

He barks, glowing crimson eyes only millemetres from hers. Tuning back to the console, his visage taking on its normal apearance, he mutters quietly.

"I have prepared for this. The planet is near to the Maelstrom, warp energy stains this place. They may not come at will, but here daemons can manifest particularily easily here. Look."

With that he gestures to one smaller screen, a bulky loyalist ship filling it. For a moment nothing happens, it slowly drifts closer. Then all hell brakes loose. From out of thin air, comes a huge, rippling shoal of screamers, their blue forms covering the battle barge. At first they are small, but after a few moments, large parts of damage start to show, the outside of the ship being slowly stripped away. As quickly as they came, the huge swarm vanishes, leaving the crippled ship floating there, lacking usable weaponry and engines mostly dead.

"If only for a short time."

Their briefing done the sisters of the Ordo Divinus Ensis made their way to the landing craft accompanied by the guard regiment they had hitched a ride with. Alphonsine walked alongside Lily as the two headed for their Aquila Lander followed closely by the remaining four members of the Aegis of the Thorn. The three celestians carried their armament while the Hospitaller made a quick last check of her own medical supplies. Generally Alphonsine opposed travelling this way and would rather travel with the vehicles and troops in the normal bulkier transports. However according to Lily's plan they were to land a safe distance from the chaotic forces in a loyalist controlled fortress. Thus they had the time to unload the troops at a reasonable pace instead of the usual deploying on the front lines and speeding out of the craft in their transports. Alphonsine looked to Lily but could tell her sister was deep in though, most likely plotting their attack and defense.

Once they had loaded up the Aquila Lander's engine roared into life and they departed, followed shortly after by the remaining transports carrying the remaining battle sisters, their vehicles and the guard regiment.

Kaless led the way to the command tent. Far more troops would be on their way soon and getting rid of a few of the planetary defense commanders would do little in the long term, but she didn't care. They heared the emperor's children coming. They had done nothing to dampen their steps, rather letting fear creep up the necks of those inside. A Lord Commisar stepped forwards, power sword drawn, thinking himself able to take down a squad of astartes on his own. He soon found out he wasn't, a stream of sound sending him flying back ten feet into a large rock, snapping his neck. Kaless stepped into the tent, and dispatched of the commanders. Other than a slight las-burn on her hand from a near miss from a pistol, there was no damage to any of the squad. They moved out, ready for their next assignment. Most of them had been doing this for millenia, and there was no way that imperial guardsmen, however jumped-up, would stop them.

"Give me wealth and riches. I work for my own gain, not for your gods."
Ethil was uncomfortable here, but he needed the money.

"I have no need for such mortal things."

He says, turning to face the eldar again. With that, he gestures to two nearby members of his elite, both bedecked in black and deep purple power armour, long power swords by their sides.

"You, Vanius, Maracte, escort our guest to the treasury. Give him what he asks for, within reason of course. Now go."

As the eldar and two astartes turn to walk down the corridor, Morgoth picks up a small sack from beside his throne.

"Oh and eldar, how about some jewls to go with that?"

With a chuckle, he tosses the sack to the ground before him, a dozen or so darkened soul stones spilling out onto the ground. Grinning, he turns back to the console and Lynessa.

"Go now, before I revoke my most generous offer."

He barks over his shoulder, the heavy ceramite door closing behind them.

"Do I look like I care?"
Ethil strolled out of the corridor, aloof with hot air.

Lynessa turned to the commander ''Sir should we make planetfall now? I have ordered my men to prepare sacrifices so we can call in some daemonic support.''

Lynessa opened her vox to kaless ''Kaless have you prepared the sacrifices? i will make planetfall soon prepare your men to receive me!''

'The Reaper of men' walked back down the mountain and headed towards the jungles of the planet. It took hours to leave the frozen hell but then it reached the hot jungles, now it had sight on some prey, a squad of sisters of battle. He began to blend in making small noise to lure them close, the squad of female warriors made their way towards the silent beast.
"Sisters spread out!" the squad leader said to her squad, each one split from the group. 'The Reaper of men' climbed into a tree and dangled about one of the sisters, it strikes fast plunging its claw into her chest and dragging her into a tree. Quickly the others gathered around her last known area.
"Sister where are you?" the squad said looking around. Suddenly 'The Reaper of men' dropped onto the squad striking and clawing its foes to shreds. Before the squad could respond the lay injured or dead, as the last gave their last breath the creature dragged them into trees and wrapped them in a cocoon as display.

"They are ready, Sorcerer. Speak when you wish them to be sacrificed. We have the commanders unconscious and bound. We await our bretheren from the warp."
The squad nodded in agreement. Enemies were on their way, and it would be good to have some allies sent directly from the Dark Prince.

"Yes, we make planetfall now."

Says Morgoth, getting to his feet.

"Gather what you need Lynessa, we move out soon. I strongly advise you bring some guards."

Lynessa entered her own personal valkyrie she would be deployed right next to her own chosen so she could begin the sacrifice soon.

It was time to make planetfall. On the flagship above, Ve'Carr and his men were ready for the battle. They were chosen for their skill in battle. None stood in their path, they would destroy all that opposed them. They readied their gear and before stepping into the drop pod, they nealt down, saying their prayer to the Emperor and Vulkan. With that they stepped into the drop pod, strapping in. They sleek craft, painted in Salamanders iconography. The vehicle let out a beep, another, another and whoosh, they were off. As they went, Ve'Carr shouted " We are here to win, to fight back Chaos. Repeat after me. We are Salamanders!" The squad repeated. "We crush all that oppose!" The Squad repeated. At that moment the Drop Pod hit the earth in the middle of the battle, the doors dropping, and in unison the Marines shouted, "Into the fires of battle, Unto the anvil of war!!"

"Get picking now, Eldar. We're attacking."
Ethil turned to the astartes, eye to eye. He placed his hand on the hilt of his cleaver.
"If you insist, I shall collect my payment later. To the hangars, hmm?"

Not far off, drop pods of the imperial astartes were landing, too close to Kaless' position for her liking. The champion signalled for 5 of the noise marines to block off the pass that connected them to the rest of the battle, ready to hold the enemy back long enough for the ritual to be completed. Two aspiring sorcerers of Tzeench's Thousand Sons were here now, probably to oversee the ritual although normal protocol was not to ask thousand sons anything, so she would find out in due course. Right now they were simply staring at the unconsious bodies of the guardsmen. Soon enough, the fun would begin. She looked up, and saw a Valkyrie moving in to their position.

Lynessa jumped out of the valkyrie 2 aspiring champions of slaanesh with her. she walked towards the tent and shouted. ''Kaless report!''

"Lady Canoness, Commander Howlett".
Alphonsine, Lily and a couple of what looked to be officers turned to this interruption. The landing had gone smoothly, the troops and vehicles were settled. Currently the twins were in a large briefing room towards the heart of the fortress.

"What is it ensign?" demanded the commander. "We've lost contact with the ship that brought that last batch of reinforcements" panted the ensign. "Lost? It was destroyed?" asked the commander with a puzzled look. "No sir, it's just gone". The commander's eyes widen slightly. "Do you have any good news at least?" asked Alphonsine. "Yes maam, we just recieved confirmation that Astartes have reached orbit". Commander Howlett smiled at this news. "Good, good. Why haven't we opened up a line of communication yet?" he demanded. "Any word on the chapter?" asked Lily, clearly more interested in their main use than their chapter itself. "Salamanders". This brought a smile to Alphonsine's face. "Ah the Salamanders" replied Lily, noticing the slight grin on her sister's face. "I suppose that means you're looking forward to all that fire they'll bring" continued Lily. "Of course, not to mention their ornate equipment" said Alphonsine a hint of joy in her voice. "Any news on where they'll deploy though?" asked Lily. "No word yet" replied the ensign.

Titus Daston looked down on the carnage wrought by the Tyranid. Ten Sisters, in five seconds. He hated those odds; half a second in which tofight it off, or die. Daston looked up as a Drop Pod bearing Salamanders icons fell out of the sky, landing about half a mile away from him.

Firing his Jump Pack, Daston lands on top of a nearby cliff, a 20 foot tall wall of rock separating the lower jungle from the area that the Imperials use for training. As he landed, a handful of Guardsmen on patrol started firing at him, one of them shouting "Night Lord" at the top of his lungs. The lasbolts did absolutely nothing besides infuriate the Blood Angel beyond belief. Titus unsheathed one of his Power Swords, and jumped high in the air using his Jump Pack. He landed on one of the Guardsmen, reducing him to a red stain that extended five feet in every direction. Daston killed the rest of them with a roundhouse swipe of his sword, decapitating them all.

Daston sheathed the sword and ran towards the Imperial Fortress, two miles away, firing the pack to make him bound along at thirty feet at a time, striving tokeep the rage under control, lest it take over him again.

"Reporting for duty, sorcerer," replied Kaless. "The two aspiring sorcerers are here, presumably on your orders, as are the sacrifices. When shall our friends arrive?"

With the doors opening the Veteran squad ran out, thunderhammers and inferno pistols in hand. The traitor guardsmen never stood a chance. They were smashed into the ground or burnt to a pile of ashes. Ve'Carr shouted," Traitor scum, Prepare to die!" The group of Traitors were reduced to nothing, hardly any sign of them left. Ve'Carr pushed a button on his gauntlet and the drop pod melted away, keeping any traitors from using the sacred machine in any way. Ve'Carr opened a line to any Imperial troops on the plant, saying " The Salamanders are here." The tactical squad of body guards ran ahead into the fight.

''Oh my favored one they will arrive soon some of your own favorite slaaneshi daemons as well as the daemons of tzeentch.'' Lynessa turned to the sorcerers and ordered them to open the summoning circle. ''Come kaless you don't need to see such trivial things let us talk.''